Tesla price hike, Volvo-Starbucks charging network, Mercedes-Benz US battery supply: Today’s Car News

Tesla prices are up again. Mercedes-Benz will be getting US-made battery cells for its US-made electric SUVs. And Volvo is choosing Starbucks for a test network of fast-charging stations. This and more, here at Green Car Reports. 

Volvo’s plan for a pilot EV charging network will have a Starbucks at every stop

. The program will add up to 60 ChargePoint DC fast-chargers at up to 15 stores, initially along a 1,350-mile route between Seattle and Denver. For those of us who’d rather skip the vast parking lots, let’s hope this idea catches on. 

Mercedes-Benz is turning to the Chinese-owned, Japan-based battery supplier for the Nissan Leaf—Envision AESC—as its partner for a battery facility in Georgia that will supply cells for Alabama-built, fully electric EQS SUV and EQE SUV models

. Mercedes emphasizes that the Alabama plant will serve as an “export hub” for luxury SUVs in the electrici era.

And Tesla has raised prices yet again, with base prices this time getting hiked $2,000 to $12,500, depending on the model. That makes a base Model 3 $49,690 today—more than a third more than at this time a year ago. And the price of entry of a Model Y Long Range is now $62,990. 

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