Hyundai IONIQ 3 In Concept Form, Skoda Vision 7S Flagship and Solid-State Powered Mercedes-Benz EQS | 11 Sep 2025

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Well, good morning, good afternoon, or good evening wherever you are in the world.

Welcome to EV News Daily, your trusted source of EV information.

Thursday, September 11th.

It's Martin here.

I go through every EV story so you haven't got a.

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Be like them by clicking on a link in the show notes.

On today's edition of the newly returned EV News China, we're talking about

Euro NCAP 5 ratings for Firefly, China looking to ban retractable door handles

on EVs, and Sodium Iron battery technology.

And today's Patreon exclusive podcast will be a deep dive into the new BMW iX3.

It'll be live later for patrons, and all Patreon content goes into the free

feed now after seven days of exclusivity.

So you don't need to pay for it, you just need to wait.

Well, we'll start with news of Hyundai revealing the concept three of the IAA

Motor Show as a preview of the new compact electric five door hatch that's

going into production next year.

The car will be made in Europe and will pretty much certainly be called the

IONIQ 3, although two and four could be possible names.

Now the head of their design, Simon Loseby, said the show car is conceptual

in many details. In fact, they put it out after the dimensions of the IONIQ 3

were signed and sealed and all locked down.

So why make a concept car after you've decided to make the actual car?

Well, he says the overall proportions, the shape and the surfacing

will reflect the production car.

Wow, and this is a very striking vehicle.

So the concept itself, so what territory is it in?

It's 4.288 metres long, 4,288 millimetres.

That is Volkswagen Golf Territory all day long.

Hyundai called it an aero hatch with a very rakish body, a very sculpted

rear hatch and a spoiler optimising airflow.

Very striking.

Now the actual IONIQ 3 won't be as wide or as low as the concept car

and inside, no, it won't look as crazy and funky with weird seats

and no screens and sort of playing around with the kind of human

interface of what do we do inside, looking very, very concepty.

But the point is this looks like a very big competitor to the Golf, the IONIQ 3

because Hyundai are just smashing it at the moment in their EVs.

Built in Europe, low-voltage version of EGMP, that is their EV architecture

to keep costs down.

The design uses what they call art of steel designed to showcase

steel and create sculpted shapes and surfaces.

The interior of the concept car shouldn't be paid any attention to

but the exterior dimensions, if you see a picture, not far off.

Alright, let's move on.

Here's another vehicle that kind of sits a little bit on its own,

the Skoda Vision 7S.

The production version of this car, which was shown off yesterday

at the IAA show in Munich, is a 7-seater.

It arrives next year and it'll be Skoda's electric flagship.

This concept was first shown back in 2022.

We first saw what they call modern, solid design language.

I like the way Skoda's looked, by the way.

Built on Volkswagen Group's MEB platform,

Skoda sales boss Martin Yahn said there are not too many

seven-seaters in the Bev arena at this price point as well.

A very important car didn't give a price.

Any act starts at £39,000, so we know that pushes Skoda,

this will be more expensive, into a new pricing bracket.

Skoda's always been about value for money.

They're never the cheapest bargain basement,

but they really have reinvented themselves.

I grew up in the 80s where Skoda was an absolute joke

and now, look what VW have done with that.

For many people, that would be their preference.

Once the horrible cheap spin-off brand that you did

because you couldn't afford the premium German VW,

well, these Skodas are really, really nice.

Value for money is still important, they say,

but look, this won't be cheap.

Now, solid-state batteries are in the news a lot at the moment.

A modified Mercedes-Benz EQS with a solid-state battery

from their partner's Factorio just travelled 749 miles,

that's 1,205 kilometres.

In a single charge, it went from Stuttgart in Germany

to Malmo in Sweden.

When it got to its destination, it still showed 85 miles,

or 137 kilometres, of range remaining.

I'd have been tempted to do a few laps of the block

and run it down to zero, but anyway.

The prototype completed the trip on highways.

Mercedes-Benz did not disclose the average speed

or how long it took.

They said the entire route was driven using

its Electric Intelligence NAV system,

which factors in topography, traffic, and ambient temperatures.

The test batteries offer about 25% better energy capacity

than anything out there at the minute that's being used on the road.

The pack uses pneumatic actuators that respond to changes

in cell volume during charging and discharging.

Factorio's based in Massachusetts.

They're developing two solid-state cell types,

and the type they call solstice cells contain no liquids.

