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Archive for the ‘green cars’ Category

BMW, like any major automaker, will deploy a whole bunch of electric cars at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. This isn’t surprising us at all, but what’s interesting is that the Bavarian brand chooses to concentrate on its hybrid and electric offerings, like the highly-anticipated 330e, the 745e, and the X5 xDrive45e that will share the drivetrain with the facelifted PHEV 7er.

Is the writing on the wall for gas-powered cars? The answer may still be no, but it’s clear that every big player in the automotive world wants to prove to its customers, as well as its peers and the environmental agencies, that hybrid models and all-out electric cars represent an increasing share of its offering. BMW is a leading example, not only with its i family of electric cars but also with its growing variety of hybrids. However, for those who aren’t excited about electric motors and the like, BMW will also display the tasteful M850i Individual Night Sky model under the limelight at Geneva.

With an impending approach of the numerous Volkswagen ID electric cars, the spy photographers come into their own finally having a proper reason to film camouflaged Volkswagens. The latest that fell victim to a spy photographer’s lens is a curiously uncovered Volkswagen Tiguan. It was wheeling, silently, in nearly the same way as that Golf Sportsvan I wrote about earlier. As it turns out, this one famously hides the body of the next Volkswagen ID Crozz. It is definitely one of the most important electric vehicles that will appear in the next year or two, and this is essentially all that we know about it.

Do you remember the BMW iNext? Yes, the one with that Bane face from Batman? Well, it has been spotted testing in some extreme conditions. The iNext was seen going through vigorous testing in the cold weather in Swedish Lapland. It looks like BMW has a lot of expectations from the electric crossover. A little off-topic, but didn’t you notice that even the camouflage is not able to cover the huge kidney grille?

On the River Thames, in the heart of London, and on the deck of a 105-meter ship known as St. Helena, Alejandro Agag, Formula E Founder and CEO, announced a new electric SUV race series called the Extreme E. This is a whole new motorsport project that will take electric race cars to the most remote places on Earth. Continental Tires, the Founding Partner of Extreme E, provides full support to the project and it will, naturally, supply tires for the electric race SUVs. The outline of the Extreme E race event includes up to 12 teams, with super powerful electric off-roaders that will travel the world on a former Royal Mail ship and race at the most lonesome and secluded destinations.

It is an epic global mission that will showcase electric SUVs and their off-road proves in racing format, and, even more importantly, raise awareness of climate change with equal gist. The transport ship St. Helena will be home to electric SUVs that are at the very frontier of what the automotive world can achieve. Apart from cars and tech, St. Helena’s quarters will host teams, engineers, and crew involved with the Extreme E project.
This ship will basically transport racing enthusiasts and their beloved SUVs to the most awesome racing venues where they’ll have a ton of fun. Let that sink in a bit. No pun intended.

For that fact alone, I can only say that this is, ladies and gentlemen, “the biggest adventure of our time.” Those are the same exact words that Agag proudly chanted during the Extreme E introduction.

All of this is so overwhelming that I am left speechless. And, as if this weren’t enough, the experience will be available via digital streaming service. I mean. Perfect! This is #cargasm in making.

After the first journalist drives of the Volkswagen ID Neo prototype, we can almost understand what Volkswagen wants to do with its compact electric car. The Volkswagen ID Neo is a Golf-sized hatchback created on top of Volkswagen’s new MEB architecture, and it will be unveiled later this year. It is a close competitor to the Nissan Leaf. Yet, as Volkswagen promoted it as a car with the size of a Golf but roominess of the Passat, I am sure it will embark on its way to steal some buyers from the likes of the Kia E Niro, the Hyundai Kona Electric, or other similarly sized electric cars and crossovers.

However, the car that hides under the body of the Golf Sportsvan shown here is probably a bigger, family version of the same kin. Make no mistake; this one is also based on the same ID Neo architecture. Apparently, Volkswagen has plans to introduce as many as 50 new electric models by 2025. The ID Neo will create an electric VW avalanche and, at first, it will be priced in a similar bracket as the Golf Diesel. I believe that the electric Golf Sportsvan’s brother will cost a tad more.

Just after we saw spy photographs of the Kia Ceed Sportswagon PHEV, the internet world provided us with photographs of the new Kona PHEV. The small Hyundai city crossover is already available in its gasoline, diesel, and electric guise. The upcoming PHEV will, most certainly, circle out the offering of the highly successful crossover. Caught on film (well, on an SD card really), somewhere in Germany, the new Hyundai Kona PHEV may even prepare us for the upcoming facelifted version of the same car. Before all of that, we have to get adjusted to the fact that small, classy, and fashion conscious crossovers are selling as hybrids like hotcakes. Just note the Toyota CH-R hybrid. We actually do know that the photographed Kona is a hybrid thanks to an eye witness of the photographer who said that it was filled up at a petrol station, but it drove off completely silent probably on electric power alone. Well, in that case, that makes this an “ear witness”, but what the hell!?

Well, that’s what premium automakers do for their customers. The automaker has sent the first of several welcome packages and promotional materials to Taycan reservation holders, as the company inches closer to delivering the cars. “Certificates of Participation in the Taycan Deposit Option Program” have been mailed to buyers all across the world that have mangaed to find themselves in the waiting queue. Porsche sure knows how to make its
first e-car’s customers feel special.

