Tesla stands accused by some customers of retroactively amending their FSD contracts, Volkswagen decides to ban all third-party API access for its telematics systems across all of its brands, and a court case in the Netherlands decides that pedaling an e-bike might not actually mean you need to make the pedals do a full revolution.
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Today’s show is sponsored by the Electric Vehicle Association. Join up to support the electrification of transport today. And by CCAN Action Fund’s electric vehicle raffle for the planet — buy your ticket today to support their mission to fight for cleaner air and a healthier environment, and get three chances to win a brand new EV with every ticket. And by EnergySage — plan your own energy independence and insulate yourself from rising energy costs. And by you. Stick around to find out how to keep us 100% independent.
Welcome back to another episode of TEN — Transport Evolved News. Thanks for joining me. I hope you are safe, well, and with someone you care about who also cares for you. Before I get into today’s show, I just want to say thank you to everyone who reached out after news broke about my partner’s layoff this week. Your kindness has genuinely renewed my faith in the internet.
We start today’s show with two Tesla stories, and yes, I know we don’t traditionally cover the company, but both have significant legal implications. First, a potential class action in Quebec, estimated at up to $400 million Canadian dollars, alleges Tesla knowingly sold vehicles with defective heat pumps that fail unreasonably quickly. The suit is currently recruiting claimants. Customers who paid for Full Self-Driving Capability between October 2016 and August 2024 have noticed their original signed contracts have been retroactively modified online to include the word “Supervised,” with their original signed paperwork no longer accessible and a modified version now in its place. With an active US class action covering FSD statements made during that same period, some legal commentators suggest that modifying and removing those original contracts could constitute spoliation of evidence — which is patently illegal.
And since we started today’s show with automakers behaving badly, let’s stay in that lane. Volkswagen has officially closed the door to all third-party API access across the entire Volkswagen Group, replacing it with a paid partnership model that took effect in mid-May. This affects everything from smart charging software like EVCC, to Home Assistant integrations and custom solutions that let owners divert excess solar power to their cars — and it covers all Volkswagen Group brands, not just Volkswagen-badged models. Volkswagen says the move is for security reasons, but it removes choice and control from owners who paid a significant amount for their vehicles. As strong advocates of right-to-repair and your right to access your own vehicle data, we at this channel would argue that this takes us in exactly the wrong direction. That said, I fully expect some reverse engineering is imminent. I hope, like so many other open-source projects, it’s only a matter of time before someone finds a way around this enforced lock-in.
US-based charging network Electrify America is changing how it bills enrolled customers for charging sessions, ditching its account balance and auto-reload system in favour of direct card billing. Going forward, charging session costs will be billed directly to the credit or debit card on file for customers, as it already was for non-members, with any existing account balance applied to your next session first and any remainder charged to your card. The shift appears to be driven in part by federal requirements around payment accessibility. EA will place a temporary $20 authorization hold per session, and only the actual amount used will be debited. But those holds can sometimes take days to clear, and I have real concerns about what this means for customers paying with debit rather than credit cards, where holds work very differently. This, effectively, could disproportionately affect exactly the customers who can least afford it.
It’s been about four years since Rivian first launched its Adventure Network, and roughly eighteen months since it opened that network to non-Rivian customers. It’s quickly become a go-to network for those with children and pets, since its stations tend to be really well sited for amenities and have proven consistently reliable. Plus, for those in the US who don’t want to give Tesla money, or who have been burned by EA’s reliability issues in the past, it’s a compelling alternative. This week, Rivian confirmed the network has now crossed 1,000 stalls across 148 locations, with 97% of sites open to all compatible EVs, and network-wide reliability standing at 98%. At that size, it’s still a fraction of many rival networks, but what it lacks in scale, it more than makes up for in reliability and siting. It might not be the cheapest network out there, at least in my personal experience, but it has become my preferred choice for long-distance travel, and based on reports from Rivian drivers, issues are quickly resolved. More networks means more choice, and that’s good for everyone.
As bus operators increasingly make the switch from fossil fuels to electric, questions are arising over best charging practices at depots. Some operators prefer traditional plug-in charging stations placed next to parking spaces for overnight charging. Others prefer pantograph-style charging, where buses can be charged while parked without requiring a driver or ground crew to physically connect them — a significant advantage at scale. This week, Finnish charging specialist Kempower, in collaboration with Australian installer Jet Charge, celebrated the official commissioning of Australia’s first Pantograph-Down electric bus depot at Brookvale, New South Wales. Operated by Keolis Australia, the depot uses 13 high-power pantograph chargers to transition 229 diesel buses to battery electric, chosen in part because the site had limited space for traditional plug-in infrastructure. The system is designed for 99.9% uptime and is backed by Transport for New South Wales’ Zero Emission Bus Transition Plan. If it delivers on its promises, it could become a model for depot charging infrastructure across the country.
