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Payne: Lexus NX is finally more than an X-treme grille
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 17, 2022
Lexus isn’t letting up.
Six years ago, Toyota’s conservatively-dressed luxury brand went full punk with its 2015 NX. The compact SUV threw caution to the wind, stepping out of the shadow of fashion mavens like Audi and Merc and redefining its style with slashing bodywork and a face only Darth Vader could love. Lexus called it the spindle grille; I called it a giant bug zapper.
It put Lexus on the map for a new generation of buyers, and the NX’s polarizing style has been followed by subsequent models in the lineup. When I first tested the NX in 2014, I assumed the “look-at-me” design would be temporary, writing:
The NX will surely mellow over time. But for now it demands attention like a gorgeous model wearing a spiked mohawk. Will punk work on a luxury fashion runway that includes elegant models like the Lincoln MKC and BMW X3?
Boy, did I get that wrong.
Not only was the new Lexus face a hit, but others in the industry followed its lead. Look no further than Bimmer, which has introduced a buck-toothed mega-grille on its 4-series coupe that you can see from space. The BMW X3, an NX competitor, is sure to follow.
The NX’s jack o’ lantern face is back for 2022 with the vehicle’s first major redesign since the 2015 model frightened trick-or-treaters everywhere. But like Cadillac’s radical Art & Science grilles at the turn of the 21st century, Lexus designers have made some nips and tucks to improve the original orgy of plastic surgery. The checkmark running lights, for example, are now nicely integrated into the headlights, and the jowls have been tightened around the jawbone. Much better.
The rear taillights are fashionable, connected by a horizontal light bar, and the SUV’s rocker panels are leaner, less pronounced.
Paint my $50,075 tester in Grecian Water blue with red interior and the Lexus isn’t for the timid. In an age of lookalike utes, I applaud the NX’s experimentation with exterior design. The Lexus may be loud, but it’s got attitude.
Unfortunately, NX was also part of a less helpful trend inside: touchpads.
Luxury makers are not shy in pushing new infotainment tools in this electronics age — whether Tesla’s big touchscreens or BMW’s remote rotary dials. First rule of innovation: the tools must work. Trying to mimic a mouse pad on a desktop, automakers like Lexus made screen controls unworkable while the car was in motion. (Imagine your desk moving over Detroit streets while you try to operate a mousepad.)
Mrs. Payne refused to operate the NX pad even from the passenger seat. I solved the issue (as I suspect most owners did) by only using the device when stationary — or just bypassing it via the voice command button on the steering wheel.
Lexus appears to have gotten the message from customers. The 2022 NX350h is much more livable, with a giant 14-inch touchscreen and easy controls. It removes a huge barrier between driver and car because the NX is really a pleasant place to spend time.
I jumped into the NX for a trip across Oakland County’s lake country and jabbed the easy-to-locate ON button high on the dash.
Armed with the latest in smartphone connectivity, NX wirelessly detected my Android phone, which gave me the option of putting my Google Maps route on the giant center screen. Option taken. Phone navigation systems are generally superior to in-car systems, with the exception of Tesla and Mercedes.
Lexus has made big improvements to its human machine interface, however, and the 14-inch field was not only easier to work as a touchscreen, but also easier to navigate when selecting and saving radio stations. Two giant knobs — closely resembling the Ford Mustang Mach-E’s signature scalloped screen control knob — anchor the Lexus screen, allowing for simple climate control. The volume knob, interestingly, is less dramatically designed — but placed in the center of the dash for access from anywhere in the front cabin.
After years of customers running screaming from their cars, Lexus appears to have spent some quality time with them to make the system user friendly.
Less friendly is the console gear shifter, which seems to have caught a case of the notchies from an old nemesis: Toyota’s automatic shifter. Nissan and VW do similar compact “chiclet” shifters much better.
With the infotainment bugs worked out, owners can concentrate on the NX350h’s hybrid driving experience, which has been superb from the get-go.
Not only did my 6’5” frame fit easily into the front buckets, but I could sit behind myself in the rear seat with knee room to spare — a rarity in the compact segment.
The Lexus rides on parent Toyota’s excellent Global Architecture, and instills confidence with neutral handling and little head toss. Then Lexus spices the menu with four powertrain options. The base $39K NX250 starts with a 203-horsepower, 2.5-liter four-cylinder; the NX350 has a 275-horse turbocharged 2.4-liter; the top-drawer plug-in hybrid NX450h gets 302 ponies — and then there’s my NX350h hybrid sitting in the sweet spot, pairing two electric motors with the 2.5-liter four-cylinder for 239 horsepower and all-wheel-drive versatility.
The NX350h further tempts bad behavior with paddle shifters on the steering column and a fat Drive Mode button on the console. Dial the mode selector to SPORT and the instrument panel glows red in devilish anticipation. Go on, Payne, floor me!
Gladly. Long a missionary for hybrid fuel efficiency, Lexus also uses its electric motors for smooth driving dynamics. Where turbocharged four-cylinder engines often lag off corners, the hybrid’s motor picks up the slack, making for instant acceleration.
The NX350h doesn’t rival the Mazda CX-5 or BMW X1 for best-handling SUV, but the spirit is there.
“Under Akio Toyoda’s stated directive to invigorate Toyota products with energy, passion and “Waku-Doki” (translation: a palpable heart-pounding sense of excitement), the approval process has been streamlined,” Toyota announced in 2014.
What began as an exterior design statement has now made its way through the interior design and drivetrain systems. For the first time, the Lexus feels like the total package. A car that is not only defiantly different — but competently so.
2022 Lexus NX350h
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive five-passenger compact SUV
Price: $42,125, including $1,075 destination fee ($54,150 with Luxury Package as tested)
Powerplant: Hybrid 2.5-liter turbo-4 cylinder with twin electric motors
Power: 239 total system horsepower
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Performance: 0-60 mph, 7.2 seconds (mfr.); Top speed, 124 mph
Weight: 4,080 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA, 41 mpg city/37 highway/39 combined
Report card
Highs: Big screens, big controls; hybrid pep
Lows: Polarizing face; quirky shifter
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Let the Genesis G70 run on a country road — if you can find one
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 10, 2022
Milford — The Genesis G70 wants off its leash — badly.
With a gym-toned bod, short wheelbase, Drive Mode tuned to SPORT+ and 365-horsepower twin-turbo V-6 at the ready in 3.3T trim, the subcompact sedan is the brand’s greyhound. It’s gotta run. But like finding room for your dog to really let loose in suburban America, it ain’t an easy thing to do.
I had a morning business appointment in Milford and had dutifully slogged through I-96 traffic (and rain) to get there. The G70 is an easy commuter with infotainment touchscreen, digital displays and technology shared with its Hyundai brethren like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and instrument-panel-displayed video blind-spot assist.
Using adaptive cruise control, I negotiated stop-and-go traffic even in the wet weather — the camera and radar undeterred by precipitation in keeping me lane-centered and distanced from vehicles ahead. I arrived at my meeting refreshed.
But as the afternoon clouds parted and I headed home, I wanted to boogie with my dance partner. That is the G70’s core purpose.
Like the Alfa Romeo Giulia, BMW 2-series and Cadillac CT4, the G70 is one of the most athletic cars on the road today. With a wheelbase five inches shorter than the Caddy CT5, the G70 is whip-quick through corners. I headed north into Oakland County’s lake country two-lanes in the midafternoon.
Curses! A train of traffic spread out before me.
The G70’s V-6 drivetrain boasts a healthy 376 pound-feet of torque to go with its impressive 365 horsepower, mated to an eight-speed transmission and paddle shifters. With that combo, I made quick work of a pair of slower cars before the broken center line sealed up solid again.
I quick-sprang through some curves, and then I was the caboose again behind another trail of slugs. Another opening. Another car dispatched. But with too few passing opportunities and too many fellow travelers, I felt like Mickey Mouse in the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The harder I bailed, the deeper in traffic I found myself.
Speaking of water, the G70 shrugged off the wet roads. With rear-wheel drive, it responded naturally to my steering inputs while modern electronic stability systems worked in the background to prevent wheel slip under acceleration out of turns.
Desperate for fun, I finally pulled off the main track and took a long, winding farm road to nowhere just to let the big dog run. Oh, freedom. Oh, joy. Oh, twin-turbos.
Inevitably, the road dead-ended into another main thoroughfare, and I resumed my slog home.
The G70 has always been a joy to drive. I first tasted its need for speed at the North American Car and Truck for the Year jury test in 2019. But the styling felt derivative — we auto writers commented on its “Audi-like grille” — in a segment where style matters. Even as Genesis chased the Lexus value strategy, undercutting luxe competition by five grand will only get you so far among customers with deep pockets.
Plus, when you’re stuck in (bah!) traffic all day, you want other folks to at least admire your investment. My Launch Edition tester sweetened the sauce with matte-black paint and red leather interior.
Significantly, the refreshed G70 took a big leap forward in establishing its own design language.
Like the GV70 SUV and GV80 sedan before it, the G70 is instantly recognizable with its split front headlights — and matching rear taillights. Deep scalloped body stampings are raked across the flanks and hood, punctuated by the Genesis’s pointed lower grille lip and multiple lower-facia air intakes. If not as dramatic as Alfa Romeo’s iconic Trilobo grille, it nonetheless is unmistakably Genesis. Performance car fans will take notice.
Which is a good thing, because the competition is formidable.
Consider cousin Kia Stinger, built on the same platform as G70. With loads of personality, it shares the 3.3-liter V-6 and eight-speed tranny. Similarly spec’d to the G70, it comes in at a similar price to the smaller Genesis while adding all-wheel drive, a more utilitarian rear hatchback and a crucial 1.5 inches of rear legroom.
Legroom has been the Achilles’ heel of vehicles like the Alfa Romeo Giulia and former Cadillac ATS — two of the best driver’s cars in the segment that were definitely not passenger cars given their tight hind quarters. This was such an issue for the ATS that Caddy rebadged it as CT4 and moved it down segment — making room for the CT5, which comes in at the same price as the G70 while offering comparable twin-turbo V-6 thrills and three more inches of rear legroom that had your 6’5” reviewer’s knees bouncing with joy.
Inside, the G70 interior is executed with crisp materials, touchscreen and a classy T-shifter. The latter two features offer good and bad news. The good news? The touchscreen is a big improvement over the ergonomic nightmare rotary-screen controller on the GV80 (why do luxe models insist on reinventing the tried-and-true touchscreen/or rotary controller?). The bad news is that Hyundai has ditched the manual transmission option on the G70 — further narrowing the choices of enthusiasts like my friend Eric. He’ll be scratching Genesis off his list of potential buys.
Rear-wheel-drive peers like Alfa, BMW and Caddy won’t be the only tests for the comely G70.
Priced a full 10 grand below the G70 is the sensational all-wheel-drive VW Golf R with nearly 300 horsepower, comparable interior room and technology galore. Heck, go 20 grand south of the Genesis and you’ll find a 250-horsepower/320-torque AWD Mazda 3 Turbo with knockout styling similar to the G70. You can even dress the Mazda in a red leather interior.
This performance sedan market is a real piranha tank.
The big bonus is that the G70 and its many competitors turn heads when I drive them around town. These aren’t your cookie-cutter, three-box SUVs. They are sleek sedans ‘n’ hatches that move with the single-minded purpose of the piranha.
Pity it is so difficult to find a sandbox for them to play in.
After winding north through Waterford Township, I ultimately concluded my search for adrenaline on a clover leaf off Baldwin Road and onto I-75. The G70 was glorious. Balanced. And the experience all too short.
If you really want to exercise your performance sedan, make the three-hour round trip from Detroit to Hell, Michigan, and back. Make that four hours if you’re driving a G70. You’ll want the extra time in Hell’s twisties.
2022 Genesis G70
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear- and all-wheel-drive five-passenger sedan
Price: $38,870, including $1,045 destination fee ($53,545 3.3T Launch Edition as tested)
Powerplant: 2.0-liter turbo-4 cylinder; 3.3-liter, twin-turbo V-6
Power: 252 horsepower, 260 pound-feet of torque (turbo-4); 365 horsepower, 376 pound-feet of torque (twin-turbo V-6)
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 4.5 seconds (Turbo V-6, Car and Driver); top speed, 145 mph
Weight: 3,774 pounds (RWD 3.3T as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA, 21 mpg city/31 highway/24 combined (turbo-4 RWD); 18 mpg city/27 highway/21 combined (turbo-V6 RWD)
Report card
Highs: Distinctive looks; driver’s machine
Lows: Tight backseat; stick shift, please
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Alfa adds spicy, electrified Tonale SUV appetizer to menu
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 9, 2022
Alfa Romeo is jumping into the American subcompact SUV market with its tony Tonale.
Sporting the Italian premium brand’s signature, triangular “Trilobo” grille and muscular lines, Alfa’s entry-level ute will compete against segment stalwarts like the BMW X1, Cadillac XT4, Mercedes GLA and Jaguar E-Pace with standard all-wheel-drive and all-digital interior displays.
Belying its small size, the Tonale has mighty ambitions as Alfa’s first electrified vehicle — opening the door to the brand’s La Metamorfosi transition to all-battery models later this decade. The Tonale comes standard with a familiar, gas-powered 2.0-liter turbo-4 engine, but customers can option a pricier plug-in hybrid that generates 272 horsepower from twin electric motors mated to a 1.3-liter turbocharged engine.
Unlike other premium manufacturers that offer a menu of entry-level performance sedans as well as SUVs, Alfa is offering the Tonale SUV as the lone appetizer to its bigger entrees, the Giulia sedan and Stelvio SUV. But the brand still promises the tall, all-wheel-drive hatchback will be infused with the same DNA that has always made the hearts of Alfa customers beat a little bit faster.
“If you look at our history or our present, you realize that Alfa Romeos are designed with a sense of purpose that means that they have an intimate relation between body and soul,” said Alfa design chief Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos. “Dynamics, ergonomics and all other functionally important aspects . . . have always been dressed with beautiful bodies. It is what at Alfa Romeo we call this sense of beauty, and this is precisely the way Tonale looks.”
Completing the promise of the sexy SUV concept that wowed Los Angeles auto show-goers way back in 2019, Tonale will be one of the best-dressed SUVs in class.
A narrow cowl of six headlights bisects the big Trilobo grille up front. The design is reminiscent of the striking Alfa Brera sports coupe sold in Italy two decades ago. A strong, so-called GT shoulder line — common to Alfas dating back to the iconic, 1970s Spider Series 2 models — runs beneath a narrow greenhouse. Out back, red LEDs span the rear deck, intermittently dropping — like a heart-rate monitor — to trace each of the six taillights along the way. The ensemble rides over 19 or 20-inch phone-dial wheels.
