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Volkswagen is aiming for its new low-cost electric vehicles to debut in 2027. The new affordable VW EVs are expected to be priced around $21,800 (20,000 euros).

VW still aims for affordable EVs to debut in 2027

After walking away from its partnership to develop an entry-level EV (20,000 euro) with Renault, Volkswagen is going solo.

VW said last week it was still looking at its options for affordable EVs. Meanwhile, after failing to find an agreement with VW, Renault still plans to launch a low-cost Twingo e-Tech successor, starting around the same price.

According to a new Reuters report, VW plans to unveil its new affordable EVs in 2027. Volkswagen still wants prices around $21,8000 (20,000 euros).

The German automaker revealed its ID 2all concept last March, a preview of the affordable EV’s design.

VW’s ID 2all electric car is “spacious like a Golf” but “Affordable like a Polo,” the company said. The entry-level EV is expected to start under $27,000 (25,000 euros), but VW is targeting an even lower-priced model, likely called the ID 1.

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Volkswagen ID 2all electric vehicle (Source: Volkswagen)

Based on a modified MEB platform, the ID 2all EV is expected to get up to 279 miles (450 km) range. The ID 1 will likely pull parts from the ID 2all with smaller battery options, like 38 or 58 kWh.

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Volkswagen ID 2all electric SUV (Source: Volkswagen)

Volkswagen has also teased an ID 2all SUV (shown above). The entry-level electric SUV is expected to debut in 2026.

Electrek’s Take

Although Volkswagen is promising to reveal affordable EVs in 2026 or 2027, several low-cost options are already hitting the market.

For example, Volvo launched the EX30, starting at around 36,000 euros ($39,150) in Europe. Volvo’s cheapest EV starts at $35,000 in the US with deliveries expected to begin this summer.

It also officially launched in China last week. Starting at $27,800 (200,800 yuan), the Volvo EX30 will rival BYD’s low-cost EVs, like the Atto 3 and Dolphin.

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Volvo EX30 (Source: Volvo)

GM’s new Chevy Equinox EV is now being delivered to customers in the US. Although the cheapest model currently starts at $43,295, GM is promising the entry-level Equinox 1LT FWD version will be available to order this year for around $35,000.

With the tax credit, the current 2LT model starts at $35,795. Once the entry-level version hits the market, prices are expected to be as low as $27,495 (with the EV tax credit included).

Several other automakers, including Kia, have revealed new affordable EVs. Last week, Kia unveiled its EV3 with up to 600 km (372 mi) WLTP range. It will kick off a series of low-cost EVs, including the EV2, EV3, EV4, and EV5. Kia’s new EVs are expected to be priced around $30,000 to $50,000.

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Kia EV3 GT-Line (Source: Kia)

The Kia EV3 will launch in Korea in July 2024, ahead of a European rollout in the second half of the year. Kia announced plans to expand EV3 sales into other regions but did not mention the US specifically.

Next year, Kia is expected to launch the EV4, its take on an entry-level electric sedan, starting at around $35,000.

The South Korean automaker already launched the EV5 in China, with starting prices around $20,000 (149,800 yuan). However, in Australia, it will cost around $40,000 (70,000 AUS).

Meanwhile, Hyundai and Kia already have some of the most affordable EVs in the US market. The average IONIQ 6 selling price in the US was around $36,506 in the first quarter of 2024. The upgraded Hyundai Kona Electric starts at $32,675 while the IONIQ 5 starts at $41,800.

By 2027, an affordable Volkswagen EV may not seem so special, with several already hitting the market.

On the other hand, demand for lower-cost electric cars is expected to continue steadily rising. Can VW meet the demand? Or will they get washed out in a sea of competition? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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U.S. Steel shares rally as Trump approves Nippon takeover with unique government ‘golden share’

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U.S. Steel shares rally as Trump approves Nippon takeover with unique government 'golden share'

U.S. President Donald Trump walks as workers react at U.S. Steel Corporation–Irvin Works in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, U.S., May 30, 2025.

Leah Millis | Reuters

U.S. Steel shares jumped on Monday after President Donald Trump approved its controversial merger with Japan’s Nippon Steel.

U.S. Steel shares were last up about 5% in premarket trading.

Trump issued an executive order on Friday that allowed U.S. Steel and Nippon to finalize their merger so long as they signed a national security agreement with the U.S. government. The companies said they signed the agreement with the government, completing the final hurdle for the deal.

U.S. Steel said the national security agreement includes a golden share for the U.S .government, without specifying what powers the government would wield with its share. Trump said on Thursday that the golden share gives the U.S. president “total control.”

Typically, golden shares allow the holder veto power over important decisions the company makes. Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick told CNBC in May that the golden share will give the U.S. government control of several board seats and ensure production levels aren’t cut.

Trump has avoided calling the transaction a merger, describing the deal instead as a “partnership.” U.S. Steel confirmed in a regulatory filing Monday that the company will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Steel North America.

“All regulatory approvals required for the completion of the Transaction have been received,” U.S. Steel said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. “The Transaction remains subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, and is expected to be completed promptly.”

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Israel vows Iran will ‘pay the price’ as attacks continue for a fourth day

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Israel vows Iran will 'pay the price' as attacks continue for a fourth day

Trails of Iranian ballistic missiles light up the night sky as seen from Gaza City during renewed missile strikes launched by Iran in retaliation against Israel on June 15, 2025.

Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images

Tehran will “pay the price” for its fresh missile onslaught against Israel, the Jewish state’s defense minister warned Monday, as markets braced for a fourth day of ramped-up conflict between the regional powers.

Fire exchanges have continued since Israel’s Friday attack against Iran, with Iranian media reporting Tehran’s latest strikes hit Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa, home to a major refinery. CNBC has reached out to operator Bazan for comment on the state of operations at the Haifa plant, amid reports of damage to Israel’s energy infrastructure.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said overnight it deployed “innovative methods” that “disrupted the enemy’s multi-layered defense systems, to the point that the Zionist air defense systems engaged in targeting each other,” according to a statement obtained by NBC News.

Israel has widely depended on its highly efficient Iron Dome missile defense system to fend off attacks throughout regional conflicts — but even it can be overwhelmed if a large number of projectiles are fired.

Tankers depicted in the Strait of Hormuz — a strategically important waterway which separates Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Why Iran won’t block the Hormuz Strait oil artery even as war with Israel looms

The fresh hostilities are front-of-mind for investors, who have been weighing the odds of further escalation in the conflict and spillover into the broader oil-rich Middle East, amid concerns over crude supplies and the key shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz connecting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

Oil prices retained the gains of recent days and at 09:19 a.m. London time, Ice Brent futures with August delivery were trading at $73.81 per barrel, down 0.57% from the previous trading session. The Nymex WTI contract with July expiry was at $72.7 per barrel, 0.38% lower.

Elsewhere, however, markets showed initial signs of shrugging off the latest hostilities early on Monday.

Spot prices for key safe-haven asset gold retreated early morning, down 0.42% to $3,417.83 per ounce after nearly notching a two-year-high earlier in the session, with U.S. gold futures also down 0.65% to $ 3,430.5

Tel Aviv share indices pointed higher, with the blue-chip TA-35 up 0.99% and the wider TA-125 up 1.33%.

European stock markets opened higher Monday, meanwhile, and U.S. stock futures were also in the green.

Luis Costa, global head of EM sovereign credit at Citigroup Global Markets, signaled the muted reaction could be, in part, attributed to hopes of a brisk resolution to the conflict.

“So markets are obviously, you know, bearing in mind all potential scenarios. There are obviously potentially very bad scenarios in this story,” he told CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” on Monday. “But there is still a way out in terms of, you know, a faster resolution and bringing Iran to the table, or a short continuation here, of a very surgical and intense strike by the Israeli army.”

U.S. response in focus

As of Monday morning, Israel’s national emergency service Magen David Adom reported four dead and 87 injured following rocket strikes at four sites in “central Israel,” reporting collapsed buildings, fire and people trapped under debris.

Accusing Tehran of targeting civilians in Israel to prevent the Israel Defense Forces from “continuing the attack that is collapsing its capabilities,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, a close longtime ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a Google-translated social media update that “the residents of Tehran will pay the price, and soon.”

The IDF on Sunday said it had in turn “completed a wide-scale wave of strikes on numerous weapon production sites belonging to the Quds Force, the IRGC and the Iranian military, in Tehran.”

CNBC could not independently verify developments on the ground.

The U.S.’ response is now in focus, given its close support and arms provision to Israel, the unexpected cancellation of Washington’s latest nuclear deal talks with Iran, and President Donald Trump’s historically hard-hitting stance against Tehran during his first term.

Trump, who has been pushing Iran for a deal over its nuclear program, has weighed in on the conflict, opposing an Israeli proposal to kill Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to NBC News.

Discussions about the conflict are expected to take place during the ongoing meeting of the G7, encapsulating Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S., along with the European Union.

CNBC’s Katrina Bishop contributed to this report.

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Tesla on ‘self-driving’ gets stuck on train track and hit by train

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Tesla on 'self-driving' gets stuck on train track and hit by train

A Tesla Model 3 got stuck on a train track and was hit, albeit slightly, by a train in Sinking Spring, PA. The driver claimed it was in “self-driving mode.”

According to the fire alerts in Berks County, a Tesla Model 3 drove around a train track barrier near South Hull Street and Columbia Avenue and got stuck in the tracks.

The driver was able to exit the vehicle, but a train hit the car, reportedly snapping off the side mirror.

The fire commissioner ordered to stop all train traffic as the emergency services worked to get the Model 3 off the tracks using a crane.

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Spitlers Garage & Towing, performed the recovery and shared a few pictures on Facebook:

The Tesla driver reportedly claimed that the vehicle was in “self-driving mode” leading up to getting stuck on the train tracks.

Tesla claims that all its vehicles built since 2016 will be capable of unsupervised self-driving with software updates; however, this has yet to occur.

Instead, Tesla has been selling a “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) package for up to $15,000 that requires the driver to constantly supervise the vehicle, with the driver remaining responsible for the car at all times.

Electrek’s Take

There have been instances of Tesla drivers engaging in reckless behavior and then attributing it to the Full Self-Driving (FSD) features.

I’m not saying it’s the case here, but it’s a possibility.

On the other side, I’ve seen FSD try to navigate around construction barriers. It’s possible that it tried to do that in this case, here and then got caught on the tracks.

We would need more data.

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