Some electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are set to get less affordable from next year, it seems. As expected, the incoming Trump administration has set its sights on killing off the IRS clean vehicle tax credit, according to a report in Reuters this afternoon.

The clean vehicle tax credit was overhauled as part of President Joe Biden's signature climate legislation. Until then, the size of a plug-in vehicle's tax credit was based on its battery capacity, with a credit of up to $7,500 available. But from 2023 the rules changed, requiring a certain amount of domestic production to qualify, as well as adding price and income caps to address criticism that the tax credit mostly subsidized the already-wealthy.

Far fewer vehicles are now eligible for the rebate at time of purchase, particularly after the US Treasury Department got tougher about Chinese content, although a loophole means that none of these conditions apply to leased EVs.

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The holiday season is fast approaching, and with it, all manner of uncomfortable conversations with relatives who think they know a lot about a lot but are in fact just walking examples of Dunning-Kruger in action. Not going home is always an option—there's no reason you should spend your free time with people you can't stand, after all. But if you are headed home and are not looking forward to having to converse with your uncle or parent over heaped plates of turkey and potatoes, we put together some talking points to debunk their more nonsensical claims about electric vehicles.

Charging an EV takes too long

The No. 1 complaint from people with no experience with driving or living with an electric car, cited as a reason for why they will never get an EV, is that it takes too long to recharge them. On the one hand, this attitude is understandable. For more than a century, humans have become accustomed to vehicles that can be refueled in minutes, using very energy-dense liquids that can be pumped into a fuel tank at a rate of up to 10 gallons per minute.

By contrast, batteries are not at all fast to recharge, particularly if you plug into an AC charger. Even the fastest fast-charging EVs connected to a fast DC fast charger will still need between 18–20 minutes to go from 10 to 80 percent state of charge, and that, apparently, is more time than some curmudgeons are prepared to wait as they drive from coast to coast as fast as they possibly can.

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Tesla has issued yet another recall for the angular, unpainted Cybertruck. This is the sixth recall affecting the model-year 2024 Cybertruck to be issued since January, and it affects 2,431 vehicles in total. And this time, there's no fix being delivered by a software update over the air—owners will need to have their pickup trucks physically repaired.

The problem is a faulty drive unit inverter, which stranded a Cybertruck at the end of July. Tesla says it started investigating the problem a week later and by late October arrived at the conclusion that it had made a bad batch of inverters that it used in production vehicles from November 6, 2023, until July 30, 2024. After a total of five failures and warranty claims that the company says "may be related to the condition," Tesla issued a recall.

Tesla is often able to fix defects in its products by pushing out new software, something that leads many fans of the brand to get defensive over the topic. Although there is no requirement for a safety recall to involve some kind of hardware fix—20 percent of all car recalls are now software fixes—in this case, the solution to the failing inverters very much requires a technician to work on the affected trucks.

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Polestar's range expands a little more today. The Swedish spinoff announced that it is opening its order books for a cheaper, longer-range version of the Polestar 3 electric SUV that rather impressed us when we drove it earlier this year. The Polestar 3 Long Range Single Motor will cost $67,500—well under the price cap for the IRS clean vehicle tax credit, for which it qualifies, as it is built in South Carolina.

Dropping the front motor/generator unit means that the Polestar 3 LRSM is a good deal less powerful than the Long Range Dual Motor version we've driven, but 296 hp (220 kW) and 361 lb-ft (489 Nm) should ensure that while it isn't as fast, it shouldn't be any kind of slouch.

And the boost in range should more than make up for any increase in 0–60 times. The Polestar 3 LRSM can go 350 miles (563 km) on a single charge of the 111 kWh battery, compared to 315 miles (507 km) for the Polestar 3 LRDM.

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Mazda won itself a lot of fans over the years with the sharp styling and attention to detail of its engaging-to-drive vehicles. But in recent years its cars have been left behind by rivals when it comes to fuel efficiency. As a small automaker facing daunting development costs, it decided to partner with Toyota on advanced technologies, including a battery electric vehicle due by 2027. A more immediate benefit has been access to Toyota's hybrid powertrains, one of which can now be found inside the $33,970 2025 Mazda CX-50 Hybrid, which we've driven ahead of it going on sale this month.

Engineering stuff

Open the hood, and instead of one of Mazda's Skyactiv engines, you find one of Toyota's 2.5 L naturally aspirated Atkinson cycle engines, which drives the front wheels together with two electric motors (one is really the integrated starter motor) via a continuously variable transmission. At the rear, a third electric motor powers the rear wheels when necessary. The front traction motor provides 118 hp (88 kW), the rear motor can add an extra 54 hp (40 kW), and total output is rated at 219 hp (163 kW) and 163 ft-lb (220 Nm).

It wasn't exactly a case of shoehorning the new powertrain into the CX-50, but Mazda has had to modify the front frame rails to fit the new engine, transmission, and hybrid motors, and there's a new rear subframe with the rear eAxle, as well as the 0.9 kWh hybrid traction battery, which lives under the rear seat. (This improves the front-rear weight distribution to 55:45, Mazda says.)

