In this February 20, 2026 episode of The Friday Charge, Joel and Sebastian break down Ford’s new Universal EV platform — including its upcoming compact electric pickup, structural LFP battery pack built in the U.S., 400V architecture, 48V electrical system, reduced part count, and software-defined vehicle strategy.

We also cover:

Tesla avoiding a California DMV suspension after dropping the “Autopilot” name and rebranding FSD as “FSD Supervised”

JD Power’s 2026 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience Ownership Study showing 96% EV loyalty

Volvo rolling out its new Volvo Car UX over-the-air update to older EVs

Polestar’s plan to launch four new EVs by 2028, including updates to the Polestar 4, Polestar 5, next-gen Polestar 2, and the upcoming Polestar 7

Is Ford’s $30,000 EV too good to be true? Is Tesla’s timing suspicious? And are we officially past the EV tipping point?

Plug in and let’s get into it.

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