“Tonale has been designed with the courage of simplicity. It uses a limited number of lines to define its style,” said Mesonero-Romanos. “The GT line is an example of the line that crosses the car from the front to the rear, a single stroke.”
The design reminds of the Mazda CX-30, which has also made a bold statement in the subcompact class. It will offer formidable competition for Tonale along with luxury European competitors.
The Tonale, however, will aim high with two beefy engine choices that will drive standard all-wheel-drive.
The base engine is a 2.0-liter, 256-horsepower, turbo-4-cylinder engine mated to a nine-speed transmission. European markets get a 130/160 horsepower hybrid powertrain, but product planners deemed that too mousy for the U.S.’s high-powered, affordable-gas market where owners don’t have to pay taxes on engine displacement. A diesel engine will also be on offer for markets in Africa and the Mideast.
Topping the Tonale lineup is the pioneering, 272-horsepower plug-in powertrain. A 1.3-liter turbo-4 mill drives all four wheels with assist from a six-speed transmission and electric motors front and rear. Alfa hasn’t yet disclosed the range on battery power alone, but expect over 30 miles after plugging into the wall overnight.
Those outputs compare favorably against rival Jaguar E-Pace’s gas-powered, 246-horsepower turbo-4 and 296-horse hybrid options. Mercedes GLA offerings include two 300-horsepower-plus performance AMG versions, and Alfa executives said they will monitor market demand for a rowdy Quadrifoglio variant of the Tonale. The 505-horse Quadrifoglio monster is the halo trim for Giulia and Stelvio stablemates.
“We are electrifying the brand — but electrifying to support the driver-centric positioning of the Alfa Romeo brand (as we have from) the beginning of our history in 1902,” said Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato, flanked by a blue Tonale at Alfa’s Museo Storico museum in Milan.
To keep things simple, Tonale will be offered in three trims: Sprint and Ti and Veloce. Standard goodies include adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, emergency braking with pedestrian detection, and lane keep assist. Available options include Level 2 self-drive assist and bigger wheels.
Those features will be controlled via a crisp, digital interior that echoes the simple exterior design. A configurable, 2.3-inch instrument display sits under a dual hood behind the steering wheel. Passengers can access infotainment options through a 10.25-inch tablet to its right. The screen is mounted high in the dash for good driver visibility, and the twin displays combine for a best-in-class, 22.5 inches in breadth.
The console is anchored by an upright shifter with a drive mode knob nearby to shift between Advance Efficiency, Natural and Dynamic modes. In keeping with the latest digital tech, the Alfa will feature wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, WiFi hot spot, Alexa voice activation and a phone app to monitor the car remotely.
As the gateway drug for Stellantis’s premium brand, Tonale is important to a U.S. market that is home to one-third of the transatlantic automaker’s sales.
“We are wanting to win in America,” said Imparato. “I have 50 (car) clubs in America. The relationship between (customers) is the car is something different compared to other brands in the industry.”
In addition to Alfa’s performance obsession, Imparato said Tonale is value-focused: “I want to bring to my customer the right table of residual value after 3-4-5 years on the road.”
Towards that end, the ute will come with an industry-first, digital NFT (non-fungible token) that certifies the car on purchase, then evolves with the car to track maintenance and other updates.
Tonale will likely be priced from about $37,000-$50,000 when it arrives in the U.S. market at the end of 2022 — about six months after its June launch in Italy.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Hybrid or EV? Pickups show how Toyota, Detroit Three differ on electrification
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 5, 2022
Carmel Valley, Calif. — Toyota is from Mars, Detroit automakers are from Venus.
Toyota, America’s best-selling brand in 2021, makes rugged trucks in Texas for American buyers. But it has always pursued a more retail-focused strategy than Motor City truckmakers who split their attention between retail and commercial fleet buyers.
As the federal government tries to force automakers to make EVs over the next decade, that truck strategy is diverging even further as the 2022 Toyota Tundra sidesteps fully electric trucks for retail buyer-preferred hybrid powertrains while General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. build battery-powered Silverado EV and F-150 Lightning pickups for their retail and commercial fleet customers.
The Toyota and the Detroit Three plans are case studies in how big automakers plan to keep both their customer and government constituencies happy. Where Toyota Motor Corp. sees volume sales — and resulting regulatory compliance — in its hybrid SUV and sedan offerings, GM and Ford see customer volume in their fleet truck sales.
“Our focus was towing — the vast majority of Tundra owners tow,” said Toyota marketing manager Joe Moses at the Tundra i-Force MAX hybrid’s media test in California. “So the priority was torque. We have a nice place with active recreation consumers. They’re out towing things, riding motorcycles, on ATVs, going fishing. We found that’s the place where we’ve been successful, and that’s where we’ll continue to play.”
As with buyers of its best-selling RAV4 compact SUV and Camry sedan hybrids, Toyota found its retail customers didn’t want fully electric trucks, which, despite their impressive low-end torque, have poor range — especially when towing. Real-world tests by TFLTrucks.com have found that EVs lose about 70% of range when towing.
With a 32.2-gallon fuel tank and EPA highway rating of 22 mpg, the Tundra has a range of just over 700 miles. By comparison, the F-150 Lightning’s range tops out at 300 miles.
Toyota expects 25% of its pickup sales to be hybrid — similar to the percentage of electrified vehicle sales (gas-hybrid, plug-in and hydrogen fuel cell) in 2021 for the rest of its model lineup, led by the RAV4 and Camry. Toyota sold 583,697 vehicles in 2021 equipped with a battery of some kind.
Those sales, analysts say, also will help Toyota meet its mpg regulatory compliance goals as the EPA ratchets up fuel economy standards in coming years.
“Toyota is smart to do what they are doing,” iSeeCars.com auto analyst Karl Brauer said. “Toyota is focused on making vehicles that will sell to today’s customers, while watching how EV demand develops. Maybe they are wrong, but they haven’t gotten much wrong in the last 50 years and they just sold more vehicles in the U.S. in 2021 than anyone else.”
GM and Ford, by contrast, are making bold bets that consumers will make a quick shift to EVs. GM says that its lineup will be exclusively EV by 2035 and has abandoned hybrid vehicles to make big investments in all-electric skateboard chassis. Ford is investing heavily in EVs as well but is also bullish on gas-hybrids with its Escape Hybrid and Lincoln Corsair and Aviator plug-in models.
Like Toyota, say analysts, the Detroit automakers are playing to their strength: truck market dominance. Together, they hold more than 90% of the U.S. full-size pickup market.
While GM and Ford have struggled to sell hybrids on the same scale as their Japanese rival, they have a stranglehold on the U.S. commercial fleet pickup and delivery van markets. The Detroit manufacturers see big opportunities for EVs there.
At her recent address to the Consumer Electronics Show touting the General’s zero-emission future, CEO Mary Barra highlighted demand from corporate customers for electric BrightDrop vans. Walmart has signed an agreement with the Detroit maker to buy 5,000 BrightDrop vans, while FedEx (BrightDrop’s first customer) is already taking delivery of 500 vehicles with more expected to come.
“It’s sexy to talk about retail electric vehicles, but there is actually so much opportunity in the fleet market,” said Ed Kim, industry analyst with Auto Pacific. “Fleet vehicles can run fixed routes of 150 miles on a smaller, cheaper battery. Then they can charge overnight on cheaper utility rates. With Congress’s proposed $12,500 in incentives, a Ford Lightning EV, for example, can make up its purchase premium over a gas-powered F-150 of about $10,000.”
Ford is bullish on selling the Lightning to fleet consumers while GM sees its BrightDrop van demand translating to the pickup market. Indeed, the fleet-focused Work Truck version of the Silverado EV will beat the retail version to market in early 2023.
“That’s the beauty of pickups,” continued Kim. “They can sell a variety of flavors to fleet and high-end retail customers. Chevrolet is launching a work truck, but also a loaded, $105,000 Silverado EV.”
The Detroit Three will continue to build diesel pickups for the heavy and light-duty markets given their superior towing capability and mpg numbers. But heavy-duty trucks will soon lose their federal exemption from mpg regulations — and will become tougher to make just as diesels have become expensive to engineer in the light-duty market.
“I wanted a diesel engine (for the Tundra). We’re using a brand-new diesel engine overseas; it’s fabulous,” said Tundra chief engineer Mike Swears in California. “But diesels in North America are very difficult to certify now and demand for diesel is going down. The (emissions) after-treatment system is about $3,000 added to the cost of the engine. So in comes the hybrid.”
Chevy, Ford and Ram light-duty diesels get 20% better fuel efficiency than Toyota’s Tundra. But given the regulatory climate, Toyota’s Moses says the hybrid’s dexterity makes it attractive to truck owners just as hybrids have sold well to SUV and sedan owners.
“There are things about diesel that we wanted to make sure that we delivered in our” hybrid, said the marketing chief. “The torque and power is the most important thing. As we evaluated the different options, what we were able to do with this new hybrid system was deliver on more horsepower, more torque and more mpg off of the outgoing V-8 engine.”
Whatever their electrification strategy, the American and Japanese pickups will cost you. Trucks have become the new luxury vehicles with stratospheric sticker prices. Top Lightning and Silverado EV trims will push $100K. With the Tundra Hybrid, Toyota is introducing a new Capstone model starting at 75 grand.
“We’ve continued to see the consumer transaction price in full-size pickups go up. Some of it is around the towing technology, a lot of it the advancement in tech,” Moses said. “Consumers aren’t just looking at a basic truck — (they) want a truck that can do everything, but with all the amenities, too.”
And will Toyota develop an electric pickup?
“It goes back to the priority about towing,” he said. “We’ll continue to watch the market.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Toyota Tundra i-Force MAX is a mean, green fightin’ machine
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 5, 2022
Carmel Valley, California — The best pickups are Swiss Army knives. From towing utility to off-road fun, today’s trucks offer a tall toolbox of capability.
Add the 2022 Toyota Tundra i-Force MAX to the list. MAX as in maximum hybrid performance.
I usually get my grins in the Carmel Valley region from driving sports cars at Laguna Seca, one of the country’s premier racetracks. But with a whopping, best-in-class 583-pound feet of torque and an independent rear suspension — specs you’d expect to find on a Dodge Viper SRT, for goodness sake — the Tundra hybrid was a hoot to drive through the surrounding hills.
Barreling along Carmel Valley Road, the 6,000-pound four-wheel-drive beast gulped asphalt, its composed chassis predictable as my left foot dipped into the 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6 hybrid’s deep lake of torque.
“Did you try SPORT-Plus mode?” grinned Toyota truck chief engineer Mike Swears after a returned from a day of misbehaving. Yes, I did, its quick shifts belting me in the back like — well, a Viper SRT — in order to MAX-mize torque.
Pushing the envelope of performance modes shows the expectations Toyota has for i-Force MAX. The first clean-sheet Tundra since the 2007 Stone Age, the light duty truck is a comprehensive remake learning the best Swiss Army features of pickups from Ram to F-150 to Silverado to Sierra.
This is a mean, green fightin’ machine.
Like GMC, Tundra brings a muscled bod with meaty fenders and upright fascia — all snapped together in a bold style that will make LEGO fans drool. “Outta my way” shouted the big grille as I bore down on a line of traffic like a Humpback whale swallowing a school of fish. Toyota has been on a mission to get your attention with polarizing mugs (seen a Lexus RX grille lately? Yikes!) but cow catcher grilles work on macho, locomotive-sized pickups.
Macho has been the name of the game in pickup bed wars. After Ford rolled out its first all-aluminum body in 2015, Chevy Silverado threw down the gantlet. The bow-tie brand claimed its steel beds were tougher with hard-hitting ads that included dropped toolboxes and bears ripping apart aluminum cages. There was more testosterone in the air than a WWE bout.
With the added weight of hybrid batteries in his Tundra, engineer Swears looked long and hard at aluminum for weight-saving — but lost sleep over those dropped toolboxes. Toyota customers had already complained of scarring in their steel beds.
So Toyota went a third way: composites. Composites — though pricey — offered a handsome veneer, the strength of steel, the light weight of aluminum. And Swears’ team had years of experience with them in Tundra’s little brother Tacoma’s bed.
Tundra has also learned a thing or two from GM brands’ bed accessibility. The signature corner steps on Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra are a 10 — easy, accessible. In the macho truck wars, no one can copy anyone else without losing face (F-150 for example, offers a complicated, stick ‘n’ step option). But Tundra offers a simple step that swings out from below as soon as the gate drops. Give ’em a seven out of 10.
From Professor Ram, Tundra learns a smooth, multi-link rear suspension.
Climb inside (at 6’5” even I needed the A-pillar handles in the high-riding Tundra TRD Pro trim) and the interior follows Ford with a digital tour de force. Starting at $35K, Tundra trucks get Toyota’s typical standard suite of features, including wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, blind-spot assist, adaptive cruise control and auto headlights.
By the time you ascend to Limited trim — where the hybrid engine kicks in — the Tundra is slathered in goodies including hydraulic chassis mounts and crisp 12.5-inch instrument and 14-inch console displays. They anchor an interior that echoes the exterior’s LEGO look. I opened the panoramic roof to let the California sunshine bathe the cabin.
The Toyota, true to its meat ‘n’ potatoes QDR mantra (Quality, Durability, Reliability), doesn’t match the Ford with luscious full-screen graphics and show-me toys like disappearing gear shifter and fold-down console desk. The cockpit is comfy, easy to navigate with cubby storage everywhere. Toyota prides itself on QDR, but it could use some of Ford’s obsession with detail. Six-footers like me sit close to the rear ceiling — a negative if a frisky TRD Pro driver takes to a country road — and the head-up display was difficult to read in bright sunlight.
The breakthrough here is the hybrid powertrain.
Squeezing the throttle, I shot past traffic with the 1.87 kWh nickel-hydride battery under the rear seats negating turbo lag with instant, diesel-like torque. Unlike a diesel, the twin-turbo V-6 kept howling at high RPMs. Grille like a Sierra AT4, performance like a Sierra 6.2-liter V-8.
Federal MPG mandates have put automakers in a vise. Toyota can weather the storm with its deep bench of hybrid Camry and RAV4 powertrains, but diesels have become a liability with their high-sulfur emission requiring the construction of an onboard chemical scrubbing plant.
So Toyota fashioned a one-motor (as opposed to two-motor in the Camry) system that does it all: low-end towing/fuel economy/open-throttle joy in one package. The system begs comparison with Ford’s hybrid F-150 offering, but the latter is more tech- and mpg-focused with its 25 mpg and onboard, 7.2-kW inverter so you can fire up the barbie at a tailgate party.
The Toyota mill is focused on good old-fashioned performance with a nice 45% torque boost over the outgoing V-8. I miss that V-8 roar, but the V-6 makes a nice song under the cane. What I missed more was the lack of sub-rear seat storage since that’s where the battery is stored.
