It’s been a decidedly weird month in the heavy truck world, and it just keeps getting weirder. Hydrogen shipping startup Hyroad Energy has acquired Nikola Motor’s hydrogen assets and IP, including 113 HFCEV semis, spare parts, and refueling infrastructure.

Hyroad Energy calls itself a leader in hydrogen-powered Class-8 trucks and trucking-as-a-service solutions, and aims to deliver, “reliability, safety, and cost-efficiency for superior results,” according to the company’s website. “We help fleets embrace hydrogen power without the complexities of going it alone. We manage the risks, finance the assets, and leverage economies of scale to drive down costs.”

Those claims became a lot more credible last week, when the company grew its hydrogen semi fleet from (apparently) 0 to 113 Class 8 semi trucks following the acquisition of Nikola’s orphaned hydrogen assets, which include the trucks, a number of spares, and the operational infrastructure needed to keep them on the road.

Hyroad CEO Dmitry Serov says that this acquisition, “significantly advances Hyroad’s mission to provide turnkey hydrogen trucking solutions that reduce the complexity and risk typically associated with adopting zero-emission technologies,” adding, “these trucks and the corresponding equipment and systems represent immediate capacity to put proven hydrogen fuel cell technology on the road to meet demand for zero-emission trucks.”

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The company plans to deploy its newly-acquired fleet assets in California, initially, where some hydrogen refueling infrastructure already exists. More importantly, though, the company says it fully intends to support any Nikola hydrogen trucks already in service, in a bid to promote continuity and market growth for hydrogen-fueled commercial vehicles.

Electrek’s Take

The great Tymme Switzer once told me that you could judge a person based on whether or not they would do the right thing when they could get away with doing the wrong thing. In this case, Hyroad seems like it’s going to help – or, at least, try to help existing Nikola customers who have been struggling with their trucks to keep their hydrogen trucks on the road.

Say whatever you want about hydrogen (you know where I stand), but compare Hyroad’s verbal commitment to the hydrogen community to Lion Electric’s calculated abandonment of its customers and callous indifference towards the school districts it fleeced, and continue to judge accordingly.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Hyroad, via ACT News.

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Why is Europe getting all the fun new electric vehicles? After its electric SUV, the EV3, has already become a top seller in Europe, Kia is doubling down with new models, like the EV5 and EV4. Thanks to the new tariffs, Kia is pushing for EVs in Europe while the US gets left on the back burner.

Which EVs is Kia launching in Europe and the US?

After launching the EV3 in late 2024, Kia’s compact electric SUV “started with a bang,” as the most popular retail EV in the UK in January.

Through the first half of the year, the Kia EV3 has remained the UK’s best-selling EV among retail customers, with nearly 6,300 registrations. Including commercial vehicles, it was the fourth most popular EV overall.

Kia looks to build on its success with a flurry of new EVs on the way. After opening orders for the EV4 hatchback in June, its first all-electric hatch, Kia introduced the Fastback version, or sedan model, less than two weeks later.

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And then, last month, we got our first look at the upgraded EV5, the European version of Kia’s Tesla Model Y-sized electric SUV, which has been on sale in China since 2023.

Kia plans to begin EV4 deliveries in Europe in September. The hatchback will be the first EV Kia builds in Europe at its Zilina plant in Slovakia. Kia said the move will speed up deliveries. However, the sedan will still be built in South Korea.

The EV5 will arrive in Europe later this year. Kia is launching the EV5 in North America in early 2026, but it will be “exclusive to the Canadian market.”

Next year, Kia will introduce the smaller, more affordable EV2. The EV2 will sit underneath the EV3 as Kia’s new entry-level electric vehicle.

Outside of the EV4, which Kia will launch in the US in early 2026, no other models have been confirmed for the US. Although it was spotted testing in the US again this week, the last official release from Kia specifically said the EV5 will be exclusive to the Canadian market in North America.

