Kia’s EV9 and EV6 sales dropped nearly 50 percent in the first half of 2025 because those models underwent a shift in production location from South Korea to the Kia plant in western Georgia. It took some time to revamp the plant for EV
Required charge time from 10 to 80 percent battery SOC is one data point for comparison, but since they are talking about importance of fast charging during long trips, it’s probably more important to consider how far the vehicle will drive at highway speeds for that given amount of charge time.
IMO expressing rate in kW, or percent battery capacity, is not as meaningful as MPH. An older base Tesla Model 3, as example, could gain +/- 500 MPH (miles of highway range per hour of charging), and the newer Model 3s much better than that. Just saying it’s not about how many kWh you get in a given time, but also how far they will take you in actual highway driving.
I don't think so. I think this has more to do with the market maturing and more EV Options being offered.
EV Market Monitor – May 2025 - Cox Automotive Inc.
If they don’t include a shade, I hope they at least provide the ability to tint it electronically. The Rivian’s Dynamic glass roof is cool in that you can shade the cabin in one button push without the roller shade.
I used to drive with my sunroof open all the time when I was younger. Sunroof was one of the things that I must have in any car.
Now I occasionally tilt it open to vent out hot air while parked under the sun and rarely ever have it open while driving. Most of the time, they just produce too much noise compared to my old cars.
I have a theory that as cars got more aerodynamic, car companies are finding it more difficult to keep the noise of air turbulence down which is leading to consumer dissatisfaction. Basically the cars are so slippery now that air flows are sticking very close to the roof and a hole in the roof is producing too much noise. Whereas when cars were not as slipper in the old days, the air flow further above the roof so a hole doesn't cause so much disturbance. The noise is then causing consumer dissatisfaction in things like JDP survey.
Also, I'm pretty sure open sunroof causes a dent in the fuel economy. CAFE target is calculated using the most popular configuration so even a tiny 0.1 MPG hit is going to have significant consequences for CAFE target calculation.
So getting rid of open sunroof scores two positives for car companies... less noise complaints and better CAFE results. And like I said, because new car sunroofs are generally more noisy than old car with sunroofs, more people keep them closed anyway. It's an easy win from car company's perspective which is why they are all getting rid of it and offering fixed glass roof instead.
Probably another good idea that was a little ahead of its time, requiring too much complexity to make it work reliably and at reasonable cost. Back then motor-generators were not all that powerful for their size and weight, making it necessary to incorporate the planetary transmission part of the system. The concept itself of series-parallel hybrid though was not bad.
The motor-generators were rated at only 110 HP each IIRC which isn’t enough power for a heavy pickup, particularly if loaded and or towing, to operate in series mode, other than in slow traffic. IMO a very similar concept is made to work in a far simpler manner, by Honda as one example, because the primary drive motor connected to the wheels is roughly twice as powerful in a vehicle about half the weight. The higher electric-motor power density allows the planetary transmission to be eliminated, simplifying and lowering costs of the entire system. There’s enough power to drive like an EV, and second M-G only requires a clutch or two. I give GM credit for thinking big and taking risks like with EV1, which helped improve electrification technologies, though it can also lead to financial disaster.
I think it's Ford just cheapening out. They can now put a single glass piece in instead of all the mechanical hardware, channels, power, etc. needed to have an openable sunroof. I'm guessing they won't even put a shade either (like Mach E).
As I said above, many other companies are doing this too, so it's not just Ford, but it sucks to have it, then take it away.
The only "positive" I could see from this is that perhaps they'll be able to make the opening larger since they don't have to have those mechanical parts anymore?