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LEAPMOTOR OPENS EUROPEAN B03X ORDERS FROM €24,900 https://evne.ws/lx4xb

VOLVO FACELIFTS XC40, EX40 AND EC40 https://evne.ws/pbv59

VOLKSWAGEN PLANS IQ.DRIVE UPDATE TO ID.BUZZ https://evne.ws/0up4k

NISSAN LEAF S IS CANADA'S LOWEST-PRICED EV https://evne.ws/3vxsx

JLR INVESTS £356 MILLION IN WOLVERHAMPTON EV PRODUCTION https://evne.ws/gprut

EVGO OPENS 20-PLUG LOS ANGELES FAST-CHARGING STATION https://evne.ws/0fq4j

SKODA APPROVES NEW KAROQ FOR 2027 OR 2028 https://evne.ws/jznc0

PENNDOT OPENS $11 MILLION CHARGER FUNDING ROUND https://evne.ws/s14m4

TESLA CEO PROMOTES VIDEO OF DRIVER SAYING FSD IS ‘EYES OFF’ https://evne.ws/vq9u8

It's ev.news Briefly for Saturday 12 September 2026, only todays headlines and nothing else, in just 4 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.
Patreon supporters fund this show, get the episodes ad free, as soon as they're ready and are part of the ev.news Community. You can be like them by clicking here: https://www.patreon.com/evnews

LEAPMOTOR OPENS EUROPEAN B03X ORDERS FROM €24,900
Stellantis has opened European orders for the Leapmotor B03X, a compact electric crossover starting at €24,900 (about $28,900), sold through the Chinese brand's joint venture with Stellantis and undercutting most European-built compact EVs. Two variants are offered — the Pro with a 39.8 kWh battery and 292 km WLTP range, and the ProMax with 53.0 kWh and 382 km — both with a 14.6-inch touchscreen, 8.8-inch cluster, Leap OS 4.0 Plus, wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, and standard Level 2 driver assistance using 14 sensors and cameras across 21 functions.

VOLVO FACELIFTS XC40, EX40 AND EC40
Volvo has given the XC40, EX40 and EC40 their first major styling revision in nearly nine years, with all-new bodywork ahead of the A-pillars and revised 'Thor's Hammer' matrix LED headlights that Volvo says cut glare, debuting on the model year 2028 XC40 now that matrix LEDs are legal in the United States. Powertrains are unchanged, but the cars gain an 11.2-inch touchscreen with Google Gemini voice assistance, plus added cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors supporting a smoother Pilot Assist with lane-change assist, a 3-D 360-degree camera view and an occupant alert for approaching cyclists before doors open.

VOLKSWAGEN PLANS IQ.DRIVE UPDATE TO ID. BUZZ
Volkswagen will upgrade IQ.DRIVE functions on 2027 MEB vehicles, with the ID. Buzz receiving the fullest package including Road Experience Management, and Enhanced Travel Assist that can execute a driver-requested lane change above 45 mph using rear radar, waiting up to 12 seconds if traffic blocks the move while the driver stays responsible. The 2027 Buzz also reacts faster to posted speed-limit changes, notifying the driver before adjusting speed, slows near ramps and exits using navigation or turn-signal input, and uses crowd-sourced map data to supplement cameras where road markings are faded or weather is poor, bundled into In-Vehicle Premium with a one-year trial.

NISSAN LEAF S IS CANADA'S LOWEST-PRICED EV
The 2027 Nissan Leaf S is Canada's cheapest electric vehicle at CA$34,998 (about US$25,250), nearly CA$2,000 below the Kia EV3 Light FWD and under CA$30,000 once the Electric Vehicle Affordability Program is applied. It uses a 53 kWh battery, a single 174 hp motor and up to 341 km of range, trailing the EV3 Light's 58.3 kWh, 201 hp and 356 km, and charging 10-80% in about 35 minutes against the Kia's 29, though both use an NACS port.

JLR INVESTS £356 MILLION IN WOLVERHAMPTON EV PRODUCTION
JLR has spent £356m converting its Wolverhampton propulsion plant, renamed the Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre in 2024, to build electric drive units and assemble battery packs while continuing six-cylinder Ingenium engine production, giving it flexibility to flex output as the EV transition moves. The hall now making drive units for the Range Rover Electric, Range Rover GT, Jaguar Type 01 and smaller Defender 'Sport' previously built four-cylinder diesels on repurposed CNC machines, working to 80-micron tolerances against roughly 120 for combustion engines, with cells currently sourced from AESC in China and due to switch next year to Tata's Agratas plant in Somerset.

EVGO OPENS 20-PLUG LOS ANGELES FAST-CHARGING STATION
EVgo has opened what it calls the largest non-Tesla fast-charging station in the City of Los Angeles, a 10-stall, 20-plug site on S Robertson Blvd in Mid-City just off the Santa Monica Freeway. The site has two 100 kW stalls, three 200 kW and five 350 kW, with 18 CCS cables capable of up to 350 kW and two CHAdeMO ports at up to 100 kW that keep older EVs served, though there are no NACS cables and NACS vehicles must use adapters.

