Today’s Top Car News: Kia’s Cheap New EV, The End Of Jeep Hybrids, And More

Between the end of Jeep and Chrysler‘s burgeoning hybrid lineup, Ford in the Senate (eventually), and Kia‘s new EV2, things aren’t the way they were yesterday. Here, we’ll round up the biggest news stories of the last 24 hours on AutoBlog and divvy them up into bite-sized chunks that get right to the heart of the story, allowing you to go deeper if you want.

Jeep’s hybrids meet their end

Earlier this week, eagle-eyed Jeep fans noticed that the brand’s Wrangler and Grand Cherokee 4xe plug-in hybrid SUVs disappeared from the manufacturer’s website. Jeep said this was due to a stop-sale while it finds a remedy for a large recall affecting these models. That may have been true, but today, Stellantis (that’s who owns Jeep and Chrysler) has announced the end of both brands’ hybrid models. Instead, Stellantis is moving towards… hybrids. Sort of. To get the low-down, read on below.

Read More: Jeep And Chrysler Hybrids Killed Off In Major Powertrain Shake-Up

A mere 7 percent of new car buyers want EVs, says survey

Perhaps part of the reason Jeep and Chrysler are moving towards new kinds of electrified vehicles, a new survey claims to have found just 7 percent of car buyers want a fully electric vehicle. Of course, surveys are to be taken with a grain (or twenty) of salt. Deloitte, however, is a pretty massive company with the resources necessary to obtain a broader look at the market. While EV interest is trending upwards, the firm found it still lies in the single digits. Get the full breakdown below.

Read More: Study: Just 7% of US Car Buyers Want an EV for Their Next Car

Ford’s CEO to speak on affordability in front of the Senate… eventually

The U.S. Senate wants to know why cars are so expensive, but Ford CEO Jim Farley doesn’t want to testify — not yet, anyway. Senator Ted Cruz planned a congressional hearing with the CEOs of the Detroit Big Three (Ford, Chevrolet, and Stellantis) on January 14, but Farley, through legal counsel,  hesitated. Perhaps it has something to do with a bit of politicking – Curise and other senators shot down Ford’s plan to continue EV incentives last year. The official reason was due to the CEO’s busy calendar, for one, but also the CEO’s concerns, citing fairness, stating it’s unfair to expect Detroit CEOs to attend and not others after Tesla CEO Elon Musk was omitted from the invite list. To get the full story, check the link below.

Read More: Ford CEO Won’t Answer Senate on Why Cars Are So Expensive — Yet

Take a peek at Kia’s cheap new EV

Meet Kia’s smallest and cheapest EV yet. We say ‘yet’ because it’s called the EV2, suggesting that the South Korean automaker is leaving room for another, smaller vehicle to be introduced somewhere down the line. Regardless, Kia says the EV2 will net a best-in-class range on the WLTP cycle of up to 317 and 448 kilometers, or 197 and 278 miles, respectively, from its two battery options. To read more about Kia’s new EV, check out the link below.

Read More: Kia’s Smallest and Cheapest EV Debuts in 5 Flavors with Best-in-Class Range