If you have ever wondered what the sports car of the future will look like, a great place to look is at your BMW dealership.
The BMW i8 is how BMW sees it, and if that is the case, the future may be brighter than we thought.
If we had to guess what the sports car of the future would be, we can be almost certain that it will be electric or have at least hybrid power. It would also be made of high-tech materials and be futuristic looking — the i8 checks all those boxes.

Kaiyun Motors was started in 2014 with the goal of taking on the American pickup market with its tiny all-electric model called the Pickman. Now, some five years later, the Chinese startup is set to start shipping these battery powered ponies into the States where their arrival will undoubtedly cause a bit of a stir.

We are a little befuddled listening to what Mary Barra had to say about GM producing an all-electric truck. Who’s Mary Barra? Well, she is the CEO of General Motors and. when asked about doing an electric pickup truck to compete with Tesla’s upcoming pickup, she did not have any answer and just commented, ‘stay tuned.’ Stay tuned to watch GM go down?

As anyone who has lived there will tell you, the traffic in Los Angeles pretty much dictates when and where you go at all times. And that makes the city a fantastic choice for novel new transportation solutions, such as the underground tunnels proposed by Elon Musk’s The Boring Company. The latest indication of progress from the project shows a Tesla Model S lowering into the ground via some kind of elevator system, but the video post has since been deleted.

General Motors is prepping itself well for the rEVolution. Recently, it announced that Cadillac will be converted into an electric luxury brand, and now, it looks like GMC will be taking the same route. CNBC reports that GMC may be considering an all-electric line up of SUVs and pickup trucks. Do Tesla and Rivian have anything to worry about?

Given how governments of many countries are pushing customers to opt for EVs by giving subsidies, it looked like the running cost of EVs would be very low. But that doesn’t seem to be the case with the California state government. Since the lawmakers are not earning the gasoline taxes from EV owners anymore, they have come up with a ‘solution’ that may require you to pay a mileage-based fee. How does that sound?

After it was confirmed that Lincoln will base its first electric car on top of the chassis of the future Mustang-Inspired electric crossover, now Ford actually laid out its plan for the introduction of that Mustang-inspired crossover. A “Full Year Earnings Review and 2019 Outlook” document, released only hours ago, shows that Ford will reveal an all-new “all-electric utility this year and put it on sale in 2020.” This will basically be the first car developed by Team Edition – a Ford subdivision focused on development of electric cars.

Ford has been playing with the electric Mustang-inspired crossover idea for months now. First Ford planned to name it the Mach 1, but after the fan backlash at the mention of that name, the company swiftly trademarked the Mach E and the Mach-E nameplates. It is not yet sure if the crossover will bear that name at all, but it seems that everything points in that direction.

With a launch set for early March, the Geneva Motor Show is just around the corner, and that means we’re already getting an early look at the huge list of upcoming debuts. One of the first out the gates is Honda with its new Urban EV concept, which looks to offer funky, simplistic styling, cute proportions, and a torquey electric powertrain, all of which will carryover to a full-fledged production model this year.

I know this title could give some ‘Stang lovers diarrhea, but you’ve read that right. First of all, there will be a rebadged Mustang-inspired EV Crossover by Ford, and then Lincoln will use the same platform to create its own car.

That’s the order of things nowadays, and we should actually be happy. Team Edison, a team Jim Hackett formed when he was appointed as Head of Ford, looks for a number of ways to create a sustainable EV business case and cool cars/crossovers at that. Actually, Ford plans to invest 10 billion of its money in EV research and development by 2022. That’s a lot of money spent fast. Something magical could come out of all of that.

Tesla announced a record-breaking number of deliveries in the Q4 of 2018, but that did not reflect in its financial reports. Tesla delivered 90,700 vehicles from September to December – a new record since its inception, but the share prices took a hit. The shareholders felt a certain unsteadiness as stock prices declined and investors expressed their disappointment over failed expectations to close out the year. That is harsh on Tesla.

Tesla owners, specifically those who own the Model 3, have become the targets of a growing number of car break-ins in recent weeks. A number of owners took to forums and social media to report the thefts, a lot of which have happened in the Bay Area. The incidents reportedly involve thieves breaking the rear-quarter window of the Model 3 to lower the seat and see if there are any valuable items in the trunk. If the thieves see something, they break the whole back side window, get in the car, and steal the items. Unfortunately, the Model 3 doesn’t have a sensor to detect that a window has been broken, giving the thieves free run to shatter windows and steal to their heart’s content. For its part, Tesla has started offering and installing a new Enhanced Anti-Theft system that would help prevent these types of break-ins. Unfortunately, the system is only available for the Model S and Model X at the moment.

Elon Musk recently announced on Twitter that Tesla would be discontinuing the 75 kWh variants of the Model S and Model X. The two models will now be offered only in the 100 kWh and 100 kWh Performance versions. The smaller battery-capacity car is up for sale only until Sunday night. Does this mean this mean that Tesla will begin using its new battery cells in the Model S and Model X, a move that could eventually make them track worthy?

Now I don’t know about you, but I really like the idea of marrying classic sports car looks from the 1950s and 1960s with modern tech and electric powertrains. There’s really nothing wrong with that, no matter what some so-called purists might say because the resulting vehicle is faster, quieter, and greener than what you started out with.