Tech Brew keeps business leaders up-to-date on the latest innovations, automation advances, policy shifts, and more, so they can make informed decisions about tech.

Tech Brew

A Tesla model Y charging next to a power grid hub on an orange and white gradient background

Electric Vehicles

Jordyn Grzelewski

techbrew.com

The leaders of a new EV charging program at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) envision a future where, in the case of a blackout, an 

 discharges its battery and keeps the lights on and air conditioning running at school.

To figure out exactly how to make this a reality, MassCEC is launching a “V2X Demonstration Program”—that’s “vehicle to everything”—in which it’ll set up 100 households, businesses, and schools with charging equipment and software to take advantage of technology that enables EVs to 

“As we expect an increasing demand for electricity in the coming years, this could really be a silver-bullet solution,” Elijah Sinclair, senior program manager of clean transportation at MassCEC, told Tech Brew.

 is a quasi-governmental economic development agency whose mission is to speed up clean energy growth amid 

 to be “the global leader in climate tech.”

MassCEC has a team dedicated to accelerating decarbonization, with a subset focused on transportation. Sinclair said the teams “find technologies that are market-ready but haven’t quite taken off.”

The V2X program, he explained, is one of four programs focused on EV charging as part of a broader state effort “to figure out how we’re going to deploy EV charging equitably across the state.” State leaders’ goal is to have 900,000 EVs on the road by 2030.

“We’re really trying to tackle some of the biggest barriers with electric vehicle charging across the state,” Sinclair said. Vehicle-to-grid tech “can make electric vehicles an asset that are profitable for the owners and also provide resilience in case the grid goes down. I think that’s a pretty exciting proposition on both ends that can really help spur adoption across the state and potentially the country.”

The program is backed by federal funding that Sinclair said MassCEC must use by the end of 2026. The goal is to get the infrastructure ready to go by the end of this winter so the team can collect data throughout 2026.

“We fully expect to deploy the program as planned,” he said.

One of the program’s goals, Sinclair said, is to make sense of a “really confusing” market.

“There’s a lot we need to figure out, a lot of basics,” he said. “So right now we’re going to collect as much of that as we can and bring all the right people in the room, make sure it works so there’s a pathway for people to continue scaling this technology.”

MassCEC worked closely with numerous utilities across the state, as well as with nonprofits, vehicle manufacturers, and other stakeholders to get the word out to potential participants, final selections of which MassCEC is working on now.

The program got more applicants than it can accept, Sinclair said, which means program leaders were able to home in on “tricky and interesting use cases that will help us advance the market,” such as helping EV owners figure out how to best take advantage of state programs like Connected Solutions, which provides compensation to users who send power back to the grid during high demand periods.

Despite the Trump administration’s rollback of federal support for 

, Sinclair expressed confidence that MassCEC will be able to push ahead with this program and other decarbonization efforts.

“It’s been awesome having the federal support,” he said. “And whether or not we have that in the future, I think we’ll still make meaningful progress toward our goals in the next few years.”

Plug attached to school bus connecting it to the power grid

What Massachusetts clean energy leaders hope to learn from V2X pro

Leaders of a new vehicle-to-everything initiative in Massachusetts see the tech as a possible “silver-bullet solution” to growing energy demand.

 for EVs before federal incentives go away appear to be coming true.

Thanks to President Donald Trump’s tax and budget bill, the $7,500 tax credit on new EVs and a $4,000 tax credit for used EVs will soon sunset. Industry sales reports for July suggest that consumers are, in fact, rushing to get deals on EVs while they still can.

“The EV market is experiencing a sharp uptick in demand as consumers rush to take advantage of the $7,500 federal incentive before it expires Sept. 30,” Tyson Jominy, SVP of data and analytics at JD Power, said in a statement. “July marks the first month of this surge, with EVs projected to hit 10.9% retail share, up 1.9 percentage points from June. It’s also the first time this year that the segment has reached double digits.”

July was a largely upbeat month for the US new-vehicle market. Cox Automotive estimated 6.6% YoY sales growth, bolstered by strong fleet sales.

“July’s new-vehicle results—led by many of the industry’s biggest players—suggest the US consumer continues to hang in there while navigating uncertain economic conditions,” according to Cox analysts.

Kia reported 12% YoY sales growth and a 14% YoY increase in electrified vehicle sales in July.