SKODA APPROVES NEW KAROQ FOR 2027 OR 2028
Skoda chief executive Klaus Zellmer has approved a second-generation Karoq for launch in 2027 or 2028 on the Volkswagen Group MQB platform, reversing a plan under which the electric Elroq — itself a late addition to the range and now Europe's second best-selling electric car — was to have taken the Karoq's place. Zellmer said powertrains will be very comparable to the Kodiaq's and pointed to strong plug-in hybrid demand and a 100 km-plus electric range as ideal for the model, though a PHEV remains possible rather than confirmed.

PENNDOT OPENS $11 MILLION CHARGER FUNDING ROUND
PennDOT has opened an $11 million round for EV charging infrastructure across 26 central Pennsylvania counties, with publicly accessible sites able to apply until 12 March 2027 under the third phase of the state's federally backed Community Charging scheme, which allocated $100 million in NEVI money from February to extend charging beyond Alternative Fuel Corridors. Local transportation planning agencies, not PennDOT, will set location priorities; the state says 50 NEVI-funded hubs have opened with 41 more planned or under construction, delivering over 146,000 charging sessions since December 2023 and avoiding more than 3,700 tonnes of CO2.

TESLA CEO PROMOTES VIDEO OF DRIVER SAYING FSD IS 'EYES OFF'
Elon Musk endorsed, with a heart emoji, a clip of Larry, a 98-year-old Model Y owner in Farmington, New Mexico, who says of FSD (Supervised) that he did not have to look at an intersection and does not want to, directly contradicting Tesla's disclaimer that the feature requires active driver supervision and does not make the car autonomous. The framing matters because Tesla's defence in Autopilot and FSD crash litigation rests on driver responsibility — a Florida jury already returned a $243 million judgment against the company, with up to $14.5 billion at stake across roughly two dozen cases — even as its lawyers have separately argued, successfully, that Musk's public statements should not be taken at face value.

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JEEP RECON PAIRS 670 HP WITH 222 MI RANGE https://evne.ws/3c8hh

FORD DISCONTINUES CURRENT-GENERATION F-150 LIGHTNING, PLANS EREV https://evne.ws/25hs5

BYD DOLPHIN SURF ADVERTISED FROM €12,605 IN SPAIN https://evne.ws/p1lmv

EVGO AND REGENCY PLAN MORE THAN 400 FAST-CHARGING STALLS https://evne.ws/63zwq

CHERY PLANS FOUR UK MODELS INCLUDING FIRST EV https://evne.ws/z8dg7

PORSCHE BUGATTI SALE GENERATES ABOUT €1 BILLION https://evne.ws/876jt

SLOTKIN SAYS TRUMP MAY ALLOW CHINESE CARS https://evne.ws/6ipad

SSEN RECEIVES £166,092 FOR ROAMING EV CHARGING https://evne.ws/ign1v

AUSTRALIA ADDS EV WORKSHOP EQUIPMENT TO DRIVEN https://evne.ws/nwq00

ELECTREK REVIEWS NANROBOT LS7+ WITH 74.5 MPH TOP SPEED https://evne.ws/x1vnv

It's ev.news Briefly for Friday 11 September 2026, only todays headlines and nothing else, in just 4 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.
Patreon supporters fund this show, get the episodes ad free, as soon as they're ready and are part of the ev.news Community. You can be like them by clicking here: https://www.patreon.com/evnews

JEEP RECON PAIRS 670 HP WITH 222 MI RANGE
The 2026 Jeep Recon is a 670 hp dual-motor electric off-roader with a 94-kWh battery, 203 kW peak DC charging, 33-inch all-terrain tyres, 9.1 inches of ground clearance, a locking rear differential and removable doors, rear windows and a power roof that folds fully rearward. Car & Driver found on-road handling more stable than a Wrangler but criticised abrupt accelerator and braking response off-road, and the Moab trim's $68,990 price and 222 mi estimated range may limit its appeal against conventional off-roaders.

FORD DISCONTINUES CURRENT-GENERATION F-150 LIGHTNING, PLANS EREV
Ford quietly discontinued the current-generation F-150 Lightning in December, though it stayed on sale for several months and is now absent from Ford's website, ending the run of what had been America's best-selling electric pickup. Its replacement will be an extended-range EREV pickup using a petrol generator for more than 700 miles of combined range, which CEO Jim Farley called a "better solution" that runs on electricity 90% of the time.

BYD DOLPHIN SURF ADVERTISED FROM €12,605 IN SPAIN
BYD is advertising the Dolphin Surf from €12,605 in Spain via September promotions, a figure that depends on CA Auto Bank financing over at least 72 months with a 36-month commitment, dealer and manufacturer discounts, a €3,375 Plan Auto+ advance and €950 from an energy-saving certificate. Because the finance contract rather than the subsidy award fixes liability, buyers owe CA Auto Bank the €3,375 if their application fails or the scheme's €400 million for 2026 runs out, and the price is €825 higher than the €11,780 advertised at the car's May 2025 launch.

