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 Mack Hogan, Rob Stumpf, Tim Levin, and Andrei Nedelea.

The March sales numbers are in, and it’s becoming clear that higher gas prices are already changing the equation for EV shoppers around the globe. But the shift isn’t playing out in the same way everywhere. 

“We see from basically every indicator we can find that people are more interested than ever in EVs,” Colin McKerracher, the head of clean transport at BloombergNEF, told me. “And in the places where that supply is available, primarily from the Chinese automakers, to meet that demand, sales are going through the roof.” 

Southeast Asia and Australia are great examples, he said, as regions that have lots of Chinese EVs on offer and are highly dependent on oil coming out of the Persian Gulf. 

Singapore-based investor and energy researcher Alex Turnbull has been calling dealers selling BYDs and the like around Asia, he said on the “Odd Lots” podcast this week. EV supply is down to single days and some cars are backordered, he said, amid a “staggering acceleration in EV adoption.” 

In Europe, March was a record month for sales of both pure EVs and plug-in hybrids, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. Sales of plug-in vehicles rose 72% month over month and 37% year over year, the firm said, buoyed by both new government subsidies and rising fuel prices. 

Contrast all of that with what’s happening in the United States. Gas prices have soared above four bucks a gallon nationwide, but a severe pullback from carmakers may have left the country’s EV market on the back foot at precisely the wrong time. 

“I'm a bit concerned for the U.S. market,” McKerracher told me, “in the sense that we may be at the point where something is really pushing consumer demand, but there isn't the supply to respond due to canceled models and a general pullback from the automakers.” 

Car companies have reacted to the policy whiplash wrought by the Trump administration and Congress by yanking electric models left and right. In the first quarter, U.S. EV sales fell by 27% year over year and by 8% from Q4, according to Cox Automotive. In March, North American plug-in car registrations landed at 121,500 units, according to Benchmark data cited by Reuters. That’s the highest monthly figure since the tax credit ended in September, but also a 30% drop from March of 2025 and the sixth month in a row of year-over-year declines. 

There are signs that the fuel shock is making its mark on American consumers. Vehicle marketplaces like Cars.com and Edmunds have reported sharp increases in searches for EVs. Hyundai’s CEO said the company saw a 40% jump in electric sales from February to March.

But shoppers on the fence will see fewer new electric options to choose from at dealerships than they otherwise would have. In recent months, car companies have shifted focus toward combustion vehicles and canceled numerous battery-powered models. The Volvo EX30, Acura ZDX, and Ford F-150 Lightning are all gone, to name a few. Three planned models from Honda were pulled at the last minute.

And at the end of the day, McKerracher said, “consumers can’t buy a car they can’t find.”

-Tim Levin

Get up to speed on the news that caught our eye this week:

Automakers have way too much capacity to make EV batteries. So they are pivoting into the battery energy storage system space, tapping in to growing demand from AI data centers. But the transition isn’t straightforward.

BYD is already making a name for itself in Canada. Before the automaker even begins to import its EVs, more EV-buying Canadians than ever are aware of the brand. Meanwhile, the Canadian Prime Minister also made a special visit to China to talk shop with BYD and Xpeng about his new tariff strategy. 

Ford CEO Jim Farley recently said that Chinese automakers shouldn't be allowed to enter the U.S. market. He also says that Chinese automakers are "really leading the world in many ways" and that Ford is looking to expand partnerships with Chinese automakers.

Ford's head of EVs, Doug Field, is out. The former Tesla and Apple exec says that the Blue Oval now has "a winning technology strategy and plan" to bring affordable EVs to market with the new Universal EV platform and he will take what he learned "back to the world." 

Ionna is teaming up with Circle K to install its high-powered DC fast chargers at hundreds of the gas-station chain’s locations nationwide.

We have more info about the battery pack going into the Verge TS Pro. Donut Lab and Verge claim this is the first production vehicle with solid-state batteries.

