Luxury Cars
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Spy shots are continually fascinating, for both future buyers and auto journalists. They can reveal hints about the shapes, design aspects, and powertrains of vehicles that may not hit showrooms for as much as two years. Some recent spy shots of the 2019 Cadillac XT4 small crossover utility vehicle have a very distinctive feature that tells a lot about the car. SEE SPY SHOTS HERE: 2019 Cadillac XT3 spy shots That would be the left-front-fender flap in the black camouflage that covers the prototype vehicle being tested. That location is where GM has put the plug-in ports for its first- and...
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BMW i3 plug-in hybrid recall to fix fuel-vapor problem, fire concernsBMW is recalling more than 19,000 i3 REx extended-range electric cars due to concerns over the potential for fires to be started by fuel vapors. The REx uses a small gasoline engine to charge its battery pack, offering a longer range than the all-electric i3 when both gasoline and electric power...
Stephen Edelstein -
Video explains how Tesla Model S P100D takes just 2.28 seconds to hit 60 mphThe Tesla Model S, now into its sixth model year, just keeps getting quicker. When Tesla introduced the current P100D version, it quoted a 0-to-60-mph time of 2.5 seconds. But then it released a "Ludicrous Plus" software upgrade, cutting that time to 2.4 seconds. DON'T MISS: Tesla P100D 'Ludicrous...
Stephen Edelstein -
2018 Lexus LS 500h hybrid luxury sedan to debut at Geneva showIt should come as no surprise that Toyota's Lexus luxury brand remains enthusiastic about hybrids. Toyota has sold more hybrids than any other automaker, with luxury models sold under the Lexus brand contributing to a total that just exceeded 10 million. That trend will continue with the 2018 Lexus...
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla updates maintenance plans; higher fees now include hardware updatesElectric cars may require significantly less maintenance than internal-combustion cars, but even they will break down eventually. So the Silicon Valley automaker offers maintenance plans, which allow owners to prepay for annual inspections and other routine work. Early in the life of the Model S...
Stephen Edelstein -
Pilot production of Tesla Model 3 to start Feb 20: reportTesla said yesterday it would shut down its production lines for one week this month to prepare for the launch of its upcoming Model 3 electric sedan. The Silicon Valley carmaker said the "brief, planned pause" was to add paint-shop capacity and do general maintenance at its assembly plant in...
John Voelcker -
During a press conference at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, Faraday Future announced plans to build its first electric car within two years. Later in 2016, it selected a site for what it claimed would be a $1 billion electric-car factory to be built in North Las Vegas, Nevada. But work at the site stopped late last year, and a new report suggests Faraday is significantly downsizing its production plans. DON'T MISS: Faraday has 64,000 reservations: why they're different from Tesla's The Chinese-backed startup is scaling back the size of the factory, pushing back its completion date, and...
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Lucid Air electric car video shows luxury sedan on the roadLucid Motors, the California automotive startup formerly known as Atieva, unveiled its Air electric car in December 2016. But so far, the car hasn't been seen on public roads. Lucid has now rectified that by releasing a video that shows its luxury sedan driving around the San Francisco Bay Area...
Stephen Edelstein -
What will a fully-loaded Tesla Model 3 cost? Poll resultsNow that the 238-mile Chevrolet Bolt EV is arriving in more dealers each month, anticipation fever has turned to the Tesla Model 3. (There's a new generation of the Nissan Leaf coming too, but so far not a lot of people seem to be focusing on that.) The Silicon Valley carmaker's Model 3 electric...
John Voelcker -
Faraday has 64,000 reservations: why they're different from Tesla'sFaraday Future unveiled its first production electric car, the FF 91, last month at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The public debut of the much-hyped luxury utility vehicle generated considerable interest from potential customers. At least, that's how it looks at first glance...
Stephen Edelstein -
2018 Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid: first drive reviewIn the plug-in hybrid game, you move forward or get left behind. When the hybrid maker is Porsche, that applies to power as well as efficiency. The 2018 Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid is the replacement for the previous Panamera S E-Hybrid, and it gets more power, performance, and efficiency in a...
Kirk Bell -
Audi tells its dealers to get with the (electric-car) programAs many electric-car buyers will tell you, franchised auto dealers can pose a large and tedious impediment to actually buying the plug-in car you want. From salespeople with no knowledge of the cars to test vehicles that haven't been recharged and have little battery range left, the hurdles are...
