“The advanced new P400e Plug-In Hybrid perfectly balances performance with fuel economy and all-electric off-road capability,” senior manager for powertrain advanced engineering at Jaguar Land Rover, Iain Gray said in a statement. “The latest model also provides refined and powerful new in-line six-cylinder diesel engines that bring improvements in fuel economy and drivability. They join a comprehensive range of powertrain options for Defender.”
Honda had done hybrids but they’re now doing an all electric car…very tiny…but a car.
Most car companies, not just US auto-makers, but seriously most, are desperately trying to figure out how to make a bigger EV. Honda, who is entering the game a little later, is actually making waves by going small.
“The Honda e, released in Europe earlier this month, is a compact model meant solely for city driving.”
Maki Shiraki
Tesla dominates the market currently, and wisely started with a luxury sedan. Of Course Tesla was a startup company that needed to ramp up production. Selling a high ticket item with limited run capacity made a lot of sense.
Honda has evaluated the market and found a niche they feel they can dominate with an EV given the unique limitations of current technology.
I one sense they are removing the gas bill from a market that typically already drives very efficient vehicles. In another sense they’re removing carbon emissions from a community that is most conscious of smog.
Starting in Europe is the no-brainer choice as they have the highest population centers and highest fuel prices. They’re also less dependent on personal vehicles for longer trips as the rail system already fits that bill.
It appears that the upcoming Lucid Air is poised to enter the market with a trump card against the kings of the premium electric sedan market today: the Tesla Model S and the Porsche Taycan. While the Model S boasts a drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.23, and the Porsche Taycan stands with an impressive Cd of 0.22, tests of the Lucid Air at the Windshear facility in North Carolina have determined that the upcoming premium electric sedan has an industry-leading Cd of only 0.21.
The findings were announced by the electric car maker on Tuesday, with Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO of Lucid Motors stating that the company has been intensively focused on optimizing the Air’s aerodynamics. This should help the vehicle achieve its target electric range of 400 miles per charge, which should place it right on the level of the Tesla Model S’s EPA range and far above that of the Porsche Taycan.
Sure as night follows day, a limited-edition Lamborghini roadster will always follow a limited-edition Lamborghini coupe. It happened with the Reventón, Veneno and Centenario, and now it’s the turn of the spectacular Lamborghini Sián – the 807bhp hybrid (kinda) hypercar, of which just 63 examples are set to be built.
The Sián Roadster will be rarer still. Lambo is only building 19 and of course they’re all already sold, though no doubt a couple will pop up for auction soon enough. We’ll keep our eyes peeled.
First, an electric pickup truck, followed by Cruise’s recently announced driverless shuttle
Last week, GM-subsidiary Cruise unveiled the Origin, its first self-driving car without a steering wheel or pedals. At the time, the company’s CEO Dan Ammann promised to reveal production details in the days to come. Well, today’s the day, with GM announcing plans to spend $2.2 billion to retrofit its Detroit-Hamtramck plant for the production of autonomous and electric vehicles.
In addition to the Origin, the facility will also produce all-electric SUVs and pickup trucks. The automaker plans to release 20 electric nameplates by 2023, the first of which will be an electric truck slated to go into production in 2021. This will be followed “soon after” by the Cruise Origin, a shared, electric, self-driving vehicle unveiled in San Francisco last week. Detroit-Hamtramck will be GM’s first “fully-dedicated” electric vehicle assembly plant, the company said. (The news was first reported by The Detroit News last week.)
The recall includes 2.9 million vehicles in the U.S., and covers 2011-2019 Corolla, 2011-2013 Matrix, 2012-2018 Avalon and 2013-2018 Avalon Hybrid vehicles.
The vehicles may have an electronic control unit that does not have adequate protection against electrical noise that can occur in crashes, which could lead to incomplete or non-deployment of the air bags. It could also impede the operation of seat-belt pre-tensioners.
In April, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration expanded a probe into 12.3 million potentially defective air bags covering a number of automakers, including the vehicles Toyota is recalling.
We usually associate the Sony brand with the Walkman music player, the Vaio laptops, Bravia TVs or the PlayStation gaming console. While the tech giant does have a bunch of new products to show at CES this year from its typical area of expertise, the Tokyo-based company is also displaying something only very few expected – a car. It’s called the Vision-S and takes the shape of a sleek EV with a highly advanced autonomous driving system and a design that might make you think of a mashup between a Porsche Taycan and a Lucid Air.
Created primarily to showcase what Sony can bring to the table in terms of automotive technologies, the showcar has been developed in collaboration with big names such as Nvidia, Continental, Bosch, ZF, and Qualcomm. The zero-emissions sedan is equipped with no fewer than 33 sensors to detect people and objects not just outside of the car, but also inside that modern four-seat cabin with individual rear seats and giant glass roof.
OLYMPIA — In less than a week, some kids may need to remain in booster seats well into middle school.
Governor Jay Inslee approved updated regulations on car and booster seat use, which go into effect Jan. 1.
KOMO-TV reports the new rules require children older than 4 years old but shorter than 4 feet, 9 inches and who have outgrown their child harness seat to use a booster seat. That means most kids will need a booster seat until 10 to 12 years old.
Too much? Comment and let us know!
Lego seems to have been inspired by recent events to bring its own vision fo the truck of the future to the world – behold this bold design statement in all its glory. Clearly, Lego is having a go at Elon Musk and the Tesla Cybertruck that he unveiled last week – which was… divisive in its reception, to say the least.