Solar-powered electric plane unofficially sets new altitude record
By David Szondy
August 26, 2025
Another air record has been (unofficially) broken as a prop-driven solar/electric aircraft reached the highest altitude yet for its type. On August 12, 2025, a modified Elektra One reached 31,237 feet (9,521 m) in the skies over Switzerland.
Taking off from Sion Airport with SolarStratos founder Raphaël Domjan at the controls, the aircraft registered as HB-SXA conducted a five-hour, nine-minute flight completely under solar power, with a two-hour ascent and a three-hour descent over the Valais Alps .
Weighing a mere 992 lb (450 kg), the aircraft had wings spanning 81.4 ft (24.8 m), which were covered with solar panels that powered a 43-bhp electric motor reportedly operating at 90% efficiency. A 20-kWh lithium-ion battery provided backup, giving the aircraft an estimated endurance of 24 hours.
Beware! Congress Is Driving Backward Down a Wrong Way Street By Jim Hightower
August 28, 2025
Introduction:
(Jim Hightower’s Lowdown) At about 12 years of age, I began working for my father, loading bundles into the two delivery trucks used in his small business. This required that, first, I back the trucks down an alley and into the loading bay. Thus, I learned to drive going backward, which probably says something fundamental about me.
But even at 12, I didn’t get stuck in reverse, as today’s Republican Congress has. The GOP’s autocratic ideologues and corporate toadies are spurning hard-won, economic, social, environmental, and other progress made by generations of grassroots Americans. They are trying to drive our people back to Robber Baron rule and Jim Crow law.
Indeed, no progressive advance today escapes the wrath of the GOP’s ideological swat squad. Consider the operatic political frenzy they’re now stirring up over Post Office trucks. Yes, that ubiquitous fleet of red, white, and blue mail delivery vehicles you see on every street and rural road in America.
Those gas-powered workhorses, now 35 years old, are way overdue for replacement. Sensibly, the Postal Service is buying fuel-efficient, non-polluting, electric vehicles, which include such basics as airbags and air conditioning.
But no, squealed extreme right-wingers like Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa. She condemns the very idea of a battery-powered fleet as lefty “wokeness.” So she’s demanding that Congress literally defund the purchase of EVs, forcing the Postal Service to go backward to inefficient, polluting trucks fueled by Big Oil – an industry that just happens to be a generous funder of her career.
After reporting on the overall US EV market and how it changed in Q2 2025 compared to Q2 2024, Q2 2023, Q2 2022, and Q2 2021, I want to now get into specific EV models and how their sales have changed over time.
First of all, let me note that these charts have gotten so large due to all of the EVs that are now on the market that certain visual aspects of them are getting degraded. They are best viewed on a computer, not a phone, but even on a computer they are now getting unwieldy. So, going forward, I will have to trim these down a lot. The good thing is: this is the result of how much the US EV market has finally grown! I will include embedded versions of these charts on the bottom of this article, and those now offer easier viewing than the static charts (on a computer).
If it wasn't for telsa electric cars in this country would be going no where. Probably about the same position as they were 10 years ago. Same can be said about space-x and space. Elon gets a lot of credit.
2026 Honda Prelude is a Type R hybrid mashup
By Aaron Turpen
September 04, 2025
Honda has finally taken the wraps off the much-anticipated return of the Prelude. The two-door sports coupe will be a two-motor hybrid built on the Civic Type R chassis.
Those who remember the Prelude of old are now probably taking a daily baby aspirin, but will recall the sport coupe that arrived in 1978. For over two decades, five generations of the Honda Prelude made the world grin under its standard moonroof and fast-revving inline four. The Prelude's last hurrah was its Type S model, sold only in Japan, which heralded the end of the Prelude as it ceased production in 2001.
Shell says it's developed a thermal management fluid for electric vehicles (EV) that can help speed up battery charging dramatically – we're talking 10%-80% in under 10 minutes. Not bad for an oil and gas company, eh?
EVs can take hours to dozens of minutes to charge up that much, depending on the car's charging system, battery temperature, and the battery chemistry that's optimized for energy capacity, safe operation, and lifespan. Charging faster than we currently do presents challenges in these areas.
