Episode 542: Six-Seat Model Y L Seems One Step Closer to Going Global

On this week's episode of Ride the Lightning, the Tesla and EV podcast, Tesla's more luxurious,

longer wheelbase, six-seat Model Y L looks set to enter another new region, setting it

up for a potential global rollout sooner rather than later.

Plus, Cybertruck earns a top safety rating, Ford sadly discontinues the fantastic F-150

Lightning and more.

What's happening, friends?

Welcome to Ride the Lightning.

It is your weekly Tesla and EV podcast, episode 542, publishing on December 21st, 2025, recording

as usual on the previous Friday evening, December 19th, 2025.

Both dogs to my left chilling on the couch.

Great to be with you here.

The work year has unofficially ended.

I've still got a few things I'm going to be wrapping up in the early part of next week,

but a lot of emails slowing down, not a lot of slacks, so now I've got to start wrapping

gifts for my family.

There's a lot to do over the next week, but for now, I am so happy to be with you here

for another week of Tesla and EV talk.

And I'll start here.

If you're wondering why your Tesla stock popped earlier this past week, it's because completely

driverless, meaning fully autonomous, Model Y Robotaxis have begun running around Austin

for final validation.

And you know, this is right on schedule.

I mean, not, hey, I'm not looking the gift Tesla stock pop in the eye.

The CEO, of course, Elon Musk, had previously guided that this would happen right towards

the end of this year slash beginning of 2026.

That was when Tesla had said that they were going to be removing the safety monitor and

going fully driverless for the Robotaxi fleet in Austin.

We're still, we've still got a ways to wait in other markets, but Austin is leading the

way here.

And this week, Elon did confirm on X that, quote, testing is underway with no occupants

in the car.

Well, hopefully this goes smoothly, obviously for a million different reasons for whether

you're a stockholder or just not wanting to see, because, you know, as we know, any

one little thing that goes wrong is going to cause a massive, massive, massive uproar

in the worst kind of way.

So hopefully everything goes smoothly for the next, what, two, three weeks or so.

And then we will look for Tesla to fully launch Robotaxi 1.0, at least that's what I'm calling

it here.

It feels like it's in beta now, right?

With the safety monitor.

So it's like, it's like Robotaxi 0.7 or 0.8 right now, but Robotaxi 1.0 coming soon in

their first market of Austin.

And hopefully it means that Robotaxi here in my neck of the woods in the San Francisco

Bay Area will follow suit hopefully about three months or so after Austin.

And I cannot wait.

But then the Tesla stock this week took a bit of a hit right after, had a nice little

pop there with that driverless Robotaxi in Austin, and then took a little bit of a hit

with this weird story.

And it was that the California Department of Motor Vehicles found that Tesla violated

California state law.

And I'm going to read you part of the press release from the California DMV website, who

said the California DMV issued its decision in the Tesla administrative case, adopting

the administrative law judges proposed decision, which concludes that Tesla's use of the terms

autopilot and full self-driving capability to describe its vehicles advanced driving

assistance features is misleading and violates state law.

The administrative law judges proposed decision ordered suspensions of Tesla's manufacturing

license and its dealer license for 30 days.

Upon review, the DMV's decision adopts the judges findings regarding violations, but

reduces the penalties, immediately imposing a permanent stay of the suspension of Tesla's

manufacturer's license and giving Tesla 60 days to take action regarding its use of the

term autopilot.

If Tesla fails to address the issue after 60 days, it will be subject to the 30 day

suspension of its dealer license.

But then, as DriveTesla Canada reports, the California DMV backed off.

They wrote the California DMV is placed to hold on an order that would have suspended

Tesla's sales license, offering the company time to modify the term autopilot and full

self-driving before any penalties take effect.

So according to DMV director Steve Gordon, Tesla's sales license has been stayed for

90 days, while the suspension of its manufacturing license has been put on hold indefinitely.