Tundra clean-and-jerked a 4,500-pound Airstream with ease. Then it got dirty off-road in TRD Pro trim with 33-inch Falken tires, three skid plates protecting the underbelly, and eye-catching orange paint.
Trucks are the new luxury, and Tundra Hybrid plays in a space more familiar to Lexus buyers. Not to mention F-150s, Silverados and Rams. The Limited Hybrid starts at $54K, nearly 20 grand north of the standard twin-turbo-V6 model. Want to TRD Pro? Get out $68,500 for my tester. At $75,225, you can have a Tundra Capstone.
Pricey, yes. But so is a $50 Swiss Army knife compared to the $12 pocket variety.
2022 Toyota Tundra i-Force MAX
Vehicle type: Front-engine, four-wheel-drive, five-passenger pickup
Price: $53,995, including $1,695 destination charge ($68,500 TRD Pro and $69,110 1794 trim as tested)
Powerplant: Hybrid, 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6 with electric motor battery assist
Power: 437 horsepower, 583 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.7 seconds (Car and Driver est.); towing, 10,340 lbs. (Capstone as tested); payload, 1,600 lbs. (TRD Pro)
Weight: 6,010 pounds (TRD Pro as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA: 20 mpg city/24 highway/22 combined
Report card
Highs: Pickup presence; eye-popping, i-Force MAX performance
Lows: Interior lacks Detroit Three panache; no sub-seat rear storage due to battery
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Ford vs. Ferrari vs. Corvette: Mustang GT3 racer takes on the world
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 29, 2022
Detroit’s sportscar icons are going to war at Daytona.
Ford announced it will enter a fire-breathing, V-8-powered Mustang GT3 race car to go head-to-head against Corvette in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. The pair will join a who’s who of the supercar universe — Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin — in the 2024 IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) series, the most exciting sportscar championship in decades.
It is a rare meeting of these V-8-powered legends head-to-head on track with factory backing — and continues the Ford vs. Corvette rivalry kindled last decade when Ford entered its GT supercar in IMSA’s now-defunct GTLM class.
“We’ll be campaigning the Mustang GT3 in the IMSA GT Pro series as a factory effort with two cars for the 2024 season,” said Ford Performance boss Mark Rushbrook in an interview from Daytona Motor Speedway ahead of the company’s announcement. “It’s going to be a Mustang built to the limits of what we can do in terms of engine, aerodynamics, chassis. We’re just so excited about it; you know what Mustang means to our company.”
The Mustang also races against the Chevy Camaro in the NASCAR Cup at the Daytona 500 — but the badges are essentially decals on a spec chassis that has little to do with the production pony cars. By contrast, the IMSA series has attracted such a diversity of manufacturers because it encourages them to show off their signature production technologies.
The GT3 ‘Stang, for example, will be stuffed with a steroid-fed version of the 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 found in the production, $37,000 Mustang GT coupe. The Corvette C8.R racer features the same screaming, dual-overhead-cam engine bound for the 2023 Chevy Corvette Z06.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled than to have Ford join us in the GTD class,” said Corvette Racing brand ambassador Doug Fehan, who pioneered Corvette’s assault on international endurance racing in the late 1990s. “GT is the cornerstone of racing across the globe, and we are entering the richest period of GT racing ever.”
Ford and racing have been intertwined since the early 1900s, when Henry Ford raced to get investor attention for his early car companies.
“We are in racing for the halo that it gives Mustang and Ford, but also — just like we’ve learned so much in the Ford GT program that was transferred to other Ford road cars — we will continue learning on the racetrack to make (our) products better on the street,” Rushbrook said.
He is excited about the ‘Stang and ‘Vette rivalry — but also the chance to run against the world’s best. Rushbrook expects race organizations from North America’s IMSA to Europe’s World Endurance Challenge to soon formally announce that GT classes will run under the same rules worldwide — just as they have done with a hybrid-powered prototype LMDh class that has already attracted performance giants like Cadillac, Porsche, BMW and Audi.
“There are so many different global series,” Rushbrook said. “When they adopt the GT3 rules, then manufacturers and our private customers can race our car in IMSA and SRO in America. It can go race the 12 hours of Bathurst in Australia. It can race the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. It can race all around the world.”
That dovetails with Ford’s strategy to make the sixth-generation Mustang its first truly global offering — sold in 146 countries. Fans will see it run side-by-side against its global peers on track — including France’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, the summit of international endurance racing.
“This is an important part of Mustang and Corvette’s global strategy,” said veteran race watcher Steven Cole Smith, currently contributing editor to Autoweek and Grassroots Motorsports. “It’s one thing for manufacturers to race their cars, but when they can build race cars like the Mustang and Corvette GT3s and sell them to customers, they can also make money at it.”
Multimatic Motorsports, the Canadian specialty manufacturer that built the 2016, Le Mans-winning Ford GT, will engineer the Mustang GT3. Multimatic engineered a lesser, Mustang GT4 class car that will be competing in Daytona this weekend in IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge.
Rushbrook said the Mustang GT3 will use a similar chassis and engine to the GT4 car, but will turn up the wick with 100-plus more horsepower, more advanced aerodynamics, more track width.
“We really liked the way the global racing bodies have created a ladder of classes to give us two different Mustangs to offer for sale to customer racers,” Rushbrook said.
Interestingly, Ford Performance chose not to use the supercharged, 5.2-liter, 760-horsepower V-8 in its current showroom halo, the Mustang GT500.
“The rules allow you to use any engine from a Ford vehicle. In this case, we believe a naturally-aspirated V-8 engine is the best engine,” the Ford Performance chief said. “You don’t want the complexity or weight of a turbocharger or supercharger.”
A mid-engine Corvette — or Ferrari, for that matter — is inherently superior to a front-engine Mustang. So GT3 rules allow for so called BOP (Balance of Performance) that levels the playing field by regulating power and weight.
While the Ford brand has ditched its sedan lineup for SUVs, it has elevated its “icons” — the Mustang coupe, F-150 pickup, Bronco SUV. All three models compete in racing: the F-150 Raptor in the Baja 1000, the Bronco Raptor in King of the Hammers, and Mustang in NASCAR, GT4 and GT3 racing.
Like the company’s founder, Ford’s current CEO is a talented driver. When he’s not signing checks for Ford to go racing, Jim Farley is on track in his own Lola T298 vintage racer.
Might the 59-year-old CEO get a crack at the Daytona 24 Hour in the Mustang GT3?
“He would love to and would probably do a pretty good job,” laughed Rushbrook. “He’s a racer for sure.”
But for now, Ford is sticking with Le Mans-winning hot shoe Joey Hand as the Mustang GT3’s development driver.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
‘A special day for Detroit’: Racquet Up youth squash center opens
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 29, 2022
Detroit – On a frigid, 14-degree morning in Northwest Detroit, squash is in season. The racquet sport of squash, that is.
A year after Racquet Up planted the seed of its 18,000-square foot youth development center on West Outer Drive, the facility opened Friday with a ribbon-cutting. The gorgeous, glass-rimmed building is the Midwest’s biggest squash facility and will serve as an after-school incubator for some 200 youth to learn the skills of the game and life beyond.
“This is a special day for Detroit,” said Mayor Mike Duggan in front of a large crowd of parents, donors, and teachers outside the facility. “A lot has been taken away from this neighborhood, especially its youth.”
Duggan knows whereof he speaks having spent his youth at Catholic Central college preparatory school which once stood right across the street from Racquet Up. The school left Detroit nearly 20 years ago, following its students to Novi. Racquet Up – along with five nearby partner schools – has filled the void in recent years, training a new generation of youth.
Racquet Up started 11 years ago in the Northwest Activities Center south of Eight Mile. Its new, world-class home at 6530 West Outer Drive is just a mile west near Renaissance High School. It will serve as the hub for the organization’s youth development program with a focus on educational attainment, physical fitness, wellness, and college prep.
Squash is the hook when kids begin in the 5th grade, but it is accompanied by intensive educational and personal support to buttress high school learning and prepare students for the rigors of college. A free program, Racquet Up has taken its Detroit students across North America, including squash tournaments in San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, and Toronto.
The facility opening was coordinated with the Motor City Open squash tournament in Bloomfield Hills featuring eight of the world’s Top 20 pro players from countries including New Zealand, Egypt, England, and France. American #1 (and World #35) Todd Harrity and French World #33 Lucas Serme wowed the crowd with a special exhibition of squash on the new courts.
Racquet Up, which mirrors squash-driven programs in other major cities including Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Diego, has built a pipeline from surrounding schools FLICS Academy, Schulze Academy, MacDowell Preparatory Academy, Detroit Achievement Academy, and University Yes Academy.
“Racquet Up has been an inspiration to my life,” said Antwan Ramsey, 19, who entered the program at age six and now mentors at the school. “It has gone from creating a team to being a family.”
He attends Wayne County Community College – typical of Racquet Up’ promise to help graduate 100% of its students from high school and into college. That success began with the program’s first, full-term graduating class in 2018 (starting in 2010 as 5th graders). The success rate was repeated in 2019, 2020 and 2021 classes. In addition to tournament road trips, students travel for college tours.
“This is a huge day, we’re here to celebrate the future,” said Racquet Up Executive Director Derek Aguirre. “Our new facility will be a game-changer for kids, and it could not be more timely as we all try to move forward from the pandemic. From our new, permanent home, we will provide support to thousands of youth and their families over the decades to come.”
In addition to its eight squash courts, Racquet Up includes three state-of-the-art classrooms and a career center. Its courts will also be available to the public, opening to a new generation a racquets sport popular across the globe. The center plans top-drawer squash events as well with an eye on national junior tournaments.
The facility will allow the youth program to double its current enrollment and provide more court access. In so doing it will expand its partnership to more area schools.
The facility project has drawn support from a broad range of individual, corporate, and foundation donors including The Shelden Fund, A.A. Van Elslander Foundation, McGregor Fund, A. Alfred Taubman Foundation, William Davidson Foundation, and Kresge Foundation.
“Racquet Up has been such a life experience,” said Antwan’s mother Tanya Ramsey, who has put six of her children through the program. “Since Derek Aguirre first came to our doorstep, he promised there would be a new center someday. I’m glad to be here to see the dream come true.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Chevy Trailblazer Activ compact SUV offers pickup versatility
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 27, 2022
Inside the Chevy Trailblazer Activ is a GMC Sierra AT4 wanting to get out.
Over Christmas, I had the $65,000 AT4 beauty in my driveway (Chevy sells a similar Silverado Trail Boss): all-terrain tires, 6 1/2-foot bed, Multi-Pro tailgate. I hauled my Christmas tree home in it, tore around Metro Detroit’s ox-cart roads without a care in the world.
Then along came a Trailblazer Activ that could have done the same thing for half the price.
Off-road capable SUVs are all the rage these days, led by the cage match between the Ford Bronco and Jeep Wrangler. But you don’t have to don the full, lifted, ladder-frame, 33-inch tire, tree-chewing wardrobe to be tough.
My $32K tester rode on meaty high-profile Hankook all-seasons that absorbed every shock area roads threw at them. While not lifted to the sky like big brother Sierra, the GM mighty-mite would have fared just fine on dirt roads, too.
I didn’t need to traverse a dirt road to get my Christmas tree, but having a GMC pickup bed made life easy at Orchard Lake’s English Gardens nursery, where I just tossed a 7-foot tree into the bed. No straining to put the tree on the roof. No fear of it falling off. No fiddling with string.
The Trailblazer didn’t have a bed, but it had a flat-folding front seat, one of my favorite auto features. The Trailblazer’s front seat performs the same trick as its Chevy Trax and Buick Encore kin: It’ll flatten forward as well as recline backward. That means — with the middle seats flat — you can put objects up to 8 1/2 feet long under the wee Chevy’s roof. Hello, Christmas tree.
Of course, that means you’ll have to vacuum a few needles, unlike with the Sierra’s bed. But the Trailblazer comes standard with a roof, so you don’t have to worry about the tree getting wet.
Speaking of roofs, Trailblazer went about its hauling duties in style like the AT4.
The Activ is distinguished by a white top and white-capped mirrors that remind of a Mini Cooper. It’s a nice touch and helps divert attention from the dog’s breakfast Chevy face. Were GMC to do a version of the Trailblazer (GMC builds a Terrain equivalent of Chevy’s Equinox, but nothing smaller) with its classic upright grille, it would be a knockout.
The Mini Cooper look does give the Trailblazer the appearance of a hot hatch and — typical of Chevy vehicles — the ute is no slouch in the performance department. I enjoyed flinging the AWD box around Oakland County’s lake roads, its peppy 1.3-liter turbo engine growling happily under competent management by GM’s nine-speed transmission. When it’s not impersonating a Sierra pickup, the Trailblazer wants to be a Camaro apparently.
The family traits benefit the junior Chevy.
GMC Sierra and Chevy Silverado were knocked this generation for their carryover interiors even as they innovated on tailgates and chassis stiffness. The next-gen trucks will get the trendy big-screen treatment, but lost in the hubbub is the fact that GM’s software is some of the industry’s most intuitive.
The Sierra AT4 system is easy to use, and its trickles down to the Trailblazer.
I jump in and out of a lot of brands week-to-week, and the GM products are always a quick study with good ergonomics, excellent screen graphics and helpful knob controls. On the way home on a dark and stormy night, I was struck by the detail on Trailblazer’s steering wheel as my thumbs searched in the dark for controls.
GM’s “rollers” — surrounded by push buttons — are ribbed for easy location and use, even at night. With the right thumb, I quickly found the MPH indicator screen on the instrument display ahead of me. Then I found the MPH control for adaptive cruise control on the left spoke. I thumbed it repeatedly without ever taking my eyes off the slick road in front of me.
Compare that to, say, the $52K Lexus NX350 I recently drove, which has a good Adaptive Cruise Control system but controls that are flat on the steering wheel, and difficult to locate without looking down.
Lexus also has adopted touchscreens in its products — ditching clumsy touchpads — no doubt due to products from GM that have stuck with touchscreen fundamentals. Sirius XM and its multitude of channels is always a good test of screen planning and the GMC/Chevy system is one of the best, allowing the driver to swipe though channel icons like a smartphone. Select your channel, then add it to favorites. My only ask of the GM designers: a “thumb shelf” at the base of the screen to anchor my thumb while paging.
This attention to detail extends elsewhere in the cabin. The rear window wiper toggle control is at the end of the right stalk, where it should be. The STOP/START, SPORT mode and AWD buttons are above the shifter. Where they should be.
Legroom is generous in back — better than some compact SUVs a segment above — and I could easily sit behind myself with my 6’5” knees. Up front, the Activ model even comes with “Oh, crap” handles on the center console for when the going gets tough off-road. Those handles add to the personality of the Trailblazer in a competitive segment.