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Cadillac has another new electric vehicle on the way. It's the 2026 Vistiq, a three-row SUV that fills the gap in the American automaker's lineup. It will be the fifth Cadillac to use what until now has been called the Ultium battery platform.

Although parent company General Motors has caught a case of EV regret this year, it has also ironed out the problem it encountered when assembling battery cells into packs and expects to sell at least 200,000 EVs this year. Cadillac's Ultium journey began with the midsize Lyriq, which has since been joined by the compact Optiq, the hand-built, highly exclusive Celestiq, and imminently, the Escalade IQ, which rivals the Hummer EV in weight as a result of its whopping 450-mile range.

The $77,395 Vistiq drops in between the Lyriq and Escalade IQ, filling the same niche—but electric—as the XT6 does in the gas-powered lineup. The Vistiq has a virtually identical wheelbase to the gas Escalade at 121.8 inches (3,094 mm), but it's a few inches shorter at 205 inches (5,207 mm) long. Yes, this is a large SUV, but it's a three-row Cadillac—what else do you expect?

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If you've been wanting an electric car but everything seems too expensive, there's some good news on the horizon. A whole lot of EV leases are due to expire in 2026, which should lead to something of a glut, according to data analyzed by JD Power.

We have the revised IRS clean vehicle tax credit to thank. This was revamped under the Inflation Reduction Act, and while tough new battery sourcing rules and a requirement for final assembly in North America have meant many fewer EVs are eligible for the tax credit when bought new, a loophole that considers a leased vehicle to be a commercial sale means any leased EV is eligible for the $7,500 incentive, which can now be subtracted from the price of the EV at the time of sale or leasing.

Since there's also no price cap on the EV or income cap on the buyer, leasing is often a better idea than purchasing outright when it comes to new EVs, particularly for people who are worried about long-term battery degradation. (In fact, this is an overblown fear that is not backed up by data from older EVs, other than the early Nissan Leaf, which does not have active battery cooling.)

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Mercedes-Benz is hard at work putting the finishing touches on the next generation of its sleek CLA sedan. Due to be officially introduced next year, it will feature the latest and greatest in Mercedes' powertrain technology and software, and ahead of that formal reveal, the automaker sent out some images of a camouflaged CLA being driven around its test track in southern Germany by company CEO Ola Källenius.

The next CLA will be the first Mercedes to use the new MB.OS as its underlying operating system, a Linux-based system that also runs QNX in a hypervisor for the safety-critical stuff like the dashboard display. CEO Källenius gave Ars a run-through of MB.UX in 2023, explaining that while it will still work with third parties, it remains in charge.

"We are the full architects of the stack. That doesn't mean we need to program every line of code. It doesn’t make technological sense, and it doesn’t make economic sense," he told Ars.

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Yesterday, Donald Trump won a second presidential term from American voters. His first term was marked, among other things, by attempts to water down environmental laws and regulations aimed at the auto industry. And as a candidate in 2024, Trump has promised plenty of disruption to the sector through both trade policy and an abrogation of the government's commitment to fight climate change. Here are some of the more significant changes we think are coming.

Electric vehicle adoption

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was one of President Joe Biden's signature policy achievements, part of a $450 billion climate package. One of its many sections revised the way we incentivize consumers to buy electric vehicles, with an update to the clean vehicle tax credit that requires final assembly in North America, as well as ever-increasing amounts of US-sourced battery components and minerals to be eligible.

But such policies are not loved by the Republican Party. During his first term, Trump repeatedly criticized EVs, saying that "all-electric is not going to work," and he vociferously attacked EVs during his campaign, telling supporters at his party's national convention in July that "I will end the electric vehicle mandate on day one," referring to a current White House goal to reach 50 percent EV adoption by 2030, and calling the most significant climate legislation ever "the new green scam."

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Whenever we write about electric vans, the comments reveal a growing but pent-up demand for a camper version. Well, it seems that those vibes are being felt at Kia. It has created a pair of concepts for the  Specialty Equipment Marketing Association (SEMA) automotive trade show, which got underway in Las Vegas today.

One of the two concepts will look more familiar—the EV9 ADVNTR is based on the popular electric three-row SUV. But the other is the PV5 WKNDR, a rugged off-road camper based on a forthcoming Kia electric van platform.

The EV9 ADVNTR makes good use of the existing EV9's angular design, with new sections filled in with protective cladding. There's a suspension lift and all-terrain tires, plus a roof rack, to distinguish it from lesser EV9s, but otherwise it's relatively stock.

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GMC's Hummers have always been divisive. After getting hold of the rights to a civilian version of the US military vehicle in 1999, the company set about designing new, smaller vehicles to create an entire range. The ungainly H2 and H3 followed, both SUVs playing to the sensibilities of a country grappling with its warlike nature. By 2010, the Hummer brand was dead and laid dormant until someone had the bright idea to revive it for the electric vehicle generation. We drove the pickup version of that new Hummer in 2022, now it's time for the $104,650 Hummer EV SUV.

