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NY Auto Show: World Car Awards highlight EVs, Kia, and coming China wave
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 31, 2024
New York — Electric vehicles may be sitting on dealer lots, but awards competitions love them.
EVs swept five of the six categories — including the Kia EV9 as World Car of the Year — in the prestigious, 20th annual, 2024 World Car Awards, judged by 100 jurors from international media outlets. Announced at the New York International Auto Show Wednesday, the awards also trumpeted the coming wave of Chinese EVs as the BYD Co. Ltd.’s Seal and Dolphin were finalists in two of the award categories.
Only one Detroit model made the finalist list — Ford Bronco in the World Car Design of the Year category. Other winners included the BMW i5/5-series for World Luxury Car while the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N stunned as World Performance Car over the BMW M2 and BMW XM.
It’s the second World Car of the Year title for Kia — the EV9’s gas-powered sibling, the Telluride, won in 2020. Unlike the Telluride, which is only sold in North America, EV9 is a global model and the first three-row SUV sold in the United States. It squeaked by the Volvo EX30, the Swedish brand’s most affordable EV, for World Car of the Year by 809 points to 804, with the Seal finishing third with 774 votes.
BYD’s Seal is not so distant in the industry’s rear-view mirror, however. The compact sedan is already sold outside of China in Europe and South America and could be knocking on North America’s doors soon. Not surprisingly, a Seal was not available to display in New York for the awards, leaving a poster in its place next to its EV9 and EV30 competitors.
The EX30 will go on sale in the United States later in 2024 while the EV9 has been on sale since last year. At $56,395, the EV9 costs about $20,000 more than the similarly-sized, gas Teluride. The EV9 also captured the North American Utility Vehicle Vehicle of the Year prize earlier this year in Detroit.
The EV9 also won for World Electric Vehicle (the organization does not have a category for any other drivetrain) beating the Volvo and BMW i5.
In World Performance Car,Hyundai beats BMW. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
In perhaps the biggest eye-opener, Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 N hot hatch — the brand’s first electric performance car — won World Performance Car over the BMW M2 and electric XM SUV. Not just won, but thumped the Bimmers with 823 points to 764 (M2) and 743 (XM).
BMW’s M badge has set the standard for production performance for decades — inspiring performance sub-brands like Hyundai’s N line. The 641-horsepower Ioniq 5 N beats both Bimmers to 60 mph (3.1 seconds) and has nearly as much grunt as the 664-horse XM SUV. However, it also begs a sticker price of $68,050 – on par with the BMW M2. That’s a lot of coins for a Hyundai.
BMW, which has abandoned auto shows like the one here in Manhattan’s Javits Center, rebounded to win World Luxury Car with its 5-series models — including the electric i5 sedan. Mercedes-Benz finished second and third with its gas-powered Mercedes E-Class and electric EQE SUV, respectively.
Chinas’ BYD also was a finalist for World Urban Car with its tiny Dolphin. The wee car lost to the too-small-for the-U.S.-market, 3-cylinder Lexus LBX and winning Volvo EX30 EV.
World Luxury Car: BMW i5 beats Mercedes E-Class, Mercedes EQS. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
World Car Design of the Year featured the most eclectic finalists with the V12-powered, $400k Ferrari Purosangue SUV squaring off against the off-road-focused Ford Bronco SUV and hybrid Toyota Prius.
The winner? Toyota Prius.
“Imagine the Prius beating a Ferrari and a Bronco,” said Prius Chief Engineer Yasushi Ueda on accepting the award. “What a strange world we live in.”
World Car Awards have the world’s largest media reach with its jurors representing forty-seven top global markets and a global audience of 315 million.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: In NYC, Genesis maps its future with electric performance and SUV concepts
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 31, 2024
New York — The Big Apple means big news from Genesis.
Hyundai’s luxury brand dropped two, dazzling new battery-powered concept vehicles ahead of the New York International Auto Show’s public opening, signifying a critical move for the brand into performance cars, big SUVs, and electrification. The concepts also show where the luxury market is headed as it rushes to meet government and luxury consumer demands for electric vehicles over the next decade.
The muscular, electric Genesis GV60 Magma will be the first of the brand’s Magma performance models. The sleek Neolun concept will likely evolve into the production-flagship, three-row GV90 electric production model and showed off the brand’s signature, two-track lighting design. Chasing Tesla (the best-selling luxury brand in the United States) and government mandates, Genesis plans to go all-electric by 2030 like competitors Cadillac, Jaguar, Buick, and Alfa Romeo. EVs have failed to capture mainstream buyers but have proved fashionable in the U.S. luxury market with the #2 best-selling lux brand, BMW, expecting EV sales to grow to 25% of sales from a record 15% this year.
Unlike those brands, however, Genesis is the only one at the New York show. The South Korean automaker (EVs were 9% of 2023 sales) has long made Gotham a key pillar in its U.S. growth strategy, channeling Frank Sinatra’s trademark: “if you can make it there, you’ll make it anywhere.”
The Magma and Neolun concepts were the latest in a string of concepts introduced at NYIAS even as other luxury automakers have abandoned auto shows. Genesis introduced its first North American concept, the aptly-named New York Concept, in 2016 — then followed with the Essentia Concept in 2018, the Mint EV Concept in 2019, and the GV80 Coupe Concept in 2023.
“We tend to use New York as our stage. We love New York, and we celebrate New York with our new creations,” said design chief Luc Donckerwolke at Genesis Design House on 10th Avenue in the heart of Manhattan’s trendy Meat Packing District. It’s just four city blocks south of Cadillac’s ill-fated Cadillac House headquarters which located in Chelsea here from 2015-2019 — Genesis House opened up two years ago complete with a showroom and Korean restaurant staffed by Michelin-star chefs on the top floor.
Genesis Chief Designer Luc Donckervolke touts the Z Gran Berlinetta sportscar concept at the New York auto show. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The concepts are top drawer as well and, significantly, all-electric as governments — including New York state — ban gas vehicles sales by 2035.
Donckerwolke promised that all Genesis models from here on will receive Magma performance models. Genesis introduced its racy-looking, X Gran Berlinetta design concept last December at the international Gran Turismo gaming tournament. The 1,071-horsepower coupe can now be raced in the online game.
“Magma increases the reach of our vehicles to bring more emotions to the customer when they get into the car. It’s for a driver that wants an athletic car,” said Donckerwolke, a former Lamborghini designer, who hinted that Magma will be tested at the famed Nürburgring race track.
As a teaser for hellions to come, Genesis showed off Magma versions — dressed in hot Magma orange — of its gas-powered G80 sedan and GV80 Coupe SUV in New York. But the first production Magma vehicle to hit showrooms next year will be the electric GV60.
In big push in the Big Apple, Hyundai’s Genesis lux brand shows off the Neolun concept to media. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
While other luxury sub-brands from BMW (M series) to Cadillac (V series) established their performance cred with high-horsepower gas engines, the GV60 Magma opens Genesis’s performance chapter by bypassing gas and going all-electric.
The hatchback will go head-to-head against the Tesla Model 3/Y Performance models and electric M offerings from BMW like the i50 Gran Turismo which enthusiast publication Car and Driver has already clocked quicker to 60 mph than Bimmer’s legendary, gas-fired M3.
“The tipping point for the combustion engine is already there,” BMW CFO Walter Mertl told Reuters earlier this year, speaking of the luxury market. “The current sales plateau for combustion cars will continue and then fall slightly.”
The fierce-looking, Magma orange GV60 — slammed and widened from the standard car — is tricked out with rear wing, big brakes, and aerodynamic wheels wrapped in fat rubber. Expect it to be quick.
From the rear: the Genesis Neolun concept at the New York auto show. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
“It will impress you, I promise you that,” said Genesis brand partner and legendary race driver Jacky Ickx, who was on hand to introduce the Magma line. Genesis was skimpy on details, but the Magma model will likely get similar numbers to the steroid-fed Hyundai and Kia models with which GV60 shares a platform: the 641-horsepower Hyundai Ionia 5 N and 576-horse Kia EV6 GT.
Ickx’s presence — he is a six-time Le Mans winner and twice runner-up for the Formula One championship — fueled speculation that Genesis will go Le Mans hybrid sportscar racing alongside other luxury marques like Cadillac, BMW, Lamborghini, and Porsche. Other premium brands including Lexus and Aston Martin have entered GT endurance racing.
Ickx has been associated with Porsche, Ferrari, and Ford over his racing career and is impressed with Genesis’s direction. “In car racing, drivers are the tip of the iceberg and get all the glory. But below the level of the water, there are successful people you don’t see,” said the Belgian. “I go into my new life with a winning team. (Genesis) wants to be the best.”
In battle for lux leadership, South Korea’s Genesis has a New York presence with its Genesis House in the Meatpacking District. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Designer Donckerwolke declined to speculate on Genesis’s motorsports plans.
The gorgeous Neolun (translated from Greek as “new moon”), meanwhile, signaled Genesis’s intent to compete against six-figure Mercedes and Cadillac in the full-size, electric SUV space. Mercedes makes the EQS SUV, an all-electric version of its top-line S-class, and Cadillac’s Escalade Q is an all-electric version of its iconic SUV. The Neolun will be the brand’s first, three-row electric SUV and will cost substantially less than its luxury peers.
“The Neolun Concept was inspired by Korea’s iconic moon-shaped porcelain jars,” said Donckerwolke. “It’s the epitome of timeless design and sophisticated craftsmanship.”
Genesis teed up its brand in 2014 with the flagship, V8-powered G90 sedan, and the Neulun/GV90 again points to its new focus on EVs. Painted in two-tone Midnight Black and Majestic Blue, the concept was typically over the top with coach doors, 24-inch wheels, pop-out electric roof racks, wood floor, and Purple Silk leather front seats that swivel to face rear passengers. But the exterior looked production ready with Genesis’s twin-line LED circling the vehicle — and making a V in front where a grille would be on a gas-powered car.
Lighting has become a design differentiator for EVs — see Cadillac’s front light display — and the Neulun leans into that design aesthetic.
The GV60 Magma Concept, G80 Magma, X Gran Berlinetta Concept and Neolun Concept will be on display at New York’s Javits Center through April 7.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne at NYC Auto Show: How Big Apple is adapting to a new show era
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 27, 2024
New York — Whipsawed by the pandemic and a changing media landscape, it’s been a difficult few years for auto shows.
North America’s major shows — Detroit, Chicago, Los Angles, and New York — have all seen defections from European brands, floors space shrink as automakers moved glitzy media introductions to other venues, and ticket sales slump as customers were spooked by COVID and declining auto offerings.
But as the show circus rolls into its original venue this week, New York Auto Show President Mark Scheinberg sees signs of stability.
“Auto retailers see the value of auto shows,” he said of the show that will open to media at the Javits Convention Center March 27-28, and to the public March 28-April 7. “They understand they need to be there. It is the best place where consumers can come and get information about multiple brands for their purchase. That’s what auto shows have always been about at their core. There is nothing like getting into a car and feeling it around you.”
Scheinberg says advance ticket sales are up 37% over last year, and cites a JPMorgan study that return-to-office rates at some Manhattan office towers have hit 78% — a key stat for a show that draws many consumers after work to its west-side, Javits Center location. Like the Detroit Auto Show returning to its traditional January date, the New York Show relies on a vibrant Manhattan to make it go.
“This is our third since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s a world of difference,” he said. “The streets are jammed with people again, and life is back to normal in New York.”
Show organizers concede the media landscape has changed and that auto shows are no longer the focus of big media reveals. Just as ad dollars now chase eyeballs across a media landscape that has diversified beyond broadcast TV and newspapers to cable and internet, so have automakers moved vehicle debuts to encompass a diverse media landscape that includes YouTube, sporting events, and Instagram influencers.
For example, Nissan introduced its new Kicks SUV in New York — not at the Javits March 27 — but in front of the Barclays Center Arena in Brooklyn March 22 for the opening rounds of the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Thousands of fans streaming to Barclays saw the Kicks “unboxed” in an oversized sneaker shoebox. The Kicks will make its way to the convention center on Manhattan’s west side for the show.
“Unboxing the all-new Kicks at Barclays Center places our thrilling new model at the heart of the action as passionate sports fans pour into the arena for the exciting experience of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament,” said Nissan North America’s marketing chief, Marisstella Marinkovic. “By aligning our brand with consumer passions at pivotal touchpoints, we showcase our products to the right audiences, fostering meaningful connections in the most impactful manner.”
Scheinberg embraced the Kicks’ introduction across the East River: “The idea that manufacturers like Nissan want to do something special in Brooklyn is good for New York. They did it here because it’s a major media market.”
The New York Show is a much smaller version of its early 20th century heyday when it typically hosted dozens of model reveals to packed media galleries and brands took up three of its enormous exhibition halls. This year, there will be just seven manufacturers’ press conferences. As in Detroit, LA, and Chicago, numerous brands have exited the floor leaving only the main exhibition hall occupied by automakers. European luxury brands BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Jaguar Land Rover are gone.
Electric vehicle test drives will be featured at the New York auto show. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
“German luxury automakers have gone in a different direction,” said Scheinberg.
But in the space they once occupied are sprawling indoor electric tracks featuring ride-alongs in new electric cars from multiple automakers. It is an evolution of the show at an opportune time.
“The EV test tracks at all these shows is an extension of what auto shows are all about — showing customers what’s new in cars. Not just EVs, but all the technology inside,” said Stephanie Brinley, S&P Global associate director of auto intelligence.
The test tracks give consumers the opportunity to experience electric vehicles as governments from New York to California to the federal EPA are phasing out sales of popular, gas-powered vehicles over the next 10 years. New York’s electric track has expanded this year to include EVs from Cadillac, Lucid, and Lexus.
“(Auto analysis firm) JD Power found that eight out of ten customers would consider and electric vehicles after having the chance to drive them” said Scheinberg.
The EV track joins ride-along experiences embracing another industry trend: off-roading. Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco off-road warriors will square off with dueling test tracks. Camp Jeep marks a coup for New York as Stellantis brands — Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Jeep, Maserati and FIAT — will not be at the auto show, consistent with its absence at other shows in 2024. However, Stellantis said it would evaluate show spends on “a case-by-case basis, while prioritizing opportunities for consumers to experience our vehicles first-hand.”
“Camp Jeep crushes it every year here,” said Scheinberg. “They get a lot of leads. It is a very strong marketing campaign.”
South Korea’s up-and-coming Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands, meanwhile, remain bullish on the Los Angeles and New York auto shows which represent regions where they have made market in-roads.
Subaru has expanded its exhibit at the 2024 New York Auto Show. New York Auto Show, New York Auto Show
Hyundai will debut updates of its best-selling Tucson and Santa Fe SUVs; its luxury brand Genesis will introduce a new model; and Kia will unveil an all-new, compact K4 sedan that replaces the Forte. Genesis has long used New York for spectacular new reveals (it memorably unveiled its Mint EV concept in the middle of Hudson Yards in 2019), and is expected to to showcase another newsmaker this year as it rushes to go all-EV by 2030.
“The Korean brands have been very supportive of auto shows — it’s part of their business strategy,” said auto analyst Brinley. “Genesis has an anchor in Manhattan with its Genesis House showcase, so the show backs that up. Being successful in luxury requires a long-term strategy.”
Bucking the European flight from auto shows, Porsche will have a small display showing off the electric, 630-horsepower Macan SUV for the first time
“We are taking the Macan to a completely new level — with exceptional e-performance and a very impressive design,” said Porsche Chairman Oliver Blume ahead of the show.