Quote, this gives Tesla one more chance to be able to remedy the situation, Gordon said

during a media briefing, adding that he hoped the company would quote, find a way to get

these misleading statements corrected, end quote, and that quote comes via the Guardian.

Well, for their part, Tesla itself seemed unfazed by this ruling, commenting from the

Tesla North America X account, saying this was a quote, consumer protection order about

the use of the term autopilot in a case where not one single customer came forward to say

there's a problem.

Sales in California will continue uninterrupted, end quote.

And I have to say, after going through this story this week, and I'm again, I'm right

here in California, I'm on the front front line of this thing, I just don't get it.

I mean, is there some sort of organized movement that I haven't heard about that's trying to

throw wrenches into Tesla's plans?

I mean, it wouldn't surprise me after we're going on what, 12, 13 years running on the

FUD campaign against Tesla, that has morphed and evolved and changed over time and moved

the goalposts about 35,000 different times.

I don't know.

I don't know if there's some sort of coordinated effort going on here just to try and slow

Tesla down or cause the stock price to go down by causing them issues and delays like

this.

I don't know.

Now, in fairness, I do recall a bit of hand wringing over the term autopilot several years

ago, but that seemed to come and go and the complainers at the time either accepted the

term or abandoned their crusade.

So it doesn't seem like it's connected, but getting back to the present day situation,

it sounds like Tesla is not intending to take any action here.

But if this escalates and they ultimately choose to rename the system, to me, it seems

like just adding the same supervised in parentheses to the term autopilot that they're using for

FSD would cover it.

I mean, I would think so.

So it would be autopilot parentheses supervised.

Like there, I fixed it.

Like, cause then it's, okay, the name is supervised autopilot.

Like that, I can't imagine is going to confuse anybody in the same way that full self-driving

supervised is pretty straightforward.

Like the car drives itself, but you have to supervise it.

I've, I've been putting, I'm up to 96% of my miles on my AI four car since installing

14.2 that have been done on FSD.

I used it all the way today.

I had a few errands to run today, uh, down to get some heart medication for Daisy from

the cardiologist is a couple of things that I wasn't even intending to take the car out,

but it performed phenomenally.

It did great.

I mean, I had a couple of little interventions, but not nothing, nothing major, but anyway,

supervised does seem to solve this at least to my, I think common sense perspective here.

So we shall see if this goes any further or if it fades away before I get to this week's

main story and all of the rest of the Tesla and Evie news.

And there is as usual plenty, I want it to take a quick moment to mention my Patreon.

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if you'd like to check it out.

Our main story this week is about the Model Y L, which has been lighting up the sales

charts in China.

And now it looks like it may be heading to Europe.

They received European approval, they meaning Tesla, and it's looking like it could launch

in early in the new year.

I saw this story on Drive Tesla Canada, who wrote in part, Tesla is preparing to expand

the Model Y lineup in Europe with the arrival of the Model Y L, a longer six seat version

of its best selling electric SUV.

Newly surfaced European Union type approval docs suggest the vehicle could launch as soon

as Q1 of 2026, marking the first international rollout of the Model Y L outside China.

The approval was first highlighted by European Tesla watcher E.I.

Vissa on X, I'm probably not pronouncing that correctly, sorry to that person, who

shared detailed specifications confirming that the Model Y L has now cleared the necessary

certification hurdles for Europe.

According to the EU approval documents, the Model Y L is equipped with an 88.2 kilowatt

hour LG energy solution and a nickel metal battery pack internally listed as LG 5N.

The pack operates at a nominal voltage of 369 volts and contains 4,600 cells up from

the 4,416 in the standard configuration.

On 19 inch wheels, the Model Y L is rated for up to 423 miles or 681 kilometers of WLTP

range, putting it among the longest range Model Y variants ever produced.

Quick side note, WLTP is always way, way, way more forgiving than the EPA range.

It doesn't actually get 423 miles.

I still don't know why WLTP is the way it is, it's just not accurate.

Anyway, getting back to the story.

