BRIEFLY: Ford, BYD, Anti-EV Propaganda & more | 10 Mar 2026
EV News Daily - Technology and Business of EVs
Martyn Lee
4.8 • 749 Ratings
🗓️ 11 March 2026
⏱️ 4 minutes
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Summary
It's EV News Briefly for Tuesday 10 March 2026, everything you need to know in less than 5 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.
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Ford has updated the all-electric Puma Gen-E with a redesigned battery lifting WLTP range from 376 km to 417 km (260 miles), alongside new BlueCruise hands-free driving, audio, connectivity, and colour updates. BlueCruise can be bought outright or via subscription, with all capable Puma models receiving a free three-month trial.
BYD plans to roll out its 1,500 kW Flash Charging network internationally before the end of 2026, starting with a push to 20,000 stations across China and then expanding to plants in Thailand, Brazil, and Hungary. The system charges second-gen LFP Blade Battery vehicles from 10% to 70% in five minutes, with each unit also functioning as an on-site 200–300 kWh battery pack to protect local grid infrastructure.
A YouGov poll for the ECIU found that over half of non-EV drivers scored two or fewer correct answers out of ten on basic EV facts, with nearly half wrongly believing EVs catch fire more often than petrol cars. A House of Lords committee described the situation as a "concerted campaign of misinformation," warning that false narratives and deliberate anti-EV propaganda by some in the media are a major barrier to EV uptake in the UK.
Carwow research found that 64% of in-market UK car buyers were unaware of the Government's EV grant, despite 73% of those who did know about it saying a full £3,750 discount would make them more likely to choose an EV. EVs now account for just under a quarter of new car sales, with only 8 of the 46 qualifying models eligible for the maximum grant amount.
Mercedes will launch the third-generation GLA later in 2026 on its MMA platform, offering hybrid and fully electric variants with an 800V system, a new vehicle supercomputer, and over-the-air update capability. The flagship GLA 250+ pairs an 85 kWh battery with a 262 bhp rear motor targeting up to 420 miles WLTP range, and the cabin features a 14.5-inch touchscreen with AI-powered MBUX voice recognition.
MG will bring the MG 4 EV Urban to Australia from April 2026, featuring LFP batteries in 43 kWh and 54 kWh options and a front-wheel-drive-only layout on the newer E3 platform. Pricing has not been confirmed, but UK figures suggest it could land closer to A$30,000, putting it in direct competition with BYD's Dolphin Essential at $29,990.
Octopus Energy is extending its dynamic Plunge Pricing public charging model to France via Electroverse, offering up to 50% discounts on charging costs when wholesale power prices fall due to high wind and solar output. The launch covers around 7,000 ultra-rapid Powerdot charge points, with Electroverse already connected via roaming to roughly 97% of France's 172,000 public charging points.
Porsche is exploring merging the Taycan and Panamera into a single model line offering petrol, plug-in hybrid, and fully electric variants, following €1.8 billion in write-downs tied to delayed SSP Sport platform development. The merged line could follow the Macan and Cayenne model, where parallel ICE and EV versions share a name despite using distinct platforms.
SK Battery America has cut 958 workers — 37% of its workforce — at its Commerce, Georgia plant, citing weak US EV market conditions. The plant had supplied cells for the Ford F-150 Lightning, Volkswagen ID.4, and Hyundai and Kia models, with Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff blaming the losses on the Trump administration's stance on EVs.
Volvo has positioned the all-electric EX60, due for customer deliveries in September, as Europe's first "true" software-defined vehicle, combining in-house batteries, motors, core software, and the new SPA3 platform under one roof. The centralised software architecture replaces dozens of supplier ECUs and kilometres of wiring, with Volvo claiming the freed-up space gives the D-segment SUV cabin room comparable to older E-segment cars.
Redwood Materials is expanding into second-life battery energy storage after finding that incoming used EV packs are retaining more capacity and arriving in better condition than originally modelled. The strategy centres on a 12 MW/63 MWh second-life BESS project in Texas — claimed as the world's largest — with Redwood targeting GWh-scale deployments for data centres, renewables, and utility-scale installations.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's EV News briefly for Tuesday 10th of March. Everything EV in less than five minutes. |
| 0:04.3 | If you haven't got time for the full podcast, let's get you up to speed. Ford is updating the |
| 0:08.3 | all-electric Puma Gen E in Europe with the redesigned battery, lifting the range, WLTP certified. |
| 0:15.6 | Another 41 kilometres. That's a total of 260 miles of range now alongside adding blue crews, hands-free driving, better audio, more connectivity and new colour choices as well. Blue crews can be bought outright or via subscription in Europe. BYD will roll out its 1,500 kilowatt. That's 1.5 megawatt flash charging internationally before the end of this year. |
| 0:41.3 | They'll start at home in China with 20,000 stations targeted by the end of the year. |
| 0:46.2 | They have plants in Thailand, Brazil and Hungary all looking to make the flash charging hardware |
| 0:53.0 | that uses an LFP blade battery in the vehicles that |
| 0:55.9 | will charge 10 to 70% in 5 minutes and do a 97% charge in 9 minutes. |
| 1:03.8 | A new poll in the UK found that over half of non-EV drivers scored two or fewer correct answers on 10 basic EV facts, nearly half, |
| 1:16.8 | wrongly believing that EVs catch fire all the time. |
| 1:20.1 | And our Parliament, a House of Lords committee describing the situation here as a concerted |
| 1:26.3 | campaign of misinformation by some elements of the media |
| 1:30.5 | and their anti-evv propaganda. You can only imagine why, or the money they're taking to do that |
| 1:36.8 | from certain parts of the fossil fuel industry. Carwow research found that 64% of people buying a car |
| 1:43.9 | here were unaware of the money available, the |
| 1:46.8 | EV grant, 73% of those who did know about it saying that the almost £4,000 off a new |
| 1:53.9 | EV makes them more likely to choose an EV. Mercedes-Benz will launch the third generation |
| 1:59.8 | GLA in 2026, sitting on the MMA platform |
| 2:04.4 | using the same technology as the CLA. So, 800-volt architecture, a new vehicle supercomputer, |
| 2:11.2 | over-the-air updates, 85-kil-watt-hour battery pack, targeting 420 miles WLTP. |
| 2:18.9 | MG, bringing the MG4 Urban. |
| 2:22.1 | That's the one in China that you can get a semi-solid state pack in. |
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