Exotic metal including Rimac and Lotus are featured at the New York auto show. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Porsche’s presence (it was absent from Detroit, Chicago, and Los Angeles shows) dovetails with the Big Apple’s high-income demographic, and TV personality and car collector Michael Strahan will take delivery of his Porsche 964-based Tedson supercar at the show. Javits also will showcase its unique exotics display of hypercars. Among them will be the latest Rimac — the world’s fastest electric sportscar.
“The sophistication of this industry is extraordinary,” said Scheinberg. “But you can’t show it all in a TV commercial. The auto show is the place you can get quality time with cars and the retailers who sell them.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne
Grosse Pointe Woods college student Nolan Allaer eyes Detroit GP as Indy NXT racer
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 22, 2024
Michigan drivers who have competed in the Indy 500 are an exclusive list, including names like Scott Brayton, Bryan Herta, Robbie Buhl, Howdy Holmes, and Gordon Johncock.
Nolan Allaer is eager to join the club.
The Miami (Ohio) University junior, 22, from Grosse Pointe Woods, won a seat in Indy NXT this year, the feeder series for IndyCar. If the Grand Rapids Griffins are the Detroit Red Wings’ American Hockey League junior hockey affiliate, then Indy NXT is the AHL-equivalent step to IndyCar. A hockey player as a kid, Allaer credits his team sports background with helping graduate to the teamwork required in big league motorsports.
Allaer will be racing with HMD Motorsports this year, one of the open-wheel series’ top teams, and made his debut at St. Petersburg on March 10.
“It’s absolutely exciting, this is a dream come true,” Allaer said in an interview ahead of the St. Pete race, where he finished 14th in his maiden effort behind the wheel of a winged, 420-horsepower Dallara Indy NXT race car. “To be this close to IndyCar competing with some of the best open-wheel drivers in the world is an absolute honor.”
Allaer will be competing in his Detroit backyard, June 2, when the IndyCar circus rolls into town. The 14-race season also will take him to Indy, road courses like Road America (Wisconsin) and Mid-Ohio, and ovals in Iowa and Milwaukee.
“I’m excited for Detroit, although I’m a little bit bummed I won’t get to race on Belle Isle,” he said of the track where he grew up watching the IndyCar stars. “To do it downtown is a is such an incredible opportunity.”
The mechanical engineering major has built an impressive resume in his short career, including three national SCCA championships in Formula Ford/Formula Continental classes in 2022-23, and two wins in the national F1600 series in 2022. He did not take the traditional route to Indy NXT like many of his peers who started at an early age in the karting circuit.
Nolan Allaer, 22, of Grosse Point Woods is competing in Indy NXT for the 2024 season. HMD Motorsports, HMD Motorsports
Though he grew up watching his grandfather, uncle, and father race (uncle and dad, Robert, have three SCCA championships between them) Nolan’s passion turned to hockey at age 11.
“I karted in Florida from 2008-11, but I actually quite karting to play hockey,” he said. “I played hockey almost my entire life and I still play now when I’m not racing. I started racing again in 2020 and got back into the sport through (simulator) racing. I’m thankful for my time away from the sport because it makes me appreciate it much more now.”
His success in online sim racing during the pandemic rekindled his fire and he got his racing license at an SCCA school (a high school graduation present) at Waterford Hills Raceway — where he showed his raw talent by recording a lap just two-tenths off his father’s track record. SCCA races in 2021 followed, leading to an impressive third place in the national championships as he began his freshman year.
He joined Team Pelfry in ‘22 to compete in the 21-race, open-wheel Formula Race Promotions F1600 Championship where he finished fourth overall as the series’ top rookie. The competitive series features close racing where lead changes are common as teammates draft one another to leap-frog to the front.
Team sport. Nolan Allaer and his HMD Motorsports team at St. Pete Indy NXT opener. Chris Jones, Indy NXT
“I’m thankful for my time in team sports. What people don’t realize about racing is it’s not just about a single driver,” Allaer said. “It’s not like boxing where you’re the only one in the ring. It’s a whole community you work with — your team, your engineers, your mechanics. F1600 is where you really start to experience the team aspect. Working on the setup of your car is very significant.”
His F1600 success catapulted him across the pond to the British Racing and Sports Car Club racing series — in the heart of the world’s most intense motorsports environment. Racing for Ammonite Motorsports, Allaer ended the year on a high note at the BRSCC Formula Ford Festival at the famed Brands Hatch race track south of London.
“I qualified on pole and won my heat race which is something only four Americans have done before,” Allaer said.
The performance also won him a seat at HMD Motorsports alongside talent like Miles Rowe, last year’s USF200 champion, and 19-year-old Nolan Siegel, who finished third in last year’s Indy NXT championship. Christian Rasmussen, who won the 2023 Indy NXT championship with HMD Motorsports, has moved up the IndyCar this year with Ed Carpenter Racing. Among the Indy greats who have graduated from the IndyCar feeder series are Josef Newgarden, Helio Castroneves, and Scott Dixon.
Nolan Allaer at Indy NXT, St. Petersburg. Joe Skibinski, Indy NXT
“All the guys in HMD Motorsports and Indy NXT are all top class,” Allaer said. “They are the best prospects for IndyCar right now.”
Allaer entered the first race at St. Petersburg after a whirlwind pre-season testing at Laguna Seca raceway in California and Sebring, Florida. In addition to the intense competition, he is transitioning from 150-horspwower, 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder Formula Fords to much quicker, 420-horsepower V8-powered Dallaras made of carbon-fiber.
“This is a proper machine. You can ask any of the drivers that have had the opportunity to drive one of these cars, it’s the point where you start to think — oh, wow, that is fast,” said Allaer. “It’s a lot of power, a lot of downforce, and it takes a little time to get used to what the car can really do.”
He hasn’t found the speed intimidating.
The Indy NXT field – including Nolan Allear mid-pack – swarms Turn One at the start of the St. Pete race. James Black, Indy NXT
“Honestly, it’s not a sensory overload — it’s very refined, smooth,” he said. “The biggest difference is the power and top speed. Makes a big difference from Formula Ford where you’re racing nose-to-tail to stretching out on the straightaways as we reach 160, 180, maybe 190 mph at Road America” in Wisconsin.
Come June, he’ll show off his new ride to family on the streets of Detroit.
“It’s a family affair. I grew up around the race track watching my grandfather, my uncle, my dad race. I never imagined I’d be doing anything similar, let alone being my primary pursuit in life.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Playing in the sandbox with Ford Ranger Raptor Jr.
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 21, 2024
Salt Lake City, Utah — At speed on Ford Performance Racing School’s slippery track, I stabbed the brakes and rotated my 2024 Ranger Raptor into a 90-degree right-hander. The beast skittered through the mud before the 33-inch all-terrain tires gripped like talons — my cue to floor the throttle across the apex before pitching the truck into an opposite, 90-degree left-hander. This is one swift predator.
Ford’s F-150 Raptor invented the off-road performance space and is the standard by which off-road production trucks are judged. But the 6,000-pound, sand-eating king of the desert might be better understood as a T-Rex.
The 5,325-pound Ranger Raptor is a velociraptor all right.
Lighter and more nimble than its stablemate, the newest member of the Raptor brood is a capable — and relatively affordable — entry into the Raptor family. That includes the Bronco Raptor, the most versatile of the herd, with tools like ginormous 37-inch tires and detached sway bar. But all that hardware means Bronco Raptor tips the scales at 5,764 pounds and empties your wallet of $91K. Another T-Rex.
Up a hill into the Oquirrh Mountains, my $57,065 Ranger Raptor ($34K less than Brother Bronc, which, ahem, is the price of a 2024 Ford Mustang) carved up a deep trail before tiptoeing along a narrow ridge overlooking the breathtaking Salt Lake valley. Tiptoeing isn’t as easy in Bronco and F-150 Raptors. At over 80 inches wide, these T-Rexes legally require three amber safety lights normally reserved for heavy-duty trucks.
Can you fit that in your garage? I can’t.
The 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor has four-wheel-drive and special Fox shocks for off-roading. Ford, Ford
I can’t wait to take Ranger Raptor through the narrow canyons of Holly Oaks north of Detroit. Or the concrete canyons of downtown Detroit. The pickup is based, of course, on the all-new Ranger, a midsize truck that will fit in your garage or your company’s parking garage, and won’t take out the ordering kiosk in a fast-food drive-thru. I say “based on” because Ranger Raptor shares Ranger’s interior upgrade including digital displays, 12-inch console screen, wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, wireless charging, the works.
It also shares Ranger’s expanded wheelbase, which was ordered up with Raptor in mind. With the front axle pushed toward the front bumper, the Raptor boasts a 33-degree approach angle and an elongated engine bay to fit a longer V-6 engine like the 405-horsepower, twin-turbo V-6 the Ranger Raptor shares with the Bronco T-Rex — er, Raptor.
Over a series of moguls, I pushed the Ranger a little too hard (easy to do with 405 horses at the other end of the reins) and the pickup porpoised, but with no consequence thanks to the combination of approach angle, 10.7-inch ground clearance and the Raptor family’s secret sauce — live-valve Fox shocks.
An engineering marvel, the shocks quickly adapt to changing terrain. That capability offers a variety of modes from SPORT to OFF-ROAD to BAJA, with the last really loosening up the suspension for the Performance School’s punishing courses.
The 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor is controlled with a 10-speed automatic and digital displays. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Owners should jump at the chance to explore the Raptor’s envelope. The Utah facility has been free to Raptor owners since 2020 (buy your own ticket and hotel, and the playground is yours for a day) and opens up to Ranger Raptor owners this summer.
Ford has made an international name with supercars like the Le Mans-winning Ford GT and Baja-winning, 720-horsepower F-150 Raptor R supertruck. But it’s accessible performance vehicles like the Fiesta ST and Mustang GT — and, now, Ranger Raptor — that have endeared it to fans everywhere.
My neighbor tracks his Mustang GT at Waterford and Gingerman. Mustang owners have the opportunity to track their sportscars for free at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s banked oval. And now here comes a trinity of Raptor bruisers pumped with off-road steroids so you can conquer everything from Silver Lake sand dunes in west Michigan to Drummond Island in the U.P. to Holly Oaks.
I’m partial to the latter because it’s so accessible to Metro Detroit, and because Holly is home to all manner of off-road talent including Raptor rivals like the Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro and Chevy Colorado ZR2.
Don’t ask me to pick between them. Competition breeds excellence, and these vehicles are worthy rivals. While the TRD Pro leans toward rock crawling, the ZR2 — which debuted in 2017 — goes head-to-head with the Raptor with bespoke Multimatic spool-valve shocks and impressive high-speed hijinks. And these are hardly trailer queens.
Detroit News auto critic Henry Payne flogged the 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor at Ford’s Utah Performance School. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
I arrived at the Ford Performance School the same way owners will get to work every day: via a quiet road drive. The quiet is notable compared to the Bronco Raptor, which is inherently noisy thanks to its removable roof, doors and open plastic fenders.
The Ranger Raptor’s macho, by contrast, melted into the background on my 45-minute trip to Ford’s off-road playground. I dialed the meaty DRIVE MODE controller (shared by all Raptors) to NORMAL, set adaptive cruise control to 75 mph, and followed the Raptor train.
It’s a sight not unlike the pilgrimage off-road vehicle owners make to Holly Oaks on weekends. But, despite the huge all-terrain churning underneath me, I had an easy conversation with a media colleague riding shotgun. How far trucks have come.
Ranger Raptor also boasts the typical advantages of truck — like a five-foot bed out back that can swallow a couple of off-road bikes. Or the tow hitch out back that can drag a RZR side-by-side to the Outback with you. While we’re talking accessories, you also might want to buy a power washer for when your Raptor comes home dirty from off-road adventures.
The auto industry has seen unprecedented change in recent years with sedans giving way to SUVs, trucks competing with German brands in the luxury space, and governments forcing the industry to build electric vehicles. A lot of performance models have been lost in the shuffle, including the Fiesta and Focus ST lines.
The 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor comes with a 3.0-liter, twin-turbo V-6 shared with the Bronco Raptor. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
So its historic to see Ford bringing performance commitment to the truck/SUV space the same way they have built Mustang HiPos, GT350s and GT500s over the years. The Raptor lineup, from affordable Ranger to earth-shaking, $110K F-150 Raptor R, parallels the Mustang’s on-track terrors with off-road capability.
Who knows, maybe Maverick will join the Raptor family in the years ahead. As the Ranger proves, velociraptors are fierce no matter what size the package.
Next week: 2024 Lexus GX
2024 Ford Ranger Raptor
Vehicle type: Front-engine, four-wheel-drive, four-door pickup
Price: $57,065, including $1,595 destination charge ($59,045 as tested)
Powerplant: 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-6
Power: 405 horsepower, 450 pound-feet-torque
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph (NA); payload, 1,375 pounds; towing, 5,510 pounds
Weight: 5,323 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA est. 16 mpg city/18 highway/17 combined
Report card
Highs: Most affordable Raptor; good manners on- and off-road
Lows: Wardrobe not as fearsome as peers; better exhaust note, please
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Behind the wheel of the handsome, remade Ford Ranger
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 19, 2024
Salt Lake City, Utah — The midsize pickup wars are back with a vengeance. Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon, Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tacoma have all raised the bar by recently introducing all-new models.
But no pickup war is complete without Ford. Big Blue. The King of Trucks.
The 2024 Ford Ranger has answered the bell and it is the most stylish, high-tech, smooth-riding and expensive mid-size Ford pickup yet. It brings more powertrains, more models (including — drool — a Raptor beast), more clever tricks like corner-bumper steps and all-digital displays. Ford left the segment in 2011, committing resources to build aluminum-bodied, full-sized F-150s. When it returned eight loooong years later, its entry was rushed, plastic, not fully baked.
The 2024 Ranger feels like the mid-sizer Ford wanted to build for the last decade. It’s a proper bridge between the popular, starter-kit Maverick and the F-150 patriarch.
Full-size pickups like F-150 are the Swiss Army knives of the automotive world, and Ranger’s big brother has dominated the class for over 40 years. Full-sizers tow your boat up north, transport the basketball team, haul mulch, chew trails and carry hunting dogs.
But I prefer midsize pickup trucks. Call them micro-Swiss Army knives.
Maybe it’s because they fit in my garage. Or because they only take up one space in the parking lot. Or can get through tight spaces at Holly Oaks ORV park.
I tore up a winding road through the Wasatch Mountains here, the Ranger ensuring confidence as I navigated roads with guardrail-less vertical drops. “The Ranger is the best-driving pickup I’ve ever had,” says my friend Jim of his 2019 model.
The ’24 adds 2 inches of wheelbase and 2 inches of track width to make the pickup even more sure-footed. But that length isn’t all about handling. While competitors have shrunk their engine choices to 4-bangers to satisfy government emissions nannies, Ranger (via shrewd product management that collects emissions credits with Lightning EVs and Maverick hybrids) is giving customers want they want: more engines.
The 2024 Ford Ranger is quiet and easy to drive on-road. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
With two more inches of wheelbase to play with, the Ranger can now stuff in a longitudinal, 2.7-liter V-6 right out of big brother F-150, a major upgrade for the ‘24 model year. And that’s even before you get to the 3.0-liter turbo-V-6 that the top-drawer, $57K Ranger Raptor shares with the $91K Bronco Raptor. The rowdy Ranger Raptor is a whole ‘nother chapter, so I’ll review that separately in Thursday’s Drive section.
