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Thirty years ago to the day after opening its main production facility in Martorell, Spain, SEAT S.A. announced it will use the site as home to its largest transformation to electrification yet. Following an investment of three billion euros (~$3.2B), SEAT intends to lead development and become a small BEV production hub for a number of brands under the Volkswagen Group umbrella.

SEAT S.A. is a Spanish automaker founded in 1950 and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen Group since 1986. The name is actually an acronym that stands for “Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo,” but SEAT rolls off the tongue a bit more quickly.

To this day, SEAT operates out of its headquarters and main production footprint in Martorell about 20 miles outside of Barcelona. The Spanish automaker relayed that it has produced over 12 million vehicles across 45 models at the facility, exporting them to more than 70 different countries.

To this point, SEAT itself only sells one BEV – the Cupra Born – but it is built by Volkswagen in Zwickau, Germany alongside its ID.3 twin. That should change by 2025. As the Martorell factory celebrates 30 years since its inauguration in 1993, SEAT has announced a large investment to (at least start) going electric.

SEAT production
SEAT’s current footprint in Martorell / Credit: SEAT S.A.

SEAT to (partially) pivot to EV production, R&D by 2025

According to a release from SEAT today, it will use the investment of three billion euros to transition its Martorell facility from combustion to electric in all areas – “research and development, production and logistics, commercial and people, and organization.”

The site’s main factory is expected to begin production of fully-electric vehicles for multiple brands in Volkswagen Group by 2025 as part of a strategic plan consisting of five main pillars:

  • People and organization
  • Electrification and product
  • Production end to end (E2E)
  • Digitalization
  • Sustainability

SEAT’s transformation parallel’s parent company Volkswagen Group’s electrification goals and those outlined in Spain’s Future: Fast Forward project. Larger plans include the electrification of SEAT’s Pamplona factory in addition to Martorell, a new battery gigafactory in Valencia, and the implementation of a complete supplier ecosystem. The country-wide project is expecting to positively impact the Spanish economy with more than 21,000 million euros.

With the investment, SEAT intends to turn Martorell into a smart factory and educate its employees on the exciting new world of electric vehicle production. Beginning in 2025, SEAT intends to become a main production hub for Volkswagen Group and a vital part of Spain’s EV value chain. SEAT and Cupra CEO Wayne Griffiths spoke:

Over the past 30 years, SEAT S.A. has created employment and boosted industrial growth in our country and there is even more planned for the future. Our ambition is to produce electric vehicles made in Spain from 2025 and, as part of this transformation, Martorell will also manufacture the Cupra UrbanRebel. Thanks to this project, the most important for our company in the years ahead, our employees and the factory will begin a new era.

The UrbanRebel isn’t expected to arrive until 2025 anyway, so SEAT’s transition to EV production should tie nicely. There has been no word on whether SEAT will inherit Cupra Born production from VW, but it would make more sense to keep it in Germany with the ID.3 and save production space for other small BEVs in the group.

Again, since SEAT only has one EV for sale and doesn’t build it in Spain, we’d expect the automaker to continue production of its combustion vehicles at the Martorell facility. With rising demand in all-electric models, SEAT’s EV production footprint could easily continue to grow in Montorell and eventually usurp combustion vehicle production altogether. Let’s hope.

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Trump’s latest offshore wind cancellation is a threat to the grid – ISO New England

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Trump's latest offshore wind cancellation is a threat to the grid – ISO New England

Trump’s Interior Department halted construction on 704 megawatt (MW) Revolution Wind, the US’s first multi-state offshore wind project that’s already 80% complete. Grid operator ISO New England says the decision is a threat to the grid.

ISO New England released a statement responding to the stop-work order, warning that “delaying the project will increase risks to reliability.”:

As demand for electricity grows, New England must maintain and add to its energy infrastructure. Unpredictable risks and threats to resources – regardless of technology – that have made significant capital investments, secured necessary permits, and are close to completion will stifle future investments, increase costs to consumers, and undermine the power grid’s reliability and the region’s economy now and in the future.

Revolution Wind, a joint development between Ørsted and BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners, is a 65-turbine project capable of powering around 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut once it’s complete. It was expected to come online next year. The project has created more than 1,200 jobs.

On August 22, the director of Bureau of Ocean Energy Management sent a vague letter to Ørsted commanding it to halt all activities on the fully permitted Revolution Wind, citing “national security interests,” yet providing no details.

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BOEM’s Record of Decision for Revolution Wind, reported in 2023 in Section 4.6, page 185, states that the national security effects of the project would be “negligible and avoidable.”

This latest move echoes Trump’s cancellation in April of New York’s $5 billion Empire Wind 1 project, which was already under construction off New York’s coast. No viable reasons were given for that stop-work order either, and the cancellation was reversed in May.

