New Chevy Bolt seen charging at Tesla Supercharger in LA a week before reveal
So far we’ve seen nothing but teaser images of the new Chevy Bolt, but this weekend it was spotted charging at a Tesla Supercharger in Southern California ahead of its October 8 reveal.
The Chevy Bolt was originally released in the 2017 model year. It was GM’s first real, modern effort at an EV, designed to be all-electric rather than a compliance car like the old Chevy Spark EV. (GM did previously design the EV1 from the ground up, but it came along before the lithium ion era of EVs, and was decidedly a compliance car).
It was also a great car. Not only was it a good size unlike the ridiculous land yachts we’re seeing so many of today, it had a phenomenal price, especially near the end of the model’s life. It was good enough to be Electrek’s vehicle of the year for 2022.
But, due to an extended recall and because the Bolt used GM’s first-gen EV platform, rather than its whiz-bang new “Ultium” system, GM retired the vehicle in late 2023, even though it was having its best sales year ever.
But, that wasn’t the end for the model. After declaring the Bolt dead but before ending production on it, GM said that it would bring back an Ultium-based Chevy Bolt (which our publisher Seth Weintraub has taken to calling the “Boltium”).
Unfortunately, the new Bolt will be larger than the old Bolt. The Bolt had two models, the EV and EUV, which were extremely similar except that the EUV was just bigger (and more expensive). Instead of bringing back the spread of both models, GM decided to only bring the larger one, continuing to let the SUV virus spread unchecked through the American populace.
To be fair, the EUV is still not an enormous vehicle, but it is six inches longer than the EV was, and any move towards larger cars is the wrong direction. But that said, we don’t actually know the dimensions of the new Bolt… but we do, now, know what it looks like.
Chevy Bolt spotted charging at Tesla Supercharger with NACS port
And it turns out, it looks almost exactly like the old one. At least from the outside.
It was spotted charging at a Tesla Supercharger in Southern California (which I don’t recognize, but which I’m sure our readers will be able to point out) by EV Youtuber chargepozitive, who posted his photos on Instagram.
The exterior design of the Bolt looks pretty much identical to the outgoing EUV model. The only differences we can see are the removal of the black border around the fake grille, addition of a black line between the headlights, a change in the taillights to add a slight angular dip around the edges, and more body color paint on the rear bumper.
We can’t tell what the size of the vehicle is, but it’s likely similar if not identical to the outgoing EUV, given how similar the models look.
And while chargepozitive said he could peek through the windows to see inside, the dash was covered up and the GM employee who was there with the car asked him not to take pictures.
What’s more interesting is what it’s plugged into – a Tesla Supercharger, via a NACS port.
Like the entire rest of the industry, GM committed to adding NACS to its EVs, and it looks like we’re finally seeing the end results of that.
While adapters have been available and even the old Bolt has been able to charge on Tesla Superchargers for some time now, GM has not yet released an EV with a native NACS port. Its first native NACS car is scheduled to be the 2026 Cadillac Optiq, but more are coming, including the new Bolt.
The charger the Bolt was spotted at has the new V4-style cabinets, which notably have a longer cable. This seems to matter, because the Chevy Bolt has its charge port in front of the driver’s door – the same place the original model had it.
While this is good for GM’s design and engineering process, and for consistency for current Bolt owners, it could lead to a few snags… particularly when it comes to Supercharger use.
Since Tesla put the charge port for its vehicles in a weird spot (because that’s where the plug was in the garage of the house Elon Musk was renting at the time), that means all Superchargers are configured so the cable can reach the left-rear of the vehicle. And some early Superchargers have short cables, which really can’t reach more than a couple feet.
So, that means a port at the left-front of the vehicle isn’t going to be reachable on those short-cable chargers. Tesla even has an entry about this on its NACS FAQ page, stating:
Most Supercharger cables at NACS Supercharger sites should be able to reach your EV charge port, however, in some cases you might have to park over the line in order to charge comfortably. Avoid parking diagonally to reach the cable and try to obstruct as few charge posts as possible. Charge port locations vary by EV model, which requires cable sharing between adjacent stalls at many sites. Tesla is rapidly deploying our latest V4 Supercharger post which reaches all EVs in the same Supercharger stall. Additionally, we encourage all vehicle manufacturers to standardize charge port locations to the rear driver side or front passenger side.
Notably, the new Bolt’s charging location is not in either of those two quadrants of the vehicle, and is even set back from the nose, which will add difficulty at all but the latest Tesla sites (though it should be said that even the Cybertruck is barely compatible with some Supercharger sites).
This is just an early showing in a few photos, and frankly doesn’t tell us a lot that we didn’t already find when GM sent out some teaser images in July showing the new front fascia and charge port placement.
But we’ll get a closer look at the Bolt next week at an unveiling event in Los Angeles. So stay tuned for more details.
What do you think about the new Bolt’s design, now that we’ve seen it all-in-one rather than through teaser images? Let us know in the comments.
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More than half of the European Union’s (EU) electricity came from renewables in the second quarter of 2025, and solar is leading from the front.
According to new data from Eurostat, renewable energy sources generated 54% of the EU’s net electricity in Q2 2025, up from 52.7% year-over-year. The growth came mainly from solar, which produced 122,317 gigawatt-hours (GWh) – nearly 20% of the total electricity generation mix.
June 2025 was a milestone month: Solar became the EU’s single largest electricity source for the first time ever. It supplied 22% of all power that month, edging out nuclear (21.6%), wind (15.8%), hydro (14.1%), and natural gas (13.8%).
