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Automakers are fiercely lobbying governments to water down already-compromised emissions rules, but doing so will only lead to their doom as market entrants that are serious about EVs will continue ramping them anyway.

The auto industry is electrifying, and all new cars will be electric in the relatively near future. This is not in dispute by any serious person – and any alternative scenario, where humans continue to pollute as much as we do today, will result in worse and worse results for humanity the longer we pollute as climate change becomes progressively worse.

It is necessary that we stop burning fossil fuels, and fast. This is not a matter of opinion, it’s a matter of physics, and physics does not care about your arguments to the contrary.

And yet, the auto industry – which is responsible for more pollution than any other sector, at least in rich countries – still lobbies to worsen emissions reduction targets, even when those targets were already pushed back to begin with.

Automakers beg governments to let them emit more poison

We saw it this week in both Europe and the US. BMW, VW and Renault asked European regulators to push back the 2035 gas car phase-out, despite that this timeline has already been loosened. And in the US, the EPA finalized rules, but softened them due to auto industry lobbying – and the president of the main auto industry lobbyist characterized the final rules as a “stretch goal,” suggesting that he thinks there should be further softening of the already-softened rule.

Even these softened EPA rules will upend the industry, as current automaker commitments are not enough to meet the targets. Either automakers need to up their game, or someone is going to have to fill the millions-vehicle gap between commitments and requirements. And if traditional automakers don’t fill that gap, then new entrants will.

The lobbying is reminiscent of what the industry did from 2017-2021, when it lobbied an ignorant reality TV host to torpedo well-reasoned regulations which would have resulted in significantly more regulatory certainty for the industry. It eventually recognized its error, but Pandora’s box was already opened.

Today, the exact same automaker lobby which originally lobbied to fracture US and CA regulations – the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, previously known as Global Automakers, led by John Bozzella both then and now – still routinely complains about the two regulatory regimes being different, despite being personally responsible for the current state of affairs.

The compulsion against regulation is pathological. Even in situations where it doesn’t make sense to lobby against regulation, businesses will often still do so.

But wait, maybe it’s not a compulsion against all regulation. Because at the same time that automakers are begging for the ability to continue the global-scale mass murder that they continually enable (via pollution that kills millions worldwide per year), they’re also begging governments to slow down other parts of the industry that are taking the EV transition seriously.

Namely: China.

Chinese EVs will grow, whether you like it or not

China is actually a little late to the EV party. Until a few years ago, EV market share in China lagged other leading regions, but uptake in recent years has been quite rapid. NEV (EV+PHEV) market share should crest 50% in China next quarter, ahead of basically everywhere except the Nordic countries.

But as often happens, China may not always be the first entrant into a market, but once it truly commits its effort to something, those efforts tend to bear fruit rapidly.

Chinese EV sales have started taking off overseas, particularly in Europe. While they still make up a relatively small percentage of the market – around 10% – that share has risen rapidly from less than 1% in 2019 (and it might be higher if Chinese automakers could find more ships, but they’re working on that).

In response to this rise in Chinese EV sales, instead of recognizing that they need to pick up their game, European automakers are… begging the EU to investigate the “flood” of Chinese EVs, even to the point of proposing retroactive tariffs. They contend that the Chinese government unfairly subsidizes its auto sector, making prices uncompetitively low. Nevermind that European governments also subsidize their auto sector, and that low prices are good for consumers (in fact, if EU consumers are benefitting from Chinese subsidies, that represents a transfer of wealth from China to the EU).

Sure, begging governments for help isn’t the only thing they’re doing, they’re also finally picking their pants up off the floor and considering building cheaper EVs, but both of these actions are in direct conflict to lobbying efforts to loosen emissions regulations. If you’re worried about competition undercutting you and taking control of the EV transition, the answer is not to cut production and pretend that EV sales are going down when they aren’t, it’s to move faster.