Power comes from Tesla's familiar dual motor all-wheel drive setup.

Turbo weight is listed at 2,163 kilograms while payload capacity reaches 1,241 pounds

excluding the driver.

The Model Y L, destined for Europe, will be produced at Gigafactory Shanghai, continuing

Tesla's strategy of exporting Chinese-built vehicles to international markets.

One notable omission for now is towing capacity.

The EU documentation confirms that the Model Y L currently has no certified tow hitch though

this could change closer to launch.

With EU approval now secured and production already underway in China, all signs point

to Tesla launching the Model Y L in Europe in early 2026 giving buyers a long-awaited

6-seat electric SUV option within the Model Y lineup.

First of all, just in a vacuum, just off the top here, this is fantastic news.

We're talking about a great variant of the Model Y that has been selling like hotcakes

in China.

I'm really glad that it looks like Europe is getting it very quickly.

Not just getting it at all, but getting it soon.

And again, it sure does appear that way because Tesla's filed documents, proactively filed

documents with European regulators to get the approval to sell it in Europe.

That sure seems like Tesla's serious about bringing it to market there.

And it also does make practical sense too, right?

Because let's be honest, Tesla's sales have been mostly down in Europe specifically this

year.

So introducing a new variant that has proven successful in another market already, that's

a pretty easy way to try and get sales back on track.

And yes, I know part of the reason that sales are down in Europe is because of the Model

Y changeover and the Model Y really is the dominant vehicle in that region, even more

so than it is in the U.S. or any other region.

At least here in the U.S., we've got five Teslas.

There really are only two in Europe.

It's really Y and 3, and the 3s are imported from Giga Shanghai.

The Y is the only one, as you all know, that's actually produced locally in the European

region.

Anyway, again, yeah, it just, bringing the L to Europe does seem like a pretty easy low-hanging

fruit way to try and help recover those sales and just, from a consumer perspective, offer

another appealing option for buyers.

Now second of all here, in my humble opinion, the L seemingly coming to Europe very much

increases the likelihood that it's going to be sold in North America before too long as

well.

Can I guarantee that?

Absolutely not.

But it certainly increases the likelihood.

I mean, the U.S., as we all know, is Tesla's biggest market, and I could accept the idea

that Tesla wanted to maybe, the original plan was just sell this thing exclusively

in China, because there's no Model X there.

But you absolutely can get an X in Europe, although, admittedly, it's a pretty big full-size

SUV, which might not make it a great fit, literally, on European roads, whereas the

Model Y L is a smaller car, maybe not in the length department, but in the width department

in terms of the width of their roads over there.

And thus, the Model Y L might make more sense for European roads than the X does, to say

nothing of the fact that the Model Y L is quite a bit cheaper than a Model X.

So the final point I wanted to make on this Model Y L story is my only head-scratcher

with this, and that is, why would this be exported from China, rather than just built

right at Giga Berlin?

I can't make heads or tails out of that.

Giga Berlin is a big factory, Elon has talked in the past about wanting to build the cars

closest to where the customers are, to minimize on not only the costs of transporting the

vehicles to their customers, but also the emissions of doing so.

So I don't really get why these would be coming from Shanghai, rather than Tesla carving out

some production space, either on the existing production line or on a new production line.

I mean, I understand that a new production line would require a significant financial

investment, but I just don't get why this is not being incorporated into the manufacturing

strategy at Giga Berlin.

I mean, is production on the vanilla Model Y that maxed out in Berlin, that they simply

can't afford to take away from that in order to do the Model Y L?

And that's not a...

I'm genuinely wondering, I'm not trying to be clever with that question, I'm genuinely

curious about that, I just don't have the answer.

But ultimately, as I said at the top of the story, this is excellent news that the L is

moving to another territory, and hopefully, as I said, it means that we will see it here

in North America in, I guess, as soon as Q2, potentially, maybe Q3, and then maybe by this

time next year, by the very end of next year, the Model Y L will be available worldwide.

That would be awesome.

