California has passed SB 301, legislation introduced by State Senator Anthony Portantino (D-Burbank), which earmarked at least $2,000,000 from the state’s clean vehicle rebate program to be available to EV conversions rather than new vehicle sales. When proposed, the legislation planned on offering up to $2000 per vehicle for those converting gas- and diesel-powered vehicles into zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs). The current bill, as amended and passed by the legislature, now offers up to $4,000 per vehicle.

The SEMA Action Network supported the bill, toting its benefits to small businesses. “Governor Newsom has the opportunity to create new jobs and support small businesses by signing SB 301 into law,” said Christian Robinson, SEMA’s senior director of state government affairs and grassroots. “This bill will also help California reduce emissions and make zero-emissions vehicle conversions more accessible to all residents. SEMA urges the Governor to recognize the tremendous benefits SB 301 brings to the Golden State and sign it into law.”

We spoke to Michael Bream, EV land speed racer and owner of EV West, an EV conversion company, about his thoughts on SB 301. He was grateful that SEMA and the California legislature had put some effort into incentivizing these DIY conversions, noting that small businesses and builders with smaller budgets will be able to benefit. “All these incentives were aimed at traditional automakers,” said Bream, referencing the rebates for new-car sales. He felt that the move would spur more hands-on involvement in EV swaps, noting that SEMA’s influence was a big part of the legislation. “I can speak for most of the conversion shops, we’re all grassroots people,” said Bream. “The DIY industry isn’t large enough to have a lobby.”

Bream sees EV conversions as an opportunity to give vintage vehicles with lackluster powerplants a new lease on life and make them viable once again. Not every vintage car is a fire-breathing muscle car or low-slung exotic. Many run-of-the-mill utility vehicles would benefit from an EV conversion, such as Bream’s own VW Bus, which can now keep up with traffic.

Putting modern components into classic cars is nothing new, and there are plenty of EV motors and batteries in salvage yards that can lead a second life. “The time, effort, and engineering that goes into a modern car is immense,” said Bream. Putting those complex and well-crafted parts into new vehicles without breaking them down into their components for scrap is often the best use for them. Remember, hot-rodders were recycling before recycling was cool.

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The luxury mid-size SUV is big business in the US, accounting for 1 million units per year according to Stellantis. It’s a crowded field, but Jeep has seen success in the segment with the stalwart Grand Cherokee (244,597 sales in 2023) and the newer Wagoneer (29,150 sales in 2023).

One thing Jeep hasn’t seen the need to do is offer an all-electric option, but Jeep’s parent company Stellantis has been aggressively pursuing electrification with models like the Dodge Charger Daytona and the Ram REV. It was only a matter of time before the off-road marque followed, and today, at a launch party in Manhattan, Jeep revealed its first all-electric vehicle, the Wagoneer S.

The Wagoneer S is late to the five-seat-luxury-EV-SUV game, with the Tesla Model Y, Genesis GV60, and Mercedes-Benz EQE already occupying the space. How would Jeep differentiate from the competition?

Well, for one, the Wagoneer S is a handsome thing, and most definitely looks like a Jeep. Its puffed-out trapezoidal wheel arches and squared visage read more aggressive than the typical space-egg EV. “When you look at a lot of electric cars, they kind of have this jelly bean, fishy kind of look, which I can’t stand. So we gave the vehicle some character,” said chief design officer Ralph Gilles on the styling. Chrome is noticeably absent, in its place are satin-painted accent trim and natural stainless steel. The design team, and Stellantis as a whole, is looking to find alternatives to the caustic chroming process.

Aside from its general Jeep-ness, the exterior of the S has two defining details that set it apart from the brand’s gas-powered cars. The grille isn’t a grille at all, as the electric Wagoneer doesn’t need the cooling. Gilles’ team took the iconic seven-slot Jeep grille and morphed it into a cast-lit feature that would look at home on a Zaha Hadid building. The other cool feature is the large, almost WRC-like wing integrated into the rear hatch. Gilles referred to it as the R-wing, and the engineering team says it reduces rear air wake and helps the S achieve a 0.29 coefficient of drag.

Like the regular Wagoneer, the interior looks and feels pretty darn nice. As with the exterior, the designers strayed from traditional luxury materials. Wood and leather are replaced with ceramic-coated aluminum and “synthetic non-leather” (vinyl). Some of the interior designers may have been iPad kids, as Jeep boasts a “tech-integrated interior with 45 inches of usable screen space – best-in-class among EVs.” Heated and ventilated front and rear seats and a 19-speaker, 1,200-watt McIntosh audio system round out the interior niceties.

Jeep prides itself on performance, whether it’s on or off-road, so all the exterior and interior show is for nothing if the Wagoneer S has no go.

Luckily the S has plenty of go. With 600 horsepower and 617 lb.-ft. of torque delivered from front and rear electronic drive modules (250kW), the EV Jeep can hustle from 0-60 mph in 3.4 seconds. To put that in context, the Hellcat-powered Grand Cherokee Trackhawk will hit 60 a tenth slower. For off-roaders, the Wagoneer S has a traction management system that features five distinct driving modes: Auto, Sport, Eco, Snow, and Sand. I’d guess that most Wagoneer owners will not take advantage of this feature, but Jeep teased a Trailhawk Wagoneer S concept at the reveal (pictures not available at press time), so hardcore off-roaders won’t be left in the cold.

The Wagoneer S is based on Stellantis’ STLA Large EV platform that also underpins the upcoming Charger Daytona. The S is equipped with a 400-volt, 100-kilowatt-hour battery good for a claimed range of 300 miles. With a DC fast charger, the pack can go from 20 to 80 percent in 23 minutes.

If the specs and features of this luxury EV SUV sound expensive, you would be right. The fully loaded 2024 Wagoneer S Launch Edition has an MSRP of $71,995 including destination. Although to lessen the sting a little, the Launch Edition includes either a free 48-watt Level 2 home charger, or $600 worth of charging credits through Stellantis’ Free2Move Charge EV charger network. Stellantis promises more affordable, decontented trims in the future.

If you want one, ordering for the Wagoneer S is open today at time of press. If you don’t, at least there will be a good-looking EV SUV on the road.

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The age of the compact sedan is gone: The most common passenger car sold here in the U.S. is a compact crossover. Chevrolet bears out this pattern—Silverado trucks aside, its best-selling vehicle in 2023 was the Equinox. This humble, two-row crossover may be a yawner for an enthusiast, but it is hugely valuable to the company, and to those who buy it. An affordable ($33,195), spacious, comfortable car, the Equinox easily serves as the only vehicle for a couple, even one with a kid or two. Is it possible to reprise the theme for an electric version? Earlier this month, we got our first chance to drive Chevrolet’s attempt to do exactly that.

The Equinox EV is a new car, and an important one. The cheapest model (the LT) will retail for $27,495 including a $1395 destination fee and the $7500 federal tax credit, for which it is eligible in full. (Leaving off the credit, the LT will cost $34,995.) Range for the most efficient version, the front-wheel-drive one, is 319 miles. Chevrolet has made electric vehicles before, and they have been similarly affordable, but none have been this large: Even the larger version of the Bolt, the EUV, was more of a tall hatchback than an SUV. The Equinox EV is a compact crossover, the format of vehicle that Americans like most. Not until now has Chevrolet offered an electric vehicle in this vehicle segment, and its hopes are high: The company aspires to sell 150,000 a year.

For the first drive event, Chevrolet provided Equinox EVs in a variety of trims and colors, both front- and all-wheel-drive. Your author spent the most time in a front-wheel-drive 2RS riding on 21-inch wheels, painted Radiant Red with an Adrenaline Red interior.

Specs: 2024 Chevrolet Equinox FWD 2RS

• Price, base/as-tested*: $45,790 / $50,880
• Powertrain: Single permanent-magnet electric motor
• Output: 213 hp, 236 lb-ft of torque
• Layout: Front-wheel-drive, four-door, five-passenger compact crossover
• 0–60 mph: TBD
• EPA fuel economy equivalent, MPGe: 117 city, 99 highway, 108 combined
• Competition: Ford Mach-E, Tesla Model Y, Volkswagen ID.4, Kia EV6

*minus federal $7500 EV tax credit)

Like all other GM EVs, and a few Hondas, the Equinox EV relies on GM’s Ultium platform—specifically, the BEV3 variant. The Equinox EV is assembled in Mexico with LG batteries built either in Tennesee or Ohio, making it eligible for the full federal tax credit of $7500. 

Styling, both inside and out, strikes a balance between familiar and futuristic, with the exterior leaning a little more to the latter. Size-wise, this vehicle is significantly larger than the outgoing version of the gas-powered Equinox. It’s closer in size to the recently revealed, fourth-generation Equinox, which looks very different, even from a distance: GM is intentionally bringing its ICE SUVs in line visually with its trucks. Exterior designer Samuel Bell says he didn’t look at the gas-powered Equinox at all when designing this electric crossover, and it shows: The Equinox doesn’t look much like its predecessors, but it’s easily recognizable as a Chevrolet. It’s a simple, handsome design, more obviously a crossover than the swoopy Blazer EV, which somehow looks too big in real life. 

The Equinox wears multiple details that make this car worthy of the price of its higher trims. For example, Chevrolet eschewed molded-in-color plastics for the arches around the wheel wells, using plastic but painting it as it would a metal body panel. The front and the rear fascia display thoughtful texturing, most notably a diamond pattern that does an excellent job at hiding the parking sensors. The pattern is complemented by a simpler sequence of slashes—at the front, you’ll find the pattern between the headlights. In the rear, you’ll see it on the very bottom edge of the bumper. You get the feeling Chevrolet sweated the details on this design even as it chased that thirty-something target price. 

If you’ve been in any other 2024 model year Chevrolet product, you’ll feel at home in the cabin of the Equinox EV. The shifter is mounted in the steering column, behind a familiar, three-spoke steering wheel with matte-plastic buttons, toggle switches, and faux-metal accents on the front and two rocker switches tucked onto its rear side. The location of the shifter allows for a storage cubby below the center console, as it does in the 2024 Traverse. Materials are mostly plastic, with different splashes of color and cloth or leather-mimicking Ecotex depending on trim. The dash is dominated by a two-panel digital display that absorbs the duties of instrument cluster, radio, navigation, and vehicle settings.

Only a few things signal that you’re in an EV, one of which is the absence of a start button or rotary drive-mode selector (which Chevrolet plans for the next-gen, gas-powered Equinox). The heavy dose of familiarity is wise for a vehicle perceived by many as relying on new-fangled technology; little about it feels novel or futuristic compared to the contemporary ICE lineup.

The hands-free start system does take some getting used to: If, like me, you associate pushing a start button with shifting a vehicle into drive, eliminating one eliminates both: Several times I got into the vehicle, which obediently lit to life, but nothing happened when I pressed the accelerator pedal. I learned my lesson by the fourth or fifth start. 

As a front-wheel-drive model, our test vehicle made the most efficient use of its 85-kWh battery and single, permanent-magnet primary drive motor: This is the version with the much-touted range figure of “315 plus” miles: 319, as estimated by the EPA. Output is 213 horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque. An “eAWD” variant uses the same primary drive unit but adds a smaller, induction motor in the rear. In those Equinox EVs, you sacrifice a bit of range for more power: 285 miles, 288 hp and 333 lb-ft of torque.

There are a few rough edges to the driving experience, but they’re all forgivable at this price point. Because the torque is available instantly, the Equinox EV feels a lot quicker than the numbers suggest. When you only need max squeeze for highway merges or purposeful lane changes, the power is totally adequate. You hear bumps more than you feel them, with these 21-inch wheels and without the gentle background noise of an engine; but harsh impacts, like deeply recessed grates or badly filled repair areas, break through with a thonk to your ears and your butt. The more comfortable electric Equinoxes are likely the cheaper ones on the smaller wheels: Our drive route only involved asphalt, but these 21-inch wheels would likely get obnoxious if you lived down a dirt or gravel road. Stoplights and low speeds aren’t completely silent affairs: Even with the artificial hums and chimes silenced via the touchscreen, there’s discernible motor whine. Steering has some play in it on-center, and is light and artificial throughout the travel.

We’ll reserve judgment on the rear seats and cargo area until we’ve lived with the Equinox EV for a few days, but first impressions are quite good. Not only is a flat battery pack well suited to maximizing interior space, but the designers tucked a few thoughtful solutions into the car: Executive chief engineer Matt Purdy told us that he asked for a place to put a gallon of milk so that it wouldn’t slide around the flat trunk: Look to your right when you open the liftgate, and you’ll see the little plastic nook to hold your two percent. Lift up the flat floor of the trunk and you’ll uncover another cubby beside the charging cable bag.

Our early interactions with the Google-based infotainment system, much of which is of GM’s own design, were inconclusive. Like the driving experience, the price point covers a multitude of smaller sins: The visual language of the display is not particularly elegant, though the resolution is satisfactory. GM clearly prioritized customization: Not only can you download third-party apps, but you can move them around to prioritize the ones you use most frequently. You can even demote some to simplify your view. Someone who’s comfortable configuring their smartphone to mold to their habits will find the organization familiar, but for those who expect a less phone-like experience, in which each button only appears in one specific location, the degree of customization may be overwhelming, possibly frustrating. The size of the screen may be a detriment, too: There’s so much digital acreage to look at. Tapping through, say, various levels of brake regen requires more eyes-off-road-time than feels necessary: Why not just repurpose paddle shifters, like the rest of the world?

Be warned that the fanciest features on the Equinox EV, like Super Cruise and Google Maps and Google Assistant, require additional spend beyond the purchase price, either right away or eventually: Vehicle to Home charging is a an up front cost, the others further down the road. If you buy a charger from GM—not the only or the cheapest charging option, but the best one if you want to eventually add the home-charging station—figure in $1699. That home charging bundle is another $5600.

The other features are available free from GM for a trial period. After that window expires, you’ll need to purchase a subscription from Onstar to keep using them. As of this writing, Super Cruise costs $25 a month after the three-year free period, and that cost includes Automatic Lane Change. Access to Google Maps and Alexa is $15/month, but the trial period is longer than for Super Cruise: eight years. If you want to use your phone to check vehicle stats like tire pressure, cue a remote start, or favorite radio stations, that’s also $15/month. When we live with the car for a week, we’ll dive into more detail and make some suggestions of which services are worth the continued spend.

There are cheaper EVs on the market than the Equinox EV, such as the Nissan Leaf or the Mini Cooper SE. However, these are less spacious vehicles with smaller battery packs. Step up a size, to small SUVs like the Kona EV, and you still only get two-thirds of the Equinox EV’s 315+ mile range. The most established electric crossover, the Tesla Model Y, is more expensive than most front-wheel-drive configurations of the Equinox EV; you’re more likely to cross-shop the Tesla with the more lavish, eAWD versions of the Chevy.

Others, like the Mustang Mach-E or the Volkswagen ID.4, either cost more than the Equinox EV or have lower driving ranges … or both. Higher trims of the Equinox do overlap with the price of lower-spec Mach-Es, but that crossover has a more sporting persona than the humble, serviceable Equinox; it makes more sense as a rival for the bigger Blazer, a range capped by the tire-smoking SS model. The Hyundai Ioniq 6 and the Kia EV6 challenge the Equinox EV in terms of power and interior quality, but they are significantly more expensive—more in the territory of the Blazer EV—and neither is eligible for the federal tax credit. 

The point of all that name-dropping? With a generous range, a low price of entry, a familiar nameplate, and few sporting pretensions, the Equinox EV represents a sweet spot in the market for electric crossovers. The tasks of an Equinox may not be glamorous, but they are important—especially so if electric vehicles are to represent most of the vehicles on our roads. From first impressions, the Equinox EV appears worthy of its name.

2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV FWD 2RS

Highs: Spacious interior, spunky powertrain, approachable styling inside and out.

Lows: Ride is rough around the edges. Low noise insulation from motor whine, tire noise. Coolest tech features require subscriptions.

Summary: An Equinox for the electric age, whenever that age arrives.

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The Tesla Cybertruck is a unique vehicle, to say the least, both on the road and in the marketplace. The EV, packed with high-tech features and adorned with sharp angles, gets attention everywhere it appears. And despite teething troubles, the secondary market for the Cybertruck reflects this nothing-else-like-it appeal. New examples selling at a big premium relative to their sticker price.

It looks like a different kind of truck, but just how differently does the market treat it?

The Cybertruck joins the new vehicle marketplace in 2024, amidst slowing sales growth for EVs in general. Gone are the days of supply shortages and, for the most part, the annoyingly large added dealer markups (MSRP + dealer fees) common among popular new vehicles in 2022. In those days, new EV trucks such as the Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, and GMC Hummer EV were popular, and they regularly had transacted well over sticker. That the Cybertruck is now enjoying similar markups even in a cooler market speaks to its popularity.

Measuring the premium of those early EV trucks isn’t hard, but does require a little more time than many of these behemoths take to get from 0-60. With the growth of online auction sites, a couple of hundred examples of those three have been auctioned as nearly new vehicles. Often, the auctions contain the window sticker price of the truck when it was new. The secondary market premium is the final price (hammer price plus fees) over the window sticker price. That premium shows how much more someone will pay to jump the line and get one of the hot new EV trucks in their driveway ASAP.

When the GMC Hummer EVs started hitting the auction market in the spring of 2022, they began selling for between two and two-and-a-half times the $112,595 sticker price (a premium of +100% to +150%). One even sold as a charity lot for $500K. That premium drifted down to about 50 percent by late 2022. By 2023, the median premium was still 39%, but by 2024, some examples are selling for sticker price.

The 2022+ Ford F-150 Lightning reached the secondary market a couple of months later in 2022, but the premium was still around 33 percent for the fall of 2022. By the fourth quarter of 2022, the premium had dropped to 15 percent. In 2023, the premium continued to drop, and in 2024, the now slightly used trucks are selling at a discount.

As an EV startup, Rivian is the most similar to Tesla, but its innovative R1T truck isn’t nearly as in-your-face different as the Cybertruck. It did beat it to market, however, and the first examples sold on the market in the spring of 2022. In that first month, the average premium was 73 percent over the sticker price. Much like the other two launched in 2022, the R1T has continued to depreciate, with the first model year trucks now selling at an average discount of 16% to their original sticker price.

Notably, the supply of nearly new examples of these three EV trucks in the secondary market is still comprised of first model year vehicles, presumably because supply has caught up with demand for the 2023 and 2024 model years.

The Cybertruck has also been enjoying a premium in the secondary market, with an average premium of 35 percent over sticker. That the truck has only been available for less than three months means it is still early days. For the big splash it has made, however, its early secondary market premiums are only stronger than the Lightning’s: Comparing it to premiums enjoyed by the other three, the Cybertruck’s 35 percent puts it slightly above the market performance of the Ford, and well below that of the Rivian R1T.

What’s different? The market in 2024 isn’t the same as it was in 2022, though, so that may account for the slightly lower premium for Tesla’s truck. That said, it’s not the only vehicle commanding a significant premium in a cooler market. The other newly available 2024 model that also currently enjoys a premium isn’t an EV, but it is from an automaker with a similarly fervent fan base. The 2024 Porsche 911 Dakar is also an innovative vehicle, and is off-road capable, but based on a limited amount of public secondary sales, it too is selling at an average of 40 percent above sticker price in the early months of 2024. Given its limited production and the trajectories of past special 911s, though, it’s likely that the valuation path of these two vehicles won’t stay the same for long.

Context really is everything: The Tesla Cybertruck is commanding a premium, and its popularity is reflected in secondary market sales. This wedge-shaped Tesla might be, well, different, but its market behavior so far tracks the paths of EV trucks before it. Regardless of the Cybertruck’s novel approach, the premiums it currently commands are unlikely to persist.

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A patent secured by GM Global Technology Operations LLC and published on May 16, 2024, hints that GM is developing a clutch for use on some of its future electric vehicles. The patent describes a method of operating a vehicle’s clutch using an actuator device that relies on measuring fluid pressure to determine the position of the piston within the actuator. The writing is naturally very technical and dense, but we think we’ve managed to parse out the important bits.

Some outlets have speculated that this patent means GM is planning three-pedal EVs so that drivers can shift their own gears. Nothing in the patent document suggests that. On the contrary, the patent includes several inputs for the clutch operation and the driver is only one of them. There’s no mention of a clutch pedal whatsoever.

There are a lot of applications within GM’s current and future EV portfolio for which this patent makes plenty of sense. Permanent magnet electric motors, like the ones GM is currently using on the GMC Hummer EV, Silverado EV, and Cadillac Lyriq, are quite efficient and power-dense. Their drawback is that they don’t allow a vehicle to coast freely when directly linked to the transmission, as the design inherently creates more drag than an induction motor. This patent suggests that GM hopes to use an electronically actuated clutch to decouple the electric motor from a transmission when it’s not needed. The clutch system could link the motor to the transmission for accelerating, decouple for coasting, and reengage for regenerative braking, reducing drag and increasing range. It could also enable the use of multiple gears, similar to the Porsche Taycan’s two-speed gearbox, though how the driver would initiate a shift remains unknown.

Just like in an ICE vehicle, improving EV efficiency can have benefits for the manufacturer and the consumer. We hope that this patent leads to EVs that go further every charge or perhaps go the same distance but with lighter, less expensive battery packs.

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The Silverado EV is the first electric pickup Chevrolet has designed from scratch. It is also, among the Big Three, the first battery-only pickup designed from a blank sheet of paper: Ford’s F-150 Lightning, which debuted in May of 2021, is an adaption of the gas-powered F-Series platform, and Ram has yet to let anyone drive its battery-electric pickup, called the REV. We spent several hours on I-94 between Detroit and Chelsea, Michigan, plus a smattering of undulating two-lane roads, to get acquainted with Chevrolet’s champion in this next generation of the truck war.

The only vehicles available at this media event were RST First Edition trims, painted black, which represent the most expensive variant of the Silverado EV. Every bell and whistle is offered, including trailering-capable Super Cruise, air suspension, and 24-inch wheels.

The styling of this electric pickup resembles a Silverado the same way that a third-gen Equinox represents a Silverado: by hint and mimicry. The buttresses connecting the C-pillar to the bed recall the 2001–13 Avalanche: Their main function here is lowering aerodynamic drag, but the resemblance to GM’s other truck with a midgate hints at the ethos of this vehicle—practical, but with a unique flair compared to the long-running half-tons in GM’s lineup.

This Silverado EV needs no traditional grille to cool a combustion engine, so the shield-shaped indent in the front is simply another body panel. It hides a generous, easily accessible frunk; all the necessary cooling for other components is achieved by the lower air dam. Those vertical slits in the “cheeks” of the fascia are primarily for reducing aerodynamic drag—they are air curtains that channel air around the wheels. Between the wheels sits a GM-designed skateboard platform filled with Ultium batteries of GM’s own make, built in Warren, Ohio under a collaboration with LG Energy Solution of South Korea.

The 205-kWh pack grants this top-tier model a range of 440 miles, GM estimates, 40 up from that advertised at launch. Range is one of the things Chevrolet is most proud of on this truck. The closest competitor in this respect is the Rivian R1T, with 400 miles. A charging speed of up to 350kW and 24-inch wheels are other class-leading stats.

Specs: 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV First Edition RST

• Price: $96,495/$96,715 base/as tested
• Powertrain: Dual motors, one front, one rear; direct-drive transmission front/rear
• Output: 754 hp and 785 lb-ft of torque (1064 lb-ft in WOW mode)
• Layout: Four-wheel-drive, four-door, five-passenger full-size pickup truck
• 0–60 mph: < 4.5 seconds (manufacturer estimate)
• EPA fuel economy equivalent: 67 MPGe city, 59 highway, 63 combined
• Competition: Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, Ram 1500 REV

In America, the majority of expensive trucks are luxury vehicles with mainstream badges. In this competitive set, high-quality accoutrements are mandatory. (Check out the $89K Ram that we drove recently; Ram intends to offer the same luxury-laden trim level, Tungsten, on its battery-electric truck.)

It’s in this area that the Silverado EV disappoints. Given the almost $97K sticker price, it’s a failure customers will notice. The tops of the doors, where you might rest an elbow, are not padded. (They are on the Equinox EV, which Chevrolet touts as America’s Most Affordable EV with 315+ Miles of Range.)

Though the steering wheel looks like it’s wrapped in leather, the material is a synthetic imitation that doesn’t pass the feel test. The grilles of the upgraded Bose sound system feel rubbery and flex under minor pressure. Almost everything else within reach is black plastic: The column-mounted shifter, a dead ringer for the one in the new Traverse; the buttons on the front and the back of the steering wheel; the insides of the A-pillar; on the dash beside and above the analog HVAC controls, which are black plastic with a bit of rubber; on the top and the sides of the center console.

The red piping and blue and red stitching on the seats, plus the red elements in the climate control vents and the red stitching on the steering wheel, read as a half-hearted attempt to disturb the reign of black in this cabin. When we asked about the availability of the white-and-black interior, pictures of which have been floating around on the internet, Chevrolet told us that black is the only interior color available on the First Edition RST.

Leather is not an option on the RST—you sit on thrones of Ecotex, the leather-esque synthetic material that first appeared on the humble Trax. Wood trim is nowhere to be seen, let alone the open-pore ash found in the Rivian R1T. Suede, as used for the headliner of that competitor? Dream on.

Though the truck does come with running boards (their underside is also fettled to reduce aero drag) Chevrolet won’t offer retractable ones; as the chief development engineer told us, the truck is not set up for them. (Chalk one up to the F-150 Lightning, which you could easily fit with fancy running boards from the aftermarket, since it rides on the familiar F-Series frame.)

Glass is plentiful, and the cabin lets in a lot of daylight, but if you reach up to the glass forward-center section of the roof, you’ll find no sunshade. GM’s explanation is that the additional tint (compared to the side windows) was enough to satisfy its requirements, but that a shade will be available as a dealer add-on. Similarly, Rivian and Tesla both offer a panoramic glass roof on their electric trucks without a power-operated shade, and in those models one isn’t even available as an accessory.

We also observed uneven stitching that wobbled across the dash and armrests; GM clarified that the vehicles we encountered were either pre- or early-production, so we expect the issue to be remedied on customer trucks.

Power comes from two electric motors, one on each axle. Output is 754 hp and 784 lb-ft on the First Edition RST. Chevrolet won’t yet reveal the details of trim levels other than the 3WT and First Edition RST, other than to say we can expect WT, LT, and RST variants in the second half of 2024 and a Trail Boss for 2025. We would expect power output to vary across the lineup according to price, but Chevrolet’s lips are sealed for now.

The size of that battery pack is one of the biggest reasons to buy a Silverado EV, and not exclusively because of the impressive range it provides. The truck is a portable power source, capable not only of recharging your electric leaf blower or running an air fryer at your campsite but of powering your house during an outage for up to 21 days, says GM Energy’s website.

The Silverado is not the only vehicle in GM’s portfolio capable of vehicle-to-home (V2H), or “bidirectional,” charging—the Blazer EV, the Equinox EV, and the Lyriq do, too—but the Silverado has the largest towing capacity (11,000 pounds), and its battery is by far the largest available, at least until its GMC sibling debuts. If you don’t yet have a Level 2 charger at home—and you’ll definitely want a Level 2 to max out the capacity of a pack this large—GM Energy will sell you one with a three-year warranty for $1699. Unlike the $600 one from Chargepoint on Amazon, GM’s is capable of bidirectional charging. You’ll need to buy a lot more equipment to utilize that capability, though—without installation, and not counting the charger, all the stuff you need costs $5600 from GM Energy.

In that context, the eye-watering price point of the First Edition RST-spec Silverado makes a little more sense. The Silverado EV, as are most EVs these days with ranges and tow capacities rivaling ICE cars, is for a deep-pocketed customer who already owns a home but who has money to invest in significant home upgrades and who is excited to adapt to a novel, gas-independent lifestyle. If you live in Texas, Michigan, California, North Carolina, or Ohio, the states most frequently hit by weather-related power outages in the last 23 years, an EV capable of V2H charging is a compelling proposition. Your A/C will stay running, you can charge the batteries for your electric chain saw to help your neighbors move downed trees, the food in your fridge won’t go bad …

The Silverado EV’s genuine usefulness as a backup power source almost makes up for how unfriendly it can be to drive—on the 24-inch wheels, at any rate. The wheels are giant, the tire sidewalls small (50-section), the tire pressures high (low 60s up front, 70 in the rear), the weight huge (9119 pounds), the platform incredibly stiff. Even the complex suspension setup—adaptive dampers and air bladders, a combination unique to the RST—cannot ensure a comfortable ride on both highway and back roads on these wheels, with these tire pressures. You’ll need to use My Mode, rather than one of the factory presets, to set the suspension to its softest setting, Tour, to get the most compliant ride on highways.

From first impressions, we don’t recommend Tour for backroads driving, as the suspension felt nearly water-bed-like on undulating two-lane roads. A Chevrolet designer on location didn’t betray any second-guessing about the choice of the 24-inch rims, merely noting that the size was already present in the aftermarket for the ICE Silverado, and that 24s looked really good on the EV truck. While engineers on hand pointed out that the tires were extensively massaged in the wind tunnel, the diameter of the wheel seems suspect in a vehicle so focused on range and efficiency; the simpler solution for range optimization and increased towing capacity is a smaller, lighter wheel shod with a high-load tire.

We’d been curious about the launch mode, Wide Open Watts, and we finally experienced it. With a GM-estimated 0-60 time of 4.5 seconds, the Silverado EV isn’t Hellcat-quick but it’s disturbingly adept at acceleration for a vehicle of such height and heft. You activate WOW mode via the touchscreen. Tapping the icon, which looks a little like a Motorola logo upside down, triggers a ripple from the stereo that sounds straight out of Helldivers. The activation is gimmicky, though the launch itself isn’t—stomp the accelerator (no two-foot action needed), and the truck hurls itself forward without a whisper of wheelspin from any of the tires. We did one launch from behind the wheel and another from the passenger seat, the first with the truck at normal ride height, the second with it hunkered down, and both times the front end got light enough to cause the truck to weave side to side. Yikes.

Yes, you can road trip in a Silverado EV. Not only does the Google-built-in infotainment plan all your charging stops for you, but the First Edition RST comes with Super Cruise, which is also able to change lanes on its own and preemptively avoid slower traffic. (Super Cruise also works while towing, albeit without the use of automatic lane-change.) The system is well-executed and makes long stretches of boring highway delightfully chill for the driver. The only place you wouldn’t want to use it is on a highway with a lot of traffic and some aggressive, unpredictable drivers (we’re looking at you, I-96 in Detroit). In those scenarios, you’ll want to watch your own rearview mirror for gap-hungry Hellcats and the like.

After hearing a fellow journalist shower praise upon the rear seats of a competitor’s full-size pickup, your author spent an hour or so in the back seat of the Silverado EV, curious about what a kid might experience on a road trip. I exited the vehicle squinting, feeling jostled. Space there was, and plenty of it—you could fit an NBA player in this back seat, and they’d have knee and elbow room to spare—but I doubt that they would be any better protected from sun glare and heat through the glass roof, or from the pavement imperfections transmitted to the butt through the less-than-luxurious bench seat at highway speeds. I silently promised any potential future children I would buy them a Suburban.

The truck has its virtues. Four-wheel steering makes the Silverado EV quite nimble in a parking lot, something a Suburban cannot boast. The short front overhang is easy to adjust to if you’re coming from a smaller vehicle. Rear visibility is good, thanks to that wide rear glass and assuming that nobody is sitting in the back seat; even if they are, the camera feed projected onto the rearview mirror compensates well.

Nearly every truck in the Silverado EV’s competitive set has a nifty storage solution that takes packaging advantage of the battery-electric architecture, and the Silverado’s is a midgate between the bed and the cabin. It lowers just like that on the aforementioned Avalanche: The bottom of the rear seats hinge forward, to rest against the backs of the front chairs. The backs of the rear seats fold toward the floor, and the glass can be unlocked, removed, and stowed in a pocket on the back panel, which then folds down. The only fly in the ointment is the pouch for the charging cable, which we stored under the rear seat on the driver’s side, but that prevents the seat backs from folding completely flat. Chevy doesn’t provide a specific spot to put the pouch, so it’s up to you to chuck it somewhere out of the way.

The RST is probably our least favorite version of the Silverado EV. Not only is it more than double the average transaction price (about $47,000) for a new vehicle in 2024, but it also comes exclusively with the punishing 24-inch wheel-and-tire set. Swap them out for, say, the Work Truck (WT) variant’s 18s, and cushier rubber, avoiding the glass roof, and the regular, non-air suspension might be able to keep up with the mass of the pickup. Hagerty staffer Steven Cole Smith had no complaints about the ride after his admittedly brief time with the WT back in October 2023. That truck rides on 18s and a coil-spring suspension—a significant upgrade from the gas-powered Chevrolet trucks, all of which still use leaf springs. If more comfort at a lower price point is your priority, however, Chevrolet will make you wait until the second half of this year for an LT variant of the Silverado EV.

The fanciest thing about the First Edition RST’s cabin are its dual digital displays. Functionally, they are quite customizable; you can relocate icons and move your favorites to the top rail of the central 17-inch touchscreen, adding up to five in the section below the volume knob, an area nearly perfectly obscured by the right side of the steering wheel, and download third-party apps.

Your author particularly enjoyed the multiple configurations of the 11-inch screen behind the steering wheel that serves as an instrument panel: You can toggle it to display full-width Google Maps, freeing you from sideways glances at the center panel. Aesthetically, the layout is rigid. The color scheme is blue or light blue, and CarPlay, as with all new GM EVs, is not offered.

The menu structure is not intuitive—if you don’t realize you can prioritize and relocate various icons, you will fall down a rabbit hole of submenus just trying to tweak the regen on the brake. (I never thought I would miss the outgoing Bolt’s regen-on-demand steering-wheel paddle control, but this truck made me wish for them.)

Chevrolet has been understandably busy debuting vehicle after vehicle this year, events which are the final milestones in years-long development processes. Many are proving quick successes: The newly matured Trax is selling like hot cakes. The new Colorado ZR2 is an on- and off-road champion. And how could we forget the Corvette E-Ray, which we declared “an all-American, grand-touring marvel,” and the upcoming ZR1, due to be revealed this summer? Yet even after our brief time with the Silverado EV, we suspect it would be difficult for any customer to deduce that this truck is made by the same company that designed and executed the world-class C8. While the Vette sets the standard for exceptional performance value, this electric Silverado doesn’t measure up to its nearly six-figure price tag. We know Chevy does trucks well. Its first electric truck deserves better.

2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV First Edition RST

Highs: Road-trip-worthy range, nifty midgate, can serve as stand-by power for your home and/or toys.
Lows: Punishing ride quality on 24-inch wheels. No spare tire. Interior is more worthy of a $45K truck, not a $95K one.
Summary: If you’ve waited this long for a knockout, clean-sheet electric truck from Detroit, keep waiting.

***

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Screech!

That noise you heard today was the Biden administration trying to put the brakes on the sale of Chinese EVs in the U.S. by quadrupling the existing tariff from 25 percent to 100 percent. The White House has also slapped a 25 percent tariff on Chinese-made batteries that are used in electric vehicles. The tariff was previously 7.5 percent.

As he announced the EV tariffs, President Biden accused China of unfair labor practices. “It’s not competition. It’s cheating,” he said, during a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden.

So what will be the immediate effect?

“It’s not going to make much of a difference at the moment,” said Sam Fiorani, vice-president for global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions. “The current level of tariffs was already preventing most vehicles from coming in from China, and raising it isn’t going to make much difference. There are some companies in China that are targeting the U.S. at any cost, and it’s likely their plans will be delayed as they find alternate routes. But in the near term, there will be little to no effect.”

“Alternate routes” could be assembling vehicles outside China, and then importing them to the U.S. “Presuming the government doesn’t find some way to prevent Chinese-branded vehicles from coming in, they are likely to find factories in Mexico or South Korea or some other friendly nation in order to bring their vehicles into the U.S.,” Fiorani said.

The added tariff on Chinese-made EV batteries may be an issue for U.S. manufacturers that use them, which includes Tesla and Ford. “There are a number of vehicles that are using Chinese batteries,” Fiorani said, “and it will hamper the profitability of those vehicles, and potentially speed up the production of batteries sourced from other countries.”

Chinese-built electric vehicles may not be an immediate threat to the U.S. automotive industry, but in the future, that may not be the case. An Associated Press story was distributed May 13 with this headline: “Small, well-built Chinese EV called the Seagull poses a big threat to the U.S. auto industry.”

The story is about a car manufactured by the Chinese company BYD, which stands for “Build Your Dreams.” The Seagull sells for about $12,000 in China, has a range of 252 miles, and is available with six airbags, disc brakes, and electronic stability control. It has “American automakers and politicians trembling,” the story says.

A company named Caresoft Global, which does automotive benchmarking, imported a BYD Seagull and dismantled it at their Livonia, Michigan, facility. The company president, Terry Woychowski, was so impressed with the quality of the Seagull that he told AP it should be a “clarion call” to U.S. manufacturers. “Things will have to change in some radical ways in order to be able to compete,” he said.

A Reuters story cited federal data that said only four vehicles presently sold in America are made in China. They are the Lincoln Nautilus, the Buick Envision, the Polestar 2, and Volvo’s S90 sedan. Polestar and Volvo are “affiliates” of Chinese automaker Geely, the story says. Geely also has a controlling stake in Lotus and multiple other brands.

We’ve tested the China-built 2025 Volvo EX30, a small electric SUV that was supposed to come to market in the U.S. by the end of this year at a base price of $36,245. No word yet on how Volvo is reacting to the new tariff. The company will build the EX30 in a plant in Belgium beginning in 2025, but early models will come from China unless Volvo’s plan changes.

Make no mistake, said analyst Fiorani: Tariff or not, “The Chinese are coming. It may take a third country, but the U.S. market is so desirable by any nation whose economy relies on the automotive business. These vehicles are going to find their way here.”

That’s because America is “the goal market” for the Chinese, Fiorani said. “To bring a vehicle into the U.S. shows that you have made it.”

***

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“The number of vomit emojis has definitely gone down,” laughs Marc Davis, founder of Moment Motor Co., about the business’s social media attention. I guess you have to learn to laugh at stuff like that, especially when you’re doing something as drastic (and new) as putting electric motors into old cars. Plus, car people on the internet are quick to judge no matter what you do. The response Davis gets now, though, is a lot more positive, and it’s indicative of the changes in public perception since he started swapping EV powertrains into classic cars in 2017.

Indeed, those changes came big and they came quick. On the new car market, EVs have gone totally mainstream, and electric’s performance and maintenance advantages have become clearer. On the old car scene, the arguments for electrifying classics made by Davis and people like him, mainly that these conversions keep classics on the road long-term and help bring new people into the hobby, have gained more traction and acceptance. As for the electric powertrains themselves, they’ve improved and have become more readily available, while the process of converting a car is now easier. To see how all this happened as well as what the steps are for “de-ICEing” and electrifying a classic, I visited Moment’s shop on South Congress Ave. in Austin, Texas.

Then, to find out if EV swaps are really “soulless” like the skeptics say, I drove three of Moment’s finished builds: A Mercedes-Benz 280SL, a 1966 Jaguar E-Type, and a G-body Porsche 911 Carrera.

Davis’ first career was in the tech industry, but he’s a lifelong car guy who spent weekends tinkering in his garage and building relationships in the classic and hot rod communities. He still love cars of all types, but saw electrification as something new, exciting, and part of the future. Experience from his professional life combined with the passion in his personal life in 2017 when he formed Moment, and there’s a clear overlap between tech and cars. “Our team is mostly made up of either engineers from the tech industry who are passionate about cars or performance cars builders who are excited to work with these new drivetrains,” says Davis. “Everything we do is tracked in modern project management software…Progress is tracked with pictures, hours, descriptions, and detailed updates to the client the whole way through.”

While plenty of shops specialize in a fairly narrow range of makes and models, the goal with Moment from the beginning was being able to convert any classic car to electric power. So far, Moment has completed about four dozen builds, ranging from Porsche 356s and Alfa Romeo Spiders to Chevy Blazers and Toyota pickups. Being versatile was key since Davis knew the market for what they were doing was relatively small.

The technology, even less than a decade ago, was also limited. The first builds were, “and I hate saying this, mostly repurposed golf cart and forklift kind of stuff. It worked but was low-power and simplistic.” There were of course new EVs on the road in 2017, namely Teslas and Nissan Leafs, but the manufacturers wouldn’t sell their powertrains to anybody. The workaround was that as those Teslas and Nissans hit salvage yards, their drivetrains could be removed and repurposed. Even from wrecked cars, these were better than anything else that was available and became Moment’s preferred source of powertrains from later in 2017 until 2021. Then, more recently, as the rest of the new car industry has caught up, there are EV powertrains and components that are functionally equivalent, warrantied, and widely available. That’s what goes into Moment’s builds today.

The facility is located near the end of Austin’s trendy South Congress Ave., and one thing is striking from the moment you arrive there: Despite the ’60s and ’70s vehicles outside and all the cars in various states of assembly inside, the place is quiet. The floors are clean. All the tools you’d expect to find in a place that takes apart cars and puts them back together again are there, but so are wiring, diagrams, a humming 3D printer, electric motors, and batteries lining the workbenches. As for the cars, the sights and smells you expect from a jacked-up Austin-Healey 3000 with its hood wide open simply aren’t there. Neither is this Healey’s tall 6-cylinder engine, nor any drips of oil. In its place is a compact electric motor nestled under the tunnel where the four-speed gearbox used to be.

On the other side of the shop, a 1963 Corvette Split Window rests alongside a ’68 Mustang fastback. Both look like they just got back from a Pro Touring meet, but they’re electric, too. There are also a couple of 911s and an Alfa GTV, as well as several W113-generation (1963-71) Mercedes-Benz SLs. Moment has converted enough of these W113 builds that their process has gotten both quicker and cheaper. Which isn’t to say that any of their builds are quick or cheap. Each takes months, and the cost ranges from $50K–$150K, not including the donor car. Even so, Moment currently has a nine-month wait list.

The wide range of cars in the shop suggests that Moment has a wide range of customers, and they do. Many are traditional car collectors who “see what we do as a way to rejuvenate and enjoy one of their classics in a different way.” They also see clients who have long had an affinity for classic cars but for one reason or another “never had the confidence or desire to keep up with the maintenance,” Davis says. These could be people who inherited a classic car from an enthusiast relative and see electrification as a way to enjoy and preserve a car that’s been in the family, or it could simply be someone who fell in love with a classic and sees electrification the only way to realistically use and enjoy owning it. Other clients are simply very new to classic cars altogether. “They drive new cars and like the simplicity of them; they’re primarily EV owners. Then, they see a perfect old Mercedes or vintage pickup and literally fall in love, but then find out they can own one with a modern electric drivetrain.”