The brand said in a news release that its new 2026 version of the EV9 had a “strong performance in July with 1,737 units sold,” up 90% from June, though the model’s sales were down slightly from July 2024. Sales of the electric EV6 were down 16.6% YoY. The Niro, which is available in electric and hybrid versions, posted 2.9% YoY sales growth.

Hyundai reported its “best ever” July sales, according to a news release, with 15% YoY growth. The brand’s electrified vehicle sales jumped 50%.

Sales of the electric Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 were up 70% and 22%, respectively. Hyundai recently launched the Ioniq 9, which had 1,073 sales in July. Sales of the electric Kona were down 6% YoY.

American Honda reported “record” electrified vehicle sales in July, according to a news release, boosted in part by an 82.7% YoY sales jump for the electric Prologue.

Ford’s EV sales were essentially flat in July, dragged down by an 89% drop in sales of its E-Transit van, while its hybrid sales rose nearly 12% from last July. Overall, the automaker’s sales were up 9.3%.

Analysts have said that EVs could enjoy a temporary boost through the end of September before a likely 

“While the expiration of federal EV incentives will create longer-term headwinds for BEV growth, price-conscious consumers looking to take advantage of the savings are likely to do so before the end of the third quarter,” Chris Hopson, principal analyst at S&P Global Mobility, said in a statement.

Symbols representing electric vehicles and a red baseball hat.

July EV sales show first sign of boost ahead of Sept. 30 federal incentive expiration

“The EV market is experiencing a sharp uptick in demand as consumers rush to take advantage of the $7,500 federal incentive before it expires,” Tyson Jominy, SVP of data and analytics at JD Power, said.

Like countless other side projects (remember all that sourdough?), the inspiration for electric RV startup Grounded came out of the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

CEO and founder Sam Shapiro was living in New York at the time.

“Everything shut down in March,” he recalled. “I ended up building a camper van that was gas-powered. It was a 20-year-old Chevy Express cargo van. I lived in it for six months and traveled all over the country, which was awesome.”

Less awesome? A broken engine that required him to put the van—aka, his home—in a repair shop for days.

“Also, when you’re at a campground, you’re inevitably running the engine or the generator to power all this stuff inside,” he added. “So you’re at the campsite and all the RVs are making a bunch of noise, they’re blowing exhaust. There’s this contradiction, almost, with spending time in nature.”

Shapiro recalled this experience while giving Tech Brew a tour of the G3, Grounded’s newest electric RV. The van was parked outside of Newlab at Michigan Central, the startup incubator that’s helped Grounded sprout into a team of 20 with its own factory, and ambitions to expand further in the next year.

Shapiro, a former SpaceX engineer, started Grounded in 2022 amid a 

 in RVs and road trips, and moved to Detroit later that year.

The startup team’s early days were spent in the Newlab facility, which over 100 startups call home and where members have access to shared prototyping and fabrication equipment, among other benefits.

Newlab is part of the broader Michigan Central ecosystem, a 30-acre mobility campus anchored by a historic former train station that reopened last year after 

 nearly $1 billion to restore it. The campus hosts myriad initiatives, from teaching students to code to testing 

Newlab was helpful, Shapiro said, not only because it provided space and fabrication resources, but also for the broader network it offers. Newlab also became an investor in Grounded (which raised a $3.5 million pre-seed round last year), something it does selectively for member companies.

The facility hosts prototyping work as companies figure out how to get to the point of larger-scale manufacturing—a transition the incubator increasingly is assisting with, Garrett Winther, Newlab’s chief product officer, told Tech Brew. The facility has 3D printing equipment, a robotic arm, an electronics shop, and a whole host of other resources.

Startups at Newlab, which began in Brooklyn and recently opened a location in New Orleans, have benefited from the abundance of design and engineering know-how in the Detroit area, Winther said.

“Basically anything you need to build stuff—especially in this quick, engineering-oriented way—this is the place to do it,” he said.

The Grounded team built its first three vehicles at Newlab before expanding into the company’s own 13,000-square-foot factory on Michigan Central’s campus.

The team can build four vehicles a month in its current space, according to Shapiro. In the next 12 months, he said, the startup could exceed that capacity and require more space.

Grounded unveiled the G3, which is built on General Motors’ BrightDrop EV platform, in July. The vehicle has an estimated range of 286 miles, and features a modular design that allows customers to customize their vehicles. Changes from the second-gen version include replacing wood cabinetry with aluminum frames and 100% recycled materials, the addition of a motorized lift bed, a new insulated rear door, and a reengineered electrical system.

