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RENAULT 5 GAINS RANGE AND LFP ENTRY VERSION https://evne.ws/y18jf

CHINESE AUTOMAKERS PLAN 1.5 MILLION EUROPEAN OUTPUT BY 2035 https://evne.ws/8epih

FIAT 500E LEADS OWNERSHIP COST STUDY https://evne.ws/ab3oh

ICAUR V25 CONFIRMED FOR AUSTRALIA IN EARLY 2027 https://evne.ws/w7owh

KEMPOWER LINKS PLUG COUNT TO CHARGER USE https://evne.ws/zu3ae

US EV RENTERS FACE CHARGING COST PENALTY https://evne.ws/2kn0z

BYD ADDS CANADA ‘COMING SOON’ PAGE https://evne.ws/q5ejb

GERMAN SUPPLIERS LOOK BEYOND CARS AS ELECTRIC VEHICLES RESHAPE INDUSTRY https://evne.ws/zj2k2

SOLENT ELECTRIC BOAT CHARGING NETWORK EXPANDS https://evne.ws/naif6

It's ev.news Briefly for Wednesday 26 August 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

RENAULT 5 GAINS RANGE AND LFP ENTRY VERSION
Renault has updated the electric Renault 5, lifting the 40 kWh Urban Range to 315 km (196 miles) and the 52 kWh Comfort Range to 430 km (267 miles) from 410 km, crediting a lower ride height, redesigned mirrors and optimised battery electronics. In markets including France, the 70 kW/40 kWh version is replaced by an entry model pairing an 80 kW "Gen 2 Evo" motor from the Twingo E-Tech with a 36.5 kWh cell-to-pack LFP battery for up to 305 km (190 miles), 6.6 kW AC and 80 kW DC charging, with Google's Gemini assistant arriving over the air and the range shown at the Paris Motor Show from 12 to 18 October 2026.

CHINESE AUTOMAKERS PLAN 1.5 MILLION EUROPEAN OUTPUT BY 2035
Mobility Global forecasts Chinese brands will build about 90,000 vehicles in Europe this year, rising to 1 million by 2030 and 1.5 million by 2035, with roughly half of the 2030 output coming from Spain as BYD starts Hungarian production this autumn, Chery assembles Jaecoo and Omoda in Barcelona, Leapmotor uses Stellantis' Zaragoza plant, MG plans a Galicia plant for 2028 and Geely forms a Ford joint venture in Valencia (66% Ford, 34% Geely) operating from the first half of 2027. The push comes ahead of the EU's proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, which would attach "Made in EU" tests to public procurement, state support and CO₂ super-credits rather than impose a general local-content rule, while economists warn Europe risks becoming a final-assembly site without winning higher-value manufacturing and supply-chain jobs.

FIAT 500E LEADS OWNERSHIP COST STUDY
Self, Inc. compared annual running costs for 50 new cars, excluding purchase price, finance and depreciation and assuming 15,000 miles a year, finding an average of $6,913 and placing the Fiat 500e first at $3,557, ahead of the Honda Civic Hybrid at $4,833. Hybrids averaged $5,734 a year against $6,189 for battery-electric and $7,025 for combustion cars, with the Dodge Charger Daytona the second-cheapest EV at $5,298 and the Lucid Air the priciest at $10,049, though the 500e's win has not translated into demand as Stellantis reported just 150 US sales in the first half of 2026, down 81% year on year.

ICAUR V25 CONFIRMED FOR AUSTRALIA IN EARLY 2027
Chery has confirmed the iCaur V25 will launch in Australia in early 2027 alongside the brand's arrival, with the larger V27 also expected in the initial line-up, and the 4636mm-long five-seater offering a 2820mm wheelbase, 197mm of ground clearance, a 200kg roof-load rating, fixed aluminium side steps, removable D-pillar panels and a side-hinged rear door with a 22.7-litre external storage box. It uses a range-extender drivetrain with a Chery 1.5-litre petrol engine and a 33.67kWh LFP battery giving up to 150km (93.2 miles) of electric range on WLTC, and rides on a unibody with MacPherson struts and rear five-link suspension rather than a ladder frame.

