Next-gen PHEVs, Nissan EV pickup, Tesla at 6M, GM and CATL: Today’s Car News

Tesla hit six million cumulative EV sales, and we roundup all the achievements. GM is reportedly seeking a deal with CATL. Nissan and Mitsubishi team up for EVs, hybrids, and PHEVs, and next-generation pickups. And will next-generation batteries help plug-in hybrids make more sense at 70 miles? This and more, here at EV kind of cars. 

More energy-dense batteries coming in the near future aren’t just destined for fully electric vehicles. As several executives suggested this past week at the New York Auto Show, they’re also a key to enable the next generation of 70-mile plug-in hybrids, as incentivized by California, without compromise.

Within last week’s 2030 plan presented by Nissan, emphasizing more affordable EVs, the automaker said that it will pair with Mitsubishi for the joint development of a Nissan Frontier pickup replacement in EV and PHEV forms. Between the lines, Nissan reportedly plans to use Mitsubishi’s plug-in hybrid system in its own PHEVs, while Mitsubishi will use Nissan’s EV tech—and the upcoming pickup could potentially use both. 

Last year General Motors was highly critical of a deal struck between Ford and CATL, enabling Ford to build and run a Michigan battery plant that will make LFP cells under license from the Chinese company for improved EV affordability. Now, GM reportedly seeks a similar deal with CATL. 

And Tesla on Friday announced that it has hit a cumulative 6 million vehicles, every one an EV. But even putting the EV milestone aside, in sheer number of cars relative to market size it’s the highest-volume startup automaker since the 1920s. It’s an occasion to look at what Tesla has accomplished—and what it hasn’t. 

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