They use a sulfide-based all-solid-state electrolyte,

but all-new production lines needed for the dry coating.

Some kind of semi-solid-state battery technology

can be used on existing lines that have been built.

That reduces the cost, and the speed increases as well.

But this is, or the real deal, proper solid-state batteries.

Slate is the company bringing that highly customizable

but cheaper pickup truck to the US.

Slate also say that the elimination of the federal tax credit

in the US actually may help the manufacturers.

Well, how is that?

Well, the CEO, I already rate her, Chris Barman,

when she was saying at Fortune's brainstorm tech conference,

it's opened up opportunities.

Slate had been focused on qualifying for the rebate,

which required very specific, very specific mineral

and manufacturing location requirements.

She said Slate stepped back

and surveyed multiple battery supplies

and found others in the industry which have pulled back,

slowed down, adjusted their EV launch plans,

actually opened up capacity for Slate.

So they were looking at what they can do with pricing,

and she said the Slate truck will carry a sticker price mid-20s.

She didn't say $25,000. She said mid-20s.

And they're still on track for the end of 2026

for the first customer deliveries.

Fully modular, fully customizable, built in Indiana,

only 600 parts, no paint shop at the factory,

because if you want to get it wrapped, you can.

And if not, that's no problem.

And it all sounds like it's going pretty well for Slate,

the Jeff Bezos of Amazon fame backed company.

Now, US new vehicle inventory to the start of September

was 2.76 million.

So that was a slight rise in dealer inventory.

So let's have a look at the EV story,

which is what we want to look at.

Dealers and automakers are selling down stocks

ahead of the federal tax credit change in 20 days.

By powertrain, hybrid vehicles had the shortest supply at 52 days,

but EVs have been falling in terms of the supply at dealerships

from 73 days supply to only 59 days supply in a month.

Now, go back a couple of months,

and the US had 99 days of dealer inventory in stock.

And so they really are selling these vehicles down,

as a lot of people in the US have heard about this.

It's making the news.

It's a lot of money off a new vehicle.

And as long as you get your order in and some money paid,

you don't actually have to have the vehicle now.

IRS changed the rules in your driveway by the September 30th.

So if it was a purchase you were going to make in the next year,

change your car or something,

a lot of people are bringing that forward,

and dealers are making the most of it.

Among seven automakers reporting the monthly sales and inventory,

Volvo say their days supply fell sharply

from the previous month.

Hyundai, Kia, Honda and Subaru reducing their inventories too.

And Toyota, as they say, they were flat.

This is all according to Automotive News,

Research and Data Center.

Now, the China Passenger Car Association

said passenger car production, sales and exports

all had record highs in August.

I've seen some headlines recently saying

always the growth story slowing down in China.

Well, growth was largely driven in part by EVs

in the EV industry and by export growth as well.

It's no secret that the competition is so brutal at home

that they're looking at export markets to carry on growing.

And you can find all about that

on our spin-off podcast, EV News China.

Passenger car production, 2.4 million units in August.

That was up 11% on August last year.

Car sales were 2 million units in August up again,

4.6% on the same month last year.

The government measures to curb aggressive

EV price competition is one factor

which could have cooled the market a little bit recently.

Fewer price cuts and moderate promotions.

I think the car companies are doing as little as they can

not to get on the wrong side of central policymakers in China

because, look, the discounting is still there.

The price war is still brutal.

And exports are up massively, by the way.

Overseas sales really important now for the Chinese EV market,

for those companies to carry on growing.

One of those markets where everyone's driving an EV is Norway.

Plug-in electric vehicles reached a 98.4% share in Norway in August

up from 95.7% a year ago.

That's plug-in, by the way.

So the plug-in number is 98.4.

That's a rounding error away from 100, isn't it?

But what's the BEV number?

Pretty much the same.

96.9.

So there you go. 97% BEV.

A little bit of plug-in, although the Norwegians don't want plug-in hybrids

or mild shabby hybrids or anything else.

Really, the Norwegians are only buying BEVs.

Total vehicle registrations were 14,000, just under,

14,000 units in Norway last month in August.

The third consecutive month with a record share of EVs.

How high can it go?

Well, I know what you're saying.

The answer is 100%.

How high can it go?

It can't go to 101.

Obvious question to ask.

I answered my own question.

The recent growth has been driven by taxes tied to CO2 emissions

and more BEVs becoming available.

What did well?

Tesla Model.

Why was Norway's best-selling vehicle in August?

It's six months in a row doing very well in Norway.

