This is how you revive an iconic brand.
Volkswagen is reviving the defunct brand as an off-roading electric vehicle for distinctly American tastes. At the reveal event in Tennessee, Scout executives are really emphasizing the mechanical, tactile controls, trying to draw a contrast to chilly, minimalist EVs with touchscreen controls. Our full write-up will go live in just a few minutes.
Earlier this year, I said that Tesla was in its flop era. Now, the company is crushing it, posting its biggest gains in almost 11 years, according to Bloomberg. What a difference a few weeks make, when the stock tumbled after the glitzy-but-disappointing robotaxi event. Investors wanted to see signs of life, and they got it in the form of lower material costs, a surging energy business, and increased sales of regulatory credits to lagging automakers. They also said cheaper EVs are coming next year.
The VW-backed company is holding an event in Tennessee today to reveal its first EV concepts. You can tune in to the livestream through the brand’s website. And be sure to stick around and read our full rundown later in the evening.
Apologies to the Ford Mustang Mach-E, which the polarizing truck pushed back to claim the No. 3 spot during this most recent quarter. We had an inkling that the Cybertruck was exceeding expectations when word got out that registrations were surpassing overall EV truck registrations. Tesla confirmed it in its Q3 earnings report, announcing that the Cybertruck was third behind the Model Y and Model 3.
Jim Farley relayed his experience driving the Xiaomi SU7 EV in the US for the last six months on the Everything Electric podcast recently. Ford flew one out from China so he could live with it every day. “I don’t want to give it up,” Farley said. That said, he said he’s confident that Ford is taking the threat of Chinese EVs seriously, touting the company’s “skunkworks team” in Silicon Valley that’s at work on the next-gen EV platform.
That’s one of the extremely upsetting details in this Bloomberg story about the many injuries and side effects experienced by workers at the buzzy EV company’s factory in Normal, Illinois. The worker requested a respirator while painting Rivian’s EVs, but was denied — leading her to vomit up blue bile. Other maladies include:
A cracked skull. A foot fracture. A back laceration so severe it required surgery. An amputated finger.
Rivian has racked up more “serious” safety violations than any other automaker since the start of this year. Healthy and safety are a “top priority,” the company told the outlet.