Builds like these, then, bring new people into the old car world. What’s more, they keep old cars out and about in regular use. Many of them might ordinarily sit and suffer neglect if they were left stock. Despite the massive changes and updates under the skin, Davis says “ultimately we’re about preserving these things. We want these cars to be driven, not sitting in the garage. We want to give someone the ability to just go out and go whenever they want.” There’s simply far less to worry about and check for than with a ’60s-era, carbureted gas engine. “In the end we’re putting cars back on the road, driving.” It’s hard to argue with that.

When someone brings a car in for conversion, Moment fully inspects everything and addresses any necessary fixes. “We aren’t a restoration shop, so if the car needs metal work, paint, or repair, we partner with other shops to handle that stage of the process.” Then, they de-ICE the car, removing the drivetrain and fuel systems.

What happens to the old engines? Many owners want to keep them. Many don’t. “We can try to sell them, but you’d be surprised how hard it is. I have a storage unit with far more of them than I expected.”

Next they 3D scan the car, mainly the engine bay, transmission tunnel and trunk to determine where all the new components and drivetrain will have to fit. One challenge is weight distribution, as they want to keep the balance and driving dynamics as close to the original design as possible. Another is simply where to fit everything, as the space under the lines of a ’60s sports car was never meant for things like rectilinear battery boxes. This effort often requires designing and test-fitting brackets, platforms, and mounts to hold everything in place. Meanwhile, the team figures out where to route the high voltage cabling and coolant lines. Understandably, when they’ve converted the same type of car a few times, like Mercedes 230/250/280SLs, the process gets quicker and easier.

After final assembly, Moment tests and tunes the car, sorting out everything from throttle response curves and thermal systems to squeaks, creaks, and rattles—these are still old cars, after all. After enough test miles and tweaking, the finished product goes to the customer, while any new parts created through the process go into a library of chassis-specific components to make future builds easier.

So, how does the finished product actually drive? Of the three electrified classics I’m driving during this visit, the Mercedes-Benz 280SL makes the most sense as a candidate for EV conversion. It’s not surprising to learn that more W113-generation (1963-71) SLs have gotten the Moment treatment than any other car.

The 2.8-liter, 180-hp, fuel-injected, single-cam six that powered this car out of Stuttgart in the ’60s is a fine engine. It’s smooth, stout, well-built. But it was never the star of the show. It doesn’t make a memorable noise. Nobody ever bought a 230/250/280SL for what was under the hood, and most U.S. buyers ordered theirs with an automatic, anyway. Instead, they bought it for the looks—arguably designer Paul Bracq’s magnum opus—as well as the clever “pagoda” hardtop, and the classy, comfortable interior. This was a car for leisurely cruising at moderate to high speed and looking good while doing it, and that’s still the main appeal of the W113 for classic car buyers today. What does an EV swap take away from that experience? Nothing, really. It arguably makes it better.

“I think if you went back to the Mercedes folks in 1967 and said you had this silent, smooth, powerful drivetrain, they’d probably think it was perfect for a car like this,” Marc says as we slide into the SL’s springy seats. And, from the driver’s side, the W113 platform and the electric motor complement each other well. It rides like a normal SL, and it steers like one. In fact, everything feels like the original, except, of course, for the much deeper reserves of power and torque, which push you forward no matter how fast you’re going. The way this example is geared makes low speed acceleration swift but not savage, while speeding up from 60-80 mph is accomplished surprisingly quickly. If any “soul” or “character” has left this SL, I’m not really missing it.

The E-Type, I think, is a tougher sell as an EV. Yes, there was an electric E at the royal wedding, and a U.K. company even makes a drop-in EV kit for Jag’s most famous sports car, but the original XK six-cylinder engine is one of the all-time greats. It powered beautiful cars and won major races for decades. It looks great. It sounds great. Its length and heft dictated the E-Type’s long, lithe, forward-hinged hood, and the twin exhaust pipes tucked under its tail are one of the E’s more distinguishing features. To take all that away, then, removes much of the car’s character, right? Well, yes, but not as much as you might expect.

Getting in, there’s no doubt you’re in an old Jag. The leather smells right. The signature toggle switches on the dash are all there. So are the gauges, except that some offer different read-outs. For the dial to the right of the speedo, which measures kilowatts but has been cleverly designed in the style of the original Smiths tachometer. The only obvious clue to the car’s alternative drivetrain on the inside are the simple up arrow, down arrow and P (Park) buttons where the shifter boot used to be. Some of the batteries reside under the luggage area, but you’d have to lift a panel to find them. On the outside, the only obvious clue is the lack of those exhaust pipes. Somewhat surprisingly, their absence doesn’t take anything away from the XKE’s famous good looks.

A bigger surprise is just how much this car feels like a good-old-fashioned gas-guzzling E-Type on the road. I was afraid it might drive like a twenty-first century roller skate cosplaying as old English sports car, but that’s not the case at all. The tail still squats and the nose still lifts slightly under hard acceleration. Under cornering, you still feel stiffening and flexing through the wood-rimmed steering wheel.

Despite the extra heft and all the batteries distributed throughout the platform, the rear brakes are still inboard as they were in period. Because this example is geared more for highway driving and passing, acceleration from a standstill isn’t startling, but it is immediate and, especially in the ’60s setting of the cabin, feels very quick. The package delivers about 300hp and 375 lb-ft to the Jaguar rear end via a carbon-fiber driveshaft. At higher speeds, rolling into the left lane for a quick squirt of acceleration to pass someone is completely effortless. It’s almost intoxicating, in that over-too-quickly, want-to-do-it-again kind of way. This would be a fantastic car on a short road trip. I did miss that legendary twin-cam six up front, but not as much as I thought I would. A couple of times I forgot about it completely.

Finally, of the three, the 911 Carrera gives the most uneasy first impression as an electrified classic. For 60 years now, the weight of a flat-six mounted in the back has been the most consistent part of a 911’s makeup. But not in this one. This car presents the heft of its batteries more noticeably than the other conversions, and it’s not the traditional distribution as the tail-heavy original. As a result of packaging requirements, Moment had to locate some of the batteries up front, occupying much of the front trunk between the headlights.

The driving experience, then, doesn’t hew to classic 911 dynamics. This car feels heavy, particularly in the steering. Even at high speed, working the steering wheel through twisty bits fires up your shoulder muscles. It’s a contrast to the normally light-on-their-feet, stock 911s of this period.

Notice I said heavy, not slow. Indeed the acceleration feels very quick, and the car very planted. Throwing it into a bend requires less bravery than tail-snappy 911s of yore. Traction and power are very easy to come by. And while it’s not as good as the music from an air-cooled six, the electric motor’s noise coming up the transmission tunnel from behind and between the seats is not unpleasant, and emits more of a growing mechanical whir than the high-pitched electric whine I was expecting.

Speaking of the transmission tunnel, what’s hiding underneath it is this EV Porsche’s party piece. The G50 five-speed that originally came in this car is a fantastic gearbox, so Moment kept it right where it was and adapted it to the new motor. It does take some getting used to—you only really need to accelerate from a stop in second gear (doing so in first is borderline violent and correspondingly brief) and around town or on country roads you can have almost all the fun you want in third or fourth, but it remains fun and satisfying to shift. Also, while you do have to use the clutch pedal to go from gear to gear, you don’t have to do anything with your left foot when you come to a stop because the gearbox isn’t hooked up to a constantly rotating ICE engine. No stalling uphill from a stoplight here.

Like the Jag, the Porsche sacrifices plenty through losing its ICE engine. But it gains plenty, too, and it certainly put a smile on this skeptic’s face.

EV swaps are not for everybody, but I can see why this type of conversion is getting more popular, and Davis sees the future in its as well. “At this point the only downside is cost and perhaps range, but both of these things will only get better over time.” Davis also foresees greater standardization across this corner of the industry, and even complete EV-conversion kits for certain vehicles in the near future, like components specifically designed for electrifying a Tri-Five Chevy or VW Beetle, to name a couple.

No matter what kind of emojis you’re posting when an EV conversion hits your feed, it’s hard to deny that the classic car industry is going through big, quick, interesting changes. Shops like Moment are not only driving those changes, but also keeping the hobby going, and even growing it.

***

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The new-for-2023 Subaru Solterra, the company’s only electric vehicle, practically had “first effort” written all over it. Essentially a kissing cousin to Toyota’s first electric, the bZ4X (arguably the worst-named import since the Merkur XR4Ti), the Solterra SUV gave Subaru an electric toe to dip into the water, and claim its share of those $7500 federal tax credits.

An aside: That tax credit is applicable for leases only. Since the Solterra is built in Japan (65 percent Japanese parts, 35 percent Chinese, says our window sticker), the $7500 can’t apply towards purchase. The main difference between the bZX4 and the Solterra, by the way, is that the Toyota is offered in front-wheel-drive, and the Subaru is exclusively all-wheel-drive.

For 2024, the Subaru Solterra has enough updates to make it feel like a plucky second effort. Mainly, it charges more quickly: For 2023, Subaru said that on a DC fast charger, the battery could reach 80 percent capacity “in about an hour,” which lagged the competition. For 2024, it’s down to about 35 minutes. It can also charge, Subaru says, “significantly faster” in cold climates than the 2023 model.

Range is the same as in 2023, an estimated 228 miles from a full charge for base models with 18-inch tires and wheels, or 222 miles for models with 20-inchers, which includes this test vehicle. Our test Solterra was delivered with a 94 percent charge, which, said the dashboard, equated to 198 miles’ worth of juice. By comparison, Kia says the 2024 EV6 Wind e-AWD has an estimated range of 282 miles, and a combined 320 horsepower, which is 105 more than the Solterra, at a comparable base price to our test vehicle.

Size-wise, the Solterra measures out to match most of the competition. Length is 184.6 inches, one inch shorter than a Ford Mustang Mach-E. Width is 74.1 inches, a tenth of an inch wider than a Kia EV-6. The Subaru has 23.8 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seats in place, 63.5 cubic feet with the rear seatbacks folded down.

Inside, it’s roomy for four, a little tight for five. The interior has an upscale look and feel; the exterior styling is pretty busy and angular, but in the cockpit, the design is mostly conventional, aside from the new oval steering wheel. I like flat-bottomed steering wheels like this one—they make sliding into the driver’s seat easier.

In the middle, there’s a wide console, leading up to the 12.3-inch multifunction touchscreen. Instruments and controls, while not exactly intuitive, are reasonably easy to figure out. The sound system, a 576-watt, 11-speaker Harmon Kardon was just fine, but most premium stereos are consistently good nowadays.

Specs: 2024 Subaru Solterra Touring

• Base price/as tested: $44,995/$54,558
• Powertrain: Dual electric motors, one at the front axle and one at the rear, with a 96-cell, 72.8 kWh lithium-ion battery
• Combined Output: 215 hp; 249 lb-ft of torque
• Layout: All-wheel-drive, four-door, five-passenger SUV
• Estimated range at full charge: 222 miles
• 0-60 mph: 6.7 seconds
• Competitors: Toyota bZ4X, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Chevrolet Blazer EV, Kia EV6

Outside, the design doesn’t look particularly like a member of the Subaru family. I kind of like it, but opting for the “Elemental Red Pearl” paint also gets you “Galactic Black” trim (the colors cost an extra $890, the peculiar names are free), plus those big charcoal arches over the front and rear wheels that sort of blend in with colors like gray or blue, but contrast loudly with the red. Not everyone was in favor of it. The bZ4X has the same plastic cladding—neither company tried very hard to differentiate the exterior styling. Nor the driving style, for that matter.

Being a Subaru, the company’s marketing does what it can to paint the Solterra as an off-roader, but that’s a stretch. Yes, it has 8.3 inches of ground clearance, but that’s barely more that the Toyota bZ4X’s 8.1 inches, and Toyota press materials make only a passing reference to “off-pavement exploration.” Both companies offer Snow/Dirt and Deep Snow/Mud settings, and Grip Control and Downhill Assist Control, both using the same name for all those self-explanatory settings, sort of unusual for two separate brands.

Another aside: In case you were wondering (I wasn’t, but maybe you are), the name Solterra “was created using the Latin words for ‘Sun’ and ‘Earth’ to represent Subaru’s commitment to deliver traditional SUV capabilities in an environmentally responsible package,” the company says. That’s likely one reason the comfortable seats were trimmed in polyurethane “StarTex,” which definitely isn’t leather. Base models use “cloth.” Helpfully, Subaru explains that polyurethane is “synthetic plastic,” presumably in comparison to plastic that grows wild in nature.

On the road, the Solterra, despite having just 215 total horsepower, has more punch than you’d expect, and our 0-60 mph time of 6.7 seconds isn’t bad. During quite a bit of local and highway driving, I never wanted for more power. That said, the base AWD Ford Mach-E comes with 266 horsepower, and Ford says the 0-60 mph time is 5.2 seconds. Not that owners are likely to drag-race either vehicle.

The Solterra handles nicely in town, but its long suit is its highway performance. The rather basic independent suspension—MacPherson struts and coil springs up front, double wishbones in the rear—offers a smooth ride on all but the most uneven pavement. The steering has a precise feel on-center, and doesn’t require continual adjustment to keep the Solterra going in a straight line.

I didn’t have the opportunity to comprehensively test out the Solterra’s off-road capability; the cow-trailing we did could have been mastered by a Ford Crown Victoria. I don’t doubt that the Subaru could handle some moderate obstacles, and it certainly has enough electronic assistants to help navigate a variety of surfaces. Before I tackled anything challenging, though, I’d want a more aggressive tire tread than what’s available on the Solterra.

The Solterra is offered in Premium, Limited and Touring trim, with Touring being the top of the line. Our Solterra was a Touring model, with a starting price of $51,995, a significant step up from the Premium’s $44,995. With freight ($1345) and a handful of small options, our test car listed for $54,558.

For that, you get about everything you’d want, from a panoramic moonroof to a 360-degree camera to the handsome alloy wheels, plus a long list of electronic safety features. Like the Subaru-Toyota marriage that birthed the successful Subaru BRZ and its near-twin, the Toyota GR86, this Solterra/bZ4X collaboration works very well.

2024 Subaru Solterra Touring

Price: $54,558

Highs: Upscale interior; excellent ride, especially on the highway; comfortable seats front and rear, best-in-class ground clearance.

Lows: Middling range and charging time, polarizing styling, pricey unless you just want an electric Subaru.

Takeaway: If you can live with the range and mediocre power, pretty much a viceless electric SUV with some moderate off-road chops.

***

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“Paradigm shift.” That’s the phrase Maserati uses as it makes another significant step towards being an all-electric car company. Just added to the lineup, alongside the Grecale Folgore SUV and GranTurismo Folgore coupe, is what Maserati claims to be not only the first luxury electric convertible to market but also the fastest: the GranCabrio Folgore.

In a glitzy event in Rimini, Italy, Maserati pronounced the GranCabrio to be “Made in Thunder,” as it was presented by an eclectic collection of Italian celebrities. The roster included a DJ/pianist named Dardust (who blasted out an opening overture), actress Matilda de Angelis, and astrophysicist Edwige Pezzulli. The scientist compared the brand’s innovation to the likes of Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo.

But wait, there’s more: a “Turn me on” ad campaign featuring a shirtless Damiano David (lead singer of Eurovision-winning rock band Måneskin), the launch of a $2.5 million Maserati-badged electric boat called Trident, and the company’s return to single-seater racing with its Formula E team. If it’s meant to be a paradigm shift, the fanfare is there.

But what of the car itself? Silently driven out onto the stage among the jumbo screens, booming sound, and visual effects was a handsome liquid rose gold four-seater cabriolet. As has been Maserati’s motif, the GranCabrio Folgore looks almost identical to the combustion-powered car that was revealed in February, with its flowing curves evolved from the previous generation GranTurismo and GranCabrio. Design boss Klaus Busse described this as “visual longevity” and referenced the proportions of the glorious 1954 Maserati A6GCS. If it ain’t broke, et cetera.

Copper Folgore badging and trim pieces, together with a clean tailpipe-free rear are the only features to visually distinguish EV from ICE from the outside, while in the cabin, laser-etched Econyl fabric is the signature feature. The canvas roof can be folded away in 16 seconds, and there’s a built-in wind deflector and air scarf to keep occupants comfortable. At least those sitting up front, anyway; for rear seat passengers it’ll no doubt be rather breezier.

Underneath the skin is where things are radically different. Instead of the Nettuno V-6 from the MC20 supercar, there’s a three-motor electric powertrain and a 92.5-kWh battery pack that runs from under the hood down the central spine of the car, essentially taking up the same space as the V-6, transmission, and prop shaft. This keeps the center of gravity low and allows the exact same monocoque to fit on top.

The three permanent magnet motors, derived from Formula E, each produce 300 kW (408 hp), with one on the front axle and one for each rear wheel. The battery’s 610-kW discharge capacity translates into a maximum system output of 750 hp. Operating independently, the motors can provide advanced torque vectoring under the watchful eye of its Vehicle Domain Control Module. Rear or all-wheel drive can be selected, to suit conditions or your mood. There are four drive modes that go from eking out the range to maximizing performance on track, plus three levels of regenerative braking.

The GranCabrio uses 800-volt architecture so it can charge at up to 270 kW, which means getting a 20-80 percent charge in 18 minutes or, to think of it another way, adding 60 miles in just five minutes. Maximum range as measured by Europe’s WLTP cycle is 280 miles, so expect maybe 250 at best in the real world. EPA range is expected to be about 250 miles.

Use all the available electrons and you won’t get as far but you will certainly get there fast. The benchmark 0-62 mph sprint takes 2.8 seconds, 120 mph is reached in 9.1 seconds and top speed is 180 mph. Like the Grecale Folgore, the GranCabrio will accompany such feats of acceleration with a synthesized soundtrack meant to ape the brand’s historic V-8s. Sign of the times.

Despite the dramatic switch in what powers the GranCabrio, what hasn’t changed is its underlying principles, says Busse. “You can drive six hours to Monte Carlo and you’ll arrive in style and comfort and at the same time you can stop halfway in Monza and really unleash the full performance of the car. A perfect balance of delivering long distance comfort and being able to stop at any track around the world and deliver a hot lap without looking out of place.”

Based on where the GranCabrio Folgore sits in the lineup, $220,000 is a fair guess for the starting price. We will be able to report back on specifics in June when we drive it and get a better idea how such a lofty figure is justified. However, at the moment, shoppers wanting an all-electric four-seater convertible have no other choice, regardless of cost.

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Hyundai’s sporting N division has taken its most potent EV, stripped it down and sped it up to create a race car to compete in a new one-make series.

The Ioniq 5 N EN1 Cup cars throw out the family-friendly seats and most of the interior trim, with just a single bucket seat and harness put back. A roll cage and EV-specific fire suppression system is also installed, while the quirky retro bodywork gets a new aerodynamic kit, with wider arches to house bigger forged alloy wheels. The hood is replaced with a fiber-reinforced plastic version, and the windows are polycarbonate. These measures save around 500 pounds compared to the road-going model, although at 4,340 pounds it’s still no lightweight.

A bigger 84 kWh battery pack and a total of 650 horsepower go some way to mitigate the mass, while two-way adjustable dampers with camber and ride-height adjustment allow race teams to tune the suspension. Six-piston front calipers and four-piston rear units apply serious pressure to the discs for fade-free braking, and grip comes from slick tires on 18-inch rims.

Race teams will be allowed a free choice of rubber, and are also permitted to customize the digital noises produced by the car’s NGB Overboost, virtual shift and amplified active sound systems.

2024 will serve as a trial for the eN1 series, with racing kicking off on April 27 at Inje Speedium, not far from Seoul. The eN1 Cup cars will then race at Hyundai’s N Festival where the recently-introduced Avante/Elantra N1 one-make series will also be competing.

“Through the eN1 class, our ultimate aim is to establish Hyundai Motor as a true leader in the EV motorsport platform, fostering the growth and development of Korea’s vibrant motorsport culture while making a resounding impact on a global scale,” says Joon Park, Head of N Brand Management Group. “With the eN1 class, we are poised to redefine the future of racing and pave the way for a new era of electrifying motorsport achievements.”

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Silver Needle is among the most expensive, most prized tea varietals in the world. Traditionally grown in the mountains of China’s Fujian Province, Silver Needle is made exclusively from the fuzzy, shoot-shaped top buds of the tea plant, plucked before they open. Harvesting of the most prized buds takes place during the March-April “first flush,” and ideally in the early morning when the sun has dried any overnight dew. Plucked shoots are then laid out in baskets to further dry under the sun, lightly oxidizing before they are baked at low temperature. Silver Needle tea is savored worldwide for its delicacy, light sweetness, and exquisitely refined flavor lacking any astringency. It is, in many ways, the Rolls-Royce of fine teas. The Spectre is that British automaker’s latest brew.

Rolls-Royce has always been about outright elegance and extreme refinement. I’ve ridden in a handful of old ones, including a ‘50s Silver Cloud, and driven newer examples—the Wraith, Ghost, and Cullinan. Each felt wonderful in its own way. The 2024 Spectre, Rolls-Royce’s first all-electric car, is remarkable not because of any particular advancement, but rather for how effectively it harnesses EV technology to deliver the brand’s trademark characteristic: effortlessness.

An electric drivetrain has scarcely ever been more suited to its intended use. Everything that makes EVs impractical as daily drivers (cost, available charging infrastructure, charging speeds) and uninspiring for sports cars (vapid-feeling motors, lack of sound, weight) is unimportant for an ultra-luxury machine like this. A range of 266 miles (for models with 23-inch wheels, or 291 miles with 22-inch wheels) should be plenty when the average Spectre owner has seven cars, any number of which may have gas engines for longer trips. Still, it’s not much for a car costing this much money, and it should be noted that newcomer Lucid’s base Air claims more than 400 miles of range. Contrary to reputation, Rolls owners in the United States tend to drive their cars themselves and don’t have a chauffeur. Which is to say, they drive because they want to, not because they need to. When a car trip isn’t to their preference, yachts or private jets suffice. 

Barge-like mass is practically a requirement for a Rolls-Royce, and exquisite quietude has long been a hallmark of these cars, whether they packed V-8s or V-12s. Spectre engineers targeted a 0-60-mph sprint of 4.4 seconds—optimal, in their view, to deliver immediate passing power that nevertheless remains smooth and doesn’t throw passengers around. The sheer concept of Tesla’s Ludicrous Mode, to the comfort-obsessed boffins in Goodwood, must seem, well, ludicrous.

Specs: 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre

• Price: $500,000+ (est.); $424,750 (base)
• Powertrain: 102-kWh lithium-ion battery, 2 separately excited synchronous motors (190 kW front; 360 kW rear)
• Output: 584 hp; 663 lb-ft
• Layout: Twin-motor, four-passenger, all-wheel-drive coupe
• EPA Range: 266 miles (23-inch wheels); 291 miles (22-inch wheels)
• 0-60 mph: 4.4 seconds
• Competition: Strictly speaking, nothing lines up apples-to-apples.

New for 2024, the Spectre rides on the same Architecture of Luxury platform as the Cullinan SUV and Ghost sedan. According to a company press release, the all-aluminum spaceframe was engineered and designed from the outset to accommodate pure electric power “as and when the technology became available.” The Spectre uses a 400V electrical system and includes two separately excited synchronous electric motors, one on each axle, capable of producing 584 hp and 663 lb-ft of total output. The battery is a 102-kWh lithium-ion unit, shared with the BMW i7, and alone accounts for 1543 of the Spectre’s 6371 pounds. Rolls-Royce boasts that by integrating the battery into the body structure, the spaceframe is 30 percent stiffer than any prior model from the brand. Another bonus: the battery’s low position serves as a large brick of insulation from road and wind noise.

The base price for a 2024 Spectre is $424,750, before options. Most owners will spec their cars beyond $500,000. Our Arctic White test car wore no official window sticker, but the spec sheet glittered with the following goodies: Aero Two-Tone paint, polished 23-inch wheels, a Navy and Charles Blue interior scheme, open-pore Mimosa Negra wood interior trim, contrast stitching in white, stowable blue umbrellas, a “bespoke” clock, illuminated treadplates, ventilated massage seats, and a “Starlight” headliner that extends onto the doors with 4796 individual points of lights.

The interior is eerily quiet, such that the HVAC system produces substantially more noise than the powertrain. Every single object and texture within reach is utterly beautiful to touch or look at. Knobs find their little detents with satisfying precision. The steering wheel is gorgeous, simple, and has a pleasant but controllable heft at any speed. The exposed wood is finished in such a way that you can appreciate the grain of the wood while also sensing that it is almost perfectly even and smooth in its curvature. Despite this downright overwhelming exuberance, the interior’s fundamental layout is crisp and simple—a far cry from the tech-laden, pixelated song-and-dance in BMW, Audi, and Mercedes flagships. This is intentional, as if the car wants you to say “hmm,” and “oh,” rather than an immediate “wow.” The lambswool carpet on the floor of the back row feels orders of magnitude softer than any piece of clothing I’ve ever owned. The new instrument cluster is all-digital, but the display mimics traditional gauges and is blessedly free of corny gimmicks.

The Spectre seats four, but only nominally in the way that the Porsche 911 does. What oil baron is going to shame their friends, colleagues, or even children by asking they duck in the back row, plush and extraordinary as it is? That sloping roofline does not allow for generous rear-seat headroom. More so than the Cullinan or Ghost, the Spectre is for the driver rather than the passenger. Even without a companion on board, you can feel like an entire orchestra is there with you thanks the the 18-speaker, 1400-watt Bespoke Audio system. It offers a stunning tapestry of sound that is all the more impressive and enjoyable with no competing sound from the rest of the car to distract your ears.

Out on the roads in metro Detroit’s more posh suburbs, the Spectre glides over potholes and rough pavement like they’re not even there. The floatiness is at first bizarre and even disconcerting, especially when approaching a corner, but you quickly learn to trust the car’s electronic body control. Using a variety of sensors and GPS data, the Spectre can automatically disconnect its anti-roll bars on straight roads to let each wheel react to road conditions without disrupting the wheel on the other end of the axle. Over highways with repeated, visible expansion joints, it works so well you’d think the road was runway-smooth. (Not having to think about it at all is more the point.) When a corner approaches, the system reconnects and stiffens suspension dampers in anticipation.

It is not an exaggeration to say I could have one-handed the steering wheel and comfortably sipped a cup of hot tea. Probably wouldn’t have spilled a drop, either.

Part of what makes all this possible is a new software architecture known as Decentralized Intelligence; the setup features dedicated data processors positioned close to their sensor source, rather than through a single central processing unit, to “respond more quickly to driver inputs and changing road conditions.”

A four-wheel steering system aids handling; engineers chose to use a 12-volt motor for this application, rather than a 48-volt unit, because the latter’s torque would have required a stiffer attachment where the half-shaft meets the wheel, resulting in harsher feedback for the driver. The system is most noticeable at low speeds and in parking lots. At 215.55 inches long, the Spectre is less than an inch shorter than the outgoing Wraith, so every bit of help turning it on its axis is necessary. It’s no tougher to park than a mid-size sedan, which feels odd when you remember this behemoth is six inches longer than a regular-cab F-150.

Out of curiosity, I floored the accelerator from a dead stop on an empty, picket-fence-lined road. There was no scramble of clawing wheels, no cheesy Tron-like whir noises pumping through the speakers, no dramatic thrust back into the leather throne as the car reared on its ample haunches. The Spectre simply… went. Not unpleasantly, mind you, but rather in the very English sense of simply getting on with it. For me, the real achievement of this car is that driving it doesn’t feel like an artificial cloud devoid of feedback. The body moves when you swing it into a hard corner, but just so. Braking hard from a high speed does elicit a sense of sheer mass, communicated through the pressure in the brake pedal, that’s quite distinct from what you feel slowly rolling to a stop. It’s one of the only moments you remember what a large vehicle you’re driving. One-pedal driving in max-regen “B mode” is also possible, but at times the brake pedal felt strange and unnatural when used in this mode.

We didn’t have the opportunity to use any charging services, but Rolls-Royce claims that the Spectre’s battery takes 34 minutes on a 195-kW DC fast charger (Level 3) to go from a 10 to 80 percent charge. Just don’t expect to see a Spectre parked at a city charging station or the dinky setup at to your local Kum & Go—Rolls owners drive their cars, on average, just 3200 miles a year and one can expect that almost all EV charging will happen at owners’ homes, luxury hotels, or similar tucked-away locations.

Rolls-Royce has said it plans to have a fully electric lineup by 2030. The brand’s embrace of EV technology is strategic not just because of the perceived benefits to its products, but also as a means of aligning with its customer base’s preferences. According to PR spokesperson Gerry Spahn, Rolls has been working hard to lower the average age of its clientele over the past decade or so. The average owner is now 43, which is “considerably less stodgy” than when the modern Phantom launched in 2003. “That first Phantom was very formal, targeted at older drivers,” said Spahn. “By 2009-2010, the Ghost was bringing in younger, newer wealth in the 40-to-50 age range. Then, the Dawn and Wraith, around 2015, brought in a whole wave of young entrepreneurs who struck it big.” 

Forty percent of Spectre buyers will be taking delivery of their first Rolls-Royce, and, Spahn said, many of these customers “want the car for its social benefits.” Translation: the ability for an owner to say that they drive an EV, rather than an emissions-spewing gas car. Notwithstanding the ongoing debate around the true environmental impact of electric cars and batteries, let alone the contradiction of an average owner of six cars and a $425,000-plus Rolls-Royce trying to make any statement about sustainability, it’s obvious that cachet and status are important considerations in this ultra-elite social stratum. 

The Spectre is, in many ways, the slab-sided silent hovership of the ultra-elite’s dreams. It can be completely personalized to the customer’s taste, such that it represents not only their preferences but functions “as a monument to their achievements,” in Spahn’s words. Rolls-Royce points out that, in 1900, company co-founder Charles Stewart Rolls saw potential in the electric car: “The electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean. There is no smell or vibration. They should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged.” 

Charging stations are being arranged nationwide, albeit piecemeal and with inconsistent reliability for the masses. A Rolls-Royce, however, makes a highly convincing use case as the ideal application of EV technology—among the most economically privileged class, anyway. These fortunate few can lay back in their gorgeous leather seats, stare at the simulated stars in the headliner, and fondle the painstakingly crafted materials in their cockpit that have been shaped from untold man-hours of expert processing. It is a haven from which the astringency of life is reduced to less than a whisper, quiet enough to practically hear the steam rising from a cup of Silver Needle.

2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre

Highs: As quiet as a car could reasonably be. Rides like a dream. Looks, feels, smells, sounds like a Rolls-Royce ought to.

Lows: Occasionally odd braking feedback in regen mode. Though it may not strictly be necessary (no element of such a car is), more than 300 miles of range should be doable for a car at this price point.

Takeaway: That the Rolls-Royce Spectre is a damn-near perfect EV (and a damn-near perfect ultra-luxury coupe) is a strong indicator of the class to which this technology, in its current state, is most suited.

***

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The new EPA proposals decidedly aren’t a 180-degree turn from the Biden Administration’s aggressive stance from last April that called for battery-electric vehicles to make up more than half of new-vehicle sales just six years from now, and two-thirds by 2032.

But Wednesday’s revision in those standards may indeed be a 90-degree shift from what Biden and the EPA wanted.

This new proposal now estimates that battery-electric cars, light trucks, and SUVs will make up 30 to 56 percent of new vehicle sales between 2030 and 2032, but even that may be ambitious unless cooling trends in electric vehicle demand warm up quickly. Though there are 83 battery-electric vehicles on the market, just two, the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, accounted for 57 percent of retail new EV registrations across the industry in 2023.

Critics of the new proposal, including the National Automobile Dealers Association, say that even the softened guidance is “too aggressive and far ahead of consumer demand.” In 2023, according to data released last week by the S&P Mobility research firm, battery-electric vehicles made up 8.5 percent of new, light-duty vehicle registrations in the U.S. last year.

As you’d expect from the other end of the environmental spectrum, anti-pollution advocates criticize the reduced target because of what it might do to the fight to against carbon emissions. This is despite the fact that the new EPA proposal would set tougher limits on tailpipe pollution through 2032, and enable manufacturers to use other clean-ICE technology rather than just add more battery-electric vehicles. The new regulations also give more credit to the plug-in hybrid’s ability to trim pollution.

The EPA’s new rule slow-walks last April’s stricter pollution standards from 2026 to 2029 while increasing them up through 2032, ending up very nearly where last April’s initiatives would have landed, assuming this strategy works. It is lost on few that the election of Donald Trump in November might well cause a major re-write of Wednesday’s proposals.

Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen advocacy group claims that this new proposal “falls far short of what is needed to protect public health and our planet. EPA is giving automakers a pass to continue producing polluting vehicles,” Public Citizen says. “The Biden Administration had the opportunity to shift the automotive industry away from a model that’s driving record profits for automakers while literally killing us, toward one that still provides strong profits but keeps the world safer for humans.”

As it exists, the EPA’s proposal allows a manufacturer to sell ICE products, BEVs or PHEVs in whatever combination it chooses, as long as it makes its numbers. According to the EPA, a manufacturer should be able to sell between 30 and 56 percent BEVs in order to meet its pollution requirements. The new standard is based on grams-per-mile of emissions, not on the powerplant used.

Bottom line, the 1181-page document that covers the Biden Administration and the EPA’s new proposals—the “Final Rule” for vehicles “that will phase in over model years 2027 through 2032”—deftly offers something to both sides: A pause in having to worry as much about the timeline for the integration of battery-electric vehicles in a down-market EV sales atmosphere; and increasingly tough pollution standards that will, by 2055, prevent more than seven billion tons of carbon pollution from reaching the atmosphere.

So neither side is happy, but both can declare a win.

***

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This past summer, with supply chain issues resolving and factories once again humming, electric vehicles started piling up on dealer lots. Between January and July 2023, reports the trade paper Automotive News, the “days’ supply” (an industry metric used to measure unsold inventory) jumped for EVs, rocketing from a brisk 59 days to a worrisome 111 days. Meanwhile, the inventory of internal-combustion vehicles remained relatively flat in the mid-50s, proving that there were buyers out there, just not for electrics. (As of December 2023, EV days’ supply was 114 days, versus 71 days for the total market.)

An industry that only 18 months ago was rushing head-long to expand battery manufacturing and race to market with full electric product lines suddenly nailed the brakes. Ford, simultaneously reeling from a costly UAW strike, said it will slow-roll an earmarked $12 billion in electrification spending, delaying product launches, cutting production of its Mustang Mach-E electric crossover and F-150 Lightning, and pushing back construction on one of two planned battery plants. GM and Honda likewise said they are scrapping an agreement to jointly produce compact electric crossovers.

On the front lines, Mercedes-Benz dealers were in open revolt over the factory’s unwillingness to put incentives on its slow-moving EQ line of pricey electrics, saying they are losing customers to rivals. Meanwhile, back in 2020, GM offered its Buick and Cadillac dealers a choice: Either invest upward of $200,000 in electric infrastructure for their dealerships or sell their franchises back to GM for cash. Almost half of Buick dealers and one-third of Cadillac dealers took the buyout.

Is the EV transition over before it ever really began? Probably not. The hasty 180 on EV investments likely says less about the long-term viability of electrics and more about present dilemmas. The industry is nursing fresh wounds from strikes and previous bad bets, including Ford’s write-off of $1 billion following the implosion of Argo AI and GM’s staggering $8.2 billion loss (and counting) on its Cruise autonomy division. Add in the turbulence caused by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which places restrictions on EV tax credits so that they apply only to American-made vehicles with U.S.-sourced components, and it’s easy to see why the industry is unsettled.

The ride into an electric future was bound to be bumpy. Now that early adopters have rushed out and purchased electric vehicles, sales growth was certain to slow as the industry gets on with the laborious task of convincing a wider (and more cautious) buying population that EVs are for them. The timing could be better; the market is currently suffering from high interest rates that make new-car purchases more expensive, and there’s a surplus of high-end EV offerings costing $70,000 and up.

Currently the pricing gap between EVs and internal-combustion-engine (ICE) offerings in the hot compact SUV segment is almost $20,000, with electrics retailing above $50,000 while comparable ICE crossovers are $35,000. Sure, tax rebates help close the gap, but the numbers look daunting to buyers watching their dollars. At the same time, older, more affordable EV options, like the Chevrolet Bolt and VW e-Golf, have been taken off the market and their replacements are still on the drawing boards.

Richard Shaw, a retired airline captain in Los Angeles, is an example of the disconnect between consumer demand and industry supply. Four years ago, he bought his first electric car, a new Volkswagen e-Golf, for $19,000 after rebates and incentives. “If you have two cars in the household, you’d be crazy not to have one be electric,” says the EV convert. “They are much cheaper to operate and perfect for local trips, and we find we take the electric way more than the other car.” However, the e-Golf has since gone out of production, as has the similarly priced Chevy Bolt, leaving the base Nissan Leaf as the lone sub-$30,000 electric.

Some buyers may have deferred their purchases in 2023 owing to changes in the Clean Vehicle Credit, the $7500 federal tax credit that, as of this year, allows buyers to use the credit directly as a down payment.

EV sales growth has slackened, but electric cars are still selling—at a rate of about 1 million per year. If EV sales aren’t proving to be a tidal wave, they are definitely still a rising tide.

***

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Crashing infotainment screens. Looping infotainment screens. Failures to charge. Inoperable window switches. When Chevrolet first launched its all-electric Blazer, owners and reviewers alike faced these problems, and more. Even more concerning, technicians at dealerships were reportedly often confused about remedies.

Today, Chevrolet issued a software update that should fix everything, it says. Along with the update is news that the vehicle will go back on sale after the automaker issued a stop-sale on December 22, 2023. The Blazer EV will return to market with an entry-level price slash of more than $6000.

“We have made significant software updates that will improve features and functionality to deliver on the high expectations of our customers,” reads a statement from Chevrolet spokesperson Leslie Rajewski. “We’re confident these improvements will address concerns heard from some early owners and as promised, we’re carrying learnings over to other products in GM’s lineup.”

Indeed, most new-car buyers expect a functioning display, especially when it concerns one of the largest purchases they will make in their lives.

Thankfully, the Blazer—which is assembled in Mexico, at the same plant that makes its battery pack—is also eligible for the full federal tax credit of $7500. (Qualifications for these refunds, thanks to the recent Inflation Reduction Act and revised U.S. Treasury guidelines for 2024, have been a moving target.) Early customers paying MSRP when Chevrolet launched only the most luxurious and highest-powered Blazer, the AWD RS, in August, paid just over $60,000 before tax credits. (We reviewed that model about a week before the stop-sale was issued.) Chevy had planned to roll out the mid-spec Blazer 2LT AWD this fall.

All newly available Blazers are receiving a price cut: $5620 off the RS RWD and the RS AWD, and $6520 off the LT AWD. Including destination and handling but not the tax credit, those trims now cost $56,170, $54,595, and $50,195, respectively. Chevy will announce prices for the other trims—the RS FWD and the 557-hp SS—closer to when those variants become available. The entry-level trim, the LT FWD, will start “under $50,000.”

Many manufacturers have cut prices for their EVs in recent months, both in response to changing tax credit criteria and waning customer demand. In the case of the software-remedied Blazer, however, the discount has the appearance of an apology. We’re willing to bet that current owners who paid full boat would probably appreciate five grand back in their pockets.

Did you buy a Blazer EV? Know someone who did? Drop us a comment below and share what you know.

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America’s muscle car is entering a new era. This is the 2025 Dodge Charger. You may notice that this hulking two-door looks almost identical to the Charger SRT Daytona concept that broke cover in August 2022. That’s no accident—Dodge head honcho Tim Kuniskis made a conscious effort to put more or less the final design out in the open so it could marinate for 18 months in people’s minds. Now, the steak is ready to sizzle, and it’s coming in a few different cuts—electric, gas, two-door, and four-door.

Kuniskis projected deep confidence in the two new powertrains, which include a 100.5-kW battery with dual electric motors for the EV model and Stellantis’ new 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six for the gas model. “They told us we couldn’t sell Hemis,” Kuniskis said in a promotional video, shown to journalists at a Detroit location requested we keep secret, “but they never said they had to be boring and slow.”

Though there is no V-8 anywhere in the product plan, Kuniskis stands behind the new powertrains as a way “not to comply, but to compete.”

We had the chance to walk around and sit inside the new Charger coupe. It’s a great-looking machine with an imposing presence, differing from the concept car only in the side mirrors, door handles, B-pillar treatment, and wheels.

New Charger, New “Multienergy” Platform

Planned from the outset as both a pure EV and a traditional combustion-engine vehicle, the new Dodge Charger is the first-ever production model to use the STLA Large platform of parent company Stellantis. The platform supports both 400-volt and 800-volt architectures, with each electric drive module (EDM) consisting of a three-in-one motor, inverter, and gear reduction hardware.

The initial run of Charger Daytona models will exclusively use a 400-volt system, but the forthcoming Banshee model—which the SRT Daytona Concept previewed—will employ the more powerful 800-volt system. All new Chargers will be built in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, with Samsung battery modules. They will initially be sourced from South Korea, though production is expected to move to the United States within a couple of years.

These same underpinnings will support six other new Stellantis vehicles under the Jeep, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati umbrellas.

The overall footprint is 1.5 inches wider and a meaningful 8.7 inches longer than the outgoing Challenger Scat Pack Widebody, which means the new car is a sizable thing, indeed. Still, it doesn’t look ungainly. And Dodge designers did a remarkable job of integrating classic and modern design cues that both respect and evolve the outgoing design—arguably the most effective and enduring automotive design of the 21st century thus far. The full-width taillights, thick C-pillar, and squared-off front end read as recognizable Dodge cues, but with a futuristic treatment to replace the retro language. That the new car looks so good and also offers the utility of a liftback and a large trunk (22 cubic feet with the seats up, 33.3 with the rear seats folded) is a major achievement.

2024 Charger Daytona: Power, Suspension, Brakes

As expected, this new Charger will launch first with a pure-electric powertrain. That car, known as the Charger Daytona, will begin production in mid-2024 as a two-door coupe with a liftback-style rear hatch and seating for five.