Well, I decided to make the Model Y L the subject of this week's Patreon poll because

I am always fascinated in new variants of Tesla vehicles, whether it was the Performance

Model 3 coming along later after the Highland had debuted, of course I ended up buying one,

the Model Y Performance coming along, and now the Model Y L, well technically, the Model

Y L came first, and then the Model Y Performance.

So this week's Patreon poll question, which I politely remind you, you do not need to

be backing me on Patreon, you do not need to be giving me a dime in order to vote in

each week's Patreon poll, all you gotta do is stop by the page, which again is patreon.com

slash Tesla podcast, to vote in each week's Patreon poll.

The poll questions typically go up on Tuesday evenings, we'll see, I might try to get to

it earlier this week since it's kind of a, well, it is not kind of, it is a holiday week,

and I am technically working, but I anticipate it's going to be pretty quiet, so I might

be able to get the poll question up a little quicker this week.

The poll question was, what's your interest level in the six-seat Model Y L?

Interesting results, and certainly encouraging ones, for those of you hoping, like me, that

the Model Y L does go global and is made available not just in Europe, but here in North America

as well.

30% of you said, I'd be very interested in the Model Y L if it was available in my region.

In fairness, 33% of you, so technically the winner of the poll, 33% said, I'm not interested

in the Model Y at all.

But that's okay, because there are lots of Model Y variants now, the L isn't for everybody,

but the fact that 30% of you, of the almost 300 people that voted, said you'd be very

interested in it if it became available in your region, that's not an insignificant amount

of people if we extrapolate that out to the larger Model Y buying public.

And then, on top of that, 24% of you in the poll voted, I'd be somewhat interested in

the Model Y L if I could get one, depending on its local price.

10% of you voted, I'd rather have the Model X, and then in parentheses I put, and maybe

you already do.

And yeah, that's the extent of the poll, so thank you again to everybody for taking the

time to vote in this week's poll.

Talking Cybertruck next for the next couple of stories.

I start with, unfortunately, some bad news on the Cybertruck front.

Tesla has delayed the PowerShare function with Powerwall units until the middle of 2026.

I saw this one again on DriveTesla Canada who wrote Tesla has confirmed another significant

delay to one of the Cybertruck's most anticipated energy features.

In a new email sent directly to customers, a copy of which was shared with DriveTesla

by one of our readers, the company says PowerShare with Powerwall is now scheduled for release

in mid-2026, pushing compatibility nearly a full calendar year than previously expected.

The update means Cybertruck owners with existing Powerwall systems will wait close to three

years after the Cybertruck's launch before being able to use their vehicle as an integrated

home backup power source alongside Tesla's stationary batteries.

The quote from the email that Tesla sent, we're writing to let you know that the PowerShare

with Powerwall feature is still in development and is now scheduled for release in mid-2026.

The company said the additional time is needed to ensure the system can quote, communicate

and optimize energy sharing between your vehicle and many configurations and generations of

Powerwall end quote.

Cybertruck's lead engineer Wes Morrell explained the reason behind the delay saying on X quote,

it turned out to be much harder than anticipated to make PowerShare work seamlessly with existing

Powerwalls through existing wall connectors.

Two grid forming devices need to negotiate who will form and who will follow depending

on state of charge of each and they need to do this without a network and through multiple

generations of hardware and test and validate this process through rigorous certifications

to ensure grid safety end quote.

Well I am certainly glad that Tesla is staying committed to making this happen and still

working on it.

Is it good news?

Of course not.

If you've got a Cybertruck, you know this is not what you want to hear but Tesla is

remaining committed to it and that's if it's harder than they thought then it is what it

is right?

They're working on it.

So if you're a Cybertruck owner I think you are certainly within your rights to be a bit

upset or at the very least a bit disappointed in this because it is definitely a big selling

point for the truck for folks who've already bought into Tesla's ecosystem on the energy

side of Tesla's business.