The competition is formidable. Think the AWD Jeep Compass, Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness, forthcoming Mazda CX-30X … and my 2021 Detroit News Vehicle of the Year, the Ford Bronco Sport, which positively begs to be taken off the grid with its rear cargo lights, sub-rear seat storage and twin rear bike storage.
Good thing Trailblazer has Big Brother Sierra AT4 to learn from.
2022 Chevrolet Trailblazer Activ
Price: $26,820, including $1,195 destination fee ($31,505 as tested)
Powerplant: 1.3-liter turbocharged inline-4 cylinder
Power: 155 horsepower, 174 pound-feet of torque (AWD)
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 9.4 seconds (Car and Driver); Towing capacity, 1,000 pounds
Weight: 3,323 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA mpg est. 26 city/30 highway/28 combined
Report card
Highs: Intuitive controls; fold-flat front seat
Lows: Oh, that face; gets pricey
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Corvette turns 70 with special edition wardrobe
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 25, 2022
Happy 70th birthday, Corvette.
America’s longest-running nameplate will celebrate the milestone in 2023 with special edition versions of its Stingray and performance Z06 models. Dubbed the 70th Anniversary Edition package, the Corvette will pop out of the birthday cake this weekend wearing an all-new wardrobe. The first model will be auctioned at Barrett-Jackson in Arizona.
Seventy years young, the iconic Corvette has never been more athletic. Introduced as a 2020 model, the eighth-generation model is the first mid-engine ‘Vette and has been wildly successful with some Stingray models selling on dealer lots for $30,000 over MSRP. The highly-anticipated Z06, due this summer, sports a high-revving, flat-plane crank V-8 engine — at 760 horsepower, the most powerful normally-aspirated engine made — shared with the Daytona-winning C8.R race car.
“This is extra special because of the excitement and sales success we’ve achieved with the eighth generation of America’s iconic sports car,” said Chevrolet marketing boss Steve Majoros. “Even after 70 years, Corvette still makes hearts race and kids dream of the open road.”
You’ll know the 70th Anniversary Edition Corvette by its distinct wheels with commemorative center caps. Stingray and Z06 will have different wheel designs, but they share a similar dark finish and Edge Red stripe.
The models will have distinct exterior badging, including a special Corvette cross-flag logo on the exterior and 70th Anniversary Edition logo on seats, steering wheel and sill plates. Under the rear deck glass (not visible on hard-top convertible models) will be an Edge Red engine cover and Edge Red brake calipers will glow behind the wheels.
The 70th Anniversary Edition weapons will be sheathed in of one of two unique exterior colors: White Pearl Metallic Tri-coat or Carbon Flash Metallic. The colors can be accessorized with optional stripes — Satin Gray with the White Pearl Metallic Tri-coat or Satin Black with the Carbon Flash Metallic.
Inside the digital cockpit, drivers will luxuriate in two-tone, ceramic-leather GT2 or Competition Sport seats. Red stitching will decorate the cabin on the red seatbelts, suede seat inserts and steering wheel.
Corvettes have become collectors’ items with first-generation 1953 models fetching prices as high as $3 million. Anniversary editions have been offered on everything from standard models to top-trim ZR1s. For example, only 138 version of the 60th anniversary ZR1s were offered and they retain an average value today, according to collections expert Hagerty insurance, of $71,800 (original MSRP was about $127,000).
The current, eighth-generation Corvette took a bow in July 2019 with its European-supercar mid-engine styling, sub-3 second 0-60 mph times, high-tech interior — and decidedly non-supercar price of under $60,000. Its first performance variant, the Z06, ditches the Stingray’s 495-horse, pushrod V-8 for a 5.5-liter, dual-overhead-cam V-8 that will scream like a Ferrari at 8,600 RPM. The Z06 also has distinct body panels from the standard ‘Vette.
When it goes on sale this summer, the Z06 will likely sticker for some $20,000 north of the Stingray.
When VIN 001 of the 2023 70th Anniversary model rolls off the assembly line in Bowling Green, Kentucky, it will go straight to the auction block at the prestigious Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction on Saturday, Jan. 29. Proceeds will benefit nonprofit Operation Homefront, focused on helping military families.
Recognizing the birthday milestone, all 2023 models — not just the special edition cars — will come equipped with a commemorative 70th anniversary interior plaque on the center speaker grille and a graphic imprinted on the lower rear window.
More 70th Anniversary Edition Corvette packages will be available starting later this year on 2023 Stingray 3LT and Z06 3LZ trim coupe and convertible models. Buyers can check out all the options on the Chevrolet.com Corvette visualizer.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Ford unleashes the ferocious Bronco Raptor
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 24, 2022
Fenton — Ford has let its much-anticipated Bronco Raptor out of the cage, and it’s a beast.
With a ferocious, 400-plus horsepower engine under its ribbed hood, the Raptor sits on 37-inch tires and a 9.8-inch wider track for high speed off-roading like its big brother F-150 Raptor pickup. Combine that with Bronco’s signature, electronic detachable sway bar and Turn Assist for low-speed rock-crawling, and Bronco Raptor sets a new industry standard for off-road bandwidth.
In its escalating arms race with Jeep, Bronco’s Raptor lines up against the 470-horse, V-8-powered, Wrangler 392 with 35-inch Extreme Recon rubber. With its all-around capability, the Bronco hellion also becomes the new halo for Ford’s Raptor brand. True to that status, it will start at $69,995 — $2,924 more than a Raptor pickup.
While F-150 Raptor is designed for the high-speed desert runs of the Baja 1000, Bronco Raptor is targeted at Ultra4 Racing’s King of the Hammers series — North America’s demanding, multi-dimensional off-road competition where vehicles tackle courses with everything from high-speed sprints to brutal rock crawls.
“Bronco Raptor is the apex of our off-road lineup,” said Ford CEO Jim Farley. “It’s the real deal. It’s not for show and it’s not for everybody. But for people who love to get out in the wild, it’s the ultimate.”
Due this summer, Bronco Raptor will be hard to miss on road.
Like the Hulk’s biceps ripping through Bruce Banner’s shirt, its enormous tires stick out well beyond Raptor’s fender flares. The grille is stamped with the same “FORD” letters that ID the F-150 Raptor. Three amber marker lights on the bow indicate that Broncos Raptor is more than 80 inches wide (86.9 to be exact) — a regulation that usually applies to heavy duty dually trucks. Amber is the color of the Bronc’s signature ring headlights as well.
The design is Ultra4-inspired, and body panels forward of the A-pillar are new — including functional hood vents to feed the turbo-V-6 — except for the bumper, which has been reinforced to weather whatever obstacles are in the beast’s way. Body panels aft of the C-pillar are also new to accommodate the wider track. They are made from composites (the standard Bronco is aluminum) for light-weighting and ease of manufacture. The rear swing gate is reinforced with an exoskeleton to carry the larger, 37-inch spare tire.
This being a Bronco, owners can remove body panels and fenders and replace them with modular parts of their choice. When you’re done gawking at Bronco Raptor’s biceps, check out its tattoos — “Easter eggs,” the product team calls them — including the dates of Bronco’s Baja 1000 wins (1967, 1969, 1971, 1972) on the hood intake and profiles of three generations of Bronco racers inside the gas-filler door.
Ford introduced Bronco Raptor to media in its natural habitat — a scarred, off-road landscape in Genesee County — dressed in Code Orange, a color unique to Raptor. Ten colors will be offered but body style is limited to a four-door model with a hardtop roof.
Beneath its ripped wardrobe is some serious off-road muscle shared with the F-150 Raptor, America’s first super truck.
Bronco Raptor’s 116.5-inch wheelbase is significantly shorter than its pickup elder (145 inches) with shorter overhangs to allow batter maneuverability over tough terrain. The front approach angle is an impressive 47.2 degrees while the brute sits 4.8 inches higher than its Bronco sibling with a ride height of 13.1 inches.
It’s been reinforced to take extreme off-road punishment — reinforcement that also increases its tow-rating to 4,500 pounds from the standard Bronc’s 3,500. Below the removable hardtop, two roll bars have been added at the B and C pillars to increase chassis torsional rigidity by 50% over the standard Bronc — as well as enhance safety. Rock rails are standard; bead locks for the 37-inch BF Goodrich KO2 tires optional.
Performance, live-valve Fox shocks (upgraded over the Bronco’s Bilsteins) are shared with the F-150 Raptor and enable up to 13 inches of suspension travel up front, 14 inches rear. Control arms, half-shafts, suspension knuckles — all have all been beefed up. Five skid plates protect the beast’s underbelly from hard hits over, say, high-speed King of the Hammers jumps.
Propelling this off-road predator is the 3.0-liter, twin-turbo V-6 — similar to the 400-horse mill stuffed into the Ford Explorer ST. Raptor’s horsepower rating is expected to be north of that. It’s mated to the Bronco’s quick-shifting 10-speed transmission — a manual option is not available.
Bronco Raptor pilots will pull themselves up into the high cockpit with carbon-fiber grab handles. Once strapped into (optional) Code Orange seatbelts, they’ll be surrounded by Bronco’s electronically-controlled, off-road weaponry — plus a few new toys.
Like the boulder-climbing Bronco Badlands trim, the Raptor’s dash is full of hero switches: sway-bar disconnect, Trail Turn Assist, dual-locking differentials, the works. The Code Orange-trimmed, rotary GOAT (Go Over Any Terrain) selector offers seven modes: Normal, Slippery, Tow/Haul, Sport, Off-Road, Rock Crawl and Baja. Drivers can also configure a steering wheel button — just like My Mode in a Mustang GT500 or Z-mode in a Corvette Stingray — to instantly switch to the pre-programmed performance setting of their choice.
The Bronco Raptor comes standard with rubberized washout flooring and heavily bolstered, marine-grade vinyl seats, but — for those who don’t intend on getting their interiors muddy — a leather-and-suede or blue-accented leather-suede interior are available.
“The Bronco Raptor interior was designed around what we know hardcore off-road racers want in a vehicle,” said design manager Ryan Olsson.
Bronco Raptor will roll off the same assembly line as the Bronco at Ford’s Wayne Assembly Plant. It will get its first public viewing Feb. 3 at the King of the Hammers Festival in Johnson Valley, California.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
All aboard the Nissan Pathfinder for a Payne family holiday
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 22, 2022
Seattle — The holiday season is behind us, and it’s a great opportunity to assess the family SUV.
The holidays demand utility to take on relatives, grocery runs and foul weather. I scored a 2022 Nissan Pathfinder for the Paynes’ Thanksgiving get-together in America’s rain capital. Pathfinder is one of the latest in a series of recent Nissan value hits that include the compact Sentra sedan and Rogue SUV. I first met Pathfinder last summer in Holly, where it came with 6’10” product planner Andrew Molnar showing off its third row.
That’s right. Six foot 10. My 6’5” frame fit easily back there as well, giving me confidence that Pathfinder would be up to the job of ferrying three six-foot-plus Payne men and their wives around Seattle’s slippery streets for a packed weekend of outings. Our active family doesn’t lay around, and my Seattle-based older son had prepared an agenda longer than a list of Thanksgiving dinner dishes.
Mrs. Payne and I picked up a loaded $51,790 Pathfinder at the Seattle airport on Wednesday afternoon. I recommend loaded. Not only is Pathfinder full of standard features like blind-spot assist and adaptive cruise control (a tone set for the brand by the Sentra, which includes the same features at a ridiculously low starting price of $25K), but it offers features like 360-degree surround view and panoramic sunroof at a price that won’t break the bank. Only the Korean twins of Hyundai Palisade and Kia Telluride rival Pathfinder in value.
Surround view and panoramic roof are essential in Seattle, with its narrow streets and gloomy winter weather that makes Michigan seem bright by comparison.
We arrived under a typical cloud of drizzle. My wife wirelessly synced her Apple phone to the Pathfinder and routed us to my son’s apartment in the Queen Anne neighborhood — a close-in suburb (think Royal Oak with San Francisco-like hills). Pathfinder could have taken us to more remote Washington state hills if necessary.
With its all-wheel-drive system, the Nissan was loaded for bear with SNOW, SAND, ROCK, ECO, SPORT and AUTO settings. I would only need AUTO, SPORT and SNOW — the latter coming in handy during torrential rains on Queen Ann hills by cutting torque to the wheels and allowing for easy traction (Michiganians, take note for challenging snowstorms).
Our weekend would be filled with dinner outings — including a grocery run for the Thanksgiving bird. But first up was Sawyer, one of Seattle’s finest eateries. My long-suffering wife drew the short straw for the third-row seat first — but the experience wasn’t bad. The second-row jumps forward at the touch of a button, allowing easy ingress/egress. That entry is tougher for giants like myself, but once seated, the headroom is palatial and the sunroof lets in lots of light.
Our third-row needs would prove brief as my younger son caught the COVID bug and spent the weekend shuttered in a bedroom enjoying “Drive to Survive” on Netflix while we fed him a stream of food, Robitussin and sympathetic cheer. His lawyer wife, due to join us Thanksgiving day, stayed home in New York lest she be COVID-compromised for an important legal trial. The rest of us weathered the weekend no problem.
The Pathfinder weathered everything Seattle threw at us, too. Despite the constantly changing forecast, the interior climate system work effortlessly — avoiding fogging and loud blowing like, ahem, some other vehicles.
The Pathfinder’s ergonomics are well thought out with everything at the driver’s fingertips — including an excellent chiclet shifter and sub-console storage for hiding valuables.
Heading to Tukwila for some Saturday afternoon go-karting, the Pathfinder plied Interstate 5 with a competent assisted-driving system that kept us lane-centered and distanced from vehicles ahead of us. It’s a system Nissan has touted going back to its “Rogue One: Star Wars” commercials. The system may be able to navigate Star Wars robots, but in an indication of the challenges ahead for a self-driving future, the system would give up in Seattle’s heavy rain — the camera struggling to find road lines.
The Green Church has a big congregation in Seattle, and Teslas are a common sight here (though its Chevy Bolt, Mustang Mach-E and Audi EV competitors are conspicuously few). With regular gas at a lofty $4.38 a gallon — and hydroelectric power-fed electricity a cheap 7 cents a kilowatt hour — this is a town where EVs make sense for local commutes.
For longer trips to Washington’s lovely mountains and rivers, Pathfinder’s 286-horse V-6 offers good grunt combined with 480-mile range that puts your mind at ease. That range is especially important considering the range degradation of EVs in heavy rain.
Pathfinder is also a challenge to Nissan’s luxury brand. Built on the same platform as the Infiniti QX60, the Nissan may not be as pretty as its high-class cousin — but the digital interior is the Infiniti’s match.
