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RIVIAN OS 2 REACHES BOTH R1 GENERATIONS https://evne.ws/nggu3

REPORTED ID. POLO ORDERS TOP 30,000 BEFORE LAUNCH https://evne.ws/ubjuj

HYUNDAI OPENS STARIA ELECTRIC ORDERS IN EUROPE https://evne.ws/nwo62

ELECTRIC VEHICLES OUTSELL PETROL CARS IN AUSTRALIA https://evne.ws/0bwba

UK ELECTRIC VAN SHARE HITS RECORD 16.3% https://evne.ws/32taf

US DIESEL AVERAGE REACHES $5.85 A GALLON https://evne.ws/pjxvo

BYD OFFERS UK DISCOUNTS OF UP TO £2,500 https://evne.ws/84xt0

SPD BACKS EU TARIFFS ON CHINESE PLUG-IN HYBRIDS https://evne.ws/r5nfn

BC2BC LAUNCHES WEST COAST TRUCK CHARGING CORRIDOR https://evne.ws/g0dbg

TESLA AND BYD DRIVE KOREAN IMPORT GROWTH https://evne.ws/pdk2x

STELLANTIS OFFERS REFURBISHED BATTERIES FOR MOST EV MODELS https://evne.ws/ctfwu

It's ev.news Briefly for Monday 07 September 2026, only todays headlines and nothing else, in just 4 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.

