Concept Cars
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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 Bullet” exterior design—somewhat reminiscent of minivan designs from decades ago—to be in a middle ground between crossovers and minivans; but with sliding side doors, to us it lands soundly on the minivan side. DON’T MISS: Why the future of electric cars depends on China's war...
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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 -
Infiniti QX Inspiration concept sets design direction for brand’s electric future
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...
Bengt Halvorson -
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 -
2018 LA auto show preview: 10 green-vehicle intros that matter
Most of the major auto shows, like the Los Angeles auto show, have always had two components: news-making and car-selling. And it’s the second part—the public days—that thrives today. People are attending traditional, consumer-focused auto shows in record numbers...
Bengt Halvorson -
Electric Volkswagen Microbus concept gets right down to business
The panel of Volkswagen ID Buzz concepts based on the automaker's all-electric frame has finally reached, well, panel status. In Hannover, Germany, Volkswagen on Thursday showed off its ID Buzz Cargo concept based on its MEB electric-car architecture. According to VW, the panel van shows off the...
Aaron Cole -
With the annual classic car weekend going on in California, automakers are all working to outdo each other—and this year that means with electric cars. On Friday, Audi revealed its PB18 e-tron. Although it's a concept car, intended to combine the ideas from last year's self-driving Audi Aicon concept with the company's LeMans-winning R-18 e-tron Quattro hybrid race car. DON'T MISS: Battery legend Goodenough not done yet: new solid-state chemistry introduced Perhaps most interesting is that Audi says both the PB18 e-tron and the Aicon concept use solid-state batteries. It's not clear how...
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Blown away? Nissan Leaf convertible concept makes debut in Japan
Nissan is famous for zigging when everyone else zags—especially when it comes to making convertibles. Years after its soft-top Murano CrossCabriolet crossover was laughed out of showrooms (and then went on to find a niche following on the used-car market), Nissan is at it again with a...
Eric C. Evarts -
BMW reveals its self-driving, electric iNext vision for the future
At BMW's annual shareholders' meeting in Germany on Thursday the company released a teaser image of its future iNext electric car. The image shows an SUV silhouette similar is size to an X5, BMW's mid-size SUV. The iNext is designed to be a technology showcase for BMW: electric propulsion, full...
Eric C. Evarts -
2020 VW Atlas Cross Sport concept shows plug-in hybrid possible in future
In Europe these days, it's all but de rigeur to fit auto-show concept vehicles with plug-in hybrid powertrains. Most of the Volkswagen SUV concepts that previewed what is now the Volkswagen Atlas seven-seat crossover, on sale today, sported plugs—though no such version emerged into...
John Voelcker -
Nissan electric crossover utility with AWD will be breakthrough: exec
Could a specific vehicle give electric cars the breakthrough they need to reach the mass market? So far, neither the world's highest-selling battery-electric model—the Nissan Leaf—nor the Tesla Model S, starting at $75,000, has sold in mainstream U.S. volumes. You might ballpark that...
John Voelcker -
Volkswagen ID Vizzion large all-electric sedan teased before Geneva debut
Volkswagen's first dedicated battery-electric vehicle will roll off the production lines in 21 months, but we won't see the compact hatchback ID model in North America. Instead, the first dedicated VW plug-in electric vehicle will be the production version of the ID Cross compact crossover that's...
John Voelcker -
It's well known that a battery-electric version of the Kia Niro will join the lineup soon, completing a range that now comprises the Niro Hybrid and the recently launched plug-in hybrid. Most observers had assumed the Niro EV would use the same underpinnings as its corporate sibling the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, just as the pair of hybrids does. But perhaps not. DON'T MISS: 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid first drive review (pricing from $28,840) Kia said Monday the Niro EV Concept on display at the Consumer Electronics Show uses an entirely new 64-kilowatt-hour battery pack—and would be...
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Concept for Kia Niro EV all-electric wagon to appear at CES
We've long known that the Kia Niro wagon would get an all-electric version to accompany the 2017 Niro Hybrid and the just-launched 2018 Niro Plug-In Hybrid. The battery-electric Niro will fill out the suite of six cars sharing the same underpinnings, with the others being the same three versions of...
John Voelcker -
Volkswagen Moia electric mobility van is VW's Uber ride-sharing rival
Every automaker has its niche. Mazda builds a brilliant (and efficient) sports car in the MX-5 Miata. Toyota pioneered the mass production of hybrid-electric vehicles 20 years ago with its Prius. The Tesla Model S made battery-electric vehicles exciting and desirable. And Volkswagen has diesel...
Mark Stevenson -
Lexus UX small crossover utility still being studied for U.S. (update)
The Lexus UX concept previews a possible smaller crossover from the Toyota luxury brand.
John Voelcker -
Even supercar maker Lamborghini may go electric, and it's a very cool concept
Lamborghini, the Italian purveyor of V10- and V12-powered supercars, has teased a fully electric performance machine for the first time in its 54-year history. Unveiled at Lamborghini's home base in Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy, the Lamborghini Terzo Millennio Concept is the product of a...
Mark Stevenson -
BMW to debut electric-car concept at LA show; electric Mini makes U.S. debut
BMW will use media days at the Los Angeles auto show, which begin on November 29, to unveil a new electric car that's never before been seen. The electric model that will debut in California wasn't otherwise specified in the German maker's announcement, which called it simply "a world premiere...
John Voelcker -
Following Honda's hit electric-car concept at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show, the Urban EV, the company brought a second all-electric concept to the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show with more sporting intentions. The Honda Sports EV coupe concept debuted one show after the Urban EV concept, and this one's a design wrapped in a sleek and retro-looking sports car body. If Honda bet on retro design with the Urban EV concept, the Japanese automaker doubled down on the backwards look with the Sports EV coupe—and we'd judge it successful. DON'T MISS: Honda Clarity EV electric car to have only 80 miles of...
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Toyota Fine-Comfort Ride fuel-cell concept targets 600 miles of range
Toyota continues to experiment with and develop various types of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles despite not yet offering a single production battery-electric car. The Japanese automaker now sells the Mirai, has announced it will begin studies of the Project Portal fuel-cell semi truck, and reportedly...
Sean Szymkowski -
Nissan IMx Concept electric SUV debuts at Tokyo Motor Show
The long-awaited all-electric crossover utility concept from Nissan finally made its public debut Wednesday morning on the first press day at the Tokyo auto show. Dubbed the Nissan IMx, the compact crossover concept includes both fully autonomous driving and an electric range given as more than 370...
John Voelcker -
Mini Electric Concept revealed in Frankfurt auto show debut (updated)
We've known since last July that an all-electric Mini Cooper will go into production in 2019. Now, we can see the first renderings of the car that will make its official debut at the Frankfurt auto show in two weeks. The Mini Electric Concept is recognizable as the three-door hardtop version of the...
John Voelcker -
BMW i Vision Dynamics Concept previews all-electric four-door sedan
If concept cars are meant to grab attention, then the BMW i Vision Dynamics Concept—an all-electric sedan that debuted Tuesday at the Frankfurt motor show—may have fulfilled its mission. With the huge, vertical twin-kidney BMW grille also seen on the BMW X7 SUV concept, the smaller...
John Voelcker -
Mercedes-Benz Concept EQA small electric hatchback debuts in Frankfurt
Following various teaser images, the Mercedes-Benz EQA concept for a compact all-electric hatchback made its debut on Tuesday at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show. It's a preview of what will become a volume production car around 2020, competing against numerous 200-mile hatchbacks of the same size...
John Voelcker