EV News Daily - Technology and Business of EVs Jan 21, 2026

BRIEFLY: Mercedes GLB, Lynk&Co PHEV, Tesla Korea & more | 21 Jan 2026

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Car

Mercedes GLB

The Mercedes GLB is a small luxury SUV that is designed to be practical and comfortable. It has a lot of space inside and comes with modern technology, making it a good choice for families or anyone needing extra room.

Term

electric vehicles

Electric vehicles are cars that run on electricity instead of gasoline. They are better for the environment and can save money on fuel.

Car

Renault 4

The Renault 4 is a small car that Renault made a long time ago. It was popular because it was practical and could be used for many different purposes.

Car

Renault 5

The Renault 5 is a small car that Renault produced in the 1970s and 1980s. It was well-liked for being easy to drive and park in cities.

Concept

plug-in hybrid

Plug-in hybrids are cars that can run on electricity or gasoline. You can charge them at home, and they usually save more fuel than regular cars.

Company

Lincoln Co

Lincoln Co makes cars that can use both electricity and gasoline, which helps save fuel and reduce emissions.

Term

dynamical Picasso racetrack

The dynamical Picasso racetrack is a place where cars are driven fast to see how well they perform. It's designed for testing cars safely.

Term

range testing

Range testing is when you check how far a car can go before it needs more fuel or a recharge. It's important to know how efficient a car is.

Car

Tesla Model 3

The Tesla Model 3 is an electric car that is known for being affordable and having good performance. In South Korea, it's being sold at lower prices to attract more buyers.

Term

subsidies

Subsidies are money given by the government to help people buy things, like electric cars. This makes the cars cheaper for buyers.

Car

Mercedes-Benz Eclass

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class is a fancy car that many people like because it’s comfortable and has a lot of cool features. It’s part of a brand known for making high-quality vehicles, and now it’s becoming cheaper to lease, which means more people might be able to drive one.

Term

leasing

Leasing is like renting a car for a few years instead of buying it. You pay a monthly fee to use the car, and then you give it back when the lease is over.

Term

MSRP

MSRP is the price that the car maker suggests you should pay for a new car. It's like a starting point for how much a car costs.

Term

range anxiety

Range anxiety is when drivers worry that their electric car will run out of battery before they can find a place to recharge it. It's becoming less of a problem as more charging stations are built.

Term

megawatt charges

Megawatt charging is a type of fast charging that can deliver a lot of power quickly, making it easier to charge large vehicles like trucks in a short amount of time.

LIVE

It's EV news briefly for Wednesday 21st of January.

Everything EV, if you haven't got time for the full podcast, but don't want to miss out on the news,

so let's get you bang up to speed.

Mercedes has begun their production of the all electric GLB SUV.

They're using Hungary, not Mexico, to cut their cost base and fend off Chinese rivals that can do things cheaper.

The battery packs are made in the same place in Hungary as well,

and that works because that gives them EU access but lower costs, even on a €60,000 SUV, that all adds up.

Renault grew modestly last year, only 3.2% up over the entire year,

if you're interested Renault sells 2.34 million vehicles a year, mostly passenger cars.

So where did the growth come from?

Well, it wasn't with petrol and diesel.

Well, you guessed it, it's electric vehicles.

That pays far outstrips their headline growth volume.

EV sales up 77% at Renault in the last year, not surprised.

Renault 4, Renault 5 and more are very compelling.

Lincoln Co, a G. Lee company that specializes in plug-in hybrids,

claimed to have a new world record, of course, our friends at Guinness turned up to make it a world record.

This is not a world record.

They took one of their plug-in hybrids and drove very slowly around Mexico City's centre,

dynamical Picasso racetrack.

They said, well, driving slowly mimics real world driving.

And it went 293 kilometres on just the battery alone, which the Guinness people said,

it's a world record!

Pleased by our book at the end of the year for your kids and the stocking.

However, may I just remind people, that's not how we do range testing,

or any, any kind of range calculation.

Doing it on a racetrack at very slow speeds, that doesn't really count.

But never mind.

Tesla has turned Korea into a price war test bed.

Does lowering prices get you volume?

Well, it is in South Korea where they've been aggressively lowering prices of the 3 and Y.

In fact, you can get a Model 3 for around $27,000 US dollars equivalent in South Korea,

because of subsidies.

And it's really working.

They're now the number one imported brand.

They've overtaken Mercedes-Benz with their E-Class.

Lease costs are falling.

The website leasing.com says, surprise, surprise, leasing is a better way to get a car.

Because even though headline prices, ticket prices, MSRPs are rising all the time,

lease costs actually came down 6% for individuals and more for businesses as well,

which they say allows you to manage the risk of getting an expensive electric vehicle.

I guess they would say that.

Britain, near Norway-style levels of charging density.

We crossed over plugs to petrol stations back in 2019.

But now it's a 10.5 to 1 ratio.

Right, so there's a lot more plugs.

Norway's about 15 to 1.

New data shows.

We'll hit that in 2027, as more and more petrol stations have been closing down at an ever faster rate, by the way.

I've been saying this for a long time.

I'll say it louder as we get further towards the transition.

You want to know what range anxiety is?

Driving a petrol car in a few years' time.

All the little roadside petrol stations, they're all going to go.

We're going to have a few hubs left at supermarkets and big filling stations.

All those ones that survive on their own now, they're all going.

Range anxiety isn't a thing with EV anymore.

It will be if you drive a petrol car and it's happening really quickly.

Payback.

Britain is switching on its first megawatt charges for HDVs in the eastern Midlands.

It can stick a whole megawatt to a truck.

It will split the power over the site, but it can put a megawatt to an individual vehicle.

The European Union's had to intervene and get in front of a report that came out that they could add tariffs to plug-in hybrids from China.

The EU spokesperson is saying this is absolutely not an official investigation.

We're not adding tariffs to plug-in hybrids, just pure bevs.

And China's car makers are muscling in though.

On the European market last year, they're doing well.

In December, they took 10% of the EU plus UK, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

That's briefly.

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BRIEFLY: Mercedes GLB, Lynk&Co PHEV, Tesla Korea & more | 21 Jan 2026

Mercedes GLB

electric vehicles

Renault 4

Renault 5

plug-in hybrid

Lincoln Co

dynamical Picasso racetrack

range testing

Tesla Model 3

subsidies

Mercedes-Benz Eclass

leasing

MSRP

range anxiety

megawatt charges

About this episode

Original notes