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RIVIAN OS 2 REACHES BOTH R1 GENERATIONS
Rivian began rolling out update 2026.31 on Friday, extending RivianOS 2 to R1T and R1S models from both R1 generations alongside R2, adding a vertical status bar, quick controls and media player placeable on either side of the centre display, a rebuilt Settings 2 app with universal search, Real-Time Route Alerts for speed cameras and police presence in Google Maps navigation, and Rivian Unified Intelligence behind a "Hey Rivian" assistant that can control vehicle functions. Hardware still divides the platform: R2 and second-generation R1 vehicles run Unreal Engine 5 for real-time 3D visualisations while first-generation R1s stay on Unreal Engine 4 to preserve screen responsiveness, reflecting the first-gen's 17 electronic control units against the 2024 second-gen's seven-unit zonal architecture, dual Nvidia Drive AGX Orin processors and roughly ten times the processing power.
REPORTED ID. POLO ORDERS TOP 30,000 BEFORE LAUNCH
More than 30,000 orders for Volkswagen's ID. Polo, priced from €24,995 (about $29,000), have reportedly been placed across Europe before the hatchback's official sales launch, with pre-sales open since late April, demand strongest in Germany and most buyers ordering without having seen or driven the car. A major VW dealer group says the range is effectively sold out with waits of at least ten months, while Volkswagen attributes the delays to strong demand and capacity planned in advance at its Martorell plant in Spain, where it is progressively increasing production.
HYUNDAI OPENS STARIA ELECTRIC ORDERS IN EUROPE
Hyundai has opened European orders for the Staria Electric from €57,450 (about $66,800) for the German Trend nine-seater, using an 84 kWh battery, a 160 kW (218 hp) front motor, up to 430 km (267 miles) WLTP range and an 800V architecture that charges 10-80% in about 20 minutes at 350 kW, plus internal and external 16-amp V2L. At 5,253 mm it is 200 mm longer than the IONIQ 9 and larger than the Kia PV5 and VW ID. Buzz, with up to 1,303 litres of luggage space in nine-seat form, a Prime version adding electric sliding doors, powered tailgate, Highway Assistant 1.5 and a 230V socket, and a Calligraphy seven-seater from €66,950 ($77,800) with Nappa leather, BOSE audio and reclining second-row seats.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES OUTSELL PETROL CARS IN AUSTRALIA
Fully electric vehicles outsold petrol cars in Australia for the first time last month, with 27,078 EVs registered against 25,824 petrol and 23,608 diesel vehicles, taking one in four new-car sales. Including plug-in hybrids, battery-powered vehicles reached 36% of the market while petrol and diesel together fell below 50%, a shift BYD's Paul Ellis put down to falling reluctance and an influx of cheaper Chinese models, leaving public charging capacity as the open question.
UK ELECTRIC VAN SHARE HITS RECORD 16.3%
UK electric van registrations rose 25.9% to 2,395 units in August, a record 16.3% share of the light commercial vehicle market, with battery-electric vans at 11.0% of new LCV registrations in the year to August. August is traditionally a low-volume month ahead of September's numberplate change, so the share gain may overstate the trend and September will be the clearer test of sustained fleet demand.
US DIESEL AVERAGE REACHES $5.85 A GALLON
US diesel hit a record national average of $5.85 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA data cited by the New York Times, 55% above the level at the start of the US war against Iran in late February and above the previous peak set in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. Diesel powers heavy-duty pickups, commercial fleets and farming, so the rise feeds through to supermarket prices, landing weeks before the midterms in a political climate hostile to EVs despite the household cost relief that switching away from the pumps could deliver.
BYD OFFERS UK DISCOUNTS OF UP TO £2,500
BYD will cut UK prices by up to £2,500 ($3,300) across its DM-i plug-in and electric range from 10 to 21 September in what it calls its biggest-ever sales event, covering the Dolphin Surf, Dolphin, Sealion 07, Seal U DM-i and Atto 2 DM-i, as the UK's record 25.6% BEV share for the first eight months of 2026 still sits below the 33% mandate. The brand has registered more than 110,000 UK vehicles since March 2023, with registrations up 98% to over 48,000 through August and market share rising to 3.48% from 1.92%, and the Europe-specific Dolphin G DM-i arrives this month from £250 ($330) a month.
SPD BACKS EU TARIFFS ON CHINESE PLUG-IN HYBRIDS
Germany's Social Democratic Party has backed extending EU tariffs to Chinese plug-in hybrids, closing a gap in measures that levy up to 45% on Chinese-built electric vehicles but leave hybrids untouched, setting out the position in an economic-policy paper calling for more resolute protection against "unfair practices". The stance is a notable shift for the CDU's junior coalition partner, given Germany opposed the 2024 EV tariffs and has long resisted tough measures on China for fear of retaliation against key industries.
BC2BC LAUNCHES WEST COAST TRUCK CHARGING CORRIDOR
The British Columbia to Baja California ZEV Corridor, or BC2BC, has launched along the I-5, linking California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Baja California with an initial deployment of 20 EV charging stations and three hydrogen fuelling stations for the estimated 10,000 trucks using the route daily. CalSTA, CALSTART/Drive to Zero and UC Davis's Institute of Transportation Studies are coordinating planning and investment, with Volvo Group North America, Southern California Edison, Tesla, EV Realty and King Fio Trucking represented at the Port of Long Beach launch.
TESLA AND BYD DRIVE KOREAN IMPORT GROWTH
Imported vehicle sales in Korea rose 9.2% year on year to 29,817 units in August, driven largely by Tesla and BYD, while all five domestic carmakers recorded declines. Union walkouts from July into August lasted around 60 hours and were estimated to have cost about 55,000 vehicles of production, contributing alongside fewer summer holiday production days to a 7.6% fall at Kia, and growth in a market long led by BMW and Mercedes-Benz came mainly from lower-priced EVs.
STELLANTIS OFFERS REFURBISHED BATTERIES FOR MOST EV MODELS
Stellantis is making refurbished high-voltage batteries available for most battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models across its brands, remanufactured to OEM specification with the same performance characteristics and warranty terms as MOPAR original parts. The company says the approach extends product life and prevents waste, saving up to 80% of raw materials and up to 40% of CO2 emissions against new parts, building on its earlier supply of refurbished EV batteries for stationary storage including at Rome Airport.