I'll admit I was worried that the Hummer EV wasn't going to fit in my parking space. This is an extremely large vehicle, one that's classified as a class 3 medium-duty truck—hence the yellow lights atop the roof. In fact, at 196.8 inches (5,000 mm) long, it's actually slightly shorter than the pickup version, although that length doesn't count the big spare tire hanging off the back.

Its 86.5-inch (2,196 mm) width just about fit between the lines, although it was a tight squeeze to try to open a door and climb up into the Hummer if my neighbor was parked as well. And climb up you do—there's 10.2 inches (259 mm) of ground clearance even in the suspension's normal setting, and the overall height is a towering 77.8 inches (1,976 mm). There is an entry mode that drops the car on its air springs by a couple of inches, but only if you remember to engage the feature when you park.

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Google revealed today how it plans to use generative AI to enhance its mapping activities. It's the latest application of Gemini, the company's in-house rival to GPT-4, which the company wants to use to improve the experience when searching for something. Google Maps, Google Earth, and Waze will all get feature upgrades thanks to Gemini, although in some cases only with Google's "trusted testers" at first.

Google Maps

More than 2 billion people use Google Maps every month, according to the company, and in fact, AI is nothing new to Google Maps. "A lot of those features that we've introduced over the years have been thanks to AI," said Chris Phillips,VP and general manager of Geo at Google. "Think of features like Lens and maps. When you're on a street corner, you can lift up your phone and look, and through your camera view, you can actually see we laid places on top of your view. So you can see a business. Is it open? What are the ratings for it? Is it busy? You can even see businesses that are out of your line of sight," he explained.

At some point this week, if you use the Android or iOS Google Maps app here in the US, you should start seeing more detailed and contextual search results. Maps will now respond to conversational requests—during a demo, Google asked it what to do on a night out with friends in Boston, with the app returning a set of results curated by Gemini. These included categories of places—speakeasies, for example—with review summaries and answers from users.

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In November, Hyundai will formally unveil its next electric vehicle. It's the new Ioniq 9, a three-row SUV that uses Hyundai Motor Group's highly competent E-GMP platform seen in the Ioniq 5 and 6. Ahead of that reveal, the automaker shared some teaser images.

Regular readers will know that Hyundai's various design directions always have interesting names, and like the two smaller Ioniqs, the Ioniq 9 will feature "parametric pixels" in its headlamps—the blocky 8-bit look has been used to good effect on the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6.

E-GMP has already given rise to a big electric three-row SUV. Kia's EV9 has been on sale for a while now and has just about matched the cheaper EV6 in terms of sales for the last nine months, despite a $54,900 starting price that's more than $12,000 greater than the EV6's. (American car buyers really do want larger cars, and they vote with their wallets.)

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Today, Polestar electric vehicles gained access to the Tesla Supercharger network. That means US Polestar drivers have access to 17,800 more DC fast chargers than they did yesterday—once they get a NACS adapter, which can also be ordered today from their local Polestar service point. But right now, Polestar has bigger worries than expanding its charging options. Should proposed new rules banning Chinese connected-car software and hardware go into effect, they would effectively ban the automaker from the US market, the company says, including the EVs it builds in South Carolina.

The rule would ban Chinese connected-car software from US roads from model-year 2027 (midway through 2026) and Chinese connected car hardware from model-year 2030.

The ban on Chinese connected-car technology is the latest in a series of protectionist moves from the federal government and Congress. The revamped clean vehicle tax credit no longer applies to EVs made in China or with Chinese components in their battery packs, and the US Commerce Department has been pressuring Mexico to not offer generous incentives to Chinese automakers looking to set up shop nearby. Chinese-made EVs have also been subject to a 100 percent tariff since May.

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Owners of Ford Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning electric vehicles are getting an over-the-air software update that will finally give Android Auto users a bit of an upgrade. Once the update is installed, Ford's EVs will report their battery state of charge to Google Maps when the app is running on an Android phone and being cast to the Ford's infotainment system via Android Auto.

That means Google Maps can calculate an estimated state of charge upon arrival at the route's end and will suggest charging stops along the way, including estimated charge times.

A similar feature has been available to iOS users casting Apple Maps to Ford EVs via CarPlay since late last year, and it worked quite well when we tried it out with the F-150 Lightning back in January.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Today, the reborn Scout Motors showed off a pair of new electric vehicles that revives the long-dormant maker of trucks and SUVs. Originally owned by International Harvester, Scout now belongs to Volkswagen Group, which decided to use it to create a new American-made brand for off-road-capable vehicles.

The first of these will be the Traveler SUV and Terra pickup truck, due to go into production in 2027. Despite VW's recent investment in Rivian, these are all-new, clean-sheet designs with a platform unique to Scout designed in Michigan, a platform that uses a body-on-frame construction with either purely electric or range-extended powertrains.

Scout says that pricing for the Terra and Traveler should start at "under $60,000," or "as low as $50,000 with available incentives" for the entry-level models, which are due to go into production at a new factory north of Columbia, South Carolina, in 2027.

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