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VOLKSWAGEN EXPECTED TO DEBUT ID. TIGUAN NEXT MONTH https://evne.ws/d9f0n

SLATE REPORTEDLY PLANS $3,000 CARGO TOPPER FOR ALL BUYERS https://evne.ws/qdtm3

CALIFORNIA SENDS 1,200-WATT PLUG-IN SOLAR BILL TO NEWSOM https://evne.ws/kzgwy

KIA SETS SEPTEMBER UNVEILING FOR PV7 ELECTRIC VAN https://evne.ws/dbyrzesprinter/

OREGON EV REBATE MONEY EXPECTED TO RUN OUT IN TWO MONTHS https://evne.ws/8m6pb

BYD REVEALS MAKO PLUG-IN HYBRID UTE IN BRAZIL https://evne.ws/lu0zi

QUEENSLAND SETS AGE 16 AND LICENCE RULES https://evne.ws/pr9h9

NISSAN AND HONDA SIGN ECU SOFTWARE PARTNERSHIP https://evne.ws/cyaln

CHINA PROPOSES 30,000 KILOMETERS OF ROAD TESTING https://evne.ws/5ub6g

POLAND’S COAL SHARE FALLS TO 52.7% IN 2025 https://evne.ws/pf9ap

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MG 07 DELIVERIES BEGIN; FIRM ORDERS EXCEED 31,000 https://evne.ws/zw9p0

LI AUTO TO START NEW MEGA SALES ON SEPTEMBER 2 https://evne.ws/33wp1

XIAOMI AUTO AUGUST DELIVERIES EXCEED 30,000 https://evne.ws/eowv7

XIAOMI REPORTS 1,230 KM N90 MAX TEST https://evne.ws/huo90

XPENG GX HITS 20,000 DELIVERIES AFTER MAY 20 LAUNCH https://evne.ws/3ewow

HIMA AUGUST DELIVERIES FALL 5.52% YEAR ON YEAR https://evne.ws/vca24

NIKKEI CHINESE REPORTS BYD PLANS GLOBAL X-PACK SMALL EV https://evne.ws/p0wa9

GEELY BEGINS MONJARO EM-I ROLL-OUT IN EGYPT https://evne.ws/rng3b

CHINA SOLAR CAPACITY OVERTAKES COAL https://evne.ws/4fnc9

It's ev.news Briefly for Tuesday 01 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/evnews

VOLKSWAGEN EXPECTED TO DEBUT ID. TIGUAN NEXT MONTH
Volkswagen is expected to unveil the ID. Tiguan next month as the replacement for the ID.4 and ID.5, abandoning its numbered naming scheme in favour of established petrol nameplates alongside the ID.3 Neo, ID. Polo and ID. Cross. Prototype footage published by Autogefühl shows a wider, more conventional body closer to the petrol Tiguan with pop-out door handles replacing flush units, and the car is expected to use the MEB+ platform with a new cabin design, updated infotainment and the return of physical climate buttons.

SLATE REPORTEDLY PLANS $3,000 CARGO TOPPER FOR ALL BUYERS
Slate Auto reportedly plans a cargo topper kit available to all buyers rather than fleet customers alone, offered in standard square-back and high-roof forms in white and black from around $3,000, according to the Instagram account Slate Auto Mods citing fleet and government sales lead Christian Kreipke. Kreipke also reportedly said the next-generation Slate will retain the same basic design dimensions, an assurance that costs the company nothing but protects the aftermarket upfitters whose tooling depends on that consistency.

CALIFORNIA SENDS 1,200-WATT PLUG-IN SOLAR BILL TO NEWSOM
SB 868, passed with bipartisan support and now awaiting Governor Newsom's signature, would legalise plug-in or balcony solar in California by replacing the interconnection application with a free online registration, opening the $300-to-$2,200 technology to renters and those unable to install rooftop arrays. Systems would be capped at 1,200 watts per home and must plug into a standard outlet, offset onsite use, meet electrical codes, carry independent safety certification and stop feeding the grid during outages; PG&E ultimately opposed the final version over unenforced certification rules until 2030, San Diego Gas & Electric warned the anti-backfeed feature could fail, and Southern California Edison went neutral after safety standards were tightened.

KIA SETS SEPTEMBER UNVEILING FOR PV7 ELECTRIC VAN
Kia will fully unveil the PV7 electric van at IAA Transportation 2026 in Hanover on 14 September ahead of a 2027 customer launch, releasing images of Cargo and Passenger versions but withholding payload, cargo volume and range figures that matter most to fleet buyers. Built on the 400-volt E-GMP.S skateboard architecture shared with the PV5, its length is reported in Korea at between 5,270mm and 5,900mm despite Kia UK calling it mid-size, and it follows a PV5 that took 37% of Europe's electric C-segment van market in the first half of the year.