You can put 65 grand down on a Tesla. But when it comes to holiday family duties, a $52K Pathfinder has everything you need for a lot less.
2022 Nissan Pathfinder
Vehicle type: Front engine, front- and-all-wheel-drive, seven- or eight-passenger SUV
Price: $34,560, including $1,150 destination fee $51,790 as tested)
Powerplant: 3.5-liter V-6
Power: 284 horsepower, 259 pound-feet torque (V-6)
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.7 seconds (Car and Driver); Towing, 6,000 pounds
Weight: 4,506 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA est. mpg 21 city/26 highway/23 combined
Report card
Highs: Family-friendly three-row seats; value pricing
Lows: Big thing to park in the city; wireless Apple CarPlay but not Android Auto
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Audi e-tron GT is an electrifying, elegant but expensive EV
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 21, 2022
The last time I saw the Audi e-tron GT, it was being mobbed by members of a panting press at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show with Iron Man — er, actor Robert Downey Jr. — behind the wheel. The GT hasn’t lost its appeal.
With a long, lean Audi figure draped over the same bones that carry the Porsche Taycan EV, the e-tron is a rocket ship with four doors.
It’s also a lot more fun with an in-house charger.
Last year, I piloted a wicked-quick Taycan EV around town, but had a shy right foot given the limits of 200 miles of range. I had scant few electrons left after a trip to Hell (Michigan) and back — then faced a lengthy charge at a local (glitchy) Electrify America station.
A Juicebox 240-volt charger (displacing $1,275 in my wallet including installation) now hangs on my garage wall next to a Tesla charger for my Model 3 Performance. The Tesla charger is proprietary and therefore useless to the parade of EV testers now coming to my door. Three years ago, I crawled to Ferndale in a Jaguar I-Pace to recharge (my wife trailing behind in her gas-powered Subaru if I didn’t make it). Sigh.
EVs are still a niche for customers with deep pockets.
If you have the coin for my $115,695 ($108,195 after the federal tax credit!) e-tron tester, it is a sensational metro commuter. ZAP! Squeeze the pedal onto Interstate 696 and merge effortlessly into traffic. ZOT! Stomp the pedal out of a Woodward stoplight and leave muscle cars behind. WHIRRRRR! Creep silently into the American Speed Festival parking lot at M1 Concourse’s Checkered Flag Charity event, and heads swiveled to follow the GT’s supermodel-on-wheels figure.
Well, maybe not the face. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the Audi’s black-masked face is not as engaging as the Porsche with its unique tear-drop headlights. Without the e-tron’s four rings, the face could be mistaken for the love child of a Dodge Charger and an Audi A5.
The tapered roof and beautifully sculpted tail — anchored by Audi’s direction-arrow-taillights — is what makes this GT stand out from the masses.
The interior will be familiar to Audi customers — just as the Taycan resembles the Porsche family — an indication of the brand’s determination to make the EV experience comfortable, not a leap into the unknown. The interior sits under a Tesla-like full-cabin sunroof that adapts to sunlight overhead. A nifty chiclet shifter negotiates the two-speed automatic transmission.
Otherwise the instrument and infotainment displays are vintage Audi, with haptic touch commands and striking Google Earth navigation displays.
The challenge for Audi buyers is how it stacks up to other vehicles in the showroom. There are a lot of sweets in this candy shop.
My friends Caroline and Jim recently downsized to an RS5 from a RS7 Sportback. Caroline giggled as she squeezed the pedal on Woodard, the e-tron exploding forward as if launching to space. Thrust is similar to the RS7 but without the audio accompaniment of a twin-turbo V-8.
The distant scream of the twin electric motors don’t do justice to the jaw-dropping speed.
Jim allowed how the instant torque made e-tron feel like the quickest Audi he’d driven. A family man, he’s uninterested in the $110,000 Audi R8. But even as his Audi RS5 Sportback tops the A5 range at a heady $68K, it is a loooong throw from the $115K e-tron.
They are the same size, but e-tron does not have the RS5’s handier hatchback utility. Perhaps Audi had to conform to the Taycan’s trunk design to produce two sedans off the same platform.
The e-tron, in other words, is a tease to A5 owners until/if EV prices drop in half (consider the $40K Chevy Bolt vs. the similarly sized Chevy Trax — not even the proposed $12,500 federal subsidy will get you there). Especially since, at 238 miles of range, it is not an easy long-distance car.
Caroline and Jim travel frequently, and they aren’t interested in spending extended periods charging in Meijer parking lots. They, like a lot of electric owners, would use the e-tron as a daily commuter. To attend baseball games — or Iron Man movies. If that isn’t entertainment enough, there is 469 horsepower on tap. ZAP!
Pair the e-tron GT with a gas-powered Audi SQ5 (that can fill up its 500-mile range in five minutes) and you have the ideal two-car garage. Just remember to plug your GT into the Juicebox.
2021 Audi e-tron GT
Vehicle type: Battery-powered, all-wheel-drive, five-passenger sedan
Price: $103,445 including $1,045 destination fee ($115,695 Premium Plus as tested)
Powerplant: 93.4 kWh lithium-ion battery with twin electric-motor drive
Power: 496 horsepower (522 in Boost mode), 464 pound-feet torque
Transmission: Single-speed direct drive/front axle and two-speed/rear axle
Performance: 0-60 mph, 3.9 seconds (mfr.); top speed, 152 mph
Weight: 5,060 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA MPGe 82 city/98 highway; range, 238 miles
Report card
Highs: Awesome acceleration; lovely profile
Lows: Challenge to charge beyond home charger; oh, that face
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
New EV rules handicap transplants, play to Detroit Three’s strengths
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 21, 2022
As the most onerous federal mpg regulations in 50 years force the auto industry toward electric vehicles, domestic manufacturers are in the catbird seat. Credit the Detroit Three’s huge advantage in profitable fleet trucks and vans, say industry analysts, that are lining up corporate customers. Meanwhile, more consumer-reliant Asian automakers see a tough road for EV adoption.
Call it the Motor City’s revenge.
The Detroit Three automakers’ rising stock prices and fortunes contrast with sliding market share in the late 20th century after 1970s Washington fuel-efficiency regulations compelled vehicle downsizing. Designed to reduce dependence on foreign oil, so-called CAFE laws opened the door to smaller, sippier Asian brands. Coupled with huge domestic assembly-plant investments, foreign transplant automakers rode the wave to become major players in the U.S. market.
“The tide has turned,” said Dan Ives, Wedbush Securities’ managing director of equity research, in an interview as Ford’s market cap crested $100 billion. “In the EV market, the golden goose is the pickup truck. Detroit automakers are leveraging their position of strength, (which is why) you are seeing stock value in Ford at an all-time high.”
With big businesses pledging their commitment to the planet by electrifying pickup and van fleets — some 3 million trucks were sold in the U.S. in 2021 — Detroit executives like GM’s Mary Barra and Ford’s Jim Farley have embraced federal regulation aimed at making half of U.S. auto sales battery-powered by decade’s end.
Compare that with foreign brands who are unsure their customers want battery-powered vehicles.
“What is the consumer uptake? Right now, I think that’s something that’s a little out of whack” with manufacturers’ rush to bring EVs to market, said Honda North America boss Dave Gardner at a January briefing with reporters.
The Japanese automaker is tentatively dipping its toe in the EV market by jointly developing two 2024 EVs with GM. Meanwhile, Ford and GM are readying battery-powered versions of their most popular pickup products — the Ford F-150 Lightning and Chevy Silverado EV. If Honda is dipping a toe, “Ford is diving into the deep end of the EV pool,” said Ives.
That’s a change from 20 years ago, when Honda and Toyota pioneered battery-powered, gas-electric hybrids. The compact 2000 Honda Insight and Toyota Prius captured the fancy of green celebrities and politicians for their fuel-efficient ways. The Asian brands expanded hybrids across their sedan and SUV model lineups, while Detroit automakers struggled to sell similar products like the Ford Fusion Hybrid and Chevrolet Volt.
A 2009 IBM Institute for Business Value research survey found that auto industry executives expected 100% of sales would be hybrid by 2020. They were off by 97 percentage points. Though dominated by Asian automakers, hybrid sales only amounted to 3% of 2020 sales as consumers resisted hybrid premiums and gas prices plunged.
Now it’s Detroit automakers who are bullish on alternate powertrains, with GM predicting all-EV sales by 2035. Their volume customers seem to be on board.
Barra’s commitment to the “pursuit of sustainability and climate equity” echoes that of corporate giants like FedEx and Walmart — not to mention powerful green politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, whose legislation aims to shape the future of transportation.
“Corporate fleets are a real market,” said veteran Wall Street analyst Joe Phillippi, president of AutoTrends Consulting. “Barra and Farley have got it figured out. They have massive truck and van fleet sales and they can subsidize their EV truck development with gas-powered trucks. No one else has that cash machine. I think Wall Street has figured out that, at the end of the day, the volume buyer is going to drive EV sales — and the volume is in corporate fleets.”
Foreign transplants from Honda to Hyundai to Volkswagen depend on mainstream SUV and sedan sales where retail customers have turned a cold shoulder to EVs not named Tesla. EV sales are just 3% of the U.S. market (almost half of them in California) — 80% of them by the luxury Silicon Valley brand.
But for big corporations under pressure from activist investors to declare Environmental Social Governance goals, service fleets are a moral haven — and make a sound business case too, say analysts.
“EVs may be more relevant to the fleet market than to the consumer market,” said Ed Kim, industry analyst with Auto Pacific, as corporations eye $7.5 billion in federal infrastructure subsidies to jump-start their charging infrastructure. “Fleet vehicles can run fixed routes of 150 miles on a smaller, cheaper battery. Then they can charge overnight on cheaper utility rates. With Congress’s proposed $12,500 in incentives, a Ford Lightning, for example, can make up its purchase premium over a gas-powered F-150.”
The $12.5k subsidy is a controversial expansion of EV tax credits proposed by Michigan Democrats that would favor domestic, battery-electric vehicle production at Detroit Three unionized plants.
When asked about the pro-UAW tax credit provision, Honda’s Gardner said the legislation was unfair to non-union U.S. plants like Honda’s Ohio facilities.
Honda has long touted its goal to “electrify” two-thirds of North American sales by 2030 in part to ward off the threat of global warming lawsuits against automakers similar to those brought against tobacco companies to cover state Medicaid costs. But electrification assumed a mix of hybrids, plug-in hybrids, BEVs and fuel-cell vehicles.
Gardner said Honda is committed to EVs by 2040, but only with “very aggressive government help and subsidies.” Such subsidies have already existed for hybrid vehicles for 20 years, yet hybrids make up just 10% of Honda sales.
He said Honda’s strength is affordable vehicles, but EV sales are overwhelmingly bought in premium segments. It’s a niche where trucks also play as status symbols. The average price paid for an F-150 in 2020, for example, was a lux-like $47,174.
“That’s the beauty of pickups,” said Auto Pacific’s Kim. “They can sell a variety of flavors to fleet and high-end retail customers. Chevrolet is launching a work truck, but also a loaded, $105,000 Silverado EV.”
Federal mpg laws originally slowed Detroit companies, but “today they are a headwind for Asian automakers,” said investment analyst Ives.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Bollinger shelves consumer EVs to focus on commercial trucks
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 14, 2022
The imposing, battery-powered Bollinger B2 pickup truck won’t be seen on the road anytime soon.
The Oak Park-based startup announced Friday that it is canceling consumer orders for its innovative, off-road-capable B2 pickup and B1 SUV in order to focus on its burgeoning commercial truck business.
The $125,000 B1 and B2 were part of a squadron of epic super-trucks — including offerings from Rivian, GMC, Chevy, Ford, Tesla and Lordstown Motors — coming to market in the wake of Tesla’s success as a luxury electric vehicle maker. The $74,000 Rivian R1T pickup Launch Edition began customer deliveries at the end of 2021, as did the $113,000 Hummer EV Edition 1, but Bollinger’s announcement is an indication that the volume demand for EV trucks is in the commercial, not retail, sector where the lofty prices are only attainable by a few.
“We’ve been in development on the commercial front for quite some time. This has been growing and growing,” CEO Robert Bollinger said in an interview. “We’ve had large fleets looking at (our battery-powered platform). We just read the writing on the wall. Most of our employees are on the commercial side, and so I made a decision to defund the B1 and B2.”
The decision wasn’t easy for the entrepreneur, who began Bollinger Motors on his New York farm in 2015 with a passion for building an eco-friendly EV pickup with unique performance attributes. The boxy B2 was born.
Unveiled at a glitzy Times Square event in 2017, it featured gob-smacking numbers like 614 horsepower and 668 pound-feet of torque, zero-60 mph acceleration in 4.5 seconds, 5,000-pound payload capacity, and a suspension that offered variable ground clearance of 10 to 20 inches. The truck’s signature attributes were Jeep Wrangler-like removable body panels, and a unique, hollowed-out interior that could swallow objects up to 16 feet long by dropping the vehicle’s tailgate, midgate and front gate.
“It was time we did something new,” Bollinger said at the time. “I just wanted to build the best truck without compromise.”
Bollinger moved the company to Metro Detroit to take advantage of the region’s deep engineering and manufacturing talent. The company showed pre-production prototypes in late 2019 of a B1 SUV model to be hand-built alongside the B2 truck. Initial production for the $125,000 vehicles was sold out with a reservation list of 30,000.
The B2 turned heads at last fall’s Motor Bella show in Pontiac. Bollinger Motors will refund deposits for those who had reserved B1 and B2 models.
A passionate environmentalist who has self-funded Bollinger Motors with a personal fortune gained from selling his New York cosmetics marketing company, Bollinger sees the commercial truck direction as the best way to pursue his green goals.
“It’s clearly the correct decision even if it’s hard for me to set aside my love” for pickups, he said. “I replaced that for the moment with the incredible amount of impact you can have with commercial fleets. The amount of CO2 we can take out of the air and the particulates is incredible.”
Bollinger says that “upfitters” (companies that equip vehicle platforms for commercial applications) and fleet buyers will use his raw, skateboard battery platform for a variety of uses quite different from its original, dirt-kicking aspirations. The rear-drive platform can be scaled to different wheelbases and battery sizes for use with heavy-duty utility vehicles, tow trucks, small garbage trucks, and municipal buses.
He sees Bollinger’s opportunity in medium-duty Class 3-6 trucks — capable of gross vehicle weight ratings (GVWR) from 10,000-26,000 pounds. That’s different from competitor platforms like the Rivian, Ford F-150 Lightning, Chevy Silverado and Lordstown Endurance EV platforms that are targeted at Class 2 GVWR pickup applications (6,000-10,000 pounds) like Amazon delivery trucks — or Class 1 vehicles (0-6,000 pounds GVWR) like the electric Ford E-Transit and GM BrightDrop vans.