The G3 features a rooftop HVAC system, 1,000 watts of solar, and the ability to access Starlink satellite internet. It’s compatible with CCS fast chargers and comes with a 

. Various configurations of the vehicle range from $165,000 to $200,000.

Grounded recently expanded beyond recreational customers to offer its vehicles for commercial applications like mobile health, municipal services, and food and beverage businesses.

 and parts, as well as rollbacks of policies supporting electrification and clean-energy projects (Grounded’s vehicles didn’t qualify for tax credits on EV purchases because they’re too expensive).

“The consensus in the industry is that nobody’s quite sure what will be the case six months from now, policywise. This is especially true on tariffs,” he said. “From that perspective, it’s favorable that we are sourcing a lot of components in the United States,” but “it’s impossible to do 100% today.”

Electric camper parked outside of a warehouse

How an incubator helped an electric RV startup set up camp in Detroit

Grounded recently launched the G3, its third-gen electric RV.

 amid cooling demand and the looming expiration of federal incentives.

Flexibility could be the name of the game for EV sector players in the coming months and years—and a new deal between General Motors and battery recycler Redwood Materials may point to a promising opportunity: energy storage.

In a July 16 news release, the two companies announced a non-binding memorandum of understanding “to accelerate deployment of energy storage systems using both new 

 and second-life battery packs from GM electric vehicles.”

GM touted the deal as “a significant step toward taking GM’s advanced battery technology beyond EVs.” The automaker already had been sending used EV battery materials to Redwood under an existing agreement.

GM has its own burgeoning energy business, which in October 

 a stationary energy storage unit for EVs dubbed “PowerBank.” The product allows users to transfer and store energy from the grid. Other automakers, like Tesla, also offer energy storage products.

Driving the agreement, according to GM and Redwood executives, is the surging demand for electricity, in part from a proliferation of new data centers.

“The market for grid-scale batteries and backup power isn’t just expanding, it’s becoming essential infrastructure,” Kurt Kelty, GM’s VP of batteries, propulsion, and sustainability, said in a statement. “Electricity demand is climbing, and it’s only going to accelerate. To meet that challenge, the US needs energy storage solutions that can be deployed quickly, economically, and made right here at home.”

JB Straubel, founder and CEO of Redwood and Tesla’s co-founder and former chief technology officer, in a statement noted that “electricity demand is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, driven by AI and the rapid electrification of everything from transportation to industry.”

 around recovering end-of-life batteries and recycling their raw materials. The company reports receiving over 20 gigawatt hours of batteries per year, or the equivalent of about 250,000 EVs, “representing about 90% of all lithium-ion batteries and battery materials recycled in North America.” Redwood’s battery recycling customers include Lyft, Amazon, Nissan, Toyota, Ford, and Tesla and Panasonic’s battery manufacturing partnership, The Verge 

 dubbed Redwood Energy that it said would help “meet surging power demand from AI data centers and other applications.” Company leaders identified opportunities to put leftover usable capacity from used EV batteries back to work before recycling the batteries.

Redwood has established what it describes as “the largest second-life battery deployment in the world and the largest microgrid in North America,” which powers a data center for AI infrastructure company Crusoe.

In a story about Redwood’s new energy storage business, 

 noted that the company’s location east of Reno could be opportune given its relative proximity to data centers for the likes of Google, Apple, and Microsoft.

“Traditional grid expansion can’t keep up,” Redwood said in a release on its new line of business. “Renewables are intermittent. And imported, new energy storage is still too expensive to address the entire problem.”

The answer, according to the startup: “Repurposing used battery packs…into modular energy storage systems that bridge today’s infrastructure gaps with speed and scale.”

What’s driving a new energy storage partnership between GM and Redwood

Electricity demand from new data centers is expected to skyrocket in the coming years.

Making US roads welcoming and safe for cyclists has been an uphill climb in a country that loves cars.

 from PeopleForBikes, an organization dedicated to making the US a better place for cycling, highlights progress in cities across the country in the last several years. The ranking uses a scale of zero to 100 to score thousands of cities on “the ease in which people can safely get from where they live to where they want to go via low-stress bike routes.”

This year’s report found that 234 US cities scored at least 50—what PeopleForBikes considers a “tipping point”—up from 33 cities in 2019.

