Happy Friday, and welcome to Critical Materials, your source for the biggest stories shaping the future of the auto industry.

Every Friday, we break down the week’s biggest EV news, keep you up to speed on the cars we’re testing, and recap must-read stories from around the web on driverless cars, batteries, charging, and more.

– Today’s email was written by Rob Stumpf and Tim Levin.

People often ask me if I drive an EV myself. I have to sheepishly say that no, I don’t, and that yes, I’m aware it’s very off brand.

Price is part of it, of course. But charging is the bigger issue.

As much as I’d like to give up gas, I don’t have a garage or driveway to charge in. Strangely enough, even in a super EV-friendly place like the Bay Area, Level 2 charging infrastructure for street parkers is sorely lacking. A few curbside posts in my neighborhood would make all the difference. Especially since the most budget-friendly used EVs—like the old Chevy Bolt or Nissan Leaf—suck at DC fast charging anyway.

This week on the Plugged-In Podcast, Mack and I spoke with Tiya Gordon, the cofounder and COO of It’s Electric, a Brooklyn-based charging company tackling this very issue by bringing Level 2 plugs to city streets.

DC fast charging gets far more attention than slower infrastructure. But the biggest advantage of EVs is that they can be charged anytime they’re parked. However, that lifestyle has long been reserved for Americans with home charging. In a dense city like New York, Boston, or San Francisco, not everyone has that luxury.

“When you park your car on the street, you don't have that option,” she said. “So we're looking to bring that home charging opportunity to street parkers.”

When it comes to curbside charging, the U.S. is far behind countries like the U.K., Germany, and Norway. One reason, Gordon says, is that in most cities the accessory power runs at less than 220 volts. It means Level 2 chargers need to get power directly from the utility, running up installation costs. So It’s Electric designed its chargers to get power from buildings instead.

Another quirk of It’s Electric’s hardware: You need to bring your own cable, which the company will provide. Gordon says that eliminates the “biggest fail point” for chargers, whose cables are prone to getting stolen, dropped, or otherwise damaged. It’s also a popular way of doing things in Europe.

“We are not reinventing the wheel here,” she said. “We like to say: It's not weird, it's just European.”

Slowly, American cities are getting hip to the need for more curbside charging. This week, New York City selected It’s Electric to install 700 of its chargers throughout the five boroughs. It’ll be the eighth city the startup deploys in. Gordon hopes that seeing convenient charging options right in their neighborhoods will get more New Yorkers to consider going electric.

“No one’s going to buy an EV because of energy, because of climate. They’re going to buy it because it’s cheaper, it’s easier, and it’s more convenient,” she said. “So if you just make the right thing to do the easy thing to do, then everybody can win.”

This was a fascinating conversation, and you can check it out on audio platforms or on YouTube:

-Tim Levin

BMW is killing it with the new iX3. The SUV represents the fastest-ever production ramp-up for the German automaker with more than 100,000 orders locked in.

Hyundai's CEO is issuing a warning: without guardrails, Chinese car sales will undoubtedly surge in the U.S.

Meanwhile, China has rejected the call to voluntarily limit its exports of hybrids to the EU. The country's commerce ministry said that restricting its exports would "seriously violate WTO rules" and be unfair to competition.

The 2028 Volvo XC60 and XC90 will be America’s longest-range plug-in hybrids, with 78 and 73 miles of range, respectively.

Mack drove the Mercedes-Benz GLC EV. He says it’s sophisticated, drives great, and is overall the best Mercedes EV ever.

Toyota isn't done with hydrogen just yet. The all-new hydrogen-powered Hilux pickup is coming in 2028 with a 5,500-pound towing capacity. The 248-mile range is so-so, but refueling times should be pretty quick.

The best Rivian R2 colors are finally available. We all know Borealis is king, but Rivian's vast color palette is here for folks who have a pre-order and don't feel like waiting for lidar to make an appearance later this year.

Europe, say hello to Tesla's Megachargers. With the Tesla Semi headed to the EU, Tesla is working to build a solid network of commercial charging sites for the Semis to quickly add range. The initial rollout includes 100 stalls across 21 different stations in Germany, France, the UK, and more.

Chinese battery giant CATL is taking a different approach. The company is working with DHL on both scalable charging and battery-swapping tech to make the rollout of commercial EV trucks even easier.

Tesla is also making it easier than ever to deploy Superchargers. Its new pre-assembled "accordion" Supercharger units bundle 8 stalls together (a maximum of 16 stalls per shipment due to shipping limitations) and are 20% cheaper to install.

Porsche made battery cells with cathodes made entirely from recycled batteries.

Speaking of, the Porsche Cayenne’s wireless charging option is officially here. Now customers can order the company’s wireless charging pad and install it in their garage.

Ford is adding hands-free towing to the new 2027 Ford F-150. The new feature, BlueCruise with Towing, will allow drivers to hook up a trailer and take their hands off of the wheel on the highway—but there are some limitations. It brings Ford up to speed with General Motors, which has offered such a feature since 2022.

Lucid is aiming to put more than 25,000 robotaxis in European roads. It officially penned a partnership with Bolt to create a fleet of driverless cars using its new mid-sized EV.

The federal government is grilling Tesla over the Cybercab. Just after the unconventional taxi hit streets, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an audit into how it was certified to be street legal. Now NHTSA sent a long list of detailed questions to the automaker asking how the Cybercab meets Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, including rules around foot-operated brakes and side mirrors.

Zoox's autonomous pods are roaming the streets of Las Vegas. However, the company has been limited to the number of vehicles it can deploy. That 100-vehicle cap is set to expire in just one week, meaning that the Amazon-backed company may soon be able to rapidly expand.

GM is rolling out a new user interface that debuts in its trucks. It’s supposed to be cleaner and more intuitive than GM’s current system. The most interesting part? The UI integrates Apple CarPlay and Android Auto more deeply than before—which is surprising given GM’s controversial plan to gradually phase out the phone mirroring apps.

Joby Aviation, the company making vertical take-off and landing aircraft, just completed an autonomous cross country flight in a modified Cessna airplane. The firm says it was the first-ever flight of its kind.

Thanks for reading Critical Materials. See you next week!

-Tim Levin, Senior Editor