DAILY: Range Rover Sport Electric, U.S. Improves and Ford Truck Prototypes Spotted | 21 Jul 2026
EV News Daily - Technology and Business of EVs
DAILY: Range Rover Sport Electric, U.S. Improves and Ford Truck Prototypes Spotted | 21 Jul 2026EV News Daily - Technology and Business of EVs · Jul 22, 2026
This is Land Rover’s upcoming electric version of the Range Rover Sport. It’s important because it’s part of the brand moving toward fully electric SUVs, not just hybrids.
The Range Rover is a large, high-end SUV made for comfort and everyday driving, with the ability to handle rough roads too. The podcast mentions it because Land Rover is planning an electric version of the Range Rover Sport soon. That matters because it shows how luxury SUVs are moving to electric power.
The electric powertrain is the EV’s main system for making and sending power to the wheels. It includes the battery and electric motors, and tuning it can change how strong the car feels.
Year-over-year decline means comparing this month’s results to the same month last year. It helps show whether things are getting better or worse over time.
The used tax credit is a U.S. incentive aimed at buyers of qualifying pre-owned EVs. In this segment, the hosts say it ended last September and that it directly affected demand and registration momentum afterward.
Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are fully electric cars that run only on battery power, not a gasoline engine. The segment uses BEV market share to describe how much of the U.S. vehicle market EVs represent in May.
Car
Ford midsize truck
The hosts are talking about Ford’s next midsize electric pickup. They spotted prototypes using charging infrastructure, which is a big clue about how the truck will plug in and charge.
Tesla Supercharger is Tesla’s fast-charging network. If a different brand’s prototype is charging there, it suggests the car can use Tesla chargers—often with an adapter—so charging will be easier for buyers.
The charge port is where you plug the charging cable into the EV. Where it’s placed matters because it changes how convenient it is to charge when you’re parked at a charger.
J3400 is a standard that helps EVs connect to Tesla-style fast chargers. It’s basically about making the charging plug and communication work correctly between different brands.
An adapter is a piece of hardware that helps a charging cable fit the car and charger you’re using. It can let an EV charge on a network that normally uses a different plug type.
CCS is a common type of fast-charging plug used by many electric cars. If a car supports CCS, it can use a lot of public fast chargers without needing special equipment.
The Honda Prologue is Honda’s first volume EV, built to bring the brand into mainstream battery-electric sales. In this segment, the hosts focus on Honda ending Prologue production and shifting strategy toward hybrids, which is a notable business pivot for an EV-focused model.
Term
volume e v
A volume EV is an electric car a company plans to sell to lots of people. It’s not a rare, limited model—so stopping production is a bigger deal for the brand’s EV plans.
A “lease loophole” is a way some EV tax benefits can work better when you lease instead of buy. That can lower the monthly cost and make more people choose leasing.
“LTM platform” refers to a specific EV vehicle architecture used by General Motors, which the host says Honda’s EVs were based on. A platform typically covers shared underpinnings like battery packaging, mounting points, and structural design to reduce cost and speed development.
Write-downs are bookkeeping losses—basically when a company decides something it planned for isn’t going to be worth as much as expected. It shows up as an expense on the financial statements.
The Volvo EX60 is Volvo’s new electric vehicle mentioned in this segment. The big deal is that it’s built on an EV-specific platform and supports 800-volt fast charging for quicker charging.
Term
SPA three EV platform
“SPA three EV platform” is Volvo’s shared electric-car building system. It’s the design that determines how the battery and major components are laid out in the vehicle.
The Chevrolet Volt is a car that can run on electricity, but it also has a gasoline engine to help when the battery runs low. The podcast is talking about charging and efficiency, which are important topics as cars move toward more electric driving. It’s mentioned because it’s part of the evolution from hybrids to EVs.
800-volt fast charging is a charging setup that lets an EV pull more power from a fast charger. That usually means you can charge faster than older, lower-voltage EVs.
The Volvo XC40 is a compact SUV, designed for everyday driving with a comfortable, practical layout. The podcast mentions it because Volvo is continuing to sell it while working on other EV plans. It’s part of the company’s broader lineup strategy.
The Volvo V60 is a wagon-style car, meaning it has extra cargo space compared with a typical sedan. The podcast mentions it while talking about Volvo’s overall plans for models and EVs. It’s included as part of what Volvo still builds while EVs expand.