OREGON EV REBATE MONEY EXPECTED TO RUN OUT IN TWO MONTHS
Oregon's electric-vehicle rebate programme has about $8.5 million remaining and is expected to last little more than two months, having already been suspended once by the Department of Environmental Quality after a previous scheme lasted three and a half months. The standard rebate has no income test and pays $2,000 for a new EV, $1,500 for a plug-in hybrid and $375 for an electric motorcycle, while the income-targeted charge-ahead rebate pays $7,500 for a new EV, $5,000 for a new plug-in hybrid, up to $4,000 for a used EV and up to $2,500 for a used plug-in hybrid.

BYD REVEALS MAKO PLUG-IN HYBRID UTE IN BRAZIL
BYD has shown pre-production Mako plug-in hybrid utes to Brazilian media at Interlagos ahead of an October or November launch, positioning the roughly 4.8-metre, monocoque-based model as a smaller, more car-like alternative to the ladder-frame Shark 6 and a rival to the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz rather than one-tonne utes. It retains a separate load bed of about 1,000 litres with a reported 750kg payload and uses a flex-fuel DM-i system running petrol or ethanol, with front-wheel drive at launch, an all-wheel-drive version reportedly in development, and battery capacity, electric range and right-hand-drive export plans all unconfirmed.

QUEENSLAND SETS AGE 16 AND LICENCE RULES
Queensland introduced tougher e-bike and e-scooter rules on 31 August 2026 requiring riders to be at least 16 and hold at least a learner licence, with parents liable for fines when under-16s are caught riding illegally. Interstate and international licences are accepted while suspended or disqualified drivers are barred entirely, and exemptions apply to 12-to-17-year-olds riding with a parent and to people unable to hold a licence because of certain medical conditions or disabilities.

NISSAN AND HONDA SIGN ECU SOFTWARE PARTNERSHIP
Nissan and Honda signed an agreement on 31 August to jointly develop standardised electronic control units, an in-vehicle operating system, middleware and vehicle-control software for what they call software-defined vehicles. The resulting electronic architecture is scheduled to reach next-generation vehicles in 2029, with both companies claiming faster development cycles, more efficient investment and improved competitiveness in an intensifying global market.

CHINA PROPOSES 30,000 KILOMETERS OF ROAD TESTING
China is proposing to double mandatory road testing for new-energy vehicles to 30,000 kilometres, according to Bloomberg, even as carmakers push for shorter development schedules that IAT Automobile Technology and the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers estimate AI could compress to an 18-month standard, against a current pace of around two years and three to five years for established foreign rivals. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is monitoring online customer complaints and inspected at least five leading automakers in July, including GAC Aion days after reports that batteries in some models were failing beyond 150,000 kilometres.

POLAND'S COAL SHARE FALLS TO 52.7% IN 2025
Poland's coal share of electricity generation fell from 72.5% in 2021 to 52.7% in 2025, dropping below half in five separate months and being outproduced by renewables across a full month for the first time in June. The country generated 24.4 TWh from gas, 23.8 TWh from onshore wind and 20.3 TWh from solar in 2025, and the IEA expects renewables to overtake coal on an annual basis in 2028.

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VOLKSWAGEN TURNS ID.BUZZ INTO CALIFORNIA CRUISE https://evne.ws/a0zog

MERCEDES-AMG CLA 45 IS A DIFFERENT BEAST https://evne.ws/lynpc

51% OF U.S. CONSUMERS WOULD CONSIDER A CHINA-MADE VEHICLE https://evne.ws/2qd1a

ELECTRIFIED MODELS FILL JULY'S FASTEST-SELLING USED-CAR TOP 10 https://evne.ws/w9zc5

TERRA CHARGE PLANS 2,500 NACS POINTS IN JAPAN https://evne.ws/xy5jz

DCBEL PLATFORM ADOPTED IN THREE V2X PILOTS https://evne.ws/yp52l

KGM RAISES MUSSO EV AWD TOWING RATING https://evne.ws/bsfit

PSW WINS ESTONIA FERRY MCS CONTRACT https://evne.ws/zltv9

WAYMO SAYS L2 IS INSUFFICIENT FOR L4 https://evne.ws/izqqh

It's ev.news Briefly for Friday 28 August 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/evnews

VOLKSWAGEN TURNS ID.BUZZ INTO CALIFORNIA CRUISE
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has unveiled the fully electric ID. California Cruise in Düsseldorf, offered in short- and long-wheelbase forms with 79 kWh and 86 kWh batteries respectively, sleeping accommodation for two, and first deliveries due in early 2027 from €60,761 (about $70,800). Standard kit includes the Interior Style and Comfort Packages plus the PowerSocket vehicle-to-load adapter, which delivers 2 kW continuous and 3.6 kW peak power, while California Mode keeps USB ports live and air conditioning running at sleeping temperature for up to 48 hours depending on charge and outside conditions.

