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The US government aims to buy nearly 9,500 EVs this year, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). With the new update, exactly how committed is the government to going electric?

In December 2021, President Joe Biden issued an executive order to replace the entire US federal fleet with domestically-built electric vehicles.

This executive order calls for all light-duty vehicle purchases (sedans, smaller sport utility vehicles, and smaller pickup trucks) to be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by the end of 2027. By 2035, all new vehicle purchases will need to be ZEVs.

The transition affects roughly 380,000 vehicles within the US fleet as they become due for replacement or upgrades.

Since the announcement, agencies have revealed several deals with various manufacturers, while most agencies have developed a fleet transition strategy. As of March 2023, 26 of the 30 agencies’ plans have been approved, representing over 99% of all affected vehicles within the federal fleet.

According to the latest GAO update, the US government is targeting to buy nearly 9,500 EVs this fiscal year while deploying an additional 8,500 charging ports.

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Department of Homeland Security revealing EVs (Source: DHS)

How committed is the US government to EVs?

Last year, the US government said it had replaced or bought around 45,000 vehicles in fiscal 2021. Of those, only 260 were zero-emission.

The GAO found that agencies have taken, or plan to take, the first steps to adopt EVs, including an initial assessment and workforce training.

Following the assessments, the US government agencies set targets that amount to nearly 9,500 light-duty EVs in fiscal 2023, including SUVs, pickup trucks, and sedans.

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US Forest Service Ford F-150 Lightning (Source: US Forest Service)

Several agencies have already announced purchase agreements. For example, the US Forest Service is deploying Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickups to learn more about optimal fleet size and charging infrastructure.

The report found two key factors holding agencies back from adopting EVs. The first is limited vehicle availability. For example, the Department of Transportation (DOT) initially wanted to order 430 ZEVs in fiscal 2022, but their order was scaled back due to order cancelations from manufacturers.

Another contributing factor is limited vehicle selection. Many agencies are looking for larger SUVs or pickup models to complete various tasks. According to the GSA website, the Ford F-150 Lightning SSV is the only all-electric pickup with open availability.

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Ford F-150 Lightning Pro SSV (Source: Ford)

However, several electric SUVs and vans are open, including the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Tesla Model Y, and Ford Transit.

While agencies wait for availability, many of them are prioritizing deploying charging infrastructure in preparation. The 26 approved plans include intentions to install 8,536 charging ports in fiscal 2023, 77% of which are level 2.

This government report did not include the US Postal Service (USPS), which – after years of saying it would adopt EVs – finally announced plans to buy 100% electric vehicles from 2026 after facing backlash over the lack of progress.

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Oshkosh USPS electric mail carrier (Source: Oshkosh)

The plans ensure that 75% of new vehicle purchases will be electric over the next several years leading up to 2026. The USPS expects to acquire at least 66,000 EVs from defense contractor Oshkosh as it begins to transition over its fleet of over 220,000 vehicles.

In addition, the USPS said it would purchase 21,000 commercial off-the-shelf EVs to jumpstart the transition. The agency announced in February the first of those contracts, totaling 9,250 EVs, will go to Ford.

Electrek’s Take

With the US government aiming to buy 9,500 EVs this fiscal year, it only amounts to 2.5% of the roughly 380,000 vehicles that are due for an electric upgrade by 2028.

Even US auto buyers are transitioning to electric quicker than the government. According to the latest information from Cox Automotive, over 170,000 EVs were sold in the second quarter of 2023, accounting for 7.2% of the US auto market, up from 5.7% a year ago.

I understand supply constraints, but if the government wants to go all-electric by when they say they want to, they better get a move on.

Global research and analytics firm the ICF Climate Center predicts electrifying the entire US fleet would save $6 billion over 15 years – just another reason for the urgency.

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Audi Concept C: a radical new style that may preview a new electric TT drop top sports car

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Audi Concept C: a radical new style that may preview a new electric TT drop top sports car

Audi has unveiled the Audi Concept C, an all-electric two-seat roadster that aims to redefine the brand’s design language, and which could also preview an upcoming electric TT sports car successor.

Radical Simplicity in Motion

Unveiled in Milan on 2 September 2025, this concept signals Audi’s shift into sleek, minimalist clarity.

From every angle, the Concept C embodies what Audi now calls “radical simplicity”, a philosophy built around geometric purity, emotional precision, and technical clarity, according to the release.

Central to the car’s identity is the vertical frame, Audi’s reimagining of its signature grille, inspired by the legendary Auto Union Type C (1936) and even the third-gen A6 from 2004.

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Its twin-panel, electrically actuated hardtop rocks both coupe-like elegance and open-air allure.

Inside: Clarity Meets Tactility

Inside, the Concept C embraces minimalism without sacrificing substance. Anodized‑aluminum haptic controls, including that satisfying “Audi click,” and a foldable 10.4‑inch center display, offer sleek digital interaction, but nothing feels superfluous.

Audi is calling this “shy tech”—technology that’s always present, never overpowering. Smart, emotional, and intuitive.

Clear Design Vision leaks into Corporate Clarity

This concept is apparently not just a car, it’s a sort of manifesto. CEO Gernot Döllner says that clarity now guides everything at Audi, from design to structure to corporate ethos. The Milan reveal under the banner “Strive for clarity” sets the tone for a bold, focused reimagining of the brand – making this reveal more than about just a new concept.

It’s a full‑scale reorientation, described internally as “The Radical Next” by CCO Massimo Frascella, who emphasizes design as a cultural force, not just a styling exercise.

The Concept C also makes its public debut at IAA Mobility 2025 in Munich, showcased under Audi’s immersive “Feel Audi” experience.

