EV News Daily - Technology and Business of EVs Mar 17, 2026

BRIEFLY: BMW, EV Prices, Tesla Energy & more | 16 Mar 2026

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Car

BMW i3

The BMW i3 is a fully electric car made by BMW. It is part of a new group of electric cars that BMW is making using a special design called the Neue Klasse platform.

Concept

Neue Klasse platform

Neue Klasse is a new way BMW builds electric cars. It helps make the cars better and easier to make.

Car

BMW Neue Klasse

The BMW Neue Klasse is a new type of electric car made by BMW. It uses a special design to run only on electricity and is part of BMW's plan to make cleaner, more modern cars.

Term

800-volt platform

Some electric cars use a higher voltage system called 800 volts. This helps the car charge faster and work better.

Term

WLTP

WLTP is a test that shows how far a car can go on a single charge or tank of fuel, using real-world driving conditions.

Car

BMW iX3

The BMW iX3 is an electric SUV that can travel a long distance on a single charge, about 500 miles according to European tests.

Car

iX3 (G08)

The iX3 is an electric SUV made by BMW. It can drive a long distance on a single charge and charges quickly, making it a good option for people who want an electric car that feels like a regular SUV.

Concept

European Union EV prices

Electric cars are getting cheaper to buy in Europe because more people are buying smaller and less expensive models.

Term

CO2 emissions

CO2 emissions are gases that cars release that can harm the environment. Rules limit how much cars can release to help keep the air clean.

Company

Offgem

Offgem is the group that controls and watches over energy companies in the UK to make sure they follow the rules and treat customers fairly.

Company

Tesla

Tesla makes electric cars and also sells electricity to homes and businesses. Here, they are starting to sell energy directly to customers in the UK.

Part

Powerwall

A Powerwall is a big battery you can put in your home to store electricity. It helps you use your own power and keep the lights on if the grid goes down.

Concept

microgrid

A microgrid is like a small, local power system that can work on its own without the big power company. It helps keep power on in your area even if the main grid has problems.

Concept

mandate obligations

These are rules that car companies have to follow, like making a certain number of electric or low-pollution cars by a certain year.

Concept

vehicle emissions trading scheme

This is a rule that car companies have to follow to keep pollution low. If they make cleaner cars than needed, they can sell extra 'credits' to other companies.

Company

Charin

Charin helps make sure electric cars can charge easily at different stations and that the charging works well.

Company

Green NCAP

Green NCAP checks how green or eco-friendly cars are, so people know which ones are better for the environment.

Term

EV charging interoperability

It means electric cars can plug in and charge at many different places without problems, no matter the charger brand.

Term

battery health certificate

It's a report that tells you how good or worn out an electric car's battery is.

Term

battery degradation

It means an electric car's battery slowly gets weaker and can't hold as much charge as when it was new.

Concept

salary sacrifice EV discount

It's a way to buy an electric car by using part of your pay before taxes, so you pay less money overall.

Car

Nissan Leaf

The Nissan Leaf is an electric car that lots of people buy. When its battery gets old, it can be used for other things like storing power.

LIVE

It's EV News briefly for Monday 16th of March, everything EV in less than five minutes.

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BMW will reveal the i3, all-electric sedan on the 18th of March.

Their second vehicle on the Neue Klasse platform.

Production and assembly is underway now at its Munich plant.

Series production, though, happens in autumn.

They'll come with the i3 XDrive 50, the first version to reach customers.

That's the all-wheel drive version, 800-volt platform.

400 kilowatts of charge speed and the iX3 has 500 miles on WLTP of range.

So this being a more slippery shape should go further.

European Union EV prices are falling.

It's a drop that I've mentioned last week and I've got some more details now

because they're selling more small cars.

So as the rules tighten on CO2 emissions,

one of the ways that you can sell more big profitable gas guzzlers,

big SUVs, is to sell more cheaper city cars.

It kind of gives you some wiggle room in the credits.

