Low Price For New Nissan LEAF, Ford’s Kentucky Battery Plant Begins Production and Kia Makes First EV In Europe | 22 Aug 2025

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Welcome back to EV News Daily.

Coming up today, a low price for the new Nissan Leaf.

Ford's Kentucky Battery Plant begins production

and Kia makes its first EV in Europe.

Plus, stay tuned later in the show.

I'll tell you how far a battery-powered train

intends to go to break the world record,

demonstrate the strength of the technology.

Well, good morning, good afternoon,

or good evening, wherever you are in the world.

Welcome to EV News Daily,

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Last working day of the week,

but I'll be around at the weekend.

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Now, Nissan's announced US pricing

for the new Leaf and the features as well.

Coming in three trims.

This headline price is low,

and it's not even the best bit.

So, first of all, base trim.

S plus trim is the base trim.

S plus, including delivery and freight,

I'll give you the final number

because it is less than $30,000

without shipping and delivery and stuff like that.

But the all-in price is gonna be about 31,845.

Obviously, no tax credit,

but that's your price, 31,845 for a brand new EV.

With a 75 kilowatt hour lithium-ion battery pack,

a big family car, 160 kilowatt motor,

EPA'd at more than 300 miles.

Okay, we think it'll be 303.

That's just under 500 kilometers.

It's a big battery, it's efficient.

So, where have they cut costs?

The base trim, S plus trim, doesn't have a heat pump,

doesn't have a battery heater,

and some other features as well

that might not bother you for a $30,000 electric vehicle.

Brand new, quite large.

I mean, not by American standards, I know,

but still, family car.

The SV plus trim, well, that's 35,725 dollars,

adds rear seat air conditioning, a heat pump,

wireless smartphone charging, and paddles for the regen.

And the top trim is the platinum plus trim,

including delivery, it's $40,485.

So a smidge over 40K.

You got a push button panoramic moonroof with frosting,

big wheels, auto wipers, a Bose sound system,

a power liftgate, heated steering wheel, and all the toys.

So, I think the headline there is Nunesan Leaf,

which looks good, by the way,

looks like a baby Aria to me.

They've smashed it on pricing

because that's before offers,

that's before dealer offers,

that's before monthly offers, that's before lease offers.

It's a 30 grand car, give or take, that is incredible,

but it's not even the best bit of the story,

and it's this bit of the story

that I think everybody missed.

That's the big battery, 75 kilowatt hours.

Will they bring the standard battery

to the United States?

Well, yes, that's 52 kilowatt hours,

and the standard range, S, non-plus.

So the plus means the longer range.

The standard range battery, 52 kilowatt hours,

pricing will be announced soon,

but well, if it's a 30 grand car with the big battery,

what's the pricing gonna be for the small battery?

Man, this is super exciting

because this is blowing the US market

wide open for a brand new family car.

This, before we get into monthly offers,

of which there'll be plenty and lease deals and whatnot,

this is looking at you, brand new Chevy Bolt,

the 2027 model year Chevy Bolt with the LFP pack,

the new Bolt, if you like,

or the summer calling it the refreshed Bolt

because the pictures we've seen so far

look like the old Bolt-EUV,

but here's looking at everything

that is previously winning on price in the US.

That leaf is going to be really, really attractive.

The large battery version of the leaf

will launch in the US this autumn

and will be easily the most affordable

new electric vehicle available.

In Canada, not quite so spectacular,

but still base price of 45,000 Canadian

without freight and fees.

Okay, moving on, big, big day for the battery industry

today, Blue Oval SK.

Blue Oval SK Battery Park is the Kentucky plan

and with Ford and SK,

and they just started making battery cells

for their vehicles.

That would be the Ford F-150 Lightning and the E-Transit.

This is a key step in Ford's partnership with SK

to make EVs more efficient

and to make them cheaper.

Ford's chief financial officer, Sherry House,

saying they're working to cut costs

across all of their electric vehicles.