The Tesla Model S is a battery-electric sedan, meaning it doesn’t use gasoline. It’s one of Tesla’s higher-end models. The podcast notes that it may no longer be available to buy in the market being discussed.
The Tesla Model Y is an electric SUV that runs on batteries instead of gasoline. It’s built for regular everyday driving and is one of Tesla’s most common models. The podcast brings it up in the context of what people can currently buy.
The Lucid Air is a luxury electric car that uses batteries instead of gasoline. The podcast mentions it because there have been recent reports that could affect whether someone should buy one. It’s being discussed as part of the broader EV market and business updates.
EPA range is the official U.S. test estimate for how far an EV can drive on one full charge. When you see “EPA range,” it means the number comes from a standardized test, not just a guess.
DC fast charging is a way to charge an EV quickly using a special charger. It pushes power directly to the battery, so you can add range faster than with a normal home-style charger.
All-wheel drive means the car can send power to more than just the rear or front wheels. It can help with grip, but it can also use more energy, which may reduce range.
Tariff uncertainty means the rules about taxes on imported goods are unclear or changing. If companies can’t predict the cost, they may delay or move EV production.
Ultium Cells is GM’s battery-making operation. In this segment, they’re described as changing what they build so their factories stay productive when EV demand shifts.
Energy storage means saving electricity in batteries so it can be used later. Here, it’s mentioned because battery makers can sell batteries for storage even if EV orders slow down.
Lithium iron phosphate cells are a kind of EV battery. They’re often chosen because they’re safer and can be cheaper than other battery types, and they can help keep battery production aligned with what buyers want.
Spring Hill, Tennessee is where the battery factory is located that the episode is talking about. The point is that battery production is happening in the U.S. and changing over time.
LFP is a type of battery chemistry. It’s known for lasting a long time and being relatively safer, which is why people talk about it for EVs and big power-grid batteries.
Sodium-ion is another kind of battery. Instead of using lithium, it uses sodium, which could help with cost and supply—especially for large storage systems.
Flow batteries store energy in liquid chemicals in tanks. You pump the liquids through the battery to make electricity, and that design can be useful for very large storage needs.
Peak shaving means using stored energy to help during the busiest, highest-demand times. Instead of the grid working hardest at the peak, storage helps take some of that load.
They’re saying the future grid probably won’t rely on just one fix. Instead, it will use several different tools together to keep electricity reliable.
Alex Partners is a consulting company. In this story, Lucid hired them to help with restructuring and improving how the company operates.
LIVE
Welcome back to EV news daily today randrovers sports electric us improves registrations and
four truck prototypes have been spotted plus they tuned later in the show while telling you why
spain are not too busy celebrating their world cup win to court chinese investments on ev news
china today our spin-off podcast we're talking about smarts hashtag two li also updates the l six
and the freeland eight arrives with dealerships of course freeland is a brand now not a name plate
some of us would know that from jaguar land rover hey it's good to be back by the way if you're
listening to the main show and not the spin-off show which kind of came off that came out earlier
taking an unintended break by the way i was always going to go to norway but that ended
up being a few more weeks than i than i wanted to i've communicated that to the patreon supporters
online at patreon.com slash ev news daily and along with some other things just a really busy set of
personal circumstances nothing that i particularly saw coming at both ends of the scale by the way
both with kids and parents the joy of being caught in the middle but that's fine and nothing that i
can particularly share here lots of people do share all of their life don't they youtubers and
content creators you get all the gory details and that's kind of where i am and also there's
certain things to do with my kids because they're adopted and whatnot that um that we don't share
there's no pictures of my children online for instance anywhere on the internet for certain
reasons and um and so a lot of stuff going on that i i just can't share but i'm fine thank you for the
the messages along the lines of are you dead no i'm sorry i just every day i woke up thinking right
let's get back into ev news daily and circumstances conspired against me that's enough of that let's
get into it land rover has confirmed the range rover sport electric due later this year standing
on the brand's second all electric model the suv made its first public appearance a good word where
prototypes tackled challenges on the circuit land rover is now teasing the sport electric
range rover ahead of a full reveal later this year the electric sport will complete the range
rover lineup that range also includes plug-in hybrids mild hybrid v8s and even petrels and
land rover says the electric powertrain will deliver more power and more talk
because it's always the case when the ev version gets released it's always better the model will
also get a retuned chassis and a new electric sound the goodwood run follows earlier range rover