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XIAOMI AUTO PASSES 800,000 DELIVERIES https://evne.ws/o4mw2

XIAOMI TO DEBUT DRAGONSCALE BATTERY WITH SKYNOMAD https://evne.ws/6elq4

VOYAH OPENS DREAM 9 PRE-SALES IN CHINA https://evne.ws/arn24

AISTALAND GX7 PRE-SALES START AT $37,000 https://evne.ws/cou57

CHANGAN OPENS QIYUAN Q06 PRE-SALES https://evne.ws/1nfmx

DENZA N8L EV SET FOR SEPTEMBER 14 LAUNCH https://evne.ws/my3ck

LI AUTO PLANS 2.65 BILLION YUAN SUNWODA EVB STAKE https://evne.ws/49yog

PROLOGIUM BEGINS 381 WH/KG CELL MASS PRODUCTION https://evne.ws/8ixyb

GEELY E2 REACHES BELGIAN DEALERS BEFORE LAUNCH https://evne.ws/rrhg3

CHINA IMPOSES LITHIUM BATTERY TAX https://evne.ws/dmkoh

CHINESE BRANDS OVERTAKE JAPANESE ON THREE-YEAR VALUES https://evne.ws/lmegx

Volkswagen is preparing to quit building cars at four German factories. Every one of them builds EVs.
On Thursday this week, in Wolfsburg, Volkswagen's supervisory board voted unanimously — a day ahead of schedule — to approve something called Future Plan 2030.
50,000 more job cuts by the end of the decade. The model range gutted and cut roughly in half by 2035. And four German plants placed under a review that could end vehicle production at all of them.
Those four plants are Emden. Zwickau. Hanover. And Audi's Neckarsulm.
Zwickau was the first large car factory in Europe converted entirely to electric vehicles and Emden was the second. Hanover currently builds the ID. Buzz whilst Neckarsulm builds the e-tron GT and the A6 e-tron.
Volkswagen spent something like 2.2bn euros converting Zwickau and Emden alone.
Six years later, the company says it cannot demonstrate a competitive future use for either of them.
So the question isn't "is Volkswagen in trouble."
We knew that already.
The question is why the factories it electrified hardest are the ones it now says it can’t justify - and what that tells you about how Europe built its EV industrial policy.

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BEVS BECOME UKS LEADING POWER SOURCE DESPITE INDUSTRY PUSHBACK https://evne.ws/yacje

STELLANTIS SETS NOVEMBER JEEP, MID-APRIL RAM PRODUCTION https://evne.ws/upt50

PHEVS EMIT 4.6 TIMES OFFICIAL CO₂ VALUES https://evne.ws/6kkvf

FORD AIMS FOR 100,000 FATHOM SALES https://evne.ws/jlarm

BEVS OUTSELL PETROL AND DIESEL IN AUSTRALIA https://evne.ws/rarkh

BATTERY TRUCKS PROJECTED TO BEAT DIESEL COSTS https://evne.ws/bpm7x

MAN PARTNERS PLAN AROUND €400M FOR EUROPEAN SERVICE SITES https://evne.ws/wyh3d

WAYVE AND UBER OFFER LONDON AUTONOMOUS RIDES https://evne.ws/47nxs

BARCELONA OFFERS FOUR MILLION EUROS ELECTRIC BIKE SUBSIDIES https://evne.ws/o7rvv

XIAOMI SIGNS EIGHT GERMAN DEALER ARRANGEMENTS https://evne.ws/ikay0

It's ev.news Briefly for Friday 04 September 2026, only todays headlines and nothing else, in just 4 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.

