First Drive Reviews
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We drive the new 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo through Denmark and Germany to see if it challenges established rivals from Tesla.
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First drive review: VW ID Buggy heads for the hills with MEB sharable electric car platform
The Buggy gives us our first taste of the MEB platform coming to the U.S. soon.
Aaron Cole -
First drive review: Is 2019 Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid electric enough?
With Porsche banking its performance future on electric, the latest Cayenne E-Hybrid is a mainstream move and an incremental step.
Bengt Halvorson -
2020 Bentley Bentayga Hybrid first drive review: Charge port gained, no prestige lost
In Bentley's first hybrid vehicle, an electric motor complements the Audi V-6, with a 17-kwh battery pack enabling some all-electric range.
Kirk Bell -
2020 Ford Explorer Hybrid first drive review: Muscle over mpg
The Explorer Hybrid isn't particularly impressive in its fuel economy numbers, but Ford says it's part of a strategy to make the Hybrid uncompromised.
Bengt Halvorson -
2019 Audi E-tron road-trip review: Wait, range ratings aren’t everything?
Audi claims there’s more to it, pointing to the faster charges and more consistent real-world range thanks to battery thermal management.
Bengt Halvorson -
The 2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC400 SUV is Mercedes’ first long-range fully electric vehicle, its fastest-charging EV, and a quiet and comfortable family vehicle.
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2020 Kia Soul EV first drive review: 243 electric miles in the box
The newest version of Kia’s boxy electric car—or crossover—goes faster and farther on a charge, with much of its goodness intact.
Matthew Askari -
2019 Kia Niro EV: first drive of 239-mile electric crossover
Just before reaching a tight series of esses on the Monterey Peninsula’s famous 17 Mile Drive, I clicked the left steering-wheel paddle to bump the Niro EV up a regeneration level—a motion that mimics downshifting in a gasoline vehicle—then clicked the right paddle to ease things...
Bengt Halvorson -
2019 Toyota Prius AWD-e: First drive of 50-mpg all-weather hybrid
Between the unexpectedly wild styling, the very wide model range, the Prius Prime plug-in, and now the all-wheel-drive 2019 Prius AWD-e, it seems that Toyota has opted for a mix-and-match philosophy for the current fourth generation of America’s favorite fuel-sipper. The big news for...
Dan Carney -
2019 Audi e-tron first drive: Redrawing the electric-vehicle boundaries
Road-tripping along in the 2019 Audi e-tron, your passenger might not even know (or care) that you’re in an all-electric utility vehicle—rather than just an extraordinarily quiet gasoline one. And as the driver, you might even forget. It gets right to Audi’s point behind the...
Bengt Halvorson -
2019 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid first drive review: All the bits and pieces in place
The 2019 RAV4 Hybrid is Toyota’s way of flexing its corporate might. It’s as if the automaker called on each of its departments to create the new hybrid crossover SUV. The folks from design coughed up some 4Runner and Tacoma cues to give it a butch look. The Lexus team chiseled the...
Andrew Ganz -
Our first test-drive time with the Hyundai Kona Electric included plenty of what’s very familiar to Los Angelenos: plodding along to the next stoplight on wide boulevards, waiting another few minutes, and repeating—with occasional squirts into traffic gaps and quick merges into the carpool lane. It’s a use case that many of the Kona Electrics Hyundai sells in the U.S. are likely to encounter. The company sees about 80 percent of the current U.S. market for EVs such as the Kona Electric in California, and company officials described a pecking order to it: California first (in...
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2019 Honda Insight video review
You could be forgiven for not remembering the two Honda vehicles that have worn an Insight badge before. The first was a quirky hatchback two-seater that struggled for acceptance with mainstream buyers. The second was a Prius-like Prius fighter, egg shape and all. This 2019 Honda Insight is the...
Aaron Cole -
2019 Toyota Avalon Hybrid first drive review: understated efficiency
In our testing the Avalon Hybrid seemed in line with what full-size buyers would expect from their sedans. It’s a smooth ride with effortless efficiency.
Aaron Cole -
2018 Ford F-150 Power Stroke first drive: diesel, the not-so-efficient way
Ford has a gem of a diesel engine under the hood of the 2018 F-150 Power Stroke—as long as drivers aren’t enamored with good fuel economy. Wait, what? After a day of driving F-150 diesels in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains near Boulder, Colorado, unladen, with beds loaded up with...
Andrew Ganz -
2019 Jaguar I-Pace: brief first drive of all-electric luxury crossover
A parking lot in suburban New Jersey isn’t the first place I’d look for a revolution. According to Jaguar, it’s where ours will start. After just over four minutes behind the wheel of the 2019 Jaguar I-Pace, the electric Jaguar feels like the beginning of something. DON'T MISS...
Aaron Cole -
2018 Tesla Model 3 Long Range: first drive review of 310-mile electric car
“The Tesla Model S was a moment. The Model 3 is a product.” That pair of sentences perfectly summarized the several hours we spent last month with the 2018 Tesla Model 3 kindly loaned to us by reader Jeff Southern of Atlanta. We’d covered more than 100 miles on a variety of...
John Voelcker -
BMW's Test Fest in Palm Springs, California, at The Thermal Club attracts a broad range of cars. The star of the show is the 600-horsepower 2018 BMW M5. But before I can test that wild sport sedan on the track, I’ll do my best to balance my carbon footprint in the new 2018 BMW i3s. BMW has added the i3s as a sportier model to the i3 lineup for 2018. It gets sportier suspension settings, wider tires, more aggressive bodywork, and a more powerful motor that puts out 137 kilowatts (184 horsepower) and 199 pound-feet of torque versus 127 kw (170 hp) and 184 lb-ft in the standard i3. DON'T...
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2019 Land Rover Range Rover P400e plug-in hybrid SUV: first drive review
No doubt the hoi polloi are prepared for emissions-free vehicle zones, what with their bicycles and their little electric cars. But what is the aristocracy to do when its high-end luxury SUVs are banned from city streets in central London? Enter the 2019 Land Rover Range Rover P400e plug-in hybrid...
Andrew Ganz -
2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid first drive review (pricing from $28,840)
Some plug-in hybrid models are easily distinguishable from the rest of the cars their maker sells. Others, like the 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid, are all but invisible. It takes a sharp eye to see the charging port door on the left-front fender or the trim and badging differences that distinguish...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Model 3: impressions of a BMW i3 driver (and reservation holder)
With DC fast charging fully electric vehicles can be charged to around 80% of their full battery capacity in under 30 minutes
Tom Moloughney -
2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid first drive
There's a new plug-in hybrid in town, and it could expand the audience for cars that provide useful electric range for daily driving while retaining an efficient gasoline engine for longer trips. The 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid is the third and most important model in the Clarity lineup...
John Voelcker -
2018 Honda Accord Hybrid first drive review: lighter shade of green
It’s easy for the 2018 Honda Accord Hybrid to get lost. Short of small “Hybrid” badges on the front fenders, not much on the car’s exterior says it's powered by electrons. There’s no plug-in variant for now (a role reserved to the Clarity Plug-In sedan), and the latest...
Aaron Cole