The 2.7-liter V-6 will come later this year, but, in the meantime, the base 2.3-liter 4-cylinder mill (shared with the entry-level Mustang) provides plenty of punch. I nailed it up Wasatch’s steep slopes, its twin rear pipes letting out a growl.
While engine options expand, others narrow. In contrast to segment sales leader Toyota Tacoma, Ford has opted to offer Ranger in one, four-door cab size (SuperCrew), one box size (five-foot), one transmission (10-speed automatic, no manual). Want more choices? Check out the Maverick and F-150.
Designers have translated Ranger’s larger dimensions into more sophisticated styling. Like F-150, Ranger gets a bold, horizontal face graphic that bisects the grille and headlights, forming a C-clamp headlight. We are family. Combined with a sculpted, rear tailgate, the design conveys a more planted Ranger — versus the last-gen model that always looked like it was on tippy-toe.
Ranger learns from little brother, too. Wee Maverick is generous at managing interior space, and Ranger adds clever touches like better forward console storage, cubby space below the glovebox, and fold-flat rear seats so you can more easily store, say, suitcases or shopping boxes.
Unfortunately, rear seat room didn’t benefit from the wheelbase extension: interior measurements remain the same. That means a tight fit for six-footers, but — thanks to useful scalloping in the back of the front seats — my knees breathe easier.
Ford even took ergonomic lessons from — gasp! — General Motors and now options corner steps so you can more easily access the bed.
Ford has always been a leader on tech, and the 2024 Ranger gets to share in the big-screen fun had by Mustang Mach-E and F-150. The base XL model comes with digital screens while XLT, Lariat and Raptor models option a 12-inch center screen.
Options, options, options. Jeez, pickup trucks are becoming like Porsche sports cars.
My XLT had separate option packages for its black Sport trim, adaptive cruise control, four-wheel-drive system, 17-inch wheels, tow hook, screen and sliding rear window. Well, at least the steering wheel comes standard.
All that nickel ‘n’ diming added up to $825-a-month lease or $49,265 in cash — a whopping 15 grand over the base price, which itself is six grand higher than the outgoing, $28,895, 2023 model. And my XLT still had a standard turn-key ignition starter.
Sure, the old, two-door base model is gone and electronics have been significantly upgraded – but a $27k Honda Civic Sport will deliver a suite of standard push-button start, adaptive cruise control and wireless smartphone app connectivity.
Like performance sports cars, like performance pickups. Watch your wallet.
In a Utah field softened up by months of heavy snow, my tester sank into the soil. As I grunted around in rear-wheel drive, the Ranger sank further into the soil. 4×4 to the rescue.
I punched 4H on the console-mounted mode dial, and the Ranger hooked up all four wheels, delivering 400 pound-feet of torque to the grippy all-terrain tires. Suddenly, Ranger was as sure-footed as if on asphalt and I explored more deeply into the soggy terrain. I could have dialed up the grip further by engaging 4-low and a rear locker (you guessed it, another option package).
A FX4 package will add further underbody armor and Lariat, of course, options goodies like leather seats and an exterior chrome package. But my XLT Sport tester is the sweet spot once loaded with essential safety features and 12-inch screen.
A decade ago, I couldn’t sit in Mustang cloth seats for more than two hours without suffering discomfort. In the Ranger I could have gone for hours in the agreeable cloth buckets.
I zipped back down the mountains on I-210 towards Salt Lake at 75 mph in adaptive cruise control. Utah’s highways can be curvy affairs through the canyons, and I passed an F-150 on my way. Sharing good looks, vertical digital screens and interior comfort (as well as V-6 engines and Raptor models), the two Fords made a nice pair of Swiss Army knives.
2024 Ford Ranger
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear and four-wheel-drive, four-door pickup truck
Price: $34,265, including $1,595 destination charge ($49,250, 2.3-liter, 4×4 XLT as tested)
Powerplant: 2.3-liter turbocharged inline-4 cylinder; 2.7-liter turbocharged V-6 (available summer 2024)
Power: 270 horsepower, 310 pound-feet torque (4-cylinder); 315 horsepower, 400 pound-feet torque (V-6)
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.5 seconds (est.); Payload, 1,711-1,805 pounds; Towing, 7,500 pounds
Weight: 4,415 pounds (4×4 as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA est. 21 MPG city/25 highway/22 combined (RWD, 2.3L); 20 MPG city/24 highway/22 combined (4×4, 2.3L)
Report card
Highs: More engine options; major exterior/interior upgrades
Lows: Rear seat still tight; gets pricey
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Sailing the screen-tastic Lincoln Nautilus land yacht
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 19, 2024
Palm Springs — Welcome to the 2024 Lincoln Nautilus. Call it the Lincoln Not-like-any-cabin-you’ve-seen-before.
A handsome, high-definition 48-inch screen wraps the front cabin from A-pillar to A-pillar. Like the twin screen sitting on your office desktop, its expanded space allows you to run multiple applications. Which means you can keep your eyes on the road while scanning information including speed, navigation map, Sirius XM channels, range and more.
Cruising hands-free in Blue Cruise down Interstate 10, I rested my hands on my knees and settled back in the comfy leather thrones. Ahhh, a comfortable day at the office.
With its emphasis on quiet luxury (current slogan: “Power of Sanctuary”), Lincoln has been about comfortable cabins rather than carving corners. Let Bimmer, Alfa and Caddy fly around Nürburgring setting lap records, Lincoln wants to fly you First Class. Now, with its Lincoln Digital Experience, the brand has created a high-tech environment to rival other transformative interiors from Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQS and Cadillac Lyriq.
I first saw a pillar-to-pillar design on the Byton M-Byte, a Chinese electric vehicle, at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show. It was a showstopper. Byton promised its 48-inch jumbotron would come to market in 2020. Didn’t happen.
With Nautilus, this is Lincoln’s chance to shine. At a dealer in North Miami Beach recently, I heard audible gasps from customers as they opened the Nautilus doors. I haven’t seen butts jump into seats so fast since the Model S screen wowed at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show.
Tesla opened boutique stores at high-end malls (think Somerset) across the country so casual shoppers could try on their interiors as easily as fitting pants at J.McLaughlin. Lincoln, which has dabbled in the boutique store market, should do the same.
The 48-inch display works as well in practice as it looks. Like a TV screen paired with remote control, the touchless jumbotron is controlled via a console-mounted 11-inch tablet. Lincoln’s native navi system is run by Google — like Android Auto — and either can be used in the panoramic display’s center.
“Hey, Google, navigate to Idyllwild,” I barked, and the route populated the command tablet and megascreen. I gripped the wheel and eased into Palm Springs traffic for my trip to the San Jacinto Mountains.
The simple steering wheel (Tesla simple and square like a Corvette C8) is slick. It’s squared-off so as not to obstruct the megascreen. Like a head-up display, instrument and navigation information is always in your line of sight. The wheel’s simple interface is anchored by twin touchpads (Tesla uses scroll wheels): volume on the right, adaptive cruise control to the left. It shames over-engineered, button-infested wheels like Mercedes.
My instinct was to glance at the closer console pad for directions, but, with time, my eyes focused on the big screen. Its right half contains three more “pages,” which I filled with radio, trip information and clock. Want to change the selection to include tire pressure? Simply drag ‘n’ drop the icon on the command screen and — bingo! — it’s mirrored on the megascreen. A muscular Qualcomm chip makes for smartphone-fast touch speeds, a key to Tesla’s early popularity.
Also like Tesla, the Lincoln system is so cool you forgive Nautilus its dissonate notes.
Lincoln’s engine lineup is weak compared to competitors like Genesis and Mercedes (more on that later). Blue Cruise drive assist is sketchy — turning off multiple times during my interstate test. And there’s a wonky Drive Mode button on the console that doesn’t actually control the modes — it just gives you access to them in the command screen. It’s an awkward process not unlike Tesla’s two-button chore to open the glovebox. Happily, most Lincoln drivers will rarely use SPORT mode. Nautilus is no BMW M4.
Like the Bimmer, however, Nautilus is gas-powered. Lincoln teased a Star Concept EV two years ago, but has resisted the Sirens’ call to full-electrification like other small premium brands. Instead of tearing up its playbook, Lincoln’s refining it.
Nautilus’s state-of-the-art interior is executed atop a familiar gas-powered drivetrain lineup. Customers (Nautilus is part of an SUV family including Corsair, Aviator and Navigator) prize the “utility” in sports utility vehicle for summer trips up north or out west.
For all of Tesla’s innovation, the Silicon Valley brand copied Lincoln’s electronic button transmission for its 2024 Model 3 Highland. Tesla’s shifter buttons, naturally, are in the screen, whereas Lincoln offers hard buttons on the console. I played them like piano keys, shifting the DRIVE button with my middle finger and the REVERSE button with my forefinger as I backed in and out of a parking space.
The 2024 Lincoln Nautilus can compliment its big screens with striking materials and a quiet cabin. Henry Payne, The Detroit NewsOnce on the road, my hybrid turbo-4 cylinder purred along — a distant heartbeat from the hush-quiet cabin wrapped in acoustic glass and insulation. Despite the premium ride, the engine is Nautilus’s weak link.
The base 2.0-liter sounds like the Ford Escape egg-beater it’s shared with, and the hybrid lacks the visceral authority of a Detroit machine. Genesis, Acura, BMW — even Mazda’s premium CX-70/CX-90 — offer six-cylinder mills. Lincoln follows Lexus to hybrid fours, and it’s worth the $1,500 upcharge over the base engine. Coupled with a smooth CVT transmission, the battery provides good low-rev torque-fill to offset turbo lag.
Also worth the extra cents are the seven cabin scents on offer.
The electronic scent cartridges — standard Mystic Forest, Ozonic Azure, Violet Cashmere and additional Cloud Balsam, Serene Seashore, Twilight Embers and Sunlight Retreat — are loaded, three at a time, into a hidden chamber beneath the armrest. I hesitated at dispensing them, fearing my cabin would be doused in incense.
But the odors were mild and pleasant and complemented my refreshing interstate drive.
Passengers will enjoy the ride, too, as Nautilus offers best-in-class rear legroom (43.1 inches) and a giant panoramic roof so they can enjoy the treetops/sky/stars overhead. The hybrid’s 600-mile range will get you to Mackinaw City and back without ever having to stop at a gas station. Or, ahem, sit at an electric charger.
This rolling yacht is wrapped in a bold Lincoln exterior, including soft-squeeze, Packard-like door handles along the shoulder line. Mirroring the brand’s signature horizontal rear taillight, the front LED lamp now wraps ‘round the front. Lincoln also is hell on wheels (remember the turbine wheels on the Navigator?) and offers head-turning 22s that come with the Jet Package.
Big as it is, Nautilus sweats the little things.
Start with the door handles, then note the no-cap gas filler and double-pull hood tab under the dash so you don’t have to fish around the engine bay for the hood latch.
Buy it and you’ll be that guy giving neighbors interior tours.
Next week: 2024 Ford Ranger
2024 Lincoln Nautilus
Vehicle type: Gas-powered, all-wheel drive, five-passenger luxury SUV
Price: $52,210, including $1,595 destination charge (as tested)
Powerplant: 2.0-liter, turbocharged inline 4-cylinder; hybrid-electric drivetrain with 2.0-liter, turbocharged inline 4-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed transmission (2.0L); CVT (hybrid)
Weight: 4,517 pounds (hybrid, as tested)
Power: 250 horsepower, 280 pound-feet torque (2.0L); 295 horsepower, 310 pound-feet torque (hybrid)
Performance: 0-60 mph, NA; towing, 1,750 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA est. 21 city/29 highway/24 combined (2.0L); 30 city/31 highway/30 combined (2.0L);
Report card
Highs: Inspired interior tech, roomy, detailed design
Lows: Uninspired 4-cylinder engine lineup; Blue Cruise a work-in-progress
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne
Payne: Behind the (stalkless) wheel of the redesigned Tesla Model 3
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 7, 2024
Troy — The 2024 Tesla Model 3 is the sedan’s first major update and you have questions.
Did it get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto? Nope.
Sirius XM? Nope.
AM radio? Nope.
A head-up display? Nah.
More rear legroom? Nada.
A glovebox button? Negative.
Plastic surgery so its Lord Voldemort face doesn’t keep you up at night? Yup.
A quieter cabin? You bet.
The latter two answers will be welcomed by the Teslerati, and were pleasing upgrades for this (two-time) Model 3 owner. How time flies. It’s been six years since the Model 3 hit the market after a chaotic manufacturing process to meet off-the-chart demand. Codenamed Highland, the ‘24 Model 3 is Tesla’s first chance to tidy up some details.
The dimensions of the 2024 Tesla Model 3 Highland are little changed as the car relishes its simple, iPhone look. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The quieter cabin was immediately apparent as I zipped out of Troy’s Somerset Collection for a test drive. Tesla says noise, vibration and harshness — NVH — have improved by 20%. Credit upgrades like laminated glass on all windows, improved door-sill sealing, suspension tweaks and upgraded Michelin E-Primacy tires.
The streamlined face is pleasing, even as it erases signature features like the heavy-eyebrow LED running lights. Everything but the doors and quarter panels are new (even aero wheel covers), adding up to aerodynamic efficiencies that help increase range to 341 miles — but you might not notice if you were just strolling by. Tesla makes smartphones on wheels, and is more focused on software upgrades than physical appearance (I honestly can’t remember the design differences between my last two Android smartphones).
Since its debut, Model 3 has marched to the beat of its own drummer. This is a car obsessed with simplification. Heck, Tesla even wants to get rid of you on its path to full self-driving.
So instead of answering basic questions (no AM radio? Really?) Model 3 asks new ones. Like: who needs steering wheel stalks?
The 2024 Tesla Model 3 Highland features new aero wheels.Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The original Model 3 consolidated functions onto the wheel and 15.4-inch center screen. Shift gears? Use the right-hand shift stalk. Turn signal? Left stalk. Everything else — mirrors, volume, adaptive cruise control — was on the steering wheel or screen.
Now the stalks are gone — following big brother Model S, which ditched stalks in 2021.
I shifted gears in the left screen margin: swipe UP for DRIVE, down for REVERSE, press P for PARK, N for NEUTRAL. Kinda’ like Lincoln dash buttons, and a distraction from the road. So are the turn signals, now accessed via buttons on the left of the steering wheel. Rather than adopt raised buttons like a Chevy or Kia, turn signal buttons are flat, requiring your eyes leave the road to find them. If the screen blacks out and you can’t shift? Tesla added redundant shifter buttons behind the rear-view mirror.
It’s a step back in the name of simplification. Other functions sacrificed to stalk removal are adaptive cruise and Autopilot, which now are in the right-side steering wheel roller. Voice commands and windshield wipers are now … less convenient buttons on the wheel.
2024 Tesla Model 3 Highland moves its shift buttons into the screen. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Two steps forward, two steps back. But the EV GOAT remains as compelling as ever.
After Elon Musk debuted the Model 3 in Los Angeles in February 2016, a flood of 250,000 pre-orders followed from buyers who laid down $1,000 — including this curious auto reviewer.
That demand brought production pressures that nearly crushed the young company. Musk called the next two years “production hell.” The company put up a tent in its Fremont, California, factory parking lot to meet demand. Thousands of 3s had to be repaired due to paint shop glitches. Vehicles suffered gaffes like panel gaps the size of the Rio Grande, bumpers that fell off, and screens that went black.
And yet.