MERCEDES-AMG CLA 45 IS A DIFFERENT BEAST
The electric Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 saloon is on sale in the UK at £66,750 (about $90,660), matching the outgoing petrol car's price and undercutting the plug-in hybrid C63 by £34,000 for comparable output, with the Shooting Brake £1000 more and the Hyundai Ioniq 6 N its nearest rival at £65,800. Three Yasa axial-flux motors produce 671bhp for a 3.0sec 0-62mph time in the 2.3-tonne saloon, with claimed ranges of 416 and 398 miles, 330kW charging giving 10-80% in 22 minutes, a rear-axle drift mode, and deliveries starting next year.

51% OF U.S. CONSUMERS WOULD CONSIDER A CHINA-MADE VEHICLE
A Dave Cantin Group market outlook report found 51% of U.S. consumers would consider a China-made vehicle despite Chinese brands not being sold there, with willingness at 77% among under-35s versus 36% among those 55 and older, driven by affordability as average transaction prices sit near $50,000 and monthly payments run far above five-year-ago levels. Chinese brands have taken roughly 10% share in Europe and Mexico in under five years, a pace that took Japanese and Korean makers nearly two decades, and the resulting collapse in established automakers' China business, combined with the EV unwind and tariffs, is already reshaping product and production decisions with direct consequences for U.S. dealers.

ELECTRIFIED MODELS FILL JULY'S FASTEST-SELLING USED-CAR TOP 10
For the first time since Autotrader UK began tracking the data, no petrol or diesel model appeared in July's 10 fastest-selling used cars, with eight BEVs and two hybrids from MG and Toyota filling the list, led by the hybrid MG ZS at 13 days, the Kia Niro at 15 and the Tesla Model 3 at 17. A year earlier BEVs held only four of the ten places, and July's slowest-selling used models were entirely petrol and diesel, with no BEV among them.

TERRA CHARGE PLANS 2,500 NACS POINTS IN JAPAN
Japan's Terra Charge will begin adding NACS charging from 2028 at commercial sites, major transport routes and hotels, targeting 2,500 points by the end of 2033 and studying a NACS-based AC charger for hotels and apartment blocks, though no specifications or timeline have been disclosed. The move responds partly to Tesla driver demand reported by Nikkei Asia, but with only 1,323 registered NACS points against roughly 68,000 charging points nationally, most on CHAdeMO, and a government goal of 300,000 points by 2030, NACS will add connector variety rather than displace the incumbent standard.

DCBEL PLATFORM ADOPTED IN THREE V2X PILOTS
Dcbel's bidirectional charging platform has been selected for three V2X pilots — California's REDWDS scheme, a PG&E programme and a MassCEC demonstration — offering drivers and fleets equipment funding, lower bills and payments of up to $3,200 per vehicle per year for exporting energy to the grid. The economics depend on vehicle-to-grid export, yet customers have so far opted for vehicle-to-home installations, dcbel had shipped nothing under the programmes at the time of reporting, and most jurisdictions still prohibit grid export altogether.

KGM RAISES MUSSO EV AWD TOWING RATING
KGM has lifted the all-wheel-drive Musso EV dual-cab ute's braked towing rating from 1,800kg to 2,300kg, exceeding the 2,000kg rating of Toyota's AWD electric Hilux. The revision undercuts the claim made by former prime minister Scott Morrison during the 2019 Australian election that EVs could not tow a trailer or boat to a camping spot, an argument that became part of the climate culture war, though what any BEV can tow still rests on the rating its manufacturer assigns.

PSW WINS ESTONIA FERRY MCS CONTRACT
Norway's PSW Power & Automation will equip Estonia's Virtsu–Kuivastu route with a Megawatt Charging System of two charging points at each end, each rated up to 5 MW on a 1,500-volt architecture, to recharge the country's new battery-electric ferry during port stops before its scheduled completion by the end of 2028. The ferry will carry 380 passengers and either 110 cars or eight lorries, making it smaller than the incumbent Piret and Toll, while the charging system will also be open to other compatible vessels, drawing on PSW's Nordic record of more than 250 MW of shore power and over 100 MWh of battery storage.

WAYMO SAYS L2 IS INSUFFICIENT FOR L4
Waymo has published 10 AI lessons drawn from over 200 million fully autonomous miles, arguing that incrementally improving a Level 2 driver-assistance system is a "false summit" that cannot safely reach Level 4, because neither billions of simulated miles nor millions of supervised miles replicate operating without a human backup. The company, which runs more than 500,000 paid driverless rides a week and targets a million by year-end, uses camera, lidar and radar redundancy and warns against black-box end-to-end networks, in contrast to Tesla's camera-only Tesla Vision, its end-to-end Full Self-Driving versions 14 and 15, and an Austin robotaxi service that has logged 380,000 unsupervised miles.