Month: March 2022

Enlarge / The Polestar O₂ evolves the brand's Precept four-door coupe into a stunning two-door roadster. (credit: Polestar)

For all the talk about the maturity of the electric car, it still has a ways to go before it can cover all the bases in the automotive ecosystem. While you can buy a few electric sedans, a handful of electric crossovers, and even an electric pickup truck, there are plenty of automotive niches yet to be blessed with batteries.

For example, there are no electric minivans, although Volkswagen's ID.Buzz will check that box when it goes on sale next year. Electric convertibles are equally elusive. The EV that proved you could combine a bunch of laptop cells to power a car was the original Tesla Roadster, but it went out of production almost a decade ago.

It makes sense—the convertible market is a small one, and as startups and established automakers build out their battery-electric product portfolios, they're starting with models that will sell in volume and make them some money. But that hasn't stopped Polestar from imagining what its droptop might be with a stunning new concept car called the O₂.

Enlarge / Mykhailo Fedorov, the vice prime minister and minister of digital transformation of Ukraine, speaks at a December 2021 press conference. (credit: Yevhen Kotenko/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Update (March 3): Poland's CD Projekt Red announced this morning that it has "made the decision to halt all sales of our games to Russia and Belarus." That includes physical deliveries of CDPR-published games and all digital sales on its popular GOG platform. Prior purchases by players in Russia and Belarus will still be accessible, as the company clarified in a follow-up tweet.

"The entire CD Projekt Group stands firm with the people of Ukraine," the company writes. "While we are not a political entity capable of directly influencing state matters and don't aspire to be one, we do believe that commercial entities, when united, have the power to inspire global change in the hearts and minds of ordinary people. We know that players in Russia and Belarus, individuals who have nothing to do with the invasion of Ukraine, will be impacted by this decision, but with this action we wish to further galvanize the global community to speak about what is going on in the heart of Europe."

In an investor note published alongside the decision, CDPR notes that Russian and Belarussian customers accounted for 5.4% and 3.7% of the company's sales in the last 12 months, respectively.

Enlarge (credit: Rivian)

Automaker Rivian announced yesterday that it is raising the prices of its R1T truck and R1S SUV and that the new prices would apply to nearly all preorders.

Both the R1T and R1S weren’t inexpensive vehicles to begin with—the truck started at $67,500 before any eligible tax credits, and the SUV started at $70,000. At those prices, the vehicles came equipped with a quad-motor drivetrain and a “large pack” battery that would provide about 315 miles of range.

Now, to get the same vehicle, buyers will have to fork over $79,500 for the R1T and $84,500 for the R1S, increases of 17 percent and 20 percent respectively. The only customers locked into the old pricing are those whose vehicles are already in production or will be soon. Given Rivian’s slow ramp-up, there aren’t likely to be many who qualify.