The car was futuristic. Unlike anything we’d seen. Blistering acceleration, constant over-the-air updates like Navigate on Autopilot, bespoke charging network, online, no-haggle ordering. Buyers not only coveted the 3, its popularity spawned an even more popular Model Y SUV version. The 3 is the best-selling luxury car in the market, and the 12th best-selling vehicle in America.
Assuming you could put up with that Voldemort mug. I ordered my cars in black to diminish the nose.
Merging onto Big Beaver, I stomped the throttle and the entry-level 3,891-pound, rear-wheel-drive model darted forward. Ahhh, sweet electric torque.
2024 Tesla Model 3 Highland has a new rear diffuser. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
It was noticeably livelier than the porky 5,200-pound Chevy Blazer EV I recently drove. In addition to the quieter cabin, the suspension upgrades make Model 3 feel tighter next to my 2019 Performance model. The all-wheel-drive Performance version of the Highland will arrive later — when it does, I’ll take it on track to see if the tighter steering translates to better corner-carving.
I’m a fan of the 3’s iPhone-simple horizontal interior anchored by a jumbotron screen. The ‘24 Highland brings upscale updates like a thinner screen bezel, heated/cooled seats and square-bottom steering wheel so I can more easily slide my long legs into the seat. The interior has been reskinned with trendy cloth inserts (replacing last gen’s wood accents) and a more organized center console that includes two standard wireless charging ports. Most noticeable is ambient lighting that circles the cabin and can be adjusted to the color of your choice.
Other hardware updates include crisper cameras, which help for backing into parking spaces (unless you just let the car park for you), and 17 speakers for better sound quality.
The user interface is the same, and I navigated the screen and its familiar controls.
At a Michigan turn on Big Beaver, I reached for the turn stalk, grabbing at thin air. Oh, yes — where are those turn signal buttons? Actuating adaptive cruise control was easier, as I punched the right scroll wheel with my thumb.
The 2024 Tesla Model 3 Highland has redundant shift buttons on the ceiling. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Blind-spot assist comes via a camera image in the screen (putting blind-spot lights in the mirrors would violate the simplification theme), just like the last gen.
Back-seat occupants may not gain legroom — but they do get their own 8-inch screen, which includes temperature controls, heated seat controls, access to Netflix shows and a valet mode so you can move the front passenger seat forward. It’s a small but mighty screen.
The console of the 2024 Tesla Model 3 Highland has been reworked with twin smartphone charging docks. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
All that standard equipment makes the Tesla a deal at $40,380. While the Model 3 still hasn’t hit its promised $35,000 mark from 2017, it’s satisfying to get this wealth of goo-gaws without being nickel-and-dimed like other luxury brands.
Save for Full Self-Driving capability, which will set you back, ahem, $12,000.
Next week: 2024 Lexus GX
2024 Tesla Model 3 Highland
Vehicle type: Electric, rear- and-all-wheel-drive, five-passenger luxury sedan
Price: $40,380, including $1,390 destination charge (as tested)
Powerplant: 80.5-kWh lithium-ion battery with electric motor(s) drive
Transmission: Single-speed transmission
Weight: 3,891 pounds (RWD, as tested); 4,030 pounds for long-range battery, AWD model
Power: NA
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.8 seconds, RWD as tested (mfr.); 4.2 seconds (AWD)
Fuel economy: EPA est. range, 272–341 miles
Report card
Highs: More attractive, simplified fascias; quieter cabin
Lows: Distracting screen button shifter; no AM radio, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Five things about the Dodge Charger Daytona EV
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 5, 2024
Detroit — The popular, rear-wheel-drive, V8-powered Dodge Challenger coupe and Challenger sedan are no more. Victims of American governments’ carbon dioxide-emissions targets aimed at forcing the electrification of the U.S. auto industry.
In their place is the all-new Dodge Charger coupe and sedan.
As the industry grapples with the EV transition over the next 10 years, many manufacturers are building parallel gas and electric model lines on separate internal combustion engine and electric platforms to gauge consumer reaction and comply with tightening regulations. Think the Chevy Equinox ICE and Equinox EV. Or the gas-fired Chevy Blazer and Blazer EV. The Hyundai Ioniq 5, 6 and 7 models parallel the gas-powered Hyundai Tucson, Santa Fe and Palisade.
But with an eye on efficiency, the Charger represents parallel EV and gas model lines – built on the same STLA Large platform. In addition to a fully-electric, single-or-dual-motor, battery “skateboard” drivetrain, the flexible architecture can accommodate front, rear, and all-wheel-drive gas and gas-hybrid drivetrains as well.
This week, Dodge took the wraps off its first model to be built on the STLA Large platform, the electric 2024 Charger Daytona R/T and Scat Pack (the gas-fired 2024 Charger models will follow later). Here are five things to know about Dodge’s first EV.
1) R-wing and Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust: You’ll know the electric Charger Daytona by these signature external features. Dodge is a brand that knows its history, and the R-wing harkens back to the famed 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona that stunned the NASCAR world with its 220-mph top speed and innovative aerodynamics that included a nose cone (R-wing) for added downforce. The feature won’t be included on the gas-powered Charger — thus the “Daytona” badge will only apply to the electric Charger.
The Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust is a sort of electronic organ hanging under the rear of the car (instead of the gas model’s exhaust) that will synthesize the sound of electric motors and a V-8 engine in order to provide a sonic experience as loud as that of the iconic Dodge Hellcat’s V-8.
2) The concept is the production car: “The Dodge Charger SRT Daytona Banshee concept was the production car hiding in plain sight,” said Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis at the Charger Daytona reveal, referring to the sleek concept that bowed in August 2022 and has made the auto show circuit since. The top-drawer, 800-plus-horsepower production SRT Daytona Banshee won’t arrive until 2025, but its all-wheel-drive, 496-horse R/T and 670-horsepower Scat Pack model predecessors are identical in size and shape. Compared to the concept, the roofline is slightly higher, the track a bit narrower and the mirrors bigger. Same hatchback, R-wing, Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust.
A3) Electrifying features. Battery power brings other novel features to Dodge buyers. Behind that R-wing is a frunk (where the twin-turbo, V-6 Hurricane engine will be located in gas models) to give customers 1.5 cubic feet more storage in addition to the expanded 22.7 cubes of cargo space (35% more than the outgoing Charger) under the rear hatch. Rear cargo space can be further enhanced by flattening the rear seats. The Charger Daytona’s 100.5 kWh battery also brings big torque and weight gains (the 5,838-pound Scat Pack is a staggering 1,500 pounds heavier than its V8-powered predecessor and the same girth as a four-wheel-drive, V8-powered Ram 1500 truck) so every Charger will be outfitted with all-wheel-drive, 12-inch front/12.8-inch rear tires, and regenerative braking to help ginormous, 16-inch Brembo rotors (Scat Pack option) bring the three-ton behemoth to a stop.
4) A touch of lux. The original, 1966 Charger was positioned not only as a brawny alternative to Ford’s Mustang but as a sophisticated coupe aimed at the Olds Toronado and Ford Thunderbird. While the 2024 Charger EV has plenty of muscle — the 660-horse Scat Pack’s 3.3 second 0-60 spring is quicker than a 797-horse Dodge Charger Hellcat Redeye, for goodness sake — its gorgeous digital tablet displays, all-wheel-drive and hatchback design have more in common with a Tesla Model S or Audi A7. Even its mail-slot front grille echoes the original Charger.
No doubt the premium play tracks the EV demographic, which tends to shop in the lux segment. Though Dodge won’t talk price until closer to its mid-year production launch, expect a lux-like $50,000-$90,000 price range.
5) Charging. The Achilles Heel of electric vehicles is range anxiety and the 317-mile and 260-mile range of the R/T and Scat Pack, respectively, pale next to the 426 and 569-mile range of their 6.4-liter and 5.7-liter V-8 predecessors. The 400-volt platform can add 190 miles of charge in 27 minutes; the gas cars fill up in two.
Given the premium customer focus of the Charger EV line, however, Dodge may figure customers will use a gas-powered vehicle in their garage (a three-row Durango SRT Hellcat, maybe?) for long trips. But when Charger EV buyers do hit the road, they will have a Tom Tom navigation system to help plot their course — including charging stops — just like Tesla’s system, said Dodge user experience chief Brad Gieske.
The Charger EV promises Model S-like straight-line performance combined with a familiar Dodge visceral experience. Whether Dodge’s vaunted “Brotherhood of Muscle” will warm to it remains to be seen. But Dodge is banking on it to attract new buyers to the brand.
Tesla owners looking for more attitude perhaps?
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne
Payne: The rocky EV transition and why I rented a gas car from Hertz in Florida
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 5, 2024
Naples, Florida — As automakers transition to electric vehicles over the next few years under U.S. government mandates, rental lots offer a microcosm of what the market impact may look like.
So far it’s been a rocky road.
I own a Tesla Model 3, but when it came to renting a car from Hertz while on vacation in Florida this winter, I chose a gas-powered Chevy Malibu. I’m not alone. Hertz — like General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., Volkswagen AG and other automakers — has been aggressive about moving to an all-electric fleet, only to run up against high costs and customer resistance compared to their gas-fired models.
When it comes to renting a car, internal combustion engines are more convenient, less stressful, more time efficient. Like big automakers, Hertz — the largest rental car company in the United States — has responded by scaling back its ambitions.
Hertz went all in on EVs last year with plans to make battery-powered vehicles 25% of its fleet (330,000 vehicles) by the end of 2024. The company cited EV advantages that include cheaper maintenance, better depreciation costs, city mandates that ride-share services be all-electric, and big federal Inflation Reduction Act subsidies that qualified each EV Hertz purchases for a $7,500 tax credit.
“Hertz is investing in the largest EV rental fleet in North America,” Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr said in New York last fall. “New York City (is) a natural accelerator for the most significant transformation that’s happened in the auto industry in a century.”
But in practice, EVs have proven problematic for rental customers. New Yorker Lydia Moore, 61, took her first trip in a Chevrolet Bolt she and her wife rented from Hertz in February last year to drive upstate for a weekend. She did not enjoy the experience.
“It was horrible,” she said. “We loved the car, but didn’t know how many miles we could go and where we would charge. The car became the focus of our trip.”
Moore and her wife, Lynn, don’t own an automobile and regularly rent gas vehicles from Hertz in Manhattan. But when they entered their usual 48th Street Midtown location, only electrics were available. “We asked for a gas car, but they only had EVs,” Moore recalled.
Their first charging stop was at a 240-volt, alternating-current Blink charger where they plugged in for two hours and only gained 10% of charge. At the end of the weekend, they found a direct-current fast charger on their way back into Manhattan so they could recharge the car to 75% as required by Hertz’s return policy.
“The charger’s operation was difficult to understand, and we were outside in driving rain,” said Moore. “One side of the chargers didn’t work, and when we tried the other port we had to reset it. It caused us serious trauma.”
They took another weekend trip to Hawley, Pennsylvania, in September, and once again Hertz only had battery power on offer. This time they got a Tesla Model 3 and its accompanying charging network, which made for less range anxiety. “The Tesla worked better but it still takes hours out your life,” said Moore.
In addition to owning Model 3s, I have also rented Teslas from Hertz while traveling on my own. But when it came to renting for Mrs. Payne and me on a Florida getaway, I walked past rows of EVs that included 250-mile plus range Teslas, Ford Mustang Mach-Es, Kia EV6s and Volkswagen ID.4s for a gas-powered Chevy Malibu in Hertz’s President’s Club lot at Ft. Myers airport. Attendants told me EVs are rarely chosen by customers.
In addition to local Naples travel, our packed five days in Florida included trips to Sarasota and Miami. I didn’t want to have to calculate where we’d charge (we would ultimately cover 510 miles) or check with the hotel if they had a charger for overnight (they didn’t), or make one last, long stop on the way to the airport to fill up.
On my way to Miami in the Malibu, for example, I pumped in 328 miles of fuel (from 118 miles to a full 446) in one minute. A Kia EV6, one of the industry’s fastest-charging vehicles with an 800-volt platform, claims it can add 210 miles in 18 minutes on a 350 kW charger.
Mickey Citerala, 36, of Boulder, Colorado, had a memorable adventure when he rented a 232-mile range Kia EV6 at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers for a family Christmas in Naples.
The zippy, roomy SUV fit his family of five — including three kids 8, 5 and 2 years old — nicely, including luggage, but finding charging in Naples was a challenge. An Electrify America DC fast charger wasn’t working properly, so he had to settle for a 240-volt AC charger at Target, which took 13 hours to charge overnight and required Citerala to Uber back and forth from his in-laws’ apartment.
He eventually discovered a more convenient charger three miles away at a Cadillac dealership. An avid runner, he planned his charging around a jog to the beach and back. He would put 800 miles on the Kia during his visit, including daily travel, roundtrips to the airport, and the big test: a 400-mile family trip across state to Orlando to visit amusement parks.
“The Orlando trip made me nervous,” said Citerala, who enjoys driving EVs and started the journey with 100% of charge. “I wondered if we would make it because there was a lot of traffic and the temperature was getting hotter.” Battery range is sensitive to temperature as well as speed.
He made it to Orlando with just 10% of charge left. Using a handful of smartphone charging apps, he found a DC charger in a mall near their hotel (which did not have overnight charging).
Like Moore, Citerala said he’d likely choose a gas car for future trips, though he’d also be willing to rent a Tesla for its superior charging network. “With an EV, you need to plan the trip around charging the car,” he said. “With gas, it just takes minutes to fill.”
Government rules are fast making it prohibitive for manufacturers to offer that choice. California (and 14 other states including New York) will ban new gas-powered car sales by 2035 with the federal government not far behind — with a proposed rule mandating that 67% of sales be EV by 2032. Under pressure from the United Auto Workers and auto dealers (who, like Hertz, have seen EVs sit on their lots), the Biden administration may relax its EV goals, according to news reports.
“It’s a concession driven by both politics and by a market reality that is increasingly hard to deny,” said Michigan economist Patrick Anderson, CEO of the Anderson Economic Group, which studies gas vs. EV costs. “Right now, electric vehicle drivers like me are lucky to see two-thirds of the public chargers working. It is foolish to think two-thirds of Americans are going to trade in their reliable gas-powered vehicles for an EV when the charging network is so feeble. “
The fines are piling up fast. Stellantis and GM have already paid hundreds of millions of dollars for not meeting emissions targets, and — beginning in 2026 — California (and 14 other states, including New York) will require that 35% of automaker sales be battery-powered. Failure to meet that goal will set them back $20,000 per vehicle if they are below that threshold, with the required proportion rising to 68% by 2030.
Just 17% of California sales were electric in 2023 — 72% of them Tesla. Non-Tesla EV sales are just 5%, with 50% of EV buyers, according to S&P Global, returning to a gas car when they go back into the market.
Hertz EVs charging at the airport in Fort Myers, from left: Chevy Bolt, Polestar 2 and Tesla Model 3. In a sign of low demand for battery-powered rentals, some customers report finding only electrics available to rent at Hertz outlets. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
In recent months, Hertz has begun selling off its EV fleet and New Yorker Moore has noticed that Hertz’s Midtown lot has made more gas cars available.
“With a gas car, you just get in and go,” she said. “Refueling just takes five minutes at most.”
On my way back to the Fort Myers airport at vacation’s end, I stopped quickly to top up the Malibu. I didn’t need an app to find a gas station, the pumps worked, and a minute later I was back on my way.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Michigan Tries Crazy
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 1, 2024
AP Photo/Al Goldis
Detroit – Michigan is accelerating an expensive, green economic transition modeled after California. As the state loses population, auto jobs exit, and utility rates climb, however, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer says the state has an advantage over its coastal peer: It won’t be under water from climate change.
