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Stories You May Have Missed This Week: EV, Charging & Intelligent Electrification Roundup (12/10/25 Edition)

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If you just skimmed the headlines this week, you probably saw “EV sales crash” and more hand-wringing about demand. Underneath that, there’s a different story: charging networks quietly scaling, software and payments consolidating, new home charging hardware coming to market, and private 5G positioning itself as the nervous system for data- and power-hungry campuses. Here’s a curated set of 12 stories you can mine for strategy, not just vibes.


EV Demand & Market Signals


1. Hybrids are carrying U.S. “clean car” growth after tax credits shift (Reuters) Federal rules removing the $7,500 tax credit from many EVs have hammered October BEV sales in the U.S., with battery-electric volumes dropping sharply from September and plug-ins overall down month-on-month. Yet Reuters notes that combined BEV+PHEV sales for the first 10 months of 2025 still hit a record ~1.3 million, while hybrid (non-plug-in) sales surged to 1.64 million units, about 25% more than plug-ins—suggesting consumers still want lower-emissions vehicles, just with less upfront risk.


2. “EV sales are in the tank” — and what that really means (Michigan Advance) This column digs into the ugly November numbers automakers reported (Ford’s Mustang Mach-E sales down nearly 50% year-over-year, EV market share falling back from September’s highs) and asks what happens next as incentives shrink and interest rates stay elevated. The takeaway: while short-term pain is real, but automakers and policymakers will still see the long-term shift as inevitable; the question is how fast, and with which mix of BEVs, PHEVs and hybrids.


3. Oregon suspends low-income “Charge Ahead” EV rebates (DEQ) Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality has now officially suspended its Charge Ahead rebate—$5,000 for low- and moderate-income buyers of new or used EVs—as of December 5, after high demand depleted the 2025 budget. Standard rebates were already halted in September, with approved applications rolling into a 2026 waiting list, underscoring how state-level incentives can become stop-start and difficult for dealers, fleets and buyers to plan around.


Charging Networks & Business Models


4. Ionna opens the playbook on building a 30,000-stall U.S. fast-charging network (EVChargingStations.com) At its first Media Day in Durham, N.C., automaker-backed CPO Ionna laid out how it plans to build 30,000 DC fast-charging stalls by 2030 using a mix of “Relay,” “Rechargery” and flagship “Beacon” sites. All locations will offer 400-kW hardware with both CCS and NACS connectors, rely heavily on owned real estate for ideal layouts (including pull-through trailer bays), and target near-perfect uptime via weekly site checks, remote diagnostics and standardized Alpitronic hardware. 


5. Off-grid fast charging for fleets lands in East Boston (Electrek) SparkCharge, MassCEC and Zipcar have launched what they call the Northeast’s first off-grid, mobile DC fast-charging hub at Zipcar’s East Boston maintenance facility, an environmental justice community. A battery-integrated Mobile Battery-Powered Trailer delivers up to 320 kW shared across multiple ports, recharging from the site’s existing electrical service between sessions—letting the partners add high-power fleet charging without waiting on costly grid upgrades. 


6. Enphase starts U.S. shipments of its “solar-aware” IQ EV Charger 2 (Enphase / EV Report) Enphase has begun U.S. shipments of the IQ EV Charger 2, a high-power Level 2 unit (up to 19.2 kW J1772 / 22.1 kW NACS) designed to integrate tightly with its home solar and battery systems. The charger can modulate power in 1-amp increments to soak up surplus PV, supports native 277 V for light-commercial sites, and includes ISO 15118-20 hardware for future AC bidirectional use—positioning it as both a premium home product and a building block for small-site V2H/V2G pilots. 


7. AI-enabled CPO software gets scooped up: Nayax buys Lynkwell (EV Infrastructure News) Payments and commerce platform Nayax is acquiring Lynkwell, an AI-enabled EV charging management platform, in a $25.9 million cash deal with additional earn-outs tied to performance. The move folds Lynkwell’s CPO-focused software—which is already used by major North American fleets and approved by utilities and public funding programs—into Nayax’s broader payments stack, tightening the link between transaction data, network operations and financial optimization for charging sites. 


8. Vermont aims for its fastest chargers yet with XCharge & Cellerate (BusinessWire) - XCharge North America has been selected by Cellerate Power to supply what the partners are branding as Vermont’s fastest EV chargers, pairing high-power DC hardware with battery-integrated designs tailored to local grid constraints. The project highlights how newer CPO-hardware alliances are using storage-backed fast charging to push into secondary markets where traditional distribution upgrades would otherwise be a gating factor.


Microgrids, Data Centers & Load Growth


9. New Mexico’s Project Jupiter data-center microgrids raise emissions alarms (Source New Mexico) In Doña Ana County, the proposed “Project Jupiter” data-center campus is seeking permits for two natural-gas microgrids whose greenhouse-gas emissions could exceed those of Albuquerque and Las Cruces combined - with 41 turbines generating as much power as the state’s largest utility. Environmental groups say developers are attempting to stay just under key pollution thresholds by splitting the project into “minor” sources, highlighting the tension between digital-economy load growth, microgrid development and state clean-energy goals.



Connectivity as Critical Infrastructure


10. Private LTE/5G spending expected to top $7.2B by 2028 (Fierce Network / SNS Telecom & IT) Analyst firm SNS Telecom & IT projects that global private LTE/5G infrastructure spending will grow about 22% annually through 2028, reaching more than $7.2 billion, with roughly $5.1 billion going into standalone private 5G networks for Industry 4.0 use cases. For U.S. campuses, utilities and logistics operators, that forecast is another signal that dedicated wireless networks are becoming core infrastructure for automation, safety and energy-management applications—including EV charging, microgrids and building systems. Read more: SNS says private network spending will exceed $7.2B by end of 2028


11. Nokia reshapes its private networking business, doubles down on mission-critical sectors (Fierce Network) - Nokia has announced plans to move its Enterprise Campus Edge private-network unit into a “portfolio” bucket and likely sell it off after a review, while continuing to serve mission-critical private networks for utilities, rail and public-safety customers. Analysts see the shift as a retreat from broad enterprise campus deployments toward larger, bespoke projects—something U.S. landlords and campuses eyeing Nokia for private 5G should factor into vendor-risk, support and long-term roadmap decisions. Read more: Nokia to divide its private networking business, and likely sell off its Enterprise Campus Edge unit



 
 
 
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