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Plus, stay tuned because later in the show I’ll tell you why Polestar isn’t getting left behind with a return to beast mode.
No EV News China because it’s the weekend. Our deep dive into how the East is shaping the global EV landscape is back on Monday.
KIA NIRO FACELIFT KEEPS SAME TECH
Kia has sharpened the Niro but left the hardware alone. The mid-sized crossover now wears the firm’s ‘Opposites United’ design language, with a reworked nose and tidier surfacing, while still offering hybrid, plug-in hybrid and full-electric versions.
The front end loses the thick silver bar around the bonnet and gains taller headlights, in line with the EV3 and EV9. A more angular grille gives a squarer face. Along the sides, the flat black cladding shrinks and switches to a glossy finish, as do the wheel-arch extensions. At the rear, a new bumper and smoked light housings with a thinner LED graphic bring it closer to Kia’s latest EVs.
Inside, a thinner dashboard makes room for a new pair of 12.3in infotainment and instrument screens set in a single rectangular panel. The centre console keeps its layout but swaps piano black for matte grey plastic. The steering wheel now has a flatter top and bottom, matching current EV cabin fashion.
Technical details will follow in March, but the powertrain line-up should mirror the current car. The plug-in hybrid keeps its 8.9kWh battery and offers an electric-only range of 40 miles. The EV uses a single front-mounted motor making 201bhp and delivers a range of 285 miles.
PORSCHE CANADA SWITCHES ON PLUG & CHARGE AT TESLA SITES
Porsche Canada has enabled Plug & Charge for its electric cars on Tesla’s Supercharger network, widening access to fast charging without apps, cards or on-screen menus. The feature now works on all Macan Electric models and 2026 model year Taycan vehicles when drivers use the Porsche Charging Service.
Porsche owners can now use more than 27,500 Tesla Superchargers across North America, with encrypted, automatic authentication and payment as soon as the cable connects. Charging sessions start and bill in the background, but only for active Porsche Charging Service members, keeping the convenience tied to Porsche’s own platform.
Porsche says the forthcoming Cayenne Electric will gain Plug & Charge capability when it reaches Canada later this year, extending the same experience across its core EV line-up. The firm has also widened its charging reach over the past year through software updates for Taycan and Macan Electric models, aimed at smoothing network access and improving compatibility.
Existing owners received complimentary NACS-to-CCS DC adapters, a quiet but important step that lets Porsche drivers use the fast-growing North American Charging Standard while the cars still rely on CCS architecture.
BMW’S IX3 FORCES FASTER EV PRODUCTION
BMW’s new iX3 is selling well, even as buyers have never sat in it. In Germany more than 3,000 orders had been logged by October, before the car’s first international drive event. Since then demand has climbed further, helped by customer events across Europe.
The response has forced BMW to move faster than planned. Orders have exceeded expectations to such an extent that the firm has added a second shift at its Hungarian plant earlier than intended. The factory can build 150,000 cars a year, a figure that may now be beaten with the extra shift. Reports of a near sell-out for the first production year have swirled, though BMW insists order books remain open.
In Germany roughly one-third of iX3 buyers are new to BMW. Many customers are placing orders without a test drive, a sign of how far the firm’s electric credentials have come and how strong demand now is for advanced EVs.
Mercedes-Benz’s GLC with EQ Technology does not match the iX3 on charging speed or range, but it still marks a large step for Stuttgart. The success of both models points to a shift in the market rather than a one-off hit. If current order patterns hold, 2026 will stand out as the year when buyers pushed the old guard into building more capable electric cars at scale.
BENTLEY’S FIRST EV TAKES SHAPE AS COMPACT SUV
Bentley’s first electric car has left the sketchpad. A compact SUV prototype has been photographed on winter test in northern Sweden, with less disguise than before and its basic shape, headlamps and tail-lamps now visible.
Bentley still leans on the Bentayga, launched in late 2015, as its best-selling model in America and worldwide. Yet the firm needs a smaller electric model to keep rich urban buyers in the fold and regulators at bay, especially in Europe.
The new SUV sits on Volkswagen Group’s Premium Platform Electric, shared with the Porsche Macan, Cayenne Electric and Audi Q6 E-tron. That choice ties Crewe’s future to the group’s main EV toolkit and should cut both cost and technical risk. The profile echoes earlier Bentley design sketches and mimics a scaled-down Bentayga: upright stance, familiar glasshouse, but in a shorter, tighter package.
https://www.autonews.com/volkswagen/bentley/an-bentley-electric-suv-spy-photos-0122/
FORD DEFENDS CHINA-LINKED BATTERY BET IN MICHIGAN
Ford will build Chinese-designed batteries in Michigan and says it had no other choice. Jim Farley, the firm’s boss, argues that licensing lithium-iron phosphate technology from CATL was the only legal route to make such cells in America.
The politics are touchy; the logic is blunt. Farley says producing cells at home with licensed intellectual property beats importing finished packs from abroad. Ford owns and runs BlueOval Battery Park Michigan, staffed by American workers, even as it leans on Chinese know-how.
The wager is that long-term competitiveness in electric vehicles and storage demands more than buying batteries as sealed boxes. Ford wants hands-on manufacturing experience with the chemistry and processes rather than staying tied to overseas supply chains. Its strategy centres on learning the technology through direct production, not outsourcing it.
Ford has already widened the project’s scope to make LFP batteries for stationary energy storage, hoping to squeeze more value from the CATL tie-up. It concedes that licensed technology will stay vital as it scales both electric vehicles and storage lines.
