Chevy breaks EV range record with jaw-dropping new truck — plus, 3 more stories you need to know this week

Chevrolet's Silverado EV has set a mighty range record, Mercedes is rolling out an EV "message board," and we have some interesting data on why Norwegians still love Teslas.

Here's that, plus all and other news you need to know about clean machines this week.

GM just set a world record for EV range

When the engineers at Chevrolet heard that a Lucid had recently set a range record — 748.9 miles on a single charge — they took the challenge to heart.

It took 40 engineers taking turns driving at low speeds for seven days to finally empty the batteries of the brand's 2026 Silverado EV Max Range World Truck edition, which ran for a whopping 1,059.2 miles. After they recharged the tuckered truck, the Chevy crew hooked the Silverado up to a 3D printer and made themselves a trophy.

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Your old EV battery could power an AI data center

Thanks to Tesla co-founder JB Straubel, old EV batteries are not being recycled for raw materials but instead are getting a chance at one last stint as a working battery.

Straubel founded Redwood in 2017 to recycle unwanted power cells and discovered that many of them still work, albeit in a reduced state.

Redwood now adapts the batteries for microgrid projects that help offer affordable energy storage for data centers. Only when completely unusable will the batteries then complete their journey to a recycling center.

Mercedes is adding a very interesting feature to its new model

EVs don't really need grilles. At least not flat on the front of the car, because there's no water-filled radiator to be cooled. This has given EV designers an opportunity to do something bold.

For example, Mercedes-Benz has taken a fresh look and unveiled a new grille that will make its debut on the 2027 Mercedes-Benz GLC EV.

Made up of 942 square pixels lit by approximately 140 LEDs, the grille will display greeting and parting animations, including a "breathing" screen that pulses as the car waits for its driver to push the start button. In the dark, the grille forms a uniquely Mercedes pattern.

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Europeans don't like Teslas — except for Norwegians

In Sweden, Tesla's registration numbers fell 86% year over year in July, to go along with a 52% drop in Denmark, 27% in France, 62% in the Netherlands, and 58% in Belgium, industry data showed. It marked a seventh straight monthly drop in all of those countries.

But here's the silver lining: Norway and Spain bucked the trend, with Tesla's July registrations up a massive 83% and a more modest but encouraging 27% increase, respectively, to 838 cars and 702 cars.

Why all the Norwegian love? Maybe because Tesla launched 0% interest loans in some Nordic countries to drum up demand.

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