In the US, the anti-China lobbying has been more pre-emptive. There aren’t significant amounts of Chinese-built EVs in the US, and the country already has a number of protectionist tariffs against China.

The recent Inflation Reduction Act, which created hundreds of billions of dollars of incentives for EVs and green energy, does include provisions intended to advantage automakers who avoid using China as any part of their supply chain. And scaremongering about China is abundant throughout US political and economic discussions.

So it’s clear that Western automakers aren’t looking to compete on price or volume, they’re looking to change the rules of the game instead – in a way that ensures more pollution and more expensive vehicles for consumers. They don’t want to win the game, they want the ref to hand it to them. It’s gamesmanship – which the industry is well acquainted with.

Rising EV penetration isn’t due to regulation, it’s due to demand

But do we really think that will work? EV penetration has broadly exceeded the minimums set by emissions rules. The driver so far has not been the rules, it has been consumer demand – and consumer recognition that gas vehicles will soon become an albatross around the neck of anyone who makes the silly decision to buy a new one. We’ve seen it happen in Norway with well above 90% plug-in car sales in advance of its world’s-most-aggressive 2025 target, with China’s rapid rise in EV penetration which caught foreign automakers by surprise, and with California hitting ZEV goals years ahead of schedule.

So loosening the rules doesn’t seem likely to slow down consumer demand – and the public wants stronger rules anyway. Instead, it will just annoy customers who are frustrated that there aren’t enough options available (as has been the case for years – look at the excitement over the R3 and EX30 when so few other small EVs exist), and mollify laggard manufacturers into thinking they can take longer to join the party.

But if automakers (and countries with prominent auto industries, like Japan) want to survive the transition, they cannot be the last to the party. The longer they wait, the more trouble they’ll be in, and the more advantage they cede to their competition.

How do we know this? Because it’s already happened, in this very industry, just over the course of the trailing decade.

Big Auto let Tesla win

Over the course of the last ten years, we’ve seen plenty of efforts to regulate away Tesla’s sales model for example, and few for automakers to actually effectively compete against Tesla’s vehicle programs. We’ve also seen industry push, state by state, for abusive EV fees and other silly regulations in a desperate attempt to punish EVs for daring to be a superior choice.

All of this happened while Tesla gradually entered more segments, and gradually took over those segments. The first indication was around 2014-2015, when sales of large luxury vehicles fell for every manufacturer except Tesla. This happened again with the Model 3. And the Model Y is now the best-selling vehicle in the world. (As for trucks, well, maybe that’ll be a different story)

And yet, despite a decade of warning, it’s only recently that we’ve started seeing serious EV programs from other automakers start to spin up. But most automakers still only have a few EVs, and many of them still share platforms with gas cars. And due to Tesla’s head start, they’re the one company that has gotten scale and costs to the level that they can arbitrarily cut prices, starting an EV price war that they’re best positioned to deal with.

In refusing to act faster to accept the future that’s already here, automakers have already ceded ground. On top of the aforementioned points of market share ceded to Tesla, the industry also gave Tesla the whole concept of fueling stations.

Over the last decade, every automaker said that charging wasn’t their problem and that someone else would come along to solve it, while simultaneously saying that they can’t ramp EVs because there isn’t enough charging out there.

Tesla also said that there wasn’t enough charging out there… so it built chargers (without having to be forced into doing so). And now, as a result of automakers’ intransigence – and also thanks to President Biden’s infrastructure law, which influenced Tesla to finally open up its Supercharger network – every vehicle manufacturer is now using Tesla’s NACS plug, which means all of them will use its Supercharger network, and Tesla will be able to extract profits on fueling from basically every car on the road. “Tesla, you’re welcome”; signed – the auto industry.

The path forward is action, not whining

Describing this recent history is not an attempt to brag by those of us who loudly said time and time again that this was coming, it’s intended as a very recent object lesson in how the automakers’ decisions were the wrong ones, and how they could learn from those decisions and make better ones going forward.

