Ford teamed up with aftermarket builders and parts makers to deliver three custom EV builds – one Mustang Mach-E and two F-150 Lightnings – at the 2022 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas.
The automaker wanted to highlight how Ford EV drivers can personalize their rides with Ford Performance Parts and Ford Licensed Accessories. Electrek writer Scooter Doll and I put in our two cents below, but we want to hear from you. Tell us in the comments – are these custom EV builds hot or not?
Photo: Dom Tucci Design (Tucci Hot Rods)/Kay Automotive.
Mustang Mach-e: True Mustang Persona
Builder: Dom Tucci Design (Tucci Hot Rods)/Kay Automotive Graphics
Specs: Shadow Black GT, Extended Range Battery
This dual-motor, AWD 2022 Ford Mustang Mach-E GT is widened with a custom lift-gate spoiler. It features fender arches with Tucci-made 3D-printed fender flares, vacuum-formed transparent wheel covers (see main photo), and a 3D-printed front lip. A Kay Automotive custom graphics wrap brings the style.
The Tucci vehicle wears Ford Accessories sill plates, door emblems, and a GT badged tailgate. The cabin sports a Ford Accessories 140-degree dash cam, two Recaro seats, racing harnesses with custom harness bar, and custom-painted trim accents.
What Scooter thinks: That body kit magically transforms this already low-riding crossover SUV into something even sportier, and I’m here for it. Usually not a body/kit mod person at all, but it works here. What doesn’t work is that brown paint. Why not make this thing bright orange or completely blacked out and try to get it into the 20th Fast and Furious movie? This is dope.
What Michelle thinks: I’m with Scooter on this one. Body kit is amazing and then … brown. Kind of anti-climactic. Why not a nod to the Mustang’s iconic history with Poppy Red? That would look gorgeous. I am totally down with the Recaro seats. The Mach-e GT can apparently go from 0-60 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds, so that seat and a racing harness would be useful, lol. Cool that they used 3D printing. This is a moderate dope from me.
F-150 Lightning: Swiss Army Knife
Builder: Tjin Edition/Thule
Specs: Extended Range Battery, all-wheel drive, SuperCrew, Lariat
The Tjin Edition F-150 Lightning packs solar charging, a portable air compressor, a fridge, console vault, Recaro front and rear seats, and Thule cargo accessories. It’s also got two Super73 e-bikes mounted on the back. Ford says it’s perfect “for a weekend getaway, off-roading adventure, or tailgating with family and friends.”
What Scooter thinks: This looks like the F-150 Lightning dressed up as a Rivian for Halloween. Those look like Lotus racing seats in there. And those wheels? Love the creativity here, but this one is a nope for me.
What Michelle thinks: This custom F-150 has all the accessories you need for outdoor fun. You had me at solar, Ford. If the US National Park Service and a lowrider had a baby, then this is what it would look like. If you were offroading, wouldn’t the bottom scrape the ground? Afraid this is also a nope for me.
Real Truck’s Race Support F-150 Lightning is equipped with an air compressor, leveling kit, off-road recovery boards, and Recaro seats, along with a fully mobile toolbox and welding equipment. Ford says that “this F-150 Lightning pickup is equally at home on the road and at a Baja race as a support vehicle.”
It comes with a Retrax bed cover featuring a rail system, crossbars, and extra Raptor wheels. It’s got a custom underbody skid plate, and the Kay Automotive graphics wrap is inspired by Ford Bronco Desert Racer livery.
What Scooter thinks: This is a bit better. Definitely more of a rally sport racing vibe. Not my personal style but well executed in my opinion. I really like the paint design but, personally, would swap out the blue and red with some other colors. Still dope, though.
What Michelle thinks: I’d want this in my Hot Wheels collection so I could fix my racing cars. You gotta be prepared when you’re age 5.
In all seriousness, you get form and function with this race support F-150. These should go into production. Also, I like the red tow hooks – they really pop. Were Recaro seats a requirement for these Ford custom EVs? Hmmm. It gets a dope from me.
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The e-bike industry in the West has long been a tale of two territories. North Americans enjoy higher speeds and power limits for their electric bicycles while Europeans are held to much stricter (i.e. slower and lower) speed and power limits. However, things might change based on current discussions on rewriting European e-bike regulations.
New power levels are not totally without precedent, either. The UK briefly considered doubling its own e-bike power limit from 250 watts (approximately 1/3 horsepower) to 500 watts, though the move was ultimately abandoned.
But this time, the call for more power is coming from within the house – i.e., Germany. The Germans are the undisputed leaders and trend setters in the European e-bike market, accounting for around two million sales of e-bikes per year. Home to leading e-bike drive makers like Bosch, the country has yet another advantage when it comes to making – or regulating – waves in the industry.
