Three-row SUVs are hardly your first thought when picking a car for urban driving, yet the Mercedes-Benz GLB 350 4Matic aims to change that. It combines seating for up to seven occupants with compact exterior dimensions, offering a practical solution for larger families that still need a vehicle suited to everyday city use. Mercedes brought the premium refinement expected of… Read more…
Hurricanes, heat domes, and holding up the grid with home batteries [update]
It’s been a year since this piece on home batteries becoming one of the most important tools we have for keeping the lights on during hurricanes, heat waves, and other extreme weather events was published. Since then, the case for VPPs has only gotten stronger, with more utilities than ever putting big money behind distributed batteries and virtual power plants to keep the grid stable during periods of record energy demands. Read more…
This 2023 Model 3 Has Tesla’s Durable Battery. It Still Degraded
Its LFP pack had 90% health at 26,000 miles. That’s not a disaster, but it’s worse than the chemistry’s reputation suggests. Read More…
UK electric car market surges to 30 percent as Tesla finds its footing
The auto market in the United Kingdom went through quite a shift in June 2026. Latest data shows that EVs captured almost 30% of the new car market during the month, with buyers snapping up 64,440 electric cars. That’s a huge 38% bump compared to the same period last year, with the new car market growing by 15% to 215,921… Read more…
The grid was melting down in last week’s heat – until EVs came to the rescue
As last week’s relentless heat wave pushed power grids to their breaking points, critics feared that the record number of electric vehicles on the push them over the edge. Instead, the opposite happened: EVs helped utilities keep the lights on and the AC running by feeding the electricity stored in their batteries back into the grid. Read more…
Nio’s Firefly brand to hit 70,000th delivery milestone soon
Firefly delivered 6,946 vehicles in June, the second-highest monthly figure on record. Read more…
Kalmar is building – and selling! – these massive electric reach stackers in China
Kalmar began building its 45-ton ERG450 electric reach stackers at a Shanghai manufacturing plant back in 2023, aiming to bring heavy-duty cargo handler closer to potential customers across the Asian market. That investment appears to be paying off, with the company announcing four new orders from to close out Q2. Read more…
GM is flooding dealers with Bolt EVs – is that part of the plan?
GM raised plenty of eyebrows when it announced that its resurrected 2027 Chevrolet Bolt – one of the lowest-priced, most capable new EVs in North America – would only be built for a single model year. Despite the limited-time offer and solid sales, dealers are still sitting on 118 days’ of inventory, far more than the 60-day supply the industry considers healthy. That begs the question: did GM overestimate demand, or is this all part of the plan. Read more…
CATL is building more than 200 battery swap stations EVERY MONTH
The CATL-backed Choco-SEB battery swap network deployed its 2,000th swapping station June 30th, wrapping up another month of incredibly rapid growth that’s seen the company average more than 200 deployments in each and every month of 2026. (!. Read more…
Nio names 3 candidate cities for Nio Day 2026, users to decide winner
Harbin, Wuhan and Xiamen beat out 5 other bidding cities to enter the final vote. Read more…
Hyundai expands Preferred Partner Network across Europe
Hyundai is expanding its Charge myHyundai charging service’s Preferred Partner Network to nine additional European markets. At the same time, the company is introducing a new Ionity Pro package, which allows new customers to use it free of charge for the first month. Read more…
Chery starts up South African plant acquired from Nissan
The plant is slated to begin production in mid-2027, with an annual capacity of 50,000 units on a single shift once fully ramped up. Read more…
The DC metro area is getting its first en-route electric bus chargers
The Washington, DC, metro area is getting its first en-route overhead pantograph electric bus chargers. Read more…
The new XPeng L03 wants to challenge legacy brands – can it?
The EV markets around the world are going through a major shakeup as Chinese automakers expand beyond their domestic borders. Xpeng , an already established EV brand, wants a slice of that global electric pie – on July 2, 2026, the manufacturer officially opened pre-sales in China for its latest crossover. And this one is heading straight to Europe. The… Read more…
Volkswagen’s next electric SUV is almost here, and it’s not just a rebadged ID.4 [Images]
The Volkswagen ID. Tiguan is expected to debut later this year, bringing much more than just a new look and name. Read more…
The Hyundai IONIQ 5 remains a top-selling EV as sales cross 20,000 in the first half of 2026
The IONIQ 5 is steadily carving out a spot among the most popular EVs in the US. Hyundai moved over 20,000 IONIQ 5s in the first half of 2026, putting it ahead of much of the pack. Read more…
Podcast: Tesla Model YL, Q2 deliveries, BMW iX5, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss the launch of the Tesla Model YL, BMW iX5, and EV sales results for the second quarter. Read more…
DASH breaks ground on DC metro region’s first en-route electric bus chargers
DASH breaks ground on DC region’s first en-route electric bus chargers, partnering with ABM to build fast-charging infrastructure for transit buses. Read more…
UK EV registrations hit 30% share in June as Tesla rebounds 42%
British battery-electric vehicle registrations jumped 38% in June to 64,440 units, pushing EVs to nearly 30% of the new car market — their strongest monthly performance outside seasonal peaks, according to New AutoMotive data released Friday. Read more…
Electrek American Solar Challenge 2026: About the race, full schedule, and teams competing
It’s now July, which means schools from around the world are making final preparations for the Electrek American Solar Challenge 2026, and this year is going to be an especially notable one! A record 42 teams from colleges in the US, Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands are registered to compete in the Formula Sun Grand Prix pre-qualifier track event in less than two weeks. Read more…