stunt work like the heavens gate climb in china that 999 step thing you may have seen online
the icelandic spillway ascent martin limputz said the electric model aims to add a new edge
to the range rover sport while combining electric refinement and instant performance no exact date
by the way pricing and availability all tbc but good to know that following the electric range
rover will now get the range rover sport electric before the end of this year as well that's a
now may bought the smallest year over year decline in the united states in registrations not
sales registration data here since the end of the tax credit and although it is still a decline
it it kind of hemorrhaging the decline if you like because it's a 0.7% slip compared to may
last year now it's still a decline but it's it's the best of the worst if you like it's no secret
china is powering ahead europe certain parts of the americas are an asia
all powering ahead and it's no secret that the us is going to be doing things at a different speed
and maybe playing a little bit catch up in in some in some years as well
but it has wobbled since the tax credit the change of the political climate in the united
states as well choice of vehicles is different tariffs and all sorts of things playing into it
it was a 0.7 percent year over year decline may to may according to the good folks at mobility
global the seven and a half thousand dollar federal tax credit and of course the lesser
talked about used tax credit ended last september and hit demand really since then tesla's been
leading the recovery us registrations of tesla not official data from them they didn't publish
monthly data was 27 percent of us registrations up for tesla up 27 percent to almost 55 000 units
its ev segment share climbing as well to 55 percent of the us market which is an increase
hunday took second place by volume toyota also posted a percentage gain putting total sixth
in the monthly brand rankings battery electric vehicles accounted for seven percent of the
us like vehicle market in may that share fell from a year earlier but again a tiny 0.1 percent
share decline so that we could be over the hump now in the us the wider picture is weak january to
may was down 23 compared to last year when there was a great impetus to get sales under the belt
sort of get the car in your driveway and for dealers to get cars off their lots knowing
with the new political climate that it was inevitable i this time last year did we even
have the end of the tax credit that things happen pretty quickly don't they i'm i can't remember
but mobility globals analysts view the month of november as the low point in the us and
we're on out on the roads to recovery that's a good thing now let's talk ford midsize truck
two prototypes of the upcoming midsize have been spotted charging at a tesla supercharger
station marking the first time multiple prototypes have appeared together ne they are wearing heavy
camouflage by the way there's a lot of shoulder padding this is very much a 1980 shoulder pad
going on here lots of foam to disguise the real shape underneath so we don't know that's all
hidden testing continues at various locations charge port makes sense it's on the driver's side
at the rear which is it's the tesla location and for any v3 supercharger short cable
that just makes sense the midsize ford pickup will use obviously j 3400 the official name or
na cs uh natively uh ford will also offer an adapter obviously for any of those stations
that are still using um ccs one of which there'll be plenty around so honda is next in the news
they're going to end the prologue this year when uh when they finish production and and sell out of
vehicles they're discontinuing the prologue with production said to end in december dealers will
have enough inventory to carry them into q1 next year but the move marks another step back for honda
and honda zv battery plans which at one point we're looking very optimistic the prologue was
honda's first volume e v it was lonely launched in 2024 posting strong results um that was really
driven by a lot of great finance deals a lot of incentive deals from honda and the dealers as well
to get those cars out of the door but the prologues it's not a terrible vehicle honda sales chief
said buyers have shifted away from electric vehicles and in america they want to buy hybrids
according to honda so that's what they're going to sell you um the number of sales of the prologue
was 39 000 last year but that really was helped by incentives the lease loophole the tax credit
canada tells the same story the prologue itself was a was a shortcut for honda it came from gm's
factory in mexico it was gm's ltm platform as it used to be called underpinned by the same
architecture you'd find in a chevy blazer e v giving honda a step up but not a long-term base
honda's retreat has been building for some time cancelling plans to build upcoming e v's three
upcoming e v's in the us all cancelled warning of 15.8 billion dollars of write downs and expenses
to get out of agreements contracts deals um acura's pulling back as well uh production of the zdx
cdx ended in september last year after one model year with the prologue gone honda will have no e v's
left for the united states quite quite a moment um for honda and for the japanese car makers
as well maybe i i'm getting ahead of myself here talking about special podcasts as i've been away
for a bit let's just get the basic ones done then should we podcast boy but if i do ever make a
special i do think we should look at japan and what their options are because killing it with
engineering on combustion but it's no secret struggling in e v all of them so what's their
options just not do e v just do hybrid like toyota uh make money and then retire if you're the if
