EV News Daily - Technology and Business of EVs Mar 7, 2026

BRIEFLY: BMW, Tesla, EVgo & more | 06 Mar 2026

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Car

BMW i3

The BMW i3 is a small electric car made for city driving. It looks different from other cars and uses special materials to be light and efficient.

Car

BMW 3 Series

The BMW 3 Series is a well-known car that is sporty and comfortable. The new electric i3 is built on the same base as this car, meaning it will look and drive more like a regular car.

Concept

Neuerklasse platform

The Neuerklasse platform is the new way BMW builds their electric cars to make them better and more modern.

Term

800 volt electrical system

An 800 volt system means the car's battery can charge faster and work better than older electric cars that use less power.

Term

WLTP

WLTP is a test that shows how far a car can go or how much fuel it uses in normal driving, so people know what to expect.

Term

XDrive

XDrive means the car can send power to all four wheels to help it drive better on slippery or rough roads.

Term

fast charging

Fast charging means filling up an electric car's battery really quickly, so you don't have to wait long to keep driving.

Company

EVGo

EVGo runs places where electric cars can quickly recharge their batteries, helping drivers travel longer distances.

Car

Lucid Air

The Lucid Air is a fancy electric car that can drive a long way on a single charge and has different versions with more features or power.

Car

The Lucid Gravity is a new electric car that looks like a big SUV. People are buying a lot more of them recently, showing that more folks want this kind of car. It's made by the same company that makes fancy electric cars called Lucid Air.

Term

direct sales

Direct sales means car companies sell their cars straight to buyers instead of through car dealers.

Car

Traveler Volkswagen Scouts

The Traveler is a new electric car from Volkswagen's Scout brand, which wants to compete with popular electric cars like Tesla. Volkswagen will sell these cars at their usual car stores, which is a bit different from how some other electric cars are sold. It's meant for people who like adventure and off-road driving.

Car

Volkswagen E-Up

The Volkswagen E-Up is a small electric car made by Volkswagen that was one of their first electric models.

Term

BEV

A BEV is a car that runs only on electricity and doesn't use gas or diesel.

Car

Volkswagen ID. Polo

The Volkswagen ID. Polo is a new small electric car made for city driving.

Car

Lotus Eletre X

The Lotus Electra X is an electric car that has a small engine to help it drive longer distances, especially on highways.

Term

e-REV (extended range electric vehicle)

An e-REV is an electric car that has a small gas engine to help it go farther when the battery runs low.

LIVE

It's EV News briefly for Friday, 6th of March, everything EV in less than five minutes.

If you haven't got time for the full podcast, here we go.

BMW will unveil the i3 on the 18th of March.

The i3 is dead. Long live the i3 because, of course, the old i3 name was that fantastic car

that is still a great car when I see one now.

So futuristic, but this is the i3 badge on an entirely different kind of car.

It's a three series and it's the Neuerklasse platform.

Gen 6, 800 volt, 500 miles plus because the i3 does that.

And so this is going to be lower and more slippery.

And I can't wait to get a WLTP number charging at 400 kilowatts.

The first one will be the XDrive 50s, that all wheel drive dual motor.

Reviews are out on YouTube now, the early impressions and they're really good.

Now, Tesla in the UK is going through a rough patch down 37% again in February.

A really hard time, registrations falling in a market.

I mean, Tesla's having some issues, you know, more competition and product issues and pricing.

But in a market, the UK's new car market had its strongest ever February since the year 2004.

So when everyone's selling more cars and Tesla's down by over a third, it kind of stings.

In fact, according to the website electrifying.com, a very well respected and, you know,

journalistic website with YouTube channel reviewing,

so that Tesla contacted them directly and pushed back on them,

even reporting the monthly numbers and suggested in the strongest possible terms

that they don't report the monthly numbers because March is going to be really good

and they'll have egg on their face.

I hope it is good for Tesla and they do bounce back, maybe just a bunch of cars

sitting waiting for their registration documents or something.

Let's hope that's the case.

Here you go. Ended 2025 with 5100 fast charging stalls and adding a lot more fast charging.

350, 350 kilowatt charges, but also sites with six stalls or more.

Increasingly part of EVGo's mix to make them the third largest DC charging network in the United States.

Lucid Motors had a good February selling 1500 vehicles.

The gravity had a tenfold increase in sales and the air starts at 80 K and the gravity

starts at 80,000 for the touring variant.

The grand touring is almost $100,000 and it's selling pretty well.

Volkswagen dealers are suing over scout direct sales.

Two more dealerships heading to court, this one in Connecticut and one in New York,

filing a class action lawsuit against Scout saying you are effectively Volkswagen.

You want to sell direct to consumers to set the pricing directly and have a relationship

like Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, but you can't because you have to sell through Volkswagen dealerships

because you are Volkswagen. Scouts and its CEO, Scott Keough, dispute the framing

saying that Scout operates entirely as an independent entity and now a judge will decide.

Hey, congratulations. Volkswagen Group has hit 4 million pure bevs just days after the milestone

of 2 million for the VW brand. They started counting back in 2013 with the VW E-Up.

The core brands, Volkswagen within Volkswagen Group does a lot of the business.

The compact class is about 70% of Bev Sales and they've got that new smaller class,

that city segment coming in with the ID Polo and the Scott Epic Cooper Reval all coming this year.

