The US Department of Energy just invested $82 million in 19 innovative projects in 12 states to boost US solar manufacturing and recycling.
As part of that $52 million in funding, $10 million will come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to strengthen the US domestic solar supply chain, and $30 million will be put toward technologies that will help integrate solar energy into the grid.
The investment will help promote cheaper, more efficient solar cells and advance cadmium telluride and perovskite solar manufacturing.
During the Biden administration, more than $5 billion in private-sector domestic solar manufacturing investments have been announced. The US is now on track to increase domestic solar panel manufacturing capacity eightfold by the end of 2024.
The Biden administration has set a goal of achieving a 100% clean electricity grid by 2035 and reaching net zero by 2050 to adhere to the Paris Agreement.
Here’s a sampling of some of the projects, and you can see all of them here on the DOE website.
Solar panel recycling
Eight projects will focus on reducing the cost and increasing the efficiency of panel recycling processes. For example:
Solar panel recycler Solarcycle received $1.5 million to work with the National Renewable Energy Lab to research how to extract higher-quality and higher-purity metals and materials from recycled solar panels for reuse in domestic solar manufacturing.
The University of California Berkeley also received $1.5 million to develop materials to selectively remove a variety of metals from solar PV for reuse and recycling.
Ramping up US solar manufacturing
Two projects in Ohio will use $16 million in funding to work on increasing the domestic manufacturing of cadmium telluride PV technologies, the second most common PV technology after silicon. For example:
First Solar will use $7.3 million to develop a tandem module combining cadmium telluride and silicon – a new, more efficient residential rooftop solar product.
Toledo Solar will use $8.8 million to demonstrate the application of semitransparent cadmium telluride solar panels to windows – that is, a potentially whole new market for thin-film solar.
Seven projects will work to bring solutions to the prototype phase and steer them to commercialization. For example:
Mirai Solar received $1.4 million to further develop and commercialize a foldable PV solar screen with variable shading and output power for controlled environment greenhouses.
LITESPEED Energy will use $1.6 million to improve floating solar, making it more resilient to wind and waves.
Boosting solar technology innovation
Two projects received $18 million to bring together teams from academia, industry, and national labs to address the issues in perovskite solar cell devices that limit their durability, scale-up, and efficiency:
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology got $9 million to bring together industry and academic partners to design, build, and test commercially relevant tandem solar cells that combine silicon and perovskite PV materials.
University of Colorado Boulder got $9 million to design and build tandem silicon-perovskite solar cells, comparing different manufacturing methods for the perovskite layer to minimize cost and maximize efficiency and durability. Four universities, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and three US perovskite companies will work together.
Funding for grid management
$30 million is being awarded to projects that address emerging challenges for grid planning operators and engineers to plan the future of the electric power grid and maintain its daily reliable operation.
US Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO) said about today’s DOE solar investment:
We’re accelerating toward a clean energy future by spurring domestic manufacturing, establishing a resilient supply chain, and creating jobs – all with a “Made in America” sticker on it. Giddy-up!
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New EVs got a little more expensive in April, and consumers saw fewer deals than before, according to new estimates from Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book.
In April, the average transaction price (ATP) for a new EV climbed to $59,255. That’s up 3.7% from the same time last year, and slightly higher, by 0.2%, than in March. Kelley Blue Book even revised March’s average price downward to $59,132.
Erin Keating, executive analyst at Cox Automotive, noted that “Ever since President Trump announced auto tariffs 47 days ago, the cost of new cars has been steadily climbing.”
At the same time, incentives took another dip. They made up just 11.6% of the average EV transaction price in April, down from 13.9% when they peaked in November 2024. This marks the second month in a row that EV incentives have declined.
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Tesla led the way in May, selling more than 45,000 EVs – its best performance of the year so far. Most of those sales came from the updated Model Y, which continues to dominate the US EV market. Tesla’s average transaction price rose in April to $56,120, up both month over month and year over year.
