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ev.news Briefly: Audi, Money Saving, Outdated Petrol & more | 08 Sep 2026
It's ev.news Briefly for Tuesday 08 September 2026, only todays headlines and nothing else, in just 4 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 Community. You can be like them by clicking here: https://www.patreon.com/evnewsAUDI A2 E-TRON STARTS AT €38,200 IN GERMANYAudi's cheapest EV starts at €38,200 in Germany, above the €34,000 VW ID.3 Neo it shares MEB+ underpinnings with, and launches at the end of 2026 with orders opening in fall and deliveries in December. It claims up to 401 miles WLTP and a best-ever Audi efficiency of 4.85 miles/kWh on the 188-hp efficiency-package version, with rear-wheel drive only, 52/61 kWh LFP or 84 kWh NMC batteries charging at 183 kW (10–80% in about 29 minutes), a Q4 e-tron wheelbase for extra interior space, and standard bidirectional charging.ICCT SAYS ELECTRIC CARS COST ONE THIRD LESSAn ICCT report published on September 6 found electric cars cost a third less to run in Europe in 2025 than petrol or diesel equivalents, or 28% less for drivers relying on public charging, with combustion energy costs rising 12–36% at the start of 2026 during the US-Iran Hormuz oil crisis while BEV energy costs held steady. The ICCT also found price parity with petrol cars in Germany's three largest segments based on data covering 100,000 vehicles, and lead author Marie Rajon Bernard expects European BEV adoption to scale up provided current policies survive growing political pressure to reverse them.YOUNG DRIVERS SAY PETROL CARS ARE LIKE USING A LANDLINE TELEPHONEResearch commissioned by E.ON Next among 1,500 drivers found more than half of those aged 17 to 20 want their next car to be electric, against a UK BEV new-car share of 26% from January to August, with cost the main draw: 56% think EVs save money, 20% cite day-to-day affordability, 19% home charging and 18% avoiding forecourts. Petrol is increasingly seen as obsolete, with 23% calling petrol ownership as outdated as a landline telephone, 21% unable to imagine owning one, 63% expecting petrol and diesel cars to disappear in their lifetime and 53% believing they are the last generation to routinely drive them.EUROPE'S EV FLEET HOLDS 600 GWH OF BATTERIESBruegel estimates Europe's EV fleet holds around 600 GWh of battery capacity, ten times the continent's grid-connected storage and theoretically enough to power the European grid for almost two hours, though that depends on vehicle-to-grid technology and smart integration still under development. Stationary storage is growing separately, with SolarPower Europe reporting cumulative European capacity passing 100 GWh by the end of 2025 after 36 GWh was added during the year, 48% more than in 2024, and calling for a tenfold increase by 2030.LI AUTO PLANS EUROPEAN I6 DEBUTLi Auto will unveil its i6 electric SUV in Europe at the Paris motor show in October, with founder and CEO Xiang Li saying European sales begin in the fourth quarter and right-hand-drive sales start by year-end, making a UK launch likely though it has not been confirmed. Britain matters as an export market because it does not apply the EU's additional tariffs on Chinese cars, and the 4950mm i6 will compete with the BMW iX3, Mercedes GLC and Volvo EX60.AVILOO EXTENDS BATTERY WARRANTY TO 24 EUROPEAN COUNTRIESAVILOO added 14 markets to its Battery Warranty on September 7, 2026, including Spain, Italy, Poland and Greece, taking coverage to 24 countries in response to used-EV buyer confidence lagging market growth and to manufacturer battery-health figures being neither independently verified nor standardised. The one-year warranty, separate from AVILOO's battery certificate and managed by dealers, fleets and remarketing platforms through the AVILOO Connect dashboard, sets an individual State of Health threshold per vehicle from proprietary diagnostics data that the battery must still meet at 20,000 kilometres.OSPREY GO STARTS CHARGING ON CONNECTIONOsprey has launched Osprey Go, an Autocharge-based function that starts a charging session as soon as a driver plugs in, requiring no app or payment card at the charger after a one-time setup in the Osprey app, and automatically applying the best available price for that location and time. Users can view receipts, live prices, charger availability and offers, and Osprey says the Autocharge choice maximises vehicle and driver compatibility and makes it the country's largest network offering the technology.RUSSIA EV SALES MORE THAN DOUBLE IN SUMMERAutostat reports Russian sales of new electric and plug-in hybrid passenger cars reached 26,543 units from June to August 2026, more than double the 12,187 sold a year earlier, as Ukrainian strikes on major refineries forced some to suspend operations and cut gasoline production to about 70% of domestic consumption by the end of August. Drivers facing hours-long fuel searches turned to EVs or gas conversions, though Autostat said sales were capped by supply because manufacturers and importers were unprepared, and the vehicles sold were mainly Chinese-made.PORT AUTHORITY LAUNCHES $45M ELECTRIC TRUCK PROGRAMMEThe Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has launched a $45m programme for zero-emission drayage trucks and terminal tractors at the Port of New York and New Jersey, the busiest seaport on the US East Coast, combining vehicle purchase support with charging investment near its marine terminals. CALSTART will design and administer the Clean Truck Incentive Program and the Green Drayage Accelerator, with up to $39m in point-of-sale vouchers covering vehicles and charging infrastructure at hubs within a 10-mile radius of the Port Authority's marine terminals.TREK LAUNCHES ALLANT+ FS E-BIKE IN EUROPETrek has launched the 2027 Allant+ FS in Europe, a full-suspension SUV-style e-bike aimed at Specialized's Turbo Vado 3X, using the same Bosch Performance Line CX mid-drive with 250 W nominal and 750 W peak output, 120 Nm of torque and assistance cutting out at 25 km/h. A Bosch PowerTube 800 Wh battery gives a claimed 180 km (112 miles) per charge, with the R11 priced at €5,999 and the R10 at €4,999.