“In the decades ahead, the effects of climate change will accelerate, and Michigan will be a climate refuge,” she said in laying out her business plan fresh off COVID policies that destroyed 94,500 jobs (the nation’s seventh worst).
The Great Lakes state, she continued, will be a haven for “climagrant” refugees as they flee submerged western and eastern seaboards.
Whitmer laid out her plan at the Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island last year – located in the straits that separate Lake Michigan from Lake Huron – where cars are banned and the primary transportation is horse and buggy. It is 270 miles – and a political chasm – from southeast Michigan’s auto-dependent, population center which is already feeling the effects of the Democratic Party’s climate agenda.
The Policy Conference’s Democratic and corporate elite set a blueprint for a zero-carbon, government-run economy with a focus on surviving in a post-Apocalyptic world allegedly destroyed by. . . the state’s bread-and-butter gas-powered automobiles. With Democrats in charge of every political institution– governor’s mansion, House, Senate, and Supreme Court – state leadership has embraced the Democratic Party’s War on Carbon.
Under California and US government regulation, the auto industry’s diverse drivetrain options are being socialized into one: battery-power. Popular gas models have already been eliminated – Chevy Camaro, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger, Ford Edge, Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator diesel models, and counting – as companies face billions in fines if they don’t conform with regulatory edicts.
The auto industry has become government’s marionette, dancing for billions in subsidies to pay for EVs that are sitting on dealer lots for over 100 days. Ford is converting its best-selling pickup truck, the F-150, to electric – introducing a Lightning EV model that debuted last year to media and political applause and projected sales of 150,000 a year.
It sold just 24,000 units as customers pondered a $57,000-$100,00 pickup that can’t tow a boat more than 100 miles. Production has been cut from three shifts to one.
The Detroit-based United Auto Workers, which have reflexively embraced the Party’s EV edicts, is suddenly urging elites to pause. According to the UAW’s own research director, Jennifer Kelly: “engine and transmissions jobs will be eliminated when we make a transition to electric vehicles. Electric, to me, is where the real risk is to our membership.”
The American First Policy Institute study estimated 117,00 job losses due to the forced EV transition with Michigan losing more than any other state (25,000). In Europe, where gas car bans are even more aggressive than in the US, Germany has hemorrhaged auto supplier jobs – from 310,000 in 2019 to 270,000 today as automakers have shifted to EVs and production has plunged.
“The move to EVs will require fewer jobs because there are fewer moving parts. It continues the automotive trend towards productivity, it’s not the way for the state to grow jobs,” said economist James Hohman, Director of Fiscal Policy for the Michigan-based Mackinac Center free market think tank. Since 2000, auto employment in Michigan has dropped from 315,000 to 166,850.
At a Metro Detroit campaign rally ahead of the February Michigan Presidential Primary, GOP candidate Donald Trump welcomed retired Ford autoworker Brian Pannebecker, founder of Autoworkers for Trump, on stage at a Metro Detroit rally – a symbol of rank-and-file workers disgruntled with UAW leadership’s embrace of the Democratic Party agenda.
EVs would also be increasingly expensive to charge as Whitmer & co. have committed to eliminating the fossil-fuel generation by 2040, including southeast Michigan’s largest coal-fired plant which will be decommissioned in 2032. The state’s residential utility costs have already shot up to 21 cents per kW – not far off California’s notoriously-high 25 cents.
“All this is being driven by electrification,” said Detroiter and Camaro owner James Martin, 62, who is also an auto industry consultant.
Whitmer’s climagrant speech was cheered by a Mackinac Policy Conference audience of corporate, government, Democratic Party, and media elites. Whitmer’s confidence is understandable – despite draconian COVID policies, she won re-election in a landslide in 2022, Democratic legislative majorities riding her coattails.
Organized by the Detroit Chamber of Commerce at the tony Grand Hotel, the conference is miles from Detroit’s gutted, inner-city neighborhoods that have struggled under decades of Democratic policies that have fueled family breakdown, the nation’s fifth-highest crime rate, and some of the country’s worst public schools. None of Detroit’s problems were on the Mackinac agenda. Instead, panels focused on climate change, equity, and electric cars.
Democratic elites once showered Detroit with billions from War on Poverty programs – now they shower rich suburbanites with $7,500 tax breaks to buy EVs.
The effects of Democrats’ War on Carbon are already opening state exits as Ford and GM (fueled by Inflation Reduction Act subsidies) have located battery plants in southern states with cheaper energy costs.
Whitmer allies tout – not the state’s economic climate – but its weather.
“Our relative stable weather is going to be a net benefit,” said Quentin Messer Jr., CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., in an interview with The Detroit News. “There will be parts of the Gulf South that will be uninhabitable, and the insurance rates for home insurance will be exorbitant. And people are going to begin to look to migrate back to the Great Lakes.”
Whitmer recruited Messer to the Chamber from New Orleans where he oversaw Hurricane Katrina cleanup in 2005. “Trust and believe,” Messer said, “that is something that’s going to happen over the next 10-15 years.”
Payne is auto columnist for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne
Road to Detroit GP: Young driver Rowe, engineer Gundlach talk about climbing the ladder
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 1, 2024
Detroit — When it roars into the city streets this June, the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear aims to seed future racers as well as celebrate current stars.
To that end, Penske Entertainment is working to build local infrastructure through schools and sponsors to expose youth to the loud, fast, and technical IndyCar circus. With sponsor Comerica Bank, the Grand Prix also makes the event’s opening Friday Detroit Free Prix Day to give families more access to the venue. Announcing Free Prix Day this week, Penske Entertainment brought drivers and engineers into Detroit classrooms, engaging students on the array of career opportunities that motorsports offers.
Rising stars Myles Rowe, Salvador de Alba, and IndyCar Arrows McLaren race engineer Kate Gundlach — all of whom will be competing at the Detroit GP — met with some 500 students across 20 Southeast Michigan high schools to talk about climbing the IndyCar ladder.
Rowe and Gundlach are trailblazers in the hyper-competitive world of motorsports. Rowe, an Atlanta native, is a rookie in the INDY NXT series this year. He’ll compete alongside his IndyCar idols — the next step in a fast career that saw him crowned the first African-American champion of the open-wheel USF2000 series last year.
Gundlach, a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh’s Formula SAE racing program, is a rare female engineer in a male-dominated sport. Both emphasized the importance of determination and networking in their professional rise.
“My dream was to be like (Formula One stars) Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton,” said Rowe, 23, who got his first taste of speed like a lot of people — renting go-karts at shopping centers. “I won a lot of rental go-kart races!”
Like Hamilton, Rowe didn’t come from wealth or a racing background like many drivers. But he had strong family support and got attention for his raw talent and discipline — including from Penske team driver Will Power.
“I came to learn that those corny phrases your parents always use — do your best, work hard — have so much more depth to them,” he told students from Detroit high schools including Fordson, Cass Tech, and Detroit Lions Academy. “It gave me the energy to be successful, to make my family proud.”
Rowe attracted sponsors that kick-started his racing career in the 2016 Lucas Oil Formula Car Race Series where he excelled — before the money ran out. He took a break from racing to get a college degree,
“Money is a critical part of this sport, that’s the reality,” he said. “I’ve had to get sponsors to cover the . . . financial capital for equipment and the constant travel. You have to be business savvy and communicate with people to make your opportunities.”
That savvy impressed Rod Reid, founder of the Force Indy racing team and NXG Youth Motorsports, a program that introduces students to careers in motorsports.
“Miles showed the mental capacity to perform well,” said Reid, who offered Rowe a seat on the Force Indy team when he graduated from college. “We gave him a test, and it was like he had never been out of a race car.”
Rowe won the 2023 USF2000 series, opening the door to his rookie year in INDY NXT — the AAA racing series that feeds IndyCar. Both he and Mexican driver de Alba — two-time winner of the Mexican NASCAR series — will be rookies on the Detroit GP INDY NXT grid.
Reed is adamant, however, that motorsports is not just about race jockeys. “At NXG we bring 11- to 15-year-old kids in to help understand what motorsports is all about,” he said. “We want to expose them to the opportunities and careers around the industry.”
Opportunities like engineer — of which there are three for each driver on an IndyCar grid.
Gundlach is the performance engineer for IndyCar superstar Pato O’Ward, one of the sport’s most recognizable faces and a Detroit GP inner in 2021. Gundlach works with O’Ward and a systems engineer and race engineer.
“I’m in charge of anything that makes him go fast,” Gundlach told students. “I’m his eyes in the sky for chassis behavior (and) making better torque to the wheels.”
Gundlahch got hooked on motorbikes at a young age before graduating to four-wheel racers where she found her calling in college.
“I wasn’t the best student in college, I struggled with the course load,” she said. “But I always showed up, always asked questions, and. . . my work ethic was high.”
She learned her craft on Pittsburgh’s SAE team that builds and races a car — then worked her way up through the pro ranks, eventually landing in IndyCar. “The best racing there is,” she smiled. She said the sport’s sophistication into carbon fiber is attracting new kinds of engineers from the aerospace industry as well as traditional auto trades schools like Lawrence Tech.
Performance engineer Kate Gundlach helped Arrow McLaren driver Pato O’Ward to his first IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix win in 2021. (Credit: Paul Sancya, AP)
Gundlach, Rowe, de Alba and the rest of the 34 annual Detroit GP circus will be on display for free, May 31, for Free Prix Day sponsored for the 11th year by Comerica. The GP is back in downtown Detroit for the second year in a row.
Visitors can watch the on-track action — NTT IndyCar series, INDY NXT, and IMSA Weathertech Sportscar practice — for free over half of 1.7-mile track layout, including the two most coveted viewing locations: Grandstands 1 and 9.
IMSA will race on Saturday while the INDY NXT and IndyCar feature races will be Sunday following Saturday qualifying. More information is available via DetroitGP.com/tickets.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne
Payne: Audi RS5: ‘RS’ for Rocket Ship
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 29, 2024
Detroit — Electronics have democratized the automobile, leveling the playing field between mainstream and luxury makes. Jump into an Audi RS5, for example, and cockpit controls are as familiar as the Chevy Malibu I just rented at Hertz.
Digital instruments display, tablet console screen, temperature controls, automatic T-shifter. Tap the phone icon and sync your smartphone using Bluetooth. Activate wireless Android Auto? Tap the screen, done. “Hey Google, take me to the Renaissance Center.” Scroll the AM, FM and Sirius XM radio station icons, set your favorites. Scroll between them using the steering wheel buttons.
So what separates a luxury performance sedan?
WAAUUUUUUURRRGGH! I nailed the throttle and let loose the 444 horsepower under the long hood in front of me. WAAUUUUUUURRRGGH! The horses gulped air through the RS5’s huge black maw, twin turbochargers stuffing the air into six cylinders, then exhaling through twin rear tailpipes the size of ship cannons. WAAUUUUUUURRRGGH! The Audi devoured landscape before an interstate cloverleaf rushed into view.
Brakes, please.
Six-piston calipers (painted red so you know they’re serious) sunk their teeth into massive 14.8-inch rotors, slowing the runaway missile. I spun the Alcantara-sheathed steering wheel, throwing the beast into the cloverleaf as the electronic differential threw torque to the outside wheel for more grip, performance Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires screaming to find traction on cold Michigan concrete.
That’s what you get for your $80K Audi RS5. RS for Rocket Ship.
Inject RS steroids into an A5 chassis and you have a serious competitor to class icon BMW M3. I’m an M2 missionary as the best four-seat performance car in the land (the modern equivalent to the classic 2000 M3 E46 I once owned), but the sensational coupe is, admittedly, limited in utility with its two doors and tight backseat room. The 2024 M3 gains four doors and three inches of rear legroom to make it a better family sedan, though the backseat remains tight for six-footers.
My class favorite is the ferocious 2024 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing with its 668-horsepower, supercharged V-8, 33-inch dash screen and additional two inches of rear legroom so you can pack in the whole family for its 3.6-second, 0-60 mph rollercoaster rides.
But the RS5’s ace-in-the-hole is hatchback utility — a rare attribute in the luxury performance space. It’s what made the Acura Integra Type S hot hatch one of my favorite new additions to the auto stable last year. Hatchback utility, another two inches of legroom over the Audi, whip-like handling from its toned 3,200-pound chassis — 800 pounds lighter than the RS5.
However, the Type S doesn’t have a V-6 and all-wheel drive. On a quiet night in downtown Detroit, I engaged launch control at the Jefferson and Griswold stoplight. The Corsas scrabbled for grip on the cold road, but grip they did — though Audi’s claimed 3.8 second 0-60 mph dash wouldn’t be achieved this night.
The twin-turbo V-6’s acceleration is ballistic, and viscerally satisfying. Through the tunnel under Huntington Place onto The Lodge Freeway, the Audi cleared its throat with a satisfying BLAAAT! with each upshift of the eight-speed automatic gearbox. It’s addictive.
I bumped the T-shifter to the right into manual mode so I could manually shift more BLAAATs. BLAAAT BLAAT BLAAT! And again when you downshift. BLAAAT BLAAAT! Hot hatches bring out the kid in me. Only the CT5-V Blackwing’s V-8 offers more audio thrills.
When playtime was over, I settled into the Audi’s comfortable cabin.
Some automakers offer exotic, carbon fiber performance thrones, but I have found them uncomfortable in daily driving. The Audi’s leather and Alcantara seats are a better middle ground. The RS5’s ergonomics are also better sorted than other Audis I’ve been in of late.
Audi automatic T-shifters have been located too close to the driver’s leg, with the result that my knee would accidentally bump it into NEUTRAL with a sudden spike in revs — OOOWARRGGH! I had no such issues with RS5.
Speaking of ergonomics, Audi honked off some customers a few years back when it abandoned its remote-operated infotainment system for a touchscreen. Remotes have their advantages — especially in keeping your eyes on the road — and a few automakers have maintained them like Alfa Romeo, Mazda and Genesis.
But Audi’s surrender to a touchscreen world (a new generation of millennial, smartphone buyers rises) has been expertly done with quick screens that audibly CLICK to the touch so you know an icon has been engaged. The brand was a pioneer in digital instrument displays that are configurable and paired with smart steering wheel controls.
My biggest recommendation? That Audi adopt BMW’s head-up display that shows a digital tachometer when in TRACK mode (DYNAMIC mode in the RS5). Bimmer’s display complements the paddle shifters in MANUAL shift mode, so you can keep your eyes on the runway as the tachometer nears redline.
In the Rocket Ship, redline comes fast.
The RS increases horsepower by a significant 100 over the S5 — the other performance hatchback in the A5 model lineup. The “S” siblings are distinguished by the 3.0-liter turbo-6 over the entry-level A5’s turbo 4-banger.
I’m partial to the A5 and its hatchback utility over the A4 and its conventional sedan boot. Of course, Audi also offers Q5/Q6 Sportback/SQ5 utes that come standard with hatchback utility.
We crazy auto journalists will take performance SUVs to the track, and I’ve tested my share, including the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, Dodge Durango Hellcat, BMW X5 M and Alfa Stelvio Quadrifoglio. “After taking (the 349-horse SQ5) to the track,” write our friends at Motor Trend, “we can confirm it also handles like a champ on our figure-eight course.” But given the choice, I bet they would prefer an RS5.