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BEVS BECOME UKS LEADING POWER SOURCE DESPITE INDUSTRY PUSHBACK
Battery electric vehicles took 30% of the UK car market in August, up from 23% a year earlier, making BEVs the largest single powertrain category ahead of hybrids at 29%, petrol at 22% and PHEVs at 14%, with plug-ins combined reaching 44%. The performance is comfortably ahead of the effective 24.6% target New AutoMotive calculates for this year, yet the government has opened a consultation on relaxing its EV rules under carmaker pressure — a move that could backfire, given Chinese manufacturers now hold 28% of Europe's PHEV segment, up 60% year on year, with PHEVs making up 60% of BYD's European registrations.
STELLANTIS SETS NOVEMBER JEEP, MID-APRIL RAM PRODUCTION
A supplier memo reviewed by Automotive News schedules electrified Jeep Grand Wagoneer production for November, six months later than the planned May start, and Ram 1500 REV production for mid-April, a nine-month slip from mid-2026 for a pickup originally due in 2025 as the Ramcharger. Stellantis maintains both extended-range models are on track — Jeep this year, Ram in 2027 — with the Grand Wagoneer built in Warren, Michigan alongside its petrol version and the Ram at Sterling Heights, delays that two supplier executives attribute to ensuring smooth launches.
PHEVS EMIT 4.6 TIMES OFFICIAL CO₂ VALUES
Plug-in hybrids registered in 2023 emitted 4.6 times their official CO₂ values in real-world driving, up from 3.5 times for 2021 registrations, according to an International Council on Clean Transportation study of nearly 920,000 vehicles that found longer electric range has coincided with less actual electric driving. The ICCT blames the EU utility factor formula, which assumes an 80% electric-driving share against a real-world figure of around 21% in 2022, with author Jan Dornoff arguing the rarely-achieved official values give PHEVs an unjustified advantage over combustion cars in manufacturers' CO₂ compliance.
FORD AIMS FOR 100,000 FATHOM SALES
Ford has set an internal target of 100,000 first-year sales for its Fathom electric truck, according to WSJ sources, a figure no non-Tesla EV model has ever reached in the United States. Production is expected to begin in Q1 2027 with a starting price just under $30,000, which would place the Fathom third among US single models if rivals' volumes hold steady.
BEVS OUTSELL PETROL AND DIESEL IN AUSTRALIA
Battery-electric vehicles outsold both petrol and diesel in Australia in August, hitting 27,078 units and 24.9% of a new-car market that grew 4.9% to 108,760 vehicles, against 25,824 petrol and 23,608 diesel cars, with BEV sales up 171% year on year. BEVs, hybrids and PHEVs together took 51.8% of sales, leaving combustion-only cars in the minority for the first time, and all eight best-selling EVs were China-built, including Tesla's Shanghai-produced Model Y and Model 3, the BYD Sealion 7 at 2,213 units and sixth overall, and the Geely EX5, up more than 385%.
BATTERY TRUCKS PROJECTED TO BEAT DIESEL COSTS
Battery-electric trucks are projected to undercut diesel on total cost of ownership across 70 to 90% of kilometres travelled in German heavy-duty freight by 2030, but that falls to a medium-scenario lower bound of 21 to 25% of economically feasible activities once daily range limits and charging availability are factored in. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research study in Nature, combining cost forecasts with real-world use profiles from four million European trucks, finds small-battery electric trucks competitive on 91% of freight activity by 2030 versus 69% for large-battery variants, with drivetrain efficiency, energy costs, battery size and usage intensity driving the outcome.
MAN PARTNERS PLAN AROUND €400M FOR EUROPEAN SERVICE SITES
MAN dealers, service partners and importers plan to invest around €400m (about $464m) in European service locations, on top of MAN's own €300m (about $348m) network investment by 2030, with board member Friedrich Baumann calling the combined scale unprecedented in company history despite ongoing cost cuts and job reductions. Roughly a third of the partners' spending goes to electromobility and digitalisation, including high-voltage staff training, battery repair centres and public charging at MAN branches, while a separate E.On partnership announced in 2024 targets up to 400 charging points at up to 170 European locations, up to 125 of them in Germany.
WAYVE AND UBER OFFER LONDON AUTONOMOUS RIDES
Wayve and Uber have launched supervised autonomous rides through the Uber app across London's entire urban area excluding airports, using battery-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles running Wayve's AI Driver with cameras and environmental sensors, each carrying a TfL-licensed safety driver who can intervene. UberX, Uber Electric and Uber Comfort passengers may be offered a Wayve ride at no extra cost before their trip, with London the first of twelve planned markets and a Tokyo service using the Nissan Leaf and Nvidia Drive Hyperion due later this year, though no date has been given for removing the safety driver.
BARCELONA OFFERS FOUR MILLION EUROS ELECTRIC BIKE SUBSIDIES
Barcelona is launching four million euros of electric bike subsidies running from 2027 to 2030, with the first call scheduled for publication in 2027, offering up to 400 euros (about $465) for pedal-assisted city bikes and up to 800 euros (about $929) for freight bikes, capped at 40% of the pre-VAT cost. Registered city residents and companies with premises in Barcelona will be eligible, with the scheme intended to extend cycling distances and open up the city's sloped areas, though the subsidy rules still require approval.
XIAOMI SIGNS EIGHT GERMAN DEALER ARRANGEMENTS
Xiaomi has signed agreements or letters of intent with eight German dealership groups, including Emil Frey, Penske Automotive and the Lueg Group, ahead of a planned 2027 European launch that will add another Chinese entrant to an already competitive German market. The company, which has sold roughly 700,000 SU7 sedans and YU7 SUVs in China since March 2024 according to President William Lu, is raising its profile at Berlin's IFA show from Sept. 4 to 8 with around 380 products, promoting a "Human x Car x Home" ecosystem linking more than 1,000 devices to the car, though it has not said which models Europe will get.

