The Ford Explorer is a big car that many families use because it has lots of space and can do many things. In Europe, Ford works with another car company called Volkswagen to make some of their cars together, which helps them build better cars more easily.
The Volkswagen ID 4 is a fully electric SUV made by Volkswagen. The Ford electric car mentioned is compared to it because they share similar design or technology.
A Universal EV platform is like a basic design that many electric cars can be built on. Ford will use this to make new electric cars in the US more easily and cheaply.
A plug-in hybrid is a car that can run on both gas and electricity. You can charge its battery by plugging it in, so it can drive some distance using only electricity.
The BMW iX3 is a version of a regular BMW SUV that runs only on electricity instead of gas. It’s designed to be easy to use and good for people who want a normal car that doesn’t pollute the air.
The Kia PV5 is a big electric van made for carrying goods or equipment, especially for businesses. It doesn’t use gas and helps reduce pollution while still being useful for work.
The Rivian R2 is a new electric car that is meant to be cheaper and easier for more people to buy. However, some people noticed that the back doors don’t have a special handle inside to open them in an emergency, which might be a safety problem.
Electronic doors open and close using electric parts instead of regular handles. Some places are stopping their use because they can be unsafe in emergencies.
EV charging means putting electricity into electric cars so they can run. More places are building chargers to help more people use electric cars.
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It's EV News briefly for Friday 13th of February.
Everything you've seen in less than five minutes.
If you haven't got time for the full-on podcast today,
let's get you up to speed.
Ford has turned to Renault
to develop two small electric cars for the European market.
They'll arrive in 2028.
The executive, Jim Farley.
The boss at Ford says the deal cuts costs
and improves profitability after Ford recorded
an $8.2 billion full-year loss last year.
Their Model E division's been hemorrhaging money.
They've been making the Puma Gen E Explorer
and Capri in Europe in a deal with Volkswagen
for the latter two vehicles there.
Think of it as the Volkswagen ID 495,
if you like, in Ford clothing.
However, going forward in the United States,
they'll be rolling out to the Universal EV platform,
the first going to be a mid-sized truck.
Call it the Maverick, if you will.
Whereas in Europe, we'll get Renault's rebadged as Fords.
BYD want to bring small plug-in hybrids to Europe
because, well, frankly, that market is empty.
Of the 2.24 million small SUVs sold in Europe last year,
three and a half thousand had a plug-in hybrid power trade.
BYD want to change that with the ATO2,
their DMI technology we normally find in the larger cars,
like the CLU.
They've been doing really good business in Europe,
now rolling out to smaller cars like the ATO2
that has a little 18 kilowatt-hour battery.
It'll do 90 kilometers on electric power alone.
And the competition, well, at that price point in segment,
there isn't any.
BMW and EON have launched Germany's first vehicle-to-grid offer
for private customers as a turnkey solution.
They're doing it with their IX3.
The first vehicle on the Neuerklasse platform.
And this is what we've been waiting for,
is for big energy companies and big car makers to do the deal.
So if you buy an IX3 and you have the EON Home Energy Tariff,
it's called Home and Drive, V2G,
they'll look after the hardware.
You get 700 euros off the BMW wallbox that you need.
They'll do the smart metering as well.
And you can make up to 720 euros per year
in terms of just letting your car feed energy back into the grid.
There's been so many trial projects for, well, frankly, years.
And this seems to be the first turnkey solution
where you can just say, great, I'll have that.
And it'll all just work in theory.
Kia's PV5 is their van commercial vehicle.
All electric, obviously.
And it's now Korea's first international van of the year.
It's got passenger cargo and open bed variants.
And now a U.S. startup called VanLab have developed a slot in camper conversion,
if you like.
So this unit fits in.
You can do it yourself with a screwdriver.
It's a bed.
It's a pull-out set of drawers, counter space,
and an outdoor induction hob than refrigerator
that is powered from the big old traction battery.
Rivian will ship OS 2.0 with the R2 vehicles.
We'll find out more on the 12th of March.
In terms of hardware, not software, one of the big YouTubers
from the JerryRigEverything channel, Zach Nelson,
pointed out that the rear doors of the Rivian R2
don't have the safety manual latch
that in the event of a collision you could pull,
that the cord to pull is behind a plastic kind of wedge-off piece of material.
And Rivian responding saying, well, no, that's for service technicians.
If any of the sensors are triggered,
the vehicle's in an accident, all of the doors unlock.
The front doors have manual pulls.
They are electronic doors, which is being outlawed anyway in China.
And with new legislation heading through the house in the United States,
that could be outlawed completely with the safe exit act
as that goes through the lawmaking process.
And finally, how are EVs affecting somewhere like,
though I don't know, Kenya?
Well, EV charging has tripled year-on-year from 2024 to 2025.
The numbers are still small, but it's more evidence
that wherever you look around the world on the globe,
everyone's going EV.
And that's briefly.
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About this episode
Ford partners with Renault to develop two small electric cars for Europe by 2028, aiming to cut costs after significant losses. BYD plans to introduce small plug-in hybrids to Europe's underserved market with their ATO2 model. BMW and EON launch Germany's first vehicle-to-grid program for private customers using the iX3, offering financial incentives. Kia's all-electric PV5 van wins Korea's international van of the year, with a new camper conversion from a U.S. startup. Rivian addresses safety concerns about manual door latches on its R2 vehicles amid evolving regulations. EV charging in Kenya has tripled, showing global EV adoption growth.
It's EV News Briefly for Friday 13 February 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
