Connect with us

Published

on

Shelby America introduced its first production EV, the Shelby Mustang Mach-E GT, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of founder Carrol Shelby’s birth. However, the electric Shelby Mustang will only be available in Europe, and there will be extremely limited availability.

The history behind the Shelby Mustang

Founded in 1962 by former race car driver Carrol Shelby, Shelby America is best known for manufacturing and marketing performance vehicles and related parts.

After driving Ferrari and Maserati sports racing cars for several years, Shelby was invited to join Aston Martin, where he hit the peak of his career, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959. However, a heart condition forced him to retire from racing a year later.

Although Shelby was impressed with the speed of the Ferrari, Maserati, and Jaguars, he was not amused with constantly repairing and maintaining them.

This led him to the idea of building a sports car and selling it for half the price of his competitors, coming up with the name “Cobra.”

Shelby contacted Chevrolet to source engines for the vehicle, but they turned him down as they didn’t want another Corvette competitor. So, he proposed the idea to Ford, and the company was intrigued by the thought of offering a sports car to compete with Chevy’s Corvette.

The Cobra dominated the Corvette in North America, winning from the east coast to the west coast. And in 1965, the Shelby Cobra beat Ferrari to win the World’s Manufacturers GT Championship, marking the only time an American vehicle manufacturer won the championship.

And as they say, the rest is history. Shelby is making another historic moment in its rich performance history by introducing its first performance electric car, a moment its founder long looked forward to.

Meet the electric Shelby Mustang Mach-E GT

Shelby editions of the Mustang have been around nearly as long as the legendary muscle car itself. The new performance EV will be based on the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT, with the Shelby package modifying the electric AWD vehicle to enhance handling and style.

The Shelby team has also reduced its weight, made the ride smoother, and tailored its style to improve performance. The company’s VP of operations, Vince LaViolette, explains:

This is our first foray into a production electric vehicle, so we spent a great deal of time testing EV’s on the track to understand their unique handling dynamics. Based on that experience, we lowered the SUV over an inch, cut weight off the top of it, reduced rotating mass to enhance stability and enhanced the aerodynamics.

After introducing a concept based on the electric Ford Mustang Mach-E in 2021, Gary Patterson of Shelby American said “The reaction was very positive,” leading the automaker to develop its first production version.

Although specifics on performance were not given, Shelby did provide several features you can expect to see included in the Shelby Mustang Mach-E GT, such as:

  • Carbon fiber hood
  • Carbon fiber grille
  • Carbon fiber front splitter
  • Carbon fiber mirror caps
  • Carbon fiber lower for trim
  • Over-the-top vinyl stripping
  • “Shelby” side running vinyl stripping
  • Custom Shelby floor mats
  • “Shelby” rear deck badging
  • Performance lowering springs
  • Shelby forged aluminum wheels
  • BORLA Active Performance Sound System

However, Shelby’s electric Mustang will only be available in Europe, with 100 packages being offered. They will be available to retrofit any privately-owned 2021-2023 model year Mustang Mach-E GT or can be added to a new vehicle by a Shelby American dealer.

Shelby American says the price for the electric performance Mustang will start at €24,900 (roughly $27,500), with production beginning in July. Ford Mach-E GT owners can contact Shelby Europe for more info.

As for why its Shelby Mustang Mach-E is only being offered in Europe, Aaron Shelby, board member of Carrol Shelby International and grandson to the company’s founder, responded:

We elected to initially offer the Shelby Mustang Mach-E GT only in Europe because sales of EV’s are growing much more rapidly there than in the USA.

He also noted the number of public charging stations has increased by 431% from 2016 to 2021, saying, “It just makes good business sense for Shelby American.”

Perhaps, with the number of EV chargers expected to rise rapidly across North America over the next several years due to the $7.5 billion in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Shelby may bring the electric performance Mach-E to the US.

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

Continue Reading

Environment

Kia’s EV3 is the best-selling retail EV in the UK right now

Published

on

By

Kia's EV3 is the best-selling retail EV in the UK right now

Kia’s electric SUVs are taking over. The EV3 is the best-selling retail EV in the UK this year, giving Kia its strongest sales start since it arrived 34 years ago. And it’s not just in the UK. Kia just had its best first quarter globally since it started selling cars in 1962.

Kia EV3 is the best-selling EV in the UK through March

In March, Kia sold a record nearly 20,000 vehicles in the UK, making it the fourth best-selling brand. It was also the second top-seller of electrified vehicles (EVs, PHEVs, and HEVs), accounting for over 55% of sales.

The EV3 remained the best-selling retail EV in the UK last month. Including the EV6, three-row EV9, and Niro EV, electric vehicles represented 21% of Kia’s UK sales in March.

Kia said the EV3 “started with a bang” in January, darting out as the UK’s most popular EV in retail sales. Through March, Kia’s electric SUV has held on to the crown. With the EV3 rolling out, Kia sold over 7,000 electric cars through March, nearly 50% more than in Q1 2024.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

The EV3 was the best-selling retail EV in the UK in the first quarter and the fourth best-selling EV overall, including commercial vehicles.