And while there aren’t any pending law changes, the largest German trade organization ZIV (Zweirad-Industrie-Verband), which is highly influential in achieving such changes, is now discussing what it believes could be pertinent updates to current EU electric bike regulations.
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Some of the new regulations involve creating rules maxing out power at levels such as 400% or 600% of the human pedaling input. But a key component of the proposed plan includes changing the present day power limit of e-bikes from 250W of continuous power at the motor to 750W of peak power at the drive wheel.
The difference includes some nuance, since continuous power is often considered more of a nominal figure, meaning nearly every e-bike motor in Europe wears a “250W” or less sticker despite often outputting a higher level of peak power. Even Bosch, which has to walk the tight and narrow as a leader in the European e-bike drive market, shared that its newest models of motors are capable of peak power ratings in the 600W level. That’s still far from the commonly 1,000W to 1,300W peak power seen in US e-bike motors, but offers a nice boost over an actual 250W motor.
Other new regulations up for discussion include proposals to limit fully-loaded cargo e-bike weights to either 250 kg (550 lb) for two-wheelers or 300 kg (660 lb) for e-bikes with more than two wheels. As road.cc explained, ZIV also noted that, “separate framework conditions and parameters must be defined for cargo bikes weighing more than 300 kg (see EN 17860-4:2025) as they differ significantly from EPACs and bicycles in their dynamics, design and operation.” Such heavy-duty cargo e-bikes, which often more closely resemble small delivery vans than large cargo bikes, are becoming more common in the industry and have raised concerns about cargo e-bike bloat, especially in dedicated cycling paths.
It’s too early to say whether European e-bike regulations will actually change, but the fact that key industry voices with the power to influence policy are openly advocating for it suggests that new rules for the European market are a real possibility.
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China just laid out a plan to roll out over 100,000 ultra-fast EV charging stations by 2027 – and they’ll all be open to the public.
The National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) joint notice, issued on Monday, asks local authorities to put together construction plans for highway service areas and prioritize the ones that see 40% or more usage during holiday travel rushes.
The NDRC notes that China’s ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure needs upgrading as more 800V EVs hit the road. Those high-voltage platforms can handle super-fast charging in as little as 10 to 30 minutes, but only if the charging hardware is up to speed.
China had 31.4 million EVs on the road at the end of 2024 – nearly 9% of the country’s total vehicle fleet. But charging access is still catching up. As of May 2025, there were 14.4 million charging points, or roughly 1 for every 2.2 EVs.
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To keep the grid running smoothly, China wants new chargers to be smart, with dynamic pricing to incentivize off-peak charging and solar and storage to power the charging stations.
To make the business side work, the government is pushing for 10-year leases for charging station operators, and it’s backing the buildout with local government bonds.
The NDRC emphasized that the DC fast chargers built will be open to the public. This is a big deal because a lot of fast chargers in China aren’t. For example, BYD’s new megawatt chargers aren’t open to third-party vehicles.
As of September 2024, China had expanded its charging infrastructure to 11.4 million EV chargers, but only 3.3 million were public.
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A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as “Main Justice,” is seen behind the podium in the Department’s headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Federal prosecutors have charged two men in connection with a sprawling cryptocurrency investment scheme that defrauded victims out of more than $650 million.
The indictment, unsealed in the District of Puerto Rico, accuses Michael Shannon Sims, 48, of Georgia and Florida, and Juan Carlos Reynoso, 57, of New Jersey and Florida, of operating and promoting OmegaPro, an international crypto multi-level marketing scheme that promised investors 300% returns over 16 months through foreign exchange trading.
“This case exposes the ruthless reality of modern financial crime,” said the Internal Revenue Service’s Chief of Criminal Investigations Guy Ficco. “OmegaPro promised financial freedom but delivered financial ruin.”
From 2019 to 2023, Sims, Reynoso and their co-conspirators allegedly lured thousands of victims worldwide to purchase “investment packages” using cryptocurrency, falsely claiming the funds would be safely managed by elite forex traders, the Department of Justice said.
Prosecutors said the pair flaunted their wealth through social media and extravagant events — including projecting the OmegaPro logo onto the Burj Khalifa, Dubai’s tallest building — to convince investors the operation was legitimate.
A video posted to the company’s LinkedIn page shows guests in evening attire posing for photos and watching the spectacle in Dubai.
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In reality, authorities allege, OmegaPro was a pyramid-style fraud.
When the company later claimed it had suffered a hack, the defendants told victims they had transferred their funds to a new platform called Broker Group, the DOJ said. Users were never able to withdraw their money from either platform.
The two men face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The Justice Department, FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations led the multiagency investigation, with help from international partners.