But at the same point I do very much respect and appreciate Wes and Tesla's honesty here

in admitting that it was a lot harder than they thought it was going to be.

I mean I suppose the old saying better late than never applies here so hopefully this

feature is finally enabled in six to seven months from now.

By the way if you happen to hear any suspicious sounds in the background that might make you

chuckle it wasn't me it was Lily who just ate dinner and is now shall we say relaxing

everything while laying on the couch.

So if you heard anything in the background I promise you it wasn't me it was the dog.

In better Cybertruck news the Stainless Steel Triangle has earned the IIHS Top Safety Pick

Plus Award.

Saw this one on Teslarati who wrote the Tesla Cybertruck has achieved the Insurance Institute

for Highway Safety's highest honor earning a Top Safety Pick Plus rating for 2025 models

built after April of 2025.

The full-size electric pickup truck safety rating is partly due to the vehicle's strong

performance in updated crash tests, superior front crash prevention and effective headlights

among other factors.

To commemorate this accolade the official Cybertruck account celebrated the milestone

on X.

As per the IIHS, beginning with 2025 Cybertrucks built after April, changes were made to the

front underbody structure and footwell to improve occupant safety in driver side and

passenger side small overlap front crashes.

The moderate overlap front test earned a good rating and the updated side impact test also

received stellar marks.

The Cybertruck's front crash prevention earned a good rating in pedestrian scenarios with

the standard collision avoidance assist avoiding collisions in day and night tests across child,

adult crossing and parallel paths.

Cybertrucks with high beam assist compensated for limitations contributing to the top award.

The Cybertruck is one of only two full-size pickups to receive the IIHS Top Safety Pick

Plus rating.

It is also the only one equipped with advanced driver assistance features such as Tesla's

full self-driving supervised system.

This one goes out to all the haters out there who thought that this truck was going to be

a deathtrap.

I mean I'm half joking but also half not because there were so many people out there, some

of them as Tesla pointed out on their own social media account, on the official Cybertruck

account, there were some let's say high-profile automotive media personalities that had gone

on record saying that they thought that the Cybertruck was not going to be safe.

And so I mean I think I've said this on the podcast before but it just it always shocks

me how little research people are willing to do and at the same time how quick they

are to believe an assumption, because you know what assuming does, based off of well

frankly judging a book by its cover.

And I say that because as you all know Tesla's entire history, starting with the S at least,

we can I actually don't know what the crash situation is, the crash rating situation is

with the original Roadster, but all right Tesla built vehicles, so Model S forward,

which at this point is now 13 and a half years, but Tesla's entire history is safety.

Remember the Model S, you can google this if you don't believe me, which not that you

guys wouldn't believe me, the Model S was so strong that when it was first crash tested

it broke the crushing machine during its original crash test.

That's a true thing that happened.

And Tesla has continually made each new vehicle and each iteration, each new iteration of

each vehicle safer than the last.

And Tesla deserves to have a reputation as good as say Volvo right.

If I ask you name a safe car, I bet you of people that would guess, people that know

anything about cars, maybe not, maybe not even, maybe just the general, if we just family

feud this thing and we survey 100 people, name a safe car, it's going to be the first

person at the podium is going to be like, Volvo, show me Volvo, number one answer.

Well who should be the number one answer is Tesla.

That's who should be the number one answer.

Nothing against Volvo, no disrespect there, they make safe vehicles, that's a good thing.

But nobody, Tesla does not have that reputation, which they've earned, but they don't have

it on a general public level.

They do within the Tesla community, certainly, we know, but I'm going to bring it up again.

This is yet another reason that I would love to see Tesla do some mainstream media advertising

because the engineers and the designers have done the work at Tesla.

It is incumbent upon everybody, the higher ups at Tesla, really, to tell the world how

safe these cars are.

It's great to make them super safe, that is the most important thing, but if nobody knows

about it on a, again, larger societal scale, it's a little self-defeating, right?

A little bit.

So in any case, congratulations to the Tesla Cybertruck team and Tesla's engineering teams.

