VW's Scout Is Rethinking EV Designs to Cut Rare Earths, CEO Says
The head of Scout Motors said the upstart automaker is engineering some components to reduce the need for rare earth materials, an issue that has become critical to the car industry and taken center stage in US trade negotiations with China.
The Volkswagen AG -backed company, which plans to produce electric and hybrid vehicles, is exploring adjustments to brakes and drive units, Scout Chief Executive Officer Scott Keogh told Bloomberg TV in an interview Tuesday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Gold price today, Wednesday, June 18, 2025: Gold opens strong ahead of Fed projections
Gold (GC=F) futures opened at $3,409 per ounce Wednesday, up 0.7% from Tuesday's close of $3,386.60. The price of gold has opened above $3,400 three times this month but has stopped short of beating its all-time high of $3,485.60, set in April. Economic and geopolitical factors favor ongoing gold demand. Conflict in the Middle East, plus President Donald Trump's changing tariff demands, create uncertain outlooks for oil prices, inflation, and the overall health of the U.S. economy. While stock prices are still up for the year, investors may react to the Fed's Summary of Economic Projections, to be released Wednesday. Any sign the Fed expects rates to remain high this year could trigger lower stock prices. Gold demand, and thus gold prices, typically rise when investors are pessimistic about stocks. The opening price of gold futures on Wednesday is up 0.7% from Tuesday's close of $3,386.60 per ounce. Wednesday's opening price marks a gain of 2.4% over the past week, compared to the opening price of $3,328 on June 11. In the past month, the gold futures price has risen 5.6% compared to the opening price of $3,227.70 on May 16. In the past year, gold is up 47.5% from the opening price of $2,311.80 on June 18, 2024. Don't forget you can monitor the current price of gold on Yahoo Finance 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Want to learn more about the current top-performing companies in the gold industry? Explore a list of the top-performing companies in the gold industry using the Yahoo Finance Screener. You can create your own screeners with over 150 different screening criteria. As we've been saying all week, investing in gold is a four-step process, and today, we'll explore step 3, choosing a form. Once you define your target gold allocation, you must choose a form of gold to hold. Your three options are: Physical gold Gold mining stocks Gold ETFs Physical gold includes jewelry, gold bars, and gold coins. The advantages of physical gold include: Readily accessible for use. If you keep your physical gold at home, it is easily available for you to use as a medium of exchange in an economic emergency. No added volatility or ongoing fees. Gold mining stocks tend to rise and fall with gold prices, and business-related factors enhance their volatility. Gold ETFs charge administrative fees in the form of expense ratios. Learn more: Take a deeper dive into the gold sector The disadvantages of physical gold include: Risk of theft or loss. Physical gold must be properly secured. Whether you store it in your home or with a depository, gold can be stolen. Lower liquidity. Physical gold is less liquid than stocks or ETFs. If you are not using the gold as a medium of exchange, you may need to locate a dealer and pay a markup on the sale. Owning shares in gold mining stocks provides indirect gold exposure. The advantages of mining stocks over physical gold include: Greater liquidity. Large-cap gold mining stocks like Barrick Gold Corporation (GOLD) and Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV) generally enjoy a narrow bid-ask spread, which is a sign of liquidity. The bid-ask spread is the difference between what buyers will pay and what sellers will accept. Easy to store. Stocks live in your brokerage account and do not consume physical space. In normal times, this is an advantage. In an economic catastrophe, this could be a disadvantage if brokers or the stock market are temporarily shut down. Learn more: The top performing companies in the gold industry The disadvantages of owning gold mining stocks include: Greater volatility. Since 2000, gold mining stocks have risen and fallen faster than gold spot prices. And in recent years, gold mining stocks have trended down even as gold has gained value. No utility as a medium of exchange. Gold mining stocks can appreciate, but they have no direct utility as a medium of exchange. Gold ETFs are funds that invest in gold mining stocks or physical gold. Their advantages include: Easy to store. Like gold mining stocks, ETF shares are essentially digital assets with no storage requirements. Greater liquidity. Shares of the most popular gold ETFs, like SPDR Gold Shares ($GLD), are heavily traded which implies good liquidity. Tied directly to gold prices. ETFs backed by physical gold can be less volatile than gold mining stocks or gold mining ETFs. The disadvantages of gold ETFs include: Fund fees. Funds charge fees, which dilute returns over time. For context, the expense ratio of SPDR Gold Shares is 0.40%. This translates to $4 in fees annually for every $1,000 invested. No utility as a medium of exchange. As with gold mining stocks, you probably cannot use ETF shares to trade for food in an economic emergency. Whether you're tracking the price of gold since last month or last year, the price-of-gold chart below shows the precious metal's steady upward climb in value. Historically, gold has shown extended up cycles and down cycles. The precious metal was in a growth phase from 2009 to 2011. It then trended down, failing to set a new high for nine years. In those lackluster years for gold, your position will negatively impact your overall investment returns. If that feels problematic, a lower allocation percentage is more appropriate. On the other hand, you may be willing to accept gold's underperforming years so you can benefit more in the good years. In this case, you can target a higher percentage. The precious metal has been in the news lately, and many analysts are bullish on gold. In May, Goldman Sachs Research predicted gold would reach $3,700 a troy ounce by year-end 2025. That would equate to a 40% increase for the year, based on gold's January 2 opening price of $2,633. Rising demand from central banks, along with uncertainty related to changing U.S. tariff policy, are the factors driving the increase. If you are interested in learning more about gold's historical value, Yahoo Finance has been tracking the historical price of gold since 2000.