It’s been about ten years since automakers started showing serious interest in semi-autonomous and autonomous features in their vehicles. Many promises have been made — and broken. This week, BYD surprised many by pledging to cover all liability costs for accidents that occur while its God’s Eye Urban Navigate on Autopilot feature is in use, provided it’s being used in accordance with the automaker’s guidance. The pledge applies for one year per customer, and it’s worth noting that God’s Eye remains an SAE Level 2 system, which means the driver must remain attentive at all times. As I explained in a video on the channel this week, this feels like part PR, part marketing, and part compliance in advance, as China moves towards mandating this kind of indemnity for higher-level autonomous systems. It doesn’t necessarily mean the system is infallible, but it’s a calculated move that puts pressure on every other automaker offering driver assistance features to consider what their own liability position will look like.
When EVs were still considered something of a curiosity, it was pretty common for automakers to inflate their vehicles’ claimed range — or at least game the system — on official range tests. These days, some automakers are mercifully trending the other way, underselling their vehicles’ capabilities. This week, we heard two excellent examples of that, both from German automakers. First up is BMW, whose iX3 xDrive50 was recently part of the annual summer EV range test organized by the Norwegian Automobile Federation in collaboration with Motor Magazine. During the range test — largely viewed as the most accurate and comprehensive of its type — the iX3 xDrive50 managed to drive an astonishing 781 kilometers, or 485 miles, on a single charge, well above its official 770-kilometer WLTP rating. Half a world away, the Mercedes-Benz CLA EV was similarly exceeding its rated range during an Edmunds real-world range test, achieving a total range of 385 miles — a full 73 miles more than its official EPA rating. In both cases, these automakers are demonstrating something not all brands get: it’s better to under-promise and over-deliver than make wild claims nobody can achieve.
Plug-in hybrids are often portrayed as the perfect middle ground between internal combustion and battery electric vehicles, the idea being that you can drive on electricity most of the time but fall back on combustion engines for longer trips. Advertised as a more environmentally friendly alternative — something countless studies prove isn’t true — now a new study from ICCT can be added to the mix. It shows that while real-world emissions from conventional combustion vehicles exceeded their official ratings in Europe by around 19% in 2023, plug-in hybrids in the same model year exceeded theirs by 401%. No, that’s not a typo. 401%. Worse still, the trend is moving in the wrong direction — 265% in 2021, 323% in 2022, and now 401% in 2023. The gap stems from plug-in hybrid engines rarely getting warm enough to operate efficiently in real-world use. And given that many nations are now looking to plug-in hybrids to help meet their emissions targets, that widening gap between lab and reality could spell serious trouble ahead.
To finish this section, we’ve got a run of stories from US politics, starting with a survey. According to the Environmental Protection Network in collaboration with YouGov, a sample of just over 2,000 US voters showed that by a 62-to-8 margin, Americans want the US EPA strengthened rather than weakened — and 84% think that the current administration should be tougher on corporate polluters. That includes 82% of Trump’s own supporters. In a move that will hopefully warm some hearts, meanwhile, New York is suing the US Interior Department over $1 billion paid to TotalEnergies in exchange for dropping offshore wind lease claims and pivoting to fossil fuel exploration instead. Unfortunately, it’s not all good news, because the US House Transportation Committee has advanced the BUILD America 250 Act with its proposed $130 annual EV fee intact. It’s still not too late — if you’re in the US, now is definitely the time to call your representatives.
Our recall reminders are next, but first — are you looking for your chance to drive off in a brand new EV and support a non-profit working to make major fossil fuel polluters pay for the climate crisis? What’s that? Yes? Well, here’s the perfect opportunity for you to do both. Enter this year’s Electric Vehicle Raffle for the Planet from the CCAN Action Fund, and each ticket gets you three chances to win a brand new EV. The first prize winner will build their own luxury Rivian, Lucid, or Porsche EV of up to $115,000 in value. Second prize will get to pick between the Rivian R2, Volkswagen ID. Buzz, or Hyundai Ioniq. And the third prize winner will win a Chevrolet Bolt. Only 10,000 tickets are being sold at just $200 each, and every dollar supports the CCAN Action Fund’s work to shift the rising costs of climate-related disasters — like increased intensity of floods and wildfires — away from everyday people like you and me, and onto those truly responsible, like the biggest, dirtiest energy polluters out there. Head to evraffle.org to grab yours now — that’s evraffle.org — or find the link in our show notes, or point your smart device at the on-screen QR code. Good luck.