A TT Comeback as an Electric Vehicle?

Now, Autocar released a report adding a lot of context around the concept unveil: Audi is reportedly working on an electric TT‑inspired drop‑top, targeting 2027, and this concept could be fairly close to what the German automaker could bring to production.

It would be positioned as a retro‑styled EV, the car would slot in as a Boxster‑rival, potentially sharing its bones with a Porsche counterpart, which is also going electric.

Audi already retired the TT and the R8—leaving a gap in its two‑door sports car lineage. But according to CEO Döllner, sports cars are still part of Audi’s DNA, and their return is not off the table—especially when the timing is right.

Design chief Frascella has a long‑standing personal connection to the TT—it inspired him as a young designer, and he’s excited about bringing that emotional spark into a new EV concept. But, he cautions, it won’t be derivative. Expect something that captures the essence without cloning the past.

A future electric TT would be Audi Sport’s “emotional compact”, built on the surging wave of electrification, and maybe, just maybe, born from the same radical simplicity that powers the Concept C.

Electrek’s Take

As you know, it’s hard for us at Electrek to get excited about new concept cars, but it does sound like Audi isn’t just sketching a pretty concept here.

The vehicle appears to signal a new design language for the four-ring brand and could even preview a new electric sports car.

If it’s indeed the direction Audi is heading, I like it. It manages to be both retro and futuristic without doing too much. That’s impressive.

I appreciate the minimalism all around, but especially in the interior, where, even though it’s just a concept, it already feels exceptionally refined.

You definetly should make this Audi.

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The stunning Volvo ES90 has arrived and it’s the automaker’s most advanced EV to date

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The stunning Volvo ES90 has arrived and it's the automaker's most advanced EV to date

The ES90 can drive further and charge faster than any of Volvo’s electric cars to date. Its sleek design looks like a fastback, but offers the space of an SUV. After the first ES90 rolled off the assembly line on Thursday, Volvo said its new flagship EV stands in a class of its own.

The first Volvo ES90 EV rolls off the production line

Volvo created quite a stir after unveiling the ES90 in March, its new flagship EV. Although it may look like a sedan, it offers the versatility of an SUV with a spacious interior and higher ground clearance.

It’s also the first Volvo model based on its new 800V SPA2 architecture. The advanced new platform unlocks some of the world’s fastest charging speeds, along with an impressive driving range.

Based on the new platform, the ES90 can gain up to 300 km (186 miles) of range in just 10 minutes using a 350 kW fast charger. It also provides a driving range of up to 700 km (435 miles), making it the “most technically advanced” Volvo EV to date.

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After the first ES90 rolled off the production line on Thursday, Francesca Gamboni, chief industrial operations officer at Volvo Cars, said the automaker is entering “a new era of safety, sustainability, and human-centric technology.”

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The first Volvo ES90 enters production (Source: Volvo Cars)

By offering the best of a sedan, fastback, and SUV, “the ES90 stands in a class of its own,” Volvo claims. Powered by a 102 kWh battery, the Volvo ES90 offers a whopping 700 km (435 miles) of WLTP driving range.

The inside is just as impressive as the first Volvo car equipped with NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin. With around 508 trillion operations per second, the computer offers an eightfold improvement from the previous DRIVE AGX system.

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The interior of the Volvo ES90 (Source: Volvo Cars)

Volvo’s new Superset tech stack enables the ES90 to improve and “evolve” through software updates. All of that, and it’s still designed with Volvo’s advanced safety tech at its core.

The ES90 “is set to be another Scandinavian design classic from Volvo Cars,” the company boasted. Volvo has already opened ES90 orders in several European markets and will soon launch it in the Asia Pacific region. In Germany, the ES90 starts at €71,990 ($84,000) with higher trim options priced upwards of around €95,000 ($110,000).

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Orsted sues to save offshore wind farm from Trump administration axe

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Orsted sues to save offshore wind farm from Trump administration axe

Attendees during a media tour of the Revolution Wind construction hub at the Port of Providence in Providence, Rhode Island, US, on Thursday, June 13, 2024.

Adam Glanzman | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The Danish renewable energy company Orsted sued the Trump administration on Thursday to prevent it from blocking the completion of a wind farm off the coast of New England.

The Interior Department abruptly ordered Orsted on August 22 to halt construction on Revolution Wind off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut. The fully permitted project is 80% complete and would provide enough power for more than 350,000 homes across both states.

Orsted asked the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to set aside the stop-work order, calling it “unlawful” and “issued in bad faith.”

Orsted shares hit a record low on August 25 in the wake of the stop-work order.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has justified the order on national security grounds and concerns that Revolution Wind will interfere with other uses of U.S. territorial waters. But Orsted said this justification is just a pretext, pointing to President Donald Trump’s long-standing animus toward wind power going back more than a decade.

“The President has apparent hostility towards offshore wind, including based on statements made on the campaign trail,” Orsted’s attorney told the court.

Revolution Wind has undergone extensive environmental and safety reviews over nearly a decade that cost hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Orsted’s lawsuit. Federal agencies have uniformily concluded based on thousands of pages of data that the project is “environmentally sound, safe and consistent with federal law,” the company said.

Trump has targeted the wind industry since his first day in office, when he issued an order that closed federal waters to new leases for offshore projects. But the renewable industry had hoped that the White House would allow permitted projects such as Revolution Wind to proceed.

Trump has escalated his attacks on the renewable energy industry in recent weeks. The president said his administration would not approve solar and wind projects two days before Revolution Wind was hit with the stop-work order.

And the Trump administration on Friday cancelled $679 million in funding for a dozen infrastructure projects that support the offshore wind industry.

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