Volkswagen started production of the ID.4 at its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.The 2023 ID.4 models built in the U.S. will be slightly different from the existing Europe-built models.A cheaper version of the ID.4 with a smaller battery pack is coming later this year.Volkswagen ID.4 models have begun rolling off the assembly line in Chattanooga, Tennessee and will reach dealerships starting in October. The electric SUV first went on sale here for the 2021 model year, but has been imported from VW’s plant in Germany since its launch.VW says it intends to ramp up production in the U.S. to 7000 cars per month by the end of the year; for reference, it has sold just 4415 ID.4s on our shores through the first half of this year and moved 16,742 units in 2021.

The U.S.-built 2023 ID.4 will also feature a few changes compared with the Europe-built car. VW says that the center console is revised, and that the 77.0-kWh battery will come from a different, U.S.-based supplier, SK Innovation in Georgia. Some interior materials will also be sourced from suppliers in the U.S. There will also be a new entry-level model added by the end of the year that will come with a smaller battery pack, rear-wheel drive, and a lower base price that VW previously estimated at around $35,000. Pricing for the 2023 ID.4 models will be released next week.

Volkswagen

Even still, these differences will be subtle, and Tennessee-built ID.4s will likely be found alongside Germany-built models at dealerships as production ramps up. So if you’re shopping for an ID.4 starting in October, when the first U.S.-built cars are estimated to arrive, you’ll have to check the VIN to see where any given car was made.
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The 2022 Acura MDX Type S will arrive at dealerships starting next week with a starting price of $67,745. An Advanced Package is available for an additional $5,350 and adds several interior niceties. It’s powered by the same 355-hp turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 as the TLX Type S sedan. Acura recently resurrected the Type S badge and has already added it to three models in its lineup: the NSX supercar, the TLX sedan, and the MDX three-row SUV. The TLX Type S is on sale now, 300 NSX Type S cars will arrive in the U.S. soon, and now the MDX Type S will arrive at dealerships next week starting at $67,745.
That hefty price gets you the same turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 as the TLX, but with a nearly $15,000 premium—and a third row of seats. That engine makes 355 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque, increases of 65 horsepower and 87 pound-feet over the standard MDX’s 3.5-liter V-6. It’s paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission and Acura’s SH-AWD system, and Type S models also come with adaptive dampers, air springs, and Brembo brakes. An Advanced Package is available on the MDX Type S for an additional $5,350. It includes a head-up display, 25-speaker sound system, massaging, 16-way power front seats, wood trim, and other interior niceties.

Its $67,745 starting price makes it cheaper than fully loaded versions of the Genesis GV80, a previous Car and Driver 10Best winner that offers a bit more power from its optional twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6. While the TLX Type S sedan’s specs put it in contention with the Audi S4 and BMW M340i, the MDX lines up more closely to non-performance versions of its German three-row SUV rivals, including the $62,695, 335-hp BMW X5 xDrive40i and the $63,195, 335-hp Audi Q7 55. Notably, the Acura is even more expensive than a 375-hp Porsche Macan S.
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Online ordering seems so easy—and in recent years, so essential: you tap a few buttons, type in a few words, and food or a new gadget arrives at your door. But the story behind that journey is a bit rougher than you might imagine.Circuit Route Planner (an app for delivery drivers) surveyed more than 500 delivery drivers about their job, and found that most of them judge us on what we buy, most have been accused of stealing packages, and 80 percent say they’ve eaten some of the food they’re delivering.Results regarding peeing in bottles (or around a customer’s house) and casual hookups were all higher than most people likely expect.Surveys regarding the delivery industry are usually focused on asking consumers if they’re happy with their free shipping options. But the other side of the industry gets less attention: the drivers and couriers who actually do the work of bringing online shoppers their goods.

Maybe you’ve thought about what your cardboard-box bringers experience during their days, but unlikely as detailed as what Circuit Route Planner found. The delivery-driver-focused app recently asked over 500 delivery drivers what they like and don’t like about their jobs. Most (69 percent) of the respondents were food delivery drivers, while the rest (31 percent) were other kinds of couriers. While Circuit Route Planner admits that there are serious limitations to using this kind of survey data—among them, “telescoping, exaggeration, and selective memory”—the results still offer up a few important lessons. Like, for example, the fact that you shouldn’t tip-bait.If you don’t know what tip baiting is, good on ya. This is the bait-and-switch practice of changing, or even eliminating, tips after the food or product is delivered. In 2020, a group of U.S. senators asked the FTC to investigate the practice at Instacart and other shopping delivery services. The senators wrote that the people doing the work “choose which orders to take based on the expected compensation, which is largely driven by the estimated tip. By permitting customers to ‘bait’ shoppers with high tips that are then revoked, online delivery services facilitate the deception.”

Circuit Route Planner

It’s not clear how widespread the problem is. While absolutely frustrating for delivery drivers, there are good reasons for shoppers to be able to change their tip after delivery, and more often than not, the adjustments are positive. Instacart told Today that “virtually all” of the grocery delivery tips that get changed after delivery actually increase the amount. Instacart also said it deletes accounts that frequently tip-bait.38% Have Crashed, 80% Have Eaten Some of Your FoodWhile tip baiting was one of the main problems delivery drivers have with their customers, it wasn’t the only one that makes a lot of sense. Like the fact that 78 percent of delivery drivers say they judge people based on what kinds of packages they order, or the 69 percent who said they’ve been accused of stealing packages. Thirty-eight percent said they’ve been in some sort of car accident while delivering goods. That’s a lot, but not as crazy as the 36 percent who said they’d been robbed while working.Some responses sure make being a delivery driver sound like you’re actually in a certain kind of movie. A full 25 percent of drivers admitted to hooking up with someone while on the job. And then there’s the off-putting reality that 10 percent of respondents said they urinated in bottles during the work day, and 9 percent said they’ve urinated on or around recipients’ homes. Perhaps the grossest is the nearly 80 percent of food delivery drivers who revealed that they’ve eaten some of the food they’re delivering.
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Shelby has long provided a seemingly endless supply of high-performance and special-edition Mustangs, and 2021 is no exception.
Four new Mustang-based cars are out for 2021, in a limited run of 98 each to commemorate the late Carroll Shelby’s 98th birthday and collectively marketed as a “bundle of snakes.”
At the top of the line is the 825-hp Shelby Super Snake, which also comes in a sleek Speedster version.