The ID BUZZ was second.

That's not a mainstream vehicle, nor a cheap one.

Followed by the Volkswagen ID4, just behind.

Then the Model 3 was fourth in August,

but down a bit from last year.

The Škoda ENIAC recorded its good sales month,

and that was in fifth.

OK, let's take a little break.

Let's talk about France really quickly.

From October 1st, the French government is going to add

another 1,000 euros bonus for buying EVs that are,

and get this, made in Europe with European batteries.

Oh, a little bit of protectionism going on there.

Now, of course, individual countries like France,

a part of the EU of which we are no longer,

need to go to the EU and ask permission when they're going to do

sort of some market-changing things like this.

I don't know if this is a case where they had to get

specific permission for this,

but countries can't just decide on their own

to, like, we're going to start doing massive subsidies

because it makes things unequal within the EU.

But France, saying another 1,000 euros bonus,

is made by a European-made EV with a European battery

on top of the existing environmental bonus,

the bonus ecologique, as they call it.

And so to get the bonus,

vehicles must meet an environmental score.

And it's changed over time.

France has seen a slight drop in EV registrations this year,

very small, but still the extra 1,000 euros,

taking it to 5,200 euros on a subsidy,

will certainly help France's building a battery industry,

mainly in the north of the country,

but currently relatively few electric cars

have a completely European-sourced battery.

So it depends on the EV you buy.

All right, we will take a break now.

We'll come back, we'll talk about General Motors and Pilot,

their locations, and also the GTX is no more,

but the cars themselves will be.

I'll tell you why just the name is going.

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Well, Volkswagen announced at the Munich Motor Show,

the IAA show that the ID.3 GTX is being upgraded.

There was a mid-cycle refresh of the ID.3.

They had a little tweak a little while ago,

but they're doing a proper refresh of ID.3, ID.4,

changing the materials, changing the styling as well.

The ID.4 could even be called the ID.TIG one.

Not a bad idea.

However, the ID.3 won't be called the ID.Golf

according to sources that I've been reading.

They'll call it the ID.3, but the GTX version,

the sporty one, will be going,

but it will still get a rebrand,

and it'll be called the GTI.

Look, I've been saying this for ages.

I'm a broken record on this.

Sorry if you've heard this one before.

You probably have.

When you're Volkswagen,

and you've got a locker full of amazing name plates,

and you've got Golf and Polo and TIG one and Passat.

What are you doing inventing a whole bunch of new names

like ID.3?

And of course, they've got GTI.

Massive heritage on GTI.

Look, Porsches are called turbos,

and there's no turbocharger in a Porsche Taycan.

And so just call it the ID.3 GTI.

In fact, call it the ID.Golf.

In fact, no.

Call it the Golf GTI or the E-Golf.

Just get rid of ID.

It's pretty tough for them to do a complete U-turn on ID

and not have egg on their face.

I get it.

Big companies are lumbering sometimes, aren't they?

So moving away from GTX, that's in the bin.

GTI is back.

Highly, highly recommended.

WID Polo GTI with a Torx splitter and a GTI drive mode

as well with different sound and lighting and suspension.

The ID.3 range as a whole gets new disc brakes on the rear axle,

a new one-pedal driving mode, buttons on the steering wheel,

all new fabrics to get rid of all the plasticky feel inside.

VW is a premium.

You want to feel good?

I mean, we've had Golfs, loaded Golfs over the years.

It always felt nice driving a Golf.

The ID.3 was a lot of money for what felt at...

I mean, I had a very, very early ID.3

and it was in a low spec as well.

But my wife assumed it was like the price of a Polo.

So no, no, it's just the equivalent to a Golf

and it really didn't feel...

We're going back a long time now when they first launched the ID.3.

It did not feel premium.

And so Volkswagen might add virtual gear shifts,

sound generators and performance-centered infotainment

in their GTIs.

I'm really chuffed that they're doing that.

And like I say, I feel for them because big,

especially German companies as well,

but any big corporation,

unless you're something special,

like a Silicon Valley company,

Google just kill off stuff for fun,

which is frustrating if you use their products.

Amazon will try stuff.

They've made their own phones and all sorts of stuff in the past.

Doesn't work. They'll kill it off.

And so those massive organizations,

the Silicon Valley companies, the tech companies

are pretty rare in being able to be so brutal.

Tough for VW.

Lots of different stakeholders in VW as well,

in terms of the group and the ownership structure

to turn around and go,

that we got it massively wrong.

