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GMC began production of the Hummer SUV EV on Monday, and customers should begin receiving deliveries by the end of the first quarter, the brand confirmed today.Like the Hummer SUT before it, the Hummer SUV will begin production with the Edition 1, which is already sold out in advance. The SUV will be built alongside the pickup version at GM’s Factory Zero production facility in the Detroit-Hamtramck area. Reservation holder rejoice! Duncan Aldred, GM’s global vice-president of Buick and GMC, has confirmed that the electric Hummer SUV officially entered production Monday. GM first brought back the Hummer nameplate with the 2022 Hummer EV SUT pickup. That behemoth’s slightly smaller SUV shaped sibling, the 2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV, is a reimagining of one of the most iconic American off-roaders of the past century. GM received more than 90,000 reservations for the Hummer pickup and SUV combined, with numbers split mostly evenly, according to Aldred. Car and DriverProduction began with the sold-out Edition 1, which had a starting price of $105,595 when reservations went live in 2021. It will be built alongside the pickup version of the Hummer at GM’s Factory Zero production facility in the Detroit-Hamtramck area. The SUV version will be powered by two or three electric motors. The EV2 and EV2X with the dual-motor setup generate an estimated 625 horsepower. The EV3X and the Edition 1 have a trio of motors (one in front and two in back) with a claimed 830 horsepower. Torque numbers are more complicated, with GMC claiming 7400 and 11,500 pound-feet respectively, though the real figures likely fall between 1000 and 1100 pound-feet. Range in the Edition 1 is estimated to be more than 300 miles. Last summer, we managed 290 miles in our 75-mph highway range test of the pickup version.Just as with the pickup, color options are limited for the SUV. Edition 1 SUVs will all be painted in Moonshot Green Matte, with a slightly expanded list as production of standard models ramps up in the latter half of the year. GMC expects that production rates for the Hummer lineup will be considerably higher than last year, though it plans to ramp it up incrementally. Production will begin similarly slowly in the first half of the year, with increased production in the second half of the year, according to Aldred. Deliveries of the Edition 1 SUV are expected by the end of the first quarter.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

There were 120 Tesla Model Y electric vehicles listed in two large salvage auction houses recently, and the “vast majority” had under 10,000 miles on them, according to a report from the Reuters news service.The insurance companies that covered these vehicles decided that even with so few miles on them, these Teslas aren’t worth the $50,000 or so they sometimes cost to repair.The cost to fix a car has gone up as the ease has decreased over the years, which has prompted a discussion over so-called Right to Repair laws, which would give owners more rights to fix the things they buy.Right-to-repair laws are starting to get some traction, giving customers more rights to fix the products they buy. But just because you can fix something doesn’t mean that it will be easy or affordable. Repairing your own car has become less and less common over the years, but at least local mechanics can come to the rescue . . . usually. When it comes to Tesla electric vehicles, though, some insurance companies are reportedly deciding that even low-mileage vehicles aren’t worth the hassle.Details, Specs, PricesOwners of certain automotive brands know that expensive repair bills come with the territory. But that doesn’t mean insurance companies want to play that game, and some of them are increasingly deciding to write off low-mileage Tesla electric vehicles because they are too expensive to fix, according to a new report from Reuters.Tesla Model Y.Reuters looked at recent salvage auction listings and found that the “vast majority” of the 120 Model Y vehicles listed had less than 10,000 miles on them. While these EVs originally cost between around $60,000 and $80,000, high repair costs will keep them off the road in the future, despite their low odometer readings. A $61,000 2022 Model Y Long Range EV, for example, was in a front collision and would have cost more than $50,000 to fix had the insurer approved the repair. Reuters was not able to determine the types of incidents that caused the damage in these cases but did note that multiple well-known insurance brands, including State Farm, Geico, and Progressive, all decided the fix wasn’t in.Insurance Bill up to 30 Percent HigherIt’s not like people aren’t paying to protect their Teslas. In late 2022, Nerdwallet reported that the average Tesla owner with a good driving history and good credit could expect to pay about $2040 a year for a Model Y and as much as $3044 for a Model X. The average cost to insure a Model 3 is almost 30 percent higher than the national average for car insurance, Nerdwallet said.Exactly how much more it costs to repair the average Tesla after an incident compared to other vehicles, both electric and ICE models, is difficult to gauge, but Tesla has long been aware that insurance costs for its EVs are out of line with the average cost for the industry. Tesla started offering its own insurance policies for customers in late 2019, promising that it would lower costs for Tesla drivers. Customers could certainly benefit from lower costs. As a story from The Drive in 2021 showed, a Tesla service center quoted one Model 3 owner $16,000 to fix a battery pack coolant leak after it was damaged by road debris. An independent mechanic was able to fix the issue for $700, and The Drive argued the story proved that the Right to Repair is an important issue for EVs.Tesla Model 3.Chris Doane|Car and DriverFor its part, Tesla’s insurance side business is now helping the automaker lower future repair costs, according to company executives. “[Tesla insurance] is also giving us a good feedback loop into minimizing the cost of repair of Teslas—for all Teslas worldwide—because we obviously want to minimize the cost of repairing a Tesla if it’s in a collision,” CEO Elon Musk said during a recent earnings call, according to Teslarati. “Previously, we didn’t actually have good insight into that because the other insurance companies would cover the cost. And actually, the cost in some cases were unreasonably high.” Tesla is using its insurance arm to make changes in how it designs its vehicles, Musk said on the call, according to Reuters. “It’s remarkable how small changes in the design of the bumper [and] providing spare parts needed for collision repair have an enormous effect on the repair cost,” he said. “Most accidents are actually small—a broken fender or scratched side of the car.” More

