Electric : Car News And Reviews

May is right around the corner, and that’s when Audi’s e-tron electric crossover is expected to roll into showrooms. The e-tron is billed as a “right-size” and “right segment” electric vehicle, and Audi hopes its driving range will match up with those expectations.

Recently, Volvo spun off its performance division to create the new Polestar brand. Now, the automaker has revealed its first production vehicle, the Polestar 2. Set to go into production in early 2020, the 5-door pure electric wants to give the Tesla Model 3 a run for its money, and look great doing it.

One of the most coveted ratings for many automakers is the “recommended” rating from Consumer Reports (CR). Tesla wanted that rating badly for its “more affordable” EV, the $42,900+ Model 3. It initially missed that rating due to poor brake performance.

We may not be over the range anxiety portion of the acceptance scale for electric vehicles just yet. But we are over the performance barrier. With the earliest electric vehicles being things like the Nissan Leaf, car guys and gals feared the move to electricity would spell the end of the performance car.

One of the most iconic of all dune buggies ever made are the ones VW produced back in the the ’60s and ’70s. Now Volkswagen has unveiled a new generation concept car based on those dune buggies of yore.

Porsche has a new EV coming that aims to compete against Tesla. The car is called the Taycan, and will be based on the Mission E concept seen here. A new report says that Porsche will double production from the originally-planned 20,000 units per year up to 40,000 per year.

Aviar Motors, an EV maker out of Russia has taken the style of an iconic ’60s muscle car and turned it into a modern EV. The ride is called the Aviar R67, and it looks a whole lot like a 1967 Mustang.

Elon Musk has said Tesla it’s working on its own pickup truck, but it may be quite some time before that comes to market, as they continue to meet demand for the Model 3. In the mean time, truck buyers interested in a pure-electric pickup might want to check out this upcoming offering from EV startup Rivian.

The last few times we talked about Icon has been when the company whipped up a pair of very cool off-road vehicles with the Icon BR that looks like an old Ford Bronco and the restored 1965 Kaiser Jeep.

Car and truck companies usually turn up to the SEMA show with tricked out sports cars and hot rods. And while Toyota showed up this year with a selection of upgraded Corolla hatches, they also brought along a custom built Tundra that makes pizza.

While it’s got a strange name, you’ve got to hand it to Taiwanese outfit Xing Mobility for the vehicle that wears it. Taking aim at the forthcoming Tesla Roadster, the Xing Miss R touts an insanely powerful pure-electric drivetrain that makes 1 megawatt, or about 1,341 horsepower, launching the diminutive car to 62 mph in a mind-blowing 1.8 seconds, with 104 mph coming in a blistering 5.1 seconds.

Bollinger Motors is the company behind the big and blocky B1 Electric SUV. Now it has unveiled a pickup truck, dubbed the B2. The vehicle is street-legal and builds on lessons learned from the B1. The B2 is larger than the B1, and offers four doors, dual motors, all-wheel drive, a hydropneumatic suspension, in-wheel portal gear hubs, front trunk space, and pass-through doors for transporting long items.

Hang out with a bunch of amateur racers who like to drive on a road course, and ask them what the best car is. Odds are you will get a bunch of them saying Mazda Miata and a bunch of them saying Honda S2000.

It’s been a very long time since Peugeot sold cars here in the U.S., and I don’t think that’s changing any time soon. But if they ever decided to come back here, this is the car I’d want them to start with.

I’m conflicted this week. I really am. I often dislike compact crossovers. If find many of them lacking in distinction or personality. But I also generally like quirky and small vehicles that have pep and good handling.