Batteries are where the majority of the cost goes in an EV.

The plant currently qualifies for federal subsidies

for making battery cells in the US.

The Kentucky plant is an investment of $5.8 billion.

1,500 employees.

It'll be 5,000 when it's fully scaled.

The site will have two battery plants.

Kentucky One is the one that is opening right now.

The third, Blue Oval SK Battery Plant

is the one being built at Blue Oval City

in Stanton, Tennessee,

where Ford will eventually build

the new full-size electric pickup truck.

Vehicle assembly there delayed until at least 2028.

Battery cell production set to start in 2027.

Huge news though,

a new battery plant opening on US soil

at a time when, you could probably argue,

Ford are not selling as many vehicles

as they would have forecast and hoped.

There's nothing wrong with their vehicles.

They just have enough of them to sell you.

There's an F-150 Lightning, a Mackie.

Batteries won't come from this factory.

And a transit, they just need more in their locker,

like GM for instance.

So in the meantime,

if they've got more batteries than cars,

heard or thunked it,

Ford becomes a big battery supplier.

Anyway, more on that theory later in the week,

maybe next week.

Now Kia is launching the EV4,

its first compact electric model,

400-volt EGMP platform, front wheel drive.

It's Kia's first electric vehicle

made on European soil.

Production starts at the Slovakian plant at Zilina

at the end of August.

But I think the first ones rolled off

the production line already.

Kia wants to sell 160,000 of these a year,

half of them here in Europe.

Deliveries begin in September.

The Slovakian plant will only make the hatchback version,

which frankly is the looker,

the Fastback EV4,

which is 12 inches, 30 centimeters longer,

physically a bigger car,

that will still be made back home in South Korea.

The hatchback will have high sales in Europe

because it's, well, I think the better choice,

if you ask me.

The EV4 hatchback starts at about 37,000 euros.

That's about 10,000 euros less than the Fastback,

which like I say is bigger, is a different vehicle.

Kia chose to build in Europe,

not just for logistics,

because the majority will be sold here,

because important markets like France and the UK

are now offering money off vehicles

when you take into account

the car's life cycle emissions.

And that includes where the vehicle is made,

and that's very, very important.

And that's great news.

Now, California may replace

the expiring federal EV tax credits itself.

California is considering a new state incentive

for EVs to make up for the loss of the $7,500 federal tax credit

for new EVs.

And the used one as well, 4K, offer used EV.

That all ends on September 30th.

The California Air Resources Board, CARB,

released a report suggesting options like

point of sale rebates, vouchers, and other credits.

The CARB report says any new incentives

would depend on available resources

and would be sized to fit

within California's budget and policy.

This follows Governor Gavin Newsom's executive order

back in June, which restates California's commitment

to clean vehicles, clean air,

and tells CARB to prepare

for the Advanced Clean Cars 3 regulation.

This new rule could either add

to current clean vehicle policies

or be an alternative if the federal courts block

state regulations like Advanced Clean Cars 2,

Advanced Clean Trucks, and Heavy Duty Omnibus.

Any new zero emission vehicle requirements in California

would need approval from the EPA though.

Six automakers are required to follow agreements

through the 2026 model year that go beyond

what the Advanced Clean Cars requirements are.

Looted Motors next in the news,

Looted will show its gravity for the first time in Europe.

We get a look at it and that's exciting.

The IAA show in Munich next month

and the gravity will be there.

It'll be alongside the Air Grand Touring

and the Air Sapphire.

That's the special one.

Looted expects gravity deliveries to be higher than the Air.

It's a better form factor in terms of what people want.

Looted is not announced when European deliveries

or even orders begin for the gravity.

The company recently finished a 5,000 mile test drive

from Munich to the Arctic Circle

to generate some PR, some headlines over here.

Pricing and configuration.

Well, that's all unknown.

The former head of Looted, Alexander Lutz,

previously said sales would start mid 2025,

but quickly checking my watch and the calendar.

