Which brand has teased two future electric sports cars?
Which state plans to develop an EV policy for those who use a lot of gas?
This is our recap of Week In Reverse – right here at Green Car Reports – for the week ending April 15, 2022.
On a first test drive of the 2023 Toyota BZ4X we found it odd but charmingly unconventional, not a performance leader but strong on efficiency. Put simply, it’s everything you could want from an electric vehicle from the company that brought us the Prius – if only they’d build enough of them.
2023 Kia Niro EV
Kia unveiled its lineup of redesigned 2023 Niro models in US form at the New York Auto Show. The lineup returns in hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and EV versions, offering more range, higher mpg, or both depending on the version — as well as a design that offers more interior space than the current version without increasing the exterior. Prices and EPA fuel economy ratings for the 2023 Kia Sportage Hybrid have also been released. With up to 43 mpg combined and a base price of $28,545, it has several advantages over hybrid versions of the Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V and Hyundai Tucson.
The 2023 Nissan Leaf, also unveiled in New York, builds on the price cut and more favorable position accorded to the electric hatchback last year, making way for the upcoming Ariya and simplifying the lineup to just two models. It also gets some new design details to highlight the fresh model year.
2023 Nissan Leaf
Honda confirmed plans to drop the Insight hybrid sedan soon – to make room for the return of a Civic Hybrid, as well as other new hybrids. It’s all part of a push to give hybrids a higher percentage of the company’s U.S. sales. And earlier in the week it teased two electric sports cars, as well as a supercharged investment of more than $40 billion in research and development over the next 10 years, with 30 electric vehicles by 2030 and projected production of around two million annually by then.
Faster acceleration and a new one-pedal off-road drive mode are two of the various updates made to the latest iteration of Jeep Magneto’s electric Wrangler concept. And surprise! The top-selling plug-in hybrid on the US market in the first quarter of 2022 was the Jeep Wrangler 4xe. He sold the Toyota RAV4 Prime or all of Volvo’s Recharge PHEVs combined by the thousands.
2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe
Mercedes-Benz plans to soon manufacture electric vans in the US – in a format optimized for last-mile delivery in the American market – and we recently took away a prototype eSprinter. Mercedes-Benz also announced this week that it has completed a 626-mile real-world road trip with its Vision EQXX concept – all on a single charge, with a battery pack of less than 100 kWh and with around 15% remaining capacity . While the results won’t necessarily extend to future compact models for this £3,850 concept, it bodes well.
California released its official Advanced Clean Cars II rules, which aim to increase sales of battery electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell vehicles to 35% of new light vehicle sales by the 2026 model year — on track to 100% of those vehicle types until 2035.
Tesla V10 Smart Summon
Tesla’s boombox feature has again become the subject of a nationwide safety recall. Following a recent recall, a second agent, sent via an over-the-update, now ensures vehicles emit federally mandated pedestrian sounds when using Summon or Smart Summon.
Washington State plans to inform its EV policy by studying so-called gasoline “superusers” — the roughly 10% of US drivers who use nearly a third of the gasoline used in light trucks.
Giga Texas Opening – April 2022
And finally, something to think about: Despite supply chain issues and material concerns, the EV market has gained momentum and is heading towards what some see as an accelerated phase of major change. Will the expected rapid shift to electric vehicles or 2025-2035 be the most transformative period in automotive history?
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