Two models will appear at launch—the base R/T with 496 hp and the high-performance Scat Pack with 670. Max torque totals 404 lb-ft for the R/T and 627 for the Scat Pack. All-wheel drive is standard, courtesy of two identical electric drive modules (EDM), one for each axle, and independently capable of 250 kW (335 hp) and 314 lb-ft of torque. A standard mechanical limited-slip differential sits on the rear axle. Drivers will have the option to deactivate the front axle motor, enabling burnouts and donuts.

These initial Daytonas will come factory-equipped with Direct Connection upgrades. The standard Stage 1 kit for the R/T adds 40 hp (456 hp otherwise) and the standard Stage 2 kit for the Scat Pack adds 80 hp (590 hp otherwise). Later on, customers will need to buy these upgrade kits via Dodge’s Direct Connection performance catalog to unlock said power.

Drivers can experience maximum output from the twin electric motors but pushing the “Power Shot” button on the bottom right of the steering wheel. Power Shot adds 40 hp and lasts for 15 seconds, after which you’ll need to wait another 30 seconds to activate it again.

Dodge says the 0-to-60 sprint for the R/T Stage 1 model is over in 4.7 seconds, with a quarter-mile time of 13.1 seconds and a top speed of 137 mph. Scat Pack Charger Daytonas can do the same deeds in 3.3 and 11.5 seconds, on the way to a top speed of 134 mph.

2024 Charger Daytonas—both the R/T and Scat Pack—will also come with standard Track Pack stopping power: Brembo’s 16-inch, two-piece, vented front rotors with six-piston calipers and 16-inch, one-piece, vented rear rotors with four-piston calipers. Later Scat Pack models without the Track Pack will come with 15-inch brakes up front and 14s in the rear. Scat Pack Track Pack models feature 20-inch wheels and Dodge’s largest-ever tire package on a production model: Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3s sized 305/35ZR20 up front and 325/35ZR20 out back.

All new Chargers come with multilink suspension all around. Daytona R/T models wear fixed monotube shocks, and Scat Pack models utilize the same setup with a higher spring rate. Those opting for the Track Pack version of the Scat Pack can expect dual-valve adaptive dampers on all four corners. Dodge was proud to point out that, compared with the outgoing Charger Scat Pack, there are three times as many accelerometers, four times as many ride height sensors, and four times as many wheel-hub accelerometers to monitor body position and handle various road conditions across all of the available drive modes.

Those drive modes include Auto, Eco, Sport, Wet/Snow, Track, and Drag (the last exclusive to Daytona Scat Pack). Within the Race Options menu there are a handful of special modes, such as Donut, Drift, Line Lock, and Launch Control. Race Prep mode sets an optimal battery temperature for the given conditions—cooler for road course lapping to allow the battery to heat up, and hotter for short bursts on drag strips.

2024 Charger Daytona: Battery, Range, Weight

Every Charger Daytona has a 100.5-kWh lithium-ion battery with a nickel-cobalt-aluminum chemistry. A big battery in a big coupe means a lot of weight: 5838 pounds for the R/T and Scat Pack alike. That is hundreds of pounds heavier than every starting weight for the 2025 Ram 1500, save the hybrid REV. For reference, the outgoing Challenger SXT tipped the scales at about 3800 pounds, while the Hellcat Redeye Jailbreak Widebody weighed 4445 pounds.

Kuniskis made a big to-do about how Dodge doesn’t care about range and instead optimized performance (because this is a MUSCLE CAR!), but buyers definitely care and want to know when they’ll run out of juice. The R/T Stage 1 is good for 317 miles of range and the Scat Pack Stage 2 for 260. Naturally, those figures will improve for future Daytona models without the standard Stage 1 or 2 kits.

Using shift paddles on the steering wheel, drivers can adjust the regenerative braking force by selecting one of three levels.

Peak charging using a 350-kW DC fast charger is 183 kW, which can take the Daytona from 5 to 80 percent capacity in 32.5 minutes. Level 2 charging comes in at 11 kW. The standard plug is the CCS type, though Kuniskis hinted Dodge would soon reveal plans for an adapter that would permit access to Tesla’s Supercharger network.

Sixpack Power with Two or Four Doors

Combustion engine fans can rejoice, too. Prior rumors of a gas power proved true, and Dodge is calling this 3.0-liter Hurricane twin-turbo straight-six model the Charger Sixpack. When it joins the lineup early next year as a 2025 model, the Sixpack will also come in two states of tune: the base-model S.O. (Standard Output, 420 hp) and the high-performance H.O. (High Output, 550 hp). Every Sixpack comes with an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive.

Kuniskis was adamant that the new Hurricane motor outperforms the old Hemi in every metric.

Sedans fans can rest easy knowing that the four-door Charger is back, also coming in early 2025, at the same time as the Sixpack. Four-door models will be available both in gas and electric form and the same output options as the two-door.

Slick as the two-door Charger looks, the four-door is even better. We only saw a design prototype, rather than a finished production model, but it has a powerful presence in person. It is somehow both imposing and impressive, though those attributes take nothing away from its elegance and sophistication. For my money, it’s the best-looking design out of Auburn Hills since the modern-era Chrysler 300.

2024 Dodge Charger: Interior and Infotainment

The new Charger’s interior is basically exactly what we saw on the SRT Daytona concept two years ago, minus the full-length center console and dual rear bucket seats. Fans of the vintage Charger may delight to hear that the vertical-slat pattern and texture on the instrument panel are meant to evoke the famous ’68 grille. Another classic touch is a new interpretation of the pistol-grip shifter. We’ll reserve final judgment once we can operate it for real, but after sitting in a very early production prototype at the reveal event, we can confirm it looks the business and feels good in the hand.

The steering wheel is big and fat, with a flat bottom and flat top that frames the optional 16-inch all-digital cluster. (A 10.25-inch screen is standard.) The center screen is a 12.3-inch unit showcasing the fifth generation of Stellantis Uconnect infotainment software. A row of physical buttons below the center display handles climate duties, and there is a knob for music/radio volume.

An electronic mechanism operates the doors of the 2024 Charger. There is a familiar external door handle, but inside the car you operate the mechanism via a button on the door. For those fearing being stuck inside the car with a dead battery, there is a redundant manual lever to disengage the latch that’s located on the bottom of the door card, near the footwell.

The materials in the top-trim, pre-production model (with Nappa leather) we sat in felt about on par with or a little better than those in the current Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio. To be clear, that is a big, big step up from the interior of the outgoing Charger/Challenger. The cabin is not downright luxurious, but the feel is firmly in premium territory, and everything in sight looks fantastic. Our only complaint is that there is no way to fold the rear seats while standing behind the trunk opening—no automatic button or physical lever. Lowering the rear row requires reaching past the front bucket seat into the second row.

“Fratzonic” Chambered Exhaust

Perhaps the most controversial feature of the 2022 SRT Daytona Concept was the Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust. It’s an actual exhaust chamber that functions as a resonator for sound generated by speakers. The noise, Dodge says, will meet or exceed current Hellcat decibel levels and is engineered to mimic the cadence of a Hemi V-8.

We didn’t get to hear it at the Charger’s reveal event, a withholding which felt deliberate given the media’s unfavorable reaction to the initial sound back in 2022. Since then, Kuniskis said, the engineering team has worked through “hundreds” of iterations to get the sound just right. Chief Engineer Audrey Moore told Hagerty that for her it was the most fun part of the Charger project. (The toughest? Minimizing complexity and maximizing shared componentry between the two- and four-door Charger variants.)

The Charger Is Back, Baby

What the 2024 Charger will cost remains to be seen. Kuniskis told journalists that final pricing was still being enthusiastically debated at Dodge, so he refused to give even a shred of information on the subject. Given that all 2024 models will come with standard Track Pack brakes and Direct Connection kits, we expect a relatively high price compared with entry-level models that may trickle in down the road.

For now, it’s simply outstanding to see a new Charger coming our way. With the death of the Camaro, and the Mustang taking on more of a sports car role, Dodge has definitively cornered the market on the modern-day American muscle car. And, it seems wise at this juncture for Dodge to give people two avenues: dive in with both feet on an electric car or stick with a tried-and-true gasser. What’s more American, after all, than the power of choice?

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When the next chapter of Dodge muscle—the Charger Daytona SRT Concept—debuted in August 2022, there was skepticism about some of the tech tricks that Dodge said it would employ to attempt to preserve the magic of its Hemi-powered forefathers. Would features such as an “eRupt” multi-speed electromechanical transmission or a simulated ICE exhaust note really bridge the gap between old and new?

We’re still a ways away from answering that question, but a patent filed last year by FCA US LLC (read: Stellantis) engineers and recently unearthed by MoparInsiders could draw the two experiences a bit closer. The “Active Sound and Vibration Enhancement Systems” will seek to add another element of the sensation of driving an ICE-powered vehicle to future EVs. At the same time, the tech could possibly advance pedestrian safety.

The system will pair a force generator (vibration motor) with a sensor system that will, according to the patent documents, “mimic the vibrations that would be produced by a predetermined internal combustion engine operating at the sensed operational condition of the vehicle.”

Put in layman’s terms: Sensors will gather operating data from how an EV is driving and then feed that data to a vibration motor that will buzz the chassis in a way that mimics what you’d feel driving a gas-powered vehicle the same way.

At first blush, it feels like this system would fall into the same ‘gimmick’ camp as adding completely fake exhaust noises to an EV. However, if the parameters within the system could be configured, it seems like you’d then have the possibility to select what kind of engine your Charger Daytona EV is imitating, possibly with just the push of a button.

Imagine rolling through downtown Detroit with your Charger Daytona’s vibration system configured to mimic the menacing chop of a late-’60s 426 Hemi with a big ol’ nasty cam; that’s pretty interesting, in our eyes. (It might sound far-fetched, but at one time, so did replicating a Fox-body Mustang‘s instrument cluster. Then the new Mustang debuted, and the digital instrument panel features that very ability.)

The system could also have the added benefit of increasing the safety of those in proximity by mitigating the near-silent nature by which EVs slink around. The vibrations in the chassis could emit some noise of their own, and when paired with the active sound system, the vehicle as a whole would probably be noisy enough to be easier to detect to bystanders.

Dodge’s Charger Daytona will debut later this year, and although this article has been focused on the all-electric variant, we also expect a gasoline-powered version—likely sporting some variant of the 3.0-liter twin-turbo straight-six Hurricane engine—to bow first. That version certainly wouldn’t need a system like this to make it noticeable, but for the electric version, this idea has us curious.

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As demand for new EVs slows in the U.S., James Mills’ recent screed for Hagerty U.K., concerning the dearth of demand in that market, adds perspective to the phenomenon. Enjoy! -Ed.

What’s this? Shock horror! Those crazy car-driving Brits aren’t exactly flocking to showrooms to buy an electric car.

Goodness. Who’d have thought it? Does the nation need its head testing?

According to the latest figures from the lobbying body known as the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), things are not entirely good in the gin-palace showrooms that cluster around industrial estates like mold in an airless bathroom.

Last month, the number of private buyers—that is to say someone buying a car personally, rather than being handed it through a company car scheme or purchasing it through their own business—tumbled like the range of an EV on the motorway.

January saw 4000 electric cars bought by private buyers, a drop of 25 percent compared with 5300 the previous year, says the SMMT.

Are you surprised? As a car enthusiast, probably not. You’ll know better than most that the government has done an outstanding job of giving consumers mixed messages and shaking their confidence, one minute offering incentives, the next removing them without notice, then declaring that civilization will end if we’re not all buying electric cars by 2030, only to change its mind and knock back the date of the apocalypse by another five years.

The good news: As choice improves, the electric car market continues to grow as a whole. But it would be growing further still if those paying with their own money weren’t feeling so hesitant.

The issue, presumably, is that while company car drivers are being showered with tempting tax breaks, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, there’s pretty much no sweetener to tempt those contemplating buying a new electric car.

And car salesmen, already a little miffed at being rapped over the knuckles for stitching us up with over-inflated finance in return for a nice backhander, are upset. It’s hard not to feel sympathy toward their plight; the poor buggers had worked tirelessly to earn the reputation for being the most cocky so-and-so’s of the automotive industry. Worse, even, than the patronizing car mechanics or unresponsive breakdown companies.

Salesmen are having to unlearn an entire skillset and watch as their commissions disappear in smoke, because there aren’t as many unwitting mugs walking through their doors announcing, “I’d like to pay well over the odds for a new car, please.” Hopefully, the Financial Conduct Authority will see consumers right.

It doesn’t have to be like this. Consumer confidence could be nurtured back to health. A template of how to efficiently electrify the vehicle fleet on the path to net zero has already been mapped out and shown to work. When not gazing up at the night sky and trying to find a bar serving a beer for less than £500, the Norwegians have set aside half a lifetime to figure out how they can make it worthwhile to drive electric. The dried-cod–loving Nordmenn kicked things off in 1990, when they announced they’d do away with import tax on electric cars, followed six years later by ditching road tax. Then things started to get really interesting. From 1997, if you drove an EV, they’d wave the many toll road charges, and from 1999 you could park for free. If you want to drive into London and spend your money in the shops, you need a second mortgage to afford to the parking fees.

Good, huh? It gets better. Next came cuts to company car tax, then VAT was dropped from the purchase price for private buyers. By 2005, those crazy cats did the unthinkable and allowed EVs to drive in bus lanes, then later dropped ferry charges and removed VAT from leasing. In 2017, they legislated for a right to charge, addressing the issue of charging when living in high-rise flats—a concept our politicians still can’t get their heads around.

This enduring commitment to carrot dangling—two decades or longer, in some areas—has worked a treat. In 2023, 82 percent of new cars sold in Norway were electric. And because 90 percent of its electricity comes from hydroelectric sources, with the remainder mostly wind power, the switchover doesn’t come with as many uncomfortable truths about the environmental benefits of battery-powered cars.

Contrast this with what Britain’s private drivers have been offered. There was the plug-in car grant, introduced in 2011 and gradually watered down until it was unplugged last spring. Doubtless, EV evangelists will shout about the exemption from road tax, but we can all kiss goodbye to that from 2025, when all of today’s EVs will cost £180 a year to tax, the same as gas guzzlers. There was also a contribution to installing a charging point, but in another act of great stupidity, that is now only available to homeowners who live in a flat and have off-street parking. About 11 people, then.

It’s rubbish, frankly. We all know how expensive electric cars are to buy compared with the petrol and diesel things we’ve grown up driving, but that seems to be lost on the government.

A new report from the House of Lords Environment and Climate Committee warns that the government needs to “put its foot on the accelerator” if the U.K. is to meet its self-imposed target for net-zero by 2050. It wants a new package of electric car purchase incentives, and says the government must act in three areas to move its strategy forward: consumer confidence, infrastructure, and industry support.

But they left out the most important recommendation of all: Organise a Zoom call with their opposite numbers in Norway, and ask them how they pulled it off.

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Trac Mon, on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales will no longer allow electric and hybrid cars to be used on track days, unless organizers are able to provide appropriately-trained marshals and suitable safety equipment.

Although the circuit prides itself on being as eco-friendly as possible, with a wind turbine taking advantage of the track’s breezy coastal location, it has decided that risk of electric vehicles running at speed is too great.

“As a circuit we don’t have the equipment and training in place yet to have EVs on a track day,” General Manager Annette Freeman told Hagerty. The circuit will therefore not allow electric and hybrid cars  “until we can safeguard both the participants and the marshals.”

Statistics gathered from road use suggest that the risk of fire in electric vehicles is significantly lower than gas-powered vehicles, but once lithium batteries do ignite they require specialist training and a huge volume of water to extinguish. “We can’t just push a car into the sea (as some internet commentators have suggested),” said Freeman. “Track day insurance might cover the cost of a barrier repair, but not replacing a section of the track which has been fire damaged.”

The decision doesn’t impact the circuit’s ability to host testing sessions for car makers and race teams who come with their own safety teams. “We haven’t completely banned electric vehicles, we are very happy to continue our relationships with manufacturers and factory teams,” added Freeman.

Trac Mon, which is easily Britain’s most picturesque circuit, is independently-run, so the cost of training and equipping for EV eventualities will be a key component of this decision. Looking to the future, when more enthusiast vehicles such as the next generation Porsche Boxster/Cayman go electric, the circuit will have to adapt, but until then the move could well set a precedent for other small circuits.

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It’s true: The annual, ongoing Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has become, by default, a newsworthy car show, as evidenced by a pair of wild concepts that Honda introduced this afternoon in Nevada.

The two cars signal the introduction of the 0—as in “zero”—Series, which Honda says is a new global EV line that launches in 2026. Unlike the recently unveiled Prologue and Acura ZDX, the 0 Series appears to be an in-house venture, not a collaboration with another major OEM.

The Honda 0 Series concepts are the ultra-sleek Saloon (above) and the Space-Hub, which looks like a minivan with a huge, windowless tail.

“The mobility we dream of is not an extension of the trend of ‘thick, heavy, but smart’ EVs,” said Toshihiro Mibe, global CEO of Honda as of April 2021. “We will create a completely new value from zero based on thin, light and wise as the foundation for our new Honda 0 EV series to further advance the joy and freedom of mobility to the next level.”

“We have gone back to basics and formulated the Honda 0 Series with a design for the new era,” said Shinji Aoyama, Global EVP of Honda. “A bold and pure proportion that from the first glance is overwhelmingly different from other EVs to evoke a new perspective for people.”

The Saloon, Honda says, sits on a dedicated EV platform, and features steer-by-wire and new “motion control management” systems. The instrument panel uses a “human-machine interface” that “enables simple and intuitive operations.” Additionally, the Saloon “features posture control that will assist the driver in a variety of driving situations to realize the ‘joy of driving’ in the EV era.”

Honda says a production vehicle based on the Saloon concept is expected to come to North America in 2026.

The Space-Hub, Honda says, “was developed under the theme of ‘augmenting people’s daily lives.’” The spacious cabin and good visibility offer a “flexible space that immediately accommodates a variety of passengers and becomes a ‘hub’ that connects people to each other.” No word on production plans for the Space-Hub.

The Honda 0 Series vehicles, which will wear a new “H mark” that resembles a set of outstretched hands, are expected to be equipped with next-generation automated driving (AD) that uses “advanced AI, sensing, recognition, and driver monitoring technologies to achieve more human-like, natural and high-precision risk predictions, making it possible to offer AD features people can feel safe and confident using. This advanced AD system will expand the application of some hands-off functions for use on both expressways and surface streets.”

Honda also says the 0 Series vehicles will use a smaller, high-density battery that will charge from 15 percent to 80 percent capacity in “about 10 to 15 minutes.” In the meantime, “by applying battery system control technology, Honda is targeting to minimize the degradation of battery capacity to less than 10 percent after 10 years of use.”

Honda is introducing the electric Prologue SUV, based on a collaboration with GM, early this year.

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Gravity seems a perfect name for Lucid’s next opus: a twin-motor, three-seat-row electric SUV that will have an estimated range of up to 440 miles. Why? Because such a vehicle, packing optional air suspension, rear-wheel steering, 23-inch wheels on some trim levels, a glass roof, and a mighty 118 kW/hours worth of lithium-ion batteries, will have a heck of a lot of mass. And as we all know from high school physics, gravity is the force that attracts all things with mass.

Of course, porcine weight is a problem that affects all electric vehicles today and the Arizona-built Lucids are no exception. The Gravity, the cheapest version of which is expected to have a starting price of just under $80,000 when it goes on sale late in 2024, could weigh as much as 6000 pounds when full specifications are announced. And it’ll tow up to 6000 pounds, giving a fully laden Gravity some serious inertia.

Lucid’s goal with the Gravity was to pack as much space and luxury into a package that is not quite as large as some three-row competitors, such as the Audi Q7. However, while it’s definitely a luxury item, with an opulent interior of wood and metal accents and optional leather, the Gravity design brief seems to have been centered around families. For starters, the sleek wind-cheating design—a super-slippery drag coefficient of 0.24 was mentioned—and the overall shape don’t say off-roader as much as urbane minivan, harkening thoughts of the Kia Carinival but without the sliding doors.

Another minivan-like feature is the flip-and-fold third row that disappears into a cavity in the floor, as well as a middle row that folds to create a flat load floor from the front seats to the rear bumper. The front trunk holds eight cubic feet of cargo, or it doubles as bleachers with an optional portable bench seat. A 110-volt AC outlet means it can also serve as a smoothie station or a charge point for electric bicycles.

As with so many interiors today, the cockpit is designed around its various screens as well as the tablets and phones that passengers bring into the car with them. (Folding tables for Gravity’s middle-seat passengers anticipate the kids’ plethora of devices.) But Lucid has tried something new here, fitting a square-ish steering wheel that allows unobstructed views of the 34-inch OLED “floating display” above it. This, the “microtablet” capacitive finger controls on the steering wheel, and the wide center screen are your gateway to Lucid UX 3.0, as the company calls its digital interface.

UX 3.0 is a multimedia control and entertainment package that includes novel features such as “Lucid Sanctuary”—a multisensory experience that pulls in the displays, the audio system, the climate control, and the massaging seats to “create a Zen space” in which to while away idle time. To ease the drudgery of waiting for the kids in the school pickup zone, for instance, one can choose from guided meditation and a karaoke function among other diversions. And if all gets to be too much, a “digital detox” mode reduces the displays down to only the bare essentials.

We’re told the Gravity uses a whole new platform separate from that of the Lucid Air sedan, with which the Saudi-backed company launched in 2021. The desire to offer a flat load floor in back necessitated a suspension redesign.

Initial Gravity models will have the company’s proprietary compact motor drive unit on both axles, giving it all-wheel-drive capability and a claimed zero-to-60 time of just 3.5 seconds. The 900-volt system allows hyper-quick charging that, presuming you can find a working 350-kW DC fast charger, will blast in 200 miles worth of range in 15 minutes.

The pre-release press material wasn’t clear on whether the circa-$80,000 starting price buys all of the features mentioned above and including the 440-mile range (we’re assuming it doesn’t). Base models will probably be front- or rear-drive only and have lesser range. Either way, the Gravity and an announced smaller and cheaper SUV due by 2026 will take Lucid much closer than the Air to the heart of the market, where the sales are and where the industry’s real heavyweights are already partying. We’ll publish a full review with drive impressions after our first bout behind the wheel.

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The door shuts, the key turns, and there’s a whirring of the fuel pump before the starter motor cranks away and the engine catches. There’s an explosion as fuel is compressed and ignited, and the 5.75-liter V-8 settles to a chugga-chug-chug, fumes filling the air and hydrocarbon flecks spitting from the exhausts. It is everything and more you’d hope from a 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1—theatrical, attention-seeking, and a hint of the anti-establishment, ready to melt rubber into the road and race for pink slips.

The Mach 1, however, is being moved to make way for a 1965 Mustang of an altogether different kind. When the key is turned in that car’s dashboard, there’s no explosion of internal combustion and no fumes from exhausts to melt the hairs in your nose and bring tears to your eyes. Instead, you hear the faint whir of electrical systems waking up and running checks. Then you turn the key further, ease down the brake pedal, and nudge the short shift lever from neutral to drive, before leaning into the accelerator.

The imperious hood of the Mustang coupe emerges from the workshop of Alan Mann Racing, and a passing driver of a delivery van appears somewhat perplexed that an American pony car is moving without making a sound—or rocking on its suspension to the beat of a V-8.

It may be equally perplexing to those familiar with Alan Mann Racing (AMR), the British team that ruled the grid during the swinging Sixties. The company was founded in 1964 by Alan Mann, after his success in motor racing impressed Ford so much that the carmaker effectively set him up as its European racing operation. Alan Mann Racing became part of the blue-blood brotherhood, and Fords would capture the most high-profile championships of the era, including the British Saloon Car Championship, the European Touring Car Challenge, and the FIA World GT Championship for Manufacturers. Meanwhile, the drivers behind the wheel were the best of the best: John Whitmore, Jacky Ickx, Bo “Bosse” Ljungfeldt, Graham Hill, Frank Gardner, Jackie Stewart, Richard Attwood, and Bruce McLaren all did battle in AMR cars.

Ford pulled the plug on its “Total Performance” strategy, and in turn its European satellite racing operation, at the end of 1969. Alan Mann switched to aviation, developing Fairoaks Airfield, on the doorstep of his old racing workshop in Surrey, as well as a successful helicopter leasing business. It wasn’t until 2003, and an opportunity to share driving duties at the Goodwood Revival, that Mann got the bug for racing again, reviving Alan Mann Racing for historic motorsport.

Mann died in 2012, which left AMR in the safe hands of his sons, Henry and Tom. Today, the workshop is a handful of miles from the site of the original garage in Byfleet. And the first question for Henry Mann is obvious: Why electrify a Mustang?

“We’d always wanted to do a Mustang restomod,” says Henry, “because we’d done so many rally and race Mustangs, and quite a lot of road cars too, and figured we could do a half-decent job of a restomod Mustang.” In February 2022, Ford contacted Henry and Tom, inviting the brothers to the unveiling of its Ford GT Alan Mann Heritage Edition, a special version of the supercar that paid tribute to AMR’s lightweight 1966 Ford GT experimental race cars. During the event, held at the Chicago Auto Show, Henry was rather taken by a 1978 F-100 pickup “Eluminator” concept that Ford had played around with, dropping out its straight-six engine and fitting the battery-electric powertrain and front and rear electric traction motors from a 2021 Mustang Mach-E GT. “It was really popular, and the lines to ride in it were huge. There was so much interest in it.”

While at the show, Henry met another Henry—another Henry Mann, in fact—who happened to be the first owner of the 2022 Ford GT Alan Mann Heritage Edition. The two concluded that an electrified Mustang with the Alan Mann Racing name attached to it would be a very cool thing indeed.

After more than a year of development, in partnership with Nick Mason, a former vehicle development engineer at Ford who founded EcoClassics in Maldon, Essex, AMR had a prototype up and running.

Henry explains that beneath the surface of this standard looking 1965 Mustang—called the Alan Mann Legacy ePower Mustang—sits an off-the-shelf inverter, motor, and battery management system, all sourced from China, while the two battery boxes were designed in Britain specifically to fit the Mustang. The motor and one battery sit in the engine bay, the other battery is in the boot, giving a 50/50 weight distribution, while power is sent to the back wheels through a Torsen limited-slip differential.

The battery is a 77-kWh unit, able to accept AC and DC charging, and is claimed to give a touring range of up to 220 miles. Using DC rapid charging, Henry Mann says the battery will charge from 20 to 80 per cent in 40 minutes. In muscle car terms, that all translates to an output of 300 hp, and there’s 228 lb-ft of torque as soon as you flex your right foot. For a 1965 Mustang, that’s impressive. It means the car is capable of accelerating from 0 to 60mph in 5.2 seconds, with a top speed of 97 mph.

On the rain-soaked roads around the company’s workshop, the silent Mustang provides a brisk turn of speed up to around 60 mph, in part thanks to impressive traction that comes from AMR’s years of experience building racing Mustangs. The suspension design has been changed to incorporate independent double wishbones with coilovers all around, and from a standstill there’s just the slightest skip from the back wheels as they claw at the road before the Mustang whines away.

That suspension is complemented by rack-and-pinion steering in place of the old worm-and-sector steering box, and together they create a more modern driving experience, where the car rides our lumpy, bumpy British roads better than a Mustang on rear leaf springs; it tracks true and straight and stays flat and planted through twists and turns. Admittedly, the steering is heavy—too heavy for some tastes, perhaps. But the weight when loaded up beyond the straight-ahead gives a feeling of confidence in what the front tires are up to.

As I make a beeline for the historic Old School Café, and a mug of builder’s tea, it’s clear that the car’s acceleration tails off beyond 60 mph, but it gets there briskly enough, and it’s arguably plenty enough for today’s busy roads. What’s not so welcome is a resonance coming from the propshaft, between 40 and 60 mph, something Henry Mann later tells me they’re working to remedy. There’s gentle energy regeneration when you lift from the throttle, and when you stand on the brake pedal, the effort and impressive stopping power of the uprated system (six-piston calipers at the front, four-piston items at the rear) remind me of the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy racing car I drove a few years back.

There are other modifications, too, which will be welcomed by some. The updated instrument cluster, for example, looks period-correct but displays all the information an EV driver could want. Or the touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Best of all are the modern front seats, complete with integrated seatbelts, which are noteworthy for being so solidly mounted, while proudly displaying the Alan Mann Racing logo, stitched into the headrest. Perhaps the neatest touch of all, however, is the location of the charging port. When I ask Henry Mann where they’ve hidden it, he flips down the front number plate and there it is.

Sipping my tea at Old School Café, I wonder whether AMR team members and drivers may have gathered here, back in the Sixties, after shaking down race cars at the nearby Longcross test track (now used exclusively used for blockbuster filmmaking). I wonder what they might have thought of the ePower Mustang parked out front.

I jump back in the Mustang and drive past the track, and I encounter a large, smooth, open roundabout where it’s possible to explore the limits of grip. The suspension and steering, as well as the new bespoke subframes to carry the battery packs and motor, give the Mustang a robust feel. Old cars of this era should pitch, dive, roll, and heave on their suspension, while the body flexes under load, but there’s none of that in this Mustang, and when the tail does let go, I’m surprised at how high the limit of adhesion is.

At this stage, I can sense some will be shaking their heads at the thought of an electric classic Mustang. After all, the pony car was enjoyed by many as a tire-smoking attention-seeker, not a zero-emissions solution for London’s ever-expanding Ultra Low Emissions Zone. But given there were more than 1.3 million Mustangs made in the first two years of production alone, converting a small number to electric propulsion isn’t going to endanger the species.

Personally, I’d rather my Alan Mann Racing Mustang come with those suspension and brake upgrades, some additional structural bracing, and a rocking V-8 that shakes my neighbrs’ windows every time I start it up. After all, when you take the soundtrack out of an old car, all it serves to do is exaggerate the noise of all the other moving parts and squeaking trim.

I do wonder, however: Does the current approach not endanger the very existence of Alan Mann Racing? After all, if EV retro-fit conversions of classics really catch on across the hobby, might legislators take a dim view of fire-breathing racing cars and noisy, smelly race meetings?

I put that question to Henry. “I think with the rise of synthetic fuels, there’s plenty of argument for keeping these [racing cars] as they are. But I think some people are going to want electric just because of the tailpipe emissions issue, and the quietness and the more civilized behavior in a city, where you’re not belching out unburnt hydrocarbons when idling at the lights. And it’s such a negligible contribution to the overall emissions of the road transport fleet that I hope it [legislation] wouldn’t be changed.”

The thorny issue for potential buyers in Britain is that the extensive changes made during the conversion mean the car could not retain its original registration number. Instead, it would have to be submitted for an Individual Vehicle Approval test, and that would require further changes to the car, which AMR are weighing up “depending on customer demand.”

Interested parties in America, meanwhile, will be able to have the complete conversion carried out by Alan Mann Racing’s U.S. partner, Mann ePower Cars, based in Hatboro, Pennsylvania. The cost will be a minimum of $250,000 (£203,000), says Henry Mann, for a turn-key car. He adds that sum could be lowered if an owner has a donor car in good condition.

So, the retro-fit electrified Mustang is a curious thing on all sorts of levels. It’s not a muscle car as we know it. And it can’t be bought as a turn-key car in the U.K., only the US. And if you had the conversion carried out on your classic Mustang in the U.K., it would lose its original registration, due to the rule-makers at the DVLA. Such is the price of progress, I suppose.

Things used to be a lot simpler, and noisier, in the Sixties.

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BMW hasn’t screwed it up. Isn’t that a relief?

If you’re an enthusiast, and I’d assume you are if you’re on this website, then it’s probably in your best interest to forget that cars like the BMW XM exist. But the 5 Series is core BMW stuff, so if the company had got this one wrong, people would be out in the streets burning Bavarian flags. But, to put your mind at ease, the new fünfer is reassuringly good.

Specifically, the BMW i5, since alongside combustion models, this is the first generation of 5 Series to be offered in fully electric form. There are two models to start with: the rear-wheel-drive eDrive40 and the all-wheel-drive M60 xDrive, with an in-between xDrive40 arriving a little later down the line.

The i5 eDrive40 is the base model, though it’s not expected to be the core model in the way the gas 530i will be. Cost is a factor; the i5 eDrive40 starts at $67,795, or about $9000 higher than the jumping-off point for the range as a whole.

That said, there won’t be much comparison between the gas and electric entry points. The eDrive40 gets a 335-hp, 317 lb-ft electric motor mounted at the rear axle, compared with 255 hp and 295 lb-ft for the 530i and its 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder. A bit like Porsche Taycan pricing overlapping with the Panamera, this should see more than a few people giving the i5 a whirl purely out of curiosity.

Specs: 2023 BMW i5 eDrive40 & M60 xDrive (U.S.)

Price: $67,795; $85,195
Engine: Single; dual electric motors
Transmission: Single-speed, rear-wheel drive; all-wheel drive
Power: 335 hp; 593 hp
Torque: 295 lb-ft; 586 lb-ft
Weight: 4915 pounds; 5247 pounds
Range: 295 miles; 256 miles
0–60mph: 5.7 sec; 3.8 sec
Top speed: 120 mph; 130 mph

Topping the entire range, meanwhile, is the dual-motor M60 xDrive (335 hp at the rear, 258 hp at the front, for a quoted 593 hp total). That makes it easily the most powerful and accelerative of any new 5 Series—until an M5 arrives at some point—and the outgoing one of those was about $112,000. Basically, everything’s quite expensive these days.

Styling? It’s not bad, really. In fact, the i5 is less divisive than some other recent BMWs. The front, as ever, will take the most getting used to (with or without opting for M Sport Pro trim on the M60, which illuminates the perimeter of the kidneys). The back’s simply standard modern BMW, while the side profile is most interesting, with a down-sloped trunk lid of the kind we haven’t seen on a 5 Series since the E28 generation.

The proportions do a good job of hiding the new i5’s size—this is now a 16-and-a-half-foot-long car—though we noticed a styling quirk of the flat sides, which almost make the doors look like they’re bowing out when the light catches them a certain way. It’s as if the panel gaps sit in slight valleys. You’d not get that on an Audi, is all we’ll say on the matter. Large wheels help visually shrink the car, too; the eDrive40 we drove was on 20-inchers, also offered on the M60. (The 20s come at a slight range penalty.)

The i5 is arguably most appealing from the inside out. The layout and materials riff on the larger 7 Series and i7, and as soon as your derriere hits the “Veganza” artificial leather, the seats have the same astonishingly soft and comfortable feel as those in the i7. The difference in the i5 is that you sit lower in the car, and you can get lower still if you wish, as there’s enormous adjustment in both the seat and the steering wheel.

The dash layout is similar to that of many modern BMWs: A widescreen display incorporating both the driver’s instruments and the infotainment screen, and the latter is both touch-sensitive and can be operated by the glistening crystal iDrive knob between the seats, a device whose design reminds us of the old glass ashtrays you used to get in pubs, turned upside down.

As ever, the infotainment is a bottomless pit of features, most of which are best investigated before you move off, if you wish to spend any time with your eyes on the road. Luckily, frequently used stuff like climate control settings can be prodded quickly and accurately on the move, and there are various shortcut buttons around the iDrive ashtray, none of which are quite as tactile since they’re rendered in piano black plastic, a substance nobody seems willing or able to banish from automotive interiors. There’s less of it in the back, but more space than ever, thanks to the car and its wheelbase growing for this generation.

There’s little drama to starting either i5, as we’ve come to expect with EVs, but it doesn’t take much of a press on the accelerator pedal to hear futuristic noises emanating from the speakers, part of a collaboration between BMW and movie composer Hans Zimmer. They’re nice enough; we didn’t feel compelled to turn them off, and they really only come into play when you’re accelerating hard.

That’s something both cars will happily do. The eDrive40 gets from 0–62 mph in 6 seconds dead, and the M60 in 3.8. Even with only its rear wheels driven, the eDrive40 finds plenty of traction off the line, and with a quick ramp-up of power so it doesn’t turn all four tires into smoke, the M60 really launches hard; if you’re not a Tesla or Taycan regular, it’s enough to make you blurt out a few expletives the first time you give it a try.

A “Boost” paddle behind the left-hand steering wheel spoke gives an extra hit of torque, which is also fun but shows BMW has clearly reined in the ultimate performance of both cars. Basic, everyday things like getting the holeshot in converging lanes or overtaking Ethel in her Honda Fit feel like you’re entering Verstappen’s weekend wheels into a Formula Ford race. Still, this should not disappoint the 5 Series faithful.

Nor should handling. These are heavy machines, and it takes some time to wrap your head around a 5 Series that weighs, as a minimum, 2.5 tons. The much-beloved E39-generation 5er was under 3750 pounds at its lightest, a whole Caterham Seven less than the i5. But you’ll also struggle to wrap your head around the way it doesn’t at all drive like such a porky car, with abundant grip and next to no body roll.

The eDrive40 and the M60 actually feel very similar, even though the latter has adaptive dampers and the ability to decouple its anti-roll bars in a straight line to the benefit of ride quality. Both have impressive agility for their size and weight, neither complains at fairly quick changes of direction, and they obviously have the power to surge out of corners as if they have no inertia.

At normal road speeds, this resolute control of their faculties does leave them feeling a little aloof, particularly given the steering doesn’t relay many messages beyond a gentle increase in weight in quicker turns, and its natural accuracy and response. It actually leaves you thankful for the M Sport suspension settings, which renders the ride quality just tense enough that you notice what’s going on underneath, without it being actively uncomfortable, though it means really rough sections can jostle you around a little. High-speed refinement, though, is predictably excellent: little road or suspension noise, the merest rustle of wind, and obviously next to nothing from the drivetrain.

The roads of our test weren’t of the kind to really put braking under strain, but BMW has blended regenerative and friction braking well enough that you’ll rarely curse pedal feel, while the regen itself varies on the road, depending on where you are, whether you’re following someone, and other predetermined scenarios. Lift off on a motorway and you’ll likely coast (for a really long time—the i5 has a drag coefficient of around 0.22, so it barely seems to shed speed), but do the same approaching a 35-mph zone from a 65-mph zone, and the motors will harvest energy to slow you down. It’s more intuitive than it sounds.

Regen brings us on to efficiency, and with a usable 81-kWh of battery capacity, the eDrive40 is claimed to do 295 miles on a charge, with the M60 slightly less at 256 miles. Real-world range will likely be a little lower, but it’s enough to make either more useful than a Taycan or Audi e-tron GT, if not a Tesla Model S or Mercedes EQE. Both i5 models support 205-kW fast charging, so a 10–80 percent top-up takes as little as half an hour, and if you’re low on juice, a 10-minute fill can gain you as much as 100 miles.

So, to reiterate, BMW hasn’t screwed up with the i5. If you’re good with the looks and the general concept of owning an electric car, then there’s a lot here to like. A classic 5 Series will still involve you more as a driver but you knew that already; a more pertinent comparison is that the i5 is nearly as good to drive as a much more expensive Porsche Taycan, but more accommodating and it goes further on a charge, for less initial outlay. And it leaves us wondering: Would an all-electric M5 be such a bad thing?

2023 BMW i5 eDrive40 & M60 xDrive

Highs: Excellent acceleration, generous room in the back row, relatively restrained styling for a modern BMW.

Lows: Immense weight, uncommunicative steering, brittle ride over imperfect roads.

Summary: The i5 is the perhaps the best all-electric BMW we’ve seen yet, evolving the 5 Series reputation for luxury and performance that punches way above its price point.

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Eighteen months after announcing its intent to build “affordable,” sub-$30K EVs that would go on sale in 2027, Honda and GM have scrapped the plan. “GM and Honda will search for a solution separately,” Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe told Bloomberg TV. “This project itself has been canceled.”

According to Honda’s Q3 report, the Prologue and the ZDX, electric SUVs based on GM’s Ultium battery tech, are still slated to go on sale in North America as of early 2024.

Instead of a Nissan Leaf or Tesla Model 3 competitor, Honda will serve up “a mid- to large-sized EV” on a new, “EV-specific” architecture. It is scheduled to launch here in 2025, most likely assembled in Ohio, at one of Honda’s existing plants, with a battery pack built in North America by LG, for those good ol’ federal tax credits. (It’s all in the report, a PDF of which is linked in this press release.)

The decision underscores the popularity of the midsized SUV in America and the difficulty of making an EV to match up against, say, a base Honda Civic in price. (MSRP plus destination said Civic is $25,045.)

GM’s recent decision to delay full-volume production of its upcoming EVs—Equinox, Sierra, and Silverado—reflects similar market priorities: It’s easier to make money off a $50K or $60K EV than a $30K one.

What’s the reason for the failed partnership? Bloomberg reports that Honda’s CEO cited cost. The official statement insists the decision was mutual and that, of course, both companies remain committed to affordability in the EV market. However, GM’s production delay and the references to “swift decision-making” in Honda’s Q3 report suggest that the Japanese automaker may have grown impatient. Honda has proven it can get along with GM and has probably developed its understanding of battery technology and manufacturing along the way. We’d also wager GM’s current labor negotiations with the UAW are contributing to Honda’s uncertainty.

It isn’t cutting all ties with GM, however: yesterday, at the Japan Mobility Show, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe announced that, “Together with GM and Cruise, Honda is planning to launch a driverless ridehail service using the Cruise Origin, in Japan in early 2026.” Yup, the same Cruise that just got its autonomous vehicle testing permit yanked by the state of California, citing “unreasonable risk to public safety.”

Honda holds to its medium-term goal of producing 2M electric vehicles annually by 2030.

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This article first appeared in Hagerty Drivers Club magazine. Click here to subscribe and join the club.

You probably know the cautionary tale of Eastman Kodak, the photography giant that failed to embrace the transformation to digital and thus declined into bankruptcy. You might not be aware that the tale is mostly untrue.

“In fact, Kodak invested billions to develop a range of digital cameras,” recounted a 2016 article in Harvard Business Review, which noted that Kodak also bought an online photosharing platform “before Mark Zuckerberg wrote a line of Facebook’s code.” An argument can even be made that Kodak overinvested in digital—a new field it scarcely understood—rather than try harder to sustain the highly profitable photo chemistry business it had spent a century perfecting. Perhaps the lesson is simply that it’s impossible to predict the future, no matter how much you spend trying.

That lens, properly focused, is useful for examining General Motors’ announcement earlier this year that it will invest nearly $1 billion to retool several factories for a new generation of small-block V-8 engines. The announcement, which contained no details about the engines themselves or their timing, was immediately distilled into politically charged narratives. For those in the Who Killed the Electric Car? corner, it was evidence that nefarious Detroit intends to do business as usual. For those at the other extreme, it has been greeted as tacit admission from “Government Motors” that the top-down push toward electrification is doomed to fail with real consumers.

