Wednesday, 5 August 2026

Car leasing and mobility provider Drivalia has secured EUR 48 million in financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB), according to electrive.

The money will fund the purchase of 2,900 battery-electric vehicles destined for corporate customers in Italy and Finland, electrive reported.

The EIB estimates the fleet will cut CO2 emissions by roughly 3,000 tonnes per year against a comparable fleet of internal combustion engine vehicles.

Drivalia runs about 216,000 vehicles across 16 European countries, per electrive. The 2,900 electric cars covered by the loan represent a small slice of that total, concentrated in two of those markets.

Audi's entry-level electric car, the A2 e-tron, will start at about EUR 38,200 in Germany with a WLTP driving range of up to 649 km, according to Electrek.

The version fitted with the 140 kW motor and the efficiency package draws 12.8 kWh per 100 km under WLTP conditions, Electrek reported. Electrek describes the model as the most efficient car Audi has built.

Aerodynamics carry part of that result. The A2 e-tron has a drag coefficient of 0.24, the best figure in Audi's compact lineup, per Electrek.

Four power outputs will be offered when the car goes on sale in fall: 125 kW, 140 kW, 170 kW and 240 kW. Electrek reported the range-topping WLTP figure of 649 km alongside the EUR 38,200 entry price.

Three battery packs are expected, at 50 kWh, 58 kWh and 79 kWh, according to Electrek.

On pricing, the A2 e-tron undercuts the Q4 e-tron, which starts at EUR 47,500, or nearly EUR 10,000 more than the electric A2, Electrek reported. That gap places the new model below Audi's existing compact electric offering in the German market.

Sono Motors GmbH stopped its operational business and opened insolvency proceedings as of July 31, according to electrive.

The company's managing directors, Denis Azhar and Jan Schiermeister, are putting the core technical portfolio up for sale in three separate packages, electrive reported. Those are the solar integration of the Sion, the power electronics including the solar charge controller for vehicles, and the Solar Data Services.

The insolvency comes after a change of ownership earlier in the year. Sono Group N.V. announced in March 2026 that it was withdrawing from the solar business, and the step was completed on 4 May, when the subsidiary Sono Motors GmbH was transferred to entities controlled by Azhar and Schiermeister, according to electrive.

The listed parent has since moved into an unrelated line of business. Sono Group N.V. now operates as a treasury company that buys Bitcoin and seeks to generate returns through options trading, electrive reported.

EVgo is installing more than 500 DC fast-charging stalls at shopping centers owned by Brixmor Property Group, according to Electrek, placing chargers where drivers already stop for groceries, lunch, or errands.

Once the expanded rollout is finished, at least 90 Brixmor centers will host EVgo fast chargers, more than a quarter of the landlord's portfolio, Electrek reported. Brixmor owns 346 open-air neighborhood shopping centers across 29 states, with major tenants including Kroger, Publix, TJ Maxx, and Ross Stores.

Site density is capped: each new Brixmor location will carry up to 12 EVgo DC fast chargers. That structure spreads the stalls across dozens of retail sites rather than concentrating them in a few large hubs.

The first new installation is planned for Barn Plaza in Doylestown, around 30 miles north of Philadelphia, per Electrek. Additional locations will include sites in Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Texas, with deployment scheduled to begin later this year.

The two companies are not new partners. EVgo first installed chargers at a Brixmor shopping center in Pleasanton, California, in 2016, according to Electrek.

The retail-anchored model ties charging dwell time to shopping trips, a different siting logic from highway corridor charging. With up to 12 stalls per site and at least 90 centers in scope, the program leaves roughly three-quarters of Brixmor's 346-center portfolio without EVgo hardware after completion.

Lucid chief executive Silvio Napoli said the Cosmos will most likely launch in the second half of 2027, according to Electrek. "I think it's going to be '27. … Most likely the second half of '27," Napoli said.

The timing comment landed alongside quarterly results that fell short on both lines. Electrek reported that Lucid filed its Q2 earnings with a wider-than-expected loss and a slight miss on revenue.

On the balance sheet, the company repeated in the same Q2 filing that it holds sufficient liquidity to carry it well into 2027, according to Electrek.

Management also pointed to internal levers rather than outside capital. Lucid said it had identified USD 1.4 billion in cash flow improvement opportunities for the remainder of the year, including work on reducing capital expenditures and vehicle inventory, according to Electrek.

Battery electric vehicle sales at BYD rose 31%, making it the company's second best sales month ever for BEVs, according to CleanTechnica.

Passenger vehicle sales across BYD's full lineup grew 20.5%, CleanTechnica reported. The BEV figure outpaced that overall rate, with the 31% increase reported for battery electric models alone.

CleanTechnica characterised the BEV result as the second strongest sales month the company has recorded for battery electric vehicles.

New York City lawmakers have put forward 17 proposed bills to tighten oversight of electric bikes, scooters and other micromobility vehicles, according to Electrek. Electrek described the package as potentially one of the most sweeping overhauls of e-bike regulation in the city's history.

One measure would ban the sale of Class 3 e-bikes, according to Electrek, a category that remains legal in New York but is capped at 25 mph, or 40 km/h.

The package leaves out one of the more contested ideas in the city's micromobility debate. Electrek reported that no bill in the set would require license plates and registration for all e-bikes and e-scooters, an approach that has been heavily debated in New York.

Hearings on the legislation are expected to begin in the City Council this fall, according to Electrek.