Few customers will take their SUV on track, and for good reason: 4,500-pound utes have lousy handling dynamics. Put a 400-plus horsepower twin-turbo V-6 in it (Audi has resisted such a move) and it requires considerable skill.
Better to put that skill to good use in a proper, low-center-of-gravity RS5 sports sedan, which will give you the same hatchback utility — and more capable handling dynamics. And, yes, you might just take it to a track day.
In a democratic auto world, cars may seem alike in their digital tech. But they are definitely not alike in the suspension and engine departments. For the best of both worlds, put RS5 at the top of your Audi shopping list. WAUUUUURRGH!
Next week: 2024 Tesla Model 3
2024 Audi RS5
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive, five-passenger performance sedan
Price: $79,995 base, including $1,095 destination ($93,745 as tested)
Powerplant: 2.9-liter twin-turbocharged V-6
Power: 444 horsepower, 442 pound-feet torque
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 3.8 seconds (mfr.); top speed, 180 mph
Weight: 4,056 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 18 mpg city/25 mpg highway/20 mpg combined
Report card
Highs: All-wheel-drive stability, hatchback utility
Lows: Heavy for track use; gets pricey
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne
Autorama 2024: Batmobiles, Ridlers, and Evel Kneivel
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 29, 2024
Detroit — Huntington Place is going to be filled with bats, bikes, and Beach Boys this weekend.
The 71st annual Detroit Autorama, the world’s biggest hot rod show, rolls into Detroit’s Huntington Place this weekend, March 1-3, bringing 800 chopped, decked, and channeled hot rods — and a whole lot of sidekicks. Sidekicks like five generations of Batmobiles, three Evel Kneivel stunt vehicles, and the 1931 Chevy Roadster that was the backdrop for the Beach Boys 1964 Ed Sullivan Show appearance.
“We had to turn away 150 entrants ths year. I have never seen this kind of enthusiasm,” said Championship Auto Shows President and Autorama Producer Pete Toundas as he walked through the sprawling show. “We have filled up local hotels There are a lot of people who want to build one more great car.”
Great cars like the 14 custom builds that will be competing for the hot rod world’s ultimate prize, the Ridler Award. “Bitchin’ Rides” TV star Dave Kindig, 53, entered the Ridler for the first time this year and has brought a beauty.
“This is my dream car, starting with a 1953 Chevy Corvette C1,” he said, flipping pages on a book that catalogues the car’s five-year development. “But Chevy only built convertibles, of the first generation, so this is my version if they had built a coupe.”
The gorgeous red coupe is custom built from the ground up but features signature features from some of Kindig’s favorites: the fascia is inspired by the ’53 ‘Vette, the tail by a modern Aston Martin DB-9, the steering wheel from a C8 Corvette, and the coupe shape from GM’s classic Corvair concept.
Under the hood? A honkin’, 3,000-horsepower, 9.2-liter V-12 engine assembled in Australia. “The C1 Corvettes were made with 6-cylinder engines, so we decided to double it,” smiled Kindig, who hails from Salt Lake City. Ridler contenders will be narrowed to the Great Eight on Friday with the winner crowned on Sunday.
Kindig hopes his creation will join classics like the 1964 Autorama winner, a customized, 1931 Chevy owned by John Sbigato, 54, from New Jersey. Sbigato’s father built the yellow beauty and Beach Boys lead singer Brian Wilson was so taken with it, he asked that it appear with the band on the Ed Sullivan Show.
The car subsequently earned the nickname “The Beach Boys Roadster,” and the floor display features the car against a backdrop of its famed TV appearance.
Other TV notables on the show floor include the 1966 Batmobile designed by Hollywood design legend, George Barris, for the popular show starring Adam West. The black and red machine is one of five Batmobiles — the most assembled from the DC Comics franchise in a single show.
In addition to the OG, the display includes the 1989 Batmobile from “Batman Returns” starring Michael Keaton, the armored, 1995 weapon from Val Kilmer’s “Batman Forever,” the wicked-looking, 2005 “Tumbler” from “Batman Begins” starring Christian Bale, and the latest Batmobile, the 2017 “Justice League” model piloted by Ben Affleck. Motorcycles for Batman and Catwoman are also on display from the ‘66 show.
Multiple Batmobiles were made for the films and the models at Autorama were display models from a private Los Angeles collection.
Definitely not display models are the three Evel Knievel vehicles that the daredevil used — including the steam-powered X-2 rocket that he tried to clear the Snake Rive Canyon with in 1974. The effort failed and the aircraft still bears the scars from that failed flight.
Autorama is heavy on nostalgia. Chuck Miller is back at the show with his 29th annual Cavalcade of Customs display of classic 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s custom cars.
“There are affordable, fun customs that Q-tips put together in their garages and that still drive on the road,” smiled Miller, referring to the vehicles’ white-haired (Q-tip) owners.
But Autorama is attracting a new generation of builder, too. Nineteen-year old twins Devin and Nick Paul of Clinton Township entered their gorgeous, black, heavily-modified 1994 Chevy S-10 pickup in the show.
“My dad was into cars, and they have always been a part of our life,” said Devin. “But my brother and I like the 1980s and 1990s cars like Pontiac Trans Ams and the Chevy pickups.”
Taylor Carey, 22, of Gregory is a Michigan State University student who was named one of six 2024 Next Gen Modifiers. A veterinarian science student by day, she drag races her modified 2011 Cadillac CTS-V on weekends.
“Young people are growing the sport,” said Toundas. “Whether through family or video games or movies like ‘Fast and Furious,’ they bring new ideas.”
Families of all ages will enjoy the experience, spiced with a little celebrity. In addition to Ridler entry Kindig, “Fast and Furious” movie actor Noel Gugliemi wil be signing autographs as well as rock legend Dee Snider of Twisted Sister fame.
Other notable vehicles on the floor include GM’s 50-millionth production car — a completely gold plated 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Coupe — and the long lost “Uncertain-T,” and iconic, 1965 hot rod with a distinct, slanted cabin that Galpin Motors is restoring after it disappeared for 50 years.
Autorama
Friday, March 1, 12 PM – 10 PM
Saturday, March 2, 9 AM – 10 PM
Sunday, March 3, 10 AM – 7 PM
General Admission $27, Children 6-12 $10, Children 5 and Under Free
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne
General Motorsports: Chevy kicks off 2024 GM assault on global racing with Daytona 500 win
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 28, 2024
It’s just February, but the distinctive, V-8 song of General Motors Co. race engines is already in the air.
The General’s thrilling win at the Daytona 500 in a NASCAR Cup Chevrolet Camaro over Ford Mustang and Toyota Camry competitors kicked off a massive 2024 assault on race tracks not only at home but abroad. Motorsport has never been more popular, and manufacturers from Detroit to Stuttgart to Tokyo have embraced racing as core to their brands. Detroit racing icons Ford and Penske also have historic investments in global motorsports for 2024.
In addition to its Daytona win — which included victories in all three NASCAR series including Xfinity and Craftsman Truck — GM won Australia’s most prestigious sportscar race, the Bathurst 500 on Feb. 18 in a Camaro ZL1, and narrowly missed taking home North America’s most coveted sportscar prize, January’s Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, in a Cadillac GTP.
“We race cars across all these series because of the ability to develop people, engineering and business people,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president for performance vehicles and motorsports, in an interview about GM’s 2024 ambitions. When “we win big races like the Daytona 500, you lift the brand opinion and people put you on their shopping list more quickly. When people are aware that we’re in racing, we see significantly higher brand opinion and image ratings and they put you on the shopping list more quickly.”
Motor City brands are everywhere.
Team Penske — on a mission to win Roger “The Captain” Penske’s 20th Indy 500 and first ever Le Mans 24 Hour title this year — got its 2024 season off to successful start by conquering the Daytona 24 Hour with Porsche. Penske also competes in IndyCar (with Chevy) and Australian Supercar (with Ford).
Racing has been intertwined with Ford Motor Co. since its founding. For 2024, the Blue Oval is entering its Mustang sportscar in the highest echelons of GT racing — the global GT3 class with series in the U.S. (IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship) and overseas (World Endurance Championship).
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Ford competes in just about every form of motorsport on and off road, including Formula One (with Red Bull), NASCAR, GT3 and GT4 sports cars, off-road racing, rally racing, drag racing — even drift racing.
“There is more wealth on the planet than ever before,” said iSeeCars auto analyst Karl Brauer, citing motorsports’ place in a brand-focused entertainment world that runs from the Super Bowl to Disney. “There is undeniable evidence that those demographics align with motorsports.”
GM doesn’t compete in the breadth of series that Ford does, but it involves more brands including Cadillac along with its Chevy sportscars and Silverado and Colorado trucks lines (Best of the Desert off-road racing).
Under the Cadillac badge, the General has its sights set on motorsports’ pinnacle, Formula One, with Andretti Racing as a full powertrain manufacturer like Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes. That goal suffered a setback this year due to F1 politics, but insiders say Andretti Cadillac is not taking its foot off the gas pedal with an eye on entering the series in 2026.
“The Formula One piece is interesting because there’s been a lot of growth in that series and a lot of global reach as we introduce different (Cadillac) models around the world,” said Campbell.
Cadillac also competes alongside Chevrolet in international sports car racing, its earth-shaking, V-series V-8 prototypes a consistent championship threat. This year, it has eyes on the big prize: the 24 Hours of Le Mans with three, hybrid-powered racers that align with Caddy’s electrification plans.
“The V-series really has its roots in racing platforms that go back 20 years,” said Campbell. “The Cadillac (prototype) has had tremendous success, and that set the table for what is now the hybrid platform.”
Before Mustang entered GT3 racing, Corvette was a staple on the international GT racing circuit. Like Ford, GM sees GT3 racing rues as an opportunity to expand its motorsports footprint.
“(Hudson-based) Pratt Miller is still running our factory-supported car but it’s a little bit different than where we were,” said Campbell. “We created a GT3 Corvette based off the Z06 and we now have customers fielding cars, so it’s more of a customer-oriented model.”
That means income coming in rather than just marketing expenditures flowing out. Privateer AWA Racing fielded two cars at the Rolex 24 Daytona, and TF Sport will enter two Corvette GT3 racers abroad in WEC. More customer teams are entering other series like DXDT Racing in SRO.
“The GT3 program … is exciting and really just the beginning. It’s a new model of how we’re racing, but the passion behind the program is still right there,” said Campbell.
Americans’ passion for NASCAR has never been in doubt, and GM followed up its Daytona win with a victory in Atlanta last weekend. GM races its Camaro badge in NASCAR even as the street version ended production in Lansing late last year.
“Our dealers are still selling Camaros, including a couple of special editions,” said Campbell. “What happens beyond that? Our Chevy leadership has said . . . that’s not the last chapter for Camaro. There’s more to come on that, but for now we’re selling them and racing them.”
Auto analyst Brauer said that racing Camaros helps bridge the badge to its next model line — perhaps an electric version. “You don’t just give up on a badge that is that legendary,” he said.
The might of GM’s racing efforts will be on full display in Michigan this summer when the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, which returned to downtown after years on Belle Isle, features Chevy-powered IndyCars and Cadillac GTPs and Corvette GT3s in the IMSA series. A couple of months later, NASCAR Camaros will descend on Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.
“The Detroit GP this year is gonna be awesome with Cadillac, Corvette and the Indy cars out there,” said Campbell. “The economic impact to the area was almost double what it was on Belle Isle.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Q&A: Roger Penske on Detroit’s renaissance, NFL Draft, EV adoption and Le Mans
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 27, 2024
Detroit — Roger Penske came to Detroit in the early 1970s when he opened a Chevrolet dealership. He stayed, building the Penske Corp., which today employs 17,000 people at 3,200 locations worldwide, including car dealerships, truck rental outlets and a formidable racing team that has won 19 Indy 500s and other titles.
“I was bitten by the bug,” Penske said, explaining his fondness for the Motor City to NBC Sports broadcaster Mike Tirico on Thursday at the Downtown Detroit Partnership’s annual meeting at the MGM Grand Casino. “I was a car guy, it was in my DNA.”
Fifty years later, the Bloomfield Hills-based business legend is a community fixture. Penske, who turned 87 this past Tuesday, has helped broker the 2006 Super Bowl at Ford Field, the M1 downtown transportation corridor, the imminent 2024 NFL Draft at Campus Martius — and, of course, the Penske Entertainment-run Detroit Grand Prix, which returned to downtown Detroit’s streets in 2023 after years on Belle Isle.
Detroit News auto critic Henry Payne sat down with “The Captain” — as his troops fondly refer to him — for a wide-ranging discussion covering everything from Detroit to IndyCar to electric vehicle mandates to his bid to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, one of the few trophies that has eluded his trophy case.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Question: Roger, you’ve been at the center of Detroit’s downtown renaissance, including Super Bowl XL, the Detroit Grand Prix, and now the NFL Draft in April. What do these events do for downtown Detroit?
Answer: Go back to the 2006 Super Bowl — it was two years before that when Bill Ford picked up the phone and called me. He said would I like to be the Super Bowl chairman? I had two options: I could have said no and hung up — but I said yes.
It’s game day at last. Super Bowl XL fans enter Ford Field on Feb. 5, 2006. Ankur Dholakia , The Detroit News
Along with Susan Scherer (executive director of the Super Bowl XL Host Committee) we were able to put a team together and really build an offense. We had to go to the NFL owners to find out would they approve Detroit with a new stadium. To me that was the linchpin, because we were able to showcase our city for what it was — and the ability to get the business community and people within Detroit and the surrounding region to come together and pull that off. It was amazing.
This past year the (Detroit Grand Prix) downtown with 150,000 people — half of them able to come for free. We had 80 companies around Detroit that supported the race, and $100 million worth of economic benefit for the city, which is just amazing.
A race volunteer watches as Alex Palou, driver of Chip Ganassi Car #10, goes around Turn One with Franklin and Rivard street signs visible during the 2023 Detroit Grand Prix. Robin Buckson, The Detroit News
Many other things have taken place. Dave Bing (asked): ‘What are we going to do with parks for kids when the summer comes? I need 100 police cars. I need EMS units.’ The Downtown Detroit Partnership was able to pull that together. We built the M1 Corridor, which has created about $10 billion in benefit there. I could state so many different things.
Q: The pandemic was difficult for this city. Do you see the NFL Draft as a reboot for downtown?
A: We were on a charge, then we had the COVID pandemic and things really slowed down. I feel the momentum coming back, and certainly big events are key for the city — the Grand Prix, and the NFL Draft coming in April is a reboot. I think the city now has a great reputation now to be safe and secure.
Q: Let’s shift gears. You are in the auto dealership business, and we’re seeing the biggest government regulation of the auto industry since the 1970s. There’s been some pushback from unions and dealers that the government is forcing EVs a little too fast. What would you like to see be done?
A: What I would like to see maybe can’t happen. Electrification certainly has slowed (but) California and other states have made mandates coming up very quickly. Today, the consumer really is not ready for electrification. The infrastructure, the cost, the range — all of these things seem to be stumbling blocks.
Doing business as a dealer across the United States — 50% of our EVs we sold in California. And 90% of them were lease. So there’s a lot of work that has to be done. I think we have to push that EV mandate out. I think renewable fuels are key for us as we go forward.
A driver charges his electric vehicle at a charging station in Monterey Park, California. Sales of EVs in the Golden State fell in the second half of last year, the first decline in more than a decade.Frederic J. Brown, AFP/TNS
Q: In your dealerships, do EVs seem to be more of a luxury play, is it a niche market right now?
