nitronews4564

  From  MotorTrend 's  2023 Toyota bZ4X first drive , we generally like the futuristic feel and driving dynamic of Toyota's first major small electric SUV. However, its EPA-rated range and DC fast capability are not up to our expectations. In a recent Toyota press release which highlights five things to know about the bZ4X, there's some hidden disappointing information about DC fast charging limitations. First, we'd point out that many manufacturers fast charging time/rate claim is based under ideal conditions. Understandably, there are many real world variables that can affect fast charging. So according to Toyota, "as temperatures decrease below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, charging time will increase significantly… and DC charging more than twice per day also can negatively affect charging time." And on the AWD variant of bZ4X, which has a different battery pack than FWD model, Toyota straight up says DC charging may not work when below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (fre...

  We live in an amazing fantasy world where horsepower is cheap and plentiful (in theory, even if cars are a little scarce on the ground right now due to a scourge of supply chain woes). But in the late 1980s and early 1990s, car enthusiasts were just emerging from a dark era in which emissions and safety concerns turned down the knob on fun significantly. The party was just starting to restart by the late '80s, with a number of sub-supercar rides getting their mojo back. At the top of the domestic heap was Ford, which went a little wild: turbocharging the Mustang, giving the humble Escort a GT makeover that made import enthusiasts think twice, and even dropping a hot V-6 into its vanilla Taurus sedan to create the SHO. You probably know all this, so why the refresher? If "rad-era" Fords have always been your jam,  Mecum's massive Indy 2022 auction  is going to bowl you over, with no fewer than seven unique examples in the very cool Waterford Collection consignments. ...

  In the '70s, street rods experienced a revival in popularity after being knocked out of the spotlight during the muscle car era. That revival came with a change. The prominent rod builders of the late 20th century were not building early roadsters and coupes in the traditional styles of earlier years but rather in a modern style characterized by high-tech chassis with independent front and rear suspensions, extensive use of hand built components (with an abundance of billet aluminum), reshaped bodies, and the elimination of emblems and trim. The result was a super-clean, streamlined style that almost instantly became known as "smooth." Of all the designers and builders associated with the "smooth" style, some of the most famous are  Boyd Coddington ,  Lil' John Buttera ,  Chip Foose , and Larry Erickson. Of all the owners, probably the most successful was Fred Warren, owner of the AeroCoupe, Smoothster, and Shockwave, among others. No other car owner in th...

  What are the uninitiated to make of the   updated 2022 Hyundai Kona   in   new N Line trim ? The subcompact SUV's distinctive exterior is kind of cute,   kind of funky   and chunky, but not necessarily everyone's cup of tea. As an N Line offering, it's supposed to be sportier, and its size and fifth door have led some to consider the Kona to be something of a compact/subcompact hatchback instead of a small crossover SUV. The 2022 Kona N Line features the range's more powerful 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine linked to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and our test vehicle has all-wheel drive. As for the N Line designation, that's a reference to the brand's "N" vehicles, like  the Veloster N ,  the Elantra N , and, yes,  the  Kona N , with N Line being a sort of stepping stone between the regular versions and the frenetic, high-performance full-N models. Those include the Elantra N Line, Sonata N Line, and mor...

  As for range, the EPA says a 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS450+ can do 350 miles on a single full charge (just 10 more than an EQS580). We put more than 200 miles on our test car during a week of parking it outside overnight in cold weather without charging, after starting with an almost-full battery pack (with about 300-some miles of range showing) and never once worried we'd run out of juice. Each night the battery would lose some range (again, we didn't plug it in). At the end of the week, a 38-minute charge from nearly empty to 80 percent on a 150-kW Electrify America charger brought the EQS450+'s range to a displayed 321 miles. Doing a little back-of-napkin math—presuming that 80 percent reading was exactly accurate—that translates to 401 miles of range on a full charge, quite a bit more than the EPA's seemingly conservative estimate. The EQS, by the way, is capable of up to 200-kW charging speeds.

  There's a well-worn chestnut in the automotive world that it's better for a given car to be a chef's knife than a multitool, to transcend in one specific discipline rather than be OK in several areas. An expert beats out a dilettante. Whether or not this particular sentiment holds water is rarely if ever up for debate; that's why it's a chestnut. Most car people just seem to accept it a priori. It's dogma. As for me, sure, I love a distinct, clear-cut tool like a Caterham 7. It has one purpose: to go fast. Everything else like comfort, practicality, safety, and your skin be damned. That said, I also love the Rivian R1T, a truck with more superpowers—835 hp, 3.1-second 0-60 time, luxury cabin, off-road chops to conquer Moab, built-in stove!—than a giant squid. Now that's all been said, meet  the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series , a car built for one reason and one reason only: to set the production car lap record on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Guess what: The...

  Lincoln's Navigator three-row SUV   may be the oldest of the great American luxury barges on the market today, but that doesn't mean it no longer holds its own in the powertrain and dynamics departments. Actually, in just about every metric we measure, the big Lincoln with two fewer cylinders and two more turbos remains every bit the match of the new, V-8-powered Cadillac Escalade and the (don't call it a Jeep) Grand Wagoneer. (The   Grand Wagoneer will soon be available with a version of Jeep's new 3.0-liter twin-turbo Hurricane   inline-six with 500 horsepower, but we haven't tested it yet.) In an effort to keep up with its colossal colleagues,  the 2022 Lincoln Navigator has undergone a face-lift , adding a number of features and updates to lend it more panache and prestige, along with an updated exterior look that puts it more in line with its Lincoln SUV siblings. Thanks to its "L I N C O L N" branding along the back hatch, Navigator badge on the fe...

  Have you ever wondered how we produce some of the fantastic photography that accompanies  MotorTrend 's written words? In short, automotive photographers will put their bodies on the line and shove themselves into and out of just about any opening in order to get the best possible shot. If we're lucky, we use a vehicle with a cushy ride and a hatch to hang out of as we shoot car-to-car—those pretty, in-motion action shots you see all over  MT  stories. Most of the time, our bodies end up sticking halfway out the side window, feet hooked to any willing crevice, core muscles clenched and arms taut. (Yes, we use harnesses.) We can use nearly any vehicle to capture those bread-and-butter  car-to-car photos , but there are usually plenty of compromises to be made. That's why the  MT  photo team was so eager to give the Arcimoto Cameo prototype— an Arcimoto FUV  made more camera- and photographer-friendly with an open-air rear-facing seat—a go in hope...

  Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 6% of the global automotive market at the end of 2021, up from 3.1% just 12 months earlier. The latest vehicle sales data from industry analyst Jato Dynamics reveals a meteoric surge in popularity for BEVs, driven chiefly by an uptick in demand in China, which accounted for roughly half of all worldwide BEV sales last year. Jato  also pointed to an increase in Europe and said that BEVs "began to gain traction" in North America last year, but noted that "other markets in the world continued to lag behind". Overall, some 4.2 million BEVs were sold worldwide last year, up from 2.01 million in 2021 and 1.4 million in pandemic-blighted 2020. The increase in BEV sales was in contrast to a wider industry downturn – as a result of the  semiconductor crisis  throttling production for most vehicle manufacturers – and a decline in demand for traditional petrol and diesel cars. Jato, which  will publish its full findings late...