Kia Sorento Hybrid review, Electrify America road-trip stops, CATL battery tech: Today’s Car News

Next-generation battery-pack technology could be coming to more EVs with a supplier partnership. Electrify America sets up next to Wall Drug. Lucid is about to deliver its first cars. And we drove Kia’s newest hybrid SUV. This and more, here at Green Car Reports.

We followed up with a review update of the 2021 Kia Sorento Hybrid and found that while it meets the mark on value and kept true to its claimed 37-mpg combined rating, it fell short on third-row usefulness and left us puzzled over some awkward bits.

A partnership between the battery maker CATL and captive tech supplier Hyundai Mobis might bring CATL cell-to-pack tech—skipping the modules and enabling higher energy density, lower costs, and other advantages—to Hyundai, Kia, or Genesis models.

Electrify America is expanding its fast-charging network for EVs with more cross-country route alternatives. And that means charging sites in Wyoming, and next to some road-trip hallmarks like South Dakota’s Wall Drug. 

Lucid plans to make the first customer deliveries of its Air Dream Edition—yes, the one offering up to a 520-mile range—on Saturday. With the Air an exclusive technology statement at first, Lucid plans to ramp up production with more affordable, higher-volume future models. 

And is a Tesla for $299 a week, fully insured, a deal for Uber drivers? That’s what is being enabled through a program in which Hertz is offering up 50,000 Tesla Model 3 sedans—half of the 100,000 Teslas Hertz agreed to buy earlier this week—exclusively for Uber ride-hailing.

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