DAILY: Global EV Sales, Rivian Delays R2 For Europe and Tesla Fades In America | 14 Feb 2026

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And Tesla fades in America.

Plus, stay tuned later in the show.

I'll tell you how the UK public EV charging market

changed significantly in a single week.

No EV news China today.

It's the weekend.

It'll be back on Monday.

Now, global EV sales reached 1.2 million units

last month, January 2026.

That was actually down 3% year on year

and 44% from December.

That's according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

with the annual decline entirely due to China.

China sold 600,000 EVs.

That's down 20% year on year and 55% down month on month.

After the purchase taxes on EVs returned for the first time

in 12 years.

Most models now face a 5% levy

against a 10% rate for combustion

while a flat to proportional shift

in trading subsidies hit smaller, cheaper EVs.

Europe recorded 320,000 sales.

That was up 24% year on year, but down on December.

As tighter EU emissions rules and renewed incentives

drove the UK up 14, Germany up 25

and France up 41%.

Norway fell 71% year on year

and 92% month on month after pre-buying

ahead of VAT tightening from the 1st of January.

The Netherlands fell 28% and 64% respectively

again on pre-buying ahead of these higher company car tax rules.

North America posted just 90,000 sales.

That was down 33% year on year and down 27% on December.

The US' lowest monthly figure since the early part of 2022.

After federal levy tax credits were scrapped

on the 30th of September last year

and the cafe fines abolished

GM and Stellantis have taken multi-billion-dollar write downs.

Canada with the subsidies expired last January.

Now says they will admit up to 49,000 Chinese made EVs

at just 6.1% tariff following the 100% tariff

which they had for just over a year.

The rest of the world, well that posted 190,000 EV sales.

That was up 92% year on year

and flat December to January.

Thailand tripled its EV sales

after a deadline extension and excise cuts

South Korea and Brazil also growing very strongly as well.

A rare bit of news on the podcast where EV sales

stuttered on the month but all for very explainable reasons

and all for reasons that we knew were coming.

Things like the Chinese tax changes, the Norwegian,

the Dutch changes and things like that.

Alright let's move on.

Rivian has removed the European launch of the R2

from its website replacing it with a generic prompt

to sign up for more information.

The company has also pushed Canada's debut

which was due to be this year into 2027

and deleted the previously listed price

of 66,500 Canadian.

That's 48,700 US.

Rivian has built dedicated pages for 18 European countries.

UK, obviously right hand drive, Germany, France,

Spain, Italy, Sweden, Austria.

But none now lists a launch date

at the IAA show last September.

The CEO, RJ Scarringe, declined to give a European timeline

saying only that the brand would be highly aspirational

but highly attainable.

US reviews of the new dual motor R2

have been published, 656 horsepower

and 609 pound feet of torque.

60 miles an hour in 3.6 seconds.

The battery, 87.4 kilowatt hours, 300 miles.

That is almost 500 kilometres of range.

But a 30 minute 10 to 80 charge

which some people felt was a little slow.

The R2 is about 186 inches long.

That's 4.17 metres.

That's about 15 inches or 38 centimetres

shorter than the R1 S.

It's actually 2000 pounds lighter as well

and it's obviously not going to take such a chunk out of your wallet.

It started 45,000 US dollars

but we get the exact pricing on March the 12th.

Talking of Rivian, they have now

shipped vehicles to Volkswagen

with the new joint venture software for winter testing.

13 months after forming RV Tech,

the joint venture with Volkswagen Group.

So Volkswagen, Audi and Scouts all involved.

VW pledged up to 5.8 billion dollars,

2 billion coming this year

and a billion dollars contingent on those test vehicles,

1 billion on in non-recourse debt.

Software and services did well

for Rivian, $447 million in Q4.

The partnership develops

the scalable systems platform

for up to 30 million VW Group vehicles eventually

and licensable to other OEMs if you're interested.

Led by Co-CEOs.

Not sure how that always works out.

Many companies, not the time an expert.

But from Rivian, CEOs Wassem Ben Said

and from Volkswagen, the CEO Carsten Helming.

