Podcast: Tesla has another Cyberflop, lots of cheap Ford electric pickups, VW in trouble, and more

This is a roundup of an Electrek podcast covering car and energy industry news, not a home energy story. None of it points to rebates, upgrades, or anything that touches your own house directly, but a couple of items are worth knowing about if you follow the EV and clean energy world.

Ford is reportedly aiming to sell 100,000 units of its Fathom electric pickup, priced around $30,000, in its first year. Range Rover launched its first electric SUV at $140,000, while Polestar's 4 SUV starts at €57,900 in Europe. There's also a new study on which EVs hold their battery capacity best over time, which could matter if you're weighing an electric vehicle purchase alongside other home energy decisions like solar or a heat pump.

On the corporate side, Volkswagen said it may cut 100,000 jobs and could stop building EVs at four plants, a sign of strain in the broader EV manufacturing market. Tesla is also dealing with fresh trouble: its Cybercab robotaxi is under investigation by federal safety regulators, and the company settled a lawsuit tied to a fatal crash involving its Autopilot driver-assist system.

None of this changes what's available in home energy rebate programs or efficiency incentives. It's mainly industry news about vehicle makers and their electric lineups, useful background if you're cross-shopping an EV but not something that affects home upgrade plans.