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Mitsubishi is the latest Japanese automaker to accelerate its electrification strategy as demand for electric vehicles continues climbing at a record rate.

The company revealed a new business plan Friday, “Challenge 2025,” that involves four new EVs, including an electric pickup truck.

Mitsubishi unveils new electric strategy and spending plan

Despite being an early EV pioneer, launching its iMiEV electric kei car on World Environment Day in 2009, eventually making its way to the US as the Mitsubishi, the Japanese automaker currently has no purely electric vehicles in its North American or European lineup.

Mitsubishi currently offers the Outlander PHEV, but with new fully electric vehicles from nearly every other automaker hitting the market, Outlander sales fell 12% from 2021 to 1,961 last year.

As part of Mitsubishi’s new strategy, the automaker plans for 100% of its sales to be either pure electric or hybrid by 2035, compared to its previous guidance of 50% electrified sales by 2030.

Mitsubishi calls the next two years “a turning point to a major transition” as it looks toward contributing to a sustainable society with a beefed-up lineup of electrified vehicles.

To make the transition possible, Mitsubishi plans to ramp up R&D expenses over the next few years to reach 70% of its budget after 2026, up from 20% currently.

Mitsubishi-electric-strategy
Mitsubishi xEV models (Source: Mitsubishi)

In addition, Mitsubishi will strengthen its recently developed strategic partnership to expand its lineup. The Japanese automaker recently formed an alliance with Nissan and Renault to jointly manufacture over 30 new electric vehicles across five common platforms by 2030.

Of the four new fully electric vehicles, one will be through the Nissan alliance and another through the Renault alliance. The other two will consist of an electric pickup truck and a two-row SUV EV.

Electrek’s Take

Mitsubishi’s new strategy sounds exciting with a new electric pickup, a two-row SUV, and two alliance-built EVs, but waiting until 2035 to transform its lineup might be costly.

The Japanese automaker is already falling behind in the fully electric market and is seeing PHEV sales decline. The new electric business strategy and investments are designed to stimulate the Mitsubishi brand and bring it into the modern day, but delaying any further will be wasting valuable time.

Many automakers are already achieving double-digit, even 100%, EV sales and are working on their second or third-generation EVs.

Mitsubishi is the latest Japanese automaker to announce its intentions to accelerate its EV efforts. Toyota appointed a new CEO who mentioned a new EV-first mindset, Nissan plans to release 19 new EVs by 2030, and Honda overhauled its business operations to ramp up EV deployment.

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Baidu- and Geely-backed JiYue brand unveils ROBO X EV that goes 0-100 km/h in under 1.9 sec

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Baidu- and Geely-backed JiYue brand unveils ROBO X EV that goes 0-100 km/h in under 1.9 sec

JiYue, a Chinese EV brand focused on delivering all-electric “robocars” to the masses, has unveiled its latest model, and it’s quite a deviation from its previous EVs—but in the best way. Earlier today, JiYue launched the ROBO X supercar, designed for high-speed racing. By high speed, we mean 0-100 km/h acceleration in under 1.9 seconds. My mouth is watering.

JiYue has only existed since 2021, when parent tech company Baidu announced it was expanding from software development into physical EV production, joining forces with multinational automotive manufacturer Geely.

The new “robotic EV” marque initially launched as JIDU with $300 million in startup capital before garnering an additional $400 million in Series A funding, led by Baidu, in January 2022.

In August 2023, Geely took on a larger role in JIDU alongside a greater financial stake as the brand reimagined itself as JiYue, inheriting the JIDU logo and its flagship model, the 01 ROBOCAR.

In December 2023, Baidu and Geely unveiled a second model called the JiYue 07. It was born from JIDU’s ROBO-02 concept, which debuted in 2023 and was designed to compete against the Tesla Model 3 in China.

