Greetings from London!

If you drive a combustion engine car, you may have noticed over time that the fuel range the vehicle proclaims when the tank is full often does not reflect reality.

Maybe yours does, but who cares because it’s easy to find somewhere to fill up in minutes, right?

But the fact that EV range is often inaccurate, above all in cold weather, has been a major complaint from owners and a significant impediment to electrification – not least of all because that fueling infrastructure is nowhere near as ubiquitous.

Given all the complaints about “range anxiety”, it was little surprise that Italy's competition authority has been investigating BYD , Stellantis, Tesla and Volkswagen for allegedly misleading consumers on EV driving range, but also on “battery capacity degradation and limitations on standard battery warranties.”

And given that those complaints continue, it will not come as a surprise if competition watchdogs in other countries decide to follow suit.

 Which brings us to today’s Auto File…

After limping along for years, Nikola has finally given up and filed for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and will seek to sell off its assets. My Reuters colleague Akash Sriram reports about it here.

The maker of electric and hydrogen-powered trucks follows the likes of  Fisker, Proterra and Lordstown Motors, which all collectively raised billions before the cash started to run out when it became clear that getting to scale was infinitely harder in practice than in a PowerPoint presentation for investors.

Nikola’s stock fell about 38% after its announcement, valuing it at less than $50 million. That is a far cry from the heady unrealistic peak of about $27 billion in 2020, when Nikola was valued more than Ford.

What is perhaps most remarkable is that the company managed to carry on after founder Trevor Milton was convicted in 2022 for fraud for lying to investors about Nikola’s technology.

But reality eventually caught up. Nikola’s Coolidge, Arizona, factory can make only around 2,400 trucks annually, and while it listed assets of between $500 million and $1 billion, its liabilities are between $1 billion and $10 billion.

Audis to be made in the USA? REUTERS/Mike Blake.

So if you’re a major (non-Chinese) automaker, right now one of your bigger conundrums is figuring out how to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s constant tariff threats, a number of which could hurt automakers if they ever happen.  

Although it’s a new Trump administration, automakers are resorting to some of the tactics applied during his first term because ultimately the president’s goal seems to be to force manufacturers to build more in the United States.

That’s what German automakers are doing, in the hope of avoiding tariffs. Volkswagen unit Audi, which currently has no U.S. plants, plans to expand North American production with a specific site to be announced later this year.

Mercedes-Benz will localise more production at its plant in Alabama.

Meanwhile, No. 1 U.S. automaker General Motors says that if U.S. tariffs became permanent, it would have to consider moving plants.

Japan’s automakers have called on their government to find a way to shield them from potential U.S. tariffs on imports of autos and parts.

South Korea’s business leaders, including in the auto industry, are having to figure out their own way forward while the country remains consumed by its worst political crisis in decades after impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol briefly imposed martial law on December 3.

That has included sending a delegation of executives from major companies such as Samsung, LG, SK and Hyundai Motor to Washington to talk to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick

Until the country’s political crisis is resolved, Korean businesses are on their own.

How many brands does Stellantis really need? — REUTERS/Massimo Pinca. 

Former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares liked to wax lyrical about what he referred to as a “Darwinian era” for the traditional major automakers - where their manifold challenges from electrification to the rise of Chinese rivals will see the weakest falter and die.

But Tavares refused to contemplate the effect on Stellantis’ own sprawling portfolio of 14 brands – some of which have not fared well – insisting that they all had a future.

Stellantis chairman John Elkann, who has shown himself to be laser focused on repairing the automaker’s tarnished reputation among investors, is taking a more pragmatic approach as he interviews for Tavares’ replacement.

As my Reuters colleague Giulio Piovaccari reports here, deciding how many of the automaker's 14 brands have a future is a significant priority.

Shrinking Stellantis’ brand range could reduce complexity and allow some marketing, development and sales functions to be merged.

Those seen by analysts as vulnerable to a portfolio reshuffle include premium brands Alfa Romeo, DS and Lancia. 

Investors are also beginning to ask whether the automaker needs that many brands in the future.

Two European electric transport groups have called on the European Union to reject a push by European automakers to weaken 2025 CO2 car emission targets and related fines.

In a letter sent to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, which was seen by Reuters, the groups said the EU executive, which will present auto sector plans on March 5, should not accept a slower timeline for emission targets or basing fines on a multi-year average.

They also wrote that any fines should be used to subsidize the bloc's transition to EVs.

Volkswagen’s China unit and CATL aim to collaborate on developing lithium batteries for Volkswagen EVs in China.

Rivian has projected a surprise drop in electric vehicle deliveries for 2025, but said it expected to post a modest gross profit.

Stellantis has paused work on its next-generation Jeep Compas