It’s national Drive Electric Week, and there are a ton of great events showcasing EVs happening all across the country. Yesterday, I spent a few hours at my local event (Chicago Drives Electric), to get a first-hand look at some of the best new EV deals on the road.
For me, personally, the most exciting vehicle on-hand at Chicago Drives Electric was this Nissan Ariya shown, above. Not because I didn’t know about the Ariya, or because it was some new model – I just simply hadn’t driven one before, so was excited to get behind the wheel … but more on that in a minute.
The all-electric Cadillac LYRIQ was an Electrek favorite when it first made its debut two years ago, but I took some heat in the comments earlier this month when I sad that LYRIQ buyers who had been waiting for a deal can score more than $10,500 in discounts on the Ultium-based Caddy. That’s because $7500 of those “discount” dollars came from GM’s Ultium Promise Bonus Cash incentive meant to offset the fact that some of its EVs don’t qualify for the full $7500 federal EV incentive. And fair play to them for being technically correct.
That said, our own Seth Weintraub said that GM had come in, “a year early and dollar long at $60K” when he first drove the Ultium-based Cadillac LYRIQ back in 2022, and it remains a visually distinct, well-mannered SUV that anyone in the market should consider.
As I wrote then: if the Cadillac was a winner at its original, $57,195 starting price (rounded up to $60K for easy math), what could we call it at $10,500 less? Click here to find Cadillac LYRIQ deals near you.
Lots more to see
There are plenty of other vehicles on display at the event, which exists to help dispel some of the more persistent myths surrounding EVs (innocent and otherwise). There are also representatives from the OEMs and utilities around to help answer questions about rebates, incentives, insurance, home charging, and just about everything else you can think of as you shop for an EV.
And now, back to that Deep Ocean Pearl blue Nissan Ariya …
Nissan Ariya fast take
Nissan fans (we do exist) like to talk about the Ariya didn’t get a fair shake. When it made its debut, it was one of the only crossover EV options out there, alongside the Mustang Mach-E and Model Y. In that context, it car have sold well, but parts shortages, a slow rollout, and a raft of new models from Chevy, Hyundai, Kia, and price cuts at Tesla are often cited as reasons why the Ariya isn’t more popular than it is.
After driving the car for the first time, without a Nissan PR rep in the passenger seat to highlight its plusses and steer me away from its minuses, I think there are other reasons it’s not performing as well as it could be.
At first glance, the interior of the Nissan Ariya looks slick and modern. The backlit “wood” dash looks the part, and the backlit “buttons” look great as well. On a similarly positive note, the dash and infotainment systems were easy to navigate, the seats were comfortable, the climate controls were intuitive, and the steering wheel leather felt like it was made from healthy cows instead of the diseased street dogs Volvo used to make the leather in my 2009 XC70. Even at the rear, there was plenty of room for a Costco run.
All that said, pressing the buttons on that slick wooden dash produced a “haptic” feedback. Great, in concept, to let the driver know a button had been pressed. In practice, however, it feels like the dash panel is loose, and I can easily imagine my seventy-something father-in-law pressing it progressively harder and harder to “prove” it’s loose to some poor service writer.
Another drawback: I drive manual-transmission vehicles quite regularly, and have occasionally gone on record as a huge fan of Tiptronic-style automatics. As such, I am one of those drivers who often finds their right hand resting on the gear selector. And, on the Ariya, the hard, cheap, and squeaky plastics the shifter is made of are in stark contrast to the relatively high quality leather-wrapped steering wheel.
Locals call him the “Bicycle hero,” but Texas man Evan Wayne says he’s just doing what he can to help his community after it was cut off due to the recent devastating and deadly flooding tragedy.
When the local Sandy Creek flooded following torrential rains in Texas, it destroyed the only bridge into one community. Residents were cut off from access to supplies, including everything from necessities like food, water, and medicine to basic comforts.
Although the bridge was impassable to cars, volunteers who quickly organized to help the stranded residents found that the damaged bridge could still be traversed on foot. Or in the case of Evan Wayne, it could be covered by an electric bike.
Evan joined hundreds of volunteers who answered the call of grassroots organizers by working together without any official capacity. While many started by hand-pulling garden carts of supplies uphill to reach the stricken community, Evan jury-rigged a trailer to an e-bike and took on as much of the load as he could, helping shuttle much-needed food and gear into the community over hundreds of round-trip journeys.
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“This was a dog trailer 48 hours ago. I had a hacksaw, hacked the top off, grabbed some bungee cords, and here we are,” explained Evan in an interview with CBS Austin, while waiting for the next load of gear to be stacked on his trailer.
In the first two days of the operation, he made around 100 round trips each day, shuttling food and water as well as critical rescue supplies. “Right now, I’m waiting on a couple of chainsaws that I’ll bring in for a crew that’s been going at it with handsaws so far.”
In addition to delivering needed supplies, Evan has often found himself moving something even more important: information. “I’ve flagged down medics. I’ve been the guy that goes between Austin EMT and STAR Flight because I’m quicker than cell phones sometimes, people don’t have signal a lot of the time.”