And now it’s time for our recall reminders — but before we go there, I do want to acknowledge that something very weird is happening at NHTSA, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. For years, it’s been sending out weekly emails of all recalls, but in the last few months, its email system has become erratic, and it’s recently started sending old recalls out. I’ve done my best, and to the best of my knowledge, what we have today are the only two new recalls for EVs and plug-ins this week. First, Lucid has recalled its rear-wheel drive Lucid Air to address a fault with its Gen 4 inverter system that may suddenly fail while driving, causing a loss of drive power. And Stellantis has recalled multiple vehicles across its portfolio, including the Chrysler Pacifica, to address a bug with the rear-view camera system that can cause the image to fail to display. And those are our recall reminders. Now it’s time for our News Shorts. As usual, you’ll find full links on our website at transportevolved.com.
Waymo has signed an agreement with second-life battery specialist B2U to supply it with used EV battery packs from its robotaxi fleet for use in static grid-tied energy storage projects.
Connected mobility firm Zūm has partnered with the San Francisco Unified School District to establish the largest electric school bus fleet in the US. Construction on a new depot has just begun.
European energy firm Vattenfall has partnered with Kia and Hyundai in the Netherlands on a new bidirectional V2G program. Currently a pilot program, participants will receive a bidirectional charging station and up to €500 for taking part.
Xpeng has published its first quarter figures for this year, showing a notable drop in deliveries. It delivered 62,682 cars in Q1, down more than 31,000 cars on the same period last year.
Tesla has applied for a patent on small windshield wipers for use on its camera lenses for its Full Self-Driving system, raising fresh questions over whether the company can actually achieve reliable FSD without them.
Sales figures from Subaru last month show that while its new Trailseeker and Uncharted are still new to the market, both EV models are already outselling the older Subaru Solterra — which I happen to have on press loan this week.
BMW has opened its online configuration tool for its more affordable BMW iX3, the new rear-wheel drive iX3 40. Deliveries will start later this summer.
Waymo has officially started using its Ojai autonomous vehicle in its robotaxi fleet in the US. After completing internal testing, the Ojai — based on the Zeekr RT — is now offering paying customers their first rides.
Volvo Construction Equipment and Hitachi Energy have announced a new collaboration that they hope will accelerate the number of zero-emission construction sites around the world.
AUDI — Audi’s Chinese market all-caps brand — has officially started deliveries of the AUDI E7X. It’s offered in a choice of two drivetrains, with the highest-powered 500-kilowatt version offering a sub-four-second sprint time.
Xpeng has signed a new agreement with Magna Steyr in Austria that will see the contract manufacturer build a fourth all-electric model for Xpeng in Europe.
Sales data from last month from the UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders shows that EV sales represented 27.3% of all new cars sold during May, but that figure is still well below the 33% target set for this year.
The Irish government has announced a new programme due to launch next month called the ICE2EV scheme. It’s funded to the tune of €10 million and will help owners of ICE vehicles over 13 years old switch to electric.
Reporting from South Korea claims that Volkswagen is close to bringing Samsung SDI on board as an additional battery supplier for its Unified Cell battery design. It’s yet to be officially confirmed.
Moment Energy, fresh from a new major investment round worth $40 million US dollars, has announced it will be building the world’s largest battery repurposing megafactory in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Kia has officially added new variants of its PV5 to its UK lineup. These include a new seven-seat passenger variant and a new cargo variant that’s available with either two- or three-seat cab seating.
Nabrawind, a Spanish subsidiary of Australian mining and energy giant Fortescue, has successfully completed the first crane-less installation of a wind turbine in extreme wind conditions in Namibia.
The Nikkei is reporting that Toyota has decided to halt development of its next-generation Lexus EV — the production version of the LF-ZC concept, unveiled in 2023. According to the report, development has been fully discontinued, with Toyota pivoting focus towards internal combustion engine SUVs instead.
A trial program established between Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Enercity has successfully exported and traded energy stored in EV battery packs on Germany’s power market for the first time. The project continues.
Africa’s leading two-wheel EV company Spiro has raised an additional $215 million US dollars in fresh capital and completed the acquisition of Coexlion, an engineering and design firm it will use to establish its first African research and development centre in Kenya.
