Micromobility America is set for its latest annual US-based conference, bringing together many of the leading companies, consultants, policymakers, and more in the micromobility industry. Two days of e-bikes, e-scooters, and just about everything else is set to kick off later this week.
Running from October 19-20, 2023, the Micromobility America conference will showcase “over 100 speakers from different areas of the alternative transportation universe, including founders, journalists covering the industry, politicians and policymakers, investors, and so on. Over 1,500 attendees are expected to join the event, taking part in presentations, product launches, award shows, test rides, networking events, and more.”
The first day of the conference is expect to be largely industry-related, focusing on B2B (business to business) topics.
The second day will expand to include more B2C (business to consumer) subjects and will include the first ever “Ride of a Lifetime,” a mass group ride from the venue through the streets, featuring giveaways, music, and more. The group ride was inspired by the successful Rave Ride earlier this year that capped off the Amsterdam-based component of the show, Micromobility Europe.
One of the many highlights of this year’s show is a series of thought-provoking panels attended by CEOs, journalists, policymakers, and other leading individuals in the industry. The panels include “The Shifting Landscape of Shared Micromobility,” “The Road to Retail: How to Sell Small EVs,” “Innovations in Last-Mile Logistics: Delivery Robots, Drones, and Beyond,” “Delivering Change: How to Get More Couriers on Two-Wheels,” and many more.
The attendee and presenter list is sprawling this year and seems to be branching out even wider, especially into the electric motorcycle space. Light electric motorcycle companies like Ryvid and Land will be in attendance, as well as what looks to be dozens of e-bike and e-scooter companies. The Startup Awards section is a great chance to see new, up-and-coming companies with fresh ideas and new takes on existing problems in the industry. The test track area brings together dozens of interesting light electric vehicles for a chance to test new rides that many people only ever get a chance to see in pictures and videos.
Ticket prices for the entire show aren’t for the faint of heart, priced at US $450 up to today (and that even includes a discount!), though the event is largely targeted toward industry and commercial attendees. For those that just want to come and test ride all of the interesting vehicles, US $10 will net you a pass to the Ride Expo on October 20 from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Ride of the Lifetime festival-like group ride will likely depart from the event at the Craneway Pavillion around 4:30 p.m. at the end of the Ride Expo. Anyone already taking part in the Ride Expo can join up, but if you want to experience the fun while keeping it completely free, then don’t tell anyone I told you this, but you can probably just hang around the parking lot around that time with your bike or scooter, and then join in with the massive group ride through the streets when they depart the event. If the Amsterdam show was any indication, the group ride included tons of locals who just happened to be around and joined in for the fun.
To see what the group ride will likely look like, check out my video below from the Amsterdam show earlier this year. The Rave Ride starts at around 7:50 p.m.
Electrek’s Take
I attended this conference last year, as well as the European version earlier this year, and both were an awesome experience to talk to some of the most important movers and shakers across the industry. The event is heavily attended by CEOs of most of these major e-bike, e-scooter, and e-moto companies.
Being able to test so many different vehicles, especially back-to-back in order to make direct comparisons, is an invaluable experience.
On a personal note, I unfortunately won’t be able to attend the show this year. I had been on the speaker list, but I live in Israel and after the Hamas terror attacks on October 7, I’ve been supporting the defense of my country, working when I can, and protecting my family. In fact, I wrote around half of this article from my laptop in a bomb shelter after escaping the third rocket barrage today on Tel Aviv. I would love nothing more than to be spending my time at the show, discussing and riding e-bikes, e-scooters, and every other form of alternative personal transportation. But fighting the ugly evils of terrorism has taken precedent. If you are a person of faith, please pray for all of us. If you are not, I hope you will send your positive energy. Both we as Israelis and the many innocent Palestinians that do not support Hamas deserve to live in peace as neighbors in our own countries. The atrocities committed by terrorists seek to prevent that peace. Through their removal, hopefully we can find the peace we all deserve.
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The Dodge Charger Daytona EV made headlines when it rolled out fake engine noises as a way to make the EV appeal to muscle car drivers. As it turns out, they weren’t the right sort of fake engine noises – and now Stellantis has to recall 8,000 of them for a fix.
What’s more, the recall’s “suspect period” reportedly begins on 30APR2024, when the first 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona was produced, and ends 18MAR2025 … when the last Charger EV was produced.
RECALL CHRONOLOGY
On April 17, 2025, the FCA US LLC (“FCA US”) Technical Safety and Regulatory Compliance (“TSRC”) organization opened an investigation into certain 2024–2025 model year Dodge Charger vehicles that may not emit exterior sound.
From April 17, 2025, through May 13, 2025, FCA US TSRC met with FCA US Engineering and the supplier to understand all potential failure modes associated with the issue. They also reviewed warranty data, field records, and customer assistance records to determine field occurrences.
On May 14, 2025, the FCA US TSRC organization determined that a vehicle build issue existed on certain vehicles related to a lack of EV exterior sound, potentially resulting in noncompliance with FMVSS No. 141.
Basically, if you have a Dodge Charger EV, expect to get a recall notice.
It just keeps getting funnier
My take on the Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust, via ChatGPT.
If you’re not familiar with the Charger Daytona EV’s “Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust,” it’s a system that employs a combination of digital sound synthesis and a physical tuning chamber (translation: a speaker) to produce a 126 decibel sound that approximately imitates a Hellcat Hemi V8 ICE. That’s loud enough to cause most people physical pain, according to Yale University – putting it somewhere between a loud rock concert and a passenger jet at takeoff.
