Long-running commercial EV developer Workhorse has reemerged after a couple years’ hiatus from the public eye with a new electric step van called the W56. The new 1,000+ cubic foot cargo box made its official debut during NTEA’s Work Truck Week in Indianapolis, Indiana, this morning. Check it out.
Workhorse Group Inc. ($WKHS) may not be a name you’ve heard in a while, but it’s more than likely one that you recognize as an early player in EV technology. The company’s history dates back to chassis manufacturing in the late 1990s.
In 2013, AMP EVs took over the Workhorse chassis brand to focus on electric vehicle manufacturing. Following the official name change to Workhorse Group, the company introduced an all-electric pickup truck called the W-15 back in 2016. By 2019, Workhorse was in talks with GM to acquire its production facility in Lordstown, Ohio.
Following a 10% stake in a new EV start-up you may have heard of called Lordstown Motors, Workhorse shared design details of its W-15 pickup under a licensing agreement that enabled what would become the Lordstown Endurance – an EV vehicle and maker with its own list of issues.
In 2021, Workhorse faced major controversy following investigations by both the US Department of Justice and the SEC pertaining to traded securities in the company. The reports stated that Executives at the company sold $60 million worth of company stock after learning its bid to supply EVs to the revamped USPS fleet was in trouble.
The order was eventually awarded to Oshkosh Defense. Workhorse originally filed a formal complaint with the US Court of Federal Claims, protesting the awarded contract to Oshkosh, but dropped the complaint in September 2021. At the time, current CEO Rick Dauch had recently been appointed and wanted to focus on other business opportunities. A week later, Dauch halted Workhorse’s limited electric van production indefinitely, citing a lack of confidence in their reliability.
The press room at Workhorse Group has been eerily quiet since then, but we’ve learned that in the past 18 months, Dauch and his revamped team have been working on launching a new era for the dubious brand, beginning with a new all-electric step van called the W56.
Workhorse’s new van demonstrates “EV caliber to come”
Workhorse unveiled the W56 step van in front of a crowd at the Indian Convention Center this morning. The company shared that by leveraging its previous designs and millions of miles of service on roads, it was able to design the W56 as its first purpose-built chassis platform erected from the ground up at its factory in Union City, Indiana. CEO Rick Dauch was there and spoke to the work that went into the new Class 5/6 step van:
The W56 marks the first official vehicle designed and produced under our revamped team and is the culmination of many hours of hard work combined with process enhancements implemented over the past 18 months. This vehicle incorporates the extensive on-road learnings of our legacy vehicles and improves upon those models with a new custom-designed chassis, demonstrating the caliber of trucks that we will produce for years to come. As we complete the final steps in our transition from a technology start-up to a pioneering commercial EV OEM, we look forward to starting production and making initial deliveries later this year.
Workhorse shared that the new zero-emissions delivery van was designed to meet the demands of various jobs using commercial vehicles, stating it will come available in a number of configurations to support those various business applications. The W56 features a cargo box with over 1,000 cubic feet of space and a payload capacity of up to about 10,000 pounds.
As a local work/delivery van, the Workhorse W56 will offer up to 150 miles of range on a single charge; it was also designed with last-mile delivery drivers in mind. The electric van features a lowered step-in and wider cabin door for easier movement in and out of the ergonomically designed cabin.
Production of the W56 step van is expected to begin in Q3 of this year, but Workhorse shared that customer demonstration EVs should be ready to deploy in the coming weeks.
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A view of offshore oil and gas platform Esther in the Pacific Ocean on January 5, 2025 in Seal Beach, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images
President-Elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will reverse President Joe Biden‘s ban on offshore drilling along most of the U.S. coastline as soon as he takes office.
“I’m going to have it revoked on day one,” Trump said at a news conference, though he indicated that reversing the ban might require litigation in court.
Biden announced Monday that he would protect 625 million acres of ocean from offshore oil and gas drilling along the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea. The president issued the ban through a provision of the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
An order by Trump attempting to reverse the ban will likely end up in court and could ultimately be struck down.
During his first term, Trump tried to issue an executive order to reverse President Barack Obama’s use of the law to protect waters in the Arctic and Atlantic from offshore drilling. A federal court ultimately ruled that Trump’s order was not lawful and reversing the ban would require an act of Congress.
The Republican Party has a majority in both chambers of the new Congress.
Chinese EV Automaker ZEEKR is marking its third consecutive presence on the display floors of CES. During this year’s event, ZEEKR began teasing at least three new models scheduled to launch in 2025, some of which will feature an NVIDIA DRIVE Thor-based smart driver domain controller. In addition to those codenamed models, ZEEKR is also planning to launch another NVIDIA DRIVE Thor-equipped EV called “RT” in the US to be used by robotaxi developer Waymo.