Certainly, there’s wiggle room in GM’s oft-repeated climate pledge, that it “aspires to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035.” Aspiring doesn’t necessarily mean achieving, and the transition away from internal-combustion vehicles will be an extremely complicated issue for established car companies.

There are technical reasons to keep the V-8s fresh. In the short term, it’s towing. The electric Chevrolet Silverado EV can pull an impressive 10,000 pounds, but that eats into its advertised 400-mile range. Those who regularly tow long distances—everyone from your landscaper to retirees pulling Airstreams—will be buying fuel-burning trucks until battery technology and charging infrastructure greatly improve.

An investment in V-8s is also a hedge against uncertainty about the long term. The next decade will likely belong to EVs, but beyond that, who knows? “In the distant future, you might find things like hydrogen becoming available and fueling an internal-combustion engine,” said K. Venkatesh Prasad, senior vice president of research and chief innovation officer at the Center for Automotive Research.

The biggest reason to update a V-8, though, is a counterintuitive one: GM needs V-8s in order to build EVs. Battery electric vehicles accounted for only 5.6 percent of new vehicles sold in the United States last year. Developing EVs that will appeal to the remaining 94.4 percent will require massive investment. GM says it’s spending $10 billion a year on capital investments, “the majority focused on our EV portfolio.”

Electric vehicle startups have turned to the markets to raise the necessary R&D money, as have some established automakers—VW took its Porsche subsidiary public last year, raking in $72 billion. However, the Wall Street route has been largely a dead end for Detroit; Tesla, even after a bruising year for its stock, still has a market capitalization some 15 times that of GM. “Tesla gets lots of cash coming from investors. As an incumbent, you don’t have that,” said Prasad. “So, you create that cash flow using the goose that lays the golden eggs.”

The goose for GM is full-size trucks. Chevrolet, Cadillac, and GMC collectively sold more than a million of them in the United States in 2022. Some 60 percent of those were equipped with small-block V-8s, an engine family GM has perfected over the course of seven decades, five generations, and more than 100 million units. The relatively small investment in a sixth generation is a gambit to keep the goose fed. The Catch-22—the same kind that ultimately bankrupted Kodak—is that eventual success for the EVs will come at the expense of those V-8 trucks. “That goose is going to get smaller and smaller,” predicted Prasad.

In the meantime, there’s a delicious and instructive irony in the fact that buyers of V-8 trucks and buyers of EVs will, for the foreseeable future, need each other. Maybe we can get along, after all. Let’s also not ignore the obvious good news for enthusiasts: One of the greatest engines ever will live to rumble for another day. Mama isn’t taking our Kodachrome away just yet.

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If there was a wager afoot that we couldn’t find a way to use “smectite-bearing sediments” in a sentence, we would have just come out on top.

Actually, here’s the whole sentence: “The unique lithium enrichment of illite at Thacker Pass resulted from secondary lithium- and fluorine-bearing hydrothermal alteration of primary neoformed smectite-bearing sediments, a phenomenon not previously identified.”

We aren’t saying we understand what all that from Science.org means, but the general hypothesis here is that a volcanic crater formed 16 million years ago near the Nevada-Oregon border contains millions of tons of lithium, a primary ingredient in today’s lithium-ion electric car batteries. The location is called Thacker Pass. The deposit was discovered several years ago but is only now is it getting mainstream attention.

Again, according to Science.org: “Developing a sustainable supply chain for the global proliferation of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles and grid storage necessitates the extraction of lithium resources that minimize local environmental impacts. Volcano sedimentary lithium resources have the potential to meet this requirement, as they tend to be shallow, high-tonnage deposits with low waste.”

The upshot here is twofold: One, that we may not have to reach outside the U.S. for lithium for batteries, and two, that I was wise to avoid chemistry and geology in college.

“The material could be best described as looking ‘a bit like brown potter’s clay’, says Christopher Henry, emeritus professor of geology at the University of Nevada in Reno. “It is extremely uninteresting, except that it has so much lithium in it.’’ So says a story on Chemistryworld.com.

“There’s been a lot of searching for additional [lithium] deposits,” Henry adds. “The United States has just one small lithium-producing brine operation in Nevada.” Thacker Pass may be the largest deposit of lithium in the world. Previously the largest deposit was thought to be in Bolivia.

Mining is expected to begin by 2026 and last for about 40 years. However, the mine is facing opposition by Native tribes such as the Shoshone Paiute that reside in the area, and the conflict is likely to end up in court. “The world needs to know that this lithium mining, and this fast tracking of lithium mining, is a continuation of racism on Paiute and Shoshone people,” Gary McKinney, an enrolled member of the Shoshone Paiute Tribe, told NPR.

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When it comes to BMW’s latest design exercise, the Neue Klasse concept that debuted last week in Munich, I can’t help but think of how some rules of design evolve and change. Or perhaps it’s our understanding of them. For instance, a quote: “Negative surfaces have no place in automobile design.” That’s what my professors used to tell me during the first year of my bachelor’s degree in Transportation Design. That was 2003, the same year BMW launched a positively controversial interplay of negative and positive surfaces for the E60-generation 5 Series sedan.

Under the direction of Chris Bangle, BMW’s designers were ripping to shreds the very same rulebook I was being taught to follow. As you can imagine, Bangle’s BMWs were a hot topic of discussion between us design students and our seasoned professors, and there seemed to be no middle ground. People either appreciated BMW for its courage or vehemently hated it for “ruining” the cars we grew up loving so much.

I admit I was closer to the latter camp, and it took me a few years to come around to cars like the E60-generation 5-Series mentioned above, or the E85 Z4 roadster. Twenty years on, these cars arguably look fresher and more modern than their current equivalents, and I revere them as genuine design landmarks. Much of my peers do, as well.

Even though many other BMWs from the “Bangle Era” haven’t aged nearly as well, there’s no denying the lasting impact he and his team’s work has had on the evolution of automobile design. But that was a long time ago, and I’m certainly not the only one who’s now failing to see any rhyme or reason behind the design choices that characterize the most recent crop of BMWs.

In fact, I’ve grown so accustomed to BMW’s repeated recent assaults on our retinas that I was ready to dismiss the latest Neue Klasse concept car as yet more proof that BMW has lost the plot. But that would have been unfair, because the more I look into this project, the more I realize that BMW may be onto something this time.

As most BMW fans will undoubtedly know, the “Neue Klasse” moniker was used for a seminal run of sedans and coupes built between 1962 and 1972, which established BMW as a purveyor classy, sporting cars for decades to come. In the United States, the 2002 is the most celebrated product of this lineage. Much like the rest of the German automobile industry, BMW built its fortune through skillful and incremental refinement of the same winning formula. For decades, all the Germans had to do was give their customers—every few years—a bigger, faster, better iteration of what they already knew and loved. Automakers could charge customers a bit more each time and then laugh all the way to the bank.

However, those days are rapidly coming to an end. The shift to electric propulsion forces BMW (just like other brands) to rethink what it stands for as a company and revise its cars’ unique selling proposition. Thus the resurrection of the “Neue Klasse” moniker for its latest concept car: the start of a new, transformative era in the marque’s history.

In this context, the choice of a classic three-box sedan format is all the more remarkable, given that this body style is currently heading the dodo’s way. It’s but one more clue that, as I’m reliably informed, BMW designers took inspiration from beloved compact sedans like the 2002 and the E30-generation 3 Series while designing the Neue Klasse.

That’s particularly evident in the concept’s slim roof pillars and ample windows, which I really hope will remain so on the production model slated for 2025/6. The front end is once again slanted forward, echoing the distinctive “shark nose” of the 1970s Bimmers. But there’s much more to the Neue Klasse than simple nostalgia for the BMWs of yore. It is a pared-back, refreshingly minimalist design almost devoid of character lines. It’s so far removed from the clumsy, overstyled monsters currently populating BMW’s showrooms that it might as well have come entirely from another company.

The Neue Klasse may have a traditional sedan body style, but its striking proportions show that its designers understood how to exploit the packaging advantages of electric vehicles to the fullest. The large-diameter 21-inch wheels are pushed toward the outer corners of the car, stretching the wheelbase and minimizing front and rear overhangs. Designers love this because it gives the vehicle a planted, purposeful stance that visually suggests roadholding and stability. Moreover, it leaves plenty of room for the underfloor battery and creates a more spacious passenger compartment relative to the car’s exterior dimensions.

If the exterior of the Neue Klasse has a definite retro-futurist vibe, its interior design is anything but. Here, BMW’s designers shunned nostalgia to fully embrace a minimalist aesthetic and digital-centric approach that does away with almost all physical controls. The dashboard is nearly bare, save for a full-width display panel called Panoramic Vision and a trapezoidal central screen. As the Neue Klasse is built on a new, dedicated EV platform, the floor is completely flat, with just a floating center console separating the four seats. It all looks very slick, perhaps too much so. The yellow corduroy upholstery is a nice touch and gives the interior some warmth, but overall, the cabin still exudes a clinical vibe. And no matter how modern and cool your dentist’s studio looks, it will still be the last place you’d like to kick back and relax. Plenty of recent concept cars from other brands have successfully demonstrated that a slick and high-tech can be inviting, as well.

So, has BMW finally rediscovered its mojo? Maybe, but I’d say it’s too early to celebrate. After all, the Neue Klasse is still just a prototype, and although it is a promising sign of things to come, it still looks somewhat half-baked in its execution, especially the rear-end design. Still, I’d much rather drive around in something like the Neue Klasse over a current X3 or X4. The production version of the Neue Klasse is expected to be released in just a couple of years’ time. It will be the first new BMW in years that I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing.

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Matteo Licata received his degree in Transportation Design from Turin’s IED (Istituto Europeo di Design) in 2006. He worked as an automobile designer for about a decade, including a stint in the then-Fiat Group’s Turin design studio, during which his proposal for the interior of the 2010–20 Alfa Romeo Giulietta was selected for production. He next joined Changan’s European design studio in Turin and then EDAG in Barcelona, Spain. Licata currently teaches automobile design history to the Transportation Design bachelor students of IAAD (Istituto di Arte Applicata e Design) in Turin.

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Answering a question we weren’t aware potential buyers have been asking, Ford has announced an off-road version of the Mustang Mach-E. Available next year, the SUV “pushes electric vehicles in a different direction,” Ford says, “as the first-ever rally-inspired EV from Ford takes Mustang freedom and fun onto dirt roads.”

“Just a year ago, this was merely an idea, and what you see today is a testament to the passion and intense creativity of our Model e team,” said Donna Dickson, chief engineer for the Mustang Mach-E. (Model e is the side of the company responsible for electric vehicles; Ford Blue and Ford Pro handle internal combustion and fleet models, respectively.) “We have always explored new areas of performance, and the combination of a rally-tuned suspension, dual motor electric powertrain, and wicked styling makes the Mustang Mach-E Rally a different kind of performance vehicle that will excite customers chasing their next adventure.”

That dual-motor powertrain is targeting “at least” 480 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque. The most powerful Mach-E you can buy today, the GT, has 480 hp and 634 lb-ft. The suspension of the Rally version has been raised 20 millimeters, which is eight-tenths of an inch, over that of the GT model. The Rally variant is also equipped with specially tuned springs, MagneRide shocks, and 15-inch front brake rotors with red-painted Brembo calipers.

The Mach-E Rally has a lithium-ion battery with a usable capacity of 91 kWh and is targeting an EPA-estimated range of 250 miles. The vehicle is estimated to charge from 10 to 80 percent in under 37 minutes on a DC fast charger, to which Ford customers will soon have more access, thanks to the partnership with Tesla.

It has gloss white 19-inch rally-style alloy wheels “inspired by the long history of Ford rally vehicles,” wearing 235/55 R19 Michelin CrossClimate2 tires that provide more sidewall and loose surface grip compared to the GT’s 245/45R20 Continental all-seasons.

“With all the gravel customers will kick up, the underside gets protective shielding for the front and rear motors, protective film on the door cladding and fender arches to help reduce paint chips, and available dealer-installed styled mud flaps to reduce debris spray. There’s also a recovery point built into the front end and an included hook should off-highway adventures ever get a little too spicy.”

The Mustang Mach-E Rally has a RallySport Drive Mode, which is designed for off-road driving and allows for added yaw for bigger slides, a linear throttle response for better control, and more aggressive damping for better handling in loose corners. “As a bonus, drivers will appreciate how this drive mode, combined with the new tires, allows the Mustang Mach-E Rally to perform in snow and other slick on-road conditions.”

To test the vehicle, Ford developed an all-new rally course at its Michigan Proving Ground. The course was specially designed by rallycross veterans to simulate what the vehicle might encounter out in the real world. Engineers and technicians then abused prototypes in 500-mile tests simulating rallycross durability trials to make sure it lived up to their design intent.

The rally-modified Mach-E adds visual pizzazz with a dramatic rear spoiler that takes inspiration from the Focus RS hatchback (2016–18), unique contrasting accents, including upper and lower body moldings, a unique front splitter, black painted steel roof, a “distinctive and purposeful” front fascia that houses built-in rally-inspired fog lights. Every example comes standard with two racing stripes. The Mach-E Rally can be ordered in Grabber Blue, Shadow Black, Eruption Green, and “eye-popping Grabber Yellow” with available Star White or new Glacier Gray as extra-cost options.

Inside there’s a “combination of comfort, functionality, and style that ties in with the iconic white wheels. There are gloss white accents on the dash, the lower spokes of the steering wheel and contrasting stitching on the doors. Drivers will strap into distinctive Ford-designed performance seats that feature gloss white seatbacks, and ‘Mach-E Rally’ debossed into the seating surface.”

“Mustang Mach-E Rally puts Ford’s decades of passion for rally championships around the world right in the hands of our customers,” said Jim Farley, chief executive officer.

Targeted starting price for the Mustang Mach-E Rally is “around $65,000” in the U.S., or roughly $5K above the GT model. The vehicle will be available to purchase in early 2024 and deliveries will begin shortly afterward.

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Though the second-generation NSX supercar was a hybrid, and Honda’s big plans for electrification spawned rumors of a battery-powered halo vehicle in that vein, the first pure-electric Acura was always going to be an SUV, says Acura’s assistant VP of sales for the U.S., Emile Korkor.

The 2024 ZDX is a major first for Honda’s premium marque, though the model is the second SUV in the brand’s history to wear that badge. The first ZDX (model years 2010–2013) was a coupe-like crossover take on the midsize MDX. In retrospect, the recipe was ahead of its time.

The electric ZDX, however, breaks much more significant ground. For one, no Acura with four doors and a trunk has boasted this much power: an estimated 500 hp in top, Type-S trim. Only three bits are shared with an existing Acura model: The four horizontal LEDs arranged under its “chicane” daytime running lights (DRL), which are shared across the lineup; the steering wheel emblem, borrowed from the Integra, and one of the speakers—the tweeter, made by Bang & Olufsen in its first partnership with the automaker.

The 2024 ZDX is the first Acura to showcase the B&O audio system, but it won’t be the last; the system will “cascade” to future models, says the vehicle’s chief engineer, John Hwang. If you’re a huge fan of Panasonic, fret not: The Denmark-based audio company isn’t edging out Acura’s existing audio partner, Panasonic, based in Japan.

Since Acuras are only marketed as such in North America, the L.A. studio took the lead when it came time to evolve the Precision EV Concept, first shown in August of 2022, into a production model. Acura’s dealers, says Korkor, had been asking for an EV for years and were even more pleased with the ZDX than with its 2022 concept forbear. Korkor expects the ZDX to sell in the highest volumes in California—no surprise, given that state’s aggressive EV incentives—and then New York, New Jersey, Florida, and Texas. The EV will sticker around $60K.

Acura plans to market the ZDX as “a good alternative,” in Korkor’s words, to the brand’s biggest SUV, the MDX. After glancing at the MDX’s price structure, we’ll add a qualification: The most expensive version of the electric SUV is a good alternative to the most expensive version of the gas-powered one. Both Type-S models will sticker around $70K. If you like power, the choice is obvious: The ZDX makes around 500 hp to the MDX’s 355.

When comparing entry-level versions of the SUVs, the comparison favors the internal-combustion model. At launch, the cheapest ZDX will cost around $60K; you can get an MDX right now for ten grand less—eight, if you need four driven wheels. (The base ZDX is a single-motor, front-drive configuration.)

Acura won’t let slip where the ZDX will be built, but tax incentives provided by the Inflation Act of 2022 to domestically produced EVs all but ensure it will be made in North America. The ZDX is rather American underneath its handsomely creased sheetmetal, where you’ll find all GM hardware. We’d wager that the ZDX’s closest relative will be the Cadillac Lyriq and that the Acura will be built at that model’s home in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

The GM collaboration isn’t mentioned by Acura in the press release, but the source of the ZDX’s drivetrain was openly acknowledged by engineers at the showing of the car in Detroit. Hwang points to the logos on the wheel centers: His team wanted to use wheel caps from existing models, but the specs of GM’s Ultium platform—specifically, the wheel hubs—were the tiniest bit incompatible.

The Honda e city car is available in Europe, but the automaker has yet to deliver a fully electric vehicle to America with its own badge. Acura will carry that torch for Honda’s first lap around North America, helping fill out a rapidly expanding list of luxury electric SUVs from Cadillac, BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and more. The 2024 ZDX appears well-positioned to carve out its niche, and it arrives at an opportune moment.

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Honda, along with its luxury brand Acura, is the latest in a slew of major automakers to strike a deal with Tesla that allows it to use the Texas firm’s electric-vehicle charging network in North America.

Unsurprisingly, Honda simultaneously announced a new electric model for the U.S. and Canada that, like all Honda EVs from 2025 on, will be built with a Tesla-style charge port. The as-yet unnamed car will go on sale in 2025 and use the NACS, or North American Charging Standard, plug. (Elon went full send on that name, didn’t he?) Users will have access to Tesla’s network of over 12,000 Supercharger stations.

Honda’s upcoming EV will be the second promised by the Japanese manufacturer as part of its collaboration with GM, announced back in 2020. The first is the Prologue (pictured at the top of this story), which arrives for the 2024 model year and, like the upcoming 2025 car, will be built in GM plants (because tax incentives) on the Ultium EV platform, the same one that undergirds the new Hummer, the Escalade IQ, and the Silverado EV.

Since General Motors also announced in early June that its future EVs would use the NACS port and have access to the Supercharger network, Honda’s announcement isn’t really a surprise.

The Prologue, along with any other electric vehicles announced by Honda or Acura for 2024, will have a CCS port (Combined Charging System, the previous engineering standard for EVs) but will come with an adaptor that allows users to charge the car at a NACS station. It’s all part of Honda’s plan for North American domination, as we detailed last year:

In North America, Honda has laid out an aggressive timeline of EV introductions based on three initial phases leading to 2030 and ultimately to 100 percent zero-emission automobile sales by 2040: In 2024, begin sales of the Honda Prologue, co-developed with GM. In 2026, begin sales of Honda models based on Honda e:Architecture to be produced by Honda in North America. In 2027, begin sales of a new series of affordable EVs co-developed with GM, also produced by Honda in North America.

Ford was the first of the Big Three companies to hash things out with Tesla. The third of the triad hasn’t indicated that it wants to join the Supercharger party: Stellantis, along with BMW Group, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, and Mercedes-Benz, is working to build its own network of EV chargers for North America. The numbers: At least 30,000 stations, compatible with both the NACS and the CCS ports, with the first chargers to become available in the summer of 2024.

Evidently, GM and Honda think that more is merrier when it comes to charging networks, and none of the other five brands in the multinational consortium have forbidden their partners to join forces with Tesla.

A newfound spirit of cooperation? If it means that electric vehicles become cheaper and easier to use, we’re all for it.

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Those among us who consider range anxiety a good reason to pass on electric vehicles may find that argument weakened when the Mercedes-Benz Concept CLA Class makes it to production. The concept car, unveiled at the IAA Mobility 2023 show in Munich, Germany, “offers a close-to-production insight into the upcoming family of vehicles that stands at the gateway to the brand.”

The headline: 750 kilometers of range on the WLTP cycle, which works out to 466 miles. On the EPA cycle, this likely works out to around 400 miles of range.

“The Concept CLA Class is the forerunner for an entirely new all-electric segment of entry-level vehicles at Mercedes-Benz,” said Ola Källenius, chief executive officer of the Mercedes-Benz Group. “The range will comprise a total of four new models—a four-door coupe, a shooting brake, and two stunning SUVs—each with significantly elevated product substance. This new model family is inspired by a generation of car buyers who want that unmistakable Mercedes-Benz feel, with more features, even greater comfort and safety and the most advanced technology. They also seek a sustainable choice that is a cut above the rest.

“Based on the MMA platform, it provides an insight into the first complete family of Mercedes-Benz electric cars developed from scratch to put our Ambition 2039 on the road, whereby we aim to achieve net carbon neutrality along the entire value chain in our fleet of new vehicles in 2039.”

The Mercedes-Benz Modular Architecture (MMA) is an electric-first platform engineered for this family of four vehicles covering a range of body styles. ”It is set to play a major role in accelerating the ramp-up of the Mercedes-Benz electric fleet. As a fundamental part of the wider electric strategy, it will help the company attain its ambitious targets.”

“The technology that provides the foundation for the Concept CLA Class represents an entirely new approach for Mercedes-Benz and incorporates many learnings from our groundbreaking Vision EQXX technology program,” said Markus Schäfer, Mercedes-Benz chief technology officer. “For instance, our engineers have maximized efficiency by driving down losses in its 800 V electric-drive system. It also features innovative battery cell chemistry as well as a high level of integration enabling excellent energy density.”

That charging configuration enables rapid electrical top-up of up to 400 kilometers (248 miles) in just 15 minutes. The “next generation drivetrain” has advanced efficiency features including silicon-carbide inverter and battery-cell chemistry with silicon-oxide anode design for excellent energy density. The drive unit delivers up to 93 percent energy efficiency from battery to wheels in long-distance driving.

The Concept CLA Class is rear-wheel-drive, but the modular design means it is also suitable for 4×4 vehicle applications. The advanced next-generation drivetrain, which is making its debut in the Concept CLA Class, is scalable to fit other use cases, including in other vehicle segments.

Power comes from a 175 kW permanently excited synchronous motor, paired with a two-speed transmission. The high-performance power electronics incorporate control of motor and transmission in a single processor and feature a silicon carbide inverter for efficient power usage. This reflects the high degree of functional integration throughout the car that results in a compact overall package weighing less than 243 pounds.

The styling, Mercedes says, is the “start of a new era, and the next step in the continuous evolution of the brand’s unique design language of sensual purity. The vehicle has a distinctively dynamic appearance, incorporating design elements that have become icons in their own right—reimagined for the electric and digital age.”

The car’s overall shape and profile are recognizable in light of the outgoing CLA and C-Class, albeit curvier and more futuristic-looking.

Inside, the “blend of [analog] and digital brings fresh definition to the segment: Inside the spacious and airy interior of the Concept CLA Class, the aesthetic theme is one of utmost modernity. This is simply yet powerfully expressed through the considered application of a few iconic elements. The overall effect exudes a tech-infused minimalist elegance that takes sculptural automotive design into an exciting digital future and sets the tone in this segment.”

No word on the price or the production rollout for the CLA, but it seems fully realized enough to be on the road in another two to three years or so. Production of MMA vehicles will initially begin in Rastatt (Germany), Keckskemet (Hungary) and Beijing (China). “The exact location of robots, supply routes and production lines can be determined without having to disrupt the production of current compact models, which include the A-Class and B-Class, the GLA and EQA. The ‘digital first’ approach enables a faster ramp-up, creates cost savings and opens up new opportunities for improving efficiency and quality.”

Källenius told Reuters that while Mercedes plans to have a fully electric lineup ready by 2030, the automaker does not expect the European market to be totally ready to give up internal combustion by that point. Charging infrastructure, he said, also needs to improve to convince customers to make the shift. Mercedes will maintain “tactical flexibility” as long as necessary to produce ICE and BEV vehicles on the same production lines.

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As of this writing, there’s no way to know whether the Tropical Depression 13 in the Atlantic will turn into Hurricane Lee, but meteorologists are certain it will happen.

“Given the mostly favorable environment for strengthening, the National Hurricane Center forecasts this system to become a hurricane by Thursday and a Category 3 or 4 hurricane by this weekend,” said the Weather Channel on Tuesday, September 5.

Hurricane Idalia, which struck North Florida two weeks ago, was a Category 3. Ian, which hit Southern Florida less than a year ago, was a Category 5.

If Lee does strike the U.S., no matter where, owners of electric cars who live near the coast should beware.

At least, that’s the message from Florida Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshall Jimmy Patronis. He wrote that on October 6, 2022, “I joined North Collier Fire Rescue to assess response activities related to Hurricane Ian and saw with my own eyes an EV continuously ignite, and continually reignite, as fire teams doused the vehicle with tens of thousands of gallons of water.

“Subsequently, I was informed by the fire department that the vehicle once again reignited when it was loaded onto the tow truck. Based on my conversations with area firefighters, this is not an isolated incident. As you can appreciate, I am very concerned that we may have a ticking time bomb on our hands.”

Exposure to salt water caused 21 electric vehicles to catch fire in 2022 with Hurricane Ian, and at least half a dozen due to Hurricane Idalia, which did not dump as much salt water on dry land in populated areas as Ian did. An early assessment, before all available data was in, said that of the first 16 reported electric car fires due to Ian, one was a Porsche, one was a Lucid, and 14 were Teslas, the latter of which is by far the most popular electric car brand.

So what’s really going on? Professor David Richardson, dean of the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida explains to Hagerty: “The electrical conductivity of sea water is, compared to other water, much more electrically conductive than distilled water, and it is generally far more conductive than fresh water. Seawater has less conductivity than copper wire, but it is still a great conductor.

“Imagine two electrical connectors with a large voltage across them. Connecting those together (shorting them) with wire results in a very large current flow that can set off a chain of undesirable effects, creating a lot of heat, sparks, etc. The same can happen with sea water.”

Presently the only fire suppression method available to fire departments is douse the battery (underneath the car) with, as Patronis mentioned, sometimes thousands of gallons of water. Even then, there’s no guarantee that the fire won’t reignite, due to “stranded energy” left inside the battery.

Fresh water doesn’t pose the same risk as salt water, even if the car is completely submerged.

On a per-incident basis, the fires are taking a massive amount of time for local departments that, no doubt, are seriously needed elsewhere for search and rescue. That seems to be the case if the electric car is parked outside, away from buildings. If inside a garage, the entire house would be compromised. EV owners may be wise to move their cars inland, if possible, in the event of a storm large enough to flood their property. Even moving the vehicle outside and away from buildings would minimize risk.

This is not to say that fully electric vehicles are more likely to catch fire separate from the salt water addition to the data, because they aren’t. A National Transportation Safety Board firefighter training video says there are 170,000 car fires a year, but only a small percentage involve electric vehicles. A Highway Loss Data Institute bulletin from April reported that among electric vehicles with a conventional ICE counterpart, observed non-crash fire claim frequencies were 26 percent lower for the electric variants. Among electric vehicles without conventional counterparts, results were identical for the Nissan Leaf compared to the Nissan Versa, which is similar in size and body style.

In fact, research by an insurance industry website, AutoinsuranceEZ.com, indicates that hybrid vehicles are actually the most fire-prone per 100,000 sales. Gas vehicles are second, and electric vehicles place third, with only 25 fires per 100,000 electric vehicle sales.

In any case, the salt water issue is pressing for those living in flood-prone and seaside regions.

After Ian, Patronis, the Florida State Fire Marshal, wrote to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, asking for a “more robust” response to battery fires due to salt water exposure that must be extinguished by local fire departments.

“When my office asked National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Tesla officials on how long the risk of fire exists once a battery is compromised from saltwater and/or damage, no credible timetable exists, because the current situation has not been fully researched,” he wrote to Buttigieg.

“As the State Fire Marshal, I must ensure local fire teams have access to all the equipment needed for these operations, including Tender Strike Teams, Engine Strike Teams, Personal Protective Equipment and thermal imagery. Your response may be the difference between life and death.”

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Last week, the U.S. Department of Energy announced $15.5 billion in funding and loans for the automotive industry. The package is primarily focused on retooling existing factories so that they can transition to building electric vehicles. $2 billion in grants and up to $10 billion in loans will be available to support automotive manufacturing conversion projects that retain “high-quality jobs” in communities that currently host these manufacturing facilities.

“President Biden is investing in the workforce and factories that made our country a global manufacturing powerhouse,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Today’s announcements show that President Biden understands that building the cars of the future also necessitates helping the communities challenged by the transition away from the internal combustion engine.”

Among the announcements is a new $2 billion funding opportunity to spur the conversion of long-standing facilities to the manufacture of electric vehicles and related components. The Domestic Manufacturing Conversion Grants for electrified vehicles program will provide cost-shared grants for domestic production of hybrid, plug-in electric hybrid, plug-in electric drive, and hydrogen fuel cell/electric vehicles.

“Particular attention” will be paid “to communities supporting facilities with longer histories in automotive manufacturing. Preference will also be given to projects that commit to pay high wages for production workers and maintain collective bargaining agreements.” In other words, mostly Michigan.

The DOE is also making available up to $10 billion in loan authority for applications under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program for automotive manufacturing conversion projects that retain high-quality jobs in communities that currently host manufacturing facilities. Examples include retaining high wages and benefits, including workplace rights, or commitments such as keeping the existing facility open until a new facility is complete, in the case of facility replacement projects.

DOE also announced its intent to invest approximately $3.5 billion to boost the production of advanced batteries and battery materials that are critical to rapidly growing clean energy industries of the future, including electric vehicles and energy storage. This notice of intent represents the second round of funding for battery materials processing and battery manufacturing grants to support the creation of new, retrofitted, and expanded domestic commercial facilities for battery materials, battery components, and cell manufacturing.

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain applauded the move. “We are glad to see the Biden Administration doing its part to reject the false choice between a good job and a green job. This new policy makes clear to employers that the EV transition must include strong union partnerships with the high pay and safety standards that generations of UAW members have fought for and won.

“The Big Three have closed or spun off 65 plants in the last 20 years,” Fain said. “The automakers have not yet promised job security in our ongoing negotiations. I have traveled across the country, meeting displaced workers who’ve had to pick up and move their families when plants shut down recently in Belvidere, Illinois; Lordstown, Ohio; and Romeo, Michigan. These new grants and loans will give plants like these a chance for federal support to ensure those jobs and communities are protected.”

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The EV deals are just around the corner. Tesla has already repeatedly dropped the price of its cars, while new EV models continue to join the market. General Motors, for example, is debuting several new EVs before the end of the year, with the Chevrolet Silverado EV slated to start production soon.

Meanwhile, some dealers are struggling to sell the EVs already for sale. One dealer I spoke with, who sells Mercedes and other high-end brands in a cold-climate state, told me that he had five EVs bolted to the showroom floor. He said that all the early adopters have already bought their EVs and his customers are concerned about reduced range as we head into the winter months. There’s an EV glut coming, with a silver lining being likely deep discounts.

Car companies are well aware that the transition to electric vehicles is going to be messy. They’re responding, however, to several future government regulations on tailpipe emissions that essentially mandate EVs. Even Dodge’s architect of the Charger and Challenger muscle-car awesomeness, CEO Tim Kuniskis, pragmatically acknowledged the transition at the recent burnout-fest known as Roadkill Nights. In an interview published by Automotive News, Kuniskis talked about the new electric-powered technology. “I get it: Not everybody is adopting to this technology right away, and not everybody will,” he said. “It will take many years for everybody to, but people will. Early adopters will, and when they see what we can do with this technology, they will start coming along.” Kuniskis also said, “This is the regulation. This is where the industry is going. This is what we have to do.” Dodge has already revealed an electric version of the Challenger that blends muscle-car looks with a synthetically generated exhaust sound.

Regulations cost money and several car companies have acknowledged that profits from gas-powered vehicles are temporarily needed to fund development of EVs. Tesla seems to be making money with EVs, but that company enjoyed a long head start. The average price of a new car is now nearly 50 grand. Auto loans are feeling more like house mortgages and now average six years. Not surprisingly, people are keeping their cars for longer and the average age of the cars on our roads continues to climb: It’s now at 12.5 years. There are only a few new cars for sale that cost around 20 grand yet dozens for more than 100. Interestingly, GM reversed the decision to kill its most successful EV, the Bolt, which will utilize a new, more efficient Ultium battery pack that should cost 40 percent less than the current Bolt’s battery technology. One can assume that this second-gen Bolt will cost less, too.

I imagine many of you are thinking, “There goes ol’ libertarian Larry slamming the gubment.” Actually, I understand the need for regulation and the benefits it achieves. When I lived in a town that was beset with smelly and heavy smoke from nearby steel mills, I experienced how air pollution negatively affected the quality of life. A few years ago we published a piece on the EPA’s 50th anniversary. That agency faced plenty of pushback some 50 years ago when it enacted the car-emissions rules that ultimately helped reduce Los Angeles’s pea-soup smog. The computer-controlled engines initially made to meet those EPA regs are one major reason we now have gazillion-horsepower Dodges and Chevies that start on cold mornings and idle easily in traffic. I’m also grateful for the increased crash safety of modern cars and once made a film about how the Corvair was the sacrificial lamb that sparked the auto-safety push.

I am conflicted about our current state. Change is often painful and unwanted. Are we experiencing the discomfort of change or reaching too far for something the buyers don’t want? I often think about the dozens of off-the-record conversations with car executives I’ve had over the years who all point out that when gas is expensive, people use less and demand alternatives. While my mom regularly complains about the price of fuel, that figure has actually been remarkably stable over time when one adjusts for inflation. This despite the fact that we consume some 30 percent more oil than we did 50 years ago.

These are complicated issues that I fear I’ve oversimplified and in turn perhaps projected a pessimistic view of the future. I feel positive, in fact, partly because of what we do at Hagerty Media, which is to embrace all cars but largely focus on the past. That research reveals time after time the ingenuity of humans to find unexpected and inventive solutions to problems. I hope you agree that we highlight those stories and if you’d like to support us, please join the Hagerty Drivers Club.

The thought of optimism reminded me of a recent visit with Hagerty columnist and car fan Jay Leno. My colleague Aaron Robinson and I watched Leno perform at The Comedy & Magic Club, where Leno proved he’s as funny as ever. The next day, we went to Leno’s garage for a wide-ranging conversation that included autonomous and electric cars. Leno, who regularly drives his Tesla, is infectiously optimistic. He simultaneously loves the past but also embraces change. We could all learn plenty from Leno.

Have a great weekend!

P.S.: Your feedback is very welcome. Comment below!

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The post Never Stop Driving #64: EV struggles appeared first on Hagerty Media.

It’s been a rocky start for Lucid. One of several U.S.-based automakers chasing Tesla, Lucid currently assembles the Air, a very sleek and formidable electric luxury sedan. In a few months, at the 2023 L.A. auto show, Lucid will reveal the Gravity, an all-electric SUV. The latest Q2 results announced by Lucid in early August showed deliveries of 1404 cars in the quarter, about 600 short of expectations, and revenues that thoroughly disappointed Wall Street. The company’s stock, LCID, once valued at $55, has been spanked down to less than $7 as of this writing.

Well, if starting car companies was easy, everyone would be doing it. The feat is certainly easier if your friend is the Saudi government, which has invested $9 billion in Lucid so far, including a $3 billion bump this year, and which has committed to buying 50,000 cars. For its part, Lucid is sticking to its plan, which almost from the start included a high-performance sub-brand.

Behold, Sapphire, a lapidarian name that will henceforth affix itself to all top-spec Lucid models. In a brief run around suburban Los Angeles, the, er, ludicrous Lucid Air Sapphire proved that the fledgling automaker can build some pretty impressive machinery while continuing to confound with some eyebrow-raising choices. If Lucid ever manages to hack its way into the mainstream, it will not be for lack of trying to stay weird.

The Lucid Air Sapphire sits above—indeed, way above—the Lucid Air Pure, Touring, and Grand Touring already on the market. Those trim levels are priced from around $87,000 to $125,000, with varying degrees of luxury, power, and range. The Sapphire will have a base price of $250,650.

In answer to that gobsmacking figure, which seems to confirm that lofty prices are one of Lucid’s problems (another: the giant luxury sedan segment is not exactly red-hot), the Lucid people are quick to point out that more of the base, rear-drive Air Pures are coming for 2024. Those should help showroom traffic, along with that desperately needed SUV. In the meantime, Sapphire will arrive sometime before Christmas for those who want and can afford the ultimate electric airport limo.

Specs: 2024 Lucid Air Sapphire

Price: $250,650 (base)
Powertrain: three permanent-magnet electric motors
Horsepower: 1234 hp
Torque: 1430 lb-ft
Layout: all-wheel-drive, four-door, five-passenger sedan
EPA-rated fuel economy: TBC
Range: 427 miles (manufacturer claim)
0–60 mph: 1.9 seconds (manufacturer claim)
Competitors: Tesla Model S Plaid, Porsche Taycan Turbo S

Lucid’s tech and car-development chops have always been bonafide. No doubt, that’s why Aston Martin has committed to purchasing Lucid components for its own electric vehicles. Lucid’s proprietary electric-drive unit is extremely compact, which allowed engineers to graft a second donut-shaped motor onto the rear axle of the Sapphire, for a total of three: one in front, two in the back, producing a combined 1430 pound-feet of torque.

Lucid claims a zero-to-60-mph time of 1.89 seconds for the 5300-pound Sapphire. We can vouch the sprint is fast enough to puddle your brain against the back of your skull. Perhaps more significantly, Lucid claims a 3.61 kW/Hr efficiency for the Sapphire, which puts it near the top of the charts among modern electrics for electron consumption.

Superbike-like acceleration isn’t the only reason to go to three motors, says David Lickfold, Lucid’s senior director of chassis and vehicle dynamics, a veteran of both Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin. Torque vectoring is another: All-wheel-drive cars tend to understeer, one reason Petter Solberg was such an expert at the Scandinavian flick while driving for Subaru’s rally team in the early 2000s.

However, the Sapphire’s rear motors can flick for you—sort of. They alternately over- or under-speed as needed to help turn the big sedan in corners, thus giving the steering a much livelier and more connected feel than an AWD car this heavy has a right to have, all without the extra complexity of rear-wheel steering. We managed to provoke this rotational effect—barely—in a few runs between traffic clumps in L.A.’s twisty Sepulveda Pass. The rear end pushes outward almost subliminally while the front tucks into a tighter turn than should be possible for the speed.

Lickford calls the effect “virtual wheelbase,” meaning the Sapphire can feel like a long-wheelbase pullman or a shorter-wheelbase sports sedan depending on the situation and the driver’s mood. The car’s various personalities are selectable through the driving modes: Swift, Sapphire, and Track, the latter of which has three sub-modes—Dragstrip, Hot Lap, and Endurance. Lickford says the torque-vectoring and traction control tuning was pulled in-house for Sapphire, making for some very long days and nights for the Lucideers.

The prodigious grip is helped by the low center of gravity endemic to all-electric vehicles, plus the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires it comes with standard. The tires are marked “LM1,” meaning they are an exclusive design for Lucid. Lickfold explained that the inner belts are a durable touring compound while the outer shoulders and sidewall are basically made of Pilot Sport Cup2 super gum. Michelin’s performance tires are renowned for their ability to manage heat—a good thing, since nothing short of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant makes heat like the tires of a 5300-pound car when 1234 horsepower and 1430 pound-feet of torque are being used in anger. Ditto the brakes, where in the Sapphire are huge 16.5-inch carbon-composite disks in front clamped by 10-piston calipers, the 15.4-inch carbon rears gripped by four-piston calipers.

Lickford and his team also retuned the suspension with stiffer springs, thicker sway bars, sportier bushings, and a new front knuckle that increases negative camber in front, again for faster steering response. In back, a Sapphire-specific lower control arm increases negative camber there as well. The starchier ride is noticeable, and perhaps not to everyone’s taste.

Besides the revised suspension, the extra motor, and the standard 118 kW/Hr battery pack with its rated 427-mile range, the Sapphire comes with exclusive interior treatments and exterior aero bits. Lucid’s signature glass roof is not available, strangely: A more conventional aluminum roof painted black is the only choice, supposedly to reduce weight and lower the center of gravity.

A couple of other oddities: The only color available, at least initially, is Sapphire Blue. This in a segment where black, white, and grey seem to rule. The Sapphire’s unique 20-inch front and 21-inch rear snowflake-spoked wheels come with a set of aero covers in a handsome drawstring bag. Owners can install the covers themselves for hypermiling, but they’d do well to read the directions if they want to avoid freeway frisbees: The cover fasteners have a specific torque spec.

Aimed at folks who like stealthy performance of the type offered by an Audi RS6 or the like, the Sapphire is unquestionably an impressive technical statement and a glimpse of the vast potential for electrics. However, it’s a Hail Mary from a new company that is still struggling to sell cars and figure out how to be profitable. The latest Saudi investment is thought to give Lucid only another year or so of runway. Let’s hope the Sapphire name, like Lucid itself, will live on for many years.

2024 Lucid Air Sapphire

Highs: Outrageous acceleration, moves to match the power, lots of interior space, far nicer inside than a Tesla.

Lows: A lot of money for an unknown quantity, ride a bit crispy, you can have any color you want as long as it’s blue.

Takeaway: Lucid shows us what it’s got; now it’s got to show us the vehicle it needs—an affordable electric.

***

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A yellow Lotus. I should know a thing or two about this, given I’ve owned one for the last couple of years.

Nothing could be further from the truth, it turns out. The color and badge are familiar but this car is unlike any Lotus in history. Perhaps any car, full stop.

Lotus calls it the Eletre, a “Hyper SUV” that represents the first step on an ambitious sprint into an all-electric future for the British brand—a reset triggered by a gigantic investment from Chinese automotive powerhouse Geely.

We can expect a sedan and a more compact SUV to come riding on the Eletre’s new Electric Premium Architecture (EPA), followed by a two-seater sports car—all by 2026. By the end of 2030, Lotus aims to be selling 150,000 cars a year worldwide.

That’s a hundredfold increase on its recent best volume.

Achieving those numbers obviously requires a totally different approach to the one that has kept Colin Chapman’s company (barely) afloat for the last 75 years.

For one, no longer does Lotus see itself as an anachronistic example of British cottage industry. The new mantra is “born British, raised globally.” The company has its design HQ in the U.K., a technical center in Germany, plus further R&D and a mega-factory in China. The sheds at Hethel have been revitalized to create a modern facility that builds the Emira and Evija; England will remain the home of the company’s two-seaters.

