Auto Shows
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Ahead of the Geneva auto show, Volvo’s Polestar electrified performance-car brand has revealed its first all-electric model and first volume-production model, the Polestar 2. The Polestar could prove to be the strongest alternative yet to the Tesla Model 3, with pricing, range, performance, and even the way that you buy it all comparable to the California automaker’s volume model. Described as “a premium five-door fastback,” the Polestar 2 has a bit more tall-crossover influence than the Model 3 and appears to land more in Model Y territory. It’s a surprisingly...
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VW ID Buggy teases potential of electric-car platform with some beach fun
Volkswagen has already served up a suite of concepts for its upcoming electric vehicles built on its modular electric architecture (MEB). While most of those are likely headed to volume production in some form, now it’s brought out a fun one: the VW ID Buggy concept. In a release on the...
Bengt Halvorson -
Audi Q4 e-tron previews brand's first affordable electric SUV
Audi's plans to take on Tesla in the electric-car market aren't limited to the upcoming e-tron quattro electric SUV. Like Tesla, Audi has at least two electric SUVs in the works, and it previewed the second one at the Geneva auto show on Tuesday. The second model follows the established protocol of...
Eric C. Evarts -
Iconic Italian name revived for Pininfarina Battista show car in Geneva
With an infusion of cash from Indian auto giant Mahindra, storied Italian automaker Pininfarina is branching out on its own with a new all-electric hypercar. The company has shared some of its motivation for the relaunch, and teased sketches and photos of the car repeatedly, but finally revealed...
Eric C. Evarts -
Kia EV concept showcases brand’s future, more electrified design direction
With its "Imagine by Kia" concept car revealed today at the Geneva Motor Show, Kia aims to show that electric cars don’t have to look boring—that, actually, they can look exciting and emotional. The concept is, as Kia puts it, “a visual embodiment of Kia’s desire to move...
Bengt Halvorson -
Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow Formula E electric racing car debuts in special livery
Mercedes-Benz is formally entering Formula E electric-car racing for the upcoming 2019-2020 season, and for the upcoming Geneva Motor Show it has revealed what it terms a “teaser” version of the racing car, called the EQ Silver Arrow 01. Mercedes says that it “provides an idea of...
Bengt Halvorson -
One of Honda’s best-received concepts of recent memory was the car that it brought to the Frankfurt auto show in 2017—the Urban EV Concept, a model that reincarnated the automaker’s old City hatchback, with elements of retro Civic thrown in, all built as a modern electric car. Wednesday, Honda revealed its evolution of that concept for the Geneva Motor Show next week—the e Prototype, which previews a production model. The proportions of the Urban EV concept look to have been mostly held intact, and details such as the eye-like ring-shaped headlamps have been carried...
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VW auto shows, EV shoppers will pay more, Chrysler fines: Today's Car News
As Volkswagen and other automakers dial back from auto shows, in the U.S. it sees them as a way to explain electric cars to shoppers. A new survey reveals that most car shoppers are willing to pay extra for alternative fuel. A new bill in Washington could add the state to the roster of those that...
Eric C. Evarts -
An old tradition, auto shows, could give electric cars a boost
Last summer, Volkswagen Group chairman Dr. Herbert Diess said that he doesn’t believe new-car shows will exist (in their present form) a decade from now, and that “motor shows are dead.” You might think Volkswagen of America didn't get the memo. This year it's investing more of...
Bengt Halvorson -
Volkswagen confirms electric dune buggy concept for Geneva auto show
A VW beach buggy made for blasting over the sand may ride again. Volkswagen confirmed Wednesday that it will show a concept electric dune buggy at the Geneva auto show in March. Rumors circulated in December that the brand was considering such a move. READ MORE: Fun revival: Electric dune buggy...
Eric C. Evarts -
GAC Motor shows electric three-row minivan concept, delays US brand launch to 2020
China’s GAC Motor introduced a California-designed electric concept vehicle called the Entranze earlier this week in Detroit, at the 2019 North American International Auto Show. The concept, a family hauler with three rows of seating and room for up to seven, appears with its “Slick...
Bengt Halvorson -
Nissan electric crossover due in 2020 closely follows IMx concept
Despite its bold, early moves into the mass production of electric cars with the Nissan Leaf, which originally reached the market in late 2010, Nissan has taken a long, long time to release a true electric-car Second Act. With the arrival of a yet-unnamed fully electric crossover utility vehicle...
