Polestar 3 review, feds soften mpg targets, Virginia drops EV mandate: Today’s Car News

The Polestar 3 swings for efficiency and performance, and satisfies on the latter. Federal fleet rules are going easier on trucks and SUVs than originally intended. Virginia drops its EV mandate. And how is BMW using AI to create its future EVs? This and more, here at EV kind of cars. 

The 2025 Polestar 3 seats five and stands out for ride and handling and overall build quality over the Tesla Model Y Performance, but at more than a $25,000 premium even before the Tesla’s tax credit, it should. In a Polestar 3 first drive, EV kind of cars also found some of the best seats in the automotive universe, although the interface feels a little lost in pale, thin fonts and steering-wheel toggles. 

Final fleet efficiency rules for 2027-2031 announced Friday by the federal government go easier on mpg targets for trucks and SUVs. That means a projected real-world fleet average of about 38 mpg versus the original 43.5 mpg proposed in July 2023. A recent delay in reforming how EV efficiency is figured vs. gasoline models might also potentially give automakers a bigger boost while making fewer EVs. 

Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin last week confirmed that the state will no longer follow the newest California emissions rules—meaning that it also won’t adopt California’s EV mandate and structure EV sales adoption targets. The ramp-up would put the state on a path requiring 35% of new-vehicle sales to be EVs by 2026, but the change allows more gas-guzzlers to flow to the state’s dealerships. 

And BMW is using AI in its upcoming Neue Klasse EVs—to generate patterns and textures inside, and essentially as a mood board generator that still requires expert inputs from designers or engineers. At what point will some of those drop out?

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