And so as the rules have got tighter in the EU,

so the carmakers have sold a lot more cheaper EVs

and that has brought down the average selling price of an EV,

which means you and I are winners.

And so that that segment 15 to 25 grand,

I'd say getting really crowded and it's going to get really busy in 2026 as well.

Tesla has been granted a license by our regulator, Offgem,

to sell energy to businesses and retail customers in England, Wales and Scotland,

completing a six year effort to become a full service energy provider.

It'll literally be Tesla that sends you the bill.

It'll be their name at the top.

The way it works here is we've obviously we're a small island with one national grid,

but energy companies can sit on top of it and resell the energy.

It's not quite as simple as I'm making out, but it kind of is.

It means that maybe Tesla can do some funky stuff with the power walls

and maybe even car batteries in time like they've done in Texas

to create micro grids and do a bit of trading.

UK carmakers met their mandate obligations in 2024.

I mentioned this briefly on the podcast,

because more data coming in today on this, the UK government

releasing information about the mandate we have.

Technically, the vehicle emissions trading scheme and every UK carmaker,

every carmaker that trades in the UK at least, not based here,

met their obligations in 2024.

The car lobby itself says they can't do it and it's too difficult.

Anyway, the government says, well, you did it in 2024.

The target was 22 percent.

Effectively, they hit 24.1 percent.

There's something you can do with surplus credits and carry forwards

and what not.

And so we'll see what 2025 brings.

The carmakers continue to say through their lobby organization,

we can't possibly do it.

It's far too difficult, even though we've done it.

Green NCAP and Charin, the charging interface initiative,

will collaborate on EV charging into operability and performance

transparency with the goal of giving consumers independent verified data

on how well EVs work with different charges.

Aval, the leasing company, have analyzed 24,000 battery health certificates

and found that batteries decline by, on average,

one percent per 25,000 kilometres driven after an initial drop.

Australia's EV discount, which allows workers to reduce their tax bill

by buying a new EV through salary sacrifice, is under review.

Energy advocates are opposing any scrapping of the scheme.

Scodder posted record 2025 results, crediting their EV deliveries.

They more than doubled to almost 220,000 units last year.

Seat also hitting more profitability thanks to the China deal

that they've done to waive the tariffs on the China built Cooper Taviscan.

And old Nissan Leafs are using their old batteries to have a second life

in battery charging systems in Spain as a battery backup at EV charges.

And that's briefly.

About this episode

BMW is set to unveil the i3 all-electric sedan, featuring advanced tech like an 800-volt platform and 500-mile range. EV prices in the EU are dropping as more affordable city cars flood the market, helping manufacturers meet stricter emissions rules. Tesla gained a UK license to sell energy directly, opening possibilities for innovative grid services. UK carmakers exceeded 2024 emissions targets despite lobbying claims. New collaborations aim to improve EV charging transparency, while battery health studies show gradual decline. Highlights also include Australia's EV tax discount review, record EV sales for Skoda, and Nissan Leaf batteries finding second life in Spain.

800 volt platform battery degradation battery health certificate Charin CO2 emissions European Union EV prices EV charging interoperability Green NCAP mandate obligations microgrid

BMW i3 BMW iX3 (G08) BMW Neue Klasse Nissan Leaf

Original notes

It's EV News Briefly for Monday 16 March 2026, everything you need to know in less than 5 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.

Patreon supporters fund this show, get the episodes ad free, as soon as they're ready and are part of the EV News Daily Community. You can be like them by clicking here: https://www.patreon.com/EVNewsDaily

