Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid, Lucid $7,500 “credit,” Tesla in Mexico: Today’s Car News

Lucid responds to pricing pressure. Tesla is looking for a plant site in Mexico. And Toyota rolls out a Grand version of its Highlander Hybrid. This and more, here at EV kind of cars. 

The 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid offers seating for up to eight and fuel economy up to 34 mpg. With just a little more space at the third row and cargo area, it should bring families who considered the Highlander in the first place more of what they’re looking for.

Tesla is reportedly considering an EV and battery plant in Mexico, as the latest in a series of operations that may help automakers get an advantage south of the border, under stricter American sourcing and materials requirements. With hints including an industrial operation closer to Monterrey, near the border, as well as mentions of using Mexico City as a hub, reports haven’t yet converged on a most likely location, however. 

There were new signs this morning of some heated up competition among EV makers, if not an all-out price war. Lucid announced a $7,500 “EV credit” applying to some versions of the Air Touring and Air Grand Touring—if they’re ordered by the end of March. If that sounds familiar, it is; Tesla announced a similar $7,500 discount—which happens to be the maximum EV tax credit—in December, prior to its own round of huge price cuts. 

And if you missed it yesterday, Google says that all the pieces are finally in place for integrated EV trip planning around the shortest charging stops. There are some big asterisks to that though—namely that Google hasn’t separated out the 350-kw chargers that will make a big difference to a growing number of models, and that for now it only works on vehicles with Google built-in. 

_______________________________________

Follow EV kind of cars on Facebook and Twitter