EVGO AND REGENCY PLAN MORE THAN 400 FAST-CHARGING STALLS
EVgo and shopping-centre owner Regency plan to install more than 400 fast-charging stalls across Regency properties in the United States, concentrating on centres anchored by grocery stores. Each new site is planned to have up to 24 high-power chargers, with charging during a grocery run pitched as both a convenience for drivers and a draw for retail footfall.

CHERY PLANS FOUR UK MODELS INCLUDING FIRST EV
Chery will launch four new or updated UK models in the next 12 months, including its first fully electric car for Britain, after entering the market in August 2025 and recording more than 29,000 registrations and over 2.5% market share in its first year. Plug-in hybrids remain central, with Chery Super Hybrid vehicles accounting for around 75% of UK registrations and CSH upgrades including larger battery packs planned for the TIGGO 4, 7, 8 and 9.

PORSCHE BUGATTI SALE GENERATES ABOUT €1 BILLION
Porsche completed the sale of its 45 percent stake in Bugatti to a consortium led by HOF Capital on 9 September, having declined to disclose a price when the deal was announced in April; Rimac Group holds the remaining 55 percent of the joint venture, which has run since 2021. The disposal is part of a portfolio overhaul by Porsche and its Volkswagen Group and Piech family owners under CEO Michael Leiters, who since January has cut 5,000 jobs and sold non-core businesses.

SLOTKIN SAYS TRUMP MAY ALLOW CHINESE CARS
Senator Elissa Slotkin said she had heard unsourced rumours that President Trump may allow Chinese cars into the US under a broader agreement with China ahead of a Washington meeting with Xi Jinping, warning it would "irrevocably impact" 1.2 million Michigan jobs. The claim looks more like political theatre than imminent policy, given Trump has backed the 100% tariff on Chinese EVs that the Biden administration raised from 25% in 2024, and Slotkin and Ohio Republican Bernie Moreno are pushing the Connected Vehicle Security Act to ban Chinese vehicles, software and hardware outright.

SSEN RECEIVES £166,092 FOR ROAMING EV CHARGING
SSEN Distribution has received £166,000 in discovery funding through Ofgem's Strategic Innovation Fund for Roaming MPAN, a scheme to cut the cost of on-street EV charging by letting drivers use their household electricity tariff at other connection points, identified via the 13-digit MPAN assigned to each network connection. SSEN said the approach could also benefit the network by encouraging drivers to charge on-street overnight when demand is lower.

AUSTRALIA ADDS EV WORKSHOP EQUIPMENT TO DRIVEN
Australia's federal government has opened a third round of the DRIVEN programme, extending support for dealerships and repair businesses beyond chargers to EV-specific workshop equipment, with up to 80 per cent of eligible costs claimable for protective equipment, tools and lifting apparatus. AU$18.8 million has been allocated to the 2026-2029 Charger Rebate Stream, offering up to AU$3,000 per fixed smart charging plug or portable DC charger, alongside wider measures such as New South Wales' AUD$100 million EV strategy announced in April.

ELECTREK REVIEWS NANROBOT LS7+ WITH 74.5 MPH TOP SPEED
Nanrobot claims a 74.5 mph top speed for the $2,299 LS7+ standing e-scooter, which pairs two 3,000W motors and a claimed 10,000W peak with a 72V 35Ah Samsung battery, 11-inch tyres, four-piston NUTT hydraulic brakes, adjustable KKE suspension and a steering damper. Electrek's Micah Toll did not test the top speed and found riding above the low 40s mph uncomfortable, noting the claimed 81-mile range assumes 15.5 mph with a 165 lb rider and would fall sharply in real use, making the scooter better suited to extreme off-road recreation than commuting.

Can you help me make more podcasts? Consider supporting me on Patreon as the service is 100% funded by you: https://EVne.ws/patreon

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CHINA TARGETS NEVS FOR 70% OF DOMESTIC NEW PASSENGER-CAR SALES https://evne.ws/3q6em

DONGFENG’S EΠ BRAND PLANS CATL BATTERY-SWAPPING EP7 https://evne.ws/28i00

BYD REPORTEDLY ORDERS TEN MORE CAR CARRIERS https://evne.ws/0ngau

NIO BACKS 14-VEHICLE EURASIAN DRIVE https://evne.ws/hrflx

LI AUTO SETS SEPTEMBER 16 LAUNCH FOR LI I9 https://evne.ws/av62e

LI AUTO PLANS LI 6 EUROPE SALES IN 2026 https://evne.ws/m4y3l

IM MOTORS OPENS LS6 PRE-SALES FROM 209,900 YUAN https://evne.ws/y3lxz

GEELY GALAXY LAUNCHES TT FROM $19,000 https://evne.ws/0x6am

NEW ENTRANTS COULD TAKE EU ELECTRIC-TRUCK QUARTER BY 2030 https://evne.ws/8ewo4

FINDREAMS AND FUSHENG PLAN BLADE BATTERIES FOR INDUSTRIAL RAIL https://evne.ws/5fpeh