Andrew J. Hawkins

Gizmodo reports that Uber will pay $100 million in back taxes to the state of New Jersey in response to an audit that concluded the company was misclassifying its drivers as independent contractors. But here’s the thing: Uber will pay any amount of money necessary to continue misclassifying drivers, because reclassifying them as employees would cause Uber to cease to exist.

The Drive’s Kevin Williams has made what could be one of the greatest EV archeological discoveries of a generation: a 1987 Chevy Corvette EV built by cell-phone pioneer Motorola.

Earlier this year, Specialized announced a new sub-brand called Globe dedicated to building high-quality electric utility bikes that are designed specifically to replace car trips. We still don’t know what these bikes will look like, but today the company released its brand statement in the form of a poem, which is cute. Specialized promises it will have more to say on September 27th, so mark you calendars.

The Union of Concerned Scientists says that the US electrical grid is up to the EV challenge, even in states like California with a lot of grid problems and a lot of EVs. The group even has high hopes for the future, as EVs grow more prevalent on the road. Utilities and grid operators will need to invest in more capacity and better transmission, though, if and when EVs become the dominant vehicle type on the road.

Lithium is a key ingredient in EV batteries, and the gulf coast of Texas could become the site of a major processing facility for Tesla. Whether the state approves the company’s request for tax breaks, though, could be a deciding factor.