Kia EV plans, $1,000 EV fee in New Jersey, Stellantis electric vehicle skepticism: Automotive news today
Kia maintains its EV goals. New Jersey is requiring electric vehicle buyers to pay $1,000. And the CEO of global carmaker Stellantis appeared to deny that electric vehicles are still the greener choice. This and more, at Green Car Reports.
Kia on Friday detailed its plans for the shift to electric vehicles and electric powertrains this decade, and the company remained unchanged in its goal of Kia EV sales reach 1.6 million units per year by 2030. But now, they sell about 800,000 hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell vehicles annually – accounting for 58% of all electric vehicles by 2030.
With a bill signed into law last week, New Jersey is marking EV ownership with an additional $1,000 upfront fee applicable in addition to other existing registration fees. While it effectively replaces the role of gas taxes on electric vehicles in funding road maintenance, it may discourage state adoption of California’s electric vehicle mandate and its goal of Target to reach 50% of electric vehicle sales by 2027 and 100% by 2035.
And Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares announced last week that Electric vehicles need a “breakthrough” in battery energy density before they made sense from an environmental standpoint compared to combustion media—in part because of the added weight and raw materials. That stands in stark contrast to the majority of academic papers and calculations by everyone from environmental organizations to automakers, which show that electric vehicles in their current state of technology will quickly CO2 emissions and overall impact on the environment.
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