CALIFORNIA EV SALES HOLD FIRM AS FEDERAL SUPPORT VANISHES
Californians bought 79,066 new zero-emission vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2025. That was 18.9 per cent of new car sales, even though federal tax credits vanished on September 30th and nationwide EV demand slumped.
The state’s cumulative new ZEV sales have jumped by more than 300 per cent since the end of 2019. While nationwide EV sales fell from 10.5 per cent of new car sales in the third quarter to 5.8 per cent in the fourth after federal support ended, California’s market proved more resilient. Third-quarter ZEV sales there reached 29.1 per cent of new car sales as buyers rushed to use the federal credit, likely pulling demand forward and softening the fourth quarter. Yet the state still leads the country in clean transport.
Governor Gavin Newsom’s January 9th budget proposed a $200 million incentive programme to offset lost federal tax credits and speed adoption. The California Energy Commission has allocated $98.5 million in light-duty ZEV infrastructure funding for fiscal year 2025-2026, with an emphasis on Level 1 and Level 2 charging where cars sit for longer, and a specific push for at-home charging in multifamily buildings.
NORWAY’S FAST-CHARGING RACE HITS CRUISE CONTROL
Norway added 1,192 fast-charging points last year, taking the total to 10,670. That set a record, but was far below 2023, when providers installed 2,029.
The slowdown marks a maturing market rather than fading ambition. The Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association hailed the crossing of 10,000 fast chargers last summer as a milestone and noted that the country has already met the government’s charging-strategy targets. With demand pressure easing, operators build fewer new stations than in earlier years, but offer a better service.
Norway now has one fast-charging point for every 85 registered electric cars, an improvement on last year’s one for every 100. In 2019, 113 electric cars competed for a single fast-charging station. Today’s ratio is the lowest recorded and helps explain why fewer drivers face queues.
OFF-PEAK EV CHARGING COSTS DROP AS FLAT RATES RISE
UK Off-peak ultra-rapid charging prices fell by about 10% in December 2025, to an average of around 45p per kWh. That cuts the cost of charging an EV from a low battery to 80% during off-peak hours to under £20, compared with over £30 at peak times last year.
The shift sharpens the gap between smart use of the network and lazy use. The AA report finds that timing now does as much work as technology in cutting running costs. Drivers who charge off-peak or overnight gain a clear edge over those who rely on flat-rate public chargers.
Over the past two years, off-peak charging prices have generally fallen, while flat-rate charging prices have risen. Some ultra-rapid flat-rate units now approach 80p per kWh. Since 2023, flat-rate public charging prices have climbed by about 13%, even as off-peak tariffs have eased.
Home charging has grown markedly cheaper. Average domestic electricity prices have dropped by nearly 25% since 2023. On a per-mile basis, EVs charged at home or on off-peak public rates now undercut petrol vehicles by a wide margin.
https://www.carwow.co.uk/news/10154/ultra-rapid-ev-charging-costs-drop
ELEPORT TO ADD 250 FAST-CHARGE HUBS WITH EIB CASH
Eleport plans to add more than 250 high-power charging parks to its network by 2028, backed by a €35m loan from the European Investment Bank. The expansion will push its footprint deeper into Central and Eastern Europe and into two new markets, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Public fast-charging in the region stays patchy even as EV adoption climbs. Eleport, founded in 2016, already runs over 400 sites with more than 800 points across six European countries. About half are DC chargers. Now the firm wants a denser grid of high-power hubs at places drivers already visit.
The new parks will sit at key shopping and commercial areas in Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Each site is expected to host up to twelve fast-charging points, each rated at up to 400kW.
NORTH SEA STATES PLOT 100GW SHARED OFFSHORE WIND PUSH
Nine European governments want to turn the North Sea into a 100GW shared power plant. Energy ministers from the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and six others plan to seal the pledge at a meeting in Hamburg.
They aim to build 100GW of joint offshore wind projects by 2050, as part of a wider 300GW offshore target for the North Sea. About one-third of future capacity in these waters would thus be shared. Initial schemes, totalling roughly 20GW, are due to start in the 2030s.
For the EV industry, that matters. Large-scale offshore wind should cut wholesale prices over time, underpin long-term power contracts for gigafactories and charging networks, and make electrification less dependent on volatile gas markets. The ministers also want these joint assets to harden Europe’s energy system against both physical and cyber threats.
POLSTAR SHARPENS BST BRAND FOR NEXT FAST EV WAVE
Polestar will launch a new BST “Beast” model between late 2026 and early 2027, reviving its performance sub-brand for the electric age. The car will use an existing model as its base, though executives have not said which shell and skateboard they will adapt.
The timing matters. The performance end of the EV market is filling fast. Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 N already looks the front-runner among hot battery-powered hatchbacks. Further up the price ladder, BMW and Audi are pouring money into electrified performance. BMW’s new electric M Neue Klasse, finally revealed after a long tease, is set to produce over 738 horsepower. Any future BST halo car will have to live with that number.
BST has form. It has already turned-out uprated versions of the Polestar 2, and the firm has promised a BST variant of the Polestar 6 roadster concept. Scott Maynard, who runs Polestar in Australia, says the company will extend BST treatment to more of the line-up, arguing that it fits the brand’s image.
The Polestar 5, shown at the 2025 IAA Mobility show in Munich with 884 horsepower, is now the firm’s quickest model and an obvious candidate for the BST badge, though it is not sold in America. The newer Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 also sit early in their lifecycles, leaving scope for extra power and sharper dynamics.
https://bit.ly/4tiYfA3
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