Jet-ignition motor multiplies electrified vehicle range past 800 miles
By C.C. Weiss
September 17, 2025
https://newatlas.com/automotive/mahle-j ... -extender/
Horse Powertrain wasn't the only automotive supplier showing an efficiently packaged range-extender engine system at this year's IAA Mobility Munich show, which wrapped up over the weekend. German component builder Mahle took a short break from pushing out compact, torque-maximizing ebike motors to reveal a small, high-efficiency multi-fuel engine-generator it says is ready to deliver hybridized driving ranges up to 838 miles (1,350 km), about double that of some of today's longest-range battery electric vehicles.
Mahle views its range-extenders as far more than simple independent add-on, looking at them as one component in a holistic driving architecture in which smaller batteries can replace larger ones while still alleviating, rather than intensifying, range anxiety. Those batteries will then lead to cost, weight and material savings, creating an attractive selection of affordable, efficient new-energy vehicles with more overall range, simple and flexible refueling options, and zero-emissions local driving.
Used EVs Have Never Been Cheaper. But are They a Good Deal? By Tik Root
September 23, 2025
Introduction:
(Gist) The deals on used electric vehicles right now are shocking.
In 2017, a brand-new Nissan Leaf carried a price tag of about $35,000; today, that same car is yours for less than $6,500. This story repeats across the market. A Hyundai Kona that rolled off the showroom floor in 2021 for more than $43,000 has fallen below $16,000. Even newer models aren’t spared from this kind of depreciation. Take the 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5: it debuted with a sticker close to $62,000, but after 8,000 miles and less than 12 months on the road, at least one is selling for around $37,000. The drops are even starker in the luxury segment. An Audi e-Tron GT supercar that cost about $124,000 just three years ago is now offered at $52,000. All of this is before government incentives that could bring costs even lower.
In August, plummeting prices sparked a 59 percent year-over-year surge in used EV sales, according to the research firm Cox Automotive. But the trend also begs the question whether even well-priced used EVs are a bad investment in an asset that will continue to depreciate at an alarming rate. Experts say that depends on the car, and on how the buyer would use it.
“I would buy one now,” said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive. In August, used electric cars typically cost about $900 more than similar gas-powered ones, she added, which is the lowest gap on record. It’s a premium that is likely easily made up in gas savings and far lower maintenance costs because an EV won’t need, say, oil changes. “There’s a really strong value proposition to buying a used EV,” Valdez Streaty said.
Tesla has its best sales quarter ever as EV tax credit expires
Sean O'Kane
6:08 AM PDT · October 2, 2025
https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/02/tesla ... t-expires/
Tesla’s sales growth has vanished over the last year-and-a-half, but the company just registered its best quarter of deliveries ever, in large part because buyers rushed to take advantage of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit before it went away.
Tesla delivered 497,099 vehicles over the last three months, the company announced Thursday. That’s a massive 29% jump from the second quarter, about a 7% increase over the same period last year, and more than it has ever delivered in a single quarter.
Other automakers in the U.S. have seen similar jumps ahead of the credit expiring. The temptation to take advantage of the expiring credit was so strong that Cox Automotive has forecasted EVs will represent 10% of all vehicle sales in the U.S. for the quarter, which would be a record.
The boost in sales came at a critical time for Tesla. Before the third quarter bump, Tesla was on track to see its global deliveries fall for the second straight year. That decline has eaten into the company’s industry-leading profit margin.
BYD's UK sales soar 880%, making it the EV-maker's largest market outside China
Source: CNBC
Chinese electric carmaker BYD sold 11,271 cars in the U.K. last month, the company said on Monday, representing year-on-year growth of 880%. The sales bring its yearly total to just over 35,000 in the country, the company said on Monday – making the U.K. its largest market outside of China. Its market share sits at 2.2% year-to-date.
The firm, which had its start as a mobile phone manufacturer, is known for its more affordable prices when compared to other EV makers. Prices of the BYD Dolphin start at just over £26,000 ($34,913) in the U.K., compared to Tesla’s Model 3 which costs around £40,000 — although it has plans for a more affordable model. BYD’s hybrid SEAL U DM-i and electric SEALION 7 proved popular among U.K. consumers and dominated sales, the company said. It also opened a battery facility in the U.K. last month, where it services electric buses.
The U.K. enjoyed buoyant electric car sales in September following the reintroduction of an electric car grant in July, designed to make EVs cheaper for consumers, although it excluded Chinese EVs.