Evan quickly points out that he isn’t the only one helping. “I’ve got an e-bike, but other people are pulling carts. People are walking, people are carrying things. Everyone is doing what they can.” But there’s no doubt that his ability to carry more gear at higher speeds and make hundreds of round-trip journeys so far in and out of the stricken neighborhood has helped impact countless lives.
“This is all volunteers here. They’re just taking it upon themselves to get people where they need to go. I think there’s an umbrella company coming in, taking over tomorrow, but until they get here, people are just taking care of people, which is what you’ve got to do.”
E-bikes proving their worth in emergencies
While many people consider electric bicycles just another form of recreation, they’ve proven to be potent transportation alternatives after natural disasters worldwide.
Not only do their small and efficient batteries make performing hundreds of rescue trips like Evans’ possible, but recharging can be done simply and easily with a solar panel when electricity is out after a disaster. And when gas stations are out of fuel (or simply can’t pump it with the power grid down), e-bikes can keep running while gasoline-powered motorcycles or ATVs run dry.
Electric bicycle batteries have also proven to be a handy source of emergency power after hurricanes and other disasters, often helping owners keep their phones charged up for days to remain in contact with family or rescue services.
While most hope to never need theirs for emergency purposes, electric bicycles have proven their worth in countless disaster scenarios, adding benefits far beyond just alternative transportation, recreation, or fitness riding.
E-bikes can be kept running nearly indefinitely after natural disasters with access to solar recharging equipment
Image credits: CBS Austin (screenshots), used under fair use
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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testifies during a remote video hearing held by subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee on “Social Media’s Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation” in Washington, U.S., March 25, 2021.
Handout | Via Reuters
Block jumped more than 5% on Monday, leading a rally in shares of fintech companies as analysts downplayed the threat of JPMorgan Chase’s reported plan to charge data aggregators for access to customer financial information.
The recovery followed steep declines on Friday, after Bloomberg reported that JPMorgan had circulated pricing sheets outlining potential fees for aggregators like Plaid and Yodlee, which connect fintech platforms to users’ bank data.
In a note to clients on Monday, Evercore ISI analysts said the potential new expenses were “far from a ‘business model-breaking’ cost increase.”
In addition to Block’s rise, PayPal climbed 3.5% on Monday after sliding Friday. Robinhood and Shift4 recorded modest gains.
Broader market momentum helped fuel some of the rebound. The Nasdaq closed at a record, and crypto rallied, with bitcoin climbing past $123,000. Ether, solana, and other altcoins also gained.
Evercore ISI’s analysts said that even if JPMorgan’s changes were implemented, the most immediate effect would be a slight bump in the cost of one-time account setups — perhaps 50 to 60 cents.
Morgan Stanley echoed that view, writing that any impact would be “negligible,” especially for large fintechs that rely more on debit, credit, or stored balances than bank account pulls for transactions.
PayPal doesn’t anticipate much short-term impact, according to a person with knowledge of the issue. The person, who asked not to be named in order to speak about private financial matters, noted that PayPal relies on aggregators primarily for account verification and already has long-term pricing contracts in place.
While smaller fintechs that depend heavily on automated clearing house (ACH) rails or Open Banking frameworks for onboarding and compliance may face real pressure if the fees take effect, analysts said the larger platforms are largely insulated.
The global EV market is still charging ahead. According to new numbers from global research firm Rho Motion, 9.1 million EVs were sold worldwide in the first half of 2025, up 28% compared to the same period last year. But not every region is accelerating at the same pace.
China and Europe are doing the heavy lifting
More than half of the world’s EVs this year have been bought in China. That market hit 5.5 million sales in the first six months of 2025 – a 32% jump year-over-year. Around half of new cars bought in China are now electric.
While some Chinese cities’ subsidies have dried up, Rho Motion expects momentum to pick back up later in the year as more funding is released.
In Europe, 2 million EVs were sold in the first half of the year, up 26%. Battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales also rose 26%, thanks in part to affordable models like the Renault 4 (pictured) and 5 entering the market. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) weren’t far behind, growing 27% year-to-date. Chinese automakers are leaning into PHEVs as a way to work around the EU’s new tariffs on BEVs.
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Spain is leading the pack with EV sales soaring 85% so far this year. Its generous MOVES III incentive program was extended in April and has kept sales strong. The UK and Germany are also seeing solid growth – 32% and 40%, respectively. France, however, is slumping. With subsidies cut, EV sales there have dropped 13%.
North America is stuck in the slow lane
Things aren’t looking quite as bright in North America. EV sales in the US, Canada, and Mexico are up just 3% so far this year.
Mexico is the one bright spot, with a 20% boost. The US is up 6%. But Canada is down a whopping 23%.
And things could get bumpier. On July 4, Trump signed Congress’s big bill into law, which axes all the Inflation Reduction Act EV tax credits. Those consumer credits for EVs now officially end on September 30.
Just over half of the EVs sold in the US this year qualified for those credits. Rho Motion predicts a rush in Q3 before the subsidies disappear – and a decline in sales after that.
Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester said, “With Trump’s latest cuts in his ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ the US could struggle to see any growth in the EV market overall in 2025.”
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