Government and corporate ESG (Environmental, Social Governance) policies are driving fleet purchases as well as the promise of government subsidies for charging infrastructure. EV trucks lag gas-powered trucks in towing range, but Bollinger sees most fleet applications as limited, low-mileage routes. Bollinger manufactures its own battery packs and will supply platforms with 70-kWh, 140-kWh and 220-kWh capability. By comparison, the Tesla Model 3, the most popular EV in the U.S. market with 320 miles of range, sports a 82-kWh battery.
“(Commercial EV fleets) are where everything is going as far as regulations from states,” said Bollinger. “Maybe the federal government too. All the expectation on the commercial side is really going to be the driver for the volume of vehicles turning electric.”
While sexy sedans like Teslas, Mercedes EQS and Lucid Air turn heads, auto startup and legacy automakers alike see gold in commercial trucks.
GM, too, has wowed with $100,000-plus retail super-trucks, but it’s the fleet-focused Silverado EV Work Truck that will first come to market in early 2023. Ford’s F-150 Lightning EV is also teasing wealthy first adopters with $90,000 Lightning Platinum models, but its base $40k Pro trim is targeted at commercial fleets.
Startup Lordstown Motors had ambitious plans to produce thousands of commercial trucks based on its Endurance pickup platform. Delayed by financial issues, the Endurance is expected to come out this spring under a production contract with Foxconn.
Bollinger, too, will soon announce a production partner for its Class 3-6 platform. It will not provide charging infrastructure — a big challenge that commercial customers are just getting their arms around.
“There’s a lot of capital companies that offer the capital for these companies to switch over” to electric fleets, said CEO Bollinger. “You have to change a depot that, for example, has 100 trucks and you need 100 chargers. And they all have to be fast chargers and your whole building needs a new amount of power coming in from utilities. It’s a big package.”
Bollinger regretted having to cancel orders on his beloved B1 and B2 off-road beasts, but hopes to return to them someday.
“We wouldn’t be here without our deposit-holders,” he said. “We can’t thank them enough and and hopefully they’ll continue to follow our progression, even if it’s not something that they can buy for themselves right now.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Ford Bronco Sasquatch vs. Land Rover Defender 90 in the Dirt Bowl
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 13, 2022
Holly — What’s better than taking an off-road beast over snowbound Holly Oaks ORV Park? Taking two off-road beasts.
I flogged the Land Rover Defender 90 and Ford Bronco First Edition two-door models over southeast Michigan’s premier adventure park for grins — and to see how the two warriors compared. The Bronco has wowed in comparison tests with its arch-rival Jeep Wrangler.
But so good is Bronco that it also matches up against His Highness of Rugged Royalty, Land Rover.
It’s good to have the Brit and Bronc back. They are iconic names that disappeared from the U.S. market for years. Defender last sold here in 1997, the Bronco 1996. Credit Wrangler’s wild success as a brand halo for Jeep in the Age of Ute for bringing these two legends out of retirement.
Like Wrangler, Defender and Bronco have their roots in World War II. They were first built as rugged, battle-ready General Purpose (GP — or Jeep for short) vehicles. But the Brit and Yank have diverged dramatically since then. Aimed at Land Rover’s First Class clientele, Defender now rides on a — la-de-da — air suspension and crisp unibody SUV chassis contrary to the truck-based bruiser of safari legend. The Americans are still based on ladder frames and can be stripped naked of their doors and roof to get even closer to Mother Nature.
Wrangler and Broncos are natural predators and will be hunting each other for years across Holly Oaks and other U.S. adventure parks. But, in a challenge to Jeep, Bronco has updated the off-road formula with state-of-the-art tech — rotary mode shifter, single-button sway-bar disconnect, fully digital instrument displays, independent front suspension.
Its sophistication not only challenges Jeep — but puts it in the same neighborhood as Land Rover for $20,000 less.
A consistent theme of these columns is how the electronics age has shrunk the gap between luxe and mainstream (see Mazda CX-50 vs. BMW 2-series, VW Golf R vs. Audi S3, Corvette vs. Porsche), and Rover v. Bronco is another example. Game on.
Punching the Rover 90’s 395-horse, supercharged-and-turbocharged inline-6 across Holly Oaks’ frozen tundra, I slewed the 5,000-pound beast into The Sandbox — an undulating sea of sand that tests vehicles’ stability and strength. The Defender was solid as a rock (despite an eerie wail from the brakes which my pal, Tom — riding shotgun — surmised was sand in the discs) on its unibody chassis.
The unibody choice raised eyebrows at the Rover’s introduction in 2019 — Heresy! Off with the engineers’ heads! — but it’s more rigid than the old ladder frame and never flinched through Holly Oaks’ unsparing terrain.
Defender knows its clientele. For all its off-road chops, Land Rovers are show horses. They spend their time ferrying its occupants to country clubs, not ORV parks.
Roll out onto the Holly Oaks battlefield and Rover intuitively recognizes the incongruity of the task at hand.
“Um, do you really know what you’re doing? I’ll take it from here.”
What ensues is a heavily managed trip around the grounds, the 90’s electronics always present to ensure you don’t get too far over your skis. For clearance over rocks Defender’s air suspension rises to 11.5 inches.
The big rotary dial on the dash allows easy access to Defender’s multiple modes: AUTO, GRASS/GRAVEL/SNOW, MUD, SAND, ROCK CRAWL. But no matter the mode, Defender won’t let you tune the nannies off. As our friends at Car and Driver put it: “Non-defeatable stability control occasionally stifles off-roading.”
The Bronco wants you to push the envelope. Four exposed tow hooks come standard — on the Rover, exposed tow hooks are optional. That tells you something.
Bronco achieves its 11.5” ride height the old-fashioned way — by slapping on huge 35-inch Goodyear Territory tires, part of a Sasquatch package that includes dual-locking differentials and performance shocks.
The heck with air suspension, these balloons with teeth not only jack up the car, they can claw up Rushmore’s face. Ford encourages its drivers to play with the firepower on hand. High on the dash are buttons to turn off stability control, disconnect sway bars, turn on lockers, even toggle Turn Assist for extra-tight turning radius.
The Ford swaggered up to Holly Oaks’ intimidating, snowy, slick Mt. Magna rock face. With 43-degree approach angle, lockers on and sway bar disconnected, I waltzed up Magna as easy as Gretzky stuffing a power-play goal.
The Defender struggled. Never mind its lack of suspension articulation (the Defender doesn’t offer sway bar disconnect), traction control forced multiple attempts to find grip. Its 37.5-degree approach angle and 32-inch Goodyear Wrangler tires also were relatively limited.
Oh, how I pined for Bronc’s button controls and Territory 35s. The sequence repeated itself across Holly Oaks — the Ford attacking, the Rover managing. Ultimately, the Bronco’s incredible capabilities took me places the Defender wouldn’t dare.
How different might “No Time to Die” have turned out if the bad guys had Sasquatch package to pursue Bond?
The beauty of the Ford is that, thanks to modern electronics, its controls are as easy to use as Rover’s. The Bronco’s horizontal all-digital dash is surprisingly similar to the luxe Rover — then Bronco ups the ante with a giant center screen and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Drive modes — NORMAL, ECO, SPORT, MUD/RUTS, SLIPPERY, SAND/SNOW, ROCK CRAWL, BAJA, and MARS (just kidding about that last one) — are accessed via similar rotary dial. No muscling a second transfer case shifter as in Wrangler. Modes are then refined using the aforementioned dash buttons.
Bronco also matches Rover for visual drama. The two-doors are athletic looking — the Defender in Pangea Green, the Ford in Area 51 Blue — compared with four-door models. Bronco’s Sasquatch package made my truck pal Scott’s knees weak when he saw it in the parking lot.
“I gotta take a picture for my daughter,” he smiled.
Yeah, chicks dig these brutes. But those 35s come at a cost to comfort. On road, Defender is noticeably quieter. Put your right foot down and the Defender’s 395-horse supercharged-and-turbocharged inline-6 will get you to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds.
Hit the gas in the 330-horse Bronco and the turbo V-6 hits 60 mph in 6.3 seconds, but with a roar: WAAUUURRGHH!
If you want a rugged-looking Land Rover, the $66,000 Defender is the summit. If you want to go off-roading, the $49,000 Bronco is the bomb.
And you can put the 17 grand you save toward a $21K Ford Maverick pickup.
2021 Ford Bronco First Edition Advanced
Vehicle type: Front engine, all-wheel-drive, five-passenger two-door compact SUV
Price: $49,180, including $1,495 destination fee as tested ($31,490 for standard two-door)
Powerplant: 2.7-liter twin-turbo V-6
Power: 330 horsepower, 415 pound-feet torque
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.3 seconds (Car and Driver); towing capacity, 3,500 pounds
Weight: 4,871 pounds
Fuel economy: 17 city/17 highway/17 combined
Report card
Highs: Off-road beast; easy-to-use controls
Lows: Hard-top leaks; noisy ride
Overall: 4 stars
2021 Land Rover Defender 90 First Edition
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel drive, five-passenger two-door compact SUV
Price: $66,475, including $1,350 destination fee as tested ($50,050 base model)
Powerplant: 3.0-liter supercharged turbo-inline 6-cylinder
Power: 395 horsepower, 406 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.7 seconds (mfr.); towing, 8,201 pounds
Weight: 5,000 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA, 17 mpg city/22 highway/19 combined
Report card
Highs: Standout style; composed ride on- and off-road
Lows: Undefeatable off-road nannies; no wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: What I got right (and wrong) in my 2022 Car, Truck and SUV of the Year vote
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 13, 2022
Detroit — The auto Oscar winners have been crowned, and I picked two of three of them.
Every year, I join 49 other North American Car, Truck and SUV of the Year judges in voting for the best new models. It’s the continent’s most prestigious prize given by an independent group of journalists — complete with this week’s posh ceremony at Huntington Place (aka Cobo Center) with dramatic envelope openings. This year (drumroll, please) a drone flew the envelopes on stage.
We sorted 2022’s 36 new models into their respective categories and then flogged them hard, testing comfort, performance and whether they moved the needle for their segments. The year was particularly fascinating as automakers brought a wide variety of films — er, cars — to market. Like the Academy Awards for Best Picture, nominees ran the gamut from blockbuster remakes by big-name directors to artistic gems from tiny production companies.
My pick for best SUV — Ford’s epic reboot of the Bronco — won. As did my favorite for Truck of the Year, the Ford Maverick. However, my choice of Car of the Year — the Volkswagen Golf GTI — was not shared by fellow scribes.
Let me explain, beginning with the latter.
The Golf GTI redefined small cars waaaay back in ’83 when it combined utility and performance in an affordable package. That “pocket rocket” formula has been replicated since by virtually every other automaker with tasty treats like the Honda Civic Si, Ford Focus ST, Hyundai Veloster N, Mazda3 Turbo, Subaru WRX and more.
Multiple GTI generations have followed but few as significant as the eighth-gen, 2022 model. In addition to the expected steroid boost — the $30,540 GTI wrings a ridiculous 241 horsepower, 273 foot-pounds of torque from its wee 4-cylinder engine — the latest hot hatch delivered a wardrobe and state-of-the art, digital interior to rival its sibling Audi S3. If that wasn’t enough, GTI’s Golf R cousin further spiced the recipe with all-wheel-drive and 315 horses.
Not good enough, judged my peers. While offering the GTI/Golf R as performance halos for its lineup, VW ditched the standard Golf. Not Civic, which continues to offer a full model menu, from the base, $23,365 sedan to the $25,115 Sport Hatchback to the sensational $28,315 Si apex-carver. All followed the Golf GTI with next-level interiors.
“The Civic combines just about every positive attribute you can think of — low-cost, high fuel efficiency, utility, comfort, dependability, and fun to drive among them,” said veteran juror Jack Nerad.
My fellow judges grumbled that the knob-less GTI interior is obsessed with its hi-tech touchscreen to the point of annoyance. Whereas the Honda (learning from its own bout of tech-itis in the previous gen) includes user-friendly dials to negotiate essentials like climate control.
Speaking of hi-tech, underdog Lucid Air racked up an impressive 170 points to the Civic’s 241 (Golf garnered just 89). The $80k Air is the Silicon Valley startup’s first vehicle — but what a vehicle. Bringing a new brand to market is a gargantuan task, yet electric Lucid has hit its marks with best-in-class range, staggering power of up to 1,111 ponies and gorgeous looks. With continued execution — and more affordable models — Lucid could be a future winner.
Lucid was inspired by fellow EV maker Tesla’s success (its CEO was the Model S’s chief engineer) — as was another startup sensation, Rivian.
The brand’s $74k R1T pickup is a knockout with its Tesla-simple interior, big frunk and off-road abilities. Its fresh approach to the pickup market should have won this year were it not for another fresh approach, the $21k Ford Maverick.
We jurors like affordable prices, and I picked Maverick for its irresistible combination of value, innovation and performance. Sharing a unibody platform with Ford Escape and Bronco Sport, Maverick offers an SUV ride while delivering trucky qualities like 1,500-pound payload and underseat rear storage. That versatility also defines the unibody, $25k Hyundai Santa Cruz, which brought a box-full of innovation like sub-bed storage and a lockable, sliding tonneau cover.
Maverick (also my Detroit News Vehicle of the year) ran away with 277 points, but all three entries foretell a pickup segment that is expanding beyond its traditional, light-duty roots.
Like Hollywood, Ford sees profit in remakes and it had a lot riding on “Bronco: The Sequel.”
Not only was Bronc tasked with taking on box-office king Wrangler, it also leads a recasting of Ford as an SUV brand. The 2022 remake hits it out of the park.
Jurors agreed Bronco was the Jeep’s dirt-kicking equal with removable doors and detachable sway bar, and that its stylish looks and high-tech features rivaled more expensive off-roaders like Land Rover.
I though Bronco would walk away with Best Ute (I gave it 8 of my 10 points in SUV balloting). But in a nod to the rampant innovation in the industry, my peers gave 153 points to the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 113 to the Genesis GV70, both superb debuts in their respective EV and lux segments. Both face formidable brand challenges — Ioniq what? Genesis who? — in competing against Tesla and BMW, but their fresh designs are hard to miss.
As for my miss, I still recommend the Golf GTI. Mrs. Payne judges the best movies as the ones you’d see over and over again. Big things come in small packages, and I enjoyed driving the affordable Golf GTI and Civic Si day after day after day.
Car of the Year voting:
Honda Civic, 241 points
Lucid Air, 170
VW Golf GTI/Golf R, 89
Truck of the Year:
Ford Maverick, 277
Hyundai Santa Cruz, 97
Rivian R1T, 126
SUV of the Year:
Ford Bronco, 234
Hyundai Ioniq 5, 153
Genesis GV70, 113
North American Car, Truck and SUV of the Year: Civic, Maverick, Bronco
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 13, 2022
Detroit — The envelope, please. . . .