KEMPOWER LINKS PLUG COUNT TO CHARGER USE
Kempower's analysis of North American public charging sites on its ChargEye software found plug count correlated with utilisation at 0.63 versus just 0.228 for total installed power, that distributed-charging sites averaged 83% higher utilisation than fixed-power dispensers, and that about 100 kW of available power per plug is the sweet spot when all connectors are in use. The paper does not disclose sample size, observation period, how utilisation was calculated or whether it controlled for location, traffic, age, pricing or reliability, it shows correlation rather than causation, it promotes an architecture Kempower already sells as its MORE Plugs system, and its 100 kW benchmark falls short of the NEVI rule requiring each port on an Alternative Fuel Corridor to deliver up to 150 kW simultaneously.

US EV RENTERS FACE CHARGING COST PENALTY
US EV drivers in rented or multifamily homes can pay up to six times more to charge than those on standard residential electricity, a "renter's penalty" worsened because utility assistance programmes typically tie benefits to a household meter. A playbook from GRID Alternatives and the Smart Electric Power Alliance proposes driver-focused measures such as account-linked discounts or prepaid charging cards for income-qualified owners, combined with location-focused steps like reduced-price charging at utility-owned public stations and multifamily sites in priority communities.

BYD ADDS CANADA 'COMING SOON' PAGE
BYD has put a "Coming Soon" message on its Canadian website and listed eleven management vacancies, eight of them posted by BYD North America and based in Toronto or the wider Greater Toronto Area, covering head of sales, marketing, network development, infrastructure business development, operations planning, legal counsel and HR, with one sales role tasked with leading market entry, nationwide sales and a dealer network for passenger vehicles. No models, prices, dealers, ordering function or launch date have been published, and while Canada reopened to Chinese-made EVs on 1 March 2026 by replacing the 100% surtax with a 49,000-vehicle annual quota at a 6.1% tariff, shipment-specific permits and Transport Canada compliance still apply.

GERMAN SUPPLIERS LOOK BEYOND CARS AS ELECTRIC VEHICLES RESHAPE INDUSTRY
Electrification is redrawing the network of parts, skills and factories behind the car, illustrated by Nuremberg-area family firm Sembach, whose output of small automotive parts has fallen from about 600 million to 400 million a year and which set a 2023 target of cutting automotive revenue from 80 to 40 per cent by 2033. The VDA says around 100,000 German automotive jobs have gone since 2019 and another 125,000 could follow by 2035, with many replacement roles created abroad, while Bosch, on €91 billion of revenue last year, is pivoting to sensors, robotics, software-defined mobility and electrification even as it plans to cut more than 20,000 German automotive jobs by 2030.

SOLENT ELECTRIC BOAT CHARGING NETWORK EXPANDS
The Electric Seaway, a £3.2m project backed by the Department for Transport's UK SHORE programme, has since 2023 built a chain of CCS DC fast-charging points along the south coast using 400V-class technology similar to car rapid chargers, though Aqua superPower COO Karen Gill says uptake has come mainly from commercial workboats rather than leisure yachts. Range remains the constraint for weekenders, with Grand Soleil's 33ft Blue claiming 30 nautical miles at 5 knots from its 6kW ePropulsion pod and 8kWh battery, or 60 with a second battery and a diesel option still offered, while Yamaha's 2024 acquisition of Torqeedo signals that the largest outboard manufacturer is taking electric marine propulsion seriously.