Second, the Eletre is a massive—figuratively and physically—departure for the brand. It’s Lotus’ Porsche Cayenne moment but even more dramatic: the biggest, most complex, and heavyweight model ever to come from a company whose founding principles were “simplify and add lightness.”

“There’s no denying it’s the heaviest Lotus ever made,” admits PR manager Richard Yarrow. “But it is still a true Lotus.”

How so? According to the official blurb, “It takes the heart and soul of the latest Lotus sports car —the Emira—and the revolutionary aerodynamics of the all-electric Evija hypercar, and reinterprets them as a hyper-SUV. It delivers class-leading ride and handling, steering and aero performance—areas of automotive design and engineering where Lotus has both pioneered and dominated throughout its 75-year history.”

These are bold claims and, over the course of two days driving in EV-friendly Norway, I have the chance to test them all.

Lined up in the parking lot of the Oslo airport are around a dozen Eletres, mostly Solar Yellow, with a couple in Galloway Green and Kaimu Grey. Despite sitting in isolation, they look huge. At 5.1 meters (201 inches) long, 2.2m (86 inches) wide, and 1.6 m (63 inches) tall, one of these things could eat an Emira and still have plenty of room for seconds.

In silhouette there’s nothing too radical going on design-wise, but look closer and the Eletre reveals its network of channels and ducts that help it cheat the air. Lotus calls this “porosity.”By carefully managing airflow under, over, and through the bodywork, the Eletre achieves a drag coefficient of 0.26. Further tricks include a lower grille with flaps that only open when cooling demands, adding ten miles to the range; aero rims; and tiny rearview cameras in lieu of door mirrors (more on this later). Even the wheels (available in 20- to 23-inch sizes) have been designed to reduce lift and drag. A three-position rear spoiler deploys at speed to provide downforce alongside the fixed rear diffuser.

All this results in an almost total lack of wind noise when underway. The fitment of double-glazing in the windows and an electronic anti-noise system combine to make the Eletre eerily silent—the quietest car I’ve ever driven. I imagine it would take a Rolls-Royce Spectre to better it.

Lotus engineers considered, and even experimented with assorted fake noises, but ultimately decided against any artificial enhancement.

Given the almost total absence of sound from the drivetrain, tires, or airflow there’s a danger that any misfits in the cabin construction could make themselves heard, but no, this is definitely the best screwed-together Lotus I’ve ever driven.

It’s also the most plush, by a considerable margin. Neatly stitched leather, Alcantara, and recycled materials are deployed to great effect in a cabin that, for the most part, strikes the right balance between tech and tactility. The dashboard essentially comprises three zones. Ahead of the driver is a narrow strip displaying key information (along with a head-up display) and a “blade of light” that changes color to alert the driver to factors such as battery state of charge. The display and blade are mimicked on the passenger side where the co-pilot has access to infotainment controls. In the center is a 15.1-inch OLED high-definition touchscreen.

That display is the nerve center of Eletre, where Lotus’ in-house Hyper OS software is used to control all onboard systems from navigation to audio, climate control, and the intricacies of car setup. Speed is of the essence so—IT nerd alert—Lotus employs two Qualcomm 8155 Snapdragon processors to run it. Unreal Engine technology is used to render real-time 3D animations on screen.

It does indeed work fast, although not without a few bugs that Lotus promises will be fixed with over-the-air (OTA) updates before customer cars are delivered. If you dislike touchscreens, there are beautifully machined switches to control cabin temperature, while a “virtual personal assistant” responds to natural speech requests. The system, wisely, will recognize whether the driver or a passenger is speaking and respond accordingly (only raising a window or adjusting the climate control for the occupant who made the request, for example).

In fact, one might argue that the best seats belong to the passengers. (A sentence never uttered about any prior Lotus.) The rear legroom and headroom are exceptional, and customers who opt for a four-seat setup give each rear-seat occupant their own touchscreen, wireless charging pad, and cupholder, along with a more supportive seatback.

Specs: 2024 Lotus Eletre S / R

• Price: $134,000 / $153,000 (est., based on U.K. prices)
• Powertrain: 112-kW lithium-ion battery; twin permanently magnet electric motors (one per axle)
• Horsepower: 603 / 905 hp
• Torque: 524 / 726 lb-ft
• Layout: All-wheel-drive, four-door, four/five-passenger SUV
• EPA-rated fuel economy: TBC
• Range: 373 / 304 miles (WLTP)
• 0–62 mph: 4.5 / 2.95 seconds
• Competitors: BMW iX, Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV, Audi Q8 e-tron

Back up front, the seats perform a neat trick in addition to being fully adjustable every which way. Switch to Sport mode and the side bolsters inflate, providing a gentle hug to hold you in place. In this mid-range £104,500 ($134,000, although U.S. prices will be confirmed nearer to the 2024 on-sale date) Eletre S, it also makes all 603 horsepower available. Not that there’s much chance to use it. Norway’s country roads are perfectly-paved and picturesque, but they have very low speed limits, which are rigidly enforced and fines can extend to $1000 or more.

Such velocity-aversion might be one of the reasons why EVs have been embraced so heartily in Norway. Last year, 80 percent of new cars sold here were electric. As they trickle along at 40 mph they’re likely at their most efficient.

Lotus claims that its 112-kWh battery packs should give a range of up to 373 miles under Europe’s WLTP system, but in the real world, 300 seems more likely.

There doesn’t appear to be a huge gulf between Tour and Range modes, though driving in Sport will see you headed to a charger sooner. On that topic, the Eletre uses an 800-volt architecture and can charge at up to 350 kW, allowing a top-up from 10-80 percent in 20 minutes in ideal conditions.

Juggling between drive modes also adjusts the Eletre’s attitude, raising or lowering the ride height to aid with aerodynamics or to add extra ground clearance in the Off Road setting. The degree of regenerative braking can be selected and there’s the option to combine the different performance, ride, and regen settings in a custom program.

At Norway’s leisurely pace, Touring seems to work just fine, offering up exemplary ride comfort, tight body control, and still plenty of performance for overtaking. The S model, for the record, takes 4.6 seconds to reach 62 mph. There are EVs that do the same sprint more dramatically, but it is the Eletre’s ability to go from 50 mph to 75 mph in under two seconds that is impressive to the point of alarming. (Especially when there’s the prospect of a massive price for being caught over the limit.)

The Eletre isn’t one of those cars that shrinks around you. It always feels its size, and judging width in particular isn’t that easy with the rear-facing cameras. You have to look at the displays in the doors, which are just that bit lower than where the mirrors would be, and despite the crisp images, the action takes getting used to. This won’t trouble U.S. buyers, who will have conventional mirrors instead.

The route we take isn’t especially twisty, but the unusual squircle-shaped steering wheel turns in fast and with accuracy, requiring only 2.5 rotations lock-to-lock. It’s an electro-mechanical system, which Lotus has rigid-mounted for optimum feel, and it only saps power on demand. The turning circle is unexpectedly tight for such a big car, even without the optional rear-wheel steering installed.

There will be buyers who care less for this sort of involvement and prefer to let the car do the work, which is where the Eletre’s suite of deployable LIDAR detectors, radar sensors, and cameras comes in. In theory, the Eletre is capable of Level 4 autonomous driving, but, as so few countries allow it, the car will launch with a Level 2-plus system. Essentially that means a Highway Assist feature that will keep the Eletre in-lane and at a safe distance from the car ahead at speeds from 20 to 90 mph.

Lotus does imagine a time when the car could fully take control, leaving driver and passengers to enjoy big-screen entertainment, so the car has been future-proofed with an optional 2150-watt Dolby Atmos surround sound audio, powered by 23 Kef speakers (the standard systems has 1380 watts and 15 speakers). The definition and totally immersive quality of music is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. Listening to remastered classics gives the feeling of being at the heart of a live show, while new music engineered for Atmos sends beat drops spiraling around the cabin.

Another way to take your breath away would be to opt for the £120,000 ($153,000) Eletre R. With 905 horsepower available, together with an additional Track driving mode, it performs in very un-SUV-like fashion.

Lotus has wisely hired an airfield to allow the R’s combination of brutal acceleration and baffling agility to be experienced, albeit briefly. First there’s a high-speed slalom course, where the Eletre R nimbly sweeps between cones, with barely there body roll, even on an effective hairpin. There’s tire squeal and a smidge of understeer on this tight turn, but you’d never know you’re managing the inertia of over 5500 pounds of mass.

Next is a launch in Track mode from 0 to 100 mph. It’s as simple as putting one’s left foot on the brake and right foot fully to the floor on the accelerator and then releasing the left. The Eletre is catapulted forward, forcing me back into the seat as it passes 62 mph in 2.9 seconds and simply doesn’t let up.

The only time I’ve ever felt this kind of acceleration before was during a reverse-bungee where I was fired up into the sky over London. That’s an experience I never want to repeat and I’m not convinced that Eletre R owners would want to hard-launch their cars more than once either.

It is, however, a remarkable demonstration of engineering. And that is what Lotus has always been about.

2024 Lotus Eletre

Highs: Insanely swift, surprisingly agile, awesome audio, feels high-quality throughout.

Lows: Could be prettier. Despite masking its mass well, it’s the heaviest Lotus ever.

Takeaway: An entirely new chapter for Lotus, the Eletre is an extremely competent all-rounder EV with class-leading gizmos.

***

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The recent front page of the trade publication Automotive News perfectly illustrated the conflicting nature of our automotive times. Two of the three articles cover the future of personal transportation: One headline touts Toyota’s plan for an EV with a 900-mile range and another highlights the dedicated and often risky handoff between robot and human drivers. The third, however, speaks to the reality that gasoline-powered cars and trucks will be with us for a long time: GM is investing $2 billion to develop the next generation of pickups and SUVs.

Toyota announced wide-ranging plans for EVs, battery research, and the factories to build them. Japan’s leading automaker has been accused of moving too slowly in this revolution and being at risk of being left behind as other companies pour billions into battery R+D. Ford, for example,  recently received a $9.2 billion loan to invest in battery research and production. But I think the criticisms directed at Toyota, while fascinating, are for the most part unfair. The company’s outgoing president, Akio Toyoda, has said EVs are too expensive for most people and that increasing the number of hybrid-powered cars with small batteries is a more effective strategy for reducing CO2. Based on the well-documented challenges of building the battery supply chain, he has a point. (I’ve shared this article on the topic before).

The irony here is that Toyota popularized the modern gas-electric hybrid. It’s easy to forget what a moonshot the original Prius was when it debuted some 25 years ago. The magic was and is the Toyota-developed transmission that integrates two electric motors and the gas engine. Effective. Durable. Engineering genius. I don’t have room here to explain this complicated mechanical device works, but this video—now viewed over 700,000 times—does a decent job.

I first drove the third-generation Prius around 2012. It was comfortable, quiet, and delivered over 40 mpg no matter how this lead-foot drove. Amazing. At the time VW was touting its diesel technology as an alternative fuel-saving technology, but we know how that turned out. Toyoda could be accused of being self-serving in his desire to focus on hybrids, but I believed him when he said he was speaking for a “silent majority” when he expressed reservations about making EVs the only option for buyers.

Toyoda’s logic is simple: One 100-kilowatt-hour (that’s the amount of energy stored, like the capacity of a gas tank) Tesla Model S battery could be divided among 10 Prius plug-in hybrids, which deliver about 30 miles of electric-only range before the gas engine kicks on. The Department of Transportation reported that most people drive fewer than 40 miles a day, so, in theory, more people would be driving more often on EV power if they were driving Priuses. Sure, the Tesla can go some 400 miles on a single charge, but how often do most people need that capability? Furthermore, a Prius costs a third as much as the Model S. Want more people driving EVs? Make more cars like the Prius, something that could be done today. Instead, the auto industry seems focused on delivering EVs with ever greater range, including Toyota.

As I’ve often written, we’re in a messy transitional time where PR and public opinion often outweigh basic engineering. Let’s move on.

The highlight of my week was hearing about a vintage Mustang that was rebuilt by Prodrive, which is located in the heart of the UK motorsports industry. The wizards there modified the vintage Stang to endure the punishment of off-road rallies while retaining its original appearance. You might remember Prodrive for the Subaru rally cars it once raced and this Ferrari 550 Maranello race car. Some years ago, I visited Prodrive and saw the expertise inside its factory walls, so I’m sure the Mustang is fantastic to drive.

I’m still enjoying follow-up material from the NASCAR Le Mans effort, including this terrific explainer video. Last fall, I interviewed Jeff Gordon at Hendrick Motorsports and saw the Le Mans stock car as it was being built. Gordon asked me not to take pictures while he giddily explained the project. His enthusiasm made me think we might see him behind the wheel, but, alas, he passed on the opportunity.

Last week’s report about the new Acura Integra Type S, a $50K sports sedan that is only available with a manual transmission, has me seriously thinking about a new car. Acura recognizes that plenty of us are in no rush to hand over driving to robots. Bravo.

If you’re enjoying our daily production of free car-love material, please help us by joining the Hagerty Drivers Club. You can also contribute to the community by sharing your roadside repair story here. I love these tales because I’ve had so many myself.

I’m off next week for the holiday so this newsletter is taking a one-week break. I hope you and your family have a wonderful Fourth!

Hear from Larry every Friday by subscribing to this newsletter.

***

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What you’re looking at here isn’t a production-ready car. But at some point Caterham very well may sell an electric Seven, and this concept gives an idea of how such a car might look.

Obviously, it looks like a Seven. The essential Seven shape has been around for more than 60 years, so there are few surprises, EV-themed livery aside. Caterham will, in time, surely create other sports cars that go their own stylistic direction, but there’s something reassuring about that familiar silhouette.

We’re more interested in the look of the spec sheet, which suggests the electric Seven may be closer to the gas-powered one than some of us expected.

Let’s get range out of the way first. It is unlikely with current battery technology that those long and crazy road trips that Caterham owners like to take will be possible in an electric version. A Seven isn’t an aerodynamic device. 40kWh of useable battery capacity, while quite impressive for such a small vehicle (the biggest pack in a modern Fiat 500 Electric is 42 kWh), isn’t likely to give the car the 200-plus miles (plus quick refills) that most four-cylinder Sevens are capable of when touring. The battery pack certainly cannot match the 400-plus range of the absurdly economical kei-car-engined Seven 170.

Caterham has an eye on the Seven’s other strength, that of track driving. 40 kWh should give the car what Caterham is calling a “repeatable 20-15-20 drive cycle.” In other words, it can be driven flat out for 20 minutes, come in for a 15-minute recharge (at up to 152-kW of rapid charging speeds), and then head out for another 20 minutes of madness.

The 40kWh usable capacity is actually drawn from a larger, 51-kWh pack, and this fairly hefty buffer should ensure the battery can tolerate this demanding charge and discharge cycle.

An electric Caterham’s potential appeal is in its performance, and thanks with Swindon Powertrain and its E Axle, the electric Seven makes 240 hp at 9000 rpm, and 184 lb-ft of torque from a standstill. Power-wise, that puts the electric concept somewhere between the 210-hp Seven 420 Cup and the barmy, supercharged Seven 620. The EV’s torque figure likewise falls between those models’ 149 lb-ft and 219 lb-ft.

Caterham claims 0 to 60 mph in around four seconds. Interestingly, the motor has been tuned to be similar in feel to the engine of an existing production Seven, albeit sold only on the European continent: the Seven 485, a 234-hp, 151 lb-ft, 2-liter model available. More than 0-to-60 times though, this instantly accessible torque should make an EV Seven even more of a controllable drift machine than gas-powered versions.

Weight is the other major electric Caterham concern. Here the company has worked hard too, for an all-up curb weight under 1543 pounds (700 kg, as the manufacturer says). When a Seven 170 is well under 1100 pounds, 1500 or so may not sound impressive. However, consider that the only vehicle remotely comparable in the production-car sphere right now is the 1069-pound Citroën Ami, and that won’t even top 30 mph. The electric Seven concept also looks a little better against the heavier current Sevens—that 485 model comes in at 1243 pounds.

Apart from the drivetrain, this concept is all regular, high-performance Seven, with a limited-slip diff, adjustable Bilstein suspension from the 420 Cup, 13-inch alloys, Avon ZZR tires, and ventilated discs all round. The EV Seven does use in the larger, SV chassis, though, to make space for the immersion-cooled battery pack, which occupies the space where the engine and transmission would usually sit. Those who prefer a slimmer Seven may have to give up footprint, at least.

You’ll get to see the EV Seven in the metal at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July. We’ll learn more about the car—hopefully, including its production viability, and when such a thing might be available—in the coming months. Our perfect Seven still has an engine, but we’re still more than a little intrigued.

***

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Via Hagerty UK

The post Caterham’s electric Seven is only a concept … for now appeared first on Hagerty Media.

For the better part of 20 years, Javier has delivered cars from my local media fleet to journalists in Florida. He is unfailingly polite. We make small talk about the weather and his drive home, and he’s gone. We never talk about the cars.

This time was different. Javier handed me the key fob and started to walk away. Then he turned back and said, “This is a good car.”

Javier drives more new cars than anyone I know. When he says a car is “good,” after 20 years of not saying anything about them, it makes an impression.

He was correct. The electric Lucid Air Grand Touring is indeed good, in the sense that Tate’s Chocolate Chip cookies are “tasty,” or Taylor Swift is “popular,” or the Grand Canyon is “pretty.”

The Lucid Air is a great car. Possibly, all told, the best I’ve ever driven. The last time I recall being so impressed with a new model was in 1989, when I drove the 1990 Lexus LS400. Though it was wearing a new brand name, the LS400’s maker, Toyota, was an established, well-regarded car company at that point. The Lucid Air was designed in California and seems to have risen out of nowhere from the dust and sand in Casa Grande, Arizona, where it is built.

I have driven the similar Lucid Air Dream, but only for a day, in California, with little chance to exercise its stunning 1111 horsepower. The Lucid Air Grand Touring has “just” 819 horsepower—more than the Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye. (Who  needs that much horsepower? Nobody. Who wants that much horsepower? Me. And presumably Javier.) With all-wheel drive (one motor up front and one in the back) the Air launches like Usain Bolt (not like the Chevrolet Bolt). Our 0 to 60-mph times averaged 3.2 seconds, quick in anybody’s book, and past that speed the Lucid Air keeps pulling with authority.

Those sort of bursts don’t help mileage, of course, but with a jaw-dropping EPA-rated range of 469 miles, there’s electricity to spare. And when it does come time to recharge, the 900-volt architecture makes for quick top-offs using public DC charging infrastructure.

Specs: 2022 Lucid Air Grand Touring

• Price: $138,000 / $155,650 (base/as-tested)
• Powertrain: Dual motors, (one front, one rear); single-speed direct-drive transmission
• Horsepower: 819
• Torque: 885 lb-ft
• Layout: All-wheel drive, five-passenger sedan
• Weight: 5236 lbs
• EPA-rated electric range: 469 miles
• 0–60 mph: 3.2 seconds
• Top speed: 170 mpg (estimate)

Outside, the Lucid Air’s looks are distinctive but understated. People noticed it, but few seemed to recognize it. There’s an, uh, airy glass canopy roof that includes heat and sunlight blocking technology. It even works.

Front seats are lined with Nappa leather, are 20-way adjustable, and feature ventilation and massage. The (heated) rear seats are roomy enough for three adults, but leg room is a bit limited given the footprint of this yacht. Twenty-inch wheels are standard, but ours had 21-inch, 10-spoke “Aero Blade” wheels, a $2000 option, shod with always-capable Pirelli P-Zero rubber. Between the trunk and the frunk, there’s ample usable cargo space.

The paint color, Cosmos Silver, was rich and in some lights had slight gold overtones. It matched the car’s styling very well. Length, at about 196 inches, is an inch shorter than that original Lexus LS, but the Lucid Air, at about 76 inches, is almost four inches wider. There’s plenty of luxury-car-appropriate elbow room.

The 34-inch glass cockpit display screen was immediately familiar to the eye, wrapping around the driver’s field of vision. An iPad-size screen sits between the front seats, handles multiple functions, and is fundamentally intuitive to use for anyone who owns a smartphone. We suspect the standard sound system would be plenty, but our test car had a “Surreal Sound Pro” option that added $4000 to the window sticker.

All this must be viewed, however, through the lens of Lucid’s quarterly earnings report from last month. It wasn’t good. The company missed estimates, deliveries were down, and so was the stock price.

Lucid’s business philosophy has been from the Field of Dreams school, as in “if you build it, they will come.” Buyers, that is. It’s imperative that the company get the car into the hands of potential customers. If you can afford to pay $150,000 and up for an electric luxury car, well, this one is well worth your consideration.

I met a Lucid owner at the local charging station the other night while I was plugging in a Ford F-150 Lightning: He said he felt like he was taking a chance by owning a Lucid Air, but he was so impressed with the car he felt it was worth the risk. I’m not exactly Lucid’s target buyer, but after driving it, I too want to believe.

2022 Lucid Air Grand Touring

Highs: Impressive engineering, superb build quality, long range, tons of power. Handsome inside and out.

Lows: Middling foot room in the rear. Rough riding over potholes thanks to the low-profile tires. Uncertain future for a brand-new company.

Takeaway: “A good car,” says Javier, a tough critic.

***

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This is a tale of two racetracks, and how they handle—or don’t handle—electric and hybrid vehicles.

First, Atlanta Motorsports Park, in Dawsonville, Georgia, which features a Herman Tilke-designed two-mile road course.

“Electric vehicles are the future of racing,” says Jeremy Porter, AMP owner and CEO. Not only are electrics and hybrids welcome at AMP, Porter has installed five new Autel MaxiCharger DC Fast Level 3 chargers for his customers to use. “From hyperexotics to luxury vehicles to EV retrofits, everybody who comes to AMP deserves speedy charging off-track so they can get back to shaving off their times on-track.

“Our long-term ambition is to be an incubator for using mobility technology. Currently we have three EV technology companies at Atlanta Motorsports Park, and installing Level 3 chargers crystallizes our commitment to this tech.”

About 477 miles northeast is Summit Point Motorsports Park, a two-mile, natural-terrain road course in West Virginia that opened in 1969. Summit Point’s director of motorsports operations, Edwin Pardue, has banned the use of electric vehicles and hybrids on track.

While he says Summit Point supports electric technology when it comes to racing, the track has taken a “‘tactical pause’ in halting the use of electric and hybrid electric vehicles in all motorsports disciplines at our location,” until it can establish an emergency response policy that makes sense for a small track in a rural area.

Pardue is not alone. Carolina Motorsports Park, in Kershaw, South Carolina, which has a 2.27-mile road course, abides by a simple rule on its books: “No electric vehicles allowed on track.” A relative handful of other circuits have followed suit.

Shortly after Pardue announced the electric ban, the National Council of Corvette Clubs announced its own ban affecting the new Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray, which uses electric hybrid technology to power the car’s front wheels, while a conventional V-8 sends power to the rear. The E-Ray isn’t on sale yet, but Bill Docherty, the Council’s vice-president of competition, said they wanted the rule in place “before the E-Ray was available, so members do not expect to compete if they buy one.”

The NCCC went even further than Summit Point, stating that if you bring your E-Ray to a motorsports event, you’ll be required to park “30 feet minimum from buildings and other cars.” Over the weekend, apparently, the NCCC board reversed course and now the E-Ray (and other hybrids) will be allowed full participation. But the original ban—which still applies to pure EVs—got a lot of publicity and started a conversation regarding what the policy toward electrics should be.

Most electrics are powered by lithium-ion batteries, which consist of small battery packs nestled closely together. The number depends on the design and size of the battery; some Teslas have almost 8000 cells, while GM’s Chevrolet Bolt has 288 larger ones.

Battery fires are rare yet often make for big news when they happen. The fires burn bright and hot, as the batteries can suffer from “thermal runaway,” a phenomenon by which one small battery pack overheats or ignites, which overheats the battery pack next to it, and the one next to that one.

Regular fire extinguishers don’t work in these cases. Most fire departments use one of two methods to deal with a battery fire: Douse it with water to cool it down—generally a lot of water, between 3000 and 30,000 gallons, depending on the incident. “Cooling takes 100 times more water than a gasoline fire,” the NCCC’s Docherty said.

The other method is to just let the fire exhaust itself, a guard against re-ignition once the battery stops burning. One method to prevent re-ignition, more frequently used in Europe, is to pick the smoldering car up with a forklift and dunk it in the water.

One of the highest-profile battery-defect cases in the U.S. right now concerns the Ford F-150 Lightning; production was halted until the company and its battery supplier addressed a fire that began in one new, parked Lightning, and expanded to two others. Another concerns the Chevrolet Bolt, which was recalled after 18 examples caught on fire.

The Lightning and the Bolt are not the only vehicles to suffer recalls related to battery fires. Automakers that issued fire-related recalls include BMW, Chrysler, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, and Tesla. Other industries have had recalls of lithium-ion-powered products as well, including computers and electric scooters.

The recalls are largely addressing thermal runaway issues, which often occur when the vehicle is stationary and charging. It doesn’t address fires caused by a damaged battery, either from a collision or running over a serious piece of debris. Automakers surround the battery with high-strength containers to protect it, but in some sort of devastating crash—the kind you might witness on a racetrack—the battery may still be vulnerable. Gasoline cars are vulnerable to these same risks, but extinguishing them is more straightforward.

Summit Point and the 19,000-member National Council of Corvette Clubs are concerned about both thermal runaway and damaged battery fire scenarios. Not only because of the possible injury to drivers, spectators, or corner workers, but to property. A serious battery fire on a racetrack can damage the surface to the point where repaving might be required, thus shutting down the track until repairs are made.

Are Summit Point and Carolina Motorsports Park outliers? Probably not. “It’s too early to call anyone an outlier,” says Heyward Wagner, director of experiential programs for the 51,000-member Sports Car Club of America. He is in charge of the SCCA’s “Track Night in America,” the program for which the club rents out a facility and lets enthusiasts drive their cars on track, typically for about $150. Wagner has Track Nights at about 30 tracks in the U.S., and so far, three tracks have told him they don’t want battery-powered cars.

Owners of cars like the Ford Mustang Mach-E or the track-ready, 1020-horsepower Tesla Plaid can’t participate.  Under such restrictions, neither could supercars like the Porsche 918 Spyder or McLaren Artura. “Everybody is learning right now,” Wagner says. “We do have tracks that have told us that electrified vehicles are not welcome, and a track where they asked owners of electrified vehicles to sign a unique waiver.”

It’s a problem, Wagner says. “What is known is that an electrified vehicle fire is a different animal than an internal combustion engine fire. Nobody debates that. It requires different equipment, it requires different training, and that represents an investment for a track to make to be future-forward.

“It’s also an investment that municipalities have to make just to deal with what vehicles are on the road, and will be on the road in the future. The good news is that the technology that needs to be developed is being developed at a societal level. This is not just a challenge for motorsports.”

It’s not surprising, he says, “that different tracks take different approaches. We have 130, 140 years of data on ICE engines and fires. And maybe 10 years of useful data on electrified vehicles.

“One of the most important things for enthusiasts to keep in mind here is that the inclusion of electrified vehicles is very important to the sport’s future. I think electrified vehicles are engaging an entirely different mindset and demographic of enthusiast. There’s a tech angle that draws people in that an ICE vehicle probably wouldn’t. There’s also a reality that for this sport to be ready for the future, we need to be able to get out of the line of fire, no pun intended, on questions regarding environmental impact.

“Noise [for example]: There are so many things tied to that sound that so many of us love, that are potentially detrimental to our sport. Autocross in particular … the ability to acquire and retain sites just because it’s quieter will be significantly impacted in a positive way. And some tracks, like NCM Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky, have had to go to great lengths to continue their business with the neighborhood’s sound regulations.”

Electrified vehicles present an opportunity “to be better citizens and better neighbors with that technology,” Wagner says. “It won’t be a flip of the switch from ICE to EV, but it’s technology that could make our space significantly more accessible and bring a lot more people to the sport. It’s really important for us as an industry to figure out how to solve this.”

The good news: Both motorsports and the public-private sectors are working on the issue, says Eric Huhn, facility and laboratory safety engineer at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. Huhn has also been a volunteer firefighter since 2015, and he’s well-versed on battery fires. Last month, he taught a Racing Goes Safer seminar on the topic at the Long Beach Grand Prix.

“I’m hearing more and more about tracks that won’t permit EVs and hybrids, and I’m not surprised that tracks are taking this stance,” Huhn says. “Out on the streets, the fire service is getting more and more experience with battery fires. And that experience is telling the fire service that these fires don’t behave like the fires we’re used to.

“The chemical reaction happening in a lithium-ion battery fire is completely different from how oil fires, or fires involving composites, work. That being said, you’re many times more likely to have a fire in an internal combustion vehicle because of all the flammable liquids. But those fires are easier to manage.”

If a track doesn’t have near-immediate access to city or county fire services, asking a facility to have a 3000-gallon pumper tanker in the fleet is unreasonable. There are some new technologies that have shown promise; both the Rosenbauer Battery Extinguishing Technology (BEST) and the ColdCut Cobra involve piercing the battery box from the bottom and injecting water into it to cool the cells. The BEST system is remote, with the operator 25 feet away, while the ColdCut system requires a properly outfitted firefighter to get a little closer. It uses a thermal-imaging camera to show where the hot spots are in the battery, and the ColdCut operator proceeds from there.

Both systems require far less water than simply dousing the car and the battery with thousands of gallons. The ColdCut Cobra can be mounted on a small, specially-designed fire truck that does nothing but fight battery fires. That may be accessible for a racetrack, once track-related interest is great enough among electric car owners to justify the expense.

But for now, expect more tracks to ban or limit the use of electric and hybrid cars. “I really can’t blame them,” says the SCCA’s Wagner.

***

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The AMG EQS is the latest in a rich line of Mercedes sedans stuffed with excessive performance. Going back many years, AMG versions of the S-Class—primarily the V-8 S63 AMG and V-12 S65 AMG—brought a dignified brutality to the inimitable full-sizer. To this day, when CEOs, celebrities, and kingpins want to project strength as they’re shuttled around Los Angeles, London, Moscow, or Hong Kong, they do so from the magnificently padded seat of a full-size AMG sedan.

Our own Grace Houghton and Aaron Robinson have driven other, non-AMG versions of the EQS, which is essentially Mercedes’ take on a pure-EV S-Class. (Read their reviews of the EQS 580 and 450+ here and here.) Both editors found the big bean to be an impressive first swing of an electric Mercedes flagship sedan, albeit one that could use some more at-bats. That’s indeed the case for this high-performance EQS, which also bears the burden of defining what AMG means when it’s powered by a battery.

Two years ago, almost to the day, I wrote a piece on the Mercedes-AMG E63 wagon. The prose was a bit breathless, looking back, but if any car deserved an extra helping of effusiveness this was it. A barking V-8-powered longroof you’d want to drive all day and night, from the school pick-up lane to the farthest-flung back road. Performance and practicality are enticing, of course, but what made this AMG so endearing was its honking German hot-rod personality. The car got under my skin, and I wanted it to stay there.

Driving the first all-electric Mercedes-AMG in America, the $148,550 EQS, produced no such attachment. Performance is not its shortcoming, so much as lack of charm. The car commands 751 hp and 752 lb-ft of torque from a dead stop. Acceleration, even in snowy conditions with winter tires, is sudden and violent. Dial back the traction control and it is possible to execute effortless, perfect drift circles in an unplowed parking lot. And despite its prodigious 5952-pound heft, the AMG EQS is remarkably agile on a twisty road, dancing over icy pavement like a lithium-ion humpback whale.

It even rides marvelously, with standard adaptive damping and air suspension that makes the car feel like it’s gliding. Such ride and handling prowess for a car in this class distinguishes the AMG EQS from the drag-king Tesla Model S, the car that planted the flag for electric high performance in the modern age but isn’t nearly as beloved for its chassis tuning. (For the record, Mercedes estimates the AMG EQS can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds, but it feels closer to 3 seconds flat. Even being generous, that’s still a second slower than the Model S Plaid.) More competition is fast approaching, too. In addition to the current Audi RS e-tron GT and Porsche Taycan Turbo S, BMW has just announced its own entry into this arena, the 650-hp i7 M70 xDrive.

Specs: 2022 Mercedes-AMG EQS

• Price: $148,550 / $159,110 (base/as-tested)
• Powertrain: 107.8-kW lithium-ion battery; twin permanently excited synchronous electric motors (one per axle)
• Horsepower: 649 hp (751 hp with additional boost in Race Start mode)
• Torque: 700 lb-ft (752 lb-ft with additional boost in Race Start mode)
• Layout: All-wheel-drive, four-door, five-passenger liftback sedan
• EPA-Rated Fuel Economy: 76/78/77 MPGe (city/hwy/combined)
• Range: 277 miles
• 0–60 mph: 3.4 seconds (est.)
• Competitors: Porsche Taycan Turbo S, BMW i7 M70, Tesla Model S Plaid, Audi RS e-tron GT

In what now amounts to a dreadfully familiar formula, the AMG EQS employs a large lithium-ion battery (here 107.8 kW) that feeds energy to electric motors, one on each axle. Total range is 277 miles, which is well shy of the rear-drive EQS and its claimed 350 miles. Given the sub-freezing conditions during our test, I was not surprised to experience range much closer to 230 miles. Most owners will charge every day at home, which Mercedes says will take 11.25 hours from empty to fully charged using a standard 240V wallbox. The AMG EQS also supports DC fast charging up to 110 kW, and can go from 10 percent to 80 percent charged in 31 minutes.

That’s all under optimal conditions, of course. Cold not only reduces range, as it does in combustion-engine vehicles, but it also slows down the rate of charge. Using the EQS’ free charging program at Electrify America stations (no-cost fast charging for the first 30 minutes, during the first 2 years), we managed to go from 30 percent to 95 percent in 50 minutes.

That is, objectively, a long time to wait if you are trying to get back on the highway during a road trip. However, if you’re going to wait there’s no better place to do it than inside the EQS. The back seat, for one, is absolutely humongous, with leg and head room for days. Despite the lack of frunk, the trunk is also huge, with enough room to store weekend luggage for four people and then some. Not to be outdone in the realm of enormity, the “Hyperscreen” display is 56 inches. There are six 100-watt USB-C ports, and Burmester’s 3D Surround Sound system features 15 speakers with as many separate amplifier channels and 710 watts of Rush-thumping audio power. Everything within reach is lovely to the touch, from the inlaid wood to the luscious Nappa leather. In that regard, this is is a luxury sedan with few equals.

On the outside, unfortunately, the AMG EQS looks, well, like the regular EQS does. A blob of bland that even sweet 22-inch multispoke AMG wheels can’t spice up. I can appreciate that flying under the radar is part of the appeal with a full-size Mercedes, but there’s a certain elegance to the S-Class that the EQS is missing. If this design was the price we had to pay for truly exceptional range, then looking like the offspring of two wind tunnels would be a reasonable trade-off. Not the case here. To wit: The door handles retract to produce a more streamlined profile when the car locks; when they’re covered in ice, however, they make unpleasant noises and sometimes fail to extend when you need to get back in.

Mercedes seems to have focused primarily on the tech and infotainment experience, which centers around the AMG’s aforementioned (and standard) “Hyperscreen.” It’s really three OLED screens—instrument panel for the driver, center display, and secondary display for the front passenger. The instrument cluster is customizable and features a variety of different themes, and across the board the displays are amazingly sharp. The center screen defaults to a gigantic map, which feels a bit overkill at first, but you quickly get used to it. The interface is heavy on touch and capacitive response, but it works well even while wearing gloves. Passengers up front can adjust the music or climate functions on their screen without disrupting the map feed, which will be welcome on long drives with a rider fond of fiddling.

By far the most impressive capability of this system is the augmented-reality navigation. It overlays graphics onto the head-up display that literally point to the lane you should be in and highlight the road you should take as it comes up in real time. The system even works in the dark, using a night-vision camera and video feed that go a long way on unlit, unfamiliar roads. It’s one of the rare OEM navigation systems that presents a compelling reason to use it over Google Maps via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

Of course, these tech features are available on other versions of the EQS. That’s where the AMG runs into trouble. Even the non-AMG EQS sedans are plenty quick thanks to the immediate torque of the electric motors, such that easy passing on the highway is guaranteed. Their ride is just as supple, too. Rear-wheel steering—unbelievably useful in tight, low-speed maneuvers, such as in a parking garage—is also not unique to the AMG EQS. I’m not sure how many full-size luxury sedan buyers in this price bracket are going to consider the AMG’s (admittedly fantastic) chassis upgrades to be a dealmaker when range is a competing priority. The power and torque are extraordinary, yes, but the EQS’s synthesized whomps, whirs, and whooshes are no replacement for the emotion of Mercedes’ twin-turbo V-8.

Two years ago, it was obvious why you’d want the E63 over the E400: all the pleasures and delights of a luxury Mercedes wagon, packed with the swagger of an AMG engine and a chassis that let you really explore it. Two years from now, it’ll be 2025. There will be plenty of six-figure luxury EVs on the road, and with any luck they’ll keep getting better. Designers, engineers, and product planners in Affalterbach will surely continue developing AMG’s personality as an electric performance arm. By then, I hope, they’ll have found a way back under our skin.

2022 Mercedes-AMG EQS

Highs: Go-to-jail fast, on command. Exceptional chassis tuning. Gorgeous materials and eye-popping infotainment tech.

Lows: Frumpy looks. Fussy retractable door handles. Not quite enough “wow” to separate it from other EQS models.

Takeaway: A highly competent, highly luxurious Mercedes EV that doesn’t yet communicate what AMG means in the electric age.

***

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Ram finally dished about the upcoming 2025 Ram 1500 at the New York Auto Show, fleshing out details to deliver on its promise that the new EV pickup will “provide customers the industry’s best combination of range, towing, payload and charge time.” Key in that pursuit is a 229-kWh version that will offer a targeted range of 500 miles, tow up to 14,000 pounds, and haul up to 2700 pounds of payload.

A more affordable 168-kWh battery version will also be offered with a targeted range of up to 350 miles. By comparison, full-size pickup buyers can now opt for the electric F-150 Lightning with 230 or 320 miles of range; the Silverado EV with its supposed 400-mile range is expected to go on sale later this year. Ram also has an extended-range 1500 REV XR in the works that it has not yet elaborated upon.

“The all-electric Ram 1500 REV is a monumental milestone on our continued journey to offer the industry’s best electrified solutions and further fortifies our award-winning lineup,” said Mike Koval Jr., Ram brand CEO, Stellantis. “We believe in bringing the right range of powertrain solutions to our customers and will continue to redefine the pickup truck segment.”

The Ram 1500 REV is powered by a pair of 250-kilowatt electric drive modules (EDMs) that can combine the motor, gearbox, and inverter into one unit. With one EDM at each axle, there’s a total of 654 horsepower and 620 lb.-ft. of torque at the ready. The EDM at the rear axle is available with an electronic locker and helps deliver the traction required for 0-60 mph sprints of 4.4 seconds.

Both versions of the 2025 Ram 1500 REV use 800-volt DC fast charging at up to 350 kW, and can add up to 110 miles of range in about 10 minutes. Once charged, the REV can power another vehicle, a home in case of a service outage, or a job site as it features up to two on-board power panels, one in the bed that can provide up to 7.2 kW, and an optional on-board power panel in the 15 cubic-foot frunk that provides up to 3.6 kW.

Ram 1500 REV rides on a body-on-frame architecture that packages the batteries between the frame rails and above a belly pan that helps lower aerodynamic drag coefficient to an impressive .34. Its suspension features a multi-link independent rear and four-corner adaptive damping with active air leveling. The adjustable air suspension allows the Ram 1500 REV to lower for entry/exit and ride at a lower height for better aero. There are also positions for normal driving, and two different heights for off-road.

Inside, the driver gets a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and the passenger a 10.25-inch screen—thank the Jeep Wagoneer for that one—and the center Uconnect 5 touchscreen measures a massive 14.5 inches. The passenger screen will allow a co-driver to access navigation and entertainment or view the exterior vehicle cameras.

Finally, Ram showed it had one more suede-wrapped trick up its sleeve. Buyers will be able to select a 1500 REV in five trims: Tradesman, Big Horn/Lone Star, Laramie, Limited, and the all-new Tungsten. Tungsten will feature the most luxurious  interior with textured metal accents, 24-way power quilted leather front seats, and a suede-wrapped headliner, visor, and A- and B-pillars.

Reservations for the all-electric Ram were closed within days of opening the order books. That could mean Ram was inundated by demand, or it could be that Ram is planning a slow rollout. Either way, expect the 2025 Ram REV on dealer lots at the end of next year, but if you haven’t already reserved one, your wait could be longer.

***

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Today’s roster of electric cars is ever-growing, but a colleague at another publication remains skeptical. “I’m not going to even consider buying one until it has a range of 500 miles,” he says, “and can recharge in 10 minutes.” A reasonable price would help too, he adds.

Hyundai’s new Ioniq 6 sedan isn’t there yet, but even he’d have to admit it’s getting closer. Range depends on the specific version, but the rear-wheel-drive Ioniq 6 SE is EPA-rated at 361 miles, and with a 350-kW rapid charger it can achieve 80 percent battery charge in 18 minutes. The SE also has a starting price $46,615 including delivery charge.

Not 500 miles or 10 minutes, but it’s knocking on the door. And that MSRP is below the February 2023 average new-car price of $48,700.

Hyundai is building an impressive little family with its growing electric sub-brand, Ioniq. The Ioniq 5 sport-ute won most every award available last year, and there’s little doubt this Ioniq 6 sedan, built on the same basic E-GMP platform, will be a contender for those same honors in 2023. The Ioniq 7, a bigger SUV with three-row seating, shows up in 2024.

With those three vehicles, Hyundai pretty much has the modern electric-vehicle market covered. Should you want a compact electric SUV, the latest Hyundai Kona Electric, a cousin to the Ioniq clan, debuts at the New York Auto Show this week.

Hyundai did far more with the Ioniq 6 than simply plop a sedan body on the Ioniq 5’s electric skateboard-style platform. The Ioniq 5 is just 182.5 inches long, while the Ioniq 6 is stretched to 191.1 inches. The wheelbase of the Ioniq 6 is just 116.1 inches, however, compared with the Ioniq 5 SUV’s wheelbase of 118.1 inches. The Ioniq 5’s wheelbase is extended to the very rear and front of the vehicle, while the overall longer Ioniq 6 is more centered. The two vehicles look nothing alike outside but share some interior components.

