This $17,800 EV has vehicle-to-load capabilities, what’s everyone else’s excuse?
Tata Motors has introduced the latest refresh of its flagship Nexon.ev, complete with some notable technological upgrades. While this crossover SUV might not blow every consumer away with its specs, its price tag starting below $18,000 beckons a second look. Additionally, the fact that this ultra-affordable EV offer vehicle-to-load (V2L) capabilities makes us wonder: Why isn’t every single automaker offering this technology yet?
Tata Motors is a global automaker based out of Mumbai, India, approaching 80 years in developing and assembling automobiles, trucks, vans, and buses. In addition to several joint ventures around the globe, Tata Group wholly-owns Jaguar Land Rover.
While Tata has been around for decades, it, like many, just started delving into electrification the past few years. That journey began with the Nexon.ev, which first debuted in 2020 and has become a staple of Tata’s EV lineup.
The Nexon has since been joined by Tigor.ev designed with capabilities specifically for taxi drivers, as well as the Tiago.ev – advertised as Tata’s $10,000 electric car – which also ended up used in a huge contract between Tata and Uber. While other competitors may be able to beat Tata Motors in performance, its much more difficult to match its prices.
Today, the company shared details of a refresh to the aforementioned Nexon.ev – which now features new advanced technologies like V2L and V2V capabilities.
Tata Motors Nexon.ev delivers affordable V2L capabilities
Earlier today, Tata Passenger Cars launched the latest version of its Nexon.ev – a single-motor compact SUV capable of up to 465km (289 mi) of range (MIDC cycle). The higher range trim of the EV can travel 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 8.9 seconds, and takes 56 minutes to charge 10-80% on a 50 kW DC fast charger.
No, these specs aren’t necessarily awe inspiring at first glance compared to other EVs, but there’s more to the story here to consider. First, consider the asking price for this new vehicle – INR 14.74 lakhs. That translates to about $17,445 in the US. Here we are frothing at the mouth at GM’s vow to deliver the Chevy Equinox EV for about $30,000.
Better yet, the Nexon.ev comes equipped with vehicle-to-load capabilities, meaning it can power your devices, appliances, or even charge other EVs (vehicle-to-vehicle or V2V). Tata’s managing director of passenger vehicles Mr. Shailesh Chandra spoke to the EV’s arrival and next-gen capabilities:
EV customers constitute a unique community that is fast growing and distinguished by their evolved choices, hunger for next-gen technology, expectations of personalized experiences, and commitment to a greener tomorrow. The Nexon.ev aptly fulfills their evolving, astute preferences with a technologically advanced, on-the-move solution that seamlessly blends with their contemporary way of life. This groundbreaking vehicle isn’t just pushing boundaries; it is rewriting the rulebook by addressing several unstated expectations of customers as well. The sleek, futuristic, and digital design; an unwavering commitment to safety and sustainability; and smart lifestyle features that are best-in-class and only seen in vehicles several segments above, makes Nexon.ev a truly aspirational electric SUV.
In terms of platform technology, perhaps the Nexon.ev is something other automakers should aspire to. To date, we’ve only seen a handful of EV models sold in the US offer V2L capabilities, like anything on Hyundai Motor Group’s E-GMP platform for instance, including the IONIQ 6.
Starting in the $40,000s, HMG’s EVs are relatively affordable for the advanced tech you get, but are still more than double the price of the Nexon.ev. That being said, we can’t help but wonder why more automakers aren’t offer V2L capabilities in their EVs.
Tata Motors is offering on a 400V platform with a mere 40.5 kWh battery pack. There are factors that that go into pricing an EV, and as previously stated, most other compact SUVs offer better specs than the Nexon.ev. However, If Tata is able to deliver V2L capabilities for such a low price, it’s easy to argue such technology wouldn’t cost automakers that much to offer on their own EV architecture.
We are already sure to see the tech become more common moving forward, but it’s a safe argument that if Tata Motors can offer it in an $18,000 EV, pretty much any EV can also support the capabilities. That’s the future we want someday.
Oh, and more EVs under $20k would be nice too. Thanks.
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Greenlane is firing up its second commercial EV truck charging corridor – this time connecting Southern California to Phoenix along Interstate 10. The move targets a major gap in electric freight infrastructure on one of the busiest shipping routes in the US.
Greenlane’s new electric truck corridor is backed by a strategic partnership with electric truck maker Windrose Technology, which has already proved the route’s viability. Its R700 Class 8 electric semi pulled off single-charge trips from Greenlane’s flagship Colton, California, site to Phoenix – nearly 300 miles – with a gross combined weight of 74,420 pounds and still had 12% battery left.
That’s no small feat for long-haul freight. Windrose also completed a Colton-to-Las Vegas run on I-15 under similar conditions. The trucks can charge fast, too – the R700 hit a peak 772 kW using dual-gun charging at Colton, cutting downtime for heavy-duty operations.
Windrose plans to build 2,000 electric trucks in 2026 and ramp up to 10,000 in 2027 worldwide. “Electric long-haul trucking isn’t just theory – it’s proven real-world performance,” said Windrose founder and CEO Wen Han.
The I-10 corridor will link Greenlane’s Colton hub to new sites in Blythe, California, and Greater Phoenix, Arizona. It’s part of the company’s larger plan to create a nationwide public charging network for medium- and heavy-duty fleets.
Electric trucking carrier Nevoya will be among the first customers to run the corridor. The company will use the Colton site as a charging and driver support base while operating battery-electric trucks along both I-10 and I-15.