The EV4 will arrive, but only as a sedan. It will feature up to 330 miles of driving range and a built-in NACS port for charging at Tesla Superchargers.

Kia has yet to reveal prices, but the EV4 is expected to start at around $35,000. In the UK, the hatch starts at £34,695 ($47,700) with up to 388 miles WLTP driving range. The Fastback, or sedan variant, is priced from £40,895 ($55,000) with a driving range of up to 380 miles.

And that’s not even touching the PV5, Kia’s first electric van. Kia is launching the PV5 Passenger and Cargo models across Europe, but whether it will arrive in the US is still up in the air.

Electrek’s Take

Kia’s decision to prioritize Europe over the US is thanks to the Trump Administration’s new tariffs on vehicle imports. Imported vehicles from South Korea are subject to a 15% tariff.

On top of this, the $7,500 federal tax credit is set to expire at the end of September, which will make the US EV market even more competitive.

Kia’s electric vehicle sales are already down significantly this year. Through July, Kia has sold nearly half as many EV9 and EV6 models as it did in 2024. The Korean auto giant is expected to offset slower EV sales in the US with new models arriving in Europe.

A judge has ruled to allow a class-action lawsuit against Tesla over claims that the company has been misleading customers about its self-driving capabilities for years.

It’s the latest of a series of legal actions against Tesla regarding its deployment of advanced assisted driving systems, which the automaker describes as self-driving.

As we reported earlier this month, the floodgates of lawsuits opened against Tesla after it was found partially liable in a wrongful death case following a fatal crash involving Tesla Autopilot.

There are now a dozen similar cases moving forward against Tesla.

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On the other hand, Tesla has also been fighting legal actions from owners who felt misled by the automaker regarding the capabilities.

Tesla claimed that all vehicles built since 2016 have the hardware capable of achieving “full self-driving”, which isn’t the case, and Tesla has been selling a software package called “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) that it claimed would deliver unsupervised level 4-5 self-driving, and it hasn’t.

For years, owners of HW3 vehicles, which Tesla confirmed wouldn’t achieve unsupervised self-driving, have been trying to sue Tesla under a class action to be compensated for the failed promises, but Tesla has been trying to weasel out of the class action lawsuit due to its force arbitration clause in its sales contracts in the US, and claims that self-driving deployment is subject to “validation and regulatory approval.”

Today, U.S. District Judge Rita Lin said that the claim that Tesla lacked hardware to achieve the promise level of autonomy and its inability to “demonstrate a long-distance autonomous drive with any of its vehicles” justified group lawsuits by two sets of drivers who bought its FSD package.

In short, it amounts to false advertising, but one of the problems with making this a class action lawsuit is the fact that Tesla doesn’t do mass advertising and was making these claims through blog posts, its website, social media posts, and its CEO.

Judge Lin commented (via Reuters):

“While these channels alone may not ordinarily be enough to establish class-wide exposure for a traditional car manufacturer, Tesla’s distinctive advertising strategy warrants a departure from the typical approach.” 

The class action was certified with two subclasses:

• The first one covers California residents who purchased FSD packages between October 2016 and May 2017
• The second one covers FSD owners who opted out of Tesla’s arbitration agreement between 2017 and mid-2024.

On top of the damages to these Tesla owners, the legal action is also seeking an injunction to stop Tesla from making similar statements about its products in the future.

Electrek’s Take

Tesla has been trying to weasel out of this for years. This is a step in the right direction, even though it doesn’t go far enough in my opinion.

To me, it’s as simple as Tesla promised and sold something that it didn’t deliver.

Due to its forced arbitration in its sales contracts, which buyers have a limited time to opt out of following the purchase, it can limit the damages, but that’s just a technicality.

Ultimately, I think this will get the ball rolling to try to get Tesla accountable for not delivering on its promises.

This is just the beginning. There are approximately a dozen other lawsuits involving Tesla’s self-driving features currently pending in US courts.

I’m going to have more on that soon.