A: I would say it’s really based on price. With higher interest rates, it’s really had an impact on the business. We’re seeing leasing coming back. I think that we’re going to be seeing people maybe stepping down from a Q7 to a Q5, until we see the interest rates coming down. But today there is a pent-up demand on new vehicles. We need more used vehicles in the market. That’s been a big thing. It’s impacted our profitability over the last three years.
Q: Go back again to the 1970s and the big impact that government regulation and the oil embargo had on motor racing. The 1974 Daytona 24 Hour race was canceled and NASCAR shortened races to conserve fuel. Fast forward to today — governments want to ban gas engines but racing series are thriving. Why is racing ascendant in the U.S.?
A: The fan base is so strong — you have Formula One, NASCAR, IndyCar, IMSA — all (with) different demographics. To me, it’s never been stronger.
At Indianapolis (which Penske Entertainment owns) our ticket sales are up 11,000 compared to last year. We’ll have 300,000 people in a single day for the Indy 500. It’s going to be one of the greatest races we’ve ever had.
Q: You are teamed with Porsche in IMSA. Cadillac, Chevy and Ford are also there. Chevrolet and Honda anchor IndyCar. What is it about racing that attracts so many manufacturers?
A: I think the racing technology transfers into the passenger car. But even more important is the training of the industry people in Original Equipment Manufacturers (automakers) that get involved in the motor racing product: design, execution, and obviously performance. Those are the things that have kept the OEMs in racing. And guess what? If you win it helps you from a brand perspective . . . with your customer base.
Q: Win on Sunday, sell on Monday in your dealerships?
A: That’s correct.
Q: Huge start for you to the 2024 racing year. You won the Rolex 24 Daytona for the first time since 1969. But the ultimate prize in endurance racing is Le Mans, one of the few races you have not won. Looking forward to June in France?
Roger Penske’s team captured the Rolex 24 Daytona last month in the #7 Porsche 963 GTP, driven in turns by Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr, Dane Cameron and Josef Newgarden. Michael L. Levitt, LAT Images
A: There will be 17 hypercars in the race this year, which is amazing. It’s been a Toyota race for the last couple of years, but to see the interest from Ferrari, BMW, Lamborghini, Porsche and others is amazing.
It’s the one hill we’ve not climbed yet and gotten to the summit. (We’re entering) three cars this year and I think it’s going to be a real opportunity. Reliability is going to be the critical factor.
The effort that Porsche (has) put into this is amazing. We have come together as one organization, Porsche Penske, which is exciting for me. To have our brand associated with Porsche in this event is something I never believed I could do.
Q: Before you go to France in June, you’ll have the Porsche Penske cars right here at the Detroit GP going up against Cadillac. That’s going to be a big weekend.
A: I think having IMSA here along with IndyCar is going to be amazing. People are going to see cars they really haven’t seen before. The hype with GM, BMW, Porsche, the rest of these manufacturers is just going to be terrific.
Q: Thank you, Roger
A: Thank you.
Payne: Navi-savvy Honda Prologue EV takes on Tesla
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 22, 2024
Healdsburg, California — Honda entered the U.S. market in earnest in the 1970s and ‘80s, selling affordable, fun-to-drive Civic compacts and Accord sedans to budget-conscious buyers. I was one of those customers, ultimately buying two Civics and an Accord for my young family.
For Honda 2.0, the Japanese automaker is going electric at a much higher price point.
The 2024 Honda Prologue EV is offered in front and all-wheel-drive on the same Ultium platform that GM uses for its Chevy Blazer EV. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Starting at $48,795, the mid-size, two-row electric Prologue SUV is the most expensive Honda sold in the U.S. market. The top-trim Elite model I tested here nearly crossed the $60K mark at $59,295. That’s the same price as luxury-class EVs like an all-wheel-drive BMW i4, Cadillac Lyriq and Lexus RZ450e Premium. Yikes. Batteries ain’t cheap, and to achieve the holy grail of 300-mile range, the first Honda EV is entry-level only by the standards of the premium niche EV market.
That’s the reality as Prologue — aka, the beginning — leads Honda’s transition to an all-electric brand like Tesla.
Ah, Tesla.
The 2024 Honda Prologue EV options a panoramic roof for its roomy cabin. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
My Prologue may be cross-shopped against the cheaper-but-just-220-mile-range Toyota bz4x. But in truth, every EV is cross-shopped against the Tesla Model Y, the mid-size SUV that dominates EV sales and was the (wow) fifth best-selling vehicle in the USA last year behind the Detroit Three trucks and Toyota RAV4. Tesla’s trillion-dollar market cap is the envy of the industry and has automakers from Tokyo to Detroit to Munich playing copycat.
Tesla’s Apple-like design was key — but so was its proprietary charging network that trounced unreliable competitors. Until now.
The 2024 Honda Prologue EV’s Google Built-In software will navigate a route complete with charging stops. This is LA-to_Vegas.. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
“Hey, Google. Take me to Las Vegas,” I barked at the Prologue’s tablet screen.
Just like my Tesla’s navigation system, Google Built-In charted my course — complete with charging stops. Where to eat while I charged at dinner time? Google listed a Wayback Burger joint, Subway and Taco Bell within 500 feet of the charger. Just like Tesla. What did the surrounding area look like? Google Earth showed a shopping center. Just like a Tesla.
Also, the trip would take 13½ hours — not the 10 hours in say, a similarly-sized gas-powered Honda Passport. Oh.
Passport is the reason EVs like Prologue are niche vehicles. Honda is targeting 40,000 sales for the $49K Prologue — same as the $42K Passport. Really? The conventional wisdom is EVs only need better infrastructure to be competitive with gas vehicles, but the well-trafficked, charging station-stuffed I-5 corridor that connects the Bay Area and Los Angeles to Vegas belies that claim.
Built on GM’s 400-volt Ultium platform, the 2024 Honda Prologue EV can add 65 miles of charge in 10 minutes. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Gas-powered cars are simply more affordable to buy and more efficient to operate than their EV peers. Honda boasts Prologue will gain 65 miles of range in 10 minutes at a fast charger. Passport will fill its 424-mile range tank in three minutes. Who wants to spend an extra 3.5 hours on the road charging with kiddies in tow when traveling to see grampa and gramma?
For all Honda’s ambitions to go all-electric by 2040, the brand knows EVs are a luxe niche. So it loads its advertising copy with the green greatest hits to attract the faithful:
Eco-Responsible and Effortless!We’re empowering eco-conscious driving!
The Prologue offers exciting performance with sustainability!
Um, exciting performance might be stretching it. Honda is rightly proud of its performance heritage with some of the best-engineered cars on the planet. The Ontario-assembled 2006 Honda Civic Si in my driveway is still a hoot to drive with apex-hugging suspension and a screaming 8,000 rpm engine that begs to be flogged. Even the Ohio-made Passport can excite with its masculine V-6 and lithe (for a big ute) 4,200-pound curb weight.
The 2024 Honda Prologue EV comes from a long line of Honda corner carvers – but the SUV’s porky 5,600-pound curb weight is a deterrent to feisty driving (assuming anyone drives SUVs fast in the twisties). Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Mexican-made Prologue, by contrast, shares GM’s porky Ultium chassis with the Chevy Blazer EV and tips the scales at 5,600 pounds — a whopping 1,400 more than Passport. Oof. I steered Prologue over the spaghetti roads of Sonoma Valley, and the Prologue is no Civic (did Honda ever market Civic in the ritzy Northern California wine region?)
The electric torque is welcome, but Prologue can’t hold a candle to the similarly priced Tesla Model Y Performance, which has twice the power and is 1,200 pounds lighter. Step on Y’s throttle and — ZOT! — you’re in the next county.
Prologue has good, smooth torque for strong highway merges, which is where it’s at its most comfortable. With its pickup-like rear seat room (42 inches, which beats the Y’s already palatial 40 inches), Prologue is comfy and can swallow the family luggage in the large cargo hold. If the kiddies’ shoes get muddy on the trip, just throw them in the nifty sub-cargo storage bin.
The 2024 Honda Prologue offers good cargo room with the seats flattened. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
That cubby care is also present in the Passport, and Honda is determined that Prologue continue the bloodline into the EV future.
Stem to stern, Prologue is a Honda. The front maintains the horizontal lights and black brow of Pilot and Passport — even as it loses the big grille necessary to feed a gas engine. The greenhouse is narrower than Passport but still square for good headroom. Under my Elite’s panoramic roof, familiar Honda ergonomics included volume knobs, steering wheel controls and plentiful console storage space.
Still, frills are lacking at $50K. For an EV announcing a new age, there’s little New Age on Prologue.
Pop the hood and there’s only a nest of electronics — not a tidy, useful frunk that you’ll find in a Model Y or Mustang Mach-E. That seems an oversight for a brand usually obsessed (think Honda Fit dexterity) on additional room. That pano roof — standard on Tesla — is only available on top trims. Even the dash lacks the honeycomb flair of the Civic and Accord.
Honda also eschews driver-assist systems found in comparably priced Lyriq and Model Y models.
Honda Sense is generous with standard emergency braking, blind-spot assist and adaptive cruise — but competitors offer Super Cruise (GM) and Autopilot (Tesla) for easy highway cruising. Cruising own Highway 101, I activated adaptive cruise which was also . . . familiar from other Hondas.
The 2024 Honda Prologue EV responds to multiple voice commands “Heat up the passenger seat”- and will even tell you jokes. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Like its clever navi system, Honda lets Google Bulti-In answer voice commands. “Hey, Google,” I barked again. “Tell me a joke.”
Did you hear about the snowman that got upset when the sun came out? It had a total meltdown!
“Hey, Google. Turn on the driver’s heated seats.”
Turned on the driver’s heated seats.
“Hey Google. Nice car, but don’t stop making affordable gas-powered models, OK?”
No answer, but we’ll see what the future brings.
Next week:
2024 Honda Prologue
Vehicle type: Battery-powered, front- and all-wheel-drive, five-passenger SUV
Price: $48,795, including $1,395 destination ($59,295 Elite AWD as tested)
Powerplant: 85 kWh lithium-ion battery mated to one or two electric motors
Power: 212 horsepower, 236 pound-feet of torque (FWD); 288 horsepower, 333 pound-feet of torque (AWD)
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.0 seconds (Motor Trend); towing, 1,500 pounds
Weight: 5,600 pounds (estimated, AWD as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA est. range, 273-296 miles
Report card
Highs: Roomy cabin; Google Built-In navigation
Lows: Lacks clever Honda interior, storage; long road trip compared to cheaper gas-powered Passport
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Practical Chevy Trailblazer ACTIV goes to head of subcompact class
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 15, 2024
Oakland County — The Chevy Trailblazer fits like a glove.
On a cold, snowy Michigan night, driving requires special concentration. You want a car that is intuitive to operate, and Trailblazer complies. On 15 Mile in traffic, I simply punched the adaptive cruise tumbler on the steering wheel toggle and set my speed to 40 mph. The Chevy, unlike other makes, doesn’t require that you first activate ACC, then set the speed — a cumbersome process that forces you to take your eyes off the road. ACC is always at the ready, you just need to set the speed.
When the speed limit increased to 50 mph, I again felt for the raised tumbler — its surface dimpled so it’s easily located by your thumb in the dark — and scrolled it up by 10 mph. Dandy.
The 2024 Chevy Trailblazer is priced just above the Chevy Trax in the brand’s SUV lineup.Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Time to listen to the weather report. Again, without taking my hands off the wheel, I felt for the volume buttons on the back of the steering wheel with my right fingers and turned the radio on. With my left fingers, I scrolled through my preset stations on the back of the other side of the wheel until I found 950 AM. Once the WWJ weather report was done, I toggled between other AM, FM and Sirius XM stations — music, news, comedy.
At a long stoplight, I reached over into my computer bag to check my schedule for the day. In the pitch black, I reached behind the mirror and punched the ceiling light — the light and button incorporated into one big, easy-to-find button. The console flooded with light so I could read my notes.
The icing on the cake? The Trailblazer is one of the few vehicles in autodom with a fold-flat front passenger seat. That means you can load long items (surfboards, lumber) through its cabin with first and second-row seats flattened — or just sit in the second row seats and use the front seat as an Ottoman for when you’re on the road and need to get some work done. It’s a hidden gem.
No one does ergonomics better than General Motors.
In the dark, 2024 Chevy Trailblazer ACTIV drivers need not take their eye off the road thanks to intuitive steering wheel controls – even an overhead light that doubles as an easy-to-push button. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The perfect compact SUV recipe? Mix Chevy ergonomics, the performance of a Mazda CX-30 and minimalist Hyundai Kona design and you’d have a tasty dish.
But the Trailblazer makes a pretty good meal all by itself. When did Chevrolet get so good at compacts?
This is a brand that went through compact cars like socks. In recent decades, the Cavalier, Cobalt and Cruze came and went as competitors to perennial segment best-sellers Corolla and Civic. But with its switch to an all-SUV lineup, Chevrolet seems to have settled on a compelling formula: start with the terrific, affordable $21K Chevy Trax (a 2023 Detroit News Vehicle of the Year finalist), then offer a more rugged, all-wheel-drive Trailblazer at $28K.
So good is the Trax with its longer wheelbase that the base front-wheel-drive Trailblazer makes little sense from $24K-$27K (unless you prefer the styling and need that fold-down front passenger seat). But when Trax models top out at $27K, that’s where the Trailblazer ACTIV becomes relevant with its AWD (not offered in Trax), bigger 1.3-liter, 155-horse engine, two-inch-higher seating position, underbody skid plate and all-terrain tires.
My Trailblazer ACTIV tester has much more than an easy-to-use cockpit. The rear seat is palatial with 39 inches of legroom — a knee-breathing seven inches more than a Toyota Corolla Cross, and three inches more than my favorite CX-30.
I like to carve corners in the Mazda, but the Trailblazer ACTIV plays to Chevy’s strength, which is off-asphalt. To this end, the Trailblazer’s all-terrains complement its AWD in Michigan’s endless winters. You never know when the pavement runs out in Oakland County and you’re suddenly on a potholed, muddy wagon trail.
The Trailblazer’s Hankook tires have a nice, tall sidewall and grippy tread for just such roads — not to mention January/February snowfalls. With an additional one-inch lift over the standard Trailblazer, my ACTIV charged through slippery conditions with aplomb.
Back on clean asphalt, it likes to play. Credit a nine-speed automatic transmission that shifted gears smoothly under my size-15 boot. Under the hood is a measly turbocharged three to serve GM’s regulatory masters. But at least Chevy engineers have tuned it to bring on the 174 pound-feet of torque right away, complete with a growly exhaust note.
I wish Trailblazer would do an SS version (rather than the RS show horse) to compete with Mazda’s 310-torque, AWD Turbo model — but then, the CX-30 doesn’t come equipped with all-terrain tires.
The ACTIV model sums up Trailblazer’s approach to the segment. Front-wheel-drive Trax is Chevy’s entry-level subcompact, while the Trailblazer brings a more rugged personality channeling the brand’s reputation for making great trucks.
The 2024 Chevy Trailblazer ACTIV is boxier, more truck-like than its sleek Trax stablemate. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Truckiness is all the rage these days, with Ford offering the Maverick pickup as its starter vehicle and the Toyota RAV4 adopting the Tacoma pickup’s design cues.
Trailblazer fits the trend with its upright grille echoing the Silverado pickup — ditto the blocky fender wells, high shoulder line and square fenders. The mid-mounted front headlights also follow design cues from the truck-based 2025 Tahoe and Suburban SUVs.