Y'all did it again.

You took a stainless steel triangle and you made it ridiculously safe, even when, you

can take a hammer to it, a sledgehammer, and not dent the body, and it's an incredibly

safe vehicle as per an independent regulatory authority.

Great stuff.

Next this week, staying on the, well, not quite the subject of Cybertruck, although

when I think of this story, I think of Cybertruck, which I guess I'll explain in a minute, but

DriveTeslaCanada had a story this week that says Tesla may be laying the early groundwork

to enable Starlink in its vehicles.

DriveTeslaCanada says,

In a newly published patent application, the company describes an RF transparent roof assembly

capable of embedding satellite and cellular communication hardware directly into the vehicle's

structure, potentially creating a native platform for satellite connectivity alongside existing

cellular networks.

The application was filed in May of 2024 and published in December of 2025.

It describes replacing a traditional metal or glass roof with a radio-frequency RF transparent

polymer panel.

Materials like polycarbonate ABS or ASA, specifically so antennas and electronics, can be integrated

directly into the roof without signal blocking, quote, metallic occlusion.

The stated goal is clearer RF performance while consolidating multiple overhead systems

into a single module.

Tesla also frames the invention as a solution to the shark fin problem.

Conventional vehicles mount LTE and Global Navigation Satellite System antennas externally

because metal roofs act as RF barriers.

In Tesla's approach, the roof itself becomes the RF-friendly environment, enabling interior

and exterior facing wireless modules to live in the same roof assembly without the typical

compromises in packaging, cable runs, or connector count.

What's particularly notable is how explicit the patent gets about the roof being pre-populated

with electronics before it ever reaches the vehicle.

Tesla describes a roof sub-assembly that can be built on a horizontal surface, installed

as a single unit, and potentially assembled with full automation.

The filing even claims the approach could produce a three-to-five-fold reduction in

assembly effort and time by consolidating components and eliminating overhead install

steps for workers.

Connectivity aside, the filing includes a safety angle, a polymer membrane effect that

allows the roof and headliner to stroke together through deflection during impacts, helping

meet head injury standards while potentially reducing headliner thickness and improving

headroom.

The roof can also be made opaque to reduce solar load, while integrated foam layers improve

thermal and acoustic insulation.

While the patent stops short of naming Starlink outright, the architecture Tesla describes

closely mirrors what an integrated Starlink solution would require.

A roof designed specifically for satellite field of view, free of metallic interference,

with on-board processing and connectivity hardware already consolidated into a single

module aligns neatly with SpaceX's Low Earth Orbit network.

Thank you to DriveTeslaCanada there.

And while this is an admittedly speculative piece, there's no evidence to suggest that

Tesla is necessarily actively working on bringing Starlink specifically to the cars.

It certainly is notable because this really smart-sounding patent is absolutely a foundational

piece of what it would take to get Starlink into a Tesla vehicle during the manufacturing

stage.

And here's where I come back to Cybertruck, because plenty of Cybertruck owners out there

have actually already mounted a Starlink Mini receiver to the inside roof glass of

their trucks to keep them connected when they're off-roading off the grid.

This, this patent if it went into production, would be a much larger scale version of that

and it would ultimately allow Tesla to not have to rely exclusively on AT&T, at least

here in the US, for the internet connectivity in its cars.

Now I do think it makes sense to get there someday, to eventually get Starlink into the

cars, though maybe, I don't know if it's going to require further miniaturization of the

Starlink tech and actually as I say that out loud, I'm now remembering, well wait, no maybe

we're already there because there are Starlink-capable cell phones on the market right now.

So that's, that's about as miniaturized as you can get.

But anyway, yes, as I said at the top, this is speculative, but it would be logical for

Tesla to prefer to do business with SpaceX, if possible, rather than AT&T.

Nothing against AT&T, but Tesla's going to save money if they're keeping it within the

Muskiverse.