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FREELANDER 8 LAUNCHES FROM 289,900 YUAN https://evne.ws/a3zvu

BYD SEALION 08 GETS MORE THAN 12,000 ORDERS https://evne.ws/gu25d

CATL CHAIRMAN CITES 7.4 MILLION CHINA NEV SALES https://evne.ws/ern4n

CHERY PLANS 2027 SOLID-STATE ROAD TESTS https://evne.ws/1ztp9

CHINA NEV RETAIL SALES FALL 4% IN AUGUST https://evne.ws/q5vhc

AUDI AND SAIC CREATE SHANGHAI R&D CENTRE https://evne.ws/be5gb

XIAOMI AUTO SIGNS EIGHT GERMAN DEALERS https://evne.ws/sgwm0

HORSE UNVEILS 3DHT200 OFF-ROAD PHEV SYSTEM https://evne.ws/x9tq5

ZEEKR 7X GAINS 85 KWH PACK IN CHINA https://evne.ws/ruhfc

CHINA IMPORTS 125 BATTERY-ELECTRIC PASSENGER CARS https://evne.ws/r20x1

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POLESTAR 4 SUV LAUNCHES IN EUROPE https://evne.ws/nfwis

SCOUT REVEALS TWO TRAVELER CONCEPTS https://evne.ws/8tsmm

FRANCE BEV SHARE RISES TO 38% IN AUGUST https://evne.ws/8pl1x

MOST USED EVS RETAIN ABOUT 90% CAPACITY AT 150,000KM https://evne.ws/fb3mf

KIA OPENS CANADIAN ORDERS FOR 2027 EV4 GT https://evne.ws/fmhti

HONDA SEEKS 1.5 TRILLION YEN IN SAVINGS https://evne.ws/qr1fc

MNDOT OFFERS $41.2 MILLION FOR UP TO 40 SITES https://evne.ws/oc6b9

TESLA US SALES DROP 26% IN AUGUST https://evne.ws/cazzw

VOLVO GLOBAL SALES FALL 7.4% FROM JUNE THROUGH AUGUST https://evne.ws/cokv3

XPENG TAKES UK COMMERCIAL CONTROL https://evne.ws/v1ho8

35% OF SCREEN-EQUIPPED OWNERS NEVER USE THEM https://evne.ws/jrelr

It's ev.news Briefly for Thursday 03 September 2026, only todays headlines and nothing else, in just 4 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.