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BMW STARTS CHINA IX3 PRE-SALES https://evne.ws/txspn

BYD SETS SEPTEMBER 2 SEALION 08 LAUNCH https://evne.ws/3e4cp

GEELY READIES HIGHER-VOLTAGE CHARGING SYSTEMS https://evne.ws/eee9n

CATL SIGNS QIYUAN GREEN POWER STAKE DEAL https://evne.ws/5qrgq

LI AUTO OWNERS PROTEST PRICE CUTS https://evne.ws/719xa

LEPAS OPENS FIRST UK DEALERSHIP https://evne.ws/6ngnv

DREAME CLOSES AUTOMOTIVE BUSINESS https://evne.ws/a9hm1

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WALMART OPENS 100TH FAST-CHARGING STATION https://evne.ws/j0nrg

HYUNDAI OPENS IONIQ V PRE-SALES IN CHINA https://evne.ws/ytjl3

POLSTAR CLAIMS UNEQUAL US TREATMENT https://evne.ws/wu9ol

DUTCH PLUG-IN MARKET FAVOURS RICH HOUSEHOLDS https://evne.ws/f1xaw

MERCEDES CLA ELECTRIC COVERS 385 MILES AT 70 MPH https://evne.ws/74rfe

OPEL SETS 2028 DATE FOR ELECTRIC CORSA https://evne.ws/aey9q

ROME BACKS ELECTRIC AND HYDROGEN BUSES https://evne.ws/oqsym

SUZUKI PLANS VISION E-SKY EUROPE EXPORT https://evne.ws/gfflz

MEXICO ELECTRIFIED SALES RISE AS PRODUCTION FALLS https://evne.ws/5mamd

ELECTRIC MOTORHOME USES EVOLVE PLATFORM https://evne.ws/0iqak

It's ev.news Briefly for Tuesday 25 August 2026, only today’s 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

WALMART OPENS 100TH FAST-CHARGING STATION
Walmart has opened its 100th branded EV fast-charging station at its Monument, Colorado Supercenter, extending a network that now covers 20 states — up from 17 a month earlier — despite the retailer having no branded chargers less than two years ago. The four-stall site uses ABB Mobility all-in-one dispensers delivering up to 400 kW with NACS and CCS1 connectors and app-only payment, part of a rollout that added 612 stalls in the first half of 2026 and ranked second only to Tesla for new ports energised in Q2, at an average $0.43 per kWh with 10% off for Walmart+ members.

HYUNDAI OPENS IONIQ V PRE-SALES IN CHINA
Beijing Hyundai has begun pre-sales of the Ioniq V at the 2026 Chengdu Auto Show ahead of a September launch, priced from 119,900 yuan (about $17,300) to 139,900 yuan across three versions, with up to 650 km of CLTC range, an 800-volt E-GMP architecture, CATL LFP batteries of 53.5 or 66.8 kWh and single motors of 140 or 168 kW. It is the first production Ioniq developed in China, using a 27-inch 4K Snapdragon 8295 screen, Momenta highway L2+ assistance and Baidu and ByteDance AI infotainment, as Hyundai targets 20 electrified models and 500,000 annual Chinese sales by 2030.

POLESTAR CLAIMS UNEQUAL US TREATMENT
Polestar has accused the US Commerce Department of "disparate treatment" after a June 24 denial blocked its American sales from model year 2027, noting that Volvo — which shares Chinese majority owner Geely and builds the Polestar 3 on the same South Carolina line — was authorised earlier in 2026. In an Aug. 18 letter, Peter Wexler said the 13-month review dismissed mitigation offers including audits, cybersecurity reviews and removal of China links from data management, despite officials indicating in January and April that approval was likely; dealers have called the outcome devastating, with a New Jersey group suing for $25 million over an allegedly concealed US withdrawal.

DUTCH PLUG-IN MARKET FAVOURS RICH HOUSEHOLDS
Statistics agency CBS found that the Netherlands' shift to electric cars has mainly benefited wealthy households, with the top-earning 10% buying almost 75,000 of the roughly 259,000 electric and plug-in hybrid cars traded in 2025 and the top 20% accounting for nearly half. The lowest-earning 10% bought about 6,000, or 2%, and two-thirds of cars bought by the poorest fifth were over a decade old, prompting a €52 million, three-year subsidy scheme from the final quarter of 2026 for lower- and middle-income buyers of second-hand EVs who scrap older petrol or diesel vehicles.