Washington Post
24 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Edmunds: The best SUVs for under $30,000, ranked
Just about every automaker these days offers an entry-level SUV. Though they are smaller than the most popular SUVs, such as the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, their appeal is obvious. They are affordable, good on gas, and are easy to drive and park. They also provide many of the attributes shoppers love about SUVs, such as a more commanding view of the road than a sedan offers and available all-wheel drive for extra traction on icy or snowy roads.
Associated Press
24 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Edmunds: The best SUVs for under $30,000, ranked
Just about every automaker these days offers an entry-level SUV. Though they are smaller than the most popular SUVs, such as the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, their appeal is obvious. They are affordable, good on gas, and are easy to drive and park. They also provide many of the attributes shoppers love about SUVs, such as a more commanding view of the road than a sedan offers and available all-wheel drive for extra traction on icy or snowy roads. But which one should you get? Edmunds' team of automotive experts have undertaken thousands of miles of testing in order to provide a ranked list of the five best SUVs under $30,000. They're ordered below based on Edmunds' testing and rankings. All of the following prices include destination charges. Nissan Kicks Redesigned for the 2025 model year, the Nissan Kicks has gone from being a forgettable wallflower to a small SUV extrovert. Based on design alone, the new Kicks is a major step forward from its predecessor. For the first time, all-wheel drive is optional on Nissan's smallest and least expensive SUV. All three available trims — S, SV, SR — easily fall under Edmunds' budget cap of $30,000. The top SR trim is a particularly impressive value thanks to its big display screens and many standard driver assist features. Edmunds discovered a few downsides in the newly stylish Kick, such as tepid acceleration and disappointing real-world fuel economy. But overall the Kicks is a great way to spend a little and get a lot. 2025 Nissan Kicks starting price: $23,220 Honda HR-V Honda knows a thing or two about building easy-to-drive and comfortable SUVs. The compact CR-V is hugely popular, and its smaller sibling, the HR-V, is similarly appealing. This choice is especially appealing if space is a priority for you. The HR-V has a big cargo area for this size of SUV, and headroom and legroom for rear passengers are generous. We also like the HR-V's upscale interior design and competitive value for what you're paying. The main downside to the HR-V is its lack of power. You'll need some patience for passing and getting up to speed on the highway. 2026 HR-V starting price: $27,595 Buick Envista The sleek and stylish Envista could get fashion-conscious SUV shoppers into a Buick dealership for the first time. It's one of the more head-turning shapes among small SUVs, yet Edmunds' testers found the Envista is much more than a pretty face. The Envista is longer than most of its rivals, and that contributes to adult-friendly legroom in either row. A sizable and intuitive-to-use 11-inch touchscreen is standard. But be aware that the Envista's tapering roofline does take a bite out of cargo volume. Also, all-wheel drive isn't available. 2025 Envista starting price: $25,195 Chevrolet Trax Edmunds found the small size and light weight of the Trax make it genuinely entertaining to drive. The handling is precise and, while it's no road rocket, acceleration is above par among subcompact SUVs. It's also fuel-efficient. Just keep in mind, like the Envista, all-wheel drive is not available. The Trax delivers big on passenger space, cargo volume and value. The trunk is roomy, and even the base trim comes with an 8-inch touchscreen, wireless smartphone connectivity, automatic high beams, and a Wi-Fi hotspot. 2025 Trax starting price: $21,895 2025 Hyundai Kona The Hyundai Kona sits at the top of Edmunds' rankings for extra-small SUVs. Edmunds singled out the Kona's roomy and modern-looking interior for praise, especially when it is optioned with the available 12.3-inch digital instrument panel mounted alongside the standard 12.3-inch touchscreen. Every Kona also comes standard with many driver assist features such as adaptive cruise control and blind-spot warning. One negative: The Kona's upper trims, though impressively equipped, nudge against or exceed our $30,000 pricing barrier. Also, Edmunds noted the soft and springy suspension takes some fun out of piloting the otherwise overachieving Kona. 2025 Kona starting price: $26,000 Edmunds says When it comes to how they drive and the features they offer, small SUVs have grown up a lot in the past few years. Some stand taller than others thanks to their blend of pricing, driving dynamics, interior space and efficiency. In this instance, the versatile Hyundai Kona emerges as the winner. ____________ This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds. Nick Kurczewski is a contributor at Edmunds.
