New Vehicle Reviews (Page 41)

Shhh. (Whisper). Have you ever seen a Rivian? In a way I hope not. Be careful if you have. At this stage don’t tell anyone. The electric truck startup might have to execute you for being exposed to company secrets moments away from their LA Auto Show reveal!

The 2018 BMW X3 M40i is a family performance Sports Utility Vehicle. M stands for marvelous.

Bollinger Motors recently made changes to the B1 with their newly added four door sport utility BEV SUT truck variant that gives the truck a roll cage structure with the doors off if the driver wishes to modify. The removable glass panel roof are just some of the unique features the B1 engineers thought out to make design and production of the B1 as simple and easy as possible to get it ready for soon upcoming production.

I recently had the extreme pleasure of spending a week driving the 2019 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye and it should come as little surprise that daily driving a 797-horsepower Mopar muscle car is just as fantastic as you might expect – combining the comforts of the original Hellcat with 90 extra ponies.

The President of the United States took delivery in New York City recently of the first of twelve “one-off” handbuilt vehicles which will routinely switch off to be designated the US Presidential State Car, Cadillac One, “the Beast.” Expected to be delivered for his inauguration two years ago, no explanation for why it was apparently late. But with no noteable Secret Service action required lately, its absence wasn’t apparently missed.

In a segment that was once considered exclusive to Americans only, that no foreign pedigree need apply, the French automaker in a bold and daring attempt to go where no foreign car maker has gone before, produces a concept in electric form with a warning to Ford and Chevrolet, that there’s a weakness with their own muscle pony cars, and Peugeot is ready to take advantage it, in the electric car market.

With Type 1 Beetle Mark 3 in its swansong, VW decides in good timing that it’s ready to try its luck and good fortune on another storied halo, that some say as a van, has more potential of being even more popular and longer lasting than Beetle, even as an electric. Let’s hope Samba reaches its 100th Birthday in 2049 that Beetle almost made in 2038 (or earlier?), but didn’t quite live as long.

2013 was only a few years ago, a long time for most, lightning fast time in the electric car universe, and after all the talk, the drafts, the drawings, the concepts, the rumors, the prototypes, and camouflaged pre-production vehicles since, Audi finally presents its first full electric car. With a price point of about $80,000 USD, the Audi e-Tron Quattro aims to take its throne as a heralded German electric, while finally taking on the American Teslas.

Instead of going over the top like most car makers do, especially startups when introducing autonomous technology in their concept vehicles, BMW took a more practical approach recently with theirs, called iNext, a new electric driverless capable concept CUV but still a human hands on driving car which includes a steering wheel and pedals. So practical they intend to put something much like it into production in as little time as in 2021.

Meet Vera. She’s Swedish, and she means it, damn it. She’s a badass Level 5 Volvo robot electric tractor pod almost as low to the ground as a Porsche, only three times bigger. So low, if you’re not careful, she might mow you down before her collision avoidance and passive emergency braking systems are autonomously activated! Potential roadkill beware! No airbags need apply . . .

Here’s another ex-Ford that got spit out by the blue oval to go on with life and do better without them, since partnering up with Chinese Geely, Volvo is whipping out some amazing products even a new division, and the baby XC40 electric is a prime example. A BEV competes with Jaguar iPace, Audi eTron, and Tesla Model X, all at Model 3 prices. Another ex-Ford in your future. Not bad!

Instead of waiting to wonder what a Mustang BEV CUV will come to, rogue ex-Forder Aston Martin shows their former boss they don’t even need an SUV platform to electrify one of their products, they can do it on a current production car: their flagship saloon, the Rapide. Attention American Cops: this ex-Ford is definitely a Crown Vic and Explorer Inceptor Killer!

The 2018 Cadillac ATS-V doesn’t pack the raw power of the CTS-V, but the new, smaller coupe is the most exciting Caddy 2-door of the modern era, packing solid power, precision handling and all of the premium amenities that you could ask for into this great-looking luxury car.