It is clear that business as usual was not the right choice over the last decade, and it’s not going to be the right choice in the next decade either. Relying on the age-old gamesmanship of trying to block new entrants to the market, delay change, and refuse to respond to consumer demand is not going to work for the automakers, especially in a globalized auto market where if you don’t make it, someone else will.

This isn’t to say that everyone in the auto industry is bad. There are plenty of people and even companies who “get it.” While BMW, VW and Renault just complained about EU regulations, the EU automakers’ association ACEA said “we are not contesting 2035… now we must get down to it.” And several automakers have stepped up to defend California’s regulations (including, oddly, both BMW and VW, two who are complaining about EU regulations now).

Frankly, I’ve long said that I don’t care who makes EVs, and that whoever makes them deserves the win. I’d prefer if my country got it together and did something that would benefit its competitiveness long term, but as a living creature on this Earth, my primary interest (and yours as well) is in solving the climate crisis. If we refuse to offer more efficient choices and China does, then China will have demonstrated that it deserves the win. If you don’t like that, then don’t hand it to them.

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Podcast: Tesla texting and driving, Trump kills mpg, Aptera update, and more

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December 5, 2025

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Podcast: Tesla texting and driving, Trump kills mpg, Aptera update, and more

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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 allowing texting and driving on FSD v14, Trump killing CAFE’s MPG standard, an Aptera update, 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:

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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:


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Kia EV2 sheds camo, giving us our best look at the new SUV [Image]

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December 5, 2025

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Kia EV2 sheds camo, giving us our best look at the new SUV [Image]

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Kia’s most affordable electric SUV will be here in just over a month. Ahead of its debut, the EV2 was spotted with light camo, offering our best look yet.

Kia EV2 looks more like an SUV with less camo

Just days after Kia confirmed the EV2 will debut at the Brussels Motor Show on January 9, 2026, the small electric SUV was spotted in Europe with barely any camo.

The EV2 is a fully electric B-segment SUV set to be Kia’s new entry-level EV. It will sit below the EV3, which is already the UK’s most popular retail electric vehicle and among the top-sellers in Europe.

“With the EV2, we reaffirm our commitment to make electric mobility truly accessible to a broader audience,” Kia Europe president and CEO, Marc Hedrich, said earlier this month.

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Despite its compact size, the EV2 looks and feels much bigger in person. It has a similar high-riding, blocky design as Kia’s latest electric SUVs, such as the EV5 and three-row EV9.

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Kia EV2 teaser (Source: Kia)

In the teaser images Kia posted a few days ago, the EV2 was shown under a drape with a design that looked nearly identical to the EV2 Concept from earlier this year.

Now, we can finally confirm it. The Kia EV2 was recently spotted in Europe in light camo, rocking a tall, SUV-like stance. The latest image from KindelAuto gives us a solid look at its profile, which still resembles a mini EV5 or EV9.

Kia will begin EV2 production alongside the EV4 hatch at its Zilina, Slovakia, plant shortly after its debut at the Brussels Motor Show next month, ramping up output throughout 2026.

Although Kia has yet to reveal specifics, the EV2 is expected to be about 4,000 mm (157″) long, or slightly smaller than the EV3 at 4,300 mm (169.3″). It will be closer in size to the Hyundai Inster EV.

Kia-EV2-most-affordable-EV
The Kia Concept EV2 at IAA Mobility 2025 in Munich (Source: Kia)

Prices are expected to start at around €30,000 ($35,000) in Europe, given that the EV3 starts at about €36,000 ($42,000).

The compact electric SUV is expected to ride on Hyundai’s E-GMP platform, with similar battery pack options as the EV3. The EV3 is available with 58.3 kWh and 81.4 kWh battery options, delivering a WLTP range of 410 km (255 miles) and 560 km (348 miles), respectively.

The EV2 will debut at the Brussels Motor Show on January 9, 2026. Kia will hold a press conference at 10:40 am CET to introduce the new entry-level EV. Check back for updates leading up to the event.