Power units are similar. Both employ lithium-ion battery packs: The Ioniq 6 has a 480- or 697-volt battery, with 53- or 77.4-kWh capacity. The “standard range” battery is good for 240 miles, and while the bigger battery is rated at 361 miles, that apples to the rear-drive SE trim and its 18-inch wheels. Move into the more deluxe Limited and SEL+ trims with their larger wheels and the range declines, especially if you get all-wheel drive.

Our test car was an all-wheel-drive Limited with the 77.4-kWh battery, wearing the stylish (but range-decreasing) 20-inch wheels. The higher drag coefficient from the wheels, plus the extra weight of four driven wheels, lowers range to an EPA-rated 270 miles. It carries a base price of $56,100, and with options ($1000 for “Gravity Gold” matte paint, a new color for Hyundai, plus $210 for floor mats), the total price is $58,425, including shipping. A comparable Ioniq 5 would be about $55,500.

You’d think a car this size and with a reasonably large battery—it alone weighs 1057 pounds—would feel heavy. Not the case; at about 4300 pounds, the Ioniq 6 is pleasantly light on its feet, despite being a whopping 800 pounds heavier than the larger-sized Hyundai Sonata Limited hybrid. Thanks in part to the 6’s low center of gravity, only in the tightest corners (at medium speed or greater) does the extra weight make itself known. On the upside, the bulk helps the Ioniq 6 cruise in luxury-car comfort. The funky-looking four-door eats up potholes like M&Ms.

Noise, vibration, and harshness are even more difficult to weed out in an EV, because the mostly silent electric motors do nothing to mask unwanted sensations. Even still, this is a profoundly quiet car, with minimal wind or road noise. Only under acceleration did we notice any drivetrain noise; no doubt with that in mind, Hyundai programmed three separate synthetic soundtracks to play when the go-pedal is pressed. Each of them struck us as the equivalent of clothes-pinning playing cards to the spokes of your Schwinn: cheesy then, cheesy now. We more enjoyed the quiet, unless interrupted by the competent Bose Premium sound system.

Inside, the Ioniq 6 has a 12.3-inch display with navigation, wired for Apple Car Play and Android Auto. It’s positioned next to another 12.3-inch instrument panel in an attempt to produce the effect of one large display. The heated and cooled front seats were commendably comfortable, even for long stretches behind the wheel. The rear seat had adequate room for a pair of six-footers, and a smaller person in the middle wouldn’t complain, thanks to the flat floor. The tapered exterior roofline might make you think rear headroom is limited, but it isn’t bad, even with the large sunroof.

Up front, controls are mostly intuitive. The smallish leather steering wheel—the only leather you’ll find, as the seats are trimmed in “H-Tex” synthetics—feels just right. The center of the steering wheel has four lighted dots (Morse code for “H”), as in the Ioniq 5, and the color depends on what mode you’re in: green for eco, red for sport. It’s a nice little touch.

Window switches are in the middle of the console, allowing for more stylish, mood-lit door panels and likely some cost savings for the company. The inside is nicer than the Tesla Model 3, the Ioniq 6’s most direct rival, but that car has never been known for the lushness of its interior.

Visibility is good, but you lose a little with the wide A-pillars. Total interior volume is 114.2 cubic feet, compared to 120.4 for a Sonata. One more comparison: The Sonata has 16 cubic feet of truck space, while the Ioniq 6 has just 11.2, reached through a rather narrow access. The front “frunk” has half a cubic foot of storage area, about enough for a laptop.

Outside, the Ioniq 6 is striking. Strikingly handsome? We think so, but opinions differed at our press drive outside Phoenix, Arizona. If you like LEDs, you’ll be impressed; inside and out, it’s as if the designers just discovered LEDs and used them everywhere.

The styling touches are retro-futuristic in what is becoming an Ioniq trademark, but the general shape is slightly Mercedes-like. Some observers found the big, dual rear spoilers a little cartoonish for a car with 320 horsepower and 445 lb-ft of torque. Make no mistake, though, the Ioniq 6 is quick—our 0 to 60 mph time was just under five seconds—but the car can’t seem to decide if it’s sporty or luxurious. The Korean design chief called it an “electrified streamliner,” which seems on target. If there’s a downside, though, it’s in the styling. How well will it age? Will enough people like it in four years to guarantee strong resale value? Hyundai is gambling here, and no one knows how it’ll turn out.

On the road, the 20-inch tires and futuristic wheels aid cornering and braking, which is quite good. Steering is precise and linear. There are various selectable levels of regeneration, down to one-pedal driving that requires no brake pedal except for a more abrupt-than-usual stop. The Ioniq 6 offers all the safety features you’d expect, including blind spot monitoring and a surround view monitor.

We liked the Ioniq 6 a lot, a little more than even the Ioniq 5. It’s undeniably polarizing, however, so even if it’s not your thing you have to admire that Hyundai is swinging for the fences. More so, even, that a brand finding success with its sport-utes isn’t giving up cars.

Who knows if or when EVs will meet my colleague’s checklist. For us, though, if we were in the market, the Ioniq 6 is exactly the kind of electric car we’d want as a daily driver.

2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 Limited

Price: $56,100 / $58,425 (base / as tested)

Highs: Confident power. Smooth ride, even on rough roads. Quiet interior. Controls easy to master. Bold styling.

Lows: Modest trunk and frunk space. Unexceptional range for base model. Gets pricey beginning with the Limited trim. Styling perhaps too bold.

Takeaway: Unlike anything on the market, yet a potentially promising—if not odd—shape of things to come.

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Feds’ new EV tax-credit rules are as strict as expected

Intake: The federal government on Friday unveiled its new tax-credit rules, deciding which EVs would get a tax break and which ones wouldn’t. The U.S. Treasury Department’s stricter rules will reduce or remove tax credits—which range up to $7500—for some zero-emission models but grant buyers another two weeks, until April 18. On that day, the new requirements take effect, and the Treasury Department publishes a list of eligible vehicles. The rules, which reward vehicles with batteries made in the U.S., are designed to wean the United States off its dependence on China for the materials needed to make EVs. The revised tax-credit rules are part of President Joe Biden’s effort to make 50 percent of U.S. new vehicle sales by 2030 EVs or plug-in hybrids, Reuters said.

Exhaust: Part of the EV tax credits, according to Reuters, require that 50 percent of the value of battery components be produced or assembled in North America to qualify for $3750 of the available credit and 40 percent of critical minerals sourced from the United States or a country with which it has a free-trade agreement. The Biden administration believes that over time the tax credit will result in more EVs sold as automakers scramble to revamp supply chains to meet critical mineral and battery component rules. It is not immediately clear when or how many EVs will lose tax credits or see them cut. — Steven Cole Smith

Baby Bugatti is getting its own little race series

Intake: It might only be three-quarters the size of the real thing, but we already know that the Baby Bugatti II from The Little Car Company is 100 percent fun. Now the scaled-down classic, together with drivers both young and old, will be put through its paces at some of Britain’s most historic racing venues. The UK Bugatti Baby II Championship will see 20 adult-and-child teams compete against each other in a three-pronged sprint series that takes in Silverstone and the Prescott Hill Climb—home of the Bugatti Owners’ Club—as well as The Little Car Company’s home at Bicester Heritage, in Oxfordshire. To be eligible, young drivers must be between the ages of 10 and 14 years old, and, while there’s no upper limit for mum or dad there’s a maximum height of 6 feet, 2 inches. You don’t need to own one of the £50,000 cars ($62,000) as the £4950 ($6100) entry fee is worked out on an arrive-and-drive basis with a car and factory support included. Entrants will even be offered coaching from Bugatti development driver and speed record holder Andy Wallace, and although the all-electric Baby’s top speed is only around 40 mph, we’re sure it will feel at least 25 percent faster.

Exhaust: This new series marks the first time in almost a century that junior Bugattis have actually been raced. Ettore Bugatti built the first Baby for his five-year-old son Roland in 1926 but such was the response it soon went into production, with around 500 examples built between 1927 and 1936. These half-scale replicas of the Type 35 Grand Prix were sold new for 5000 francs, an equivalent of $3500 today, and only 100 or so are believed to still exist. As a result, originals have been known to sell for over $100,000 and we can’t imagine anyone daring to race one. — Nik Berg

Surprise OPEC oil cuts should mean, yep, higher gas prices

Intake: The price of a gallon of gas, already inching upward because of the season, is set to climb higher. On Sunday, Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers announced surprise cuts, totaling up to 1.15 million barrels per day from May until the end of the year, “a move that could raise prices worldwide,” according to the Associated Press. The production cuts alone could push U.S. gasoline prices up by roughly 26 cents per gallon, in addition to the usual increase that comes when refineries change the gasoline blend during the summer driving season, said Kevin Book, managing director of Clearview Energy Partners LLC. The normal seasonal increase is about 32 cents a gallon, according to the Energy Department. Iraq said it would reduce production by 211,000 barrels per day, the United Arab Emirates by 144,000, Kuwait by 128,000, Kazakhstan by 78,000, Algeria by 48,000 and Oman by 40,000. Our gas prices likely won’t reach the level they did one year ago, when the national average was about $4.50.

Exhaust: The cuts mean money in the pocket of Russian president Vladimir Putin, AP says, whose country will cut production by 500,000 barrels per day. All the countries involved are members of the so-called OPEC+ group of oil-exporting countries, which includes the original Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries as well as Russia and other major producers. — SCS

GM to drop Apple Car Play and Android Auto

Intake: CNN is reporting that General Motors plans to phase out Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, technologies that allow a driver to bypass the vehicle’s native infotainment system and instead mirror their smartphone’s display, via software designed by the cell-phone manufacturer. In lieu of CarPlay or Android Auto, future GM electric vehicle will shift to built-in infotainment systems developed with Google. CNN suggests GM’s decision to stop offering those systems in future electric vehicles, starting with the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer, could help the automaker capture more data on how consumers drive and charge EVs.

Exhaust: GM would benefit from focusing engineers and investment on one approach to more tightly connect in-vehicle infotainment and navigation with features such as assisted driving, Edward Kummer, GM chief digital officer, and Mike Hichme, executive director of digital cockpit experience, said in an interview. “We have a lot of new driver assistance features coming that are more tightly coupled with navigation,” Hichme told Reuters. “We don’t want to design these features in a way that are dependent on a person having a cellphone.” — SCS

Gas-sipping Golf on the way out

Intake: VW will not develop a new, ninth-generation Golf with a combustion engine after the current model reaches the end of its life cycle, according to Automotive News and its European sister publication Automobilwoche. The current, eighth-generation Golf will get a freshening next year. “That puts it in a great position until the end of the decade. Then we will have to see how the segment develops,” VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer told Automobilwoche. “If the world develops completely differently than expected by 2026 or 2027, then we can also launch a completely new vehicle again. But I don’t expect that to happen. So far, that’s not planned,” Schaefer said.

Exhaust: The Golf has been in production since 1974 and its name will be retained for a battery-electric vehicle. The internal-combustion-engine Golf’s exit won’t happen before 2028, Schäfer said, in concert with the arrival of the company’s new SSP electric platform. — SCS

Ford tuning out AM radios in ICE and EVs

Intake: Ford plans to stop installing AM radio in new gas-powered and electric vehicles beginning in 2024, including the all-electric Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning pickup, the Detroit Free Press has confirmed. “We are transitioning from AM radio for most new and updated 2024 models,” Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood told the Free Press. There have been multiple manufacturers who complain that AM frequencies cause problems for electric vehicles, and therefore they dropped AM, but Ford is killing AM even in combustion-engine vehicles, though it will stay on in commercial vehicles.

Exhaust: According to The Verge, Ford was joined by BMW, Mazda, Polestar, Rivian, Tesla, Volkswagen, and Volvo in staking out the position that AM radio is incompatible with EVs, citing electromagnetic interference from the powertrain. Tesla made this same argument when it dropped AM radio from its vehicles back in 2018. This can be troubling, as AM is often the best source for emergency broadcasts. — SCS

Tesla Semi gets first recall

Intake: The electric Tesla Semi truck, which began limited sales a few months ago, has its first recall, due to a supplier-sourced part. According to Electrek.co, the recall was announced on the NHTSA’s recall website, showing that the issue involves the parking brake and affects 35 vehicles. Apparently the electronic parking-brake module could fail to engage due to air leakage within the unit, leaving drivers unaware that it isn’t activated, possibly leading to a rollaway incident when the driver releases the service brake. This problem was identified as affecting 35 “Intellipark Valve Modules,” all from Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems.

Exhaust: Teslas detractors delight in posting photos of disabled Tesla trucks by the side of the road, but that wouldn’t be due to this parking-brake issue. Any all-new vehicle, especially one as ambitious as the Tesla Semi, is bound to suffer teething issues. — SCS

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California Senator Anthony Portantino (D-Burbank) has reintroduced some Specialty Equipment Market Association-sponsored legislation to create a financial rebate program for converting gas- and diesel-powered vehicles into zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs). If enacted, SB 301 will offer Californians up to $2000 for converting their car or truck into a ZEV.

Currently, the state’s existing rebate programs serve only those purchasing new vehicles—none assist with ZEV conversions of gas-powered vehicles that started their life with an internal-combustion engine.

SEMA claims the government is “choosing winners and losers in the marketplace, including California’s 2035 ban on new gas- and diesel-powered cars and trucks.” The legislation, Portantino said, is designed to help working families in California obtain electric vehicles while assisting California in meeting its climate goals.

“It is essential that we continue to look for new methods and ideas to meet our strong climate goals,” said Portantino. “SB 301 will make it much easier for many Californians who have the desire to go green but lack the financial capacity to do so. It will aide conversion by providing a financial rebate for Californians who choose to convert their gas-powered car into an electric vehicle but can’t afford to do so. Cutting edge energy efficiency should not be reserved only for those wealthy enough to afford it.”

California has multiple programs, including the Clean Vehicle Rebate Program and the Clean Cars for All Program, to promote the purchase of new ZEVs. However, even with a financial rebate to purchase a new electric vehicle, ZEVs are unaffordable for many working-class Californians, with the cost of a new electric vehicle averaging at $66,000. ZEV conversions of gas-powered vehicles that started their life with an internal-combustion engine can be converted to a ZEV via an aftermarket package, alternatively, and can be converted for as little as $14,000, Portantino said.

Under the bill, The California Air Resources Board (CARB) would develop guidelines for the program, define eligible applicants, eligible replacement motors, parts, and conversion types. Income limits are in place to ensure that financial rebates are reserved for those who cannot afford to purchase a new electric vehicle. SB 301 will additionally benefit automotive workers and small automotive repair and ZEV conversion businesses. As a result, ZEV conversion businesses can expand, creating new, green jobs across California, Portantino said.

“The aftermarket is a leader in innovation, and that includes in zero-emissions technologies,” said SEMA President and CEO Mike Spagnola. “SB 301 creates opportunities for our California-based small businesses, their employees and consumers to build and have access to affordable zero-emissions vehicles.”

SEMA is sponsoring the legislation to “incentivize consumers to convert their vehicles to cleaner engines,” following a similar bill introduced last year that passed in the Assembly with zero opposition. The bill stalled in California’s upper house of legislature, the California Senate.

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Last week, under the curved ceiling of GM’s historic Design Dome, Cadillac engineers and designers were practically giddy. They invited us for an in-person look at the brand’s newly minted flagship: the $300K Celestiq ultra-luxury SUV. Not for decades has Cadillac attempted a car with this level of craftsmanship—or expense, for that matter. The endgame is to restore the American brand to the pinnacle of luxury, a position it long ago ceded to brands like Rolls-Royce and Bentley.

Can a made-in-Detroit vehicle really go head-to-head against the world’s most prestigious, six-figure luxobarges? In case you think Cadillac’s getting too big a head, the company has done crazier things. There was the Great Depression-defying V16, as well as the the 1957 Eldorado Brougham, which cost more than any contemporary Rolls-Royce—not to mention the average American house. In that context, the $300,000 Celestiq is almost (perversely) conservative. Looking at the first four months of 2022, Federal Reserve Economic Data puts the average price of the U.S. house at $507,800, and the median at $428,700.

Cadillac has indicated that more truly opulent, hand-built, low-production vehicles are on the way. As a mark of distinction, each such Cadillac will bear a modern rendition of the Goddess iconography, worn by the V16 and the Series 62 (as a hood ornament) but not seen since 1956. No word on whether the Brougham’s shot glasses will make a comeback.

Fans of American luxury have been aching for a statement of intent and leadership like the Celestiq. During our time with the car, we noted six particularly high-tech details that suggest Cadillac stands a chance, with this car, to earn the right to the lofty language of 1915’s “Penalty of Leadership” ad. If you’re not familiar with the spot, here’s what the copy from Theodore J. McManus says:

In every field of human endeavor, he that is first must perpetually live in the white light of publicity. Whether the leadership be vested in a man or in a manufactured product, emulation and envy are ever at work. In art, in literature, in music, in industry, the reward and the punishment are the same. The reward is widespread recognition; the punishment, fierce denial and detraction. 

It’s a bit much. But isn’t that the point?

Door handles … so 2020

The B- and C-pillars hide tiny buttons that will “pop” the doors open at a push, but no good butler, vehicle or human, would let its driver perform such a crass task. Short-range radar hidden in the doors talks to your key fob and releases the latches automatically upon your approach. If the radar doesn’t sense any obstacles within its swing—passing or stationary traffic, lamp posts, walls—the door will rotate to fully open; if there is something in the way, it will “present” an edge to you that you can grasp with your fingers.

If you’re swinging up to a friend’s house, or if your chauffeur is pulling up to yours, you or your driver can use the center console touchscreen to open a door with a finger tap. To close it, simple depress the brake pedal. No awkward stretches across the cabin in this luxo-mobile. There’s even a setting that works with the car’s GPS system to identify and remember exceptions to “open on approach”: Your garage, for instance, where you might walk by the car multiple times while carrying the key but without intending to jump in the driver’s seat.

Beyond head-up displays

Peer closely at the stack of LED modules comprising the Celestiq’s nearly upright headlights, and you’ll find that one is not like the others. The top element, wedged beside a vertical DRL blade and a blade of brushed aluminum, is a digital micro-mirror device (DMD) that can project 1.3 million pixels onto the road surface. Think navigation directions (like turn arrows), road condition alerts, and snazzy start-up sequences.

The module itself represents a huge win for Cadillac. When it first started shopping around for the part among its suppliers, the smallest was roughly the size of a grapefruit. The DMD unit that will make production is the size of your thumb.

The real magic occurs when the front camera works with these two projectors and both headlight arrays to outline a car (or pedestrian) on the road and “blank out” the other vehicle, redirecting the beam around them. This highly configurable type of headlight has been legal in Europe since the 2000s but NHTSA only finalized the rule that would approve them in February of 2022.

Radar-friendly paint

Cadillac’s designers and engineers are equally proud of the car’s sleek profile. Despite the radar-sensitive doors, the extensive array of cameras, and the multitude of sensors to enable Ultra Cruise, which is GM’s most advanced, hands-free driving system, the Celestiq doesn’t wear any ungainly appendages—”coffee cans,” as lead exterior designer Taki Karras puts it—or distracting black splotches. Hiding 14 radar units did introduced headaches, like making sure that the metallic paint didn’t confuse the rear long-range radar hidden beneath it.

“We use a lot of metal flake in our paints,” says chief engineer Tony Roma, “and we worked with our R&D team to figure out the frequency and direction of the radar, and what size the metal particles are in the paint, to tell our paint supplier how to apply the paint to make sure the radar doesn’t get obscured by the paint. If you do it wrong, the radar would be blind.”

3D-printed steering wheel plate

By using 3D printing to make this aluminum “control panel” spoke of the steering, Cadillac could use the same piece of metal as the “show side,” or what you see and touch, and the “B side,” what you don’t. This highly flexible manufacturing method allowed them to accommodate all the wiring elements and attachment points on the reserve surface in the most efficient way possible.

“When it comes out of the 3D printer, it’s actually pretty rough, like a casting,” says Tristan Murphy, design manager for Cadillac interiors. “So what we do is actually grow it 1 percent larger, then we come back with a CNC mill, and we mill every single one, then we hand polish and hand finish every single one.

“We looked at, like, how does Rolls do it versus Bugatti, right, and when you look at the way we’re doing it, we’re much more inline with the million dollar market compared to the traditional Rolls, Bentley [market].”

Leather-lined floors, trunk

“Because you have vision of this [cargo] area the whole time—there is no separation—it was very important to make this as beautiful as the cabin,” says Laetitia Lopez, lead creative designer for color and trim. Not only is the trunk lined in leather, like the floors—it is upholstered in the same grade leather as the dash and doors and arm rests are. A mainstream vehicle would save money by using lesser grades on less obvious surfaces, but the Lyriq is not your standard fare. The only leather surface that is not full-grain is on the horn button of the steering wheel, where safety concerns around airbag deployment forced the designers’ hands.

The Celestiq also boasts a frunk, which is lined in suede color-matched to the rest of the vehicle; but since this was a prototype, we weren’t allowed to open it.

Four driver-worthy chairs

The rear chairs are almost identical to the ones in the front: Free-standing, 22-way adjustable, the same “neck scarf,” the same massage system. They’re also completely visible … from the trunk.

“When you go talk about the rear-seat experience, when you look in Rolls or a Bentley, it’s this very typical automotive bench seat, big bulkhead, you’re kind of cocooned,” says Murphy. “Where here we wanted to create this open, optimistic, airy cabin. I remember having the conversations early on, like was it even possible?”

In short, the engineering team had to get very creative to create structural rigidity and pack sound insulation in other areas. “The bulkhead normally has a lot of structure with it, and it also serves to sep you from these huge rear tires, and in this case, we have a really large electric motor that’s like, right there, literally two feet away from your ear,” says Roma.

The usual arrangement in the rear-seat of a luxury vehicle is a “slouching” seat, whose back is attached to the bulkhead and moves up and down on a track.

Murphy laughs. “Nobody will ever know the pains of how much easier it would be to do a traditional bench seat.”

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Like countless other companies, automotive and not, Cadillac wants an electric vehicle to make its greatness known. Fresh from a visit to GM’s Design Dome in Warren, Michigan, we can vouch for one thing: This EV ain’t like the others.

For starters, it’s $300,000. At minimum. If you’re upset by that figure, you aren’t the target audience. The Celestiq is a made-in-Detroit statement of ten-figure money. Regular folks can’t even visualize their dreams on an online configurator, in part because there is no set list of paints, leathers, fabrics, or finishes: Each car will be bespoke, the result of one-on-one interaction between the automaker and the customer. Plenty of manufacturers above Cadillac’s price point offer online visualizers—see Pagani—and also accommodate the most particular of client wishes, so take Caddy’s statement of exclusivity at face value. Not for you.

Boy, will you want one.

The car is imposing, a low-slung four-door whose graceful, lift-back proportions belie its massive size. Take a gander at the wheel diameter: 23 inches, one inch larger than those on the Escalade SUV. Yet the Celestiq sits comfortably on the giant rims, which are shod in custom, Cadillac-commissioned Michelins, their sidewalls embossed with a Celestiq-specific design.

The fluid surfacing and the precise creases in the car’s body subtlety signal the great expense of its construction. From the beltline down, front to rear, the car’s structure is comprised of eight pieces of sand-cast aluminum, whose rigidity mimics that of die-cast metal. The hood is a single sheet of delicately creased carbon fiber draped over the fenders to the headlights. The doors hide a short-range radar system that allowed designers to dismiss handles entirely: Walk up to the vehicle with the key in your pocket, and the door will either swing fully open or “present” an edge to you, depending on the proximity of pillars, walls, and other cars.

Even the brightwork bits are wildly impractical statements of excess. The metal “eyebrow” spanning the front of the car starts as a sheet of billet aluminum as wide as the car itself and almost a foot deep: The whole piece is brushed to a satin finish, then the front edge polished to a contrasting, higher sheen. The brushed metal that forms the rocker panel trim is an exposed piece of warm-formed aluminum that belongs to the car’s inner assembly. Traditionally, this would have been stamped, requiring it to be broken into four individual sections. Cadillac’s designers and engineers said no.

The roof, each quadrant individually dimmable, is a single sheet of acoustically insulated glass. For it, Cadillac visited Peru, the site of the only foundry big enough to cast it in one piece. The Celestiq’s “grille” may not need to route air to a combustion engine, but Cadillac refused to spare expense: The blades that frame the headlights are stamped from aluminum, brushed, then accented with delicate polished texturing. The silver lines in the center section expose indium, the softest non-alkali metal chosen for its transparency to radar. 

Peer inside—Cadillac isn’t yet allowing anyone to sit in this, its one and only prototype—and the show continues. The cabin is dominated by the car’s nearly flat waistline, a single contour that runs across the dash, continues through the doors, and sweeps behind the two rear chairs (there is no bulkhead) to meet the bottom of the liftgate’s glass. Designers and engineers suffered endless headaches to create it: “When we redid that speaker grille at the base of the A-pillar, we literally chased it all the way to the trunk,” says Tristan Murphy, Cadillac’s lead interior designer. Curved interior contours are useful in workaday cars because they disguise imperfections of line, but in the Celestiq’s linear cabin, there is no place to hide. Says the Celestiq’s lead engineer, Tony Roma: “The door pads have adjustability up, down, in, out in a way that I would get shot if I proposed doing it anywhere else. But we’re doing it here.”

Those speaker grilles are, the team reflects, the largest Cadillac has ever made. Stamped out of aluminum, their holes are acid-etched before the whole panel is anodized, creating a dark finish that a laser precisely removes to create a 3-D effect. That curved glass panel on the dash fits two screens behind a single sheet of carefully bent glass measuring over four and a half feet, corner to diagonal corner. The floors are upholstered in leather, the cupholders in suede.

Lucid’s triple-motor, 1200-hp Sapphire boasts twice the horsepower of this dual-motor Cadillac, but if you’re comparing the two, you’re already on the wrong foot. Think of Bentley, and its “adequate” power: No one driving or being chauffeured in a Celestiq wants anyone to mistake them for a Tesla-esque blur. The Celestiq’s job isn’t to be the first high-tech EV, or even the most customizable Cadillac: It is to be Cadillac’s Veyron, a superlative, new-world interpretation of old-school prestige.

For nearly 80 years, Cadillac has again and again fallen prey to its own lofty condemnation, failing to equal or to excel. With the Celestiq, Detroit once again risks the penalty of leadership. For that alone, Cadillac deserves to live.

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Our first look at the shape of electrified muscle-cars-to-come is finally here. Dodge just rolled out its sinister new Charger Daytona SRT Concept, a pure EV performance coupe that Dodge says is faster than the current Hellcat in every meaningful metric. And compared to most suppository-shaped EVs on the road today, the Charger Daytona SRT looks the business. And with two more doors, it’s easy to imagine this concept is an accurate preview of the next Charger.

“Dodge is about muscle, attitude and performance,” said CEO Tim Kuniskis, “and the brand carries that chip on its shoulder and into the BEV segment through a concept loaded with patents, innovations, and performance features that embody the electrified muscle of tomorrow.”

Those features include an “eRupt” multi-speed electromechanical transmission, a simulated ICE exhaust note that is as loud as the Hellcat’s V-8, and an 800-volt electric propulsion system that Dodge is dubbing “Banshee.” The Charger Daytona concept features all-wheel drive, ostensibly for improved acceleration, handling, and all-weather capability. Exact power output for the Banshee architecture is still a secret, but knowing Dodge it’s probably overkill in the best possible sense. Center-lock wheels shroud six-piston Brembo front brakes.

Despite the electric architecture, Dodge is clearly keen to preserve in the Charger Daytona SRT, if not evolve, some experiential elements of the traditional ICE muscle car experience. The eRupt transmission, compared to most direct-drive/single-speed EVs, will deliver “distinctive shift points,” as well as the same PowerShot push-to-pass function announced for the plug-in hybrid Hornet R/T.

Noise is inextricably tied to muscle cars like the Charger and Challenger. A silent muscle car indeed would have been bizarre, and the solution may be equally so—126 dB of exhaust noise from an “industry-first” feature that Dodge is calling the Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust. Using sensor data and a computer that calculates everything from throttle position to vehicle speed and motor load, the Fratzonic system then generates a synthetic sound based on the “cadence of a Hemi V-8,” as one spokesperson told The Drive. It then goes into an amplifier and out of a more or less familiar exhaust system, which essentially acts in part as a kind of resonator.

Is all this a bit gimmicky? That’d be a fair criticism, especially for those who would rather see car companies fully embrace electric technology without the anchor of the past. Dodge, however, has experienced extraordinary success in the last decade trading on its legacy of brash, loud-mouthed performance, which is an identity it’s not willing to leave behind.

Adaptations of classic cues can be found in the Charger Daytona SRT’s design, as well. The biggest innovation is the so-called “R-Wing”—a kind of nose-mounted aerodynamic wing with a pass-through that allows for airflow and increases downforce. Dodge says it has a patent pending on the design, which is an homage to the original Charger Daytona’s famous wing.

Fans of the classic Charger will also recognize the concept’s vertical grille slats in the lower front fascia, which are a callback to the popular ’68 model. Both the full-width LED front lightning signature and rear red light bar recall the vintage Charger’s squared-off design elements.

The three-pointed Fratzog logo—which appears on the R-Wing, wheels, and rear rectangular rear end—originally appeared on muscled Dodges from 1962 to 1976. Going forward, it looks like the illuminated badge will be an indicator of Dodge and/or SRT electric high-performance.

This Charger Daytona SRT concept appears to be a not-too-significant step from final production, especially with the next-generation eMuscle Challenger expected for 2024. The Daytona’s interior contains a fair bit of concept lighting frippery, but the shape of the dashboard, screens, center console, and seats all look ready for prime time. The steering wheel is a familiar square shape that evokes past SRT models like the Hellcat, and a traditional-looking PRNDL gear lever sticks out from between the seats. Behind it is a Lamborghini-style covered launch button (painted red, of course), and a row of what look like haptic-feedback buttons for parking sensors, lane-departure warning, and traction control.

With the purely gas-powered Charger and Challenger being retired after 2023, Dodge has made it clear that it sees a bright future with battery-fueled performance. This concept seems to walk the line between legacy muscle car cues and futuristic vision, though the hokey computer-generated exhaust is sure to make some eyes roll. If the Dodge performance cars coming actually deliver on this concept’s promise, however, they’ll make a strong case for bridging the gap to a brand-new definition of the muscle-car experience.

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A foremost tenet of journalism 101’s tenet is sensationalism. To earn front-page, first-edition play, a feature story must boost the reader’s pulse. To preclude page turning, every print, digital, or podcast journalist’s goal is to set the plot hook fast and deep.

Flaming Ford Pintos were once hot news. In 1979, after three Indiana teens perished en route to soccer practice in a Pinto, the Ford Motor Company was accused of reckless homicide. Though the jury’s verdict was not guilty, Ford soon thereafter recalled Pintos to improve their rear-end crash performance and fire resistance.

The burning sensation du jour? Battery electric vehicle (BEV) fires. In 2018, British television director Michael Morris’s Tesla Model S suddenly burst into flames while stuck in Santa Monica Boulevard traffic. He expeditiously abandoned his hot seat while his wife Mary McCormack recorded the calamity on her cell phone.

Fortunately, there were no injuries. Unfortunately, Morris’s Tesla was a total loss. McCormack’s video depicting a blow torch erupting behind the left-front wheel went viral. Hollywood could not have contrived a more sensational spot of evening news.

EVs rising

At Tesla’s recent annual meeting, CEO Elon Musk forecast his company’s prospects:

• The Tesla Model Y is on track to become the world’s best-selling car next year
• Tesla’s current sales rate of 1.5 million vehicles per annum should reach 2 million units globally by the end of 2022
• Constructing another dozen or so “giga” factories around the world will enable Tesla to top Toyota and VW’s combined manufacturing volume

Factor in equally ambitious plans by Ford, GM, VW and others to convert their ICE fleets to battery-electrics and you’ve got a lot more of this technology hitting roads than ever before. So how much of a potential risk do EV fires represent?

Facts, not fiction

According to the National Fire Protection Association, a gasoline-fueled car fire occurs every five minutes. From 2013 through 2017, there were 117,400 U.S. car fires per annum. Given the 261 million vehicles on the road at the time, the incident rate was 0.045 percent.

Since the Chevy Bolt was introduced in 2016, GM has sold over 140,000 of them on four continents. We bring up the Bolt because it recently underwent very public recall after several incidences of fire relating to its LG-sourced battery (costing the South Korean conglomerate $1.9 billion). Globally, there have been 16 fires caused by battery pack faults prompting a production interruption and across-the-board pack replacements. The incident rate for the Bolt is 0.0107 percent, or 1/4 of the average ICE car’s stat. Nevertheless, BEV fires have replaced gasoline fires on the evening news and across the internet.

The third-party online organization AutoInsuranceEZ recently published additional information after diving into data from the National Transportation Safety Board and government recall statistics. Hybrid vehicle fires ranked first with 3474.5 fires per 100,000 vehicle sales (16,051 fires). Next came ICE cars with 1520.9 fires per 100,000 sales (199,533 fires). BEVs were at the very bottom of this calamity heap with only 25.1 fires per 100,000 vehicle sales (52 fires).

In the 2020 recall category, nearly a million Hyundai Elantras, Kia Cadenzas, Kia Sportages, and Honda Odysseys (all ICE vehicles) were recalled due to electrical shorts. Compare that to 152,000 Hyundai Kona EVs and Chevrolet Bolts recalled in the same period over potential battery faults.

How lithium-ion works

Lithium-Ion (LI) designs replaced lead-acid and nickel-metal-hydride batteries in electric vehicle applications a decade ago, because they’re far more efficient and cost-effective. Constituent parts include a cathode serving as the current collector and positive terminal, an anode for the second current collector and negative terminal, an insulating separator between the terminals, and a liquid electrolyte containing ethylene carbonate. Other materials inside LI batteries are aluminum, cobalt, copper, graphite, iron, manganese, nickel, and phosphorus.

Lithium ions (electrically charged atoms) travel through the separator to the positive terminal producing an electric current capable of powering an electric motor. When the battery is connected to a charger, that flow is reversed—from the cathode to the anode where the lithium ions remain on standby.

Today’s LI batteries operate at up to 900 volts. A Tesla Model S, for instance, contains 7920 cylindrical cells, designed by Panasonic.

In addition to the sensational Model S meltdown mentioned above, LI batteries have failed in other applications. In two separate incidents, Boeing 787 Dreamliner auxiliary power packs fitted with such batteries caught fire, prompting temporary grounding of the entire fleet of those planes. LI fires have also occurred in cell phones, hoverboards, and e-bikes.

Boiling batteries

As EV buyers manage their range anxiety, fears of fire may loom larger. Manufacturers and safety organizations well aware of these concerns have been quietly addressing the issue for a decade or more.

Tesla, for example, investigates such incidents and includes battery failures in its warranty coverage.

There are two common paths to LI battery meltdown. The first is when the driver accidentally runs over debris in the road, resulting in a hole poked through the bottom of the battery pack. Most makers guard against such damage by protecting the pack’s vulnerable bottom surface with a quarter-inch thick metal plate.

Injection-molded composite-plastic designs that are more puncture resistant, lighter, and hopefully less expensive are under development to replace today’s battery pack housings.

The second adversity is an internal short circuit resulting from a manufacturing defect. In both this case and in the event of a puncture, the results are the same. Heat generated by the short ignites ethylene carbonate in the liquid electrolyte. Thermal runaway—when heat from one shorted cell lights a neighboring cell—ensues and fire spreads throughout the battery pack.

Packs have vents to relieve excessive pressure in a controlled manner, and cooling systems diminish the chance of overheating. But when a chain reaction occurs, the resulting heat and flame rapidly consume the entire vehicle.

Mitigating efforts to date

Like every vehicle sold in the U.S., BEVs must pass stringent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) tests. This includes severe frontal barrier, rear and side impact, roll-over, and partial-front-overlap collision tests. Any short circuit within the battery pack would result in a failure to earn NHTSA’s blessing. In addition, manufacturers test to assure that no BEV subjected to flood water poses a hazard to occupants or responders.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Transportation has required every EV maker to submit specific recommendations for extinguishing fires which are summarized and forwarded to responders.

Three years ago, SAE International published a Recommended Practice document addressing EV and hybrid-vehicle chemical, electrical, and thermal hazards. This publication includes recommended procedures for emergency responders as well as those who tow and salvage such vehicles.

According to Andrew Klock, emerging technologies manager at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in Quincy, Massachusetts, “Because BEV fires are significantly different from ICE car fires, firefighters need training focused specifically on this issue. We’re gearing up to provide that education.”

Founded in 1896, the non-profit NFPA offers multiple forms of responder training: in classrooms, via online webinars, and by live-virtual programs. It also has a certification process. NFPA’s expertise comes from partnerships with EV makers, the Fire Protection Research Foundation, and 15 other global organizations.

“Thus far over 300,000 first responders have been trained but another 800,000 firefighters still need our expertise,” Klock adds.

Earlier this year, GM gave the NFPA $225,000 to fund training to 12,000 volunteer and “underserved” U.S. fire departments. (Roughly two-thirds of U.S. fire departments are part-time or manned by volunteers.) GM has also initiated a first-responder training effort. Joe McLaine, a GM product safety and systems engineer, explains that “[GM] training offers unique material and hands-on experience to help responders’ awareness while safely interacting with BEVs in distress.’

In GM electric vehicles, orange-colored wiring indicates high voltage. Yellow stickers indicate where to disable the vehicle’s 12-volt circuits.

Fighting BEV fires

There are two competing fire-fighting strategies. GM’s preference, McLaine explains is to apply “large volumes of water to suppress LI fires.” NHTSA advises fire departments to simply allow lithium-ion fires to burn themselves out if there’s no immediate threat to life or nearby property. This diminishes the chance a responder will receive a high-voltage electric shock and the likelihood of re-ignition after the residue is transferred to a salvage yard. It’s all too common for BEV fires to relight several days—or weeks—after they’re extinguished.

Europe may be the global leader fighting BEV fires. A year ago, Austria-based Rosenbauer introduced an interesting Battery Extinguishing System Technology (BEST). This $30,000-$35,000 tool consists of two units—a controller and an extinguisher which is slid under the burning vehicle. Upon the operator’s command, a “stinger” rises vertically to pierce the battery pack’s bottom surface, then sprays water inside to cool the blaze. For low-slung EVs, use of the BEST device requires some lifting or tilting of the burning vehicle.

One benefit of this device is that the operator stays 25 feet from the fire; another is the 8 gallons per minute fluid flow is far less than what’s normally used. Rosenbauer claims that as little as 500 gallons can extinguish a BEV fire in less than an hour, versus the several thousand gallons and up to 24 hours normally required. Long-duration fires are a concern in part because they can result in the total depletion of a responder’s self-contained breathing apparatus.

No U.S. dealer we spoke to has delivered BEST equipment but sales are expected once departments begin budgeting for the tool in response to the rapid increase in the volume of EVs on the road.

A second procedure popular in Europe is to submerge the entire vehicle in a tank of water for 24 hours to cool residual hot spots.

According to David McInally, the chief at a Michigan township fire department near Detroit metro airport, “The use of fluids to extinguish battery fires is now in flux partly because there’s little data available thus far from car makers. Due to the vast quantities of water required, hydrant hook-ups are preferred if they’re available. Transferring the burned-out vehicle to a water-filled pit is also under consideration.

“Because there is [an EV] car maker in our township, we monitor building codes applicable to the manipulation of cells within packs and the storage of LI battery materials. We tap on-line multi-media to learn more on this subject. With more and more traveling our roads, it’s definitely a pressing issue.” Asked if he fears electric shocks traveling from a burning EV to the firefighter via the extinguishing stream, McInally rates that “a very rare possibility.”

Eliminating flammable electrolyte

In 2017, John Goodenough, who received the Nobel Prize for inventing LI batteries, published a treatise outlining a new type of battery—the solid-state design. The breakthrough here is replacing flammable liquid electrolyte with a non-combustible solid polymer, ceramic, or glass material. Other benefits include up to three times the energy density of today’s LI cells, longer life, faster charging, minimal cooling requirements, and better performance at sub-zero temperatures.

While miniature non-rechargeable solid-state batteries are already in use within human heart pacemakers, scaling them up in mass production for BEV use poses a major challenge. A joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic claims well over 1000 patents in this field and Toyota previewed autonomous people movers powered by solid-state batteries at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games. Nissan and Mercedes-Benz are next in line. Hybrids and/or BEVs with solid-state batteries should appear relatively soon and hopes are widespread that this breakthrough will begin supplanting today’s LI batteries by the end of the decade.

An auspicious new player

While there are already a dozen major LI battery manufacturers around the globe, start-up organizations aren’t afraid to disrupt the status quo. Mujeeb Ijaz founded ONE in Novi, Michigan, two years ago, bringing ample experience to the energy storage party: sixteen years developing EVs and fuel cells at Ford, a combined nine years of effort at Apple and A123, and eighteen patents in his name.

ONE—standing, ambitiously, for Our Next Energy—currently has 153 personnel, plans to begin production by the end of 2023, and an engineering office in Fremont, California, aimed at tapping West Coast talent.

Ijaz’s intention is a reinvention of the LI battery without resorting to a solid-state design. His goals are to double vehicle range with improved energy density, eliminate any chance of meltdown, and offer a chance at a supply chain resistant to global conflicts (all materials sourced in the Western Hemisphere).

Last December, a Tesla Model S equipped with an experimental ONE dual-chemistry battery logged 752 miles over Michigan roads. The BMW iX is next in line.

“We are thrilled to be working with BMW to demonstrate our Gemini long-range technology to consumers,” Ijaz adds. “We plan to pack twice as much energy in our batteries so BEVs can handle long-distance driving during winter, climbing mountains, and while towing.”

BMW just led ONE’s $65-million funding round, suggesting that OEMs are both on the lookout for battery innovation and willing to pay up for it.

Let us return to the admittedly sensationalist question posed at the beginning of this story—is a raging BEV fire heading toward your garage? Statistically it’s very unlikely. The data is crystal clear; such incidents are far rarer than gasoline fires. If that doesn’t allay your concerns, comprehensive efforts are underway to control BEV meltdowns when they happen, and brilliant engineers are working to improve and reimagine battery technology as we know it.

Like you, as long as we can keep our beloved cars on the road we’ll refrain from cutting up our Shell credit card. But if we are going to be critical of BEVs, as we should of any new technology, let’s do it armed with the facts. Anything less is fanning the flames of misinformation.