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POLESTAR 4 SUV LAUNCHES IN EUROPE
Polestar has launched the Polestar 4 SUV in Europe, its largest market, adding a more practical body variant with a linear roofline, vertical tailgate, conventional rear window and mirror, 25mm more rear headroom, standard roof rails rated to 100kg dynamic load, 1,665 litres of capacity with the 60:40 seats folded and a 15-litre front trunk. Rear Motor versions offer 200kW and up to 630km WLTP range while Dual Motor models produce 400kW and up to 600km, both using a 100kWh battery charging at up to 200kW DC for a roughly 30-minute 10-80% top-up, priced from €57,900 in Germany and £54,750 in the UK with first deliveries planned for Q4 2026 and Canada to follow Europe.
SCOUT REVEALS TWO TRAVELER CONCEPTS
Scout Motors has revealed the Mountainside and Trail-ready concepts based on its Traveler electric SUV, debuting at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience, with the rugged Trail-ready wearing Galvanized Steel paint, a Canvas roof, full-metal bumpers, elevated roof rack with trail lights, front winch, 18-inch beadlock wheels, 35-inch off-road tyres and a brick-red leather Denim District interior, while the refined Mountainside uses Morning Dusk charcoal-brown paint with gold flakes, 22-inch dish wheels, light-brown leather, grey fabric and recycled walnut trim. Scout has not confirmed whether either will be sold as a package or which features are optional; Traveler production starts next year with deliveries from 2028, and the range-extended Harvester, using a four-cylinder generator and 63kWh LFP pack for a claimed 500 miles, launches before the battery-electric version.
FRANCE BEV SHARE RISES TO 38% IN AUGUST
Battery-electric vehicles took 38% of France's new-car market in August 2026, up from 35% in July, with registrations climbing 113% year on year to 36,159 units according to the CCFA. Chinese brands took 7,070 registrations or 7.5% of the market, led by BYD on 2,195, MG on 2,003 and Jaecoo on 1,987, but were outsold by Renault alone on 13,128, ahead of Peugeot on 11,716 and Tesla on 5,038, of which 4,622 were the Model Y, France's best-selling BEV.
MOST USED EVS RETAIN ABOUT 90% CAPACITY AT 150,000KM
An Aviloo study of more than 500,000 battery-health tests across 20 popular models in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia between 2022 and 2026 found most used EVs retained about 90% of usable battery capacity at 150,000km, with median state-of-health scores ranging from 87% to 94%, led at that mileage by the Mercedes-Benz EQA at 93.97% and Hyundai Ioniq 5 at 93.79%, and trailed by the Nissan Leaf at 86.67%, Mini Cooper SE at 87.11% and Renault Zoe at 87.33%. Chinese models were excluded for lack of data, air-cooled and smaller batteries such as the Zoe and Leaf degraded faster, the Leaf ZE1 showed a 13.5-percentage-point spread between individual cars, and with warranties typically covering eight years or 160,000km and requiring replacement below 70%, the findings strengthen calls for mandatory battery-health certification since identical age and mileage can mask very different treatment.
KIA OPENS CANADIAN ORDERS FOR 2027 EV4 GT
Kia has opened factory orders for the 2027 EV4 GT at certified Canadian dealerships from CA$58,595, its third "affordable" EV to get GT treatment, replacing the standard car's front-wheel drive with a 288-horsepower dual-motor all-wheel-drive system paired to an 81.4kWh battery for an estimated 431km of range. The GT adds GT-exclusive neon-accented brake calipers, 20-inch alloys, suede and synthetic-leather seats, a GT instrument cluster and a steering-wheel GT boost button, sitting above the standard EV4 that launched in Canada in late 2025 from CA$38,995 as what Kia called the country's most affordable EV.
HONDA SEEKS 1.5 TRILLION YEN IN SAVINGS
