BRIEFLY: ID.Buzz, Superchargers, Ford Europe & more | 16 May 2026
EV News Daily - Technology and Business of EVs
Martyn Lee
4.8 • 749 Ratings
🗓️ 19 May 2026
⏱️ 9 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It's EV News Briefly for Saturday 16 May 2026, everything you need to know in less than 5 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.
Patreon supporters fund this show, get the episodes ad free, as soon as they're ready and are part of the EV News Daily Community. You can be like them by clicking here: https://www.patreon.com/EVNewsDaily
Volkswagen is returning the ID. Buzz to the US market for model year 2027 after skipping 2026, with four trims including a new Tourer 4Motion camping variant featuring a fold-out mattress, Overnight Mode, and factory-built sleeping setup. The 2027 model also adds true one-pedal driving and updated ID.S 6 software with a larger App Store including YouTube and Spotify.
Tesla has launched a virtual queue pilot at five Supercharger stations, allowing drivers to join a waitlist via the Tesla app instead of forming a physical line, a feature that arrived a year later than promised. The system is voluntary with no enforcement, and has been opened to non-Tesla EVs — significant given roughly 70% of Supercharger stalls now accept third-party vehicles.
Ford's European boss Jim Baumbick argued at the FT's Future of the Car summit that the industry must sell EVs on personal benefit rather than CO2 reduction, and that PHEVs and range-extender hybrids should be accepted alongside pure BEVs as valid routes to net zero. He highlighted a stark policy contrast: Sweden's PHEV charging tax incentive results in 70% of drivers plugging in regularly, while the UK's lack of equivalent incentive sees that figure drop to just 10–20%.
Canadian EV adoption nearly doubled from 6.5% to 12.2% of total vehicle sales in March 2026, with battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles combining for 21,574 units even as the broader new-vehicle market fell 6.6% year-over-year. Ottawa's reinstated CA$5,000 purchase incentive in February and competitive pricing — with some models starting from CA$30,000 — were key drivers of the surge.
Polestar has opened orders for updated versions of the Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 across Canada, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Germany, with the headline change being the Polestar 3's upgrade to an 800V architecture enabling 350 kW DC charging and a 22-minute 10–80% charge time. The Polestar 3 also gains a major compute upgrade from Nvidia DRIVE AGX Xavier to Orin — lifting processing power from 30 to 254 TOPS — with existing owners receiving the chip upgrade at no cost.
MAN Truck & Bus has unveiled the eTGM, a 16-tonne battery-electric truck for urban and regional distribution, debuting at Transpotec Logitec 2026 in Milan and completing a fully electric range from 12 to 50 tonnes. It offers up to 320 kWh of usable battery capacity, a 480 km maximum range, and a mechanical power take-off (mPTO) that MAN says is rare in the segment and reduces bodybuilder conversion costs.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has launched the California Clean Fuel Reward, a $250 million rebate programme for electric medium- and heavy-duty trucks funded by Low Carbon Fuel Standard revenue, with rebates ranging from $7,500 to $120,000. The state expects over $1 billion in total rebates through 2030, making it the largest utility-administered electric truck rebate programme in the US.
Drew Baglino, former Tesla SVP who left in April 2024, has launched Sadi Thermal Machines, a heat pump startup incorporated in June 2025 and co-located with his first venture, Heron Power, in Scotts Valley, California. Baglino is well-positioned for the role, having been a named inventor on Tesla's thermal management patent that underpinned the octovalve system debuted in the Model Y.
Caterham has released new test track footage of its Project V electric sports car running under its own power, performing high-speed charging and braking manoeuvres. The car targets 268bhp, a 1,430kg kerb weight, a sub-5.0-second 0–62mph time, a 249-mile range, and a 20-minute 20–80% charge time.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | People across the country are feeling all warm and fuzzy about their heat pumps. |
| 0:04.0 | Installing it during the renovation was an easy call. |
| 0:07.0 | The bathroom tiles, however. |
| 0:08.0 | It's much nicer than your boiler. |
| 0:10.0 | The place is just always warm and cozy like. |
| 0:12.0 | The government grant was the help we needed to start upgrading. |
| 0:16.0 | You get a lovely, steady temperature. |
| 0:18.0 | Walking around without waste slippers are you? |
| 0:20.0 | Feel all warm and fuzzy inside with a seven and a half thousand pound government grant towards your heat pump at gov.uk. U.K. slash clean energy. Eligibility criteria applies the website for details. How am I going to figure this out of this month? Not so many bills. His lunch is at school. They need any new car. Gas and electric. |
| 0:38.0 | 25 pounds. |
| 0:39.0 | Internet. |
| 0:39.9 | 25 pounds. |
| 0:40.5 | $155.000. |
| 0:42.0 | $755. |
| 0:44.0 | New government policies are making every day easier. |
| 0:47.2 | Like offering 30 hours funded childcare to help working families save on average £8,000 per year. |
| 0:53.4 | This is just one of the ways the UK government is tackling the cost of living. See more at gov.uk.uk slash cost of living help. Join the thousands of heat pump owners feeling warm and fuzzy. I've lived here 20 years. I ain't moving, so I thought better future prove me home. We started a trend. The Alstraits applying for the government grant now. |
| 1:11.0 | Well, the energy is saved. I don't know what's better off. The planet or my wallet. |
| 1:15.6 | And their dizzy little bookworm says it's three times more efficient than our old boiler. |
| 1:19.6 | Feel all warm and fuzzy inside with a seven and a half thousand pound government grant towards your heat pump at gov.uk. |
| 1:26.1 | Clean Energy. Eligibility criteria applies the website for details. My name. and government grant towards your heat pump at gov.uk.uk slash clean energy. |
| 1:30.0 | Eligibility criteria applies the website for details. |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 8 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Martyn Lee, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Martyn Lee and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.