Ford dominated the North American Car, Truck, and SUV of the Year awards Tuesday. The wildly-popular Bronco won SUV as expected while the Maverick overcame formidable competition from the electric Rivian R1T and Hyundai Santa Fe to win best truck.
The Honda Civic rounded out the awards as best car, defeating the battery-powered Lucid Air and Volkswagen Golf GTI/Golf R hot hatch.
The winners were announced at Huntington Place (the former Cobo Center) in Detroit. Rod Alberts of the North American International Auto Show introduced the awards that once coincided with the Detroit Auto Show. After a three-year hiatus, Alberts confirmed the show will return this fall, Sept. 14-25, at Huntington Place.
The six NACTOY finalists were whittled from an initial list of 36 eligible cars, trucks and utility vehicles for the 2022 model year. The finalists tracked trends in the industry as consumers have moved from cars to SUVs and embraced the off-road lifestyle. Following the success of electric automaker Tesla — and under pressure from the most onerous federal regulations in 60 years — manufacturers are also flooding the market with new EVs.
“2021 has been a highly significant year in automotive history,” said NACTOY President Gary Witzenburg. “We have seen the emergence of new vehicle segments and impressive redesigns of familiar models. Meanwhile, a number of all-new, EV start-up manufacturers are proving they are capable of competing with established automakers even with their first product offerings.”
The Civic has been a NACTOY favorite for decades and the 11th generation car was no different, winning the award with its sedan, Coupe, and Si performance variants.
But the affordable compact got a surprising run for its money from the Lucid Air, the gorgeous, $170,000 luxury EV from the Silicon Valley startup. The Civic received 241 votes from the jury, the Lucid 170. The Golf GTI/Golf R — the only performance variants of the Golf compact in the U.S. market — received 89 votes in third.
Sedans have fallen out of favor in the American market with Detroit brands like Ford and Dodge exiting the sedan market completely. But cars are still key volume segments for foreign makers and icons like the Civic and and Golf boast near luxury-grade electronics tech to go with their whip-quick handling. Startup makers like Lucid see opportunities to establish themselves in the EV market with beautiful, halo sedans.
“The new Civic shows Honda at its very best. Bulletproof, brilliantly engineered and fun-to-drive, the Civic is the kind of affordable car that every automaker should aspire to,” said juror Lawrence Ulrich.
The Maverick took the truck crown over the Hyundai Santa Cruz and Rivian R1T in a category traditionally dominated by Detroit Three big pickups. But 202 was a year for innovation with the Maverick and Santa Cruz introducing segment-busting truck based — not on ladder frames — but on unibody SUV platforms. The daring Rivian R1T pickup is the first in a wave of electric pickups coming to market, beating EVs from established makers like Ford and Chevy.
The affordable Maverick — its $21,000 hybrid model has a range of more than 500 miles — won with 277 votes over Rivian (126) and Santa Cruz (97).
“Our F-150 truck has been the industry’s best-seller for decades, so the Maverick product team went through a thought process that was very customer-based,” said Ford North American President Kumar Galhotra after accepting the truck award. “They saw a need for this vehicle in this space and price.”
Heavy favorite Bronco won over the Genesis GV70 luxury SUV and Hyundai Ioniq 5, the Korean brand’s most ambitious EV to date. SUVs are America’s favorite non-pickup vehicle and now take 70% of the market versus 30% for cars.
The Bronco won with 234 votes, with the Ioniq 5 gathering 153 and the Genesis 113.
“The Ford Bronco delivers on the promise of its legendary name,” said NACTOY juror Jack Nerad. “Instead of giving the public a lukewarm placeholder with a nostalgic logo, Ford has pulled out the stops to create a very credible competitor to that other four-letter off-road brand.”
Ford’s Galhotra spoke to the challenges of re-creating the iconic Bronco with roots in the 1960s: “It was a huge lift. The expectations were huge. But we couldn’t get stuck in the Bronco’s history — the team had to take Bronco to a different level.”
With independent front suspension, electronic disconnecting sway bar, and all-digital screens, the Bronco proved a new icon for 21st century adventure.
Judged by a panel of 50 independent journalists (including the author of this article) from the U.S. and Canada, the NACTOY awards are among North America’s most prestigious prizes. Jurors convened in Ann Arbor in October for a comparison drive of semi-finalists, then announced finalists in November.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Charge it! Pricey Detroit EV pickups target premium customers
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 11, 2022
The electric truck wars are in full swing with the Chevy Silverado EV and Ford F-150 Lightning going toe-to-toe with starting prices of $40,000 for their first EV pickups.
Consider the number $50,000, too.
That’s how much more the Silverado EV’s RST trim costs than a comparable, diesel-powered Silverado RST. Ford has also released its price configurator for Lightning, and EV models run from $18,000 to $25,000 more than their gas-powered counterparts. They will also be shopped against startup EV trucks like the $74,000 Rivian R1T and the $125,000 Bollinger B2.
While manufacturers advertise EVs as the future of autos, their initial offerings have a decidedly premium feel. Like Teslas or Mustang Mach-E electric SUVs, American pickups appear targeted at a niche market of luxury customers with multi-car garages — or wealthy corporations with trendy environmental sustainability goals to meet.
“For now, automakers know that EVs are a premium market. Particularly wealthy first adopters in places like Silicon Valley,” said California-based auto analyst Karl Brauer of iSeeCars. “These are the same people who have bought Tesla Model Ss for their high performance.”
Chevy’s all-wheel-drive Silverado EV RST first-edition model will debut in late 2023 at an eye-watering $105,000 — about the same price as Porsche’s AWD electric car, the Taycan. The RST’s sticker is just shy of the GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 price of $112,595.
The Ford Lightning’s top-trim, loaded Platinum model stickers at $92,569 (compared with a loaded, $72,000 Platinum gas-hybrid model) — more than $8,000 north of the standard, rear-wheel-drive Porsche Taycan EV. Lightning will be offered in a variety of lower trims when it hits the market this spring, a year ahead of the Chevy.
All trims carry a hefty premium over their gas-engine siblings. Ford’s base Lightning Pro model starts at $41,669, about $10,000 (32%) above the starting price of the $31,685 gas-powered F-150 XL.
That’s similar to the $10,000 premium that buyers have paid for Chevrolet’s first electric vehicle, the Bolt EV, over a comparably-sized, gas-powered Chevy Trax SUV that starts at $22,595. The Bolt EV was hyped as a volume EV seller when it was revealed in 2016, but its sales have hovered around 20,000 units annually — or just 20% of Trax sales.
Lightning will initially only be offered in a SuperCrew cab (four-door) configuration. In XLT trim, that would align it with the F-150’s meat-and-potatoes XLT gas model, one of the Blue Oval’s best-selling vehicles. Load up a Lighting XLT and gas XLT, however, and the prices diverge.
An AWD Lightning XLT, for example, costs $75,000 compared with its $57,000 hybrid-gas XLT counterpart before a $7,500 federal tax credit. That’s also on par with the luxury-market, $74,000 Rivian R1T. The price spread is comparable to the gulf between a top-trim, $57,000 mainstream Ford Explorer three-row SUV and a luxury, $75,000 BMW X7 three-row SUV.
Automakers like Ford and GM have targeted EV sales to be half their volumes by the end of this decade — with GM aggressively forecasting all-EV sales by 2035. Initial market offerings point to less bullish expectations.
“This is not volume pricing. Automakers don’t think they can sell EVs in volume,” said analyst Brauer. “EVs don’t make sense at volume right now because automakers wouldn’t be able to make the profit they make on gas cars.”
Consistent with selling luxury compared with a mainstream brand, Ford emphasizes the capabilities of Lightning versus the gas F-150, such as a whopping 563 horsepower (versus 430 for the hybrid V-6 engine) and 775 pound-feet of torque (versus 570 for the hybrid). Similarly, a Silverado EV specs 775 pound-feet of torque versus a $56,600 diesel Silverado’s 460 pound-feet.
“Lightning has a number of capabilities only an all-electric powertrain can deliver,” said Ford spokesperson Hannah Ooms. “Such as 9.6 kilowatts Pro Power Onboard (charging), Ford Intelligent Backup Power, vehicle-to-vehicle Charging, 400-liter front trunk, 775 lb.-ft. of torque, and 0-60 mph time in the mid-4 second range,” compared with the hybrid F-150’s 5.3 seconds.
In addition to its price advantage, the hybrid-gas F-150 boasts other its own advantages such as 700 miles of range (versus 300 for the Lightning) and a significantly higher towing capacity (12,700 pounds vs. 8,000 for the EV).
So distinct in pricing and features are the Detroit EV trucks that car buff sites like Car and Driver list them as separate models.
The premium EV message plays out in work truck models as well. Detroit automakers sell huge volumes to fleets serving everything from landscape to construction businesses. But Chevy and Ford are targeting EV work trucks at billion-dollar corporations that need to meet Environmental Social Governance quotas demanded by activist investors and governments.
“The work truck is about supporting our fleet customers and their sustainability goals with wanting to have a sustainable future (and the) ESG demands of their green investors. So we’re starting with our fleet model first,” said Silverado chief engineer Nichole Kraatz in an interview, previewing the Silverado WT’s debut in early 2023.
The activist push to electrify big fleets follows other trendy solutions in recent decades like ethanol and natural gas. In the wake of 9/11, the Bush administration in 2005 mandated the federal government’s vehicle fleet be capable of operating on corn-based ethanol. And FedEx, one of GM’s key partners with the Silverado Work Truck, invested in natural gas-powered vehicles last decade to meet sustainability goals.
Startup automakers like Rivian and Bollinger also see the opportunity to take corporate fleet share from legacy automakers. Rivian has benefited from Amazon capital as the tech company builds a fleet of delivery vehicles on the bones of the pickup-maker’s battery platform.
“Big corporations have a symbiotic relationship with Big Auto. They both need to claim how green they are,” said Brauer. “The mantra among the tech and government crowd is sustainability. Big corporations also have money they can put into charging infrastructure, which is ideal for commercial trucks with set routes in an urban area.”
Expensive EV trucks also dovetail with the premium pickup phenomenon of recent years. While Detroit luxury brands like Cadillac and Lincoln have concentrated on SUVs, top-trim trucks like the Chevy High Country, Ford Platinum, and Ram TRX now compete with top-drawer German luxury brands with big screens, high tech and gilded interiors. A special Ignition Edition of the 702-horsepower Ram 1500 TRX, for example, retails for $93,280.
Can pickup makers translate premium EV cache into mainstream sales volume?
“Who knows what will happen in 10 years?” smiled Brauer.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Inside Lucid, Tesla’s Silicon Valley EV arch-rival
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 11, 2022
Newark, California — Located just 11 miles up the San Francisco Bay from Tesla Inc.’s Fremont factory, Lucid Motors is the third electric vehicle maker in California’s Big Three.
With a market capitalization hovering near $100 billion — more than Detroit’s Big Three of General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV — the brand joins Tesla and Irvine-based Rivian Automotive Inc. as highly-valued, 21st-century automakers delivering a new breed of luxury performance.
With ex-Tesla chief engineer Peter Rawlinson at the helm, the Bay Area startup wants to be beat Tesla at its own game. With a stunning, 1,111-horsepower sedan as its flagship, Lucid is coming to a studio showroom near you.
Boasting the industry’s longest range and most-efficient electric motors, it aims to be an American icon. Significantly, Lucid does not offer Tesla’s secret sauce: A proprietary charging network. Instead, it boasts technology-partner Atieva, which produces the battery packs for the international Formula E electric racing series that is pushing the boundaries of battery performance.
Lucid is headquartered in an unassuming office park here, its sans-serif logo glowing atop a low, glass building. Inside, the lobby is dominated by the Lucid Air’s 900-volt, skateboard architecture — its batteries slung low between the four wheels. As the first, $169,000 Air Dream Edition models come down the line at the company’s Casa Grande, Arizona, assembly plant, the company dreams of 500,000-a-year production volumes by 2030 — including production of the Gravity SUV in 2023.
But first it needs to sell the Air, one of the most stunning cars on the market, whether gas-or-electric powered. After wowing the 2017 New York Auto Show, the Air prototype has been methodically prepared for production while Rawlinson & Co. raised capital, a production facility, and performance expectations.
Designed by ex-Mazda design chief Derek Jenkins, Air uses the skateboard chassis to full advantage. Without a gas engine up front, the sleek sedan sits on a wheelbase for a mid-size BMW 5-series — but with interior room similar to a full-size BMW 7-series, including a rear seat fit for 7-footers.
The sci-fi nose features a thin chrome brow stretching the width of the fascia — an even thinner line of LED headlight underneath it. Clam shell hoods reveal big cargo spaces for rear and front trunks. The car wouldn’t be out of place in a Tron movie.
The cabin is dominated by twin console and instrument screens, the latter a 34-inch, curved piece of glass that remind of the Porsche Taycan EV. A panoramic glass roof spans the cabin.
The years after he helped bring the Model S to market, engineer Rawlinson hopes the Air will be the EV standard for the next decade.
Rawlinson took the helm of battery-maker Atieva in 2014 with the promise of building an EV brand. In addition to Jenkins, the Welsh-born engineer has attracted top industry talent to Lucid including ex-Tesla Model 3 and Audi manufacturing veteran Peter Hochholdinger and ex-Apple and Rivian software engineer Michael Bell.
In the back of Lucid’s HQ, doors open to a big development bay where workers fuss over Air models in various states of undress. Atieva’s Formula E manufacturing is also done under the building’s roof, a reminder of the importance of race track-to-production technology transfer which has been key to gasoline engine development over the last two centuries.
“There is a lot of talk of racing technology transfer in the industry, but this is the real deal,” said Justin Berkowitz, Lucid Public Relations Manager for Technology who came over from BMW. Rawlinson himself was Lotus chief engineer, a company with deep roots in racing, before his stint at Tesla.
Beginning in 2018, Ateiva has been the sole manufacturer of batteries for Formula E — its high-performance cells riding in Jaguar, Audi, Porsche, and other racers. Similar battery cell tech sits in the belly of the Air, achieving an industry first 500-miles plus of range (520 miles in the Dream Edition and Grand Touring models).
The batteries drive Rawlinson’s prized, electric drive unit. With a power density of 9.05/kilogram — three times that of the Tesla Model S — at 20,000 RPM, the small, 163-pound drive unit efficiently integrates the electric motor and differential into one housing. The result is not only more power — the Air Dream Edition’s horsepower rivals that of the $3.8 million Aston Martin Valkyrie hybrid supercar — but space efficiency that allows class-leading front trunk space.