Yeah, that hasn't happened yet.

Lutz added that the goal is to price the gravity

as close to the air as possible.

Now, was that gonna be 85,000 euros maybe?

I don't know.

Looted now has showrooms in eight cities.

Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Oslo.

Blinds to open one in Zurich later this year as well.

According to the head of Europe for Looted

now Lawrence Hamilton.

Okay, let's talk EU public EV charging.

As of July, Big Milestone,

the European Union now has over 1,000,000

public EV charging stations.

That is according to new data by the end of July.

There were 1,000,000, 5,080.

And the split is interesting

because they're nearly all AC public charges.

833,000 AC charges, 171,000 and change DC.

From June to July, there was another 8,500 AC charges

in the ground, DC charges more than 5,000

in the ground in the last month.

Since January at the beginning of the year,

the EU added more than 90,000 AC charges

and 30,000 DC fast charges.

Okay, let's take a break.

When we come back, we will talk.

IX3 new BMW exciting stuff.

Also ultra fast charging in Maryland

and e-bike adoption.

Stick around back in a moment.

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Now, Royal Farms are installing ultra-fast chargers

at eight Maryland stores with Electrify America.

The first ones at Hale Thorpe and Oxon Hill.

After the rollout, they'll be over 55 chargers,

each one up to 350 kilowatts.

The environmental leader at Royal Farms

saying the partnership brings EV fast charging

to locations where customers

already get fuel, food, and convenience,

and now EV charging.

Royal Farms is adding these chargers

to make it stores more appealing.

It's both EV drivers and gas vehicle drivers

adding more food and beverage options, they say, as well.

What about getting to where you wanna go on an e-bike?

I'm a big convert, by the way, to e-bikes

because, well, mostly I'm just lazy.

But no, in all seriousness,

I mean, I don't do as many journeys

as I should do on my e-bike

because my e-bike is tucked away

at the bottom of the garden.

We call it the summer house, but it's just a fancy shed.

And so it's a faff to get out,

but we are reorganizing the garage.

I'm having a clear out over summer

when I get a chance because the kids are off school,

so in other words, it'll have to wait till September

when they're back in school.

However, when the garage is cleared out,

it will just be a case of, right,

pop open the garage door and off we go.

Quicker, arguably, than getting in a car

and putting your seatbelt on.

So once I've got my e-bike all ready to go,

hopefully I use it a little bit more.

A new study shows the UK

has the second lowest e-bike adoption in Europe.

Only 2.1 e-bikes per 1,000 people,

only higher than Belarus.

Norway and Denmark are leading the way.

Denmark is testing a program

that gives free e-bikes to people in rural areas.

Since 2016, France has tripled its e-bike sales

thanks to financial incentives.

The UK government should recognize e-bikes

as a serious part of the green transport solution,

some say.

Cost is still a big barrier.

They asked them were expensive,

but you can do things like cycle-to-work scheme

to make them more affordable.

Now, the Fisker Ocean.

What happened when Fisker went bankrupt?

Were there a bunch of oceans

that hadn't been sold and delivered?

The majority of them, by the way,

were bought by a ride-hailing fleet in New York City.

Fascinating article today

that I've been reading about, American lease.

So in the coming years, New York City

will be one of the only places

where you can see a decent number of Fiskers flying around.

Fisker filed for bankruptcy last year,

just before American lease,

which is New York City's biggest fleet operator,

bought almost 3,000 Fisker Oceans.

They were the unsold vehicles.

I see there's actually two in pool

that I see flying around.

There's a red one and a blue one, which is amazing.

I don't live in a particularly big town.

And I regularly see one of my neighbors actually

has a Fisker Ocean.

That's a good-looking car.

Big vehicle, great for ride-hailing in New York City.

I wonder what it's like for individuals

to keep those vehicles going and on the road.

I think you can pick one up for 13 or 16,000 pounds

on AutoTrader.

I think people are just waving the white flag

and being like, all right, give me some money for it.