The Volkswagen ID1 prototypes are now being evaluated

in Palo Alto and Irvine.

Production in 2027.

Rivian's R2 is the first vehicle on a new software stack.

Brand customization tensions seem to be persisting

according to automotive press.

Some of the sources noting that when you add a new skin

to the software for the brand to have its own look,

it can materially alter the user experience.

Rivian's platform for LiDAR autonomy

is not part of this by the way.

And Volkswagen want to get back to making more combustion cars

because they're more profitable.

And I imagine if I was at Rivian I would have no interest at all

in making my wonderful, beautiful lines of code

and software work with dirty pistons that go pop and bang.

But that's the source of some tension.

VW Group expects a longer combustion runway than anticipated.

So they've got to carry on funding their own software department

and carry it to the tunes of billions of euros.

Let's move on with the final story on Rivian.

They plan a third version of the Amazon-backed EDV

electric delivery van.

This one will have all-wheel drive.

Amazon's been backing Rivian for a long time now since 2019.

This new model uses the existing EDV,

adding all-wheel drive and a bigger battery.

The first time either option has been featured.

The larger battery extends the range by 30%.

The drive addresses traction in mud and snow.

Route types, the current front-wheel drive models

can't fully serve in extreme conditions.

Rivian says the variants will expand the EDV

route coverage in Amazon's network.

The existing lineup, there's the EDV 500.

That'll do you 160 miles.

The EDV 700 for 160 miles is the other one.

And now they're developing their third version.

Both use front-wheel drive and that standard size battery.

The new all-wheel drive model sits above them.

And the CEO, RJ Scarridge, expecting growth in EDV demand in 2026,

calling his Amazon relationship very positive,

noting that the EDV performs extremely well,

he says in the field.

Rivian has not disclosed a launch date.

Goldman Sachs analysts pressed Scarridge on timing,

but had no answer.

Now, Tesla's US sales are fading.

They fell 17% year-over-year in January.

And they went from 48,500 last year to 40,000 this year.

That's a fourth consecutive monthly decline in the US.

And the ninth year-over-year drop in 12 months.

According to Motor Intelligence, of course,

Tesla don't report neither monthly nor region-specific details.

So that doesn't come from Tesla.

That comes from registration data and other sources.

The $7,500 federal tax credit expired at the 30th of September.

So that reversed the Q3 pull forward.

November fell below 40,000.

December recovered slightly, but Cox Automotive,

but the average EV transaction price in America now

at $51,981 in January.

The US EV market share fell to 6.6% from 9.5%,

and Kelly Bluebook estimated that total EV sales fell 30%.

Tesla's registrations were down across all of 2025.

And who else did OK?

Well, General Motors, EV sales, they actually rose over the year,

lifting their market share to 13.2% of the US market,

with the Equinox EV doing much of the work behind the 3

and the Y from Tesla.

Ford's market share fell.

Then it was Hyundai Kia.

And what cars have been doing very well in America?

New standard from Model Y, or the Model Y standard,

I should call it, and Model 3 standard,

weren't enough to offset the losses

from the federal tax credits going.

Over here in Europe, registrations for Tesla fell 27.8%

over the entire year.

If you look at the big markets,

it's been falling even more heavily.

The UK was down 57% last year for Tesla.

Norway, 88% in the UK.

BYD actually overtook Tesla by the tune of about 2 to 1,

which is somewhat of a bloody nose for Tesla.

Work to be done.

They've been shifting around the management at Tesla

in terms of sales.

Now, I think a single head in charge of sales

for both Europe and North America,

maybe possibly Africa, maybe even Asian region,

I'm not sure, but I would think everything but China,

probably, and they have a large job on their hands

to get us all buying Teslas again.

Won't be easy, will it, with all the increased competition

and the various other factors involved.

All right, we'll take a break.

We'll come back.

China's rules on yoke steering wheels

and Canada and their rebates.

Stick around back in a moment.

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Welcome back to the podcast.

MG has launched the second generation

of the MG4 outside of China,

where inside China it's just called the MG4,

but we already had the MG4

and it's a very good car.

