It's ev.news Briefly for Tuesday 04 August 2026, only today’s headlines and just the facts in just 4 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.
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EVS TAKE THE LEAD IN IRELAND'S NEW-CAR MARKET AS JULY HITS NEW RECORD
Battery electric vehicles have become Ireland's top new-car fuel type, with July setting a record of 9,682 BEV registrations, up 97.67% year on year, taking the seven-month total to 29,840 units, a 61.06% rise on 2025. EVs held 26.1% of the market over that period, ahead of petrol-electric hybrids at 24.6%, petrol at 20.4%, PHEVs at 14.5% and diesel at 12.5%, with Nevo's Derek Reilly crediting lower running costs, newer technology and models priced between €20,000 and €30,000 for reaching the tipping point.
VOLVO EX50 SET FOR US IN 2027
Volvo will bring the EX50 compact electric crossover to US and Canadian showrooms in autumn 2027 at a price in the high $40,000s, replacing the EX40 as its entry-level US EV and filling a gap left when the EX30 and EX30 Cross Country exit after the 2026 model year. Production starts in spring 2027 at Volvo's $1.3 billion, 250,000-unit Kosice plant in Slovakia, using the SPA3 modular platform with an 800-volt system for faster charging, better efficiency and flexible battery and motor combinations.
HYUNDAI AND KIA TOP 100,000 EUROPE EVS
Hyundai and Kia sold a combined 131,032 EVs in Europe in H1 2026, their first half-year above 100,000, putting them on course to beat 2025's full-year 183,912, as European BEV registrations rose 33.7% to over 1.24 million and took roughly 22% of the market. The Kia EV3 led with 27,121 units from around €36,000, while cheaper models filled out the range: the Hyundai Inster sold 16,594 units, the Kia EV2 launched in Germany in March at €26,600, and the EV4 added 14,502 units during its ramp-up.
FRENCH BEV SHARE HITS 35% IN JULY
Battery-electric cars took 35% of French new-car registrations in July 2026, with the PFA recording 44,378 BEVs from a market of 126,808 units that grew 9% year on year, roughly double the share of two years earlier. The rise coincided with Round 3 of France's social leasing scheme, reopened on July 16, which covers 29% of purchase price up to €6,500, rising to €9,000 for EEA-built vehicles and batteries plus €500 for an EEA motor, caps payments at €200 a month with no deposit, and has drawn offers such as the Citroën ë-C3 from €94 a month and Renault Twingo from €130.
NORWAY HITS 97.6% EV SHARE IN JULY
Norway registered 9,609 new passenger cars in July, up 0.5% year on year, of which 9,379 were battery-electric, a 97.6% share up from 96.9% in June, while Østfold reached 99.6% with 672 of 675 registrations. Used-market data followed suit, with private ownership transfers of used EVs up 8% in July against falls of 5.7% for diesel and 6.7% for petrol, and year-to-date used EV transfers up 43.2% to 103,892, now ahead of diesel overall.
ALSO STARTS TM-B DELIVERIES AFTER DELAY
Also will deliver its first Launch Edition TM-B electric bikes this week through mid-September, ending a delay caused by an industry-wide surge in demand for raw materials and electronic components that left the bike short of key parts and stalled its manufacturing ramp-up. The TM-B uses a pedal-by-wire system in which pedalling spins a generator that communicates with the motor, with no mechanical link to the wheel, alongside a slick interface, over-the-air updates and a modular frame that accepts different seats and cargo racks.
NISSAN SHOWS INTERSTAR-E ELECTRIC CAMPERVAN
Nissan and German converter Eifelland will debut the Interstar-e Relax electric campervan at the Caravan Salon in Düsseldorf this month, using a Truma Eezy parking heater powered by vehicle-to-load from the 87 kWh traction battery, removing the need for a campsite hookup, diesel generator or engine idling. The donor van is rated at up to 255 miles (410 km) WLTP unladen, though the conversion's added weight will cut that materially, with 130 kW DC and 22 kW AC charging, a fixed bed, 90-litre fridge, induction hob, sink, wood trim and portable toilet, priced at €89,900 (about $102,000).
CHUNG CHECKS IONIQ 3 TURKEY LAUNCH
Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Eui-sun toured the group's Izmit plant near Istanbul on July 30 to check production readiness and quality control ahead of Ioniq 3 mass production in mid-August, also visiting Hyundai Mobis's Battery System Assembly plant and urging staff to make the car one of Europe's safest. The Ioniq 3 is Hyundai's first subcompact BEV built for Europe and the first EV made at Izmit, which has built combustion compacts since 1997, and it will roll out across Europe in H2 2026 as the first Hyundai there with the next-generation Pleos Connect infotainment system.
FARIZON CUTS AUSTRALIAN SV VAN PRICES
Farizon has cut prices by up to A$8,500 (US$5,570) across its SV electric van range in Australia, extending EV price competition into the light commercial segment, with revised pricing now starting at A$62,990 (US$41,260) before on-road costs for the SWB. The mid-size SV, with roughly 1t to 1.2t of payload, previously came in SWB low roof, LWB low roof and LWB high roof forms with an 83 kWh LFP battery, and has been joined by an SLWB high roof variant using a 106 kWh NMC pack.
MASSACHUSETTS TARGETS EVS FOR GRID PAYMENTS
Massachusetts plans to add electric cars to its virtual power plant under the next phase of ConnectedSolutions, paying owners to export power at peak times and extending vehicle-to-grid from school buses and commercial fleets into private driveways. The state's 150,000-plus EVs represent a notional 11.25GWh of storage at 75kWh each, though depth-of-discharge limits, charger power and everyday driving needs reduce that considerably; eligible models at launch are the Ford F-150 Lightning, Nissan Leaf, Kia EV9, Polestar 3 and Volvo EX90, paying $275 per average kilowatt delivered during summer events, or roughly $1,375 to $2,750 a season.
QUEENSLAND E-BIKE CRACKDOWN NETS 991 TICKETS
Queensland police issued 991 traffic infringement notices to e-bike riders in the first month of Operation Yankee Surety, which began on 1 July, averaging 32 a day, alongside 249 impounded illegal machines and 24 people charged with drink-riding. The crackdown rests on new laws allowing roadside seizure of non-compliant devices and breath-testing, with devices capable of exceeding 25km/h (15.5mph) banned outright and motors required to be restricted to that limit.
ROMANIAN POWER CRUNCH STOPS FORD AND DACIA
Ford and Dacia have halted production at their Romanian factories through Aug. 19 after severe electricity shortages hit the country. Ford has suspended production of the Puma Gen E in Craiova, 230 km (134 miles) west of Bucharest.
TESLA MODEL 3 POWERS HANDMADE MINI JETBOAT
YouTuber Tyler Fever spent three years stripping a 2021 Tesla Model 3 and fitting its drivetrain into a handbuilt aluminium mini jetboat hull, machining a custom output shaft to bypass the 9:1 reduction and couple the rotor directly to the jet pump, since the motor's roughly 18,000 rpm gave around 2,000 rpm against the 6,000–8,000 rpm impellers need. He used a standard-range pack for its smaller footprint, mounting four modules of about 150 lbs (68 kg) each vertically in laser-cut enclosures, and had to replace the factory BMS and motor controller with an Orion BMS and third-party inverter after they failed to communicate, with the series covering a successful lake run and later testing in Nashville.