“It was great to see the shift, which has been driven both by people’s mindsets in wanting to live a healthier life, but also the improvements that have been made to things like cycling infrastructure in those cities,” Juliet Scott-Croxford, president of North America for UK bike maker Brompton, told Tech Brew.

PeopleForBikes’ 2025 analysis—which takes into account factors like protected bike lanes and safe speeds—included more than 2,500 cities.

Brooklyn became the best large US city for biking, with a score of 73, after PeopleForBikes started ranking New York City’s boroughs separately.

Minneapolis, which ranked first last year, came in second, with at 72, followed by Seattle at 66.

Washington, DC, saw the most improvement, jumping from a score of 46 in 2024 to 52.

Davis, California, ranked first among medium-sized cities, with a score of 81.

Among small cities, Mackinac Island, Michigan, which forbids cars, scored 100.

PeopleForBikes noted that seven of the top 10 small cities are in heartland states, “indicating increasing momentum toward bike-friendly communities in the middle of the country.”

Since 2020, four-fifths of US cities have improved their scores.

All of the top 10 large US cities scored above 50.

The results “continue to show positive trends towards better biking across the US,” the report concluded, “but a continued focus on bike-friendly policies and infrastructure investment will go a long way toward safer streets and more connected bike networks,” the report concluded.

Brompton, which specializes in foldable bikes, aims to take advantage of trends like the rising popularity of e-bikes and more bike-friendly urban environments in the US.

The brand is using an omnichannel strategy to expand its US distribution footprint, including two retail stores, in New York City and Washington, DC. Brompton organizes more than 200 meetups across the country every year to help foster a stronger cycling community.

In October, the company is slated to introduce the electric version of its G-line bike series, which features larger wheels, in the US.

“We’ve seen a huge growth in popularity for electric,” Scott-Croxford said. 

“Whilst it’s fantastic to see the improvements from the PeopleForBikes data, there is still a long way to go,” she added. “And I think there are a lot of international markets that have demonstrated the cost benefit of improving active transportation infrastructure, and the health and economic returns that you see on that.”

And though the demonstrated mental and physical health benefits seemingly would align with US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, Scott-Croxford noted “contradictions” like the 

 of a bicycle commuting incentive in the tax and budget bill Trump just signed into law.

“I think sometimes we get caught up in cycling being this green, hippie-dippie way of traveling, whereas actually there are some really clear economic benefits and health benefits to it,” she said, “which I think speak directly to some of the goals of making America healthy again.”

How UK bike maker Brompton is riding the wave of more cyclist-friendly US cities

Biking advocacy org PeopleForBikes recently reported bikeability improvements in cities across the US, with e-bikes growing in popularity.

That’s the message Ford is pitching amid a bevy of EV deals industrywide ahead of the Sept. 30 expiration of tax credits on EV purchases and leases.

The automaker recently extended through the end of September its Ford Power Promise, which aims to promote at-home charging by providing EV buyers with complimentary home chargers and installation.

“With everything that’s happening in the marketplace, not only the incentives that we have…and the fact that tax credits are still out there for some of these makes and models, now is the time to really double down and get as much as you can as a consumer,” Stacey Ferreira, Ford’s director of US sales strategy, told Tech Brew.

President Donald Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” into law on July 4, nixing EV tax credits from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

Those include a $7,500 tax credit for qualified new EV purchases, a $4,000 credit for qualified used EVs, and a “leasing loophole” that allows automakers to pass on incentives for some models that don’t qualify for the other credits.

EV deals were already plentiful. In June, average EV incentives hit an “all-time high”—14.8% of the average transaction price, according to Cox Automotive.

, analysts expect to see a Q3 surge as buyers interested in going electric look to lock in savings.

“With government-backed incentives set to end in September and economic pressures mounting, the second half of the year will be a critical test of EV demand,” Stephanie Valdez Streaty, senior analyst at Cox, said in a statement. “Q3 will likely be a record, followed by a collapse in Q4, as the electric vehicle market adjusts to its new reality.”

July’s EV lease deals include the Hyundai Kona EV for a monthly payment of $189, according to 

. Lexus is offering 0% financing on its electric RZ, consumers can get a 2025 Kia Nero EV lease for $129 per month for 24 months, and GM is offering 0% interest for 60 months to buy the Chevy Equinox EV, per the outlet.

