Solid-state battery safety, Aptera “never charge” details, Lucid as Tesla rival: Today’s Car News

Solid-state cells pass some first tests for safety. Jay Leno drives the high-mileage Aptera solar EV. And we take a look at what shapes Lucid up, potentially, to become the most direct rival yet to Tesla. This and more, here at Green Car Reports. 

And Lucid is showing different priorities than other electric vehicle startups and legacy carmakers—except, it seems, Tesla. We recently sifted through those a bit with CEO Peter Rawlinson. With its emphasis on technology and efficiency, is Lucid the first true rival to Tesla?

Solid Power, which is backed by Ford and BMW, has released third-party tests that it says show its solid-state battery tech to be safer than current lithium-ion tech. With those first cells built to a smaller format, the next step is to scale them up to the larger-format pouch cells that some automakers are shifting to.

The Aptera solar-supplemented three-wheel EV claims a range of up to 1,000 miles and returns of up to 40 miles a day in Southern California just from the sun. But how does it drive? Via “Jay Leno’s Garage,” we got one of the best ideas yet of what this “never charge” EV will be like. 

And over at Motor Authority: While the Audi Q4 SUV is coming soon, a more premium Q6 E-Tron SUV is on the way later next year or in early 2023, with its premium PPE platform shared with the upcoming electric Porsche Macan.

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