The post EV Fires: Not coming to a garage near you, statistically speaking appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Perhaps it’s because I don’t review cars that often, but every vehicle that finds its way into my hands winds up gaining a theme song that becomes the soundtrack of my drive. This time around? It happened at a stop light, when a lowered Silverado needed my lane in order to continue his feverish progress on the mean stroads of the Bayou City. This moment deserved the audio drama of the sixteenth-note undertones within Lars Ulrich’s double bass drumming—specifically amid the impactful lyrics of Metallica’s Fuel:

Fuel is pumping engines
Burning hard, loose, and clean
And I burn, churning my direction
Quench my thirst with gasoline

Gasoline, however, is no longer the king thirst-quencher of power and torque. Even if that lowered Silverado had a 1200-hp turbocharged LS motor, it could not dream of holeshotting with the surgical precision of four in-wheel electric motors producing 908 lb-ft of total torque.

Startup EV automaker Rivian made that impossible-seeming dream into reality. Its debut model is the all-electric R1T pickup, the first vehicle to wear to the brand’s compass-inspired logo upon exiting the former Mitsubishi factory in Normal, Illinois. There’s also an SUV variant of essentially the same vehicle (called the R1S), and Rivian’s Amazon-branded delivery vans are now hitting the streets in limited numbers.

Indeed, the Rivian R1T “Launch Edition” I was testing does just that, ensuring the Silverado was never really a threat. The growling Chevy tucked in behind me after I made it disappear into my rear view, only to furiously pass me when conditions allowed. If the point needed further proof, the R1T accelerates to 60 mph in about 3 seconds, and an insane 11.6 quarter mile time ensures it is up there with the GMC Hummer as one of the quickest production trucks on the planet. It, uh, quenches one’s thirst for speed like a DC fast charge remedies a depleted battery. How about some metallic lyrics to help explain:

Give me juice!
Give me torque!
Give me tech, ’cause I’m a dork!!!

The R1T starts at $68,575 for the base Explore trim and $74,975 for the ritzier Adventure. Both versions come with AWD and two Rivian-built electric motors (600+ hp and 600+ lb-ft), and the Standard 260-mile battery pack. The quad-motor setup starts at $80,575 and features e-motors built by Bosch (835 hp and 900 lb-ft) and the Large battery good for 314 miles ($6000). A Max pack battery allows for a whopping 400 miles of range at an equally whopping cost of $16,000. The Launch Edition, built in limited numbers in 2021, uses the Large battery pack, four motors, and builds on the niceties of the Adventure with unique Launch Green paint and a modest interior badge.

The R1T’s “down the road graphic” signature (a light bar bisected by two headlights that look like sideways USB ports) is both adorable and a little intimidating in one’s rear view. In the reflection of a tailgate, I like it even more. The Large-pack Rivian is comparable to the Tesla Model Y Performance in terms of range (314 miles of range, or about 275 miles with all-terrain tires; compared to the Y’s 303 miles), 835 horsepower makes the R1T a mind-altering experience compared to the 450-hp Tesla. And such thrust expertly delivered, with refinement akin to driving a six-figure European touring sedan. Or, put the truck into Sport mode, turn off the traction control, and savor the perfect ratio of wheelspin to muscle car-like acceleration.

Commanding performance is one thing, but this is a genuinely livable everyday vehicle. The R1T’s absorbs potholes with ease, climb curbs at any angle without jiggling your neck (sorry, that’s all the off-roading I found in the suburbs), handles like a sports sedan, and stops with authority. Beefy discs and aggressive brake regen bring the whole hulking mass to a halt. And it is hulking indeed, at 7148 pounds. That is not a typo. I ask: What unholy deal did Rivian sign with the devil to build a truck—with both Super Duty mass and all-terrain tires with the optional off-road package—perform to such an astoundingly versatile degree?

Much of the Rivian’s mind-altering handling prowess comes from its air suspension (like a Ram, but fully independent) that boasts shocking on-demand adjustability for aerodynamics (2 inches lower) and off-road prowess (3.5 inches higher). Keeping the bladders in check is an ingenious quartet of adaptive dampers with orifice tubes (no internal valving), fed hydraulic fluid via central valve body. It’s kinda like ABS brake proportioning, except this allows for cross linking; bound/rebound rates at each corner harmonize much like in a McLaren. And the whole affair is controlled by Rivian-designed hardware and software that’s likely worth more than a McDonald’s franchise on the Las Vegas strip.

Yes, it’s worth every penny. And it’s far from ostentatious, given the restrained exterior and minimalist interior from which you summon electric dominance. The R1T sports cabin craftsmanship worthy of a Fjällräven wardrobe, wrapping fresh design and thoughtful technology in an environment that feels durable and high-quality.

Not all is well, though. Rivian opted to follow Tesla’s lead with exclusively digital HVAC controls that can’t match the usability of traditional buttons and knobs, especially when adjusting the vents on the 16-inch central touch screen. It gets worse. Thanks to our current climate situation here in the Gulf Coast, the life-threatening heat and humidity outside even made it uncomfortable to sit under the R1T’s sunshade-free, tinted glass roof without a baseball cap. The heat was significant enough that R1T’s cooling fan (fans?) screamed bloody murder in bumper-to-bumper traffic, never slowing down and remaining loud enough when parked in my driveway to drown out the sound of a neighbor’s nearby A/C unit. Ventilated seats helped, but Mother Nature embarrassed that ridiculous roof. And, to be fair, it would have been even worse if I was sitting behind the crossbeam-free windshield of the Lucid Air Dream Edition instead.

NVH in an EV is even tougher than in a gas vehicle, because without an engine laying out thick blanket of background tones, there’s nowhere to hide. Still, road noise even with the optional 20-inch all-terrain tires is surprisingly muted. The culprit that renders this Rivian perhaps the loudest luxury EV on planet Earth is the aforementioned cooling fan, and the motors are about on par with anything in a Tesla. Thankfully, the Meridian Elevation audio system quickly drowns out all the noise with competent highs and excellent imaging. Our tester sported an aftermarket 10-inch subwoofer in the gear tunnel (between the bed and the rear seat) that ensured every note of Mr. Ulrich’s drum kit was reproduced with passion!

Everywhere you look there are quality polymers, stitched leatherette, metal/cloth/LED accents, and even floor coverings worthy of Coco Mat references in a W116 Benz. Bask in the appeal of the R1T’s open pore wood trim, which is perfectly illuminated at night on the dash and doors. This is a luxury vehicle at its core, though not a flashy one, and anyone who rolls up to a worksite in this rig is begging for their bonafides to be judged.

Or perhaps those theoretical judgments have some validity. The 4.5-foot bed isn’t terribly useful until you factor in the R1T’s extra cargo features. There’s a generous frunk, gear tunnel, under floor storage (back seat and bed), and several nooks inside the gear tunnel’s access doors. Lumber runs to Home Depot are best suited to more traditional rigs, as there’s no provision for a tubular bed extender, and heavy metal hardware will likely gouge the plastic (not spray-in) liner: I was very careful to avoid the latter when loading a reproduction exhaust system of significant heft.

While the power tonneau cover is a welcome treat, the motorized tailgate should also close itself. Even more so since the R1T’s tailgate lacks a grabbing orifice to assist the user in this action. At least there are no disappointments with the bed’s 110v power outlets and the high-volume air compressor.

In a perfect world there’d be a truck with the attention to detail of an F-150 Platinum, the performance of an R1T, and the pricing of something Tacoma-like. But you can’t have all three, so pick two. Or maybe just one, as multiple passengers have mistakenly re-closed the R1T’s doors thinking they weren’t closed properly. Soft-closing doors would eliminate the confusion, and doesn’t seem out of line now that Rivian’s poorly-executed price hike puts the R1T firmly in the upper tier of near six-figure pickups. Clearly this rig isn’t an approachable F-150 Lightning.

I’ve already driven the Lightning, so an EV pickup this or that taste test isn’t a bad way to end a review. The R1T Launch Edition compared with the small-battery, XLT grade, Ford Lightning is a study in contrasts. The Ford has superior Apple CarPlay/Android Auto integration, more reassuring door latches, softer seats, a dead silent powertrain, more usable bed/frunk, and a far superior ride. Pop the R1T out of Sport mode and it still can’t match the luxurious feel of the far cheaper Ford; consider the Rivian a German-style lux-limo for four passengers, while the Lightning is a modern Fleetwood Brougham for five. Can the bigger Ford still cut mustard with a mere 775 lb-ft on tap? Performance isn’t far off the Rivian, thanks to the Lightning’s 1000-ish pound weight advantage. Turn-in isn’t nearly as crisp and the Ford’s mundane suspension does not impress in aggressive maneuvers the way the R1T’s does. The trucks are, in truth, very different. Apples and oranges.

I suspect Rivian buyers have very different demands and priorities than Lightning buyers. The R1T is the only vehicle that can silently dust a performance car on a twisty road, carry 1700 pounds of payload, tow 11,000 pounds on the highway, and navigate gnarly trails thanks to its individual electric motors in each wheel. That’s off-road ability worthy of a Jeep Jamboree with a Range Rover-worthy interior stuffed in for good measure. Do-it-all vehicles hold a lot of appeal for Americans these days.

Sigh. Perhaps one day some of the R1T’s mind-altering technology might trickle down to more affordable vehicles. I admit I’ve developed quite a thirst for this EV truck, and it could use a regular quenching.

2022 Rivian R1T Launch Edition

Price: $77,000 with off-road package (subsequent orders are $90,000)

Highs: Impressive thrust, BMW-like handling, a mid-size truck that tows like a full-sizer.

Lows: Tiny bed, stiff ride, heatwave-averse HVAC, and you gotta have faith in the parent company’s long term health.

Summary: Luxury trucks are commonplace, but this is a new high watermark for performance.

The post Review: 2022 Rivian R1T Launch Edition appeared first on Hagerty Media.

We visited Sonoma, California, on July 9 and 10 for the second installment of Holley High Voltage, a car event all about electric vehicles. The fledgling event, held at Sonoma Raceway, seemed to have more participants than spectators, as everyone in attendance was an EV enthusiast that wanted to either show off their custom ride or put it through its paces on the autocross track, dragstrip, or Sonoma Raceway’s hilly road course.

You may be wondering why a company with a name that’s synonymous with carburetors would be interested in hosting an event for electric vehicles. Rest assured, Holley is a lot more than Dominators and double-pumpers these days. Holley has been bringing a wide variety of brands into the fold. That includes Rekudo, which makes suspension upgrades for Tesla models, and AEM, a company that builds a number of electronic components that help EV hot-rodders swap batteries and powertrains into all sorts of cars. We drove AEM’s Tesla-swapped Mustang earlier this year and it was a great preview of what to expect from enthusiasts. Plenty showed up in brand-new Rivians, Teslas, Mustang Mach-Es, and Chevy Bolts, but we were particularly interested in the swaps. Here are some of our favorites.

1994 Acura NSX

There are plenty of cars that came with mediocre powertrains in otherwise great-looking packages that make perfect candidates for an EV conversion. A DMC DeLorean is a great example. The Acura NSX is not. Praised for its high-revving, naturally aspirated V-6 powerplant that was perfectly balanced with its sharp, Zanardi-honed chassis, the NSX smashed supercar stereotypes for being dead reliable. Geoff Budd of Redwood City, California, managed to find an NSX that was driven hard and had already been the recipient of an engine swap. With 225,000 miles on the odometer, a few dings on the body, and a Honda K-Series four-cylinder installed, the car was having trouble selling. Budd made the seller an offer: take some money off the price, but also keep the four-cylinder. It was a deal. The conversion to EV is still under way, as there are plans for more batteries up front. For now, the Tesla Model S drivetrain is powered by batteries located between the front seats and the engine firewall, right where the Acura’s fuel tank used to be.

K1 Attack

If you followed the instructions of building a K1 attack you’d look for a Honda Accord donor and put its transaxle in the back, creating a reliable, economical mid-engine car. Jeremy Snow, from Salt Lake City, Utah, tossed the instruction manual away and instead placed a Tesla Model S drive unit at the rear wheels. It uses LG Chem batteries from a Chrysler Pacifica hybrid, one of the most power-dense options on the market at the time he was sourcing parts. While he did place some of the batteries up front to balance the weight, it still has 52.5 percent of its 2580-pound curb weight on the rear tires. Its 125 miles of range is good for quite a lot of autocross runs, and regen braking can help maintain the charge as well.

1972 Plymouth Satellite Sebring

Kevin Erickson from Denver, Colorado, brought his 1972 Satellite Sebring to Holley High Voltage for the second time. Nicknamed “Electrollite”, the fuselage-body Mopar uses a Models S large sport drive unit good for more than 600 hp and it’s fed by batteries from a Model S P100, with six modules in the rear and 10 up front under the hood. “From brakes to brakes it’s a Tesla subframe, all aluminum, all self-contained.” Erickson told us. The build took about a year and a half, with Erickson careful not to cut the car up in the process. The car weighs 4358 pounds, or about as much as a modern Challenger 392, and has served as his daily driver since it was completed about a year ago. So far, Electrollite has given Erickson 5000 EV miles with a range of around 200 miles without deeply discharging the batteries.

1980 GMC Sierra Grande

This truck originally came that came with a low-power, high-torque big-block. It was purchased in Texas and the V-8 powertrain was sold to recoup most of the investment. Then Snow and the crew at Revolt Systems in Oceanside, California, swapped in one of its CR43B crate motors. The ReVolt team used a Quick Performance rear axle and built a custom four-link with DOM tubing to get the 600 horsepower to the ground. The battery pack that was installed at time of the event is a 20kWh unit intended for dragstrip fun and around-town parts hauling, it’s only good for 60 or so miles. “I’ll drive it a lot, but it’s set up for the quarter mile,” Snow said. (Just think of it as a Pro Street build. There’s also a P100 battery pack can be swapped in if longer range is needed.) The truck’s cage extends to the bed, where it surrounds the battery pack. Removing a few bolts form each side allow it to be lifted out and replaced. “It weighs about the same as a motor,” Snow explained.

Apex Cricket EV

Dave Green, from Folsom, California, previously engineered a tube chassis that uses C5 Corvette suspension and powertrain to build a featherweight sports car he called the Apex Spyder. This new creation, using a similar chassis and C5 suspension, is dubbed the Apex Cricket EV. For the past several months, the car has used an 80kW Nissan Leaf drive unit and Chrysler Pacifica hybrid batteries. The crew at Thunderstruck Motorsports has helped Green with the vehicle control unit and recently sourced a 160kW Leaf drive unit that is externally identical to the current unit so the 1740-pound missile will soon have double the power to tackle the autocross. For now, it has enough battery to run autocross all weekend without charging, that may change when the power doubles.

This event, and others like it, are going to help EV hot-rodders share the knowledge and experience of building electric cars, which often require a completely different set of skills. Even these early builds are quite promising; we watched several of them on the track having a blast for just a few minutes worth of charge time. As more battery packs and drive units become available and affordable, we’re only going to see more custom builds like these in the future.

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GM considering factory restoration shop, trademark filing suggests

Intake: A recent filing with the United States Patent Office (USPTO) by General Motors may hint at an exciting new chapter for the beloved Detroit brand. The patent trademarked the phrase “GM restoration,” which implies that The General is eyeing an in-house restoration business akin to the ones offered by Porsche, Land Rover, and a few other OEMs. Or perhaps the filing precedes the announcement of a new run of parts for certain classics. Details are sparse, but the fine text mentions that all sorts of components could fall under this trademarked entity’s purview, including mechanical bits like camshafts and exhaust manifolds as well as certain electronics, body panels, and rubber components. In the not-too-distant future, you maybe be able to head straight to the source for a full-blown revitalization of that barn-find ’68 Chevelle SS (or 1967 L88, as shown here).

Exhaust: But should you? High-quality restorations are not simple undertakings—even if you’re the company that built the thing in the first place. “The restoration program will have to offer a service that essentially hands you back a perfect car when finished to be in consideration over the well-established restorers like Kevin MacKay, whose shop has a proven track record of restoring concours-quality cars,” says Hagerty Price Guide editor Greg Ingold. It might be more logical that this new branch will specialize in the (re)production of older, hard-to-find parts, akin to Toyota’s GR Heritage Parts or the Nissan equivalent. Regardless, all signs point to the General making an effort to help keep the classics we know and love on the street. How ya gonna say no to that?

VW’s flagship EV … is not a crossover

Intake: Meet the Volkswagen ID.Aero concept, the latest salvo in the German brand’s ongoing electrification onslaught. As most good concept cars do, the ID.Aero offers some hints the production version of VW’s new global-market flagship sedan. For starters, VW’s MEB platform will underpin this 16-plus-foot chariot—bones shared with the ID.4 crossover and the forthcoming ID.Buzz electric van. Short overhangs and a long wheelbase bolster cabin space, though how that space is used is anyone’s guess–there are no interior photos as of now. Sleek bodywork and a sedan profile help the ID.Aero achieve a drag coefficient of 0.23, which still lags behind the Tesla Model S’ 0.208 and the 0.20 figure claimed by the Mercedes-Benz EQS. That said, 0.23 is a far better than what most crossovers can achieve these days, and is especially advantageous for the battery-electric ID.Aero. That slippery shell helps the car maximize the range of its 77-kWh lithium-ion battery pack, which VW says achieves up to 385 miles of range on the WLTP test cycle. (That figure may diminish slightly as the car makes necessary concessions to production-spec vehicle regulations.) VW says that production for the ID.Aero for the Chinese market will begin in China in the second half of next year. European-spec models will begin rolling off the firm’s Emden production facility in Germany around the same time. No word on U.S. production yet, but we’d anticipate it’s not far behind—think late 2023 or early 2024.

Exhaust: Flagship sedans in a crossover-crazed world? Haf ze Germans lost zier mahbles? Not entirely. Low drag coefficients are easiest to achieve with low-slung, rounded shapes; the more your new ride looks like a river rock, the better. (Yes, even the floorpan.) Sorry crossovers, ultra-low drag coefficients are gonna be a bit tougher for you. That said, if the new ID.Aero arrives in the U.S. before the ID.Buzz’s return in 2024—according to VW, it will—we can’t help feeling like some resources were misallocated. Folks seem genuinely excited about a delightfully retro electric van; we’re skeptical that the same could be said for another sedan.

Euro looks with an American heart: Jay Leno drives an Apollo GT

Intake: Of all the ideas an enterprising twenty-something may have, starting a car company has to be one of the more far-fetched. That didn’t stop Milt Brown during the mid-1960s, though. The Apollo GT first saw the light of day in 1963 as an Italian-built body that was shipped to the U.S. where it received a Buick 215-cubic-inch V-8. Its blend of European panache and American power has long been a hit worldwide. Just 88 were produced, so if, after this video, an Apollo is something you want, know you might be searching for quite some time for the right car.

Exhaust: The early prototypes were all aluminum, but when production ramped up, the bodies became steel with aluminum hoods and doors. That changes the weight a bit, but this is still a fairly lithe car, considering the 225-horsepower produced by that Buick V-8. Claimed top speed in period was 150 mph, which was very good performance for the $6000 base price. Of course these days $6000 won’t get you one of these American exotics—a #3, driver-quality car can easily fetch over $100,000. Crazier dreams have been realized, though …

F1 extends ESPN contract, price skyrockets

Intake: According to a report in Sports Business Journal, Formula 1 has agreed to renew its broadcast contract with ESPN for three more years, through the 2025 season. How much money? Sit down: Between $75 and $90 million a year, up enormously from the approximately $5 million a year ESPN pays now. The deal reportedly gives the broadcast company the right to put a small number of races on its ESPN+ streaming service, though most will air on ABC or ESPN. The races on ABC are likely to be the two U.S. events, in Miami and Austin, and possibly Montreal and Mexico City. In renewing with ESPN, SBJ says F1 turned down offers from Comcast, Amazon, and Netflix.

Exhaust: What is the reason for the steep climb in F1 popularity in the U.S.? That would be Netflix’s Drive to Survive series, which follows multiple drivers and storylines during an F1 season. Premiering in 2019, Drive to Survive is a top-10 show in 56 countries. ABC’s coverage of the F1 race in Miami peaked at 2.9 million viewers and averaged 2.6 million during the actual race. F1 even beat out NASCAR’s audience for the Darlington event in the critical 18–49 age demographic. Formula 1 is red-hot, finally, in the U.S. And it makes you wonder just how much TV rights will be worth when ESPN’s contract is up in three years, after the Las Vegas race debuts in 2023.

Wayne Gretzky’s custom boat is a sight to behold—just like #99

Intake: Idaho’s beautiful Lake Coeur d’Alene is known for its classic boats, and even though summer has just begun, it’s going to be difficult to unseat this newbie as the most talked-about vessel on the water this year. Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky and his wife, Janet, will soon launch—or relaunch—their new 34-foot, custom-built Steinway 340 HT powerboat after taking possession of it last September (two days before shutting things down for winter). According to the Robb Report, the Steinway was designed and hand-built for the Gretzkys by Coeur d’Alene wooden-boat specialists Coeur Custom. Crafted from Sapele hardwood using traditional double-planked construction, the open-bow day cruiser glows with its 16 coats of varnish and shiny stainless-steel trim. It seats up to 12 passengers and has a galley and toilet. The cushions are embroidered with Gretzky’s iconic 99 jersey number.

Exhaust: Gretzky, arguably the greatest hockey player ever to lace up skates, forged his record-setting career by being ultra-competitive on the ice. Off it—just like his idol, Gordie Howe, who also loved boating—Gretzky is one of the most approachable and down-to-earth superstars you’d ever want to meet. So it should come as no surprise that despite Gretzky being able to afford whatever he wants, he settled for a lake boat instead of an ocean-going yacht. Forever known as The Great One, perhaps his boat will be too.

Ford institutes draconian EV lease restrictions?

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Following the death of the MG TF in 2011, a new MG roadster seemed unlikely under its new Chinese owners at SAIC Motor. The marque is better known nowadays for its European-market crossovers and MG5 electric estate car, its historic homes in Abingdon and Longbridge demolished after the collapse of MG Rover in 2005.

In recent years, SAIC Motor began to preview sportier battery-powered concept vehicles. First came the E Motion coupe, then the rakish Cyberster convertible, which were shown at the 2017 and 2021 Shanghai Motor Shows, respectively.

MG has been gauging reaction to the Cyberster, for which it claims to have received more than 5000 “statements of interest” from potential buyers. Apparently, that’s enough for MG to give it the green light—at least if a new series of patent images are any indication.

Toned down from the concept, images show a two-seat convertible with a folding, fabric roof. A proper roadster, in other words, the likes of which few companies outside of the premium marques give much attention these day—Mazda’s MX-5, reviewed here, is currently your primary choice.

It’s a modern, grown-up shape too, if perhaps a little derivative. We see a hint of the MX-5 and the current BMW Z4 in there, and some busy-looking details. The concept’s Union flag clusters become elongated, now more closely resembling opposed arrow heads. At least the Cyberster has a shape to call its own, unlike the battery-powered Mini rip-off from Beijing Estech that roused BMW Group to consider legal action, earlier this year.

Part of the plan is to launch a youth-orientated, “Cyber”-titled sub-brand of MG. It will rely on the right mix of pricing and performance, neither of which are known at the present time—though last year’s concept touted a sub-3 second 0-to-60 time and a 497-mile range from a new generation of battery hardware.

No internal-combustion engine options have been listed, leaving the last generation of MG TF—of which a few thousand were built in Pukou, China, and on a temporarily revived Longbridge assembly line between 2007 and 2011—as the last of a long legacy of gas-engined MG sports cars.

Via Hagerty UK

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French car manufacturers have a history of innovation and experimentation the envy of nearly any other car-building nation. Who else can boast cars as diverse as the mechanically genial Citroën 2CV, and the rule-breaking mid-engined Clio V-6?

Renault’s tandem-seat Twizy and the recent Citroën Ami appear to be cut from the same cloth: ultra-lightweight electric vehicles designed to revolutionize city transportation, while minimizing both costs and material usage next to more conventional cars.

Only Peugeot got there before both of them—more than eighty years ago.

Launched in 1941, during the Nazi occupation of France, it was called the Peugeot VLV, for Voiture Légère de Ville or “Light City Car.” While the styling is a product of its time, the idea is still very much in use in the VLV’s modern-day electric equivalents.

The war was, not surprisingly, a time of shortages. Most automotive production was set aside for the war effort, which in France meant Nazi control of its factories. Those who had cars often found them requisitioned by the military, and even those lucky enough to hold onto their pre-war Talbots, Amilcars, and Renaults would struggle to fill them up, with fuel being also heavily rationed.

But even under occupation, life went on. Doctors still needed to get around town, postal workers still needed to deliver their letters. The window of requirements was narrow, but significant; customers needed a car that would not fall foul of limited materials and gas rationing, but also more utility than a bicycle.

The Peugeot VLV was the answer. Powered by a quartet of 12-volt batteries, the electric VLV required no fuel, and its 3.3-horsepower motor—a little less than half that of the modern Citroën Ami—was more than sufficient to push its 767-pound frame (plus your average postman or doctor) around town at a bicycle-beating 20 mph.

More importantly, those modest lead-acid batteries could still deliver 75-80 kilometers of range—about 47-50 miles—covering the daily rounds with range to spare.

Contrary to appearances, the VLV was actually a four-wheeler, with a pair of rear wheels set closer together than those at the front. Material economy was everywhere, from its single headlight, to its single front leaf spring suspension, a solitary brake drum for both rear wheels, and even the roof: its convertible arrangement might seem like a luxury, but it would have simplified construction and required less steel than a fixed roof.

Controls were simple, with a forward and reverse selector on the dashboard, slide-up windows, and a hand crank for the windscreen wiper. It did seat two though, and offered at least some luggage space.

Perhaps indicative that automobiles were still very much a luxury though, Peugeot built only 377 VLVs between 1941 and 1945, before restarting conventional car production in 1946 with the pre-war 202. And in 1949, Citroën delivered the first 2CV—a car that served the bottom end of the market far more comprehensively than a tiny, limited-range electric car ever could.

Today’s low-speed, short-range city cars like the Twizy and Ami have more realistically grown out of Europe’s unique market (and regulations) allowing both the young and those without a license to drive vehicles under a certain weight and power output, while their electric drivetrains are increasingly in demand as fossil fuels fall from favor.

But next time you imagine a future full of charming, tiny electric city cars, remember that it’s actually an idea with its roots in the distant past.

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Much has been written of President Joe Biden being a “real car guy,” with his love for Corvettes and his habit of doing acceleration tests with new EVs. But he’s far from the first politician with an affinity for automobiles. Harry Truman was a Chrysler man. Trump collects expensive exotics. Ronald Reagan had multiple Jeeps and a Subaru Brat at his California ranch. Lyndon B. Johnson famously loved driving his Amphicar into lakes without telling his passengers beforehand that it was also a boat.

Of course, cars are also political. Richard Nixon touted owning an Oldsmobile to bolster his middle-class credentials. Ron Paul used his Chevette to protest Tip O’Neill’s personal use of taxpayer-funded, “free” gasoline. John McCain took heat on the campaign trail for owning foreign cars. Not to mention, there has been constant fighting over government regulation of the automobile essentially since its invention.

But for a brief period of time, there was one vehicle that almost all politicians, regardless of party, seemingly couldn’t get enough of: the Ford Escape Hybrid.

Revealed at the 2004 New York Auto Show as a 2005 model, the Escape Hybrid made history as the first hybrid SUV and as the first hybrid vehicle built in America (unless you count the 2004 Silverado/Sierra mild hybrids). With a 2.3-liter Atkinson cycle four-cylinder, a 75-kW electric motor, a nickel-metal hydride battery, and an “eCVT,” the front-wheel-drive Escape Hybrid achieved an EPA miles-per-gallon rating of 36 city/31 highway. These numbers were significantly higher than those of the conventional Escape and overall incredible for any SUV at the time. (MPG ratings for all vehicles fell significantly after the EPA readjusted its testing methods in 2008.)

As it happened, Ford’s timing was perfect. Gas prices were on the rise, and Al Gore’s famous (or infamous) climate-change documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, would debut the following year. Environmentalism was having a moment, and socially in-the-know people were all about demonstrating their “green” credentials, regardless of whether they actually lived them out. Toyota’s groundbreaking Prius hybrid had become a bit of a status symbol with eco-conscious types, and there was public sentiment that American car companies were stuck in the dark ages building gas guzzlers and would never catch up.

Now, not only had Ford beaten GM and Chrysler to build the first American hybrid, it had also managed to wrap the technology in mini-SUV styling that looked way cooler than that of the Prius. (Nevermind that the Prius got considerably better gas mileage.) Ford did license a number of patents from Toyota to expedite the development of the Escape Hybrid. However, lest anyone accuse the Blue Oval of reverse-engineering its powertrains, the majority of the engineering was still done by Ford and its suppliers.

The Escape Hybrid went on to win the 2005 North American Truck of the Year, and a few years later in a “peak-2000s pop culture” moment, Ford gave away Escape Hybrids to American Idol contestants. Even Kermit the Frog endorsed it during a Super Bowl commercial:

Despite its popularity in Hollywood, the Escape found even more success in politics. Ford showed off an early prototype to President George W. Bush at the White House before the SUV even went on sale. The Bush administration at least put some effort into environmental issues, and reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil became a big talking point. Several years later, President Bush even toured the Claycomo, Missouri, plant where Escape Hybrids were built.

To promote their advantages as fleet vehicles, Ford donated 12 Escape Hybrids to the National Park Service in 2005. Big-city mayors like Mike Bloomberg and Gavin Newsom eagerly did photo ops with bright yellow Escape Hybrid taxis, which began replacing venerable Crown Victorias on the streets of New York City and San Francisco.

In 2007, Mitt Romney announced his presidential campaign while standing in front of a Ford Escape Hybrid and his father’s 1964 Rambler Classic. As a son of the former president of American Motors Corporation, Romney mentioned their shared love of cars and his father’s passion for fuel efficiency. He drew parallels between the old Rambler and the new Ford, praising the innovative hybrid technology and calling it “the first giant step away from our dependence on the gasoline engine.”

While Romney posed with an Escape, other politicians went a step further. By 2007, no fewer than three presidential candidates claimed to own Escape Hybrids, including Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, and John Edwards. By this time, Ford’s Mercury division also offered a hybrid version of the Escape’s twin, the Mariner, and former President Bill Clinton had a custom version delivered.

(Perhaps Mercury spokeswoman Jill Wagner influenced his choice.)

Other candidates owned Toyota Prius or Honda Civic hybrids, but as the only American-built options, the Escape and Mariner were the clear choice for savvy politicians. Soon a rising star named Barack Obama jumped on the bandwagon, after he caught flak for criticizing the inefficiency of American-made cars while simultaneously owning a Chrysler 300C. He quickly traded the Hemi V-8 for the electrically assisted four-pot of the Escape Hybrid, and later his old car showed up on eBay for a cool $1 million.

The Escape Hybrid continued to attract attention as Ford welcomed politicians for factory tours and teased prototypes of a plug-in hybrid variant. But perhaps its most critical public showing came in December of 2008, when years of mismanagement, combined with global financial crisis, brought the American auto industry to its knees, and the CEOs of GM, Ford, and Chrysler were reduced to begging the U.S. Congress for money.

Their first trip to D.C. a month before had been a PR fiasco, as the executives’ use of private jets to travel to and from Detroit sparked outrage among representatives and voters alike. The irony of car company CEOs spending thousands on luxury air travel while requesting billions in public funds was not lost on lawmakers. But GM and Chrysler desperately needed help, and while Ford claimed to be in better financial shape, it wasn’t going to turn down government support, either.

So for their second trip, the executives and their entourages drove in caravans of the most fuel-efficient vehicles each company could muster. Outside the Capitol building, Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli was dropped off in a prototype Jeep Wrangler plug-in hybrid, GM’s Rick Wagoner drove up in a modified Chevy Cruze with a Chevy Volt powertrain, and Ford’s Alan Mulally stepped out of a trusty Ford Escape Hybrid.

It’s worth noting that the cars with which they greeted Congress weren’t exactly the same cars in which they made the journey, as Rick Wagoner actually traveled most of the way in a Malibu Hybrid, and some very unfortunate GM employees had to spend the whole trip in bare-bones Chevy Cobalt XFE.  Regardless, the automakers’ dog-and-pony show worked, and the U.S. Government eventually bailed out GM and Chrysler and gave Ford a hefty loan.

However, the Ford Escape Hybrid’s time in the sun was coming to a close.  The rest of the Escape line remained strong sellers, but after a few years on the market, the novelty of the Hybrid version began to fade.  Competitors had launched their own hybrid SUVs, and gas prices were going back down.  The Chevy Volt that GM had shown off that day in Washington D.C. had become the new darling of environmentally conscious celebrities and politicians, with President Barack Obama himself promising to buy one (although he never did).

But unlike the Escape, the Volt soon became a political litmus test. Democrats claimed it was a triumph of American engineering that would solve climate change and provide millions of jobs; Republicans claimed it was a failed product of government overreach that would either electrocute its owners or leave them stranded. Of course, none of those assertions were accurate, and since then people’s opinions on the auto industry have only further served to divide our increasingly polarized country.

The Escape Hybrid disappeared after the 2012 model year and didn’t return until 2020. After years of teasing prototypes, Ford finally offers a plug-in hybrid version, but now there are plenty of SUVs with that feature. As for environmental virtue-signaling, a growing number of full EVs have displaced hybrids as the chic transportation choice for the eco-conscious.

Looking back, that groundbreaking little crossover did have real substance behind all the greenwashing. The hybrid powertrain proved to be efficient and reliable. Ford gained legitimate experience with the technology, which no doubt helped lead to its current success with vehicles like the Maverick, Mustang Mach-E, and F-150 Lightning. Perhaps Ford also learned some valuable lessons in image-management, as its public-relations team has done a bang-up job rebranding it as a green-thinking company, despite keeping the company in the black by selling a lot of trucks that will never see north of 22 mpg.

That period in the mid-2000s was truly a unique time. Although they disagreed on how to address it, both political parties at least pretended to care about climate change and alternative energy. Part of an effective political strategy included driving the right car, and due to a very specific confluence of events, the Ford Escape Hybrid was the only one that fit the bill. It was every politician’s dream car. They could tout it as a brilliant combination of capitalist innovation and government encouragement, wrapped up with a “Made in America” bow. How could anyone find fault with owning an American-made, union-built, hybrid SUV?  Like baseball or apple pie, it was appealing enough for most people to enjoy yet inoffensive enough not to cause controversy. For a brief shining moment, the Ford Escape Hybrid brought us together. Perhaps someday another vehicle can do that again.

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There’s a chance you, dear reader, haven’t driven a Tesla yet, but odds are you’ve spent some time in a Ford F-series. The Ford F-150 is all things to all people; the market leader in a field of also-rans. This YouTube of vehicles offers a seemingly endless combination of bed, powertrain, interior and technology options to suit almost every need, and there’s always a dose of YouTubian controversy from onlookers or know-it-all media types. No matter, it was only a matter of time before the ubiquitous Ford broadened its reach to the realm of (the subscription only) YouTube TV, that ivory tower where EV automakers enjoy relative comfort and more than a little smugness.

The game has now officially changed, or at least taken a turn. Established EV brands no longer have safety and exclusivity in their premium business model; they must do battle with the vehicle they wanted to emulate. (Well, at least in terms of sales volumes.) But that battle isn’t happening on their timeline, as the best selling vehicle for 40-something years is now playing on their turf, at prices ranging from reasonable ($39,974) to top-tier luxurious ($90,000+).

Before this YouTube metaphor goes completely off the rails, let’s just admit the Lightning EV isn’t for everyone. It’s for almost everyone, and I’ll prove it to you. The Lightning ensures the F-series continues to attract more followers across the buying spectrum. Once you try it, you appreciate it. Heck, you might even get sucked into a YouTube-worthy wormhole and convince yourself you need to buy one.

My time with the F-150 Lightning at Ford’s press event in San Antonio, TX involved every trim level on a variety of roads in the Texas Hill Country. Most obvious is the stunning power output, as even the smaller 98-kWh battery pack has 452 horsepower, with a range of 230 miles. The bigger battery (131-kWh, 320 mile range) has 580 ponies, but you get 775 ft-lbs regardless of which battery you choose, and four wheel drive with an e-locking rear differential as standard equipment. Acceleration to 60mph happens in a claimed 5 (small battery) or “mid 4” (big battery) seconds, which seems close to the truth. Acceleration times when towing a 9500lb trailer were disturbingly quick, so there’s no doubt that motivating the 2,235 pounds of maximum available in-bed hauling capability will be trivial. But what truly amazes here is the handling, NVH control, and general attention to detail.

The Lightning ain’t no tech-bro Tesla, either. It’s dead quiet and possesses a far superior level of fit and finish, at least in my sampling of PR-curated units. The cabin is so isolated at full throttle that the powertrain is quieter than a $169,000 Lucid Air Dream Edition, and is basically silent compared to the motor whine of a Rivian pickup. Reaching go-to-jail speeds happens in milliseconds, and your only indication of errant speeds are the dropped jaws of your fellow Texas truckers, none of whom can believe how effortlessly their clocks were cleaned by the electric Ford. Which is a thrill, but it’s also a stress free endeavor.

No longer is the F-150 struggling between ideal gear selection and turbo boost curves, as the Lightning’s instantaneous rush of electric torque is in a different league compared to the 10-speed automatic, Eco-Boosted truck that many of us know. With the Lightning, the F-150 now knows what each hand is doing, and these perfect dance partners do not disappoint in the twisties, too. With four-wheel drive, massive torque, a fully independent suspension and weight transfer worthy of a mid-engined McLaren, the Lightning corners like, well…a McLaren. Or perhaps a McLaren with four doors, a bed, and enough ground clearance for light trail use.

That’s light trail use, mind you. My experience on Ford’s off road course was a bit surprising. My spotter lined me up to crawl over a coupla rocks, and as the front wheels passed the obstacle, the truck subsequently smacked its skid plate/belly pan. (I wasn’t the only one to feel this, by now there must be a YouTube video published from the content creator who encountered the same rock and gleefully filmed the aftermath.) The locking rear diff did come in handy, but this ain’t no off-road beast. Be patient, as the aftermarket will have a lift kit for this F-150 in a matter of months, so let’s get back to that four-door McLaren analogy…

My goodness, this 6100-6500 pound rig hurls itself into a corner with passion and more than a smattering of grace. Thanks to a surprising amount of aluminum (control arms, knuckles, motor subframe, and the entire body), two low-slung motors at each axle, a battery pack that’s both underneath the cabin and grows in girth after crossing the driver’s seat, and a brilliant quartet of coil springs and dampers, the Lightning rockets out of corners with little more than an occasional tire chirp from the outside turning wheel. Sport mode tightens up the throttle mapping and firms up the tiller, which only adds to the fun offered by Ford’s trucky EV.

The ride is still big truck cushy, and the one pedal driving mode is tame enough to ensure spines won’t be thrusted forward due to inexperience. This rig would be absolutely bonkers with a set of Cayenne-worthy performance summer tires, but even the stock rubber held its own, both on the road and the small rallycross provided to us by our Blue Oval hosts.

That said, all it takes is one prolonged push of a button to disable the active handling nannies, which is a joy for those with modest rally experience and a modicum of restraint. The Lightning has no qualms with delivering acres of oversteer, while insincere amounts of throttle ensures a swapping of ends. (Luckily the Lightning’s throttle mapping is more progressive in the off-road mode mandated for our rallycross.) But what if we were left alone to our devices? All this weight, unrestrained torque, and disabled nannies ensures this could be a loaded weapon for the uninitiated or inebriated. A danger not unlike any other vehicle, but perhaps to a greater extent. My sometimes terrifying experiences with furiously-piloted dozers prowling Texas stroads aside, the Lightning’s engineering speaks volumes.

For starters, the in-car technology is nicely sorted, and tailored to several demographics. It’s not perfect, however. Most notably, Ford’s Blue Cruise self(ish) driving system works brilliantly on interstates, but gets a little confused when painted lines turn into Bott’s dots in a construction zone. For the fleet buyers and automotive luddites among us, the Pro and XLT trim levels have more than enough going for them: simple user interface, easy to scan screens, effortless smartphone integration (via Sync 4) and plenty of physical controls for both the audio and HVAC systems. The rest of the interior is pure F-150, a cabin with enough R&D money thrown at it to rival the likes of a luxury car. The Lariat and Platinum models add a 15.5″ center screen reminiscent of the Mustang Mach-E, a fantastic adaptive cruise control system, and two flavors of Bang and Olufsen audio systems with an improved subwoofer. Too bad the Platnium’s B&O setup, even with 10 more speakers than that of the Lariat still has muddy, dirty, unclear audio reproduction in the front half of the cabin. Thankfully the Platinum’s two-toned thrones are Black Label Lincoln worthy, with a diverse set of massaging options to help alleviate the stress induced by Bang and Olufson’s sonic b.o. problem.

Even with unique grille treatments and emblems on the fenders, sometimes its hard to tell which trim level you’re looking at, since all Lightnings come with fancy wheels, aerodynamic enhancements, color matched parts, and can only be had in the crew cab configuration. The Lightning Pro replaces the XL trim level in a fleet manager’s heart, complete with rubber floors and manual seats. The XLT adds stuff like carpeted floors, body colored bumpers, a leather-wrapped wheel, and a Mercury Sable-worthy front light bar. Lariat models have standard leather seats, upholstered/stitched interior panels, a rear heckblende to match the front light bar, and charcoal 20″ wheels. Platinum models have significantly improved interior and seating accoutrements, and have a Ford logo in the steering wheel devoid of blue coloring…sacrilege!

All models sport a variety of features unique to EV propulsion, most notably the massive frunk that swallowed four traveling journalists’ worth of luggage, opening and closing at the touch of a button. More niceties include 9.6-kW of portable power (a.k.a. Ford Pro Power Onboard), an optional interface for powering your home in times of power grid failure (Ford Intelligent Backup Power), and the Lightning can even charge other EVs, provided they have a SAE J1772 charge port. Don’t be surprised if Tesla Service centers buy the Lightning Pro in bulk, and modify the latter to work with a Tesla charge port. Talk about customer service!

Speaking of service, that’s another element that could propel the Lightning to a Built Ford Tough standard never seen before. The extensive dealer network, parts/service availability, and the general popularity of the F-series seemingly ensures the Lightning shall live a stress-free life far beyond the warranty period. That’s partially because the integrated motor/transmission has an amazing service life: 150,000 miles between transmission fluid servicing, complete with an adorable little oil filter that’s surprisingly easy to reach. Brake fluid is changed every three years (an industry standard), and battery coolant is tested for “strength” on an annual basis. Aside from brake inspections, tires and wiper blades, that’s about it. And that’s no joke, especially for fleet buyers worried about ongoing costs in a difficult economy.