But they wanted to refresh it,

but the thing is the MG4 in China

is an entirely different car.

It's a different chassis.

It goes from rear-wheel drive to front-wheel drive.

It looks different on the outside.

So they've kept the MG4, as we know it,

and then they call it the MG4 Urban

to try and say, look, it's the MG4,

even though it's a very different car.

And now they're launching it in Austria,

where it starts at 20,000 euros

for the 43-kilowatt-hour version.

That price does include, in case you're wondering,

that's cheap, 20K.

That's 5,000 euros of incentives,

a 2.5K trading bonus,

a $2,000 euro environmental bonus,

and 500 euro insurance bonus.

The range also includes the comfort model

for 54-kilowatt-hours

and the luxury model with the same battery.

Austria is currently the only confirmed

EU market for the Urban.

It was unveiled in the UK

late last month, available in China

since September last year.

This new one is front-wheel drive

and a very different driving experience,

but even though car review

has raved about

the existing MG4,

saying, you know, loads of smiles,

it really can take the battle to a GTI,

this new one,

I mean, does anybody buying an MG4

ever think about

how spirited they should be

driving it? I mean, I'm not being insulting,

but probably for the best,

if the car can be really cheap

as long as it doesn't

drive dangerously terribly.

I don't know. Right.

The Urban's body is actually larger,

it's 11cm longer and it's wider

and taller and it's got a longer wheelbase

as well, but they've kept the original

MG4 on sale

all the way up to its

77-kilowatt-hour extended range

trophy trim. You get the X-Power

version as well.

We're like 320 kilowatts of power

and that thing's bonkers. Right.

Let's talk about how many yokes

you may be seeing on the road.

Tesla, of course, do this.

Toyota

and Lexus have started rolling out

yokes. Well, I think you won't see them anymore

because China are going to

ban them. China's MIIT

publishing a safety standard that would

ban steering yokes from new passenger cars

for the first of January next year.

The standard requires...

This is actually about impact forces.

It's an odd topic to talk about on the podcast, but

in terms of the

upper and lower rims of a steering wheel,

there's a lot of data and measurements

available for things like occupants

hitting steering wheels, airbags,

how the steering columns

can cause injury. And there's not

of data on yokes, in fact

potentially more dangerous, say China,

so they banned them. And so

if you want to sell a car inside of China,

well, it won't have the silly yoke

steering wheel. I think kind of a shame because

there were some interesting things happening

with steer by wire, and

that may have been interesting, but

China says, hey, no more.

Two yoke-specific

risks are identified. Deploying

airbags can slide under

the driver's head, reducing cushioning

and raising the risk of striking

the steering column or dashboard. And the

regular airbag cover

shattered on deployment, they say,

scattering debris into the cabin. Without steer by wire

or a fast variable

ratio rack,

yokes require large steering

inputs for things like parking, type maneuvers,

roundabouts. They just don't work.

The yoke

in the S and the X have had persistent

criticism on both grounds.

Lexus addressed it on the RZ

with its full steer by wire system.

They said it has better forward visibility.

You get more knee and leg space as

well. They're still a niche and

they will be no more. If you want to sell your

cars in China, so what's the point of developing them

because China is the world's biggest car market.

Now Canada's

electric vehicle affordability program,

the EVAP launched

and it's offering

up to 5,000 Canadian

dollars, that's three and a half thousand US

equivalent for battery

electric vehicles and two and a half

thousand Canadian for plug-in hybrids. It replaces

the previous federal rebate,

offering eligibility from the hard

MSRP

to the final transaction value.

For non-Canadian built EVs,

the 50,000 Canadian

dollar threshold covers the base

price, trim upgrades,

factory options, accessories

and dealer fees, but excludes

freight, taxes, winter tires, extended

warranties, things like that. Transport Canada's

initial list covers 35 vehicles.

So

Chevy Equinox

EVs, LT and RS

trim, the Bolt LT and RS.

There's five Fiat 500 variants,

the F, the Ford

2026 Mustang, Mach

E, in select standard

range trim. Three Hyundai

Conas are included.