BMW SETS 18 MARCH FOR I3 DEBUT
BMW will unveil the fully electric i3 sedan on 18 March, extending its Neue Klasse platform into the compact sedan segment, with assembly already underway at its Munich plant and series production expected to begin in late autumn. The i3 50 xDrive will be the first version to reach customers, featuring an 800V platform with up to 400kW peak charging and an expected range exceeding the iX3's 805km rating.
EU EV PRICES FALL AS RULES BITE
EU EV prices fell by an average of €1,800 in 2025, a 4% drop that ended five consecutive years of rising prices, taking the average to €42,700, driven by tighter CO2 emissions targets forcing carmakers to compete on price. T&E expects further price falls as more budget EVs launch, with affordable and mass-market EVs projected to outsell large and premium vehicles by 2027, alongside full price parity with ICE vehicles across all segments.
TESLA WINS UK POWER SUPPLY LICENCE
Tesla has been granted an electricity supply licence by Ofgem, allowing Tesla Energy Ventures to sell power directly to homes and businesses across England, Wales and Scotland from 11 March 2026, completing a six-year effort to become a full-service energy provider in Britain. Ofgem approved the licence despite over 8,400 objections citing Elon Musk's political activities, ruling that Tesla met all statutory requirements, and Tesla must now comply with standard UK consumer protection and billing obligations.
UK MAKERS BEAT 2024 ZEV TARGET
UK car makers met their 2024 ZEV mandate obligations despite a raw EV sales mix of 19.8% falling short of the 22% headline target, by using CO2 credits under the Vehicle Emissions Trading Scheme to reach an effective 24.1%. The result gave manufacturers surplus credits to carry into future compliance years, with the government set to begin a ZEV mandate review later in 2026 and findings due in the first half of 2027.
GREEN NCAP LINKS WITH CHARIN ON CHARGING TESTS
Green NCAP and the Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN) have agreed to collaborate on EV charging interoperability and performance transparency, with the goal of giving consumers independent, verified data on how well EVs work with charging infrastructure. The CharIN Label will be referenced within Green NCAP's Driving Experience assessment for electric vehicles, with testing following CharIN's own processes or recognised partner organisations.
ARVAL DATA SHOWS STRONG EV BATTERY LIFE
Arval's analysis of 24,000 battery health certificates across 11 European countries found that EV and PHEV batteries decline by just 1% per 25,000km after an initial drop, with vehicles reaching 160,000km or six years of service still retaining battery health above 90%. Newer-generation models outperformed older ones by two to three percentage points, and the entire fleet comfortably exceeds the incoming Euro 7 requirement of 72% battery capacity retention at eight years or 100,000 miles.
AUSTRALIA EV TAX BREAK FACES BUDGET THREAT
Australia's Electric Vehicle Discount, which allows workers to reduce their tax bill by purchasing a new EV through salary sacrificing, is under review with reports suggesting the upcoming federal budget could remove it. Renewable energy advocates are opposing any scrapping of the scheme, arguing the timing is particularly poor given rising global fuel prices.
ŠKODA POSTS RECORD 2025 RESULTS
Škoda posted record 2025 results with revenue up 8.3% to €30.1 billion, operating profit up 8.6% to €2.5 billion, and net cash flow reaching €2.3 billion. Electrified vehicle deliveries more than doubled to 218,700 units, with the Elroq ranking as the second best-selling BEV in Europe and plugged-in models accounting for 25.7% of European sales.
SEAT SEES 2026 PROFIT LIFT AFTER TARIFF CUT
Seat expects profitability to recover in 2026 after the EU dropped an additional tariff on the China-built Cupra Tavascan, which had cost the company an estimated €250 million in 2025 and forced it to absorb around €7,000 per vehicle rather than pass costs to buyers. EV margins still trail combustion-engine equivalents, but Seat expects improvement with the launch of the Cupra Raval small EV on April 9, priced comparably to combustion-engine cars and weeks away from series production.
NISSAN LEAF BATTERIES RETURN AS VIGO CHARGERS
Nissan has partnered with Spanish firm Little Electric Energy to deploy a second-life battery charging system at the Port of Vigo, using 12 decommissioned 30 kWh Nissan Leaf packs to power four charging points supporting both 22 kW AC and 240 kW DC ultra-fast charging. The Green Charge Flex system targets sites with limited grid capacity by charging slowly from the available connection and delivering stored energy rapidly to EVs, avoiding costly grid upgrades.

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