The 07 finally launched in China earlier this year with 545 miles of range. With an all-electric SUV and sedan on the market, JiYue has unveiled an exciting new entry in the form of a performance supercar called the ROBO X. Check it out:

JiYue’s new ROBO X EV is available for pre-order now

JiYue showcased its new ROBO X hypercar in front of the crowd at the 2024 Guangzhou Auto Show earlier today. Similar to previous models but with a unique spin, JiYue described the ROBO X as an AI smart-driving supercar that, for the first time, blends artificial intelligence and autonomous driving into a high-performance, race-ready EV.

When we say “high performance,” we mean a quad motor liquid-cooled drive system that can propel the ROBO X from 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in under 1.9 seconds. JiYue called the new ROBO X a “performance beast” with “the perfect balance of excellent aerodynamic performance and high downforce.” JiYue CEO Joe Xia was even bolder in his statements about the ROBO X:

For the next 20 years, the design of supercars will bear the shadow of Robo X. This is the best design in the history of Chinese automobiles today, and it is a landmark presence.

Fighter-style airflow ducts bolster the EV’s aerodynamics, efficiency, and overall posture. Per JiYue, the two-seater ROBO X is expected to deliver a maximum range of over 650 km (404 miles).

The new supercar features falcon-wing doors, a carbon fiber integrated frame, and a professional racing HALO safety system offering 360° of support. The interior features an AI smart cockpit with SIMO real-time feedback to give drivers an immersive racing experience.

Furthermore, JiYue said the vehicle will utilize parent company Baidu’s Apollo self-driving technology, which could make it the first electric supercar to apply pure-vision ADAS technology that enables track-level autonomous driving.

Following today’s unveiling of the ROBO X, JiYue has officially opened up pre-orders in China for RMB 49,999 ($6,915). That said, reservation holders will need to be patient as JiYue shared that it doesn’t expect to begin mass production of the ROBO X until 2027.

What do you think? Will people be talking about the ROBO X for the next 20 years?

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Wheel-E Podcast: Solar moped, XPedition 2.0, LiveWire scooter, more

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Wheel-E Podcast: Solar moped, XPedition 2.0, LiveWire scooter, more

This week on Electrek’s Wheel-E podcast, we discuss the most popular news stories from the world of electric bikes and other nontraditional electric vehicles. This time, that includes the launch of the Lectric XPedition 2.0, Yamaha e-bikes pulling out of North America, LiveWire unveils an electric scooter concept, PNY readying its cargo e-scooters for pilot testing, Royal Enfield’s first electric motorcycle, and more.

The Wheel-E podcast returns every two weeks on Electrek’s YouTube channel, Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.

As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.

After the show ends, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:

We also have a Patreon if you want to help us to avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.

Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the Wheel-E podcast today:

Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 9:30 a.m. ET (or the video after 10:30 a.m. ET):

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Crude oil heads to weekly loss as looming surplus depresses market

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Crude oil heads to weekly loss as looming surplus depresses market

Market Navigator: Crude oil under pressure

Crude oil futures were on pace Friday for loss for the week, as a supply gut and a strong dollar depresses the market.

U.S. crude oil is down more than 2% this week, while Brent has shed nearly 2%.

Here are Friday’s energy prices:

  • West Texas Intermediate December contract: $68.56 per barrel, down 14 cents, or 0.2%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil has shed about 4%.
  • Brent January contract: $72.36 per barrel, down 20 cents, or 0.28%. Year to date, the global benchmark has lost nearly 6%.
  • RBOB Gasoline December contract:  $1.99 per gallon, up 0.46%. Year to date, gasoline has fallen more than 1%.
  • Natural Gas December contract: $2.70 per thousand cubic feet, down 2.98%. Year to date, gas has gained more than 4%.

The International Energy Agency has forecast a surplus of more than 1 million barrels per day in 2025 on robust production in the U.S. OPEC revised down its demand forecast for the fourth consecutive month as demand in China remains soft.

A strong dollar also hangs over the market, as the greenback has surged in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory.

