Which EV brands announced they’ll adopt Tesla’s NACS port this week?

Which charging network opened a fast-charging station at the Grand Canyon?

This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending October 6, 2023.

Volvo confirmed that its EX30 EV will start at $36,245 for the U.S., with deliveries expected to start next summer. That makes it a rival to models like the Hyundai Kona Electric, Kia Niro EV, and even the Chevy Bolt EV, but with a luxury badge. 

The 2024 Genesis GV60 EV lineup adds a single-motor, rear-wheel-drive Standard model that offers a lower $53,195 base price along with an estimated 294 miles of EPA range. There are a few more standard tech features added, too. 

The Toyota Highlander Hybrid remains one of the highest-mpg three-row SUVs without a charge port—and the 2024 Highlander Hybrid adds a Nightshade Edition grade for a new look while maintaining its 36-mpg rating.

Ford on Tuesday rolled out the 2024 F-150 Lightning Flash electric truck. The $72,090 Flash adds a real-world range-boosting heat pump and, as a trim level of the F-150 Lightning with the larger extended range pack and an expected 320 miles of range, offers up a “tech-focused” proposition for shoppers. 

Monday two U.S. EV makers provided production and delivery numbers, albeit at very different scale. Tesla reported quarterly numbers that put it slightly behind on meeting its 1.8 million vehicle target for 2023. Meanwhile, Rivian also provided an update showing it’s accelerating EV production and deliveries toward a target of 52,000 vehicles this year. 

Perhaps spurred by its delivery numbers that came up short, the Tesla Model Y and 3 cost less than they did at the start of the week. With up to $2,250 off actual sticker prices in this latest reduction, the Model Y Long Range now slots below $50,000, while base versions of the Model 3 and Model Y both slot well under $40k if buyers can claim the EV tax credit. 

The base, rear-wheel-drive Lucid Air Pure is now available to order, Lucid announced Thursday, for well under $80,000. And while at the moment the Tesla Model S undercuts the Air Pure slightly in price, the Pure’s 410-mile EPA range rating is achieved with less battery capacity. 

Toyota made a long-term supply agreement with LG Energy Solution that taps into Michigan-sourced LG cells for upcoming U.S.-made Toyota EVs—including the three-row electric EV confirmed earlier this year. 

Volkswagen has confirmed that a next-generation electric VW Golf will be made at the company’s Wolfsburg home base starting later in the decade. Further, it will be based on the company’s upcoming SSP architecture, which includes unified prismatic battery tech. 

Nissan’s Hyper Urban crossover concept is the first of four EV concepts the automaker plans for a Tokyo auto show debut later this month. With scissor doors, sharply creased bodywork, and an interior inspired by “kaleidoscopic triangles,” this concept bets on bold design for urban and suburban professionals—and taps into vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) bidirectional charging capabilities. 

Hyundai will adopt Tesla’s NACS charge port for its EVs in the U.S. and Canada later in 2024, with those EVs gaining access to Tesla Superchargers, the company confirmed Thursday. It claims that Tesla will “fully support the ultra-fast charging speeds” of its latest 800-volt EVs, while NACS adapters for the brand’s CCS-port EVs will arrive in 2025. Kia and Hyundai’s Genesis luxury brand also confirmed a similar future.

GM has announced some impressive targets for its new-generation electric vehicles powered by Ultium battery tech, including aims to make 400,000 EVs in North America from 2022 through 2024. But GM’s slow ramp of Ultium EVs—with just 4,222 deliveries of them in the third quarter, plus a Bolt EV on the way out—makes those targets look out of reach. Meanwhile, a letter from a lobbyist group representing some of the legacy automakers, including GM, claims that proposed Biden administration efficiency rules will cost them billions of dollars in fines. It even reportedly suggests that will get in the way of their ability to build more EVs.

Lordstown Motors might not be coming back, but its fleet-focused designs and ideas might get yet another incarnation. That’s because, according to an SEC filing, founding CEO Steve Burns is buying the EV maker’s assets for just $10 million—a fraction of what he made from share sales.

The California startup Rove broke ground last week on the first of 20 amenity-packed EV charging stations—each with 40 fast-chargers delivering all three interfaces, plus wifi, a lounge, a car wash, and a mini grocery store. Is this what the future of charging should be?

In other charging news, this past week Electrify America opened a 350-kw EV fast-charger at Grand Canyon National Park—right at the South Rim, and closer than any Tesla Supercharger gets as of yet.

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