Luxury Cars
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With the early months of Tesla Model 3 sales remaining at numbers lower than those promised by CEO Elon Musk, owners and advocates eagerly consume any news about electric-car maker Tesla to figure out what's happening. Musk reaffirmed that the Model 3 is in the predicted "production hell" these days, but a report on Friday of layoffs at the Silicon Valley company attracted lots of attention. Specifically, a report by the San Jose Mercury News that Tesla had "fired" workers, "hundreds" of them, from executives to factory workers, even as the Model 3 product rampup struggles. DON'T MISS: Tesla...
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2019 Land Rover Range Rover P400e plug-in hybrid revealed, on sale in US next year
Following the debut of the smaller Land Rover Range Rover Sport P400e plug-in hybrid, the luxury SUV maker revealed its larger sibling: the 2019 Land Rover Range Rover P400e. The Land Rover Range Rover P400e plug-in hybrid is the larger of the two, but the SUV boasts an identical electrified...
Sean Szymkowski -
Electrified cars start down the pay-per-month road
A few taps at a smartphone will soon cue up white-gloved same-day delivery of a shiny, new Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid—if you happen to be in Atlanta. The Netflix of cars is finally here, although it's a bit more than than $11 you'll pay to binge watch "Entourage." MORE: 2017 Porsche Cayenne S...
Andrew Ganz -
2019 Range Rover Sport P400e plug-in hybrid on sale in US in summer 2018: technical details
Six years after Land Rover confirmed it would introduce a Range Rover plug-in hybrid, the luxury-SUV brand has now provided an official on-sale date. A 2019 Land Rover Range Rover Sport plug-in hybrid model will both go on sale in the United States in the summer of 2018, likely followed by a...
John Voelcker -
Which (non-Tesla) maker will sell most electric luxury cars by 2020? Poll results
Yes, yes, yes, we know: our readers and Twitter followers are largely very strong supporters of, and believers in, Tesla and its electric cars. Our challenge for last week's Twitter poll was that we get very, very few characters to post questions and a choice of four responses. So in asking which...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Q3-2017 deliveries: Model S, Model X strong; Model 3 misses goal
The quarterly delivery and production figures from Silicon Valley electric-car maker Tesla are eagerly followed when they emerge a few days after the end of a quarter. On Monday, Tesla said it had delivered 26,150 electric cars, its best quarterly total yet and 4.5 percent higher than the third...
John Voelcker -
It has become an article of faith among some Tesla fans and owners that the company will inevitably rise to compete with and ultimately defeat the titans of the global auto industry. This belief is especially prevalent for the luxury sector, where three German carmakers dominate the global market for pricey and admired vehicles of all sorts. About Tesla's chances, reasonable minds may differ. DON'T MISS: How Tesla Model S alters car ownership: a buyer's one-year notes The Silicon Valley electric carmaker has done remarkable things in its 13 years of existence, and rattled those German luxury...
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BMW, Mercedes to offer wireless-charging options for plug-in hybrids next year
Every one of the modern electric cars on the market for almost seven years requires plugging in a cord to recharge the battery using grid electricity. Inserting the cord into the socket takes just a few seconds, and most cars today are charged overnight. But soon there will be another option...
John Voelcker -
How Tesla Model S alters car ownership: a buyer's one-year notes
In late July, we published an article describing one electric-car driver's experience in adding solar panels to his home to help with charging his family's five electric cars. That reader, who'd like to be known just as Shiva, has now owned a 2016 Tesla Model S for a year. He recently outlined for...
John Voelcker -
Jaguar I-Pace electric SUV has already accumulated 25,000 orders: CEO
In the rarified but still high-volume world of global luxury auto brands, Jaguar is still a tiny player. The British brand sold fewer than 150,000 cars globally last year, one-third of the number of Land Rover and Range Rover SUVs from its sister brands within Jaguar Land Rover. Audi sold 1.9...
John Voelcker -
Volkswagen to show flagship all-electric ID sedan in Geneva: Phaeton successor?
The long, strange, sad saga of the now-defunct Volkswagen Phaeton will likely go down as an asterisk in VW's long history. The pet project of now-departed VW Group chairman Ferdinand Piech, a member of the Porsche family that controls the carmaker, it was a $70,000-and-up luxury sedan from the...