Don’t miss these energy insights from CNBC PRO:

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Mitsubishi is the latest Japanese automaker to accelerate its electrification strategy as demand for electric vehicles continues climbing at a record rate.

The company revealed a new business plan Friday, “Challenge 2025,” that involves four new EVs, including an electric pickup truck.

Mitsubishi unveils new electric strategy and spending plan

Despite being an early EV pioneer, launching its iMiEV electric kei car on World Environment Day in 2009, eventually making its way to the US as the Mitsubishi, the Japanese automaker currently has no purely electric vehicles in its North American or European lineup.

Mitsubishi currently offers the Outlander PHEV, but with new fully electric vehicles from nearly every other automaker hitting the market, Outlander sales fell 12% from 2021 to 1,961 last year.

As part of Mitsubishi’s new strategy, the automaker plans for 100% of its sales to be either pure electric or hybrid by 2035, compared to its previous guidance of 50% electrified sales by 2030.

Mitsubishi calls the next two years “a turning point to a major transition” as it looks toward contributing to a sustainable society with a beefed-up lineup of electrified vehicles.

To make the transition possible, Mitsubishi plans to ramp up R&D expenses over the next few years to reach 70% of its budget after 2026, up from 20% currently.

Mitsubishi-electric-strategy
Mitsubishi xEV models (Source: Mitsubishi)

In addition, Mitsubishi will strengthen its recently developed strategic partnership to expand its lineup. The Japanese automaker recently formed an alliance with Nissan and Renault to jointly manufacture over 30 new electric vehicles across five common platforms by 2030.

Of the four new fully electric vehicles, one will be through the Nissan alliance and another through the Renault alliance. The other two will consist of an electric pickup truck and a two-row SUV EV.

Electrek’s Take

Mitsubishi’s new strategy sounds exciting with a new electric pickup, a two-row SUV, and two alliance-built EVs, but waiting until 2035 to transform its lineup might be costly.

The Japanese automaker is already falling behind in the fully electric market and is seeing PHEV sales decline. The new electric business strategy and investments are designed to stimulate the Mitsubishi brand and bring it into the modern day, but delaying any further will be wasting valuable time.

Many automakers are already achieving double-digit, even 100%, EV sales and are working on their second or third-generation EVs.

Mitsubishi is the latest Japanese automaker to announce its intentions to accelerate its EV efforts. Toyota appointed a new CEO who mentioned a new EV-first mindset, Nissan plans to release 19 new EVs by 2030, and Honda overhauled its business operations to ramp up EV deployment.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Environment

Baidu- and Geely-backed JiYue brand unveils ROBO X EV that goes 0-100 km/h in under 1.9 sec

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on

By

Baidu- and Geely-backed JiYue brand unveils ROBO X EV that goes 0-100 km/h in under 1.9 sec

JiYue, a Chinese EV brand focused on delivering all-electric “robocars” to the masses, has unveiled its latest model, and it’s quite a deviation from its previous EVs—but in the best way. Earlier today, JiYue launched the ROBO X supercar, designed for high-speed racing. By high speed, we mean 0-100 km/h acceleration in under 1.9 seconds. My mouth is watering.

JiYue has only existed since 2021, when parent tech company Baidu announced it was expanding from software development into physical EV production, joining forces with multinational automotive manufacturer Geely.

The new “robotic EV” marque initially launched as JIDU with $300 million in startup capital before garnering an additional $400 million in Series A funding, led by Baidu, in January 2022.

In August 2023, Geely took on a larger role in JIDU alongside a greater financial stake as the brand reimagined itself as JiYue, inheriting the JIDU logo and its flagship model, the 01 ROBOCAR.

In December 2023, Baidu and Geely unveiled a second model called the JiYue 07. It was born from JIDU’s ROBO-02 concept, which debuted in 2023 and was designed to compete against the Tesla Model 3 in China.