Just call them Golfs and Polos and Passat

with a battery inside.

And not for, you know, heads to roll.

They're just, I mean, diesel gates still fresh, aren't they?

So I'll cut them a break. I'll start whining now.

Now, General Motors pilot,

and Evie Go, said their joint charging network

has passed 200 locations in 40 US states,

adding service in more than 10 states this year.

The partners began the collaboration in July 2022.

They're going to build 2,000 Evie charging stalls

and install charges at 500.

Pilot and Flying Jays stations

or locations nationwide,

they've deployed nearly 850 stalls themselves

in 200 locations,

1,000 by the end of the year.

Here's the news. Tesla is launching multi-pass.

This is interesting.

Tesla multi-pass lets owners start charging

on a non-Tesla DC fast charger

within the Tesla app.

The Tesla app's really good.

And of course, it's how you control everything

with your account, service, and charging your car.

But what if you just want to use the Tesla app

for charging your Tesla on non-Tesla stations?

Well, that's where multi-pass comes in.

You can start your charging session.

You can tap in the app or the key card

and the app will record the session,

the history, and do billing.

It starts in the Netherlands.

Obviously, it can't do some things

like automatic battery preconditioning

and some of the automatic parking

at superchargers, virtual queuing.

It's not doing any of that.

It's cool that it's rolling out,

called multi-pass, if you want to have a look at that.

Volkswagen's charging subsidiary

LE-ELI

has announced a pilot for bi-directional charging

in private homes.

The core element is an 11 kilowatts wallbox

that meets all the rules and regs

and links your home systems

and home solar and home batteries

and the EVs that you drive from Volkswagen

into a software platform developed by LE.

The charging station is...

They're partnered with Cubos.

C-U-B-O-S.

And your EV can then work

as a big home storage battery.

Energy flow has been in the grid,

the vehicle, and the home,

all using the LE charging app.

The pilot starts in December this year.

Customers of VW Group vehicles

and solar provider Otovo,

O-T-O-V-O.

Otovo can now apply, get on the waitlist

to be part of the first rollout.

As long as you've got an MEV vehicle

with a 77 kilowatt hour battery,

make sure your software is all fully updated

and stuff like that,

and enable DC bidirectional charging.

That is brilliant news.

Hopefully these schemes

become a little bit wider available soon.

And finally,

very nice if you go to work

and your company car is Irivian.

Very nice if you are

California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Now using Irivian R1-S,

this is official state vehicle.

And now we're getting news

that California's DOT, Department of Transportation,

Caltrans has

added 450

Rivians to its fleet.

Neither Rivian nor Caltrans has announced this,

but it's pieced together by the community.

Image is posted on forums

showing R1-T

pickup at Rivian's

West Sacramento service centre

with the fluorescent orange stripe.

And Caltrans on it

and the forum

poster says, I was getting a tyre balance

at the service centre and noticed the R1-T.

They mentioned

inside the service centre

that Caltrans are getting 450

of these Rivians.

Last month a Reddit user posted image

of several R1 vehicles

on the road with the correct

Caltrans livery.

And according to Caltrans website

they say through a combination of

regulation-compliant state purchasing policy

and innovation demonstrations

they'll be implementing more EVs in their fleet

didn't mention Rivian specifically though.

But how nice if you work there

and you pick up the keys to the company car

or whatever it is and you get to take it home

at the end of the night or something

doing some work for the state

and you're toodling around in Rivian

very nice as well.

And that's your podcast for today

and thank you to our premium partners

Porsche of the Village in Cincinnati

Audi of Cincinnati East and Volvo cars

of Cincinnati East.

National car charging on the US mainland

and a loha charge in Hawaii

and Octopus Electroverse.

With one app and one map, have a good one.

See you tomorrow and remember there's no such thing

as a self charging hybrid.

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taking control of your finances.

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slash cancel.

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Hyundai IONIQ 3 In Concept Form, Skoda Vision 7S Flagship and Solid-State Powered Mercedes-Benz EQS | 11 Sep 2025

Hyundai Ioniq 3

Volkswagen Golf

Mercedes-Benz Mercedesbenz Eqs

Pontiac Solstice

Tesla Model

Volkswagen Id Buzz

Volkswagen Id4

Tesla Model 3

Plymouth GTX

Volkswagen Id3

Volkswagen Passat

Porsche Taycan

Volkswagen Egolf

Rivian R1S

Rivian R1T

About this episode

Original notes