you're the boss let somebody else deal with uh go cap in hand to china join up that could be one
couldn't it could be honda and toyota and mazda nissan all getting together and saying well no
let's share stuff the bits that customers can't see a bit like the prologue you know
yes no wonder uh so yeah not not not a topic for now but what uh oh what oh what for the japanese
without their e v plans uh anymore perhaps a special show volvo have a couple of stories in
the podcast today then we'll take a break first up volvo is weighing a return to the midsize
sedan and estate or wagon market in the us both models could come in 2028 says this new rumour
according to automotive news uh the pair are in development at least for europe but possibly for
the us as well so that new volvo ex 60 which is now going to customers by the way uh has the spa
three e v platform underneath it 800 volt fast charging loads of efficiency and you know rugged
cross country versions maybe of the wagon could sell in some perhaps northern states in the us as
well volvo would build the cars in europe not the us he expects the pair of cars to start in the low
50 thousands making a clear turn from volvo's recent shift towards an all crossover range lots of
people lamented the lack of estate cars um from volvo but were they ever going to buy one or just
complaining on the internet i wonder well give it a couple of years put your money where your mouth
was and volvo signed up a new agreement with belgium's federal government and the flemish
regional government to invest 120 million euros to support the plant they have in gent a key
manufacturing site and also possibly assembling vehicles for other brands ceo hacken samuelson
back in the gig has floated the idea of making geelys and zikas and lincoln coes in gent sister
brands if you like giving them a faster cheaper way into europe rather than building plants may
also suit the tougher EU rules on investment as well gent builds the let me get this right
ex 30 which has not been without its problems ex 30 cross country they still build the xc 40
there and the v 60 volvo geely zika lincoln coe all under the geely group owned by li shufu
so could do something interesting there with different ownerships now i'll take a break we'll
come back we'll talk bmw and foxconn and more stick around all right welcome back to the podcast
now let's talk bmw giving the new i5 2027 model year more range and better efficiency
fitting a native nac s port across the range as well in north america the move matters
because bmw has to push the i5 harder to fill that big sedan market if you were in the market to
go buy a tesla model s well you can't anymore and if you're in the market to go buy a lucid air
you might think twice following recent reports of lucid having their own set of
troubles and issues challenges we'll call it that let's be positive to overcome and you might think
okay there you know plenty of money behind them but still technically a startup don't
be left in the lurch if the worst happens i'll trust a bmw and an i5 well there's not too many
things in that segment if that's if you want a form factor like that rear wheel drive e drive 40s
where it starts 328 miles of epa range that's up from 310 by the way with 20 inch wheels it drops
by about 30 miles also on that rear motor 335 horsepower 0 to 65.4 seconds so pretty handy
little car that entry level one dc fast charging 205 kilowatts a 10 to 18 half an hour by the way
the ccs port has gone fitting naks from the factory but also coming with adapters with the car
and if you really want you can get the big boy m 60 version as well for your 600 horsepower 3 point
something seconds 0 to 60 isn't it and it does take a range hit as well e drive 40 starts at
68 000 us and the x drive when we go all wheel drive costs $3 000 more it's not a bargain but it
is pretty good value i think for the amount of car that you get considering it's a bmwev with
pretty decent specs fox cons next in the news postponing their planned us launch of its model
c that's a midsize crossover all-electric tariff uncertainty was what they blamed the project
was due to reach us customers by the end of last year but fox cons say it's on hold oh the fox con
on again off again on again love affair with evs they say they're going to reassess trade policy
as time goes on fox tron which is fox cons automotive joint venture um said it's directly
because of tariffs fox tron said the plan could return if the political backdrop changes and who
knows uh we had some midterms just around the corner um and then who knows what happens in two
years time as well fox con has not named um the u.s customers that they could be building vehicles
for uh the delay shows how tariff swings now shape ev planning some firms pull back from
us production even as sales are holding really firm uh in other parts of the world fox cons
sold the lord's town plant last august um which was their american production base looking very
promising um for now they're turning to overseas work they say production in poland add a taxi
pitch for japan i think as well that's a that's a fascinating the whole fox con fox tron
thing they've got chops they know how to make stuff because they make they make the iphone you
might be listening to this podcast on when it comes to evs not quite so simple though they've
not been able to make it work yet general motors next in the news and ultium cells are turning to
energy storage to keep battery plants busy after us ev demand fell with a shift of political
sentiment there ultium cells started making lithium ion phosphate cells at their spring hill
tennessee plants on the 7th of july after a 70 million dollar investment gm plans sodium ion
