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EV automaker Karma Automotive is further focusing its production strategy to support commercial EVs, more specifically B-ON, under a new manufacturing partnership announced this week. Karma will begin production this year at its ISO-certified facility in California with the capability to produce up to 30,000 electric vehicles annually with the intent to expand from there to meet the demand for B-ON’s vehicles.

Karma Automotive is an American luxury EV automaker spun out from the first iteration of Fisker Automotive after Chinese auto-parts supplier Wanxiang Group purchased the company’s assets in 2014. The acquisition included the Fisker Karma sedan, from which the new name was derived.

In 2016, the rebranded auto manufacturer released the Revero, which was a revamped version of Fisker Karma. It was followed by the Revero GT, which was intended to become the brand’s halo vehicle but never really reached the potential the automaker sought for it.

In 2021, Karma introduced its new GS line of EVs, including a GS-6 PHEV and all-electric GS-e6, which again, never truly emerged in the EV market. By the summer of 2021, Karma Automotive announced it was expanding outside of the world of electric passenger vehicles to assist commercial fleets in speedier electrification.

Honestly, we have heard little from the company since then until news emerged late last night that it has signed a manufacturing agreement with B-ON to produce light commercial EVs at its own facilities.

Karma Automotive
The eLCV lineup / Credit: B-ON

Karma Automotive to begin building eLCVs later this year

Karma has announced that it has formed a partnership with B-ON to produce the company’s eLCVs at its 555,000-square-foot facility in California beginning this year. Karma Automotive states it will produce an initial run of B-ON’s all-electric delivery trucks in 2023 ahead of full-scale production in 2024.

Neither company shared how many eLCVs Karma is aiming to produce this year, but its current footprint has the capability to manufacture 30,000 vehicles annually. Karma Automotive CEO Jeff Wawryzniak spoke to the new partnership with B-ON:

It’s abundantly clear to us at Karma that the market for electric commercial vehicles is poised for rapid growth. B-ON’s product is a proven winner in this market, and we are proud to be partnering with B-ON to be the exclusive manufacturer in North America of their last mile delivery vehicles. Their product combined with our existing technical expertise and Customized Flexible Manufacturing operational capabilities as an OEM is a recipe for success, both in 2023 and down the line as the partnership grows.

The automakers state that B-ON’s demand continues to grow in the US, Canada, and Latin America and hope expanded production in California can help deliver more electric commercial vehicles to those markets. B-ON founder and CEO Stefan Krause also spoke:

Demand for our electric light commercial vehicles is quickly expected to outstrip our capacity to build them in Germany alone. We knew we would need to expand production capacity this year, and Karma’s facility in California perfectly positions us to address the booming North and South American markets while also giving us access to their world-class workforce and capabilities.

Pre-production of the B-ON eLCVs at Karma Automotive’s Innovation and Customization Center is expected to commence in July.

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Tesla offered many Cybertruck trade-ins above purchase price in apparent glitch

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Tesla offered many Cybertruck trade-ins above purchase price in apparent glitch

Over the weekend, Tesla began offering many Cybertruck trade-in estimated values above the original purchase price, apparently due to a glitch in its system.

Tesla offers online trade-in estimates for individuals considering purchasing a vehicle from them.

Over the last few days, Cybertruck owners who submitted their vehicles through the system were surprised to see Tesla offering extremely high valuations on the vehicle, often above what they originally paid for the electric truck.

Here are a few examples:

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  • $79,200 for a 2025 Cybertruck AWD with 18,000 miles. Since this is a 2025 model year, it was eligible for the tax credit and Tesla is offering the same price as new without incentive.
  • Here Tesla offered $118,800 for a 2024 Cybertruck ‘Cyberbeast’ tri-motor with 21,000 miles.
  • In this example, Tesla offers $11,000 more than the owner originally paid for a 2024 Cybertruck.

The trade-in estimates made no sense. Tesla has been known to offer more attractive estimates online and then come lower with the official final offer, but this is on a whole different level.

Some speculated that Tesla’s trade-in estimate system was malfunctioning, while others thought Tesla was indirectly recalling early Cybertrucks.

It appears to be the former.

Some Tesla Cybertruck owners who tried to go through a new order with their Cybertruck as a trade-in were told by Tesla advisors that the system was “glitching” and they would not be honoring those prices.

Tesla told buyers that it would be refunding its usually “non-refundable” order fee.

Electrek’s Take

That’s a weird glitch. I assume that it was trying to change how the trade-in value would be estimated and the new math didn’t work for the Cybertruck for whatever reason.

It’s the only thing that makes sense to me.

The Cybertruck’s value is already quite weird due to the fact that Tesla still has new vehicles made in 2024, which are not eligible for the tax credit incentive, while the new ones made in 2025 are eligible.

There’s also the Foundation Series, which bundles many features for a $20,000 higher price.

All these things affect the value and can make it hard to compare with new Cybertrucks offered with 0% interest.