Kia-EV3-best-selling-EV
Kia EV3 Air 91.48 kWh in Frost Blue (Source: Kia UK)

Starting at £33,005 ($42,500), Kia said it’s the “brand’s most affordable EV yet.” It’s available with two battery packs, 58.3 kWh or 81.48 kWh, good for 430 km (270 miles) and 599 km (375 miles) of WLTP range, respectively.

Kia-EV3-best-selling-EV
From left to right: Kia EV6, EV3, and EV9 (Source: Kia UK)

With new EVs on the way, this could be just the start. Kia is launching several new EVs in the UK this year, including the EV4 sedan (and hatchback) and EV5 SUV. It also confirmed that the first PV5 electric vans will be delivered to customers by the end of the year.

Electrek’s Take

Globally, Kia sold a record 772,351 vehicles in the first quarter, its best since it started selling cars in 1962. With the new EV4, the brand’s first electric sedan and hatchback, launching this year, Kia looks to build on its momentum in 2025.

Kia has also made it very clear that it wants to be a global leader in the electric van market with its new Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV) business, starting with the PV5 later this year.

Earlier today, we learned Kia’s midsize electric SUV, the EV5, is the fourth best-selling EV in Australia through March, outselling every BYD vehicle (at least for now). The EV5 is rolling out to new markets this year, including Canada, the UK, South Korea, and Mexico. However, it will not arrive in the US.

For those in the US, there are still a few Kia EVs to look forward to. Kia is launching the EV4 globally, including in the US, later this year. Although no date has been set, Kia confirmed the EV3 is also coming. It’s expected to arrive in mid-2026.

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

Continue Reading

Environment

Podcast: Tesla’s disastrous deliveries, more Trump tariffs, EV delivery numbers, and more

Published

on

By

Podcast: Tesla's disastrous deliveries, more Trump tariffs, EV delivery numbers, and more

In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Tesla’s disastrous deliveries, more Trump tariffs, EV delivery numbers, and more.

The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.

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 at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:

Advertisement – scroll for more content

We now have a Patreon if you want to help us 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 podcast:

Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET):

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

Continue Reading

Environment

University of Michigan cracks rapid EV charging in freezing temps

Published

on

By

University of Michigan cracks rapid EV charging in freezing temps

Charging your EV in freezing weather could soon become dramatically faster, thanks to a big breakthrough from the University of Michigan engineers.

Neil Dasgupta, U-M associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and engineering and corresponding author of a study published in Joule, and his team have developed an innovative battery structure and coating that can boost lithium-ion EV battery charging speeds by a whopping 500%, even at frigid temperatures as low as 14F (-10C). “Charging an EV battery takes 30 to 40 minutes even for aggressive fast charging, and that time increases to over an hour in the winter,” Dasgupta explained. “This is the pain point we want to address.”

Freezing weather has traditionally been harsh on EV batteries because it slows down the movement of lithium ions, resulting in slower charging speeds and reduced battery life. Automakers have tried thickening battery electrodes to extend driving range, but this makes some of the lithium hard to access, making charging even slower.

Previously, Dasgupta’s group sped up battery charging using lasers to carve pathways around 40 microns in size into the graphite anode. This allowed lithium ions to reach deeper into the battery more quickly. However, cold-weather performance still lagged because a chemical layer formed on the electrodes, blocking the ions. Dasgupta compares this barrier to “trying to cut cold butter,” making charging inefficient.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

To solve this, the team coated the battery with a thin, glassy material made of lithium borate-carbonate—only 20 nanometers thick—which prevented the problematic chemical layer from forming. Combined with the microscopic channels, the results were groundbreaking: the modified batteries retained 97% of their capacity even after 100 fast-charging cycles in freezing temperatures.

“We envision this approach as something that EV battery manufacturers could adopt without major changes to existing factories,” Dasgupta noted. “For the first time, we’ve shown a pathway to simultaneously achieve extreme fast charging at low temperatures, without sacrificing the energy density of the lithium-ion battery.”

This innovation could tackle one of the biggest concerns holding potential EV buyers back.

The new battery tech is moving closer to commercialization, supported by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization (MTRAC) Advanced Transportation Innovation Hub. The research devices were built at U-M’s Battery Lab and studied with help from the Michigan Center for Materials Characterization.

U-M Innovation Partnerships assisted the team in applying for patents, and Arbor Battery Innovations has licensed the technology for market deployment. Dasgupta and the University of Michigan hold financial stakes in Arbor Battery Innovations.

Read more: California now has nearly 50% more EV chargers than gas nozzles


If you live in an area that has frequent natural disaster events, and are interested in making your home more resilient to power outages, consider going solar and adding a battery storage system. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*

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

Continue Reading

Trending