EV News Daily - Technology and Business of EVs Oct 12, 2025

[Archive] BRIEFLY: US Sales, Mercedes AI, Tesla Ads & more | 12 Oct 2025

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Term

EV

EV means Electric Vehicle. These cars run on electricity instead of gasoline, which makes them better for the environment.

Term

US EV sales

US EV sales are how many electric cars are sold in the United States. This number shows how popular electric cars are getting.

Car

Tesla Model Y

The Tesla Model Y is a type of electric car that looks like a small SUV. It's popular because it can go a long distance without needing to be charged and has a lot of cool tech features inside.

Car

Volkswagen Id4

Car

Volkswagen Id5

The Volkswagen ID.5 is a sportier version of an electric SUV made by Volkswagen. It looks more like a coupe but still has the space of an SUV.

Car

Volkswagen ID.3

The Volkswagen ID.3 is a smaller electric car made by Volkswagen. It's designed to be practical and affordable for daily driving.

Car

Mercedes-Benz CLA

The Mercedes-Benz CLA is a small luxury car that looks stylish and has a lot of technology inside. It's known for being fun to drive.

Car

Mercedes-Benz EQV

The EQV is an electric van made by Mercedes-Benz. It's designed to be roomy and has modern tech features, making it a good choice for families or businesses.

Term

megawatt charging

Megawatt charging is a fast way to charge electric cars, allowing them to get power much quicker than regular chargers.

Term

CCS connector

The CCS connector is a plug used to charge electric cars. It works for both regular and fast charging, making it easier to charge quickly.

Car

Tata Motors Aria

The Tata Motors Aria is a type of SUV made by Tata, which is a car company from India. It's designed to be roomy and comfortable, but you might not see many of them in the U.S.

Car

Nissan Ariya

The Ariya is a new electric SUV from Nissan. It has a stylish look and comes with lots of tech features for a better driving experience.

Term

DRLs

DRLs are lights that turn on automatically when you drive, helping other people see your car during the day.

Term

federal tax credit

A federal tax credit is money the government gives back to you when you pay your taxes, especially for buying things like electric cars to encourage people to use them.

Car

Ford F150 Lightning

The Ford F-150 Lightning is an electric truck that is part of the F-150 series, which is very popular in the U.S. It has special features for electric driving.

Term

destination fees

Destination fees are extra costs added to the price of a car to pay for shipping it from where it's made to the dealership where you buy it.

LIVE

It's EV News briefly for the 12th of October, everything EV in less than five minutes.

If you haven't got time for the full podcast, Patreon supporters, by the way,

get access to the Kilowatt confidential private chat.

So if you are a pay-up member on Patreon, five, ten dollars to be an exact producer,

maybe more a month, depending on how much you want to support this show,

you can come and join me inside the private chat room called Kilowatt confidential on Patreon.

US EV sales, according to Kelly Bluebook, were 438,000 units in the third quarter of the year.

Not official data, they say volume rose 40% more than the previous quarter,

and 30% more than the same time last year, 90 EV models on sale.

To pick from, Model Y leads.

Volkswagen Group delivering 252,000 BEVs, pure BEVs, in the third quarter of this year.

Their biggest sellers, ID4, ID5, and ID3.

Mercedes will ship the CLA with Google's Gemini,

and I think that's a really interesting move because they see a lot of AI in Chinese cars,

but Mercedes-Benz shipping a very mainstream car like the CLA with Google Gemini,

which I, by the way, use all the time.

I'm absolutely in love with AI as a sounding board,

something to brainstorm with, and I work on my own, mostly these days,

at home making this podcast for you, and so I kind of got first-hand experience,

and I do use Gemini all the time, and I pay for it, and so it's really, really good now.

Now, I still feel a bit wrong talking to my car with other people in the car,

but on my own, to have context, to have memory, to be talking about which charges to go to,

and you can ask, is that one quicker, where should I go?

It's very conversational, much better than typical voice in cars, which until now has largely sucked.

Mercedes also driving around in the ELF, a bit like an EQV,

but this is an experimental vehicle. It's equipped with megawatt charging,

also 900 kilowatt charging on a CCS connector, and also some wireless charging to test out

those technologies. Nissan's Aria may be ending in the United States for the new model year,

but in Japan, it's actually getting a refresh and a new push, new fronts, new DRLs,

new side cladding, and a new Google-powered infotainment system.

Vehicle to load and more, that refreshed Aria coming to the home market of Japan.

Automakers are ending their programs to try and get you money off a vehicle using the federal

tax credit. Ford and GM had both worked with the IRS to work out that if their finance arms

bought the cars back off the dealers, they could claim the federal tax credit money,

the lease money off, and then have time to then lease those cars back to customers,

even after September 30th. Now two Republican senators in the U.S. have written to the Treasury

Secretary, calling it bilking the U.S. taxpayer. GM and Ford don't fancy a political fight with

Republicans, and are both backed away from that scheme. They say that they'll offer other discounts

to customers. Ford is cutting price on the F-150 Lightning trims. The STX, which replaced XLT,

starts at $65,500, but destinations $2,200 on a Ford now. That seems like a lot of money

destination fees. Tesla is in a little bit of hot water because they have added a Disney

promotional advertisement, if you like, for the new Tron Erez movie. Now it's an in-car visualization

to a Tron-style light cycle, all tied to Disney's new movie. The update began rolling out to owners

yesterday, and many owners interpreted the change as in-car advertising and actually got quite upset

on the internet, saying it diverts attention from more important software work that Tesla should

be doing. Well, I understand their point, but if Disney unloaded a load of money on Tesla and said

please promote our Tron movie, what's the problem? As long as, I guess, you either opt out or maybe

have to opt in, that's a better way round of doing it. Many people say that this is the start of a

broader shift with connected vehicles, including electric cars, where the car makers have access

to the vehicles after they've sold them via a wireless connection, and promotional content

can clearly be shown on the screen. This is not like the Tesla wouldn't start

until you'd watched a 30-second advert, like a YouTube video, but still,

I'm sympathetic to the complaints of those owners online. And that's briefly.

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[Archive] BRIEFLY: US Sales, Mercedes AI, Tesla Ads & more | 12 Oct 2025

EV

US EV sales

Tesla Model Y

Volkswagen Id4

Volkswagen Id5

Volkswagen ID.3

Mercedes-Benz CLA

Mercedes-Benz EQV

megawatt charging

CCS connector

Tata Motors Aria

Nissan Ariya

DRLs

federal tax credit

Ford F150 Lightning

destination fees

About this episode

Original notes