Nissan Ariya review, Ram electric truck, Leaf-powered pickup, GM Ultium EVs: The Week in Reverse

Which fast-food chain is getting fast-charging at 100 locations?

Is Tesla Cybertruck production getting pushed back again?

This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending November 4, 2022.

In a review of the 2023 Nissan Ariya, we didn’t yet get to test its efficiency or range, but we did find this electric crossover to be the best new Nissan in years—based on its extraordinarily spacious, comfortable cabin and fresh interface. 

The Ram Revolution BEV Concept, which previews a production-bound rival to the Ford F-150 Lightning, Chevy Silverado EV, GMC Sierra EV, and Tesla Cybertruck, is now delayed to a January 2023 CES debut so as to show off its tech. And according to the brand, the production Ram electric truck will lead in range, towing, and payload.

Starting prices for the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE sedan put the most affordable version at $76,050. That’s for the EQE 350+, which gets the lineup’s top range rating of 305 miles, according to the company, and it undercuts the like-sized Tesla Model S and Lucid Air.

2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE 350+

Meanwhile, Lucid is planning to show its more affordable Air Pure and Air Touring models for the first time, as part of the whole lineup of Air models, at an upcoming Nov. 15 event in Beverly Hills. And there it will also reveal more info about the upcoming Lucid Gravity SUV, it said.

Due partly to a sluggish start in battery production, GM last week reported a slower production ramp of Ultium EVs than it’s previously targeted—although its goal to hit 1 million EVs annually in North America by 2025 is still on. 

2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV LT

Silicon carbide semiconductor tech from U.S.-based Wolfspeed, already proven in Formula E racing, will be used to help boost driving range in future Jaguar Land Rover EVs, the companies revealed.

According to a new report, citing insiders, Tesla Cybertruck production might not ramp up until late 2023—meaning it might be 2024 until Tesla can make significant progress in satisfying the hundreds of thousands who put money down on the stainless-steel electric truck years ago.

1987 Nissan Sunny Truck with Leaf powertrain

Nissan is showing a fully electric, Leaf-powered vintage Sunny pickup at this week’s SEMA show in Las Vegas—a tease, perhaps, that it’s planning to build on the Max-Out electric truck concept shown last year.

Saudi Arabia and Foxconn are launching an EV brand for the Middle East called Ceer, using some components licensed by BMW, the parties announced Thursday through Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). It aims to start making EVs in 2025 for the Middle East and North Africa.

2023 Zeekr 009

Vietnam’s Vinfast has partnered with the Chinese battery giant CATL, to combine forces on a skateboard platform and CATL’s cell-to-pack tech—and it could mean more EVs for emerging markets like India. And in the same week, Geely’s Zeekr brand for premium EVs—and effectively a cousin to Volvo and Polestar—revealed the first product using the CATL battery tech. The Zeekr 009 electric minivan boasts a 0-60 mph time under 4.5 seconds and, potentially, a range of more than 400 miles by U.S. standards.

Honda is planning to build a solid-state battery pilot production line in Japan, with the goal of putting the tech into production EVs—perhaps even motorcycles—by the end of the decade. Despite big partnerships with GM and Sony that tie into EV manufacturing and tech, Honda aims to go it alone on solid-state tech.

Fisker Wallbox home charger

Fisker reported that it’s exploring sharing its Ocean and Pear EV platforms with other automakers, as well as looking at future sales of emissions credits. The platform-sharing is unexpected, as Fisker has relied on partner firms for some stages of development, as well as manufacturing.

Nikola is aiming to take advantage of the top “clean hydrogen” incentive offered by the Inflation Reduction Act and its Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit, through a partnership with KeyState that will lean on natural gas and carbon capture. It could be a key part of its plan involving fuel-cell trucks and hydrogen hubs. 

The Biden administration convened last week with representatives of industry to look at EV charging cybersecurity, ahead of much-needed best practices and potential standards. Although charger hacks have been largely hypothetical so far, the federal government still needs to clarify which agency would be in charge of such standards. 

EV fast-charging at Taco Bell

More than 100 U.S. Taco Bell restaurants are getting EV fast-charging stations allowing about 100 miles of extra range for many EV drivers in just 20 minutes. Battery-boosted, U.S.-built charging hardware plus onsite solar will allow 75 kw or more.

And as the days get darker and colder, have another cup of coffee. Used coffee grounds could feed algae-based biodiesel production, researchers from the UK recently found. What’s more, the process has the potential to be scaled, and it makes fuel that meets U.S. and European specs.

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