They're going to be really great small cars. Finally, Lotus are putting an engine back into

the Electra. In China, they'll call it the Lotus for me, odd name. Here, it's going to

be called the Lotus Electra X. So it's an e-rev range extender, but it can clutch onto the front

wheels to provide drive at highway speeds and top gear rate it very highly in their review.

And that's briefly.

About this episode

BMW is set to unveil a new i3 model based on the Neuerklasse platform, boasting 800 volts and over 500 miles of range, marking a big shift from the original i3. Tesla faces a tough February in the UK with a 37% drop in registrations despite a booming market, while EVgo expands its fast charging network in the US. Lucid Motors reports strong sales growth, and Volkswagen dealers are suing Scout over direct sales conflicts. Volkswagen Group hits 4 million BEV sales, and Lotus introduces a range-extended Electra model in China with a unique e-rev system.

800 volt electrical system BEV direct sales e-REV (extended range electric vehicle) EVGO fast charging Neuerklasse platform WLTP X drive

BMW 3 Series BMW i3 Lotus Eletre Lucid Air Lucid Gravity Scout Traveler Volkswagen e-Up Volkswagen ID. Buzz

Original notes

It's EV News Briefly for Friday 06 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 TO UNVEIL ELECTRIC I3 SALOON ON 18 MARCH
BMW will reveal the new i3 saloon on 18 March as the first fully electric 3 Series, using the Neue Klasse Gen6 platform with 800V architecture, 400kW charging, and an expected 50 xDrive dual-motor, 108kWh setup targeting around 500 miles of range and potentially more thanks to its saloon aerodynamics. It will be the second Neue Klasse model after the iX3, aimed squarely at the Tesla Model 3 and future premium rivals from Mercedes, Audi, Xpeng and BYD’s Denza, with a full line-up planned including an electric M3.
TESLA UK DROPS 37% AS UK EV SALES RISE
Tesla’s UK registrations fell 37% year-on-year in February to 2,422 units, even as the overall market hit its strongest February since 2004 and BEVs grew to 24.2% of new registrations, with Chinese brands like BYD surging 83%. Tesla has argued that monthly registration data is misleading versus orders and quarterly shipments, but critics note all brands face similar timing issues, and for now the headline picture is a growing UK EV market in which Tesla’s share is shrinking.
EVGO ENDS 2025 WITH 5,100 FAST-CHARGING STALLS
EVgo closed 2025 with 5,100 DC fast-charging stalls in operation, up 25% year-on-year after a record Q4 net gain of about 510 stalls, including 320 company-owned units and 190 eXtend-branded stalls at partner sites. The network is getting both denser and faster, with nearly a third of stations now offering six or more stalls and 62% of all stalls equipped with 350kW hardware, up sharply from 50% in late 2024.
LUCID FEBRUARY US SALES JUMP ON GRAVITY RAMP
Lucid’s US sales jumped to 1,500 vehicles in February, almost double January, driven by a sharp ramp in Gravity SUV deliveries alongside 900 Air sedans. With Gravity now starting at $79,900 (via the Touring trim) and supported by a $7,500 lease credit plus targeted trade-in offers for Tesla, Rivian and Polestar owners, Lucid is boosting US momentum even as European registrations remain minimal.
VW DEALERS SUE OVER SCOUT DIRECT SALES
Two Volkswagen dealerships in Connecticut and New York have launched a class-action lawsuit against Scout Motors and Volkswagen, arguing that Scout’s Tesla-style direct-to-consumer sales model violates existing VW franchise agreements and deprives dealers of a lucrative new brand. Scout and CEO Scott Keogh counter that Scout is a separate entity from Volkswagen Group of America and therefore not bound to use VW’s franchised dealer network.
VOLKSWAGEN GROUP HITS FOUR MILLION BEV DELIVERIES
Volkswagen Group has delivered its four-millionth battery-electric vehicle, accelerating from nearly a decade to reach the first million to adding the fourth million in just one year, powered largely by its MEB platform and around 30 all-electric passenger models. Most BEVs are built and sold in Europe, where compact SUVs and crossovers such as the VW ID.4/ID.5 dominate, while China and the US account for smaller but growing shares of volume and production.
EGBATT LAUNCHES NOVA 60 DUAL BUFFERED CHARGER
EGbatt’s new Nova 60 Dual combines a 60kW DC fast charger with a 60kWh LiFePO₄ battery in a single outdoor unit, allowing sites to deliver full fast-charging power without expensive grid upgrades by relying on buffered energy. Optional 20kW DC solar input lets operators integrate rooftop PV directly, helping cut operating costs and increase the share of renewable energy used for charging.
LOTUS ADDS RANGE-EXTENDER ELETRE X FOR CHINA
Lotus has responded to softer demand for high-end pure EVs by launching the Eletre X plug-in range-extender SUV in China, pairing a 70kWh battery and 900V fast-charging system with a 2.0-litre turbo engine that mostly drives a generator but can also clutch to the front wheels for motorway efficiency. Delivering 952bhp, 0–62mph in 3.3 seconds and around 150 miles of electric-only range in a 2.6-tonne package, the Eletre X shares its new Geely-platform underpinnings with the Zeekr 9X and is slated to reach the UK no earlier than 2027.

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