John Voelcker -
Which maker will sell most electric luxury cars by 2020? Take our Twitter poll
It has taken several years for European luxury makers to sort out what to do about the unexpected arrival of Tesla and its electric cars into a market they've dominated for decades. Sure, Lexus and a host of lesser Asian makes have competitive products somewhere between premium and luxury, but...
John Voelcker -
The 2019 Volvo XC40 not only represents the Swedish brand's first compact crossover to be sold in the U.S. but its first shot at a new model for drivers to obtain cars: a subscription service. During the XC40 launch, Volvo revealed it would introduce Care by Volvo, a subscription service giving access to the compact crossover. For a flat monthly fee, those who enroll will receive an XC40 for an unspecified duration, along with a mix of services—full concierge availability, maintenance, regular cleaning, pickup delivery, and even package delivery to the vehicle—that varies by...
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Tesla Model 3 interior details, features emerge from pair of videos
While the 2017 Tesla Model 3 electric car is now being delivered in small numbers to company friends and employees, not all the specifications, features, and details for the electric car are available. Now more information has emerged, in the form of a pair of videos—one by a detailer and...
John Voelcker -
Mercedes to invest $1 billion to build electric SUVs, batteries in Alabama
Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, announced that it will invest up to $1 billion to build electric SUVs and batteries in and around its assembly plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The plans, first reported reported Thursday in The Wall Street Journal (paywalled), represent a major expansion...
John Voelcker -
Porsche Mission E electric sport sedan: 200-mile recharge in 15 minutes
While there have been lots of concept cars and production announcements, the first serious German competitor to the Tesla Model S and Model X won't arrive for at least another year. And what could prove the most potent of them all—the production version of the stunning Porsche Mission E...
John Voelcker -
Mercedes EQC electric SUV reservations open in Norway, for 2019 delivery
The country of Norway has been among the most ardent in urging drivers to buy zero-emission vehicles, offering a friendly market in which automakers can launch new electric cars. In fact, Norway was the first nation to announce a ban on the sale of new vehicles powered by fossil fuels; it's due to...
Sean Szymkowski -
2017 Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid: review of plug-in hybrid SUV
The Porsche Cayenne is the second best-selling vehicle in the German sports-car maker's North American lineup, as SUV sales swamp those of passenger cars at luxury brands. A considerable number of the pricey SUV models sold here have been the Cayenne S E-Hybrid plug-in hybrid variant: 1,316 out of...
John Voelcker -
The 2017 Frankfurt Motor Showed offered a very specific ethos this year: electric and self-driving cars. Many automakers used the bright lights and gleaming stands to reveal their interpretation of a future with all-electric and driverless vehicles. Audi was not absent from the theme. DON'T MISS: Audi confirms (again) 3 electric cars on the market by 2020 The German luxury brand debuted two e-tron electric-car concepts, the Audi Aicon and Audi Elaine. Both are battery-electric vehicles, though they differ in self-driving technology. The Aicon is a fully-autonomous level 5 vehicle, while the...
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Life with Tesla Model S: assessing my new 100D vs old 2013 electric car
About two years ago, under the influence of an eager Tesla representative, I briefly considered trading in my trusty 2013 Tesla Model S 85 for a new Model S 90D. But after a 24-hour test drive, the advantages of the 90D—40 miles more range, all-wheel drive, and Autopilot...
David Noland -
Fatal Tesla Autopilot crash: 'system safeguards lacking,' says NTSB
The Florida crash that killed the driver of a Tesla Model S while that car was operating under Autopilot software reverberated far and wide in global media. While human drivers are imperfect, with reaction times limited by millions of years of evolution, they at least provide a focus for blame if...
John Voelcker -
Formula E races to add Jaguar I-Pace electric-car race series
Media days at this week's Frankfurt motor show seemed to be all about electric cars and concepts, from mass-market brands like Volkswagen to luxury makers like Mercedes. Jaguar Land Rover, however, was able to get its own share of press by announcing that its upcoming electric car would go racing...
John Voelcker -
Mercedes-Benz GLC F-Cell EQ Power plug-in hydrogen crossover launches at Frankfurt
It's a plug-in hybrid crossover, but it doesn't have an engine. It's a hydrogen fuel-cell SUV, but it has a feature no other hydrogen-powered car offers. It's the Mercedes-Benz GLC F-Cell EQ Power, launched Tuesday at the Frankfurt motor show. DON'T MISS: Mercedes-Benz GLC to offer world's first...
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