Honda is seeking 1.5 trillion yen ($9.4 billion) in savings by 2030 to improve its car business, expecting cumulative EV-related losses to exceed $12 billion and shifting towards hybrids while under pressure from Chinese manufacturers including BYD, which are taking share in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Europe on software, battery technology and the industry's lowest prices. Honda briefed major suppliers on the plan in spring and, according to internal documents, is targeting a 30% cost reduction in pressed and forged components, electrical parts and software-defined-vehicle parts, with individual targets issued to suppliers afterwards.
MNDOT OFFERS $41.2 MILLION FOR UP TO 40 SITES
MnDOT is offering $41.2 million in its third and largest NEVI round for fast-charging sites across Greater Minnesota, expecting to award up to 40 locations across 74 eligible areas with no more than one station funded in each, now able to go beyond I-35, I-90 and I-94 after the federal government certified those routes as fully built-out corridors. Funded sites must provide at least four NACS and four CCS1 connectors delivering a minimum 150kW per port with all ports in simultaneous use, be open during the host business's hours, and include an ADA-compliant charging space, adequate lighting, security cameras or staff, and snow removal within two hours of storms exceeding an inch — even though most earlier interstate sites have yet to open.
TESLA US SALES DROP 26% IN AUGUST
Motor Intelligence estimated Tesla sold 40,816 vehicles in the United States in August 2026, down 26% from 55,500 a year earlier and its largest year-over-year monthly decline of 2026, with demand appearing to stabilise around 40,000 units a month, below the 47,000 monthly average of the first half of 2025 and below tax-credit-inflated third-quarter volumes. Ending Model S and Model X production, extending Model Y and Model 3 offers, starting Model Y L deliveries, expanding a certified pre-owned programme from $20,600 and fully claiming California's MyFirstEV allocation within days did not materially change the trajectory.
VOLVO GLOBAL SALES FALL 7.4% FROM JUNE THROUGH AUGUST
Volvo Cars sold 148,239 vehicles globally from June through August, down 7.4% year over year despite a 13% rise in electrified sales — fully electric up 27%, plug-in hybrids down 1% — which made up 53.5% of global volume, with the decline blamed on China's continuing downturn and weaker US demand for electrified models. The company expects a significantly stronger second half as EX60 deliveries ramp up from Gothenburg production that began in spring at around $60,000 in the US, alongside European growth and continued US recovery, while shifting more output stateside to cut tariff exposure with XC60 production starting in South Carolina later this year and global Polestar 3 production consolidated there.
XPENG TAKES UK COMMERCIAL CONTROL
Xpeng is establishing its own UK national sales company, taking ownership of its UK operations and responsibility for strategic and commercial development while retaining International Motors — the Subaru and Isuzu importer that originally handled its UK shipping and retail — as a provider of operational infrastructure and local distribution expertise. Having entered the UK last year with the G6, delivering 1,800 units through 48 dealers in England, Wales and Scotland, Xpeng plans to add the X9 MPV as an ID Buzz rival and the L03 coupé-crossover, sold as Mona in China, though no UK launch date or pricing has been announced and an entry price below £40,000 would pitch it against the Skoda Enyaq and Ford Explorer.
35% OF SCREEN-EQUIPPED OWNERS NEVER USE THEM
JD Power's 2026 U.S. Tech Experience Index study, surveying 68,084 owners of vehicles with passenger screens, found 35% had never used the screen and only 6% used it every drive, even as the feature spreads through new vehicles. Smart ignition, climate control and driver-preference settings scored highest for satisfaction with the fewest problems while added complexity in driver-assistance features lowered scores, suggesting owners prefer predictable technology and that a screen — a cheap, simple way to make a plain dashboard look advanced, useful for passenger HVAC control or films on long trips — improves appearance rather than the ownership experience.