John Voelcker -
An automaker's logo can and perhaps should be as recognizable as its cars, if not more. That makes logo design a very important task. Tesla's logo is certainly not anonymous, but it turns out there's more to it than may be immediately apparent. DON'T MISS: Why Faraday Future's luxury electric car is named FF 91 What looks like simply a stylized "T" is actually a reference to the company's products, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a recent tweet (via Motor1). The Tesla logo is intended to represent the cross-section of an electric motor, Musk explained to a querying Twitter follower. Musk seemed...
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Tesla Model 3 previewThe Tesla Model 3 electric car is undoubtedly one of the most highly-anticipated new-car launches in recent memory. Unveiled in prototype form last April after a drawn-out teaser campaign, the Model 3 quickly generated an unprecedented response from the public. As of last August, around 400,000...
Stephen Edelstein -
How many Tesla Model 3 electric cars can company build this year?It's one of the most fascinating sets of questions in the auto industry. How quickly can Tesla Motors put its Model 3 electric car into production? And when? How many cars can it build this year? How many can it deliver to paying customers? At a promised starting price of $35,000, the Model 3 is...
John Voelcker -
Schwarzenegger's hydrogen Hummer gives way to electric G-WagenArnold Schwarzenegger has always had rather unusual taste in vehicles. The movie star and former California governor previously drove a hydrogen-fueled Hummer H2, symbolizing both his love for militaristic vehicles and a general concern for the environment. Now, the "Governator" has another SUV...
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla Autopilot features edge closer to self-driving in 3 to 6 monthsLast year, after Tesla updated the radar, camera, and ultrasonic sensors on its electric cars, CEO Elon Musk said the new hardware's capabilities would lag behind the cars on the street already. Now, Musk has projected that the "Hardware 2.0" cars may surpass the older generation of "Hardware 1.0"...
Aaron Cole -
Even top German minister for environment prefers TeslaGovernment officials in Germany seeking to express national pride in their choice of vehicle have no shortage of options. The established German luxury brands offer many models that frequently serve in the capacity of official vehicle for an elected official. Indeed, given Germany's considerable...
Stephen Edelstein -
If anything, the pace of new Tesla model changes seem to have increased of late. Over the last year, a 60-kilowatt-hour battery option has reappeared, a new 100-kwh battery was launched, followed by a sequence of software updates to make it faster, and all Autopilot sensors were replaced with new hardware. Now, quietly, Tesla has launched a new version of the 100-kwh Model S that gets its longest range yet. DON'T MISS: Tesla P100D 'Ludicrous Plus' mode makes electric car even faster It puts together all the elements that maximize range on a Tesla. They include a battery pack with the highest...
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Tesla reverses recent limit on lifetime full-speed launches (updated)Tesla uses over-the-air software updates to quickly add new features to its electric cars, or to correct problems without the need for customers to bring their cars to service centers. But one apparent software update rankled more than a few Tesla owners: it limits the number of times Launch Mode...
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla's Supercharger pricing: one owner reacts to new feesIt’s a new era in Teslaworld: the end of unlimited free Supercharging. Starting on January 15, anybody who orders a new Tesla Model S or Model X will receive an annual allotment of 400 free kilowatt-hours (good for about 1,200 miles). After that, they will have to pay for use of the...
David Noland -
Faraday Future FF 91 electric car to cost almost $300,000?At the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show, Faraday Future released a number of details about the FF 91, its first production electric car. It quoted a range of 378 miles, courtesy of a 130-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack. It also cited a power output of 1,050 horsepower, enabling the FF 91 to...
Stephen Edelstein -
All 2017 BMW diesels certified by EPA, production now startingThis might not seem to be the most convenient moment to restart production of a gaggle of diesel cars. The Volkswagen diesel scandal continues to unfold, and last week the EPA accused Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) of failing to reveal eight separate software routines that altered the behavior of...
Stephen Edelstein -
How high a hill could recharge a coasting Tesla electric car completely?One of the benefits of electric cars is that slowing down becomes a useful activity. Regenerative braking recovers energy normally lost as friction heat, as it does when the accelerator pedal is not pushed and the car is coasting. In some cars, regeneration is aggressive enough to allow "one-pedal...
Stephen Edelstein