2021 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Adds Flashy Colors

Ford Mustang Shelby GT500’s $10K Stripes Explained

2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 at Lightning Lap 20

Shelby American, founded by the late great Carroll Shelby, has long been providing Ford Mustang and F-150 truck owners with special editions and performance packages for their vehicles. To commemorate the 98th anniversary of Carroll Shelby’s birth, a just-announced set of Mustang-based Shelbys will have a limited run of 98 units. They include the Shelby GT, Shelby GT500SE, and the Shelby Super Snake and Super Snake Speedster.

Shelby

The most exciting of the new batch of Shelbys is the 825-hp Super Snake ($133,785) and its Speedster variant (at a $4995 upcharge), featuring a hard tonneau cover where the top stows that runs up to the back of both headrests. The Super Snake will come with a 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 with a sizable Whipple supercharger nestled in its valley. It will also receive upgraded half-shafts, a Shelby-exclusive extreme cooling package and Borla exhaust, a short-throw shifter and one-piece driveshaft on manual models, and transmission cooling on automatic models.

Shelby

It also gets the Ford Performance track handling pack, 20-inch forged aluminum wheels, and Shelby-specific Brembo brakes with a proprietary Shelby cooling system. Shelby claims that the Super Snake will accelerate to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds. At $133,785 for the manual-equipped Snake, you’ll either hope you speak Parseltongue or really want to fork over the big bucks if you want one in your driveway.

Shelby

In more reasonable territory is the 480-hp Shelby GT, starting at $62,310 (when equipped with the six-speed manual transmission) but still not exactly what we’d call cheap at nearly $25,000 more than a base, manual-equipped Mustang GT. It does sport some nice additions over the production GT, including Shelby-embroidered Katzkin leather seats, custom 20-inch wheels, a unique hood scoop, and a Borla exhaust that Shelby says is responsible for the bump in horsepower to 480. If all that still isn’t enough, buyers can opt for a 700-plus-hp Ford Performance supercharger kit to spice things up.
Also new for 2021 is the GT500SE, short for Signature Edition, which offers a heady 800-plus horsepower and is priced at $104,900, a handsome upcharge of $29,995 over the GT500. That gets you upgraded leather seats featuring Carroll Shelby’s signature and a placard with the vehicle’s run number on the dashboard and engine cover. However, this package isn’t really about looks—the GT500 already comes from the factory well adorned. To make that big horsepower number, the SE receives a smaller supercharger pulley that will allow for more boost; to handle the extra stresses of that power and the heat that comes with it, there are beefier half-shafts, a high-flow intercooler and high-flow heat exchanger for the supercharger, a recalibrated suspension with new springs and anti-roll bars, lightweight forged aluminum wheels, and a new carbon-fiber hood that reduces weight by 30 pounds.
The Super Snake is being sold at select Ford dealers starting in April, while the other cars come directly from Shelby American.
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The 2023 Polestar 2 lineup will include a limited-production BST edition 270.Along with exclusive chassis modifications and 502 pound-feet of torque, it’s available with a choice of a matte-black stripe or a full-body wrap.The ’23 Polestar 2 BST is limited to 270 copies worldwide (up to 47 in the U.S.) and is priced at $76,900.Even when equipped with the optional Performance pack, the 2023 Polestar 2 hardly gives off race-car vibes. That changes with the introduction of the limited-production BST edition 270, which is available with a single matte-black stripe and the number “2” on the hood. It doesn’t get much racier than that. Well, actually it does.

The stripe is a $1000 option, allowing BST buyers to avoid the look if it’s too over the top. What’s unavoidable is the extensive list of modifications made to this special Polestar 2 that make it a better track ‘Star—see what we did there? Compared with non-BST versions, its dual electric motors are tuned to make an extra 15 pound-feet of torque (502 total); their combined 476-hp rating remains.
More notably, the Polestar 2 BST is chock-full of chassis mods. Its ride height is almost an inch lower than stock, its suspension springs are 20 percent stiffer, and a front strut bar has been added. Likewise, the manually adjustable Öhlins dampers that are normally included with the Performance pack are said to be specially tuned for the BST, and they’re supplemented by auxiliary adjustment chambers under the hood. They’re easy to spot because they’re gold. Finally, the BST rolls on a set of Polestar 1–inspired 21-inch wheels, which are matte black to match the stripe. The rims are shod with Pirelli P Zero rubber that Polestar says was specially designed for the BST.

Polestar

Polestar

Unfortunately, this racy Polestar 2 isn’t available with the snazzy goldish-gray Jupiter paint color that’s now offered on ’23 non-BST models. Instead, the only two paint options are Thunder or Snow. There’s also a $5000 full-body Battleship Gray satin wrap that’s exclusive to the BST. Inside, every version has Charcoal WeaveTech upholstery.As its name suggests, the 2023 Polestar BST edition 270 has a limited production of 270 examples worldwide, with as many as 47 planned for U.S. consumption. Interested parties will need to contact Polestar through its website where they’ll be put in touch with a specialist for a “personalized sales process.” The BST will have a starting price of $76,900, and deliveries start near the end of this year.
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