Honda has officially become a strategic partner in Nexeon, a specialist in silicon-based anode materials for lithium-ion battery packs. The value of the investment has not been disclosed.
The Initiative Green Brenner has launched — a partnership between MAN Truck & Bus and Dettendorfer Energy, aiming to make the Brenner Corridor in the Alps a model route for battery-electric truck operations.
UK EV charging service centre company Gridserve has opened a new Electric Superhub at Moto Lymm Services on the north of England’s M6, between Liverpool and Manchester.
The Weaver Network in West Yorkshire, UK, will take ownership of more than 190 single and double-decker electric buses from Wrightbus in a deal worth up to £100 million.
The UK’s post-Brexit status could prevent the Oxford MINI production facility from ever building the electric MINI, an insider has warned this week — with production likely to remain in China instead.
Chinese brand NIO has slowed down its plans for expansion in Europe, instead focusing on expanding its sales and service in China. According to reports, it plans no expansion in Europe until 2027.
Mercedes-Benz is preparing to expand its GLC lineup with two new variants. According to reporting from Europe, it will add two lower-cost models with a 94 kWh battery pack.
Polestar and Clever have announced a new agreement to work together on exploring using EVs as virtual power banks for the electrical grid in Denmark. These will be focused around the Polestar 4 SUV.
MG has launched its premium IM5 and IM6 in Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Already on sale in the UK, the two models are based on an 800-volt system architecture.
Sales data from Norway last month shows that EVs retained their massive market dominance. 15,210 new EVs were registered in the month, corresponding to a 97.8% market share.
FirstBus has officially welcomed its first repowered buses to its FirstBus West fleet in Bath, Weston-super-Mare, and Bristol in the southwest of England. Repowered buses have been converted from Diesel to electric.
SAIC Group brand MG Motor has officially announced that its first European production facility will be established in northwestern Spain, where it will build EVs for the European market.
BYD has ended its eight-month sales decline, recording a modest 0.26% year-over-year increase in May — a recovery driven by a dramatic 80.4% year-over-year boost in overseas sales volumes.
Scania has announced a €70 million investment into its existing production facility in Angers, France, to ready it for electric truck production. Initially, the facility will produce both electric and ICE models.
Australian company Amber has announced a massive expansion to its V2G program to more than 1,000 homes, thanks to a $13.6 million Australian dollar cash injection from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
Daimler Truck has launched a new variant of its eActros electric heavy truck called the eActros Lowliner — a lower roofline model built specifically for height-constrained duties, such as car carrier operations.
Cylib has partnered with Vianode to form a closed-loop system for sustainable battery recycling and graphite recovery, signing a memorandum of understanding this week as the basis for their collaboration.
OrangeEV has secured its largest-ever order for electric terminal trucks — 600 vehicles that will expand its in-service fleet by more than 30%, bringing its total to around 2,500 units.
WeRide, partnering with Uber, has announced a new robotaxi pilot program in Madrid, Spain. It’s the first commercial robotaxi pilot program in the nation’s history.
Rolls-Royce has announced the Rolls-Royce Spectre Series II. All models feature upgraded battery packs, NACS as standard in North America, and up to 18% more range per charge.
Tata Motors has confirmed that it will license Chery JLR’s new EV platform — as designed for the new jointly developed Freelander marque — for Tata’s new Avinya brand.
Palmer Energy Technology has officially acquired UK-based conversion company Kleandrive. Kleandrive was in administration, and the sale ensures its IP and nameplate can continue.
Researchers at Fraunhofer IAF have developed a compact, efficient 800-volt bidirectional 3kW charging module using Gallium Nitride power electronics, in collaboration with GaN4EmoBil.
Nissan and Chery have agreed to work together to study the possibility of using Nissan’s Sunderland production facility in the UK to contract manufacture Chery EVs for the UK market.
Zenobē and Spanish firm Vectalia have signed a €120 million operating lease framework agreement that should see an acceleration of the electrification of public transport in Spain.
Sany has begun to deliver its e263 electric semi-truck in Europe. With the first vehicles already in operation in Germany, the Chinese-made trucks could prove tough competition to more established European brands.
And finally for the shorts, legislators in Connecticut have passed an extension to the state’s existing solar incentive program, seeing them extended through until 2035. And those are your News Shorts. There will be more next week.