The 07 finally launched in China earlier this year with 545 miles of range. With an all-electric SUV and sedan on the market, JiYue has unveiled an exciting new entry in the form of a performance supercar called the ROBO X. Check it out:

JiYue’s new ROBO X EV is available for pre-order now

JiYue showcased its new ROBO X hypercar in front of the crowd at the 2024 Guangzhou Auto Show earlier today. Similar to previous models but with a unique spin, JiYue described the ROBO X as an AI smart-driving supercar that, for the first time, blends artificial intelligence and autonomous driving into a high-performance, race-ready EV.

When we say “high performance,” we mean a quad motor liquid-cooled drive system that can propel the ROBO X from 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in under 1.9 seconds. JiYue called the new ROBO X a “performance beast” with “the perfect balance of excellent aerodynamic performance and high downforce.” JiYue CEO Joe Xia was even bolder in his statements about the ROBO X:

For the next 20 years, the design of supercars will bear the shadow of Robo X. This is the best design in the history of Chinese automobiles today, and it is a landmark presence.

Fighter-style airflow ducts bolster the EV’s aerodynamics, efficiency, and overall posture. Per JiYue, the two-seater ROBO X is expected to deliver a maximum range of over 650 km (404 miles).

The new supercar features falcon-wing doors, a carbon fiber integrated frame, and a professional racing HALO safety system offering 360° of support. The interior features an AI smart cockpit with SIMO real-time feedback to give drivers an immersive racing experience.

Furthermore, JiYue said the vehicle will utilize parent company Baidu’s Apollo self-driving technology, which could make it the first electric supercar to apply pure-vision ADAS technology that enables track-level autonomous driving.

Following today’s unveiling of the ROBO X, JiYue has officially opened up pre-orders in China for RMB 49,999 ($6,915). That said, reservation holders will need to be patient as JiYue shared that it doesn’t expect to begin mass production of the ROBO X until 2027.

What do you think? Will people be talking about the ROBO X for the next 20 years?

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Environment

Wheel-E Podcast: Solar moped, XPedition 2.0, LiveWire scooter, more

Published

on

By

Wheel-E Podcast: Solar moped, XPedition 2.0, LiveWire scooter, more

This week on Electrek’s Wheel-E podcast, we discuss the most popular news stories from the world of electric bikes and other nontraditional electric vehicles. This time, that includes the launch of the Lectric XPedition 2.0, Yamaha e-bikes pulling out of North America, LiveWire unveils an electric scooter concept, PNY readying its cargo e-scooters for pilot testing, Royal Enfield’s first electric motorcycle, and more.

The Wheel-E podcast returns every two weeks on Electrek’s YouTube channel, Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.

As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.

After the show ends, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:

We also have a Patreon if you want to help us to avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.

Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the Wheel-E podcast today:

Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 9:30 a.m. ET (or the video after 10:30 a.m. ET):

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Environment

Crude oil heads to weekly loss as looming surplus depresses market

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By

Crude oil heads to weekly loss as looming surplus depresses market

Market Navigator: Crude oil under pressure

Crude oil futures were on pace Friday for loss for the week, as a supply gut and a strong dollar depresses the market.

U.S. crude oil is down more than 2% this week, while Brent has shed nearly 2%.

Here are Friday’s energy prices:

  • West Texas Intermediate December contract: $68.56 per barrel, down 14 cents, or 0.2%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil has shed about 4%.
  • Brent January contract: $72.36 per barrel, down 20 cents, or 0.28%. Year to date, the global benchmark has lost nearly 6%.
  • RBOB Gasoline December contract:  $1.99 per gallon, up 0.46%. Year to date, gasoline has fallen more than 1%.
  • Natural Gas December contract: $2.70 per thousand cubic feet, down 2.98%. Year to date, gas has gained more than 4%.

The International Energy Agency has forecast a surplus of more than 1 million barrels per day in 2025 on robust production in the U.S. OPEC revised down its demand forecast for the fourth consecutive month as demand in China remains soft.

A strong dollar also hangs over the market, as the greenback has surged in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory.

Don’t miss these energy insights from CNBC PRO:

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