Greenlane’s Colton flagship opened in April and packs over 40 high-speed chargers, including 12 pull-through bays for semis and 29 bobtail lanes. The site also has restrooms, Wi-Fi, 24/7 security, carports, office space, and parking – the kind of amenities long-haul drivers need on the road.
Read more: Greenlane’s flagship electric charging truck stop is now online
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Rivian has posted a job listing for a steering engineer, specifically mentioning work on a future steer-by-wire system for the company.
Update, Aug 11: Rivian has now specifically mentioned rear-wheel steering in a job posting.
Steer-by-wire is an automotive concept that has been around for a long time, but hasn’t yet reached mass adoption. The idea is to replace (or supplement) mechanical linkages between the steering wheel and the wheels with electronic actuators instead.
There are a number of potential benefits to this, like allowing more customizability or adaptability to a steering system, reducing mechanical complexity, or adding speed-sensitive variable steering ratios.
Although there are also disadvantages, like a reduction in steering feel (although, since most cars are moving to electronic power steering, that was already gone anyway).
But few cars have implemented steer-by-wire systems, or at least not fully committed to them, given that mechanical steering racks are a relatively solved problem and the general inertia of the car industry which would rather stick with a solution they know than switch to something better (haven’t we here, at this EV publication, heard *that* one before…). There’s also the matter of regulations, which have often been written to require mechanical steering systems, and may need updating to allow for steer by wire.
But, steer by wire made it into mass production with the release of the Tesla Cybertruck. This was big news when Tesla committed to this – at the time, it was the only thing on the road to exclusively use a steer by wire system, though there are other cars with partial steer by wire (for example, mechanical front wheel steering, and steer by wire rear-wheel steering).
But it seems to have opened the floodgates, as a number of other companies are working on or have since released steer by wire systems (Lexus, for example).
And now, it looks like Rivian is one of those companies – though we don’t know if it’s for the front or rear. (Update: Well, now we know, it looks like they are at the very least developing a rear-wheel steering system, according to another job listing. Though the company might still be working on steer-by-wire for the whole vehicle, too)
The company posted a job listing for “Sr. Staff Technical Program Manager, Steering Actuator System,” based at its Irvine, CA headquarters (spotted by Rivianforums). This wouldn’t be so exceptional, except that the job posting also specifically points out that “you’ll have full cradle-to-grave ownership of the SBW subsystem.”
So – we know they’re working on steer by wire, to some extent.
But a few other EVs, particularly large EVs like the Rivian R1 platform is, use steer by wire just for the rear wheels – for example the Hummer EV and Rolls-Royce Spectre. These systems are particularly helpful for giant vehicles, because it allows them to be more nimble and make turns that otherwise would require a lot more… negotiation in a giant land yacht.
So it’s possible that Rivian is only working on rear wheel steer by wire here, but we’d like to think there’s a chance it’s working on steer by wire for the full vehicle.
We also don’t know if this would show up on all of Rivian’s vehicles, or only on certain models – the R2 and R3 are in development, with R2 in pretty late stages, and the R1 just got a big refresh. But, perhaps even more interestingly (and very speculatively), VW has invested heavily in Rivian for technology help, so we wonder if we might end up seeing this in VW group vehicles, or Scout vehicles eventually…
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Automakers are scrambling to push their EVs out the door before the $7,500 Federal tax incentive for EVs disappears — and BMW is no different, offering aggressive cash back, owner loyalty, and special financing rates on its just-released 2026 model year EVs.
BMW has a history of offering solid loyalty incentive programs on its EVs in early summer to clear the tail-end of the model year and make room for the incoming builds, but CarsDirect is reporting some unusual loyalty deals from the brand that seem to suggest BMW is keen to capitalize on a spike in EV sales ahead of the Federal tax incentive’s looming cancellation in September.
BMW dealers now have the choice of adding an additional $1,000 loyalty contribution on select 2026 EVs. The i5 and i7 are offered with $1,000 and $4,000 loyalty bonuses, respectively, meaning if you drive a BMW and your dealer opts to tack on the extra bonus, you could save $5,000 on a 2026 i7. These loyalty programs are good when buying or leasing.
There’s also a $1,000 conquest bonus available for drivers of eligible EVs and PHEVs from other brands. This program is stackable with other offers.
Like other EV brands offering huge lease incentives, BMW customers will see the largest rebates on new BMWs when leasing. Now through September 30th, 2026 BMW i5, i7, and iX models are available with a stout $9,900 lease credit, while the bigger BMW XM comes in with a slightly lower, but still substantial $7,500 lease incentive.
Big deals on big BMW i7 sedan
People who prefer to own their vehicles once the payments are up can still score a great deal on an objectively excellent 2026 BMW i7 luxo-cruiser, thanks to the previously mentioned loyalty bonus if they’re previous customers plus a $7,500 Loan Credit that anyone can get when financing their new i7 with the brand’s captive financing company. BMW Bank offers financing rates as low a 3.99% for up to 60 months on the 2026 i5 and i7 sedans, as well as the iX crossover, as well as 4.99% APR 60-month rate on the high-performance XM plug-in hybrid.
The BMW iX, of course, snatched the top spot in J.D. Power’s EV Satisfaction Survey last year, having taken the crown from its BMW i4 stablemate. You can find out what’s behind that score here, or experience it for yourself at a local BMW dealer near you. Click the link(s) below to get a uniquely tailored offer on the exact BMW you want (trusted affiliate links).
SOURCES: CarsDirect, J.D. Power; images via BMW.
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