“There is no better deal than leasing an EV,” Ivan Drury, director of insights at Edmunds, told us. “You can easily get a vehicle that has an MSRP of $15,000–$20,000 more than its ICE equivalent, yet the payments might be the same or lower.”

Though he hasn’t seen many automakers using the looming tax credit expiration to advertise incentives, Drury expects a bigger push closer to September. But consumers shouldn’t wait, he said: “If you were looking at this like, ‘Wow, I want to scoop up a $150-a-month Equinox EV,’ you better get to it.”

The Ford Power Promise is available to retail customers who buy or lease a new 2024/2025 Mustang Mach-E, 2025 F-150 Lightning, or 2024/2025 E-Transit cargo van from a participating Ford dealer.

“The idea was, how can we make that barrier to entry extremely simple for our customers?” Ferreira said. Since debuting the program in October, Ford has installed more than 10,000 home chargers.

Ford didn’t extend the program specifically to align with the 

, Ferreira said, but she expects to see higher sales in Q3 and for some EV fence-sitters to take the leap before Oct. 1.

“There [are] going to be folks that want to get into the vehicles before the tax credit goes away,” she said. “So we’re excited for Q3. We think it’s going to be strong.”

EV sales could see Q3 boost with Trump’s budget bill set to eliminate incentives

Ford sales leaders say “now is the time to buy” with federal tax credit clock ticking down.

What do good rom-coms and electric vehicle batteries have in common? They’ve got the right chemistry.

To that end, the US auto industry is working to commercialize lithium iron phosphate (LFP), a battery chemistry that’s popular in China, as the sector aims to deliver more affordable EVs.

On Monday, Ultium Cells, a joint venture between General Motors and South Korean battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution, announced plans to upgrade its battery cell manufacturing plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, “to scale production of low-cost lithium iron phosphate battery cells,” according to a news release.

Ultium Cells will start the process of converting battery cell lines at the plant for LFP production later this year, with plans for commercial production to start “by late 2027.” GM plans to incorporate the battery chemistry into its EV lineup alongside nickel-rich batteries, the industry norm today, and 

“At GM, we’re innovating battery technology to deliver the best mix of range, performance, and affordability to our EV customers,” Kurt Kelty, GM’s VP of batteries, propulsion, and sustainability, said in a statement.

Andy Oury, a battery engineer and business planning manager for Kelty, previously told Tech Brew that GM would continue to use nickel-rich batteries for vehicles requiring the longest range, while introducing LFP batteries on entry-level vehicles and LMR batteries “in the middle.”

Another Ultium Cells plant in Warren, Ohio, will continue producing battery cells with nickel cobalt manganese aluminum chemistry, per the release. GM said its goal in introducing LFP battery tech to its EV lineup is to reduce battery pack costs compared to the nickel-rich chemistry it uses in its EVs today.

Lowering battery costs is viewed within the EV sector as crucial to bringing down EV prices.

“By far, the biggest factor that determines the range and cost of an electric car is the battery,” IDTechEx wrote in a January research 

 on LFP batteries. IDTechEx’s research indicates that LFP batteries made up 40% of the global EV market in 2024, and researchers see “a strong opportunity for LFP to continue its growth outside of China,” especially in light of improvements to energy density.

“LFP has a number of advantages over the nickel-rich chemistries that are predominantly used in North America today,” Sam Abuelsamid, VP of market research at Telemetry, told Tech Brew. “The nickel provides for a higher energy density…But nickel cells are much more susceptible to thermal runaway,” which raises the risk of battery fires that are difficult to extinguish.

LFP has lower energy density compared to nickel-rich chemistries, but it’s cheaper, made up of materials that are more readily available, and safer, Abuelsamid said. Despite having lower energy density, he explained, manufacturers can make up the difference by assembling LFP battery packs with more active cell material.

 LFP battery plant in Michigan and licensing technology from Chinese battery maker CATL. The automaker plans to start production on prismatic LFP battery cells and packs next year.

Lisa Drake, Ford’s VP of technology platform programs and EV systems, told reporters during a recent tour of the under-construction facility that Ford executives opted to license the technology rather than continue to invest time and money into their own R&D efforts, in the interest of speed.

“I think in the coming years,” Abuelsamid said, “we will probably see a lot more adoption of LFP in North America just because of its cost advantages and safety advantages compared to nickel cells.”

Image of a person working on an EV battery.