EV News Daily - Technology and Business of EVs Jan 28, 2026

BRIEFLY: Volvo, Tesla, VW & more | 23 Jan 2026

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Car

Volvo EX60

The Volvo EX60 is a new electric SUV from Volvo, designed to compete with other popular electric vehicles like the Tesla Model Y.

Car

Bmw Ix3

The BMW iX3 is an electric SUV from BMW, designed to provide a luxury experience while being environmentally friendly.

Term

WLTP

WLTP is a testing standard used to measure how far a vehicle can go on a charge or tank of fuel, giving a more accurate idea of its efficiency.

Term

EPA

EPA is a U.S. government agency that measures how far a vehicle can go on a charge or tank of fuel, helping people compare vehicle efficiency.

Term

cell-to-pack construction

Cell-to-pack construction means that the battery cells are put directly into the battery pack without extra parts, making the battery lighter and more efficient.

Term

SPA3 platform

The SPA3 platform is a new design framework from Volvo that helps build electric and hybrid cars, making them safer and better to drive.

Car

The Volvo XC60 is a stylish and comfortable SUV that offers plenty of space for passengers and cargo. It's known for being safe and has a lot of nice features, making it a good choice for families or anyone who needs a reliable vehicle.

Term

adaptive cruise control

Adaptive cruise control helps your car maintain a safe distance from the car in front of you by automatically speeding up or slowing down. It makes long drives easier because you don't have to constantly adjust the speed yourself.

Term

FSD

FSD, or Full Self-Driving, is a package from Tesla that adds advanced driving features to their cars. It aims to make driving easier, but you still need to pay attention while using it.

Term

lane centering

Lane centering helps your car stay in the middle of the lane by adjusting the steering automatically. It makes driving easier, especially on long trips or highways.

Car

Camry

The Camry is a popular car made by Toyota. It's known for being reliable and comfortable, making it a good choice for many drivers.

Brand

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a well-known car company from Germany that makes many types of cars, including popular models like the Golf. They are now focusing a lot on electric cars.

Company

Dacia

Dacia is a car brand that makes budget-friendly cars, often sold in Europe.

Car

Renault Twingo

The Renault Twingo is a small car that's easy to drive around cities and is designed for everyday use.

Company

Scout

Scout is a new car brand that is part of Volkswagen and plans to sell electric cars directly to people.

Term

range extenders

Range extenders help electric cars drive further by adding a small engine that can generate extra power when needed.

Term

plug-in hybrids

Plug-in hybrids are cars that can use both gasoline and electricity. You can charge them like an electric car, but they also have a regular engine.

Brand

Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi is a car company from Japan that makes different kinds of vehicles, including electric cars.

Term

Formula One

Formula One is a very popular and fast car racing sport where teams compete in races around the world. It's known for its advanced technology and fast cars.

Company

Red Bull

Red Bull is a company that owns a Formula 1 racing team. They create high-performance engines for their race cars.

Brand

Honda

Honda is a car company that makes many different types of vehicles, including cars and motorcycles. They also participate in racing.

Concept

fuel cell

A fuel cell is a technology that makes electricity from fuels like hydrogen. It's often used in cars to create clean energy without pollution.

Concept

hydrogen

Hydrogen is a type of fuel that can be used to power cars. When used, it produces only water, which is good for the environment.

Company

General Motors

General Motors is a big car company that makes many popular brands like Chevrolet and Cadillac. They also work on new car technologies.

LIVE

It's EV news briefly for Friday 23rd of January, everything you view in less than five minutes.

If you haven't got time for the full podcast, let's get you bang up to date. Volvo unveiled their EX60

to date, hugely important vehicle, massive segment right up against the Model Y, the BMW iX3,

whole podcast coming for you in the feed, all about it, headline stats, over 500 miles WLTP,

400 miles EPA, three versions, rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, innovative technologies,

cell-to-pack construction, which many European automakers still haven't nailed, by the way.

They have new architecture, SPA3 platform, they're saying that this is not some sort of shared

Polestar, Geely, Zika thing, it's all us, and of course it's basically an XC60 in electric form,

it looks fantastic, it's got very scandy styling inside, not many buttons, and it runs

the latest Google software with Gemini artificial intelligence as well, this looks very impressive.

Tesla has put its basic safety features behind its paywall. Adaptive cruise control is the only

thing left, they're getting rid of autopilot and lane censoring, they're moving into FSD, so

you can spend $60,000 on a Model Y, and the only thing you'll get is adaptive cruise control,

everything else lane-centering is now part of the FSD package, a basic safety function,

and they're going to charge you $99 a month for that, for every single month that you own the

vehicle, it's basically another $100 on your finance, and there's no option not to pay it,

and you can't buy it because they're only going subscription, fair to say,

quite a pushback on that today from EV fans, I mean the 20 grand Toyota Camry comes with

adaptive cruise and lane-centering, and Tesla are cutting back on basic safety features,

Volkswagen have ousted Tesla as the top EV brand in Europe, the data is in from last year,

Tesla was down 27%, so the Volkswagen brand, not the wider group, but the brand itself,

now significantly ahead of Tesla in Europe as Europeans vote with their wallets,

and walk away for a brand that was very much once the darling.

Lemonade is an insurance company in America, and they say that Tesla will share data with them,

and for every mile you drive on FSD they'll give you a small discount, Dacia is riding the budget

boom into the electric mandates, and they're doing very well, but they're going to go electric,

and so Dacia preparing the new small Renault Twingo equivalent by the end of the year.

Colorado VW dealers are suing to block the Scout license, now Scout which is backed by VW,

and will use VW engines in their range extenders, but say we're not VW, had been given a license

to sell direct, like Rivian and Lucid, as an EV maker in Colorado, Colorado dealers say no,

the engines in them are going to be Volkswagen engines, you are a Volkswagen company,

and you're not an EV if you burn stuff, and so that's going to go through the courts.

Plug-in hybrids cost twice as much as the manufacturers say new research today

say that it doesn't cost £500 a year to fuel one in the UK, it's £1000 a year,

because people aren't plugging them in overnight. Renault was going to spin off its Ampere EV division,

but they're not going to fold it back into the company. Mitsubishi will plot a EV in

Australia, a high-performance drivers car built by Foxconn, they make Apple iPhones, don't they?

Ford are coming back into Formula One after a couple of decades away,

and they've hooked up with Red Bull powertrains, they've been developing their new engines for

a long time. Ford's boss Jim Farley says we want to use our move back into Formula One to learn

from what Red Bull have been building with their engines and the battery deployment

to try and counter the Chinese motors that are coming, and Honda are knocking on the head

their fuel cell joint venture with General Motors, they'll go it alone on Hydrogen,

they say after 30 years of development, they've got more work to do, and that's briefly.

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BRIEFLY: Volvo, Tesla, VW & more | 23 Jan 2026

Volvo EX60

Tesla Model Y

Bmw Ix3

WLTP

EPA

cell-to-pack construction

SPA3 platform

Volvo XC60

adaptive cruise control

FSD

lane centering

Camry

Volkswagen

Dacia

Renault Twingo

Scout

range extenders

plug-in hybrids

Mitsubishi

Formula One

Red Bull

Honda

fuel cell

hydrogen

General Motors

About this episode

Original notes