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At $28,000 off, is the Jeep Wagoneer S the best EV deal going? [update]

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At $28,000 off, is the Jeep Wagoneer S the best EV deal going? [update]

Like a 90s “gifted” kid that was supposed to be a lot of things, the electric Jeep Wagoneer S never really found its place — but when dealers started discounting the Jeep brands forward-looking flagship by nearly $25,000 back in June, I wrote that it might be time to give the go-fast Wagoneer S a second look.

This month, the discounts are even better.

UPDATE 23AUG25: I found you some even better EV deals!


Whether we’re talking about Mercedes-Benz, Cerberus, Fiat, or even Enzo Ferrari, outsiders have labeled Jeep as a potentially premium brand that could, “if managed properly,” command luxury-level prices all over the globe. That hasn’t happened, and Stellantis is just the latest in a long line of companies to sink massive capital into the brand only to realize that people will not, in fact, spend Mercedes money on a Jeep.

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That said, the Jeep Wagoneer S is not a bad car (and neither is its totally different, hideously massive, ICE-powered Wagoneer sibling, frankly). Built on the same Stellantis STLA Large vehicle platform that underpins the sporty Charger Daytona EVs, the confusingly-named Wagoneer S packs dual electric motors putting out almost 600 hp. That’s good enough to scoot the ‘ute 0 to 60 mph in a stomach-turning 3.5 seconds and enough, on paper, to convince Stellantis executives that they had developed a real, market-ready alternative to the Tesla Model Y.

With the wrong name and a sky-high starting price of $66,995 (not including the $1,795 destination fee), however, that demand didn’t materialize, leaving the Wagoneer S languishing on dealer lots across the country.

That could be about to change, however, thanks to big discounts on Wagoneer S being reported at CDJR dealers in several states:

  • Jeff Belzer’s in Minnesota has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $39,758 ($28,032 off)
  • Troncalli CDJR in Georgia has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,590 MSRP for $42,697 ($24,893 off)
  • Whitewater CDJR in Minnesota has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $43,846 ($23,944 off)
  • Antioch CDJR in Illinois has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $44,540 ($23,250 off)

“Stellantis bet big on electric versions of iconic American brands like Jeep and Dodge, but consumers aren’t buying the premise,” writes CDG’s Marcus Amick. “(Stellantis’ dealer body) is now stuck with expensive EVs that need huge discounts to move, eating into already thin margins while competitors focus on [more] profitable gas-powered vehicles.”

All of which is to say: if you’ve found yourself drawn to the Jeep Wagoneer S, but couldn’t quite stomach the $70,000+ window stickers, you might want to check in with your local Jeep dealer and see how you feel about it at a JCPenneys-like 30% off!


Original content from Electrek; images via Stellantis.


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New 50-ton SANY reach stacker brings Formula 1 tech to the job site

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New 50-ton SANY reach stacker brings Formula 1 tech to the job site

Multinational equipment brand SANY just launched a clever new 50-ton reach stacker that pairs gravity and an F1-style KERS system to generate electricity, improve operating efficiency, and reduce costs. The best part: they’re putting that smart tech to work by helping clean up (and shore up) the grid.

Short for Kinetic Energy Recovery System, KERS was a staple of Formula 1 in the late aught and 2010s. Essentially an advanced form of regenerative braking, KERS captured the kinetic energy of a car at speed that would normally be lost as heat when the brake pads pressed against the brake discs. Instead of heat, KERS converted that energy into electricity (storing it in a battery or flywheel), to be deployed later.

Sebastian Vettel explains KERS


4x WDC Sebastian Vettel explains KERS.

In practice, KERS gave drivers an extra boost of horsepower at the push of a button, enabling them to attack or defend their position on track and adding a fresh strategic element to the sport. In SANY’s case, that stored power is fed back into the reach stacker’s electric hydraulic system, reducing pressure loss across the high-pressure setup by 50%, and lowering the machine’s overall energy consumption by more than 60%.

Energy recovery is a key feature. The potential energy of the boom, lifting gear and energy storage cabinets during the boom’s descent can be recovered efficiently with an overall recovery efficiency of over 65%. That means every 1 kWh of consumption in lifting can be recovered by 0.4 kWh during descent.

SANY

The 50t reach stacker is available with a 512 kWh swappable battery pack that’s compatible with other SANY heavy equipment assets, and supports both DC fast charging when swapping isn’t practical or (for whatever reason) desirable.

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On a single charge and backed by the onboard KERS, that’s good enough for the machine can lift and move containers for more than 7 continuous hours, which SANY claims significantly reducing downtime for charging compared to other, similar equipment assets.

The new SANY reach stacker can stack six 50-ton containers, greatly enhancing a site’s container and battery storage density within a limited space. The first units will reach unnamed customers building out a utility-scale energy storage project by the end of this month.

Electrek’s Take


50 tonne electric reach stacker; via SANY.

All the great stuff I was saying about the new 65-tonne XCMG still holds true for the SANY (especially when they take the wraps off their own 65t BESS-specific unit later this year), but the SANY adds smart battery swap tech and what seems to be more efficient operations, too.

Regardless of which one you choose, it seems like the available options for reach stacker operators are just getting better and better!

SOURCE | IMAGES: SANY.


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