MERCEDES CLA ELECTRIC COVERS 385 MILES AT 70 MPH
The dual-motor 2027 Mercedes-Benz CLA 350 4MATIC Electric covered 385 miles in a constant-speed 70 mph range test on 19-inch wheels, exceeding its 312-mile EPA Combined rating by 73 miles, or 23%, with 2 miles remaining at 0% charge. Consumption of 225 Wh per mile implied 86.6 kWh used against an 85-kWh net battery, with the result credited to the 800-volt Mercedes Modular Architecture and a two-speed rear-motor transmission of the type that has also helped Porsche and Audi models beat their ratings.

OPEL SETS 2028 DATE FOR ELECTRIC CORSA
Opel CEO Florian Huettl has pushed the all-electric Corsa successor from 2027 to 2028, moving the brand's best-seller onto Stellantis' STLA Small platform as a battery-electric-only model with bigger batteries, more range and prices from €25,000, against the current e-CMP Corsa Electric's 46-49 kWh battery, 429 km claim and €30,440 starting price. Huettl cited improving range, charging and fuel costs rather than any fixed date to end combustion engines, and Opel will still deliver the e-CMP-based Corsa GSE, capable of 0-100 kph in 5.5 seconds, to dealers this year.

ROME BACKS ELECTRIC AND HYDROGEN BUSES
Rome will spend €117 million from Italy's infrastructure ministry on new buses through operator ATAC, split between €83.6 million for hydrogen models and €27.1 million for battery-electric ones plus depot upgrades, though neither quantities nor manufacturers have been named. A further €6 million in European funding will build a green hydrogen hub using local electrolysis at ATAC's Acilia site, complementing a charge introduced in July 2026 for EVs entering a restricted central zone that takes about 50,000 cars a day against a designed capacity of 20,000.

SUZUKI PLANS VISION E-SKY EUROPE EXPORT
Suzuki intends to export its Vision e-Sky electric microcar from Japan, with Europe possible in 2027 and the UK and Italy under review at an expected UK price below £20,000, ahead of a Japanese world premiere in autumn and production at a plant southwest of Tokyo. Based on Japan's kei-car class and targeting 310 km of range with likely LFP cells from BYD's corporate network, it would be Suzuki's first battery-electric kei car and reportedly the first exported almost unchanged, offering growth potential after European sales fell 15% to 187,000 in the year to March.

MEXICO ELECTRIFIED SALES RISE AS PRODUCTION FALLS
Mexico sold 95,037 electrified vehicles in the first half of 2026, up 44% year on year for a 12.6% market share, led by Toyota in conventional hybrids and boosted by expanding Chinese brands, while charging points reached 60,934 and 170 electrified models are now offered. Production moved the other way, falling to 47,411 units from 110,002 a year earlier as weaker US demand cut Equinox output by 81.6% and Blazer output by 80%, prompting the Electro Mobility Association to call for policies supporting both electrification and domestic manufacturing.

ELECTRIC MOTORHOME USES EVOLVE PLATFORM
CityFreighter, Vöhringer and Motive Development have unveiled an electric motorhome demonstrator for Europe's 4.25-tonne Class B category, built on CityFreighter's Evolve skateboard with a Vöhringer AIRPLY lightweight interior and coming in under 3.5 tonnes complete with kitchen, bathroom and heat pump, leaving about 750 kg of payload. Its 128-kWh battery gives roughly 400 km of range, supports vehicle-to-load and charges from 10-80% in about 20 minutes at up to 200 kW, while independent battery replacement and upgrades are pitched as protecting residual value in vehicles that often stay in service for decades.