ZEEKR wasted no time touting its latest EV and autonomous driving technology at CES 2025, which kicked off in Las Vegas earlier this week. As noted above, 2025 marks ZEEKR’s third consecutive participation in the annual tech event, which is notable considering the company was founded less than four years ago.
During last year’s event, ZEEKR showcased its 007, which had just launched in China days before. It offers a 540-mile range and a starting price below $30,000. At CES 2023, ZEEKR made its public debut in the US, showcasing its flagship 001 shooting brake and a purpose-built EV designed for robotaxi network Waymo, which we saw up close later that fall.
The Waymo BEV has become known as the ZEEKR RT, which is mentioned alongside several exciting announcements that the Chinese automaker teased last month.
ZEEKR shares plans for new models, plus Waymo BEVs
ZEEKR kicked off CES 2025 today with news of a new domain controller built using NVIDIA’s DRIVE Thor next-generation centralized computer. NVIDIA unveiled DRIVE Thor in the fall of 2022, announcing ZEEKR as its first customer and initial production of vehicles featuring the technology planned for early 2025.
As such, ZEEKR is hailing itself as the first OEM to integrate NVIDIA’s next-gen system-on-chip (SoC) into a domain controller to handle a wide range of smart driving, autonomous scenarios, and parking functions. Per NVIDIA during the DRIVE Thor debut, the computer “achieves up to 2,000 teraflops of performance, unifies intelligent functions — including automated and assisted driving, parking, driver and occupant monitoring, digital instrument cluster, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) and rear-seat entertainment — into a single architecture for greater efficiency and lower overall system cost.”
As NVIDIA’s first DRIVE Thor customer, ZEEKR said its domain controller will soon be mass-produced and integrated into a new large SUV model to be launched this year. That SUV will be one of three new BEVs ZEEKR plans to launch in 2025. According to ZEEKR CEO Andy An, those vehicles have been internally codenamed “EX,” “DX,” and “CC.”
In addition to those passenger EVs in the works, ZEEKR shared that its RT van, based on the MIX and explicitly designed as a robotaxi for Waymo, is undergoing real-world testing and is expected to arrive as the world-first mass-produced purpose-built vehicle for autonomous rides.
ZEEKR RT deliveries to Waymo are expected later this year for further testing ahead of a future public robotaxi network launch. If that happens, ZEEKR could become the first Chinese EV brand to enter the US market, although it’s a bit of a loophole.
ZEEKR’s 009 MPV, MIX van, and 001 FR shooting brake are on display at CES at booth #5640 in the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Go check them out.
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How about a new EV with your next Amazon order? As the first brand to sell vehicles on Amazon, Hyundai says, “You’re gonna need a bigger cart.” Hyundai is now selling cars directly on Amazon, including popular EVs like the IONIQ 5. Here’s how you can snag one.
How can you buy Hyundai EVs directly on Amazon?
Buying a new Hyundai is now as easy as adding it to your next Amazon order. However, you might need a bigger cart.
Amazon revealed plans to expand into vehicle sales in 2023, starting with Hyundai. After making it official at the 2023 LA Auto Show, Hyundai began selling vehicles on the platform just before the end of 2024.
Buying a new vehicle on Amazon Auto is as easy as buying a new laptop or outfit. You can browse through available Hyundai vehicles near you, secure financing, checkout, and schedule a pick-up time directly using Amazon’s trusted platform.
You can easily find the vehicle you’re looking for with the option to sort by model, trim, color, features, and more. After you find it, you can secure financing, sign the paperwork electronically, and complete the process in just a few clicks.
The best part is the haggle-free pricing. What you see at checkout is the price you will pay. Once finalized, you can pick the day and time to pick up your new ride at a local dealership.
If you have a trade-in, you can get an instant quote by answering a few questions and uploading images of the car. Then, you can apply the credit toward your new vehicle on Amazon Autos. When you go to pick up your new vehicle, the dealership will be ready for it.
Hyundai plans to expand the program by adding more dealers throughout the year and offering more leasing and financing options. On the Amazon Auto website, you can view Hyundai vehicles at participating dealers near you.
You can already find top-selling Hyundai EVs on Amazon Auto, including the updated 2025 IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6. With new models, like the three-row IONIQ 9 rolling out, expect to see more EVs available soon.
The new IONIQ 5 starts at $42,500. With a bigger (84 kWh) battery, the updated model has a range of 318 miles, up from 303 miles in the outgoing IONIQ 5. It also has an NACS port, so it can be charged at Tesla Superchargers.
After kicking off production at its new EV plant in Georgia late last year, Hyundai’s electric vehicles now qualify for the $7,500 EV tax credit for the first time.
For those of you who don’t have access to the program yet, we’ve got you covered. With the new 2025 models rolling out, Hyundai is offering 2024 IONIQ 5 SUVs for next to nothing while they are still in stock. You can use our links below to find the best deals on Hyundai EV models in your area.
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