Plus, the bonus with Starlink versus, again, AT&T here in the US, I actually don't know

off the top of my head what carrier Tesla uses in Europe, but the bonus with Starlink,

if Tesla moved the cars, you know, newly built cars over to Starlink, would be that those

cars would have connectivity literally anywhere, which is not the case with any of the traditional

cellular networks.

In other words, it's not the case with any existing Tesla now.

There are dead spots that you can find with your car that would not be the case if Starlink

were in there.

A quick word from my friends at Accelerate Auto before I continue with the other EV news

this week.

And as you may have heard, Tesla now offers their own battery and drive unit extended

service agreement, but it's not for every Tesla owner and it's not the same kind of

protection.

Tesla's battery ESA is available only for the 3 and the Y.

If you own an S, X, or Cybertruck, this coverage isn't even an option.

For those who qualify, Tesla's battery ESA lasts just 2 years or 30,000 miles after factory

coverage ends.

X-Care's battery and drive unit protection is built for long-term ownership, not short

extensions.

Tesla charges a $500 deductible per visit.

Multiple visits mean multiple deductibles.

X-Care offers flexible deductible options designed to limit repeat out-of-pocket costs.

Tesla requires all covered repairs to be done only at Tesla service centers.

X-Care works with approved EV repair facilities, giving owners flexibility when wait times

matter.

Tesla excludes battery degradation, capacity loss, and software-related performance changes.

X-Care focuses on actual battery and drive unit failure risk, not just narrow definitions.

Tesla offers limited coverage, limited models, limited time.

X-Care delivers broader, longer-term protection.

When you compare them side-by-side, it's not close.

Go to xcare.com to find the best coverage plan for you today and tell them Ryan from

Ride the Lightning sent ya.

In other EV news this week, sad news, Ford is cancelling the all-electric F-150 Lightning

and also announced it would take a $19.5 billion charge as it aims to quickly restructure

its strategy regarding electrification efforts, a massive blow for the Detroit-based company

that was once one of the most gung-ho on transitioning to EVs.

Thank you to Teslarati for this one.

The announcement comes as the writing on the wall seemed to get bolder and more identifiable.

Ford was bleeding money in EVs, and although it had a lot of success with the all-electric

Lightning, it is aiming to push its efforts elsewhere.

It will also restructure its entire strategy on EVs, and the Lightning is not the only

vehicle getting the boot.

The T3 pickup, a long-awaited vehicle that was developed in part of a Skunk Works program,

is also no longer in the company's plans.

Instead of continuing on with its large EVs, it will now shift its focus to hybrids and

quote extended-range EVs, which will have an on-board gasoline engine to increase traveling

distance according to the Wall Street Journal.

Ford no longer plans to produce select larger electric vehicles, where the business case

has eroded due to lower-than-expected demand, high costs, and regulatory changes, the company

said in a statement.

Ford has lost $13 billion on its EV business since 2023, and company executives are more

than aware that they gave it plenty of time to flourish.

Andrew Frick, president of Ford, said quote,

Rather than spending billions more on large EVs that now have no path to profitability,

we are allocating that money into higher returning areas, more trucks and van hybrids, extended-range

electric vehicles, affordable EVs, and entirely new opportunities like energy storage, end

quote.

CEO Jim Farley also commented on the decision, saying quote,

Instead of plowing billions into the future knowing these large EVs will never make any

money, we are pivoting, end quote.

Well, this is such a shame.

I mean, at least they're not giving up EVs entirely.

They're going to make smaller cars.

That's great because you know what?

Quite frankly, there's room in the market there, right?

The bottom of the market in the EV space is relatively untapped.

I am of the opinion that the Model Y standard and Model 3 standard are not cheap enough

for what they're offering.

Yes, the range is amazing on both, but there is room at the bottom of the market for a

$30,000 to $35,000 vehicle to, well, not just one.

There's room for several of them to come in and have success, and I hope Ford is willing

to go into that market, as they said specifically, affordable EVs.

So that bodes well.