batteries from 2028 that broadens the plants reach beyond passenger evs giving gm and lg energy
another market for their battery output at a time when ev sales are a softer in the us than
they had planned when these investments are made years and years in advance the bet rests on grid
scale storage utilities face heavier load from you know don't mention ai data centers aging grid
kit climate stress as well and those strains push demand for storage that can smooth supply during
heat waves and cold snaps and help power hungry data centers when it's needed oem is moving into
energy storages is a really interesting story i'd like to pick at that one a little bit more and
further understand it and battery storage on the grid is it has to be the story of the next 10 years
doesn't it whether that is lfp lithium some sort of lithium battery sodium ion uh technology
things like flow batteries uh where you store is it flow batteries two different liquid electrolytes
and you sort of pump them through the tanks can be massive uh or any size really uh they're static
and they are in operation already in some places um and that's you know that's that's your 812 hours
of energy um energy storage it's a little bit less mature that technology but there's great gains
being made in it as well and so yeah energy storage on the grid has to be not just not just
for peak shaving and rescuing the grid and getting off fossil fuels it has to be layered
doesn't it has to be uh i'm not i'm not an energy expert but it has to be things like baseload and
renewables and storage and decentralized EVs providing energy back to the grid and all those
things should it's not it can't just be one solution is it's gotta be like a like a layer cake
isn't it of of how we solve energy and energy in the future which is not neat what nobody wants to
hear they everyone's a quick sound bite or a 200 word blog that answers a very thorny problem anyway
moving on lucid has hired alex partners to help with the turnaround plan trimming outputs cutting
jobs reshuffling the top team the company says alex partners bringing in the consultants will
improve execution and strength and operations saying that the advisors are not working on
bankruptcy or even a take private deal which was reported in the press the new ceo since june
has actually come out and not been very vocal actually um has not been a attracting attention
posting a lot online anything like that just been getting his feet under the table a table but
silvio napoli coming in saying that the firm is not considering any kind of bankruptcy protection
or even a take private deal but registrations for lucids need to be higher they are so far off the
predictions that they were meant to be at now in 2025 2026 i think may had 700 odd us registrations
which was down from a year earlier you know for a young brand with another vehicle like
the gravity on on offer you think that would be increasing work to do right finally spain
is courting chinese car makers spain's government are getting over the hangover of celebrating the
world cup now treating chinese car makers as a core part of their industrial strategy and
trying to attract more chinese investment the state now points to three joint ventures as in
how investment should be done cherry with ebro stalantis with catl and baic with santana motors
madrid wants chinese investors to stay in the frame to bring in local job supplies and technology
as well the biggest of the three is catl and stalantis their battery plan is 4.1 billion euros
of investment that's 4.7 billion us dollars and according to reports will rely on workers
possibly from china during construction earlier reports that workers may come from china to build
the site but then take on local staff to actually run the thing spain seems to have settled on a
middle path between somewhere between protectionism and opening their doors to anyone and everyone
from china they want jobs factories fresh capital but they want some control as well and of course
it within the european union there's you have to be um considerate of that as as well you can't
exactly just do anything that you want but cherry's move been moving ahead they built their vehicles
in Barcelona um the company blamed some commercial factors for the delay on that but that is now up
and running at the former nissan plant as well in in Barcelona and it's interesting how different
countries uh attracting spanish uh sorry chinese investment but the spanish wants it i think on
on their terms and i think the chinese will be very happy at any welcoming uh open arms to
come into the european union over here in europe and and try and find ways to get around the tariffs
and and get their feet under the table as well a little bit more and that is your podcast thought
that i good to be back man it feels good thanks to our premium partners national
car charging on the u.s mainland and a low hard charge in hawai and of course test tv avaluse
trusted partner for independent ev battery health testing in australia and new zealand have a good
soon tomorrow and remember there's no such thing as a self-charging hybrid
About this episode
Land Rover has confirmed the Range Rover Sport Electric, due later this year, and the hosts connect the teaser to what the electrified powertrain is expected to deliver. They then pivot to U.S. EV registration shifts, tying demand to federal and used tax credits, and share charging/compatibility notes from Ford’s Tesla-Supercharger-spotted prototypes. Honda’s Prologue wind-down and EV cancellations show up alongside Volvo EX60 platform and 800-volt fast-charging details, plus BMW i5 range updates and broader grid-storage and battery-chemistry talk.