Am I tempted?

No.

It's interesting, but no.

However, if you have 3,000 of them,

well, that's a different kettle of fish

because American lease now lease these Fisker Oceans

to ride-hailing drivers in New York City.

Obviously, it's got things like the integrated solar roof.

It's got all the windows that come down,

so-called California mode.

There are glitches.

Sometimes the lights will just randomly come on

and then sort themselves out.

Sometimes you need to give it a full reset.

But if you have 3,000 of these,

American lease say it works

because they bought them so cheap.

They've got ones that they can just strip down for parts.

So parts, not an issue.

Software is an issue, but they're working with a partner.

They bought them for $16,000 per vehicle, by the way.

And they say this is a really good financial move for them.

They'll probably run them for what, four, five years.

They do a couple of hundred thousand miles

and be at the end of their lifetime.

So if you're in New York City and you see these,

I'd be interested to know what the experience is like.

Now, Leap Motor is launching a nationwide TV campaign.

It's first TV ad campaign

since entering the UK market.

They're giving their own money off vehicles

as they don't qualify for the UK government grant,

which is new, 3,750 pounds off the C10.

That's the SUV.

This new 32nd ad shows the little city car, though,

the T03 with scenes like a driver taking a dive,

a kitten taking its first jump,

a surfer waiting for a wave,

and a couple sharing their first kiss,

all showing what it's like to take a leap.

The message being, you can take a leap

into electric mobility.

I haven't seen the advert yet coming on my TV.

Not that we watch a lot of TV on demand stuff.

It's mostly CBBs, BBCI player.

Let's be honest, my TV is only on CBBs.

When was the last time I watched TV for myself?

But if you see it, again, I would love to know.

You get a little T03,

list price like 14 and a half, I think it is now.

But PCP, 170 quid, 169 a month, 169 deposit.

Oh, it's over four years, I think that was.

It's not a bad little deal, that.

And finally, Great Western Railway

plans the new world record for the longest trip

by a battery-powered train.

Now their fleet at the minute is mostly diesel.

The former London Underground train

has been converted to run on batteries.

It'll do 200 miles on a charge or 320 kilometers

to show the public how battery-operated trains work,

especially where it's, places where it's hard

or not possible to build overhead electric lines.

Actually down here in the Southwest,

the Bournemouth Waymouth London Waterloo line,

the main train that I used to get.

I worked in town in London five days a week.

That's a third rail system.

We don't have the overhead lines down here.

However, a battery-operated train for 200 miles, yep.

That would have done the distance.

The current world record for the furthest distance

by a battery train is 139 miles.

GWR's planned trip will start in Reading,

go to London Paddington, then go to Oxford,

back to London Paddington and finish at Reading.

GWR has already added overhead wires

to much of the main line on the Great Western route

for zero emission trains.

But many lines, mostly branches,

don't have wires because of the high cost of installation.

Hard to justify with fewer passengers.

And so battery-powered trains would enable more people

to use more regular, reliable public transport

on the trains, just another way

that batteries are impacting our life,

how we get around, even on something

that's been around for hundreds of years,

which is train travel.

Isn't that fascinating?

Diesel trains will be retired in the next 10 years or so,

at which point you have to look at technologies

like solid-state batteries, maybe hydrogen in there as well,

but the march of technology is so quick,

not surprised many of these companies are looking

at how they can make the most of technology

that is, you've got to say,

really being driven by the move to EVI.

And that's your podcast for today.

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If you're the purchasing manager at a manufacturing plant,

you know having a trusted partner makes all the difference.

That's why hands down you count on Granger for auto-reordering.

With on-time restocks,

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Low Price For New Nissan LEAF, Ford’s Kentucky Battery Plant Begins Production and Kia Makes First EV In Europe | 22 Aug 2025

Nissan Leaf

Ford F-150 Lightning

Ford Etransit

Kia EV4

Fisker Oceans

Chevrolet C10

About this episode

Original notes