Sono Motors is a Bavarian startup electric car company that actually has a very good chance of making it to production being months/weeks away from making their sole solar BEV with the 7,200 orders they already have. Yes, that’s right, a BEV that has solar panels all over the car that provides a range extending 30 km or 18 miles for the 155 mile battery range a day.

After abandoning plans for Zil, the storied Russo-Soviet official state car builder that was supposed to make Vladimir Putin’s next set of wheels back in 2012, the Russian Federation tapped and funded a government entity to develop a LWB car. Here’s the thing: instead of relying on unreliable Russo-Soviet engineering, they German engineered and are now ready to market this SWB car with Europe in mind. Both cars have Porsche developed engines. I get it now. A Zil this is not. Not bad at all.

In formulating a response to Audi’s rollout of its first BEV e-Tron very soon, more so than responding to anything Tesla, Daimler AG bizarrely unveils a whole year before its debut, its first head-on to Tesla full production BEV, a historical vehicle on its electric E-Mobility platform in CUV variant in the separate Mercedes EQ line. But they baffled the media giving it only a puzzling 200 mile range.

The BMW M5 is an amazing car and we strongly recommend you keep it all to yourself. Here's why.

In setting up its charging network for its upcoming flagship all electric sports saloon, the Taycan, Porsche gives clues as to how premium, luxury, and performance brands outside of the Tesla universe will be treated until as such time as all brands have access to everyone eles’s networks.

For 2019, the Infiniti QX60 is an ideal vehicle for families needing to haul people and cargo in a luxury package. See how it makes life a little easier.

People would laugh at a vacuum company investing money and its reputation in building all electric BEV cars it’s never done before. But Dyson has something that took Tesla years to get and another thing it still doesn’t have, that gives Dyson an edge against Tesla: a manufacturing apparatus to build solid state batteries, and the key patents to make them, which are better than what Tesla is using.

As new car sales slow down for the first time since the Great Recession, car makers have had to make key decisions about marketing and production efficiencies, and Ford is no exception. Ford may be limiting itself with choices that customers will grow tired of, if it’s all about just one car: Mustang.

German camper manufacturer Dethleffs continues its experimentation in the EV camper market with another prototype. The last one we reported was a Type 3 RV EV camper covered head to toe with solar panels. This time it’s a EV RV trailer already in production as a conventional camper, that it’s still hitched to a vehicle, but self propels itself with two electric motors on each wheel. A large battery pack has implications for off grid camping and auxiliary home power.

In opening the first Jaguar Land Rover Classic facility in the US, the first of its kind, JLR is cleverly taking steps to preserve its heritage with the cars already in the wild. By expanding the restoration market by offering electrification and restoration options, it also takes steps not only to help clean the environment, but also cleverly erase the mechanical troubles its cars have been known for, for decades.

The 2018 Nissan Frontier mid-size pickup could be the best truck value in America. See why it’s a good choice even though it’s outdated.

Poor Tesla: First it was the Shorts, now even the Russians are coming after them with a new Kalashnikov CV-1 electric car. Kalashnikov wants to build an electric car. But this Russian response from the inventors of the AK-47, to Tesla’s earth soothing, humanity healing, eco-conscious electric car lineup, is a retreaded 1970’s Soviet Era hatchback retro-electrified. Classic car conversion: maybe. State of the art design prototype: no. Roadware! Very nice!

Ohio electric commercial mobility company Workhorse Group has been in the news lately with either new products or updates on the progress of ongoing ones. They diversified their product line by rolling out a new helicopter drone recently in Manhattan. With the recent news of Ford introducing a hybrid, and Tesla’s plans to introduce a BEV pickup, eyes are now paying closer attention to Workhorse and their new pickup.

This week we drive the MINI Cooper S Countryman ALL4. See why the bigger MINI Countryman is better.

The Outlander is value packed and offers three-row seating, all-weather-capability, lots of features, and safety equipment for growing families.

Check out the new 2019 Kia Sorento. If you need a third row occasionally, it offers a smaller footprint.

We continue our series of reports on EV camping, an industry taking off like wildfire in both the retirement and surprisingly Millennial demographics. In this story I will address the challenges of what EV campers face once they get to their camp site.