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Segway Christmas Holiday Sale drops EV prices by hundreds to lows from $150, EcoFlow expansion battery flash sale, more

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December 5, 2025

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Segway Christmas Holiday Sale drops EV prices by hundreds to lows from 0, EcoFlow expansion battery flash sale, more


We’re ending this week’s Green Deals with a mix of new holiday events alongside ongoing Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals, headlined by Segway’s Christmas Holiday Sale that gives you hundreds in savings on popular EVs, like the ZT3 Pro All-Terrain Electric Scooter back at its $850 low, among many others. There’s also EcoFlow’s latest Cyber Week flash sale (ending tonight) that gives you up to 62% savings on an expanded DELTA 2 Max Power Station bundle and three battery bundles – at new lows starting from $329, as well as Ride1Up’s extended Cyber Monday Sale (lasting through the weekend) with up to $600 savings on an expanded lineup of e-bikes and extra batteries starting from $195, and much more waiting for you below. And don’t forget about the hangover deals from the holiday event and this week that are collected together in our Black Friday/Cyber Monday Green Deals hub, which we have updated over the week, like yesterday’s EcoFlow RAPID + 25W MagSafe Christmas promotional deals, the new low price on Anker’s SOLIX C300 DC 90,000mAh power station (ending tonight), and more.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Cross Segway e-scooters and e-bikes off gift lists with hundreds of savings for Christmas Holiday Sale – models start from $150

It didn’t take much time at all for Segway to change lanes from its Black Friday event into the now live Christmas Holiday Sale that saves you hundreds on the brand’s EVs, including the returning pricing on the ZT3 Pro All-Terrain Electric Scooter at $849.99 shipped, which matches the pricing over at Amazon. While it may carry a $1,300 MSRP from Segway, you’ll more often find it down around $1,000 instead, especially at other marketplaces like Amazon, with this same low rate having previously appeared during July and October’s Prime Day events, as well as the most recent Black Friday sale. Now, you’re getting a longer period of getting it at this all-time low price, complete with $150 off the going rate (and $450 off the MSRP). Head below to learn more about it and the other models included in the Segway’s Christmas Holiday Sale.

Segway’s ZT3 Pro electric scooter is a solid all-terrain option that can certainly go the distance, as many riders are learning while riding around on them through the streets of NYC, with the full suspension and additional 6 inches of deck clearance from the ground serving urban riders well on more pothole-lined streets. What’s more, in a city so massive and populated, having the included Apple Find My and auto-proximity locking/unlocking functionality definitely adds peace of mind should you ever be leaving it unattended for a set amount of time.

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The whole system – which includes a 1,600W brushless motor as its heart – comes powered by a 597Wh battery, providing up to 43.5 miles of commuting assistance at speeds as high as 24.9 MPH. Another nice feature is the regaining of 6.2 miles for just 30 minutes of charging, allowing you to get moving faster to tackle last-minute plans. Along with everything already mentioned, there’s also 11-inch tubeless tires, a Segride stability enhancement system, a traction control system, six inches of extra clearance from the ground, and more.

Segway’s Christmas Holiday Sale gifts ‘made to wow’

Segway’s commuting Christmas Holiday Sale gifts under $750

  • E2 Plus II Electric Scooter: $280 (Reg. $350) | matched at Amazon
    • 15.5 MPH for up to 16 miles
  • DLX2 Pro Electric Scooter: $380 (Reg. $500)
    • 18.6 MPH for up to 24.9 miles
    • Traction Control System, Apple Find My, more
  • MAX G30LP Electric Scooter: $450 (Reg. $600) | buy used at Amazon
    • 18 MPH for up to 25 miles
  • MAX G30P Electric Scooter: $550 (Reg. $1,000) | not available at Amazon
    • 18 MPH for up to 40 miles
  • E3 Pro Electric Scooter: $600 (Reg. $700)
    • 20 MPH for up to 34 miles
    • Traction Control System, Apple Find My, app/passcode locking, more
  • Max G2 Electric Scooter: $700 (Reg. $1,000) | matched at Amazon
    • 22 MPH for up to 43 miles
    • Traction Control System, Apple Find My, more
  • F3 Electric Scooter: $750 (Reg. $1,000) | matched at Amazon
    • 20 MPH for up to 44 miles
    • Traction Control System, Apple Find My, auto proximity locking, more