While you could argue that such noises are part and parcel with powerful combustion, they’re completely irrelevant to an EV, and speak to a particular sort of infantile delusion of masculinity that I, frankly, have never been able to wrap my head around. Something akin to the, “Hey, look at me! I’m a big tough guy!” attention-whoring of a suburban Harley rider in a “Sons of Anarchy” novelty cut, without even enough courage to ride a motorcycle, you know?
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Is it an electric van or a truck? The Kia PV5 might be in a class of its own. Kia’s electric van was recently spotted charging in public with an open bed, and it looks like a real truck.
Kia’s electric van morphs into a truck with an open bed
The PV5 is the first of a series of electric vans as part of Kia’s new Platform Beyond Vehicle business (PBV). Kia claims the PBVs are more than vans, they are “total mobility solutions,” equipped with Hyundai’s advanced software.
Based on the flexible new EV platform, E-GMP.S, Kia has several new variants in the pipeline, including camper vans, refrigerated trucks, luxury “Prime” models for passenger use, and an open bed model.
Kia launched the PV5 Passenger and Cargo in the UK earlier this year for business and personal use. We knew more were coming, but now we are getting a look at a new variant in public.
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Although we got a brief glimpse of it earlier this month driving by in Korea, Kia’s electric van was spotted charging in public with an open bed.
Kia PV5 electric van open bed variant (Source: HealerTV)
The folks at HealerTV found the PV5 variant with an open bed parked in Korea, offering us a good look from all angles.
From the front, it resembles the Passenger and Cargo variants, featuring slim vertical LED headlights. However, from the side, it’s an entirely different vehicle. The truck sits low to the ground, similar to the one captured driving earlier this month.
Kia PV5 open bed teaser (Source: Kia)
When you look at it from the back, you can’t even tell it’s the PV5. It looks like any other cargo truck with an open bed.
The PV5 open bed measures 5,000 mm in length, 1,900 mm in width, and 2,000 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 3,000 mm. Although Kia has yet to say how big the bed will be, the reporter mentions it doesn’t look that deep, but it’s wide enough to carry a good load.
Kia PV5 Cargo electric van (Source: Kia)
The open bed will be one of several PV5 variants that Kia plans to launch in Europe and Korea later this year, alongside the Passenger, Cargo, and Chassis Cab configurations.
In Europe, the PV5 Passenger is available with two battery pack options: 51.5 kWh or 71.2 kWh, providing WLTP ranges of 179 miles and 249 miles, respectively. The Cargo variant is rated with a WLTP range of 181 miles or 247 miles.
Kia PBV models (Source: Kia)
Kia will reveal battery specs closer to launch for the open bed variant, but claims it “has the longest driving range among compact commercial EVs in its class.”
In 2027, Kia will launch the larger PV7, followed by an even bigger PV9 in 2029. There’s also a smaller PV1 in the works, which is expected to arrive sometime next year or in 2027.
What do you think of Kia’s electric van? Will it be a game changer? With plenty of variants on the way, it has a good chance. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Senate Republicans are threatening to hike taxes on clean energy projects and abruptly phase out credits that have supported the industry’s expansion in the latest version of President Donald Trump‘s big spending bill.
The measures, if enacted, would jeopardize hundreds of thousands of construction jobs, hurt the electric grid, and potentially raise electricity prices for consumers, trade groups warn.
The Senate GOP released a draft of the massive domestic spending bill over the weekend that imposes a new tax on renewable energy projects if they source components from foreign entities of concern, which basically means China. The bill also phases out the two most important tax credits for wind and solar power projects that enter service after 2027.
Republicans are racing to pass Trump’s domestic spending legislation by a self-imposed Friday deadline. The Senate is voting Monday on amendments to the latest version of the bill.
The tax on wind and solar projects surprised the renewable energy industry and feels punitive, said John Hensley, senior vice president for market analysis at the American Clean Power Association. It would increase the industry’s burden by an estimated $4 billion to $7 billion, he said.
“At the end of the day, it’s a new tax in a package that is designed to reduce the tax burden of companies across the American economy,” Hensley said. The tax hits any wind and solar project that enters service after 2027 and exceeds certain thresholds for how many components are sourced from China.
This combined with the abrupt elimination of the investment tax credit and electricity production tax credit after 2027 threatens to eliminate 300 gigawatts of wind and solar projects over the next 10 years, which is equivalent to about $450 billion worth of infrastructure investment, Hensley said.
“It is going to take a huge chunk of the development pipeline and either eliminate it completely or certainly push it down the road,” Hensley said. This will increase electricity prices for consumers and potentially strain the electric grid, he said.
The construction industry has warned that nearly 2 million jobs in the building trades are at risk if the energy tax credits are terminated and other measures in budget bill are implemented. Those credits have supported a boom in clean power installations and clean technology manufacturing.
“If enacted, this stands to be the biggest job-killing bill in the history of this country,” said Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions, in a statement. “Simply put, it is the equivalent of terminating more than 1,000 Keystone XL pipeline projects.”
The Senate legislation is moving toward a “worst case outcome for solar and wind,” Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Percoco told clients in a Sunday note.
Trump’s former advisor Elon Musk slammed the Senate legislation over the weekend.
“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country,” The Tesla CEO posted on X. “Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.”