Lucid is ambitious. After the Air Dream’s launch — Grand Touring and base Pure models will follow — Lucid’s Gravity SUV will go toe-to-toe with the gull-winged Tesla Model X. Lucid plans to expand into Canada, Europe in 2022, and China in 2023.
The Air’s beauty, performance, and startup appeal earned it a nomination for North American Car of the Year versus affordable, more established models like the Honda Civic and VW Golf GTI.
“It’s an effortless vehicle. Interior is a knockout. The performance is extraordinary,” said NACTOY juror Lindsay Brooke, publications editor for the Society of Automotive Engineers. “And for being such a big machine it really handles better than I thought it would. If they can build up this brand it will be a powerhouse in electric vehicles.”
It has gained the reputation as the “next Tesla” here in Silicon Valley, but some analysts are wary.
“Tesla also enjoyed a first-mover’s advantage in the EV market. Today, the EV market is much more saturated,” writes Motley Fool consumer goods analyst Leo Sun. “In addition to competing against Tesla, Lucid will need to fend off traditional automakers like Ford, BMW, and Volkswagen. That saturation will make it tough for latecomers like Lucid and Rivian to replicate Tesla’s growth.”
Intriguingly the Air Dream Edition begins customer deliveries at about the same time as Tesla’s own 1,000-horsepower beast, the Model S Plaid, which hits the market at $134,490. The Lucid boasts 124 miles range more than the Tesla while still providing shocking power. The Plaid hits 60 mph in 2 seconds, the Air in 2.5.
Game on.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Truck e-Wars: Chevy Silverado EV brings 400-mile range, bed extender
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 11, 2022
The Detroit truck wars have gone electric.
Answering Ford Motor Co.’s F-150 Lightning E
The Detroit truck wars have gone electric.
Answering Ford Motor Co.’s F-150 Lightning EV salvo, General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet let loose its first electric Silverado pickup truck Wednesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with headline-grabbing features like a mid-gate bed extender, 664 horsepower, and 400-mile range.
Aimed at affluent first-adopters in an EV market accustomed to $100,000 Porsche Taycan and Tesla Model S sports sedans, the loaded, $105,000, 2024 Silverado RST pickup will lead the EV truck parade, followed by other model trims in 2024. A 400-mile-range, fleet-focused Work Truck is scheduled to go on sale in spring 2023, while the RST is due to arrive in late 2023.
Like Lightning, Silverado EV pricing starts at just under $40,000 before government tax breaks. Unlike Lightning, which uses a familiar F-150 ladder frame, the Silverado EV makes a clean break from its petrol-powered Silverado stablemate with an all-new platform based on GM’s 800-volt Ultium battery skateboard and capable of fast, 350-kW charging. It’s the same architecture that cradles the Hummer EV — GMC’s first foray into the e-pickup space.
“We have a foot in both camps,” said Chevrolet marketing guru Steve Majoros as the brand will now produce trucks on gas and electric platforms. Majoros and the Silverado team gave media a sneak peak of the pickup ahead of its official CES intro.
After the fleet-customer Work Truck and top-shelf RST retail model, production will ramp up in 2024, with models like the base WT ($39,900 with a smaller battery), RST, and Trail Boss models stickering at $50,000-$80,000.
Chevrolet’s Dearborn rival is already taking orders with four trims advertised to hit the market this spring: Lightning Pro ($39,974, excluding 1,695 destination charge), XLT ($52,974), Lariat ($67,474), and Platinum ($90,874).
The big-battery, 400-mile Work Truck (price yet to be determined) aims to help corporate fleets satisfy ESG (environmental, social, and governance) demands of green investors by filling their fleets with zero-emission vehicles.
“The Silverado EV (provides) customers with a true work-capable truck to help them begin the transition to an electric fleet and assist them in achieving their own sustainability goals,” said GM Fleet VP Ed Peper.
The retail strategy will initially target premium EV buyers who also have the coin for, say, a $105k Mercedes EQS EV. Pickups like the Silverado High Country have become prized by luxury items in recent years, though the RST EV will cost $40,000 more than a fully-loaded V8-powered High Country.
For that price, buyers will get a lot. The Silverado EV is a rolling tech showcase. It plays in the same space as other luxury trucks from startups like Rivian, Bollinger, and Tesla boasting big performance numbers that high-torque batteries can deliver.
The same Ultium batteries that rocket the tri-motor, $112,595 Hummer from 0-60 mph in 3.0 seconds will get the dual-motor Silverado RST there in under 4.5 seconds. Credit a gob-smacking 664-horsepower and 780 pound-feet of torque. The high-voltage platform rivals the Porsche and Lucid Air luxury cars and can add 100 miles of range in 10 minutes at a fast charger. The Chevy’s 400-mile range bests Lightning by 100 miles.
“The Ultium Platform enabled our design and engineering teams to start from a clean slate and create a pickup with impressive performance,” said Nichole Kraatz, Silverado EV chief engineer, who added the architecture allows over-the-air software updates to improve the truck over time.
The truck’s sprawling, 145.6-inch wheelbase sits on giant, 24-inch wheels and an independent air suspension — its profile sleeker than the similarly-sized, gas-powered Silverado. For range-extending aerodynamics, the hood and cowl are lower. A fashionable, LED light runs the width of the grille-less front fascia, similar to Lightning. Silverado EV doesn’t share any body panels with its gas brother.
Step up into the cabin and the truck turns on via card, key, or phone app recognition. Interior space is palatial. Twin 11-and-17-inch screens anchor the dash with a 14-inch head-up display projected over the hood. Drivers can delve deep into the infotainment menus while driving hands-free with SuperCruise semi-autonomous tech. Also notable is a Tesla-like column shifter and class-leading 7 gallons of console storage space.
The pickup’s signature piece is the bed.
A flying buttress C-pillar — reminiscent of the 2013 Chevy Avalanche pickup — frames the 5’ 11” bed that can be extended to 9 feet (10’ 10” with the tailgate down) by dropping the Multi-Flex Midgate wall and window behind the rear, crew-cab passengers. It’s not as radical looking as the angular Tesla Cybertruck, but it’s distinct from traditional, boxy Silverados. The gate can be split 60/40 — or drop flat with storage for the removable window. The rear Multi-Flex Tailgate offers multi-functionality like walk-in steps or a work table.
“This is not a conventionally-styled pickup,” said designer Ryan Vaughn. “It’s more muscular, more sleek. It’s driven by functionality. The electric range is important.”
The bed’s utility is aided by the stiff chassis structure that sits atop the Ultium platform — the battery low for improved center of gravity. An underbody shield runs the length of the truck, helping keep road noise from the cabin.
The RST offers four-wheel steer for maneuverability in tight spots on and off-road. Hook up a trailer and it will tow 10,000 pounds — though that will likely compromise range. TFLTruck.com estimates towing degrades mpg in a gas/hybrid-powered trucks by 70% — and will take a similar toll on battery range.
Without an engine up front, the void below the hood is used as an e-frunk (front trunk) that can hold three pieces of luggage. Frunks were popularized by Tesla EVs and the Ford Lightning offers its own lockable cavity. Overall, the RST and Work Truck feature 10 charging outlets, which Chevy says can be used to power a tailgate party, home or even another EV.
The fleet-focused Work Truck will arrive ahead of the RST and will be more spare while still boasting 400-mile range. The Multi-Flex Tailgate is unavailable and power downsized to 510 ponies and 615 pound-feet of torque. Payload? 1,200 pounds compared with the RST’s 1,300, with towing capability at 8,000 pounds.
The Work Truck is distinguished by a black fascia — shades of its gas peer.
Chevy bills the six-figure RST as a “statement truck” — a halo EV to lure customers and encourage dealers to invest in EV infrastructure. It will likely compete with the $92k Lightning Platinum, the top trim of Ford’s EV pickup. Of Chevy’s 2,900 dealers, Majoros says 2,000 have been certified to sell low-volume Chevy Bolt and Bolt EUV crossovers, making them equipped for Silverado EV sales too.
Chevrolet is bullish on the California market. The Golden State not only has the nation’s most onerous environmental regulations but also its biggest EV sector, with nearly half of American EV sales. Silverado is the No. 1 selling pickup in Los Angeles.
The Silverado EV will be assembled alongside the Hummer EV at the Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center, the plant retooled with an EV-focused, $2.2 billion investment.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
V salvo, General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet let loose its first electric Silverado pickup truck Wednesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with headline-grabbing features like a mid-gate bed extender, 664 horsepower, and 400-mile range.
Aimed at affluent first-adopters in an EV market accustomed to $100,000 Porsche Taycan and Tesla Model S sports sedans, the loaded, $105,000, 2024 Silverado RST pickup will lead the EV truck parade, followed by other model trims in 2024. A 400-mile-range, fleet-focused Work Truck is scheduled to go on sale in spring 2023, while the RST is due to arrive in late 2023.
Like Lightning, Silverado EV pricing starts at just under $40,000 before government tax breaks. Unlike Lightning, which uses a familiar F-150 ladder frame, the Silverado EV makes a clean break from its petrol-powered Silverado stablemate with an all-new platform based on GM’s 800-volt Ultium battery skateboard and capable of fast, 350-kW charging. It’s the same architecture that cradles the Hummer EV — GMC’s first foray into the e-pickup space.
“We have a foot in both camps,” said Chevrolet marketing guru Steve Majoros as the brand will now produce trucks on gas and electric platforms. Majoros and the Silverado team gave media a sneak peak of the pickup ahead of its official CES intro.
After the fleet-customer Work Truck and top-shelf RST retail model, production will ramp up in 2024, with models like the base WT ($39,900 with a smaller battery), RST, and Trail Boss models stickering at $50,000-$80,000.
Chevrolet’s Dearborn rival is already taking orders with four trims advertised to hit the market this spring: Lightning Pro ($39,974, excluding 1,695 destination charge), XLT ($52,974), Lariat ($67,474), and Platinum ($90,874).
The big-battery, 400-mile Work Truck (price yet to be determined) aims to help corporate fleets satisfy ESG (environmental, social, and governance) demands of green investors by filling their fleets with zero-emission vehicles.
“The Silverado EV (provides) customers with a true work-capable truck to help them begin the transition to an electric fleet and assist them in achieving their own sustainability goals,” said GM Fleet VP Ed Peper.
The retail strategy will initially target premium EV buyers who also have the coin for, say, a $105k Mercedes EQS EV. Pickups like the Silverado High Country have become prized by luxury items in recent years, though the RST EV will cost $40,000 more than a fully-loaded V8-powered High Country.
For that price, buyers will get a lot. The Silverado EV is a rolling tech showcase. It plays in the same space as other luxury trucks from startups like Rivian, Bollinger, and Tesla boasting big performance numbers that high-torque batteries can deliver.
The same Ultium batteries that rocket the tri-motor, $112,595 Hummer from 0-60 mph in 3.0 seconds will get the dual-motor Silverado RST there in under 4.5 seconds. Credit a gob-smacking 664-horsepower and 780 pound-feet of torque. The high-voltage platform rivals the Porsche and Lucid Air luxury cars and can add 100 miles of range in 10 minutes at a fast charger. The Chevy’s 400-mile range bests Lightning by 100 miles.
“The Ultium Platform enabled our design and engineering teams to start from a clean slate and create a pickup with impressive performance,” said Nichole Kraatz, Silverado EV chief engineer, who added the architecture allows over-the-air software updates to improve the truck over time.
The truck’s sprawling, 145.6-inch wheelbase sits on giant, 24-inch wheels and an independent air suspension — its profile sleeker than the similarly-sized, gas-powered Silverado. For range-extending aerodynamics, the hood and cowl are lower. A fashionable, LED light runs the width of the grille-less front fascia, similar to Lightning. Silverado EV doesn’t share any body panels with its gas brother.
Step up into the cabin and the truck turns on via card, key, or phone app recognition. Interior space is palatial. Twin 11-and-17-inch screens anchor the dash with a 14-inch head-up display projected over the hood. Drivers can delve deep into the infotainment menus while driving hands-free with SuperCruise semi-autonomous tech. Also notable is a Tesla-like column shifter and class-leading 7 gallons of console storage space.
The pickup’s signature piece is the bed.
A flying buttress C-pillar — reminiscent of the 2013 Chevy Avalanche pickup — frames the 5’ 11” bed that can be extended to 9 feet (10’ 10” with the tailgate down) by dropping the Multi-Flex Midgate wall and window behind the rear, crew-cab passengers. It’s not as radical looking as the angular Tesla Cybertruck, but it’s distinct from traditional, boxy Silverados. The gate can be split 60/40 — or drop flat with storage for the removable window. The rear Multi-Flex Tailgate offers multi-functionality like walk-in steps or a work table.
“This is not a conventionally-styled pickup,” said designer Ryan Vaughn. “It’s more muscular, more sleek. It’s driven by functionality. The electric range is important.”
The bed’s utility is aided by the stiff chassis structure that sits atop the Ultium platform — the battery low for improved center of gravity. An underbody shield runs the length of the truck, helping keep road noise from the cabin.
The RST offers four-wheel steer for maneuverability in tight spots on and off-road. Hook up a trailer and it will tow 10,000 pounds — though that will likely compromise range. TFLTruck.com estimates towing degrades mpg in a gas/hybrid-powered trucks by 70% — and will take a similar toll on battery range.
Without an engine up front, the void below the hood is used as an e-frunk (front trunk) that can hold three pieces of luggage. Frunks were popularized by Tesla EVs and the Ford Lightning offers its own lockable cavity. Overall, the RST and Work Truck feature 10 charging outlets, which Chevy says can be used to power a tailgate party, home or even another EV.
The fleet-focused Work Truck will arrive ahead of the RST and will be more spare while still boasting 400-mile range. The Multi-Flex Tailgate is unavailable and power downsized to 510 ponies and 615 pound-feet of torque. Payload? 1,200 pounds compared with the RST’s 1,300, with towing capability at 8,000 pounds.
The Work Truck is distinguished by a black fascia — shades of its gas peer.
Chevy bills the six-figure RST as a “statement truck” — a halo EV to lure customers and encourage dealers to invest in EV infrastructure. It will likely compete with the $92k Lightning Platinum, the top trim of Ford’s EV pickup. Of Chevy’s 2,900 dealers, Majoros says 2,000 have been certified to sell low-volume Chevy Bolt and Bolt EUV crossovers, making them equipped for Silverado EV sales too.
Chevrolet is bullish on the California market. The Golden State not only has the nation’s most onerous environmental regulations but also its biggest EV sector, with nearly half of American EV sales. Silverado is the No. 1 selling pickup in Los Angeles.
The Silverado EV will be assembled alongside the Hummer EV at the Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center, the plant retooled with an EV-focused, $2.2 billion investment.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.