Sorry folks, but the new Nissan GT-R definitely won't be an EV. Nissan confirmed that there was "no way" that Godzilla will succumb to full-on battery power, but it will need to utilize a hybrid powertrain to meet emission requirements outside of the U.S.

Tesla's biggest single customer for Cybertrucks in Q4 last year was another Musk-run company. According to new sales data, SpaceX bought nearly 20% of all Tesla Cybertrucks sold at the end of 2025. That’s according to reporting from Bloomberg.

Xiaomi’s CEO says that the company won't be building cheap EVs. The new Xiaomi SU7 starts at around $30,300 in China, which some people in the U.S. might already consider to be budget for an EV. However, the CEO's comments were specifically referring to cars costing under 100,000 RMB, or just $13,800.

Tire maker Pirelli has announced that it will raise prices, which will disproportionately affect EVs given that tires typically wear up to 20% faster versus ICE-powered cars.

Mack Hogan dug into why shared platforms for EVs and combustion vehicles never made any sense. The BMW i5 proves it, he argues.

-Rob Stumpf

Rivian, Lucid, and Slate need to get this year right. All three are planning to launch crucial products this year, and all three are racing to scale up and start earning money. But in the meantime, they’re trying to stay alive and relevant in an increasingly hostile market.

To do so, Lucid just tapped a new CEO and a $550 million investment from its majority owner, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. Combined with a new $200 million investment from Uber and an agreement for the ride-sharing company to buy 35,000 Gravity robotaxis, the new injection of cash and sales should help Lucid survive until it can launch and scale its more mainstream products, the Cosmos and Earth.

Slate’s got some more money coming in, too. The company just announced a $650 million Series C funding round anchored by TWG Global. That should ensure that its roughly $25,000 electric pickup truck can make it to market. The plan is to start production this year, but we’ll have to see if the truck can still be a hit after the end of the $7,500 federal tax credit.

My bet is it’ll be popular with fleets and enthusiasts out of the gates. The big question is whether this untested kind of vehicle will land with the broader public.

Rivian, too, is in its make-or-break year. Deliveries of the mid-size, more affordable R2 are supposed to kick off this spring. But spring has started, and the clock is ticking. The company is keeping its momentum up with growing sales of the R1 and Electric Delivery Van, as it builds out its service and sales network to support its new, higher-volume product. Can Rivian stick the landing on quality, service, and consumer interest?

I’m hopeful. But I don’t know. It’s a bizarre, bizarre year to be launching an EV. To do so as a start-up brand will be a tough challenge for all three of the major players here. I believe there is absolutely room for more direct-to-consumer, EV-only mainstream brands. Will Slate, Lucid, and Rivian claim that space? We’re about to find out. 

-Mack Hogan

In a steer-by-wire vehicle, steering is handled by electronics and motors, with no mechanical connection involved. That lets automakers add interesting features, like the unconventional steering wheel and variable steering ratio found in the Tesla Cybertruck. This sort of system is coming to the updated Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan, and I got to try it out.

Steer-by-wire sounds like something a driving enthusiast such as myself should hate. Not having a physical connection between the steering wheel and the wheels should be a recipe for disaster, right? Wrong.

Trying an EQS facelift prototype with the optional steer-by-wire setup a few weeks ago, it felt both sporty and relaxed at the same time—a brilliant contradiction. You quickly get used to it and start to enjoy just how sharp it makes the car feel. Jumping back into a car that doesn’t have it feels a little bit like traveling back in time.

Check out my full review for InsideEVs and on YouTube.

-Andrei Nedelea

Want to avoid the gas station but don’t have home charging? Maybe a Chevy with a V-8 engine running on wood gas is your answer. This home-brewed setup takes in chunks of wood, turns them into fuel, and has apparently run for 100,000 kilometers.

How’s the fuel economy? According to the video above, this bad boy gets about 61 miles per 81 pounds of wood. I’ll let you do the math on that.

Thanks for reading Critical Materials. See you next week! And if you have any suggestions, feedback, or tips, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].

-Tim Levin