Kit Kennedy, managing director for power at Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), released the following statement in response to the Revolution Wind order:

The Trump administration’s war on the electricity needed to power the grid continues on all fronts. Halting Revolution Wind is a devastating attack on workers, on electricity customers, and on the investment climate in the US.

New England homeowners will feel this when they tear open their electricity bills and look at the surging costs of keeping the lights on.

This administration has it exactly backwards. It’s trying to prop up clunky, polluting coal plants while doing all it can to halt the fastest growing energy sources of the future – solar and wind power.

It makes no sense to say we have an energy emergency and then make decisions like this. Unfortunately, every American is paying the price for these misguided actions.

Read more: Trump reversal revives Empire Wind, NY’s offshore energy giant


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Tesla teases new product release on Friday

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Tesla teases new product release on Friday

Tesla is teasing a new product release on Friday, August 29th, coming to Europe and the Middle East. It’s likely going to be the Model Y Performance.

On X today, Tesla has teased an upcoming product release coming this friday.

The post is cryptic. It only mentions ‘spoiler alert’ and the date August 29 with what looks like a close up of a vehicle with what appears to be a spoil – hence the “spoiler alert” reference:

There are main suspect is the Model Y Performance due to the spoiler reference.

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Since the Model Y refresh in January, Tesla stopped selling the Model Y Performance. It is due to launch the top performance version under the new design.

When Tesla released the Model 3 refresh in 2024, it took about 4 months for Tesla to launch the new performance version.

Electrek’s Take

The only thing that I find strange with this likely being the Model Y Performance is the fact that they tweeted this from the Europe and Middle East account.

It would be strange for the Model Y Performance to launch there first, but who knows. Maybe Tesla started production at Gigafactory Berlin first.

I don’t think this will have a major impact on Tesla’s business. The Model Y Performance is the least popular version of the best-selling Model Y.

We don’t have the full mix of sales, but I wouldn’t be suprised if it represents less than 10% of Tesla’s Model Y deliveries.

The Model 3 Performance is probably a more popular option within the Model 3 lineup as it is a lot more fun to drive.

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Genesis GV60 Magma EV sheds camo, revealing a radical new look [Video]

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Genesis GV60 Magma EV sheds camo, revealing a radical new look [Video]

The GV60 Magma will have a distinct look and feel compared to other Genesis vehicles. As the first EV from its new performance sub-brand, the Genesis GV60 Magma will debut with enhanced power, advanced suspension, a sporty new design, and more. For the first time, it was caught on video racing around the Nürburgring, giving us our closest look yet.

Genesis GV60 Magma EV flexes new style at Nürburgring

We got our first look at the new Magma models last March at the NY Auto Show alongside the full-size Neolun concept.

Magma is “the brand’s expansion into the realm of high-performance vehicles,” Genesis boasted. Among the first vehicles to earn a Magma upgrade is the GV60.

Genesis fine-tuned the electric crossover SUV, giving it a wider and lower stance for improved control. The larger lower air intake contributes to the aggressive new look, while also serving to cool the batteries and motor, both of which have been upgraded for enhanced performance.

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Earlier this year, we got a good look at the GV60 Magma during winter testing in Europe. Although you could see a few new design features, it was mostly covered in camo.

Genesis-GV60-Magma-Porsche
Genesis GV60 Magma testing with other Magma vehicles (Source: Genesis)

After it was recently spotted with less camo at the Nürburgring race track in Germany, we are getting an even better idea of what to expect when it arrives.

The video from CarSpyMedia shows the Genesis GV60 Magma EV with a production body and minimal camouflage.

You can see the high-performance vehicle flexing its power and handling as it rips around the track. Like other Hyundai Motor performance EVs, including the new IONIQ 6 N, you can expect the Genesis GV60 Magma to deliver over 600 horsepower, if not closer to 700.

The current Genesis GV60 Performance delivers up to 429 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque, good for a 0 to 60 mph sprint in 3.7 seconds.

Horsepower 0 to 60 mph
(seconds)
Starting Price
Genesis GV60 Performance 429 3.7 $69,900
Genesis GV60 Magma ? ? ?
Porsche Taycan 402 4.5 $99,400
Porsche Taycan Turbo GT
(with Weissach Package)
1,092 2.1 $230,000
Tesla Model S Plaid 1,020 1.99 $89,990
Genesis GV60 Magma vs Porsche Taycan vs Tesla Model S Plaid

Genesis will launch the GV60 Magma EV later this year in Korea, followed by the US, Europe, and other global markets. We will learn prices and final specs closer to launch, but given the Performance models start at $69,900, you can expect a higher starting price tag, likely closer to $75,000.

At that it would be significantly less than the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Tesla Model S Plaid. Will it match the performance?

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