F-150 Lightning orders, Mercedes EQXX, Tesla recalls and deliveries: Today’s Car News
Mercedes previews tech and design details for its volume EV models coming in a couple years. Ford will soon let some F-150 Lightning reservation-holders spec their trucks. Tesla delivers a new record in 2021 but faces some big recalls that aren’t over-the-air. Should CO2 regulations focus more on the oil industry? And what car got our annual award for 2022? This and more, here at Green Car Reports.
Ford has confirmed that it plans to boost production of the F-150 Lightning electric pickup to 150,000 annually, and it will open the order banks for the F-150 Lightning electric pickup on Thursday. That’s for a lucky subset of the nearly 200,000 reservations already made—but it means the rest of us will learn more about features and options for this eagerly anticipated product.
Mercedes-Benz has charted out its electric future much more clearly with the EQXX, a 621-mile concept car that’s loaded with production-bound tech and design details for EVs arriving in 2024—like a solar roof, a weight-saving cast body, and an air-cooled battery pack.
In year-end numbers reported over the weekend, Tesla confirmed that it navigated chip shortages and other supply hurdles to deliver a record of more than 936,000 vehicles in 2021.
More than 475,000 Tesla models have been recalled in the U.S. for two safety issues that need an in-person inspection. That includes every 2017-2020 Model 3, for a rearview camera cable harness, and some 2014-2021 Model S vehicles for a frunk-latch issue.
Should more of the regulatory responsibility for carbon reduction rest on oil companies? Current regulations focus on the automakers much more than the makers of the fuel they use—and that’s brought the idea of a carbon tax back into the spotlight.
And California’s Lucid has raised the bar for electric vehicles in ways that matter—over the long run—for affordability and EV adoption. That’s why the Lucid Air is our Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2022.
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