Meanwhile, the Cybertruck, once the top-selling EV priced over $100,000, had an average sales price of $89,247 last month. But sales dropped below 2,000 units for the first time in a year, signaling a potential cool-off for the controversial pickup.
Overall, new EV sales in April were down nearly 6% from March, based on Kelley Blue Book’s early estimates. But year-to-date EV sales in 2025 are still up 5.4% compared to the same period in 2024.
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The EV3 is already one of the top-selling EVs in Europe and Korea, but when will Kia bring it to the US? After it was recently spotted testing on US streets, the Kia EV3 could finally make its North American debut soon. Here’s what we know.
When will the Kia EV3 make its North American debut?
Kia’s compact electric SUV was again the top-selling EV in Korea last month. It’s also currently among the best-selling electric cars in Europe.
Kia sold 27,761 EVs in Europe in the first quarter, up 17% from the previous record set in Q3 2023. The EV3 led the surge with 17,878 models sold, or 64% of Kia’s total electric vehicle sales in the region.
In March, the EV3 was also the best-selling retail electric car in the UK, driving Kia’s EVs to a record 21% share of its total sales. With the EV3 rolling out in other global markets, like Australia and New Zealand, when will it finally arrive in the US?
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After the Kia EV3 was recently spotted testing on US streets, its North American debut could finally be coming up soon.
The new video from KindelAuto shows the 2026 Kia EV6 GT-Line trim, but with what appears to be the US-spec model. Despite the camo, you can see the EV3 has minor design changes, like added orange side reflectors, which are likely to meet regulations.
Although Kia has yet to confirm it, the EV3 could make its North American debut as early as later this year and launch in early 2026. Prices will be revealed closer to its debut, but the EV3 will likely start at around $35,000 to $40,000.
Kia’s smaller electric SUV starts at around 36,000 euros ($40,000) in Europe and roughly $30,700 in Korea (KRW 42.08 million).
In the meantime, those in North America will see Kia’s first electric sedan, the EV4, arrive next year. Kia confirmed the 2026 EV4 will have a built-in NACS port to access Tesla Superchargers and an estimated driving range of up to 330 miles. Prices are also expected to start at around $35,000 to $40,000.
Less than a year after officially launching in the US, the 2025 Audi Q6 e-tron has received its safety rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). According to the German automaker, its compact luxury crossover has been awarded Top Safety Pick+ status—the highest possible rating from the IIHS.
The Q6 e-tron remains the newest edition to Audi’s long-running all-electric segment of sedans, GTs, and SUVs. We first caught wind of it back in March 2024 when Audi teased a shadowy image while promising the Q6 e-tron would “overtake expectations.”
The 2025 Q6 e-tron made its official debut last September. The lineup includes an RWD version that delivers the longest range (321 miles) of any Audi BEV. At that point, the Q6 e-tron had received a five-star safety rating from the Euro NCAP, but until today, we were still awaiting its rating from the IIHS.
Today, Audi confirmed that the 2025 Q6 e-tron is an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ – the best you can get.
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Source: IIHS.org
Audi Q6 e-tron wins Top Safety Pick+ amidst higher criteria
When announcing the award status from the IIHS, Audi pointed out that the US institute altered its Top Safety Pick+ criteria for 2025 models, making the top-tier award harder to achieve. This included a new focus on rear-passenger safety and a moderate overlap front collision test, which simulates a head-on collision, whereas the test vehicle strikes a vehicle of equal size and weight at 40 mph with 40% of the front widths of those vehicles overlapping.
The compact crossover achieved a “good” (the highest IIHS) rating on all tests, warranting the Top Safety Pick+ status. As such, the IIHS has deemed the Q6 e-tron one of the safest all-electric models on the road.
The 2025 Q6 e-tron starts at $63,800 in the US and is currently available in three trimlines and a Premium quattro powertrain configuration.
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