The 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E lineup sees its base prices drop between $400 and $5700.The price of the Mach-E’s extended-range battery is $1600 lower too, dropping from $8600 to $7000.Ford also says it plans to increase production by nearly 67 percent, from 78,000 units last year to 130k in 2023.The 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E is now more affordable and will be more available than before. Along with base prices dropping between $400 and $5700, depending on the configuration and trim level, today Ford also announced it plans to increase production of the Mach-E by almost 67 percent in 2023.Ford says the Mach-E’s price cuts are immediately effective. For the customers who have already ordered, but who have not yet taken delivery, the price adjustment will be automatically applied. Ford also said it will directly reach out to customers who took delivery of their Mach-Es after January 1.More Affordable Mach-EsThe biggest discount applies to the high-performance Mach-E GT, whose price will drop $5700 from $71,195 to $65,495. It’s worth noting that a Ford spokesperson told us that the included destination fee is now $1500, up $200 from the previous $1300 charge.Car and DriverAs for the rest of the lineup, the entry-level rear-drive Mach-E Select with the standard battery pack now starts $700 cheaper at $47,495. The dual-motor all-wheel-drive Select receives the smallest price cut of $400, with a new base price of $50,495. The California Route 1, which now comes standard with all-wheel drive, drops to $59,495—a $5350 discount. Finally, the Premium model with the standard battery is down between $3480 and $3780, with new base prices of $52,495 and $55,495 for the rear-drive and all-wheel-drive models, respectively.While the Mach-E’s $800 Nite Pony appearance package and $6000 GT Performance pack keep their previous prices, the extended-range battery pack is $1600 cheaper, dropping from $8600 to $7000.More Available Mach-EsIn 2022, Ford said it put 78,000 Mach-Es on the street. The company has now said it aims to produce 130,000 units in 2023. That’s nearly 67 percent, a notable increase in production. It will also make more Mach-E models available to more customers. Perhaps coincidentally, the Mach-E’s slashed prices come shortly after Tesla announced large price cuts to the Model 3 and Model Y. Could this be the beginning of a price war? While we can’t say for sure, Ford claims its decision is due to improvements in its supply chain that contribute to streamlined costs and allow it to reduce Mach-E prices.Mach-E Awarded and TestedThis content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

Saudi Arabia is already tightly involved with Lucid Motors, but rumors late last week that the government’s Public Investment Fund wants to buy even more of Lucid’s stock sent the price up 43 percent. It then backtracked a bit over the weekend.The PIF owns over 60 percent of Lucid already and has promised to buy up to 100,000 EVs from the automaker over the next 10 years. Lucid has also announced it will build a plant in Saudi Arabia.Also, last week, Lucid announced that it is providing a 469-hp electric drive unit for all Formula E race cars this season. The EDU includes a motor, inverter, differential, and transmission and will be used to capture braking energy.Even with its vast oil reserves, Saudi Arabia is interested in electric vehicles. Whether it’s a deal with Canoo for fleet vehicles or the Saudi Ceer, an upcoming, home-grown mass-market EV scheduled to arrive in 2025 with help from FoxConn, Saudi Arabia is in the EV game. The country’s relationship with Lucid is well established, and rumors that the Saudi government might increase its investment in the luxury automaker sent the stock price up 43 percent Friday, ending at $12.87.All the Specs and DetailsNothing has been officially announced regarding any such deal, but Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is considering buying out the rest of Lucid’s stock. Lucid’s stock price dropped 4.5 percent over the weekend from the Friday high.Last year, Lucid sold almost 86 million shares to a PIF affiliate for around $915 million. Lucid sold other shares to other groups, but the deal kept the PIF’s overall investment in Lucid steady, at around 62 percent, according to CNBC. Last spring, Saudi Arabia’s government announced it would buy between 50,000 and 100,000 Lucid EVs over the next decade. Lucid also announced it would build its second plant in Saudi Arabia. Last year, Lucid built a total of 7180 vehicles at its only plant in Arizona.Lucid made news of another sort in the all-electric Formula E race series. The company announced that its in-house electric drive unit (EDU), which includes a motor, inverter, differential and transmission and produces up to 469 horsepower, will be used in every Gen3 Formula E race car. Lucid said the EDU would provide regenerative energy recovery from the front wheels. The EDU will not be able to send all 469 horses to power the front wheels due to Formula E regulations, but Lucid has plans for the EDU’s technology beyond Formula E.Actually, in its announcement, Lucid technically didn’t say anything about Formula E. Instead, it said the EDU could be found in the cone of every car in the “world’s leading single-seater electric racing series,” so, well, it’s Formula E. Lucid has a history with the race series, having developed a battery pack that was used in previous Formula E seasons.Lucid is highlighting the high power density of the EDU (6.7 hp per pound) in a unit that weighs just over 70 pounds and can spin up to 19,500 rpm. While not the same unit found in the Lucid Air electric sedan, some technologies, like the proprietary microjet cooling system, are found in both vehicles. “I’m excited by the prospect that some of the technical advancements introduced may, in turn, make their way to future Lucid road cars,” Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said in a statement. “For Lucid, the transfer of technology between motorsports and road cars is a two-way symbiosis.”Lucid builds each of the Formula E EDUs at its California headquarters. More