Show notes
It's EV News Briefly for Wednesday 22 July 2026, everything you need to know in less than 5 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.Patreon supporters fund this show, get the episodes ad free, as soon as they're ready and are part of the EV News Daily Community. You can be like them by clicking here: https://www.patreon.com/EVNewsDailyVW CONFIRMS ELECTRIC NEXT-GEN AMAROKVolkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand chief Stefan Mecha has confirmed that the third-generation Amarok will be offered as a fully electric model, part of a flexible drivetrain strategy spanning PHEVs and EVs that he says is essential to keeping the ute competitive, while the current Amarok's powertrain line-up stays unchanged. The timing points to 2029-2030, matching the expiry of VW's production deal with Ford, and talks with Ford about the next generation's underpinnings are still ongoing.MG GO! PREVIEWS SMALL EV FOR 2027MG has unveiled the GO! concept at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a roughly four-metre B-segment electric hatchback designed at SAIC's U.K. studio that borrows MGB GT grille lines and vertical taillamp elements, with production due in 2027 and possibly badged MG 2. MG admits the show car is a "dressed up" version that will lose its bulging fenders, oversized wheels, tow hooks and diffuser, and while technical details are unconfirmed, industry coverage points to MG's front-drive E3/Urban architecture with modest LFP batteries to rival the Renault 5 E-Tech and Mini Cooper Electric.TESLA OPENS FIRST PUBLIC SEMI MEGACHARGERTesla has opened its first public Megacharger station for Semi fleets in Bloomington, California, about an hour east of Los Angeles, with six stalls each capable of up to 1.2 MW and access for all Tesla Semi commercial fleet customers. The launch was confirmed by Tesla Charging on X and marked with a ribbon-cutting attended by trucking, fleet and charging figures, with the San Bernardino County site chosen for its position on the freight corridor linking the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to Southern California's warehouse network.USED EVS OUTPACE PETROL CARS IN BRITAINSteep fuel prices have driven a surge in British used-EV demand, with Autotrader's July fastest-selling ranking filled entirely by electrified models for the first time — eight of them fully electric, double last year's tally — led by the MG ZS at 13 days against a 24-day average for used EVs and 30 days across all fuel types. Average used-EV prices rose 1.6% year-on-year to £24,662 ($33,225), the first increase since December 2022, and Autotrader's Marc Palmer says that unlike past Middle East-driven spikes tied to events such as the US-Israeli war on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz closure, this demand has been sustained while the ten slowest sellers were all petrol or diesel.LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS LEAD GERMAN EV SUBSIDY APPROVALSHandelsblatt reports that 48% of approvals under Germany's new EV subsidy scheme have gone to households with taxable income up to €45,000 ($51,300), according to data from a parliamentary inquiry by Left Party lawmaker Jorrit Bosch, with lower-income buyers eligible for up to €6,000 ($6,840) on new BEVs, range-extenders and select plug-in hybrids depending on vehicle type, income and family size. The programme launched in January to replace the flat-rate scheme scrapped abruptly in late 2023, and environment ministry figures show foreign manufacturers took most of the support, with only two of the 14 most-subsidised brands being German as Germany's EV fleet passed 2.2 million by early April 2026.SUBARU CUTS 2027 SOLTERRA PRICE IN CANADASubaru Canada has cut the 2027 Solterra's starting MSRP to $47,995, $4,500 below the 2026 model and just under the country's $50,000 EVAP threshold, which restores its eligibility for the federal rebate worth up to $5,000. Subaru quotes an effective starting figure of $46,727 with delivery, dealer fees and the rebate included, against $55,285 for the current 2026 car, with the updated model due at Canadian dealerships later this year.CANADA CLEARS 6,531 CHINA-MADE EV IMPORTSCanada had imported 6,531 China-made EVs by July 14, leaving roughly 75% of the 24,500-vehicle first-half quota unused, with arrivals starting in May and building through June and July but falling well short of the allowance. Ottawa will keep the current quota open through August before adding a further 24,500 vehicles plus any unused first-half volume for September through February 2027; Global Affairs Canada does not break the figures down by brand, but Shanghai-built Tesla Model 3s are presumed to dominate, Lotus has accounted for nearly two dozen and Polestar is expected to resume Polestar 2 imports in August.DONGFENG MOVES INTO CANADIAN EV MARKETDongfeng plans to enter Canada's EV market under the low-tariff quota created by Mark Carney's deal with China earlier this year, showing the Vigo and Nammi Box 01 to buyers at an Old Port event in Montreal this week while it completes regulatory certification. North World Industry will handle distribution, and the company is starting with consumer awareness before sales, aiming to launch its first two models next year.KIA PITCHES SMALL EV VAN FOR CANADIAN FLEETSKia Canada has pitched the PV5 as a compact electric cargo van for small businesses and urban fleets, offering about 160 cubic feet of cargo volume and targeting tradespeople, last-mile delivery firms and telecom operators that do not need a full-size vehicle. The real test may be size rather than range or price, given GM pulled its Ontario-built BrightDrop vans — offering 400 or 600 cubic feet — from the market last fall after weak sales, while Kia calls the smaller PV5 an answer to an "unmet need".GEELY SETS E2 PRICE BELOW €20,000 IN ITALYGeely will launch the E2 small electric hatchback in Italy in October at a promotional €19,900, undercutting the Citroen e-C3 at €20,490 and sitting just above the BYD Dolphin Surf at €19,790; the same car is sold as the EX2 in the U.K. and the Xingyuan in China, where it was last year's best-selling model with 160,800 wholesale deliveries in the first five months of this year. In Europe's small-EV class the Renault 5 E-Tech leads with 36,575 sales, up 35%, ahead of the e-C3 on 17,859 (down 11%), the Dolphin Surf on 15,072 and the Peugeot e-208 on 10,546, up 23%.HOYMILES LAUNCHES UL 3700 BALCONY SOLAR INVERTERHoymiles has launched the HiFlow Pro, which it says is the first US microinverter certified under UL 3700, the new safety standard for plug-in balcony solar, a model already popular in Europe — especially Germany — that lets homeowners and renters run portable panels through a standard outlet instead of a rooftop install. Eight states had signed plug-in solar bills into law as of July 2026 — Utah, Maine, Virginia, Maryland, Colorado, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire — with New York's awaiting the governor's signature as of July 16 and nearly 30 states having introduced legislation, while safeguards must prevent the reversed power flow from feeding the grid during outages; a single 360W unit produces up to 721.08 kWh a year and up to four can run in parallel across separate outlets.RUSSIAN FUEL SHORTAGES PUSH DRIVERS TO EVSUkrainian strikes on energy targets have tightened Russian fuel supplies, bringing hours-long queues and rising gasoline and diesel prices that are pushing some motorists towards electric cars, including engineer Oksana Yasinskaya, 36, who told Automotive News the queues settled her decision to buy an EV and that she values not wasting hours on what she called a humiliating wait, with some drivers queuing late at night. Autostat says EV and plug-in hybrid sales accelerated in June as shortages worsened and expects the tiny market to grow if the crisis drags on, though it still leans on used cars rather than fresh showroom demand.