Our final two stories are coming right up, but first a word on how we do what we do. Transport Evolved has been around for 15 years, and we’ve always believed that good information should be free — not paywalled, not driven by advertorials, and not beholden to anyone with a cheque book. That hasn’t changed, but what has changed is the financial landscape around us. YouTube ad revenue no longer covers our costs, and like a lot of independent creators, we’re feeling that squeeze. This week, that squeeze got a lot tighter. My partner Kate was laid off as part of a corporate restructuring, and as a small team where every dollar counts, that has a real impact on what we’re able to do here. Her income paid our household bills, and with that gone, I need to start pulling a salary from TE. But we can’t do that without a substantial increase in income. So I hope, if you’re able, that you’ll consider helping us to do that — from $1.50 a month, making a one-off donation, or perhaps visiting our swag store.
Or perhaps, if you’re in the US, you’d consider using one of our long-time channel sponsors — EnergySage. They’re a great way to get trustworthy, verified solar experts helping you navigate the often complex process of getting solar panels for your home. I personally used them for my own home, so I can vouch for their awesomeness. And if you choose them — whether for solar panels, a heat pump, or even just to join a local community solar program, which is perfect for renters — we’ll receive a small referral fee. Supporting us would really mean a lot, and you could also be weaning yourself off big energy bills at the same time. However you do it, thank you for your continued support.
And now it’s time for our final two stories.
Volkswagen Group has long talked about making affordable electric vehicles for European buyers, and this week it started making good on that promise, with production beginning at the Martorell plant in Spain of the recently revealed Volkswagen ID. Polo and Cupra Raval. Both models are built on the MEB+ platform and offer around 450km, or 279 miles, of WLTP range. The shared platform has delivered €600 million in cost savings across the four-model Electric Urban Car Family — savings the Volkswagen Group says will help bring entry-level electric mobility within reach of more European buyers. The ID. Polo also includes vehicle-to-load functionality and a choice of drivetrain and battery pack options. The Cupra Raval, of course, is designed to offer a sportier, more characterful alternative to the ID. Polo for younger drivers, while the soon-to-launch range-topping ID. Polo GTI — unveiled a few weeks ago at the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring — sits above both of its siblings in the marketplace. Given that we’re regularly told to feature more European models on this show, I’m glad to be sharing this with you — but I just wish we could get these two on sale in North America, because despite what automakers claim, I think they’d be very popular indeed.
And finally for today’s show, let’s head off to the wonderful world of e-bikes. I’m going to start with news that in Ontario, they are preparing to modify the province’s e-bike legislation to allow children under 16 to ride as passengers — something that has technically been illegal until now, despite thousands of parents in the province doing exactly that every school day on cargo bikes. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, a Dutch court has ruled on a rather delightful legal question — whether moving your feet up and down on the pedals of a fat-tire e-bike, without completing a full pedal arc, counts as actually pedaling. This was after a rider had his Phatfour e-bike seized by police, who argued that his short, choppy pedal movements — enough to trigger the bike’s cadence sensor but not make a full revolution — didn’t constitute real pedaling. The court disagreed, ruling that Dutch law contains no requirement for circular pedaling, and ordered the bike to be returned to its owner. That’s quite a big loophole — and one I’m sure the Netherlands will be patching very quickly.
And on that note, we are done for today’s show — but first, a massive thank you to the Electric Vehicle Association for sponsoring us. The EVA has been around since 1967 and is firmly committed to a cleaner, greener future for everyone. Join the EVA today, become an EV educator, and find ways to accelerate your own transition to electric if you haven’t made the switch yet. Head to myeva.org for more info.
And thanks go to CCAN Action Fund. Tickets are just $200, only 10,000 are being sold, and each ticket gets you three chances to win a brand new EV. So don’t hang about — grab yours today at EVRaffle.org. And thanks as well go to EnergySage. Follow the link below to start planning your own energy-independent future today.
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Finally, you matter. You’re important. And while you may not always feel it, your voice and actions matter to everyone. I know it’s hard in a world filled with hate to feel like you have a place — but I want you to know that you do have one. The fact that you are here watching this means a lot to me and the team, and we are grateful that you are here and that you are you. The world is, unfortunately, scary. The news headlines are almost too much to bear at times, but I want you to remember that even the strongest people sometimes need time to reset and recuperate. So do not be afraid to do that. Don’t be afraid to speak your truth, take your time, and listen to your own heart — because the world that we build together is much stronger when we all have a voice, when we all listen, when everyone is welcome. A cleaner, greener, safer, smarter, and more equitable world must be one rooted in justice, fairness, and a shared goal.
So until next time, be your authentic self — whoever you are, wherever you are, and whoever you love. You are all part of this wonderful journey we are on together. As always, keep evolving.