Segway’s other Christmas Holiday gift deals

  • ZT3 Pro All-Terrain Electric Scooter: $850 (Reg. $1,000)
    • 25 MPH for up to 43.5 miles
    • Traction Control System, Apple Find My, auto-proximity locking, more
  • MAX G3 Electric Scooter: $1,100 (Reg. $1,300) | matched at Amazon
    • 28 MPH for up to 50 miles
    • Traction Control System, Apple Find My, auto proximity locking, more
  • GT3 SuperScooter: $1,500 (Reg. $1,900) | matches at Amazon
    • 31 MPH for up to 45 miles
    • Traction Control System, Apple Find My, auto proximity locking, more
  • Xafari Electric Bike: $1,800 (Reg. $2,400)
    • 20 MPH for up to 88 miles
    • Traction Control System, Apple Find My, auto proximity locking, and much more
  • Xyber Electric Bike: $2,900 (Reg. $3,300)
    • 35 MPH for up to 112 miles
    • Traction Control System, Apple Find My, auto proximity locking, and much more

And be sure to check out all the hangover November shopping holiday deals while they last through the weekend, which we’ve collected into our Black Friday/Cyber Monday Green Deals hub here.

man reading book while camping with EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max power station and expansion battery

EcoFlow Cyber Week flash sale cuts up to 63% off expanded DELTA 2 Max bundle + batteries at new lows from $329 (ends tonight)

As part of EcoFlow’s ongoing Cyber Week Sale, the first of this new extended event’s flash sales has officially launched with up to 63% savings on three expansion battery bundles and alongside the DELTA 2 Max Portable Power Station bundled with a smart extra (expansion) battery for $1,369 shipped. This flash deal lasting through tomorrow night (Friday, December 5) beats out its Amazon pricing by $130 and its direct Cyber Week pricing by $230 (which does offer a $99 waterproof bag for FREE). While this bundle carries a $3,298 MSRP direct from the brand, you’re more likely to find it down around $2,149 at full price elsewhere, with it having kept between $1,699 and $1,499 since late September, with all the sales. Discounts have previously gone as low as $1,424, but these flash savings are cutting a larger than ever $780 off the going rate (and $1,929 off the MSRP) and landing it at a new all-time low price.

If you want to learn more about this expanded bundle, or the three other flash offers, be sure to check out our original coverage of these deals before they end tonight at midnight.

man riding Ride1Up Revv1 DRT Off-Road e-bike through grass field

Extended Ride1Up Cyber Monday sale continues up to $600 savings on e-bikes and extra batteries from $195

Ride1Up has an ongoing Cyber Monday Sale with up to $600 savings on e-bikes and extra batteries, which doesn’t provide any end dates, but is likely following the trend we’ve seen from several other brands and continuing through the weekend. Among the bunch, one model that is getting more and more attention from riders is the Revv1 DRT Off-Road e-bike that is down at $2,295 shipped. Normally running at $2,595 without discounts, we mostly saw sales bring the cost down to $2,495 or $2,395 over 2025, with more recent events seeing returns to the $2,295 low. That low price circled back around the track for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with it holding strong for an unknown time longer at the best price tracked, courtesy of the $300 markdown.

You can learn more about this specific e-bike in our hands-on review here, or within our original coverage of this extended sale here, which includes the full lineup of deals.

split image of Allpowers SOLAX P100 mini power station in suitcase and being hand carried
woman making compost with East Oak's compost tumbler
patio lined with Govee S14 Outdoor String Lights 2

Best Fall EV deals!

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.


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