My ACTIV tester came with a two-toned package that colored the body Cacti Green, then added white icing on top. Sweet. The blocky look is a nice contrast to the more streamlined Trax and mid-size Blazer.
Chevy has lagged its Japanese competitors in standard features, and the Trailblazer continues that trend. Neither blind-spot assist not adaptive cruise control comes standard on the base model — or even on the upscale ACTIV. They will set you back (in addition to other safety features) $1,595. Meanwhile, the $26,370 the Mazda CX-30 comes with both safety systems standard.
The 2024 Chevy Trailblazer ACTIV gets a smooth, nine-speed automatic transmission. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
My tester was loaded with all the goodies for $33,175. But I wish Chevy would complement its Trailblazer’s superb ergonomics with a generous standard tech package. Still, the tough little Chevy is similarly priced to the AWD Hyundai Kona N Line.
Great to have Chevy back in the compact game.
Next week: 2024 Honda Prologue
2024 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front- and all-wheel-drive, five-passenger SUV
Price: $24,790 base, including $1,295 destination ($33,175 ACTIV as tested)
Power plant: 1.2-liter, turbocharged 3-cylinder; 1.3-liter turbo-3
Power: 137 horsepower, 162 pound-feet torque (1.2L); 155 horsepower, 174 pound-feet torque (1.2L);
Transmission: Continuously variable (1.2L and 1.3L FWD); 9-speed automatic (1.3L AWD)
Performance: 0-60 mph, 8.7 seconds (Car and Driver est.); towing limit, 1,000 pounds
Weight: 3,300 pounds (est.)
Fuel economy: EPA 29 mpg city/31 mpg highway/30 mpg combined (1.2L); 26 mpg city/30 mpg highway/27 mpg combined (1.3L AWD); 436-mile range (ACTIV as tested)
Report card
Highs: Class-leading ergonomics; rugged ACTIV model
Lows: Base FWD model forgettable compared to Trax sibling; miserly on standard features
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Payne: As winter whips EVs, Prius Hybrid makes a statement
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 8, 2024
Oakland County — This has been the winter of electric vehicles’ discontent. First of all, it’s winter. Despite decades of predictions of snowless winters and dried-up Great Lakes, Chicago was still an icebox this January, registering subzero temperatures and wreaking havoc on EVs, which — when taken out of their natural California habitat — have a strong allergic reaction to cold.
A WGN-9 Chicago story went viral nationwide:
The subzero temperatures are taking a toll on the EV batteries, leaving drivers frustrated.
Darryl Johnson, an Uber driver, said he waited hours just to get to a charger, only to wait even longer while it charged. But the frustrations continued even after he left after he found his battery draining faster than normal.
“It’s horrible … it takes two hours to charge, then the charge leaves really quickly, so now you’re back at the charger twice a day,” Johnson said. “They definitely have to work on it because I’m out of this Tesla after today. I’m not going to ride it again.”
The 2024 Toyota Prius Hybrid will go 58 miles on a fill-up thanks to 52 mpg hybrid tech.Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Maybe he should try a Prius.
You remember the Prius? The hybrid gas-electric moral statement that launched the green car segment? It caught fire in the early 2000s as the car to be seen in if you preened green. All the cool kids had it, including Hollywood stars Cameron Diaz, Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks and Leo DiCaprio, who drove them to the Oscars to advertise their commitment to the planet. Prius introduced a new green language to our automotive lexicon: hybrid, tailpipe emissions and California high occupancy vehicle lane passes. And, of course, Pious.
The latter was the nickname non-believers gave to the Prius faithful. Pious sold like hot cakes, until it didn’t. The movement moved on to pure electrics and Prius became oh-so-15 minutes ago — losing its California carpool lane status, its $7,500 tax break, its popularity for not going all-electric. Sales plummeted to 35,800 last year as the Tesla Model Y became the new green king at 385,900 sales a year.
Suddenly, the OG is relevant again. Thank Chicago.
“It’s what we Prius owners have always known,” said my friend Susan as we chatted on a 32-degree Michigan winter day next to her 2020 Prius Prime plug-in hybrid and my all-new 2024 Prius Prime plug-in tester. “When the battery runs out, you have to have a gas engine backup. At least until there’s better electric infrastructure.”
Or even when there is better EV infrastructure.
The 2024 Toyota Prius Hybrid’s shape is more streamlined than ever to get 52 mpg. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
A state-of-the-art, 800-volt EV platform can add 68 miles of range in five minutes in optical circumstances at a DC fast charger. My $42,510 tester will gulp down 500 miles in five. Oh. That’ll get you from Oakland County to Mackinaw City and back with a short trip to the gas pump. Take a $40k, 272-mile-range Tesla Model 3 (the cheapest Tesla offered) on the same trip and it will require three stops and 45 minutes to recharge in ideal conditions.
Try it on a Michigan winter day that causes 40% battery degradation, and that EV trip turns into five stops taking 70 minutes. In the freezing cold. In Meijer parking lots.
“I love my Prius,” said Susan, who once commuted from Oakland County to Ann Arbor and back — an 80-mile round trip that would leave a dent in the wallet in a gas-guzzling SUV.
Eighty miles is a cinch in a Tesla, especially if you put a 240-volt charger inside your nice, warm garage to charge up every night (assuming you have a garage). But that’ll cost you a coupla grand on top of the Tesla price premium.
Speaking of premium, my ‘24 Prius plugin Prime model costs an extra $5,000 over the base hybrid model (which has even better 588 miles of range). Susan likes her Prime and its ability to go 25 miles (that number has jumped to 44 for the new model) on electricity alone — though she noted real-world range was closer to 20 in the, ahem, cold weather. Still, that’s enough to get her ‘round town for chores on an average day.
The interior of the 2024 Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid is tidy with no white, toilet-bowl trim like the last-gen car. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The most notable change from her last-gen Prius is all-new styling and chassis. Pious has gone from class geek to prom queen. The compact Toyota’s coupe-like shape and crisp features have even become a brand halo — echoed in other Toyota models like the Crown and Crown Insignia SUV.
“It’s really nice looking,” said Susan, who also appreciated the fifth-gen car’s simplified interior, compact shifter and shelving of the previous model’s bathroom sink-white console (though, oddly, Prius still requires a wire to hook up Android Auto). I particularly like the raised display close to the raked windshield, which combines the duties of digital instruments and a head-up display.
To complement its handsome bod, Prius is also more athletic. Where the OG was a wet noodle, the 2024 model sits on Toyota’s more rigid TNGA-C platform — making for more fun in the twisties when combines with 194 horses (220 in the Prime) from its hybrid powertrain.
Nerd-turned-jock also makes Prius more palatable compared to slightly cheaper, non-green segment stalwarts like the Honda Civic Hatchback. My favorite $27k Civic Sport, for example, starts about two grand south of the Prius, is fun to drive and sports a similar (7-ish) 0-60 mph time as the Toyota.
The 2024 Toyota Prius Hybrid comes in front or all-wheel-drive. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Prius’s CVT drone is annoying compared to the Civic’s — but then again, the Honda’s 31 mpg fuel economy isn’t in the same ZIP code as Prius’s 52. Once the darling of Hollywood greens, Toyota is now as popular as Donald Trump in a diesel pickup for its emphasis on hybrids — but Prius’s combo of gas range and affordability make it a more practical middle-class buy than the brand’s first EV, the $44k bZ4X.
A significant upgrade for Prius over Civic (and some others in the compact class) is its option of all-wheel-drive in the Hybrid model (not the Prime): LE, XLE, and Limited. Mrs. Payne, an all-wheel-drive Subaru devotee, was impressed.
I buzzed around Metro Detroit during a sloppy, slushy winter week, the front-wheel-drive Prime never putting a foot wrong. But were I to buy a Prius, I’d opt for an AWD Hybrid model, not least to get up my steep driveway when I come home to a Michigan blizzard.
The Midwest still has cold winters, after all.
Next week: 2024 Chevy Trailblazer
2024 Toyota Prius Hybrid
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front- or all-wheel-drive, five-passenger hybrid hatchback
Price: $29,045 base, including $1,095 destination ($42,510 Prime plug-in XSE Premium as tested)
Power plant: 2.0-liter, inline-4 mated to electric motor(s) and 0.9 kWh lithium-ion battery pack (10.9 kWh pack with Prius Prime)
Power: 194 horsepower (Hybrid); 202 horsepower (Prime plug-in)
Transmission: Continuously variable
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.5 seconds (Car and Driver est.); top speed, 112 mph
Weight: 3,536 pounds (as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 52 mpg city/52 mpg highway/52 mpg combined (Hybrid); 50 mpg city/47 mpg highway/48 mpg combined; 588 miles hybrid range (Hybrid), 498 miles (Prime plug-in)
Report card
Highs: The ugly duckling becomes a swan; drives forever in cold weather
Lows: Tight headroom due to coupe shape; wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, please
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne
‘Second Founding’: With Prologue EV, Honda starts its all-electric journey
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 6, 2024
Healdsburg, California — General Motors Co. isn’t the only mainstream Midwest auto manufacturer going zero, zero, zero.
Honda Motor Co. built its reputation as one of the world’s premier internal combustion engine makers, yet it is one of the industry’s most aggressive advocates for a battery-powered, net-zero carbon emissions future. In what the Japanese company refers to internally as the “Second Founding,” it plans to put its storied ICE history in the rear-view mirror by 2040 on a mission, it says, to save the planet by converting to electric and hydrogen vehicles.
The Honda Prologue — presciently named to introduce an all-EV model lineup — was test-driven by media here in January and will enter dealerships by spring. It will be followed in 2026 by production versions of Honda’s “0 Series” EV line — beginning with the exotic Saloon concept introduced Jan. 9 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Like GM, Honda said it is committed to a zero emissions, zero traffic fatalities future (though its “zero, zero” mantra doesn’t extend to GM’s third, “zero congestion” commitment to fully autonomous vehicles).
“Internally at Honda, we talk about the Second Founding of Honda as a reset — a switching of our mind about embracing electric vehicles and making sure every associate has an opportunity to contribute to a fundamental change in Honda from an engine company to an electrified company,” said John Hwang, product development leader for the Prologue EV.
John Hwang, product development chief for the 2024 Honda Prologue EV, introduces the SUV to media in Healdsburg, California. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Toshihiro Mibe was named CEO three years ago to carry out this mission. That means big changes for Honda’s sprawling Midwest operations, including construction of a $4 billion battery facility with LG Chem for EVs that will replace the best-selling gas-powered CR-Vs and Accords that Honda has assembled in Ohio since 2007 and 1982, respectively.
Honda said hybrid versions of the CR-V and Accord (and coming, Indiana-assembled Civic) are a bridge to an all-electric lineup, but EVs can require a significant change in lifestyle for mainstream buyers. EVs like the Prologue require investment in home chargers and much longer fueling times than their ICE peers. As a result, they are generally bought by an affluent demographic with multi-car garages.
Unlike Tesla and its re-imagined interiors, the 2024 Honda Prologue EV deliberately echoes the interior of gas engines to make the transition to its electric vehicles easier for buyers. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
With stops for charging, the 296-mile range Prologue, for example, would need 13.5 hours to make a trip from San Francisco to Las Vegas compared to an ICE car’s 10 hours. That requires a large, 85 kWh battery pack, which adds considerable cost, making the $49K-$59K Prologue the most expensive Honda — with a price range in the neighborhood of luxe models like the Cadillac Lyriq and Tesla Model Y Performance.
“What makes a natural transition to EVs is if you own a house with a Level 2 charger,” Hwang said. “Everyone understands the (high price) structure of electric vehicles. We want to introduce Prologue in a segment that is very high volume, high popularity — and that’s what dictates its pricing. When you compare it to its natural competitors — the Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra, Nissan Ariya and Volkswagen ID.4, Prologue is very competitive.”
To help consumers adopt EVs, the 2024 Honda Prologue offers three charging plans: 1) a 240-volt home charging station + $500 installation credit + $100 in public charging credits, 2) a portable charger + $250 installation credit + $300 public charging credits, or 3) $50 in public charging credits. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
S&P Global analyst Stephanie Brinley noted that “Prologue is priced for where the EV market is right now.” She said that Honda’s stab at the affordable, entry-level EV in Europe with the 137-mile, compact Honda e just went up in flames: “The e was too expensive and didn’t have enough range. Honda never brought it to the U.S. because it was too small. And small EVs like the Chevy Bolt and Nissan Leaf haven’t done as well as pricier models.”
The luxury segment makes up just 15% of the U.S. market and EV sales are around 8% market share — much of it concentrated here in affluent parts of California — indicating a struggle to reach larger, mainstream demographics where Honda has prospered.
“The challenge of selling EVs to 8-10% of the population gets more challenging every day,” said Karl Brauer, veteran auto analyst with iSeeCars.com. “And that’s the demographic that has experience with EVs. Honda will not be immune.”
As Honda charges up its Second Founding, other brands are pumping the brakes on their electric ambitions as EV adoption hits market headwinds. Hertz has nixed plans to buy 100,000 EVs and is selling off battery-powered vehicles in its fleet. Four years after GM announced on “EV Day” its commitment to go all-electric by 2035, CEO Mary Barra told investors in January the Detroit automaker would resurrect gas-hybrid models to meet market demand and government regulations.
“What I am hearing from Honda is what I heard from GM in 2020,” said Brauer, “and now GM has been forced to pivot back to gas engines.”
The 2024 Honda Prologue EV was introduced to media for a test drive in California, where strict regulations will force automakers to sell only EVs by 2035. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Honda, however, says its commitment transcends government regulations that other automakers, from GM to Subaru Corp. to Stellantis NV, say are driving their battery investments.
“Honda philosophically has always been about protecting the environment … with the products we make,” Hwang said. “‘Blue Skies for the Children’ is one of our taglines, so it felt natural that we accelerate our zero-carbon emissions products. Our timeline is 2040 in North America to be fully zero carbon.”
Soichiro Honda started what became Honda Motor Co. in 1946, making motorized bicycles by attaching two-stroke gas engines. Its brand subsequently became synonymous with great ICEs, including the high-revving VTEC four-cylinder engines in Honda Civics in the early 2000s and the 950-horsepower hybrids that have made Red Bull a Formula One superpower.
Honda archives headline the 1974 Civic as the first car in the U.S. market to satisfy government emissions rules that strangled Detroit automakers’ large vehicles.
“Honda has always been an engineering company with an eye on the environment,” Brinley said. “They like to make big engineering statements.”
Honda’s reset echoes other fossil fuel icons that are remaking themselves. England’s Jaguar Cars, famed maker of purring V-12 engines, is going all-EV by 2030. The Rockefeller Foundation, its $6 billion endowment funded by Standard Oil — which fueled the 20th century Detroit auto boom — has committed to net zero and divested of all fossil fuel industries.
Honda’s plan contrasts with Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp., which has resisted an all-electric future despite its pioneering Prius hybrid that single-handedly created the green vehicle segment two decades ago. Chairman Akio Toyoda said he thinks the market ceiling for EV sales is 30%, and the company is committed to a mix of gas/hybrid/electric/hydrogen powertrains.
Toyota’s business model has enraged global climate activists, who last year wrote a letter to the company leadership claiming that “Toyota’s refusal to lead a rapid transition to electric vehicles … harms consumers.”
Analyst Brauer said Toyota didn’t get to be the world’s biggest automaker without understanding market tastes. “Bet against Toyota if you want,” he said. “But anyone who has — has lost.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.