Perhaps you could care less about any electrified vehicle, even one based on ICE architecture. There are other reasons to get excited. The American made F-150 Lightning sports batteries made in Georgia, and it’s part of Dearborn’s $11.4 billion investment in battery plants for Kentucky and Tennessee. Regarding the often-sketchy supply chain for battery materials, Ford is working with Redwood Materials to amp up battery recycling efforts. Whether or not these efforts make the Lightning EV “green” enough to turn detractors into cheerleaders remains to be seen, but the capital investment in America is beyond impressive. You won’t see the same from the corporations behind your phone, TV, or any other high tech product.

No matter, the machine speaks for itself: unless you need to tow heavy loads cross-country and/or lack in-home (or fleet) charging solutions, there are precious few reasons not to adore the Lightning. Ford’s own engineers are working on solutions for the long distance towing/charging needs (via Ford Pass app), but no matter, the Ford Lighting is a force to be reckoned with. It’s the Model T, the Mustang, the Taurus, the Lincoln Continental, the Ford GT (yes, really), and every Ford truck wrapped up into a single vehicle, and it is seemingly engineered for the decades to come. Get excited for the present, and be hopeful for the future.

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Just a few days ago I wrote a story about the new(ish) breed of hybrid hypercars. The gist was that car makers really don’t have a choice but to electrify their products if they are to meet ever-stricter emissions and noise regulations.

It’s fair to say that the comments section exploded, and quickly became a battleground between those who see the future of the automobile as electric and those who desperately want to cling to its combustion-fueled past. As is so often the case with online ‘debate’ there was almost no middle ground. It was a binary argument—you’re either with me or against me.

But does it really have to be this way? Why does embracing the new have to mean you no longer love the old? Or vice versa. Surely there’s a middle ground?

Well, let me be your case study. Some of you may be aware that I made a rather rash decision to buy a 1982 Lotus Esprit last year. It’s not my first classic, following in the oil tracks of a 1971 Mercedes 280CE, a 1972 VW Type 2 camper, and a 1969 Alfa Romeo Giulia Super. It is, however, probably my riskiest purchase yet and (yes, partly because of the time it will spend being fixed) it will be the one that I put the least miles on.

For daily duties something more practical was required, and after weighing up the pros and cons of an assortment of vehicles, I chose to lease an electric Kia EV6. Does this make me a traitor to the cause of combustion? Hardly.

I love nothing better than executing a perfect heel-and-toe downshift (not always easily done with the recalcitrant Citroën-derived transmission and tight pedal box of the Esprit), but there’s a lot to be said for the convenience and comfort of the Kia. It’s proving to be an extremely efficient and effortless way to travel. The fact that it produces no tailpipe emissions and costs less to “fill up” than an ICE equivalent is a bonus. Even after just a couple of months driving it, I can’t imagine going back to a petrol or diesel daily driver, 2030 new car ICE ban or not.

Judged on a simple straw poll of those who joined Hagerty for the national Drive It Day run to the Bicester Scramble here England, quite a few of you are interested to know how a fellow ‘petrolhead’ is getting on with running an electric car like the EV6. A solid handful of people sought me out to ask questions about making the switch.

Is it exciting? Not especially, although the instant acceleration still surprises me and it’s probably no less involving than any other sensible SUV. Is it really the answer to solving climate change? Not in isolation, of course, but driving around London I do feel marginally less guilty knowing that I’m contributing less to urban air pollution at the very least.

Would I choose to swoosh silently through a series of switchbacks or take the longer way home? Probably not, but fortunately, I have my classic to fulfill those analogue needs of driver engagement. Like many of you I hope to be able to continue to do so for many years and that e-fuels or other solutions will arrive to keep me in the driving seat.

I recognize that I’m speaking from a position of privilege here—having my cake and eating it too, perhaps. As an advocate for new technology and a lover of hands-on, old-school driving, I feel the pull in both directions.

For now I’m going to keep steering my course down the middle. What about you?

Via Hagerty UK

The post Why do I have to pick a side in the EV vs. ICE debate? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Whether or not you blanch at the idea of having a battery bigger than an interstate in your car, the era of the collectible electric car is quietly humming over the horizon. Even at the time of this writing, there are already a handful of low-production electric hypercars that appear purpose-built for the holo-projected catalog of RM Sotheby’s 2040 Monterey sale. That future might be closer than we think; we’ve already noted the healthy growth in values of the first-gen Tesla Roadster. If you were to take stock in Cars and Bids’ recent six-figure sale of a new Rivian R1T, it looks like the collectible e-truck market is off to a rich start.

Yes, it seems some early Rivian adopter valued cold cash over wheel time in their new quad-motor supertruck. The included window sticker denotes this particular 2022 R1T as a Launch Edition with an MSRP of $76,075 as equipped. When the proverbial dust cleared, the final sale price stood at $142,500. That’s just $10,000 shy of doubling the buyer’s original investment.

There’s no word on how many of the R1T’s 103 miles were put on before or after delivery, but I’m impressed with the seller’s fortitude in the face of 835 hp and 908 lb-ft of insta-torques. During my time behind the wheel prior to the public release of the R1T, the engineers in attendance apologized that I wasn’t getting the full accelerative experience. As equipped, I was told “my” R1T was capable of a 0-to-60 mph scuffle somewhere in the mid-three second range. On gravel. With all-terrains. Carrying around 1500 pounds of camping crapola. With three people in tow. Had I not been so burdened, they assured me merging speed on tarmac would arrive in three seconds flat.

Of course, there’s far more to the R1T than mad performance figures. In this ongoing EV arms race, a 2.0-second 0-to-60 mph stat will soon be prosaic. Where the R1T shines is in its cleverness and its stunning cohesiveness. It’s an electric supertruck that accelerates like a 911 Turbo, off-roads like a Wrangler, handles like a Cayenne, rides like an E-Class, and coddles like a Land Rover.

In time, the collector market is sure to recognize the significance of the Rivian R1T as one of the earliest supertrucks, following in-step with the preceding Ram 1500 TRX, the current GMC Hummer EV, and the forthcoming Ford F-150 Raptor R. Beyond its fore-runner status, it’s one of the only EV marques to rival Tesla in desirability.

For now, however, the premium paid for the R1T boils down to good ol’ fashioned supply and demand. The virtual line for an R1T build slot stretches thrice around the Tesla Gigafactory, so it’s no surprise there are enough moneyed would-be customers willing to skip the line for a price.

Heck, this isn’t even the first Rivian we’ve seen come to the open market. InsideEVs documents a trio of R1Ts to hit the market, with the first two selling through private party platforms for a coincidental $139,000. Patience might be a virtue, but a heavy crypto wallet and a crippling case of EarlyAdoptitis is a potent combo. We’ll keep an eye on the Rivian market as production ramps up.

The post Rivian’s R1T may eventually be collectible, but not quite yet appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Would you pay $1M for a 959 you could drive guilt-free?

Intake: That’s the question being asked by auction house RM Sotheby’s, which is selling a 1988 Porsche 959 Komfort for 995,000 Swiss Francs ($1,075,000). One of only 292 cars built in the more luxurious Komfort spec, the Group B rally-bred supercar was built for driving at serious speed over any surface thanks to its sophisticated Porsche-Steur-Kupplung four-wheel-drive system, which even came with a low-range gear for the toughest terrain. The double wishbone, coil-sprung suspension was also electronically adjustable for height and damping. Power came from a turbocharged, 2.8-liter flat-six with 444 hp and the owners of this car have certainly enjoyed it. The 959 lived its first 20 years in Germany, where it was regularly maintained, before having an exotic break in New Zealand for several years. It was acquired by the current owner in 2016 who shipped to Switzerland a year later. Since then it has undergone further work, totaling nearly $180,000. With 167,190 km (103,845 miles) on the odometer, it’s now being offered as a private sale a bit over its #3 (Good, or driver-quality) condition value of $925,000.

Exhaust: In a world of low- to no-mile collector cars, it is refreshing to see a car that’s been so thoroughly enjoyed. A meticulously maintained, high-mile car of this vintage is often less concerning to a would-be buyer than a low-mile example, whose perishable (read: rubber) parts would need immediate attention upon purchase. To someone who wants a 959 to drive, this Komfort is far more attractive than one whose odometer displays 1/10th of the miles. 

Quantum tech could charge future EVs in seconds

Intake: Quantum physics could make recharging electric cars even faster than fueling their gas equivalents, say researchers in South Korea. The technology, studied by the Institute for Basic Science, would charge every battery cell inside a car at the same time, whereas current systems require careful management to ensure they charge effectively. Even on today’s most rapid chargers the rate of charge decreases as the battery pack becomes “full” to protect the cells, which is why many manufacturers and charging networks highlight the speed at which they can charge for 10 to 80 percent, rather than 0 to 100. The boffins at the IBS say that an a EV battery with 200 cells would charge 200 times faster with a quantum system. That could reduce home charging from ten hours to just three minutes, while rapid charging on the go could come down from around 30 minutes to mere seconds.

Exhaust: With a promise to end range anxiety and revolutionize the EV world, this new tech would remove a major barrier to entry for potential buyers. But don’t hold your breath; it’s a long way from being ready. Advances in batteries are happening everywhere from Toyota’s use of solid-state cells in its plug-in hybrids to Israeli firm StoreDot, which promises to add 100 miles in just five minutes of charging. EV development is certainly accelerating fast and many buyers are wisely waiting to see what’s next.

Toyota will launch GR86 racing series next year

Intake: Hot on the heels of its internet-busting GR Corolla announcement, Toyota slow-dripped some additional news for go-fast fanatics. This summer, Toyota Gazoo Racing North America will officially announce its new, single-make series, which will feature the Toyota GR86. Titled GR Cup, drivers will bang doors in identical, homologated versions of the company’s road-going coupe. Within Gazoo Racing’s quickly expanding stateside portfolio, GR Cup will also serve as a testing ground for Toyota engineers looking to wring more performance out of its production cars. So far, there are seven stops on 2023’s season slate, with battlegrounds to be shared on a later date.

Exhaust: While everyone is rightfully salivating over the GR Corolla, pro track-rats are likely to be more amped about these breadcrumbs. (Huzzah! An announcement for the future announcement.) Sure, a swarm of GR86s hopping curbs while wearing cartoon spoilers and oversized slicks will be an absolute sight, but the real excitement stems from the coupe’s attainability. Apart from spec-Miata, most single-marque racing leagues—like Porsche Cup or Lambo’s Super Trofeo—feature homologated exotics, often piloted by C-suiters and doctors. With an out-the-door price under $30K, the 2022 GR86 is an enthusiast’s car. And while no racing campaign is cheap, Toyota’s series will likely be easier on the wallet than its German or Italian counterparts. We eagerly await the next GR Cup news nugget from Toyota Gazoo Racing North America. 

Honda’s tiniest SUV is now Civic-based

Intake: Say hello to the overhauled, 2023 model-year version of the HR-V, finally shown in full as of this morning. As we suspected from the teasers, it now wears simpler and far more handsome suit of sheetmetal. Honda’s also released technical details for the U.S.-market vehicle, which will be mechanically distinct from global-market HR-Vs for the first time thanks to its Civic underpinnings. The 2023 HR-V built for the states rides on a longer wheelbase than its Honda Fit–based predecessor and has a wider stance, though Honda hasn’t yet released full exterior dimensions. Underneath, the HR-V swaps the Fit’s torsion-beam rear suspension for the Civic’s multi-link rear setup. The mini-SUV will likely adopt the base Civic’s 158-hp four-cylinder, which, like the outgoing HR-V’s snoozy 141-hp inline-four, is mated to a CVT. Fuel economy should improve significantly from the 2022 HR-V’s 26/31 city/highway EPA mpg ratings, judging again by the 2022 Civic, which nets 33 mpg in the city, 42 on the highway, and 36 on average.

Exhaust: Whether you love or hate these high-riding buggers, the new, U.S.-specific HR-V improves on the outgoing model in looks and performance. Admittedly, based on the current model’s juvenile styling and anemic powertrain, that wasn’t difficult. 

NHTSA says new vehicles must average 40 mpg by 2026

Intake: New vehicles sold in the United States will have to travel an average of at least 40 miles per gallon of gasoline in 2026, up from about 28 mpg, under new federal rules unveiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. According to the Associated Press, the new requirements increase gas mileage by 8 percent per year for model years 2024 and ’25 and 10 percent for the 2026 model year. With fuel prices at an all-time high, agency officials say the requirements will reduce gasoline consumption by more than 220 billion gallons over the life of vehicles, compared to the previous standards.

Exhaust: While NHTSA focuses on reducing gasoline consumption, some environmental groups still say the new requirements don’t go far enough to fight global warming. For context, and based on 2019 EPA numbers, the transportation sector accounts for 29 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Most of that figure is contributed by light-duty vehicles, which account for 58 percent of the transportation sector’s GHG emissions, with medium- and heavy-duty trucks falling second, at 24 percent. Automakers, on the other hand, argue that more stringent mpg requirements will drive up vehicle prices and push people out of an already expensive new-car market. Time will tell.

100 years ago, Mercedes put its supercharged engine on the starting line

Intake: Racing has always been about pushing limits, and 100 years ago Mercedes was brave enough to be the first to compete in the infamously treacherous Targa Florio with a supercharged engine. The the 1.5-liter M 65134 engine was equipped with two overhead camshafts controlling four valves per cylinder and produced 67 horsepower with the supercharger at full honk. This early “kompressor” engine won its class and proved that supercharger technology belonged on the starting grid. It later became common on the S cars the ’20s and ’30s, and even could be found on the Silver Arrow cars of the mid-1930s.

Exhaust: Supercharging was not new tech during the early 20th century. The additional cylinder pressure was especially helpful since, by modern standards, vintage engines used rather low compression ratios, so force-feeding air and fuel into the cylinders was the easiest way to increase power. However, that Mercedes entered an engine of this design in Sicily’s notoriously dangerous road rally—and finished successfully under seven hours—meant that the Germans had figured out how to make supercharging reliable, too. The early 1900s were an era in which race cars truly were testbeds for new technology, and the widespread adoption of superchargers on luxury cars in the following decades bears witness.

The post $1M for a 100K-mile Porsche, Toyota’s Spec Miata alternative, NHTSA sets 2026 mpg standards appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Whether you slept in one at Woodstock, passed the many that once clogged the right lanes of America’s freeways, or inherited one when your grandparents finally bought an Acura and moved to The Villages in Florida, the VW Microbus has spent six decades clattering into our hearts. Now, after many broken promises, VW plans to bring back the Bus, minus the clatter, in about two years. For real this time, it promises.

Buyers are pretty meh on minivans these days, but VW’s new all-electric ID. Buzz could be the 400-volt jolt that the segment needs to be hot again for the first time since magician Doug Henning was hocking Plymouth Voyager “magic wagons.” The Buzz uses much of the electric hardware from the ID.4 crossover including its 82 kW/hour, 240-mile-range battery, DC fast-charging capability, IQ Drive suite of safety tech, and 201-hp/229 lb-ft electric drive motor mounted in the rear—just as the engines were in the old Bus. Cue the Purple Haze.

The only whinge-point is that the U.S. won’t see its first ID. Buzz until 2024, assuming production schedules hold up in the face of a global semiconductor shortage as well as other supply chain issues. And we won’t get the plucky compact people-mover you see here, which goes on sale in Europe this fall in passenger and cargo versions. Rather, we’ll get a longer and more loaded three-row version with optional all-wheel-drive via a separate front motor. A “hand-raiser” page for it goes up today, March 9, for people who want to get in line early.

Because this is Volkswagen, which often seems to give buyers what they really crave only by sheer accident, the company won’t commit to offering a U.S. camper version. You can hear the arguments in Wolfsburg: “I know Ford is making bank on off-road nostalgia with the Bronco, and Subaru sells 600,000 units a year to people whose highest aspirations are sleeping in a tent on a car roof, but we … are … Volkswagen!”

So, the U.S. gets a long-wheelbase urban family mover for now, because “Americans need more space, right?” Those are the words of Jeffrey Lear, Volkswagen of America’s program manager for the electric MEB family, which so far includes the ID.4 crossover and the forthcoming Buzz. MEB is a German acronym for Modularer E-Antriebs Baukasten, or modular electric-drive kit, the mechanical basis for what is expected to be 80 percent of VW’s electric portfolio by 2025. Lest you think Lear is part of the problem, he describes his job as “spending all day fighting for stuff.” He allows that in 2025 there will be an ID. Buzz California (the camper version, sold in many places but not currently California or any other U.S. state), and he will probably have to fight the Germans for it with the same conviction that it took to capture Metz. We wish him Godspeed.

Does the Buzz look like the original Bus? Well … sort of. A flat nose, slab sides, clipped overhangs, and a squared-off rear are all vintage Bus cues. Of course, safety wins out and the driver and front passenger retreat behind the front axle, as they did back in 1990 with the T4 Eurovan. The driver and front passenger seats are also positioned inward for side-impact safety, meaning it’s a bit of a stretch over the wide sill to climb up into the driver’s seat. VW scalloped out the threshold to make an obvious footstep there.

At least the Buzz has less of a schnoz than its T4-T6 forerunners because there’s no internal-combustion lump up front making heat or threatening to pile-drive into the front compartment in a head-on collision. The result is a side profile that is new to the industry. If the original Bus was a “1-box” design per industry lingo, this is a 1.15-box design and perhaps the first entirely new car shape to come about strictly because of the switch to electric power. Late-model Japanese domestic microvans such as the Mitsubishi Minicab and Suzuki Every are perhaps the ID. Buzz’s closest analogues.

The Euro-spec Buzz—don’t call it the T7, that’s a separate gas-powered model for overseas markets—has a 117.6-inch wheelbase, 8.7 inches longer than the ID.4. We’d expect the Yankee-spec Buzz to get another four to six inches. The designers pushed the wheels out to the corners, making for hangar-like interior space under the tall roof. It needs it because the middle and third seat rows don’t fold down into the floor as they do in most current minivans owing to the 1100-pound box of lithium-ion batteries and the electric drive gear already taking up the basement. Instead, the Buzz’s seatbacks hinge down flat and VW will offer an optional platform that will extend from the middle row back to make for one continuous (though relatively high) load floor.

Dual power-sliding side doors join the front doors and the power tailgate to give entry to the Buzz. Minimalist design reduces the instrument panel down to two high-res screens. It echoes the cockpit of the ID.4 in almost every way, including the screen graphics. One big change: the drive-mode selector has been moved to a more conventional and convenient location as a column stalk. On the ID.4, it’s a twistable, misshapen wart on the side of the driver’s instrument binnacle, a feature that no doubt looked futuristic in the design studio but apparently hasn’t been a hit with drivers.

A center cabinet between the front seats features slide-out drawers and can be removed for walk-through access to the rear. Look closely; among the various Easter eggs the designer planted on the Buzz is a map of the world molded into one of the drawer sides. A glass roof and two-tone paint, such as this combo of “Lime Yellow” over “Candy White,” will be among the Buzz’s options.

It’s taken decades to replace the Microbus, but it is finally happening. Can’t wait till 2024? Well, there’s always EV West in California, which will convert your old Microbus to electric for something like $30,000. What would Ken Kesey do? Sit down, light a joint, turn on the Dead, and wait it out, man.

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Toyota and Stanford want this drifting AI to save your life

Intake: For the first time, the Toyota Research Institute (TRI) and Stanford University have created a vehicle that can autonomously evade obstacles by drifting around them. The video below reveals the team’s tester Supra ripping off video game–like moves around a series of barriers set up in a closed environment at California’s Thunderhill Raceway. TRI’s algorithmic legwork aims to one day make pros out of everyday Joes when faced with sudden obstacles or traction loss. “Through this project, we are expanding the region in which a car is controllable, with the goal of giving regular drivers the instinctual reflexes of a professional race car driver to be able to handle the most challenging emergencies and keep people safer on the road,” says TRI’s senior manager of Human Centric Driving Research, Avinash Balachandran.

Exhaust: It may look like fun and games on a closed course, but the tire smoke hides a significant step forward for autonomous driving. Toyota’s not simply trying to mimic the behavior of the average driver; it’s reinventing the concept of an on-demand traction-control system. Imagine if your car supplied the professional-grade crash-avoidance reflexes you lack, or recovered a potentially disastrous skid with all the dexterity of a pro drifter? Toyota is putting big money and time into this deeply complex development process, and we applaud them for it. Want more of the nitty-gritty techy details? Head over here. 

Goodwood to champion the Masterminds of Motorsport

Intake: The 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed’s theme is “The Innovators—Masterminds of Motorsport.” Held between June 23 and 26 in Sussex, U.K., the three-day event will “celebrate the technical landmarks that have seen the racing automobile develop from crude behemoth to space-age projectile.” Head honcho is the Duke of Richmond, who says:

“This year’s Festival theme allows us to celebrate some of the greatest achievements in history, while also highlighting the event’s evolving focus on future technology. Just as race-inspired innovations such as four-valve engines, monocoque chassis, and turbocharging have shaped the past and present of the cars we drive in the real world, so electrification, autonomy, and other new technologies— the development of which is accelerated by the white heat of competition—will have a profound effect on the future of personal mobility. The Festival of Speed is the only place in the world to bring all these stories together in one place, celebrating the past, present, and future in a uniquely immersive, dynamic way.”

Tickets are available now and discounted before April 1.

Exhaust: This theme sounds like a recipe for success, especially if it includes such ingredients as the Brabham BT46 Fan Car or the six-wheeled Tyrell P34. What innovators would you like to see take to the famous Goodwood Hill?

Chevy’s cheapest car reportedly disappearing this summer

Intake: Another budget-friendly car is nearing the end of its life. As a Chevy spokesperson confirmed to us this morning, the Chevrolet Spark, the bowtie brand’s smallest and most affordable model, will be discontinued after this August. The tiny runabout features a 94-horse, 1.4-liter Ecotec four-cylinder engine and either a five-speed manual transmission or a two-step CVT automatic. The Spark’s base MSRP is just $14,990 including destination, and even heavily optioned models don’t break the $23K mark. We’ve reached out to Chevy for confirmation that this report is true and will update as soon as we hear back.

Exhaust: If the Spark is indeed about to be extinguished, we wouldn’t be surprised. It’s no secret that low-cost hatchbacks haven’t really sold in volume over the past few years, as folks flock towards crossovers, lengthy financing requirements be damned. Our only hope is that as GM continues to throw its chips into electrification, perhaps one day we’ll see an EV as compact and urban friendly as the Spark. Don’t hold your breath.

IndyCar’s Chilton signs for quirky McMurty

Intake: Max Chilton hasn’t yet secured a seat for IndyCar in 2022, but he will be powering ahead as the head development driver for McMurty Automotive. The small British firm’s Spéirling is an unusual all-electric track car which features fan-assisted ground-effect to suck it to any circuit. With a full carbon-fiber monocoque, carbon bodywork, and multi-link suspension, the Spéirling has been designed without reference to any racing rule books. Powered by a 60-kWh battery and weighing less than 2200 pounds, the car supposedly has a power-to-weight ratio of 1:1, can accelerate from 0 to 186 mph in under nine seconds, and has a top speed over 200 mph. What’s more, it can be driven for up to 60 miles flat-chat, depending on the circuit. “It’s a huge honor to be given the opportunity to become head development driver for McMurty. The company is really reaching new heights in the performance EV world,” says Chilton.

Exhaust: McMurty looks to be leading the charge on electric track toys. Signing a former Formula 1 driver to fine tune the Spéirling can only add to its credibility.

The post Toyota AI drifts for safety, Chevy Spark is dead, Batman’s electric track toy? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Like it or not, our beloved pistons are going the way of the buggy whip. The latest proof is this 1972 Chevy El Camino propelled by an AC motor pirated from a Chevy Bolt.

Collaboration between Chevrolet Performance and Lingenfelter Performance Engineering resulted in this, the fifth in a fleet of concept vehicles aimed at purging pistons from performance addicts’ daydreams. An eCOPO Camaro kicked off this march to the future at the 2018 SEMA show. An electric C-10 pickup followed in 2019, an electric K5 Blazer in 2020, and a Project X ’57 Chevy in 2021. Chevrolet presented the El Camino shown here at last December’s PRI (Performance Racing Industry) gathering in Indianapolis. The machine’s powertrain is a standalone package that GM plans to offer for sale as an “eCrate,” for installation into a vehicle of your choice.

In 1973, Ken Lingenfelter turned his car-collecting hobby into a tuning business specializing in GM products. In 2008, he acquired the Decatur, Indiana, engine-building enterprise founded by his distant and deceased cousin John Lingenfelter. With its engineering efforts ranging in focus from competitive drifting to chassis tuning, Lingenfelter Performance has evolved into one of the aftermarket’s most respected brands.

Lingenfelter calls this car the eLcamino. Save its hunkered stance, aftermarket wheels and tires, and center-stripe decor, the Chevy appears little different from the machine that left a GM assembly line half a century ago. Under the hood it’s vive la différence: bright orange power cables and inscrutable electronic control boxes atop an AC motor with the business end aimed rearward.

Before starting the drivetrain conversion, Lingenfelter techs in Wixom, Michigan, powder-coated the car’s frame and treated the Chevy to fresh exterior paint. Then they bolted in the eCrate kit: a standard Bolt electric motor rated at 200 hp and 266 lb-ft of torque, plus associated controls. The motor’s output is mated to a GM 4L60 four-speed Turbo-Hydramatic transmission. A conventional driveshaft delivers torque to a stock live rear axle. A 66 kilowatt-hour battery pack consisting of 288 lithium-ion cells and weighing nearly 1000 pounds rides in the bottom of the El Camino’s cargo bed.

While 200 hp might not sound impressive, the motor’s instant torque multiplied by the transmission’s short first gear and 5.37:1 axle ratio yield impressive wheelspin on demand. Aside from the whirr of rubber melting into white smoke, the soundtrack is eerily calm.

Lingenfelter personnel built and tuned this package over a six-month period in 2021. The transmission was modified to incorporate regenerative braking, stretching operating range. While it’s premature to speculate on the coming eCrate’s price, traditional piston engines sold by GM in crate form currently run from less than $10,000 to $29,500. (The latter figure represents the 1004-hp, ZZ632-spec, big-block V-8. Get it while you can.)

To ensure that future car modifiers aren’t slowed down with technical headaches, Chevy’s eCrates can only be installed by factory trained Electric Specialty Vehicle Modifiers. Lingenfelter Performance is the first such organization. According to Lingenfelter, Chevy Performance will officially launch its first eCrate package this spring. For those tired of engine oil spots on their pristine garage floor, salvation is just around the corner.

The post Lingenfelter’s electric El Camino is a sign of crate motors to come appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Travis Pastrana picks ’83 Subaru GL for 900-hp Gymkhana makeover

Intake: Ken Block may have been the first to bring automotive Gymkhana to the little screen, but after 10 videos and a few side projects, Block stepped aside from these stunt-packed videos in 2020 and handed the wheel—literally—to Travis Pastrana. (If you’re unfamiliar with the Gymkhana videos, make sure you’re seated. Leaping lakes, drifting around obstacles with an eyelash-worth of clearance—the visual drama in these videos belies some truly amazing car management skills.) Those of us addicted to tire smoke and precision driving have experienced some slight withdrawals but thanks to an announcement yesterday there is an end in sight—with an unexpectedly retro twist.

Exhaust: The car of choice for Pastrana is an interesting one: a Subaru GL wagon. Unlike Ken Block’s wild WRX STI, this now-900-hp machine was never intended to tingle spines when stock. Its original water-cooled flat-four made a whole 71-hp—in an era when Volvo’s equally brickish 240 made an astounding 131. We don’t know what lurks beneath the hood of Pastrana’s reborn wagon, but it’s clear that this machine has evolved far beyond its original calling. We’re interested to dissect the mechanical setup here: Travis is known for jumping cars, and the GL doesn’t seem primed for low-earth orbit. However, he does mention that its squared-off corners help him to better locate the corners of the car for closer proximity driving. Close-shave antics were a staple of the early Gymkhana videos, so despite the new driver, this Subie may signal a return to the past in more ways than one.

Decommissioned Staten Island ferry sells for $280K

Intake: New York’s recently retired John F. Kennedy ferry, which completed its final trip in August 2021 after spending five decades shuttling passengers back and forth from Staten Island to Manhattan, was auctioned for $280,100 by the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services. The minimum bid for the 1965 ferry was originally listed at $250,000, but it was cut in half just a few days ago, which sparked some interest … and a lot of it. There were 36 bids for the 277-foot ferry. According to the listing, the hull remains in good condition, but the boat was listed in poor condition due to mechanical propulsion issues, which is why it was decommissioned.

Exhaust: We’ve seen some big boat sales over the years, but this is definitely one of the biggest—in terms of size, at least. Since we’re lovers of history, we hope this iconic New York ferry is repaired and finds new life transporting passengers in a less stressful environment, perhaps as a tour boat?

Theon Design adds a supercharger and active suspension to the Porsche 964

Intake: British Porsche restomod maker Theon Design has developed what might be the most advanced 964-generation 911 ever made. The car, named BEL01 as it’s the first car Theon has built for a customer in Belgium, has been fitted with active damping by TracTive, which provides a number of different settings for road and track use. Meanwhile, the classic 3.6-liter flat-six gets a Rotrex supercharger and water-methanol injection system to boost power to 456 hp. The car is finished in aquamarine paint based on a 1950s’ Porsche 356 hue and, like all other Theon commissions, has been assembled to the exact specification of the lucky Belgian customer.

Exhaust: Britain’s answer to Singer Vehicle Design appears to have taken the 911 mod game to the next level, but insists that its alterations are still in the spirit of the original. “The innovations on BEL001, both in terms of its engine and suspension, reflect what Theon Design is all about. We’re driven by a determination to hone and sympathetically enhance the classic 911 recipe, using design-led innovation, dynamic focus and close partnerships with expert suppliers to create the ultimate iteration of the world’s most iconic sports car,” says founder Adrian Hawley.

Peugeot previews 9X8 hypercar

Intake: Prior to launching its assault on the Le Mans 24 hour race this year, Peugeot handed over its 9X8 hybrid hypercar to photographer Agnieszka Doroszewicz to highlight the radical racer’s design. The result of an internal competition in Peugeot’s design department the 9X8 was developed around the key words “iconic,” “efficient,” and “emotional.” Design Director Matthias Hossan says: “Despite the quality of the many proposals that came out of our internal design competition, one was quickly established as the chosen theme. It broke the codes of the previous generation of endurance cars. The idea posited was that this would be less of a previous generation race car and more identifiable as a Peugeot. It needed to bring together more than just fans of motorsport, as this would be a sports car that could in theory be driven on the road as well as the race track.”

The 9X8 wears a new “roaring lion” badge and claw-like light signature to make the car stand out at night, while its wingless design is an extremely bold move considering no car has won Le Mans without a rear wing since 1971.  Powering the 98X is a 2.6-liter twin-turbo V-6 which sends 680 hp to the rear wheels, with extra boost coming from a 270 hp electric motor/generator driving the front wheels to put its claws into Toyota at the La Sarthe circuit.

Exhaust: Peugeot re-enters endurance racing full of confidence having won with the 905 in 1992 and 1993 and the 908 in 2009. “This 9X8 is a true milestone in motorsport,” said Peugeot’s drivers when they first saw it. “There will be a before and after Peugeot 9X8, and we will be lucky to have been part of it.”

EV sales overtake diesel sales in Europe

Intake: The rise of EVs scored a major milestone last month as European sales of EVs surpassed those of diesel-powered vehicles for the first time, according to a report from the Financial Times. Data compiled for FT by a third-party analyst revealed that 176,000 EVs were sold in December of 2021, while just 160,000 diesels found new homes in the same month.

Exhaust: Context is key here, so let’s lay out a few factors influencing this change in status: Diesel sales have been on the decline since the Volkswagen “Dieselgate” scandal in 2015. Meanwhile, western European countries have been ramping up serious subsidies for electric vehicles to reduce their carbon footprints. Europe’s fuel crisis last year also meant some folks couldn’t fuel their cars for quite some time, which prompted a surge in interest in EVs.

The post Subaru GL gets rad, 900-hp makeover, a British restomod to rival Singer’s, Euro EVs outsell diesels appeared first on Hagerty Media.

About halfway down the long hill leading to the General Motors Proving Ground test tracks in Milford, Michigan, it hit me that the electric concept car I was driving rolled on a cobbled-up show-car suspension and was armed with barely functional brakes. Uh-oh! It would be a supremely stupid, costly, career-ending blunder to crash this incredibly significant hand-built prototype EV by plowing off the fast 90-degree corner that awaited down the hill. Though the concept was called the Impact, I had no intention of putting that name to the test.

But wait! I recalled that the Impact featured variable regenerative braking with a rheostat control between the seats. I eased on the friction brakes, cranked the rheostat up to full regen, and barely made the corner. Whew! Shaken and chastened, I continued carefully to where I—as GM EV program Vehicle Test and Development manager—was heading to give members of the Board of Directors demo rides on the “Black Lake” skidpad.

Dramatic beginnings

At the 1990 Los Angeles Auto Show, people stopped in their tracks to gawk at this sleek, silver-bullet-shaped concept that would later morph into the EV1. Engineered and developed with high-tech California contractor Aerovironment, the Impact did more than just look cool. It could sprint from zero to 60 mph in a (then-quick) eight seconds and had achieved—in one test from 100 percent to absolute zero state of charge under ideal conditions at GM’s Arizona Desert Proving Grounds—a stunning 125 miles of range. At the time, that was better performance than any other practical electric car could claim.

Many saw it as the industry’s automotive future. Idealists cheered while skeptics scoffed. Politicians plotted to force-feed it to the American public. So positive was its press and public reception that on April 22, 1990 (Earth Day) GM CEO Roger Smith announced GM’s intent to produce such a car, targeting 25,000 units a year. Ken Baker, then head of Advanced Vehicle Engineering for GM’s Chevrolet-Pontiac-Canada Group, was recruited to lead the effort.

“We recognized the obvious shortcoming of EVs,” Baker later said. “Our plan was to be battery agnostic—take the best available and focus on engineering the world’s most efficient vehicle, which would give dramatically better performance once a better battery came along. We had just come off of the success of the [race-winning solar-powered] SunRaycer and were encouraged by the sold-state electronics that had been demonstrated in that car, and [in] Impact.”

One key goal was to see how quickly and efficiently GM could do a completely different new car through a new Systems Engineering approach. The production target was just 36 months.

Then, by September 28, 1990, California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) mandated the seven top-selling automakers to make two percent of their California sales “zero emissions” by 1998, five percent by 2001, and 10 percent by 2003.

Myth: GM’s EV program was a reaction to the CARB mandate.

Truth: Other way around. GM was already working to produce a practical electric car, so CARB decided to force all major automakers to follow suit.

No business wants to be told how many of anything it must sell, since no sales mandate can force people to buy something they don’t want. And if a practical EV could be developed and built at a price people would be willing to pay, GM wanted to be there first. No one knew how many EVs could be sold, yet CARB’s mandate was nonetheless forcing GM’s six strongest competitors into an unpredictable new market.

The pause

As if that weren’t challenge enough, GM was going broke by 1992. CEO Bob Stempel and president Lloyd Reuss were ousted and Jack Smith stepped in as CEO. Smith proceeded to cancel or delay a number of product programs and (apologetically) put our nascent EV effort “on the shelf.” After 27 months of enthusiastic hard work by the team, Advanced Vehicle Engineering head Baker emotionally told us that our program was delayed.

While nearly everyone inside and outside the company wrote off the project as canceled, and about three-quarters of our group was reassigned to other programs, a core team of roughly 100 of us—mostly engineers—relocated to an off-site facility and continued development work. Baker was promoted to R&D vice president and kept the effort alive under that organization.

In the fall of 1993, my Test and Development team planned and coordinated a series of briefings and test drives for selected media using “Proof of Concept” (POC) early development cars. The resulting articles were highly positive. “GM’s hard-charging Impact is practical, fun to drive and a master stroke of engineering,” said Popular Mechanics. “The world’s best electric car,” gushed Popular Science. Even enthusiast magazines were pleasantly surprised.

Then, as part of the June 1994 “PrEView Drive” program, my team tested and prepped a batch of 50 hand-built POC-level Impacts. These vehicles were then loaned to regular citizens in a dozen U.S. cities, for three months at a time. Virtually everyone loved them and provided very positive and useful feedback on them. We were on our way.

Rebirth

In March 1994, with GM’s finances recovering, then-executive-in-charge of corporate strategy Bob Purcell was appointed to reboot the EV program and “make a business of it.” The aim was to lead the industry in EV technology and sell it to other automakers uninterested in investing a billion dollars or more to develop their own. Later, it came out that the positive ink generated from the aforementioned media drives had helped the board reach that decision.

Purcell began restaffing our group and elevated it to divisional status as GM Advanced Technology Vehicles (ATV) Division. “There were two fundamental challenges,” he later said. “Technical feasibility—can you make it work?—and commercial viability—can you make it at a cost that people can afford and shareholders can get a return on their investments?”

Myth: GM’s EV program was never serious.

Truth: It was deadly serious, and Purcell’s career-defining direction was to make it profitable.

Our tireless ATV engineering team worked simultaneously on three generations of what would later be badged EV1: Gen I with “advanced” lead-acid (PbA) batteries; Gen II offering an optional range-doubling but a much-higher-cost nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery; and Gen III with more affordable, longer-range lithium-polymer batteries that 3M Company and others were developing. GM was awarded 23 different patents for its advanced technology and features associated with the EV1’s development. By rethinking and reinventing virtually every element of the automobile, engineers on this project brought to reality such breakthrough technologies as the first heat-pump automotive climate system, electro-hydraulic power steering, and power-blended, electro-hydraulic regenerative braking. A 137-hp AC induction motor powered the car’s front wheels through a dual-reduction gearset.

On my vehicle Vehicle Test and Development team, engineers Marty Freedman and Garrett Beauregard helped make the EV1 the most energy-efficient, practical road vehicle in the world, while former Lotus development engineer Clive Roberts delivered surprisingly good ride and handling on its narrow, 50-psi, low-rolling-resistance tires. Gently driven in warm temperatures, the car could achieve 50 to 70 miles of range and could be recharged in about four hours using GM’s innovative, all-weather “inductive” 240V charger. Household 120V charging required 12 to 16 hours.

Myth: GM could have made EV1 more appealing by giving it more conventional looks and a back seat.

Truth: Because the Gen I’s 1175-pound pack of 27 advanced lead-acid batteries held the energy equivalent of just a half-gallon of gas, the car’s shape had to be a two-seat teardrop for maximum aerodynamic efficiency. Many hours of wind-tunnel testing honed the EV1’s drag coefficient (Cd) to an astonishing 0.19. Analysis showed that stretching the car to add a back seat would hurt aero, add weight, and reduce the already marginally acceptable range by 25 percent.

Finally, production … in a manner of speaking

All EV1s were essentially hand-built using a unique “craft station” process in the small Lansing Craft Centre plant that had previously built the Buick Reatta. In late November 1996, to a round of applause from assembled team members, the first 1997 models were loaded on transporters for shipment to specially trained Saturn dealers. Partly because production was limited by component (especially battery) availability, but mostly due to unacceptable cold-weather range and very limited public-charging opportunities, EV1s were offered strictly for lease (no sales) at a rate of $399 per month ($669 when inflation-adjusted to 2021). Leases were limited only to Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Tucson at first, then later expanded to San Francisco and Sacramento. Ultimately, just 660 of these Gen II 1997 EV1s were built (with 288 leased that first year), followed by 457 Gen II ’99s—some with the optional NiMH batteries for double range. No ’98 models were built while GM engineers reworked the battery tunnel to provide cooling for the optional batteries, which were not offered in Arizona because they performed poorly in hot weather at that early stage of development.

However, when EV1 customer demand proved so weak that suppliers stopped making replacement parts, GM had to pull the proverbial plug. Lithium-polymer batteries were not happening, so until a practical, affordable, gasoline-competitive battery technology could be developed, there would be no GM EV2 or EV3.

Myth: GM wanted the EV1 to fail, so it didn’t properly promote or advertise the vehicle.

Truth: Our TV and print ads were limited mostly to markets where EV1s could be leased, and for our part, my team worked hard to aid our PR department in facilitating EV1 loans to auto writers.

Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Ford and every other automaker facing California’s unrealistic EV mandate also gave up, and CARB eventually was persuaded to back off its ill-considered force-feeding of technology that was nowhere near market-ready. GM collected all EV1 production vehicles when their three-year leases expired and destroyed all but about 40 examples that were donated to universities and museums with deactivated powertrains. That made most of their lessees, who genuinely loved their EV1s and did not want to relinquish them, extremely unhappy. And, in my opinion, the nasty crockumentary Who Killed the Electric Car? severely trashed “evil” GM for stopping EV1 production and destroying the cars, while assigning little credit for what was a sincere effort to “make a business of it.” In the end, GM invested more than a billion dollars to design, develop, produce, and market a vehicle that was simply way ahead of its time.

For those who contend EV1 lessees should have been permitted to buy and keep their cars, there are three practical, tangible reasons that GM didn’t allow any of them to remain in private hands. First, there were serious liability risks for both untrained owners and technicians to deal with aging 312V batteries. Second, GM had a reasonable desire to protect its proprietary technology and prevent its competitors from reverse-engineering the car. Finally, there was the matter of state laws requiring parts and service support for up to 15 years after sale—impossible since many EV1 parts suppliers went out of business or no longer made the necessary components.

Two decades later, EV buyers can enjoy a plethora of much better choices, available from several different automakers, that offer 200–300-plus-mile ranges. As an expensive two-seater with very limited range, the EV1 was a technological triumph in its day but a marketplace failure. But no one should believe that the program was unserious. I was there, I lived it, and I know better.

Myth: GM walked away from electric vehicles after canceling the EV1.

Truth: The momentum the EV1 program generated led to fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) research; Allison hybrid buses; plus “two-mode” hybrid technology for trucks, SUVs, and two generations of extended-range electric (EREV) Chevrolet Volts. (Successful and satisfying as the Volts were, they were too costly to be profitable.) Now GM touts the battery-electric (BEV) Chevy Bolt and Bolt EUV, with many more electric vehicles to come.

As anticipated all those years ago, the arrival of viable battery technology opened doors that were firmly shut with 1990s tech. That was the impact the industry needed.

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