Bengt Halvorson -
The future of Infiniti is electric. And today at the Detroit auto show the brand previewed the direction of a future electric Infiniti SUV—and the brand—with the QX Inspiration concept. With entirely new proportions allowed by electric powertrains, a cleaner, simplified exterior design direction, and a warm, lounge-like interior, the QX Inspiration, according to the brand, “sets a direct precedent for the company’s first fully electric production car.” After some false starts over the years, Infiniti last year said that it’s working quickly toward an...
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Nissan elevates the sedan with IMs electric-car concept
At the Detroit auto show, Nissan today revealed the IMs concept, a vision that sees the sedan as existing in a quite different, all-electric “elevated” form. At face value, the IMs serves as a sedan counterpoint to the IMx concept first shown at the 2017 Tokyo show and advances some of...
Bengt Halvorson -
2020 Ford Explorer Hybrid signals the start of a big electrified push
As Ford prepares the first of several fully electric vehicles, for what amounts to a rapidly expanding niche, the automaker is also working on rolling out electrified versions of its existing mainstream lineup. After finding plenty of success many years ago with its Ford Escape Hybrid, and then...
Bengt Halvorson -
Long-range Cadillac SUV to lead GM's next electric-car push, in 3 years
On Sunday night, General Motors showed renderings of a future long-range, all-electric SUV to be offered roughly three years hence by its Cadillac luxury brand. The look at the brand's first battery-electric vehicle came as part of the 2019 Detroit auto-show debut for the 2020 Cadillac XT6, a...
John Voelcker -
Electric cars from Audi, Porsche: Explaining platform magic
It would be unthinkable for any automaker but Porsche to introduce a new car with a flat-6 engine hung out behind the rear axle. At this week’s 2018 LA Auto Show, the 2020 Porsche 911 duly made its debut in the hallowed configuration that has persisted since 1964. But with underpinnings...
John Voelcker -
Here’s why Kia Soul EV and Kia Niro EV both get big 64-kwh battery packs
One key specification in the 2020 Kia Soul EV that was revealed at the LA Auto Show this week was a bit unexpected: its inclusion of a large, 64-kwh battery pack. That leaves two vehicles—the Soul EV and the 2019 Kia Niro EV—with the same big battery. And both will be arriving at U.S...
Bengt Halvorson -
At the LA Auto Show, Kia revealed a completely new generation of its Soul—including, once again, an all-electric Kia Soul EV that makes overtures to urbanites who need box-on-wheels utility, affordability, parking ease, and some design flair but also want an electric car. The Soul EV is, once again, front-wheel drive, but its electric motor now produces 201 horsepower and 291 pound-feet of torque—significantly more than the 2018 Soul EV’s 109 horsepower and 210 pound-feet. Meanwhile, the other big piece of news is the battery—a liquid-cooled 64-kwh pack that earns 239...
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Mitsubishi Evo rally sedan morphs into electric crossover concept
Electric power has come to drag racers, hill-climb cars, and Formula E racers. Why not rally cars? At least that's Mitsubishi's idea with its new e-Evolution concept that debuted Wednesday at the LA Auto Show. Unlike the winged sedan that took the off-road rally racing world by storm 15 years ago...
Eric C. Evarts -
2020 Toyota Corolla Hybrid aims for 50 mpg—Prius tech meets frugal mainstream
With the introduction of a 50-mile-per-gallon Corolla Hybrid at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Toyota is keeping true to a mission it undertook a long time ago: democratizing hybrid technology, and making it mainstream. The carmaker has long aimed to deploy its hybrid system aggressively into pretty...
Bengt Halvorson -
Audi e-tron GT electric sports car is its take on Porsche Taycan
The four-door e-Tron GT concept that Audi introduced Wednesday at the 2018 LA Auto Show is “very, very, very, very, very close to production.” Those are the words of Audi design boss Marc Lichte, not ours. The design study will earn the distinction of being the first battery-powered...
Green Car Reports -
2019 Mazda 3 sedan and hatch aim for an X factor–and that’s not electric
Mazda has revealed its 2019 Mazda 3 compact car, in new-generation form, at the 2018 LA Auto Show. It’s not surprising, given the brand’s go-it-alone strategy this decade, that the new ‘3’ appears to take a different path than key global compact-car rivals in nearly every...
Bengt Halvorson -
Toyota Prius AWD-e earns 50 mpg with all-weather treads
If you want one of the highest-mileage non-plug-in vehicles on the market—like the Toyota Prius, Hyundai Ioniq, Kia Niro, or Honda Insight, there’s been one quite significant deal-breaker for many Snow Belt families: All-wheel drive simply isn’t a possibility. That’s due to...
Bengt Halvorson