Cylindrical cells for Tesla, Lucid, Rivian; Outlander PHEV first look; ELMS battery swapping: Today’s Car News

Mitsubishi teases more trail ability in its next Outlander Plug-In Hybrid. Indiana-built electric vans get leading-edge battery tech—and battery swapping. And why do Tesla, Lucid, and Rivian all use cylindrical cells? This and more, here at Green Car Reports. 

Lucid, Rivian, and Tesla each have the top EVs in their respective classes for range, and they each use cylindrical cells within their battery packs. This, while most full-line automakers have announced prismatic or pouch batteries. Why? We look at what Lucid’s CEO recently told us, and what Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said, alongside proponents of large-format cells such as GM. 

Mitsubishi has revealed a bit more about the 2023 Outlander Plug-In Hybrid, with a glimpse inside. The model shows off a vastly improved interior that shares much with its gasoline counterpart—plus more driving modes that may make this plug-in more able off-road, perhaps to match the RAV4 Prime. Range, mpg, and all the important numbers are forthcoming, later this month. 

Electric Last Mile Solutions (ELMS), the company that’s assembling electric vans in Indiana, partly produced in China, has announced that it’s using new cell-to-pack technology and LFP cells from battery supplier CATL—and that battery swapping is in the works with the startup Ample. This is getting interesting.

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