The Dodge Charger Daytona

RT

exceed 50,000

Canadian, but they

qualify on being Canadian produced,

which is rather genius, isn't it?

Plug-in hybrids include all six

Chrysler Pacific trims

and the Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid. Tesla's Model

Y

is $10

below the threshold,

but it doesn't appear

on this first eligibility list.

Now let's talk about Skoda.

Skoda's rolling out four features

for the ENIAC and the L-Rock.

Air console gaming,

Skoda Play Video, Native Spotify

and their new

emergency vehicle approaching

alerts. All four

form the media streaming package.

That is free

for three years on new vehicles. Air

console delivers cloud gaming,

15 titles from Tetris

and other things,

and a single and multiplayer

are available. Skoda Play

available when you're parked, streams

news and educational content

from Euro news, NASA, CNN,

Reuters, Bloomberg and more.

Spotify comes pre-installed and works

while moving, obviously

streaming music and podcasts

but I would presume not video

podcasts, which are very common on Spotify these days

and the traffic update

that is providing real-time alerts

for approaching emergency

vehicles. Check out your ENIAC or L-Rock

for your new software.

Now, Europe car

they have

pointed to the UK's

2025 Barometer

study showing a steady improvement

in business driver sentiment

towards electric vehicles.

Fewer employees

are noting any kind of barrier

towards going electric. The share

citing no barriers at all

to adopting EVs in fleets

the kind of

no problem response

went from 11% to 21%

year on year, which is great

news. Charging infrastructure

concerns fell from 36%

to 29%

and the knowledge gap dropped as well

from 20% to 16.8%

What is the leading barrier then?

Why aren't we all driving EVs

if you're a fleet buyer?

Cost was what they

said. Europe car

Tom Middleditch from Europe car

attributing the shift to better

charging infrastructure

broader vehicle ranges as

well. They position EV rental

as a way for businesses to test

electric drive trains

without leasing a bunch of them long.

Now, in just a few days

the UK charging

map, if you like

changed quite significantly

the UK public EV charging

market changed in a single week

with three acquisitions. Manchester

based BEV bought out

Mer

but only the UK bits of Mer

MER

So that is 1600

charging bays in 450

sites now acquired by

BEV

They're backed by Octopus

Mer is exiting

UK public charging but they're keeping

its fleet operations

with 500 workspace charges

That's quite a big deal actually. There's loads of Mer charges

around here in Dorset

and Bournemouth Pool Christchurch

where I am

and I don't see them everywhere

but maybe they did a deal

with tons of Mer's

so they will be branded BEVs

Connected Curb bought Trojan

Energy's assets

after they went into administration

That is on-street charging

There's 1500 on-street charge points

for residential neighbourhoods

now owned by Connected Curb

and Ubitricity

acquired FM Conway's

Sure Charge Network

that's 2,500 lamp post charges in London

added to Ubitricity's

Shell Recharge Portfolio

The logic behind

this consolidation that's now happening in the

CPO

Market Charge Point Operator

is about scale. Scale can win

their BEV's CEO, Asif Ghafour

telling the Guardian

he expects the UK Charge Point Operators

the number of them to fall

from 150

to 5 or 6

dominant players in time

Few operators could bring a more consistent

better covered charging experience

but also more pricing power

if competition

fades

More mergers and acquisitions will be likely

not just in the UK but around the world

Drivers may be happy

about one thing

fewer apps to download on your phone

and that's your podcast for today

thanks to our premium partners

that'll be national car charging on the US mainland

and the low-ha charge in Hawaii

and TESTV, Avalu's trusted partner

for independent EV battery health testing

in Australia and New Zealand

have a good one soon

and remember there's no such thing

as a self-charging hybrid

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and the best part is

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on average people that cancel their subscriptions

with RocketMoney save $378 a year

and overall

RocketMoney has saved its members

$880 million in canceled subscriptions

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on things you don't use

go to RocketMoney.com

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call 1-800-GRANGER

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DAILY: Global EV Sales, Rivian Delays R2 For Europe and Tesla Fades In America | 14 Feb 2026

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