businessinsider.com
Electric-vehicle shoppers are getting sick of Tesla.Well over half of the EV shoppers surveyed by UBS in an annual study said they would prefer to buy an electric car from a legacy carmaker over a new manufacturer such as Tesla.On top of that, the bank found that the likelihood a US shopper would buy an EV increased with brands other than Tesla.These results and other signs of stagnation overall in the EV market give UBS reason to believe that Tesla’s near- to midterm growth plans are in danger.…
10 days ago
businessinsider.com
Tesla CEO Elon Musk denied a report that the electric-vehicle company was scrapping plans for a long-awaited $25,000 model.Reuters reported Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter and company messages, that Tesla was throwing in the towel on its long-planned more-affordable model.“Reuters is lying (again),” Musk posted on his social-media platform, X, formerly Twitter, in response to the story.Despite this denial from Musk, Reuters cited Tesla’s own internal company messages halting the…
14 days ago
businessinsider.com
The Fisker Ocean got a second chance with a popular YouTuber who gave it a terrible review last month.Marques Brownlee, known for his tech-focused videos, said in a video posted Wednesday that Fisker provided him with a new Ocean, equipped with a software update that some argued would have changed his original negative review.“I’ve never reviewed a car twice before,” Brownlee says at the start of the video, referencing the original, in which he called the Ocean the worst car he’d ever driven.Tha…
15 days ago
businessinsider.com
When the automotive industry started looking toward an electrified future, Detroit automakers decided to throw their hat in the ring with what they do best: Pickup trucks.The first entrants to the electric-pickup market enjoyed some early success, particularly in the Ford F-150 Lightning. But sudden changes to the electric car shopper demographic mean that for the second time in the last 20 years, Detroit finds itself selling big, expensive cars nobody really wants.Behemoths like the GMC Hummer…
19 days ago
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Fisker’s pricey Ocean SUV just got a lot more affordable.The embattled electric-vehicle startup said Tuesday it would reduce the price of the most expensive Ocean by nearly 40% to $37,499. That brings the price of the Ocean Extreme nearly $6,700 below the average price paid for any new vehicle this month.Cheaper trims are also discounted, with the most affordable Ocean now selling for $24,999, Fisker said in a press release. That’s a price point you can’t often find on any new car lot these days…
23 days ago
businessinsider.com
If you’ve been waiting to buy a new car until prices start to fall, your patience over the last few years might be paying off.Average affordability for new cars is finally heading in the right direction for shoppers, according to new data from Cox Automotive. February notched the best new vehicle affordability in over a year as prices and interest rates fell and average income grew, the study found.Shoppers paid an average of $47,244 for a new car in February, down 2.2% from the same month a yea…
about 1 month ago
businessinsider.com
This year is shaping up to be a big one for hybrid cars, a segment once thought to be a relic of the pre-Tesla EV market.After demand for electric cars pulled back suddenly in the second half of last year, 2024 has started with slowing sales of battery-powered cars. Fewer new-car shoppers are considering EVs for their next vehicle, according to JD Power, with shoppers citing a lack of access to charging infrastructure as a main reason for ruling out EVs.That’s where hybrids are getting the advan…
about 1 month ago
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Your driving habits aren’t as private as you think they are, according to a recent report from The New York Times.Internet-connected vehicles can gather data on driving habits, including hard braking and rapid accelerations, and share that information with the data broker LexisNexis, which works with insurance companies to create personalized coverage.One Chevrolet Bolt owner who spoke with the Times said he uncovered a 258-page report on his driving habits when he inquired about a 21% increase…
about 1 month ago
businessinsider.com
Rivian is taking aim at Tesla with the R2, a smaller and more affordable SUV that will compete with the Model Y.The two vehicles will go head-to-head in the mass-market electric SUV segment, with matching starting prices of around $45,000 and battery ranges of around 300 miles.The Model Y will be stiff competition for Rivian’s R2.Tesla’s mass-market SUV has been a massive success for Elon Musk’s EV company since its launch in 2020, with Model Y and its smaller counterpart, the Model 3, leading t…
about 1 month ago
businessinsider.com
Electric vehicle sales aren’t going the way Ford expected when CEO Jim Farley took direct aim at Elon Musk’s Tesla in 2022.Wealthy early adopters that companies like Ford were relying on to usher their EV business to profitability are dropping out of the market, and being replaced by a more frugal and practical green car shopper.Tesla’s Elon Musk has room to drop prices to meet these new customers’ needs, inciting a price war that Ford can’t win right now.But that’s where hybrids come in. Ford’s…
about 1 month ago
businessinsider.com
Rivian on Thursday revealed two new SUVs: the long-awaited R2 SUV and a surprise, smaller version called the R3.The smaller and more affordable follow-ups to its popular R1T truck and R1s SUV are designed to reach more mainstream customers than Rivian’s pricey R1 and R2 trucks.The R2’s $45,000 starting price puts it more in line with the average new car transaction price at a time when demand for more expensive EVs is drying up.The smaller size and lower pricing for the R2 also positions Rivian…