Some countries are already nearly 100% renewable. Denmark led with an impressive 94.7% share of renewables in net electricity generated, followed by Latvia (93.4%), Austria (91.8%), Croatia (89.5%), and Portugal (85.6%). At the other end of the spectrum, Slovakia (19.9%), Malta (21.2%), and the Czech Republic (22.1%) lagged behind.
In total, 15 EU countries saw their share of renewable generation rise year-over-year. Luxembourg (+13.5 percentage points) and Belgium (+9.1 pp) posted the most significant gains, driven largely by solar power growth.
Across the EU, solar made up 36.8% of renewable generation, followed by wind at 29.5%, hydro at 26%, biomass at 7.3%, and geothermal at 0.4%.
Read more: EIA: Solar and wind crush coal with 20% more power in 2025
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Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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Environment
Rivian’s latest patents detail new headlamp and energy storage system with grid capabilities
Another week, another patent filing with the USPTO from Rivian. Filings from Rivian, published today, detail an ornamental headlamp design, as well as a home energy storage system similar to Tesla’s Powerwall. Could this be our first glimpse at Rivian’s version of home energy management technology, including vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capabilities?
Today’s patent news follows several exciting filings Rivian submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office last week. We covered those submissions in detail, including a new BEV architecture that no longer utilizes a 12V battery, an automated rear diffuser, and on-screen “gadgets” in the infotainment and navigation.
Less than a week later, Rivian has five additional patents published by the USPTO as of September 30, 2025. Of those filings, we see an obstacle detection system for the tonneau cover, a vehicle state estimation system, a battery thermal release layer, and an ornamental headlamp design, as shown below.
Lastly, Rivian also has a published patent filing for an energy storage system
Rivian files patent for headlamp, energy storage system
According to patent US D1,095,903 S published on September 30, 2025, Rivian IP Holdings submitted the filing for an ornamental headlamp back on October 20, 2023. There are a few details aside from several figure illustrations in the submitted document, which states that the 15-year patent covers “the ornamental design for an automobile headlamp as shown and described.”
In addition to the headlamp, Rivian also has a new patent number US 12,431,551 В2, which details an energy storage device. The abstract of the patent primarily details energy monitoring of connected devices as well as light indicators after detecting nearby motion.
However, further documentation published alongside the images seen above reveals a wealth of additional design plans, including electrical grid interface capabilities, which hint at Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) capabilities, or in reality, vehicle-to-everything (V2X). Per the patent (FIG.1 coincides with the featured image at the top of the page):
FIG. 1 depicts an energy storage system 100, in accordance with some aspects. The energy storage system 100 includes one or more energy storage devices 105. For example, the energy storage device 105 can store chemical, electrical, or mechanical energy. The energy storage device 105 can be associated with (e.g., can provide power to or from) a cabin, home, vehicle, or campsite. The energy storage device 105 can be fixed or portable (e.g., can be vehicle mounted, affixed to a permanent structure, or freely moved). For example, the energy storage device 105 can be intended for stationary operation, based on power received or delivered to the stationary location, or can be intended for movable operation (e.g., in response to a need for power at
a remote location, such as a campsite.) For example, the energy storage device 105 can be an electric vehicle battery pack 160 of an electric vehicle 155 configured to provide propulsion for the electric vehicle 155 or accessory power for a user associated with the electric vehicle 155 (e.g., for lighting, cooking, and music). The vehicle battery 160 can provide energy to or from the components of FIG. 1 such as the energy storage device 105 or the grid 150.
So essentially, Rivian has a patent on its own branded energy storage system, which can include battery cells to store excess energy from a vehicle, the grid, or solar panels, and power a home at a homeowner’s request, similar to technology already rolled out by competitors like Tesla, Ford, and GM Energy.
Could we soon see Rivian energy storage and V2X capabilities in the homes of R1 owners? Time will tell!
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Yes, just 18. Toyota sold 18 electric vehicles in its home market of Japan last month. And that includes its luxury Lexus brand.
Why did Toyota sell just 18 EVs in Japan in August?
Toyota, including Lexus, sold just over 17,000 electric vehicles globally in August. But, in Japan, Toyota’s home market, EV sales plummeted, with just 18 units sold.
The other 17,038 EVs were sold in overseas markets, like Europe, China, and North America. Through the first nine months of 2025, Toyota and Lexus have sold 117,031 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) worldwide and are on pace to top the roughly 140,000 sold throughout 2024.
In Japan, the story has been different so far this year. Toyota (including Lexus) sold 469 EVs through August, a far cry from the 2,038 it sold throughout the entire year of 2024.
To be fair, it’s not just Toyota that’s struggling to sell electric cars in Japan. The country has failed to keep pace with China and, in many respects, the rest of the industry, due to a lack of government support and limited options compared to gas-powered hybrids.
Even BYD, which has seen explosive growth in most markets, has struggled to gain traction in Japan. Since launching its first vehicle in January 2023, BYD has sold just 5,300 vehicles through June of this year.
According to a new Bloomberg report, BYD is now offering discounts of up to ¥1 million ($6,700) on its vehicles. Including government subsidies, the discounts cut vehicle prices by up to 50%.
Toyota’s hybrid sales, on the other hand, are up nearly 10% this year in Japan, with over 603,600 hybrids sold. Outside of Japan, Toyota’s hybrid sales are up 14% with over 2.3 million models sold through August.
Electric vehicles are expected to account for only about 3.4% of new car sales in Japan this year, according to BloombergNEF, but further growth is anticipated.
Several automakers, including Honda and BYD, are launching more affordable EVs. BYD plans to launch its first electric kei car that will compete with the Nissan Sakura, Japan’s top-selling EV. It will also go up against the Honda N-ONE e, which launched on September 12, starting at just ¥2.7 million ($18,300).
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