But it's just such a shame because by all accounts, the F-150 Lightning is a fantastic

vehicle.

I mean, it's basically, I've watched a number of videos on it, particularly back when it

first came out.

It's basically a gas-powered F-150, but better in most ways.

The notable exceptions being refueling time and towing range.

But with a lot of positives going for it, like being able to power your tools at your

job site, having just power outlets everywhere, and I do mean everywhere, better performance

than the gas-powered F-150, much lower fuel costs among others, right?

Much lower maintenance costs, too, with not having to service a gas engine or any of that

stuff.

So in the beginning, man, when the F-150 Lightning first came out, it seemed like the perfect

move from Ford to try and get the gas-powered F-150 owners to come on over to the Lightning

and give it a try.

It's like, hey, here's the same truck you already love, but electric, and we've made

a bunch of cool improvements because it's electric.

But in the end, the market, at least so far, just hasn't been there for it.

And really, if we're being honest, unfortunately, it looks like the EV pickup truck market as

a whole just hasn't developed yet.

Certainly price is a big factor.

We know the Cybertruck's not doing nearly as well as anticipated.

Rivian sells very few R1Ts compared to R1Ss.

The ratio of Ss to Ts there, it's big.

It's a very wide ratio.

GM's not exactly got a line of buyers out the door for the Silverado EV or the Sierra

EV, its cousin, let alone the Hummer EV.

And again, it's really just too bad.

The one that I'm optimistic about and holding out hope for is the Slate truck.

If Slate can make it to market as a pretty small, pretty cheap pickup, I hope it will

be able to find success where these big, full-size EV pickup trucks have not.

And finally, this week in other EV news, slightly less sad than the F-150 Lightning getting

discontinued, but still not great here, Volkswagen has pulled the plug on the 2026 ID Buzz in

the US and Canada.

One more tip of the cap to DriveTesla Canada, which is where I saw this story, and they

wrote, Volkswagen has confirmed it will not offer the all-electric ID Buzz in the US and

Canada for the 2026 model year, just one year after the retro-styled van launched in North

America.

While the automaker insists the model has not been cancelled outright, mixed messaging

from dealers and a pause in production have raised questions about whether the ID Buzz

will ever regain momentum in the market.

In a statement provided to CarScoops, a Volkswagen spokesperson confirmed the decision saying,

Following a careful assessment of current EV market conditions, we have made the strategic

decision not to move forward with model year 2026 ID Buzz production for the US market.

The company framed the move as a temporary pause rather than a cancellation,

emphasizing that the ID Buzz remains an important

halo product for the brand.

Volkswagen Canada has confirmed that the 2026 ID Buzz will also not be sold in Canada.

VW Canada also confirmed it's not being cancelled and an updated 2027 model will be released.

We are pulling ahead the 2027 model year and skipping the 2026 model year, the company

said in a statement to Drive Tesla.

Well, sadly, if I'm being realistic here and honest, I can't say I'm surprised.

The Buzz is super cool.

I haven't driven one but I just, I will say, totally honestly, I love seeing them on the

roads.

I love that they're available in fun, funky colors.

I love that they've got the two-tone color scheme going on.

I love the look of them.

I do.

I love seeing them on the road.

And as I've said before on this podcast, the ID Buzz is the only full battery electric

vehicle minivan on North American roads, at least that I'm aware of, even if Volkswagen

wouldn't necessarily enjoy me referring to it as a minivan.

But the thing is, it's just, it costs too much money and has too short of a range.

And if you're curious what that means, the VW ID Buzz in the US is north of $70,000 and

its range is 234 miles.

Not a good combination there.

And I'm going to echo something that I just heard the other day from one of Doug DeMuro's

Episode 542: Six-Seat Model Y L Seems One Step Closer to Going Global

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autopilot

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PowerShare feature

collision avoidance assist

crash test

crushing machine

Starlink

roof sub-assembly

Skunk Works program

extended-range electric vehicles

Volkswagen

regenerative braking

EV

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