about 1 month ago
businessinsider.com
Rivian’s new R2 SUV is smaller and more affordable than its other models but still packed with the goodies we have come to expect from the outdoorsy EV brand.While the R2 is smaller than the R1S, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said Thursday the interior was designed to feel just as open and airy.Two quarter-windows in the rear of the vehicle pop open to allow for better interior airflow, while the back window rolls down all the way to accommodate longer cargo.Take a closer look inside the R2 SUV: Rivian…
about 1 month ago
businessinsider.com
Official reviews for Tesla’s Cybertruck are rolling in, and so far, the hulking stainless steel truck is largely living up to the hype.Recent reviews in Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal praise the Cybertruck for a smooth ride, tight handling at low speeds, and achievements in design and engineering.The complaints, much like the truck itself, are rather unique compared to a typical pickup-truck review. Among Bloomberg’s hangups were the truck’s smudge-prone exterior and its propensity to att…
about 2 months ago
businessinsider.com
Toyota, the originator of the hybrid-car craze in the early 2000s, is poised to reclaim its crown as the king of green cars.As demand for battery-electric vehicles cools and more shoppers look toward hybrids, the Prius-maker is among the most well-suited to meet the current moment in the transition to electric cars.After years of being labeled an EV laggard among its peers in the industry, customers don’t appear to care that Toyota has so far released only one pretty unpopular electric car in th…
about 2 months ago
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Electric vehicles are getting some hefty discounts this year.In order to deal with a slowdown in demand for big, expensive electric cars — and dwindling federal incentives — dealers and manufacturers are pouring on discounts.Deals have abounded in the EV market since last summer, when these cars started piling up on dealer lots. Elon Musk’s aggressive discounting of the popular Tesla Model 3 and Model Y didn’t help either.By the end of last year, electric cars were seeing some of their highest d…
about 2 months ago
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Rivian’s R2 can’t come soon enough for the electric truck startup.Debuting next month, the R2 is a crucial piece of Rivian’s future as a smaller and cheaper option for a new wave of EV customers.Its launch comes at a critical time for Rivian, which reported disappointing fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday evening, with its 2024 production forecast falling well short of analyst predictions.The company also announced yet another round of layoffs, slashing 10% of its salaried workforce after losing…
about 2 months ago
businessinsider.com
Toss out the snow brush. This electric vehicle can shake off that fluffy white stuff for you.Chinese EV company Nio recently shared a new video of its ultra-premium ET9, which is still about a year out from final production, independently tossing off a few inches of snow.In the video, the camouflaged ET9 pulls off what can only be described as a puppy shake to clear large chunks of snow off the windshield, roof, and rear window in just a few seconds.The maneuver is the work of the $112,000 ET9’s…
about 2 months ago
businessinsider.com
Capital One Financial is set to acquire Discover Financial Services in an all-stock deal valued at $35.3 billion, the two companies announced on Monday.The deal — first reported by the The Wall Street Journal — would merge two of the largest credit-card issuers in the US.“Our acquisition of Discover is a singular opportunity to bring together two very successful companies with complementary capabilities and franchises, and to build a payments network that can compete with the largest payments ne…
about 2 months ago
businessinsider.com
President Joe Biden’s aggressive electric vehicle requirements are likely to ease up ahead of the 2024 presidential election, according to reports.Last spring, just before electric vehicle demand began to soften, the EPA proposed a 56% reduction in new vehicle emissions by 2032, with automakers expected to aim for EVs to make up 60% of new vehicle production by 2030.The eased rules are expected to bring that EV production requirement below 60% by 2030, according to Reuters.The incoming revision…
about 2 months ago
businessinsider.com
As electric vehicle shoppers become more practical and price-conscious, inexpensive EVs are having a moment.Affordable electric models are becoming a key piece of the auto industry’s transition away from fossil fuels as demand for the more expensive models falls.Automakers have returned to the drawing board this year on the EV plans, adding more hybrid options than before and promising more affordable EVs.Ford, for example, announced earlier this week it would be prioritizing smaller, more inexp…
2 months ago
businessinsider.com
Tesla recently gave some of its factory workers raises, but union-represented workers at Detroit’s Big Three will still make a lot more per hour.According to internal documents reviewed by Business Insider, new pay guidelines for Tesla workers were implemented on January 8. Factory workers at Tesla now make anywhere from $22 to $39 an hour, according to the documents.Tesla is the latest automaker to raise wages after the United Auto Workers won massive pay hikes for their members at Ford, GM, an…
2 months ago
