Cars

After Hyundai started making them in the USA, the popular EV became briefly eligible — but mysteriously lost eligibility weeks later, possibly over its batteries. Now, the Ioniq 5 is finally back on the list, until or unless Trump kills the credit entirely. It may not make a difference for many buyers: Hyundai was already offering its own $7,500 discount as a stopgap until the credit came back online.

Robyn Denholm, who was appointed chair of Tesla’s board of directors after the SEC forced Elon Musk to step down, just sold over $32 million worth of shares in the company. As Electrek notes, it appears that she is close to liquidating her entire position in Tesla, with only 85,000 shares left and 300,440 stock options expiring later this year. Several Tesla investors have urged the board to rein in Musk, who’s political alliance with the Trump administration has done irreparable damage to the company’s brand. But under Denholm’s leadership, the board has done essentially nothing to curb Musk’s worst tendencies.

The excellent Tim Stevens joins The Vergecast to talk all things Slate, which recently unveiled its first product, an extremely barebones, all-electric, two-seater pickup truck.

More incoming tariff flip-flopping from the White House, The Wall Street Journal reports today. Trump is expected to rollback some duties on automakers so they don’t end up paying for multiple tariffs on materials like on steel and aluminum. You know, they stuff they usually make cars out of. And here’s the kicker: Trump may end up actually reimbursing some car companies for their tariffs based on the value of the vehicle! Folks, this is what real leadership looks like. According to the Journal:

That’s how Land Rover describes the recently-released upgrade for third‑generation Range Rovers produced between 2010‑2012 that lets them access Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. However, the upgrade is only available to people in the UK and Germany, according to 9to5Mac.

The automaker started by offering nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) batteries in its electric vehicles, and later added lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries in 2023. “LMR is the answer to ‘what next?’” writes Charles Poon, Ford’s Global Director for Electrified Propulsion Engineering. LMR stands for “Lithium Manganese Rich,” which Poon says is safer, denser, and more cost-effective than other chemistries. And they’re coming close to fruition.

The restrictions on rare earth minerals and related magnets came in response to Trump’s escalating tariffs and we’re now seeing some direct impact. Tesla’s occasional CEO says his plan to build thousands of Optimus humanoid robots this year is contingent upon the availability of those magnets needed for the robot’s motors.

It looks much like the E Concept presented in Shanghai last year during the debut of Audi’s ringless, all-caps brand for the Chinese market. The E5 Sportback is built on an 800-volt “Advanced Digitized Platform” co-developed with China’s SAIC Motors and features a 100kWh battery capable of 478 miles of range per charge, 3.4 seconds 0-62 mph acceleration, a pillar-to-pillar 4K screen, and a lidar-based driver assistant.

Slate Auto, the secretive EV startup backed by Jeff Bezos, dropped a bunch of concept versions of its $25,000 electric truck in California over the weekend to emphasize the vehicle’s “transformative” powers, TechCrunch reports. The company is planning an official reveal later this week.

The company is working on a cheaper Model Y that will initially be made in the US, codenamed E41, but the start of production has been delayed, Reuters reports. Tesla apparently wants to make 250,000 of these vehicles in the US in 2026.

Mercedes-Benz is building 460 limited edition G550 SUVs with retro styling that makes it look like an old-school G-Wagen. MotorTrend reports what’s up with the hilariously long name.