Motor News

Kia has confirmed the new three-row EV9 SUV will add a high-performance GT variant in 2025. We believe the EV9 GT’s powertrain will come from the Kia EV6 GT, which features a 576-hp all-wheel-drive dual-motor setup. For 2024, the most powerful EV9 is the 379-hp all-wheel-drive model, so the GT’s extra 200 hp will notably improve acceleration.Along with revealing more specs about new mid-size three-row EV9 SUV, Kia has confirmed a high-performance GT model is also on the way. The regular 2024 Kia EV9 will go on sale in the U.S. in the second half of this year, with the GT version that’s currently being developed to be released in early 2025. Information regarding the EV9 GT remains limited, as we’re just now starting to learn more about the standard EV9. However, our best guess is that the forthcoming GT variant will inherit the potent all-wheel-drive dual-motor powertrain from the Kia EV6 GT. That hi-po model has peak power outputs of 576 horsepower and 545 pound-feet of torque.A special green “GT” button on the wheel unlocks the full range of chaos in the GT, giving drivers access to blisteringly quick acceleration. How quick? The one we tested hit 60 mph in as little as 3.2 seconds. Of course, the heavier EV9 GT likely won’t be quite as quick. However, it could adopt other hardware found exclusively on its EV6 counterpart, such as its eLSD that can overdrive the outside rear wheel in corners, improving agility and giving the machine a more rear-drive demeanor. Adaptive dampers, upgraded brakes, and a set of summer tires like those found on the EV6 could also be part of the mix.More on the New EV9Unfortunately, the added performance benefits that come along with the EV9 GT are likely to result in the same issues as the EV6 GT. While Kia boosted the available power in that car, it stuck with the same 77.4-kWh battery pack, which led to its estimated range to drop to 206 miles. So, expect the mighty GT to have the shortest range in the EV9 family.We’re still waiting for Kia to release an estimated range for the 2024 EV9 GT-Line, which features an all-wheel-drive dual-motor powertrain that combines for 379 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque (a 516-pound-f00t burst is available in Boost mode). It uses a 99.8-kWh battery that we expect to see duty in the EV9 GT.With pricing still not set for the 2024 Kia EV9, it’ll be a while before we have any figures for the GT version. If the EV6 is any indication, the high-performance option could add about $4000. Stay tuned to find out.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.Associate News EditorJack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1. After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf. More

The Alfa Romeo Tonale Edizione Bambini is an interesting concept that prioritizes toddlers.The one-off Tonale is a parent-focused concept intended to add practical parenting accessories to the car. Titled the Tonale Edizione Bambini, the concept has a station for changing diapers, an in-car baby monitor, and a host of new storage accessories. Parenting is hard—or so we’re told. Alfa Romeo, which hasn’t yet started deliveries for its upcoming Tonale subcompact SUV, has revealed the Edizione Bambini concept that’s designed to make parenting while driving less stressful. The Alfa Romeo Tonale Edizione Bambini is quite the mouthful. Bambini, as you may have guessed, translates from Alfa’s native Italian to mean “baby.” It’s a fitting name once you look inside the concept. The one-off Tonale is Alfa’s answer to tired parents who want to maintain the elegance of a luxury vehicle but are just too damned tired to clean the thing. The trunk of the Bambini is completely overhauled to cater to parenting duties. An in-car vacuum is stored along the back of the trunk, with storage organizers taking up the space in front of it. An Alfa Romeo–badged baby-changing station replaces the standard trunk cover and slides in and out as needed. Nothing says elegance quite like a small poop stain from one really bad day. Alfa RomeoMore on the TonaleOrganizer slots are added to the back of the front driver and passenger seats in an attempt to cure childhood boredom. Alfa also added tablet holders to the back of the front seats to keep your kids occupied. Plus, children sitting in the middle seat have their own leather folder that can hold both a tablet and their own reward chart to minimize back-seat arguing.Alfa RomeoAlfa conducted a survey of 2000 U.K. parents with children aged zero to 11 years old to learn that children kick the back of the front seats roughly three to five times per trip. To counter this, the design team for the Bambini added protective panels to maintain style. The back of the front seats also have new storage spaces for a water bottle, bento box, tablet holder, and a chart to encourage children to keep the car clean. Is the lack of storage really the biggest issue parents have with young children and keeping a clean car? Is a bento box really going to keep toddlers from somehow spilling more Cheerios than they consume? We doubt it, but props to Alfa for trying to solve an impossible problem. This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.Associate News EditorJack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1. After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf. More

A Toyota executive believes average new-car prices will surpass the $50,000 mark in 2023, according to a report by Automotive News.Jack Hollis, head of sales for Toyota North America, said demand will keep exceeding the company’s ability to build new vehicles, as pandemic-induced supply-chain issues continue in 2023.Higher costs of raw materials are also a contributing factor, and while some of these costs are being passed onto the consumers, Hollis said Toyota is “eating it in our own profitability.”In February, average new-car prices reached a new peak, jumping by 4.8 percent from a year ago to $46,229, according to J.D. Power. The consistent increases over the past few years may seem untenable—like the bubble will have to burst soon—but a Toyota executive thinks the average is only going to continue rising. Jack Hollis, head of sales for Toyota’s North American division, said he believes the average transaction price will crest the $50,000 mark in 2023, as reported by Automotive News.ToyotaAlthough Hollis believes that an economic recession is already underway, it does not match the usual expectations for how the market in recession should behave, with demand for new cars remaining extremely high. “We will sell every vehicle that we can make,” Hollis explained. “The only thing holding us back is the totality of the supply chain and the fragility of it, because we’re not back to normal anywhere globally.”Hollis thinks that the U.S. car market could account for nearly 17 million sales in 2023, if it weren’t for supply issues. The 15 million predicted sales for this year leaves “another 2 million vehicles added to pent-up demand.” This will result in continued strong demand in the used-car market, lessening depreciation and keeping residual values high. More on Car PricesThe rising prices have mostly been the result of higher raw material costs, according to Bob Young, vice president of purchasing supplier development for Toyota. While Young says there are starting to be improvements in this area, the reduction in material prices likely won’t be seen by consumers until 2024. Hollis predicts that Toyota and Lexus—which combined moved 2.1 million units in the U.S. in 2022—could add another 100,000 sales, but the company’s market share might suffer. The higher material prices might also need to be soaked up by the automakers. Hollis acknowledged they are trying to figure out how much they can pass onto consumers, but said, “We’re eating it in our own profitability.” The company expects to end 2023 similarly to how it ended 2022, with only around 30,000 vehicles in inventory on dealership lots due to the heavy demand.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.Associate News EditorCaleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan. More

WWE champ turned superstar actor John Cena made his first appearance in the Fast & Furious franchise with F9 in 2021. If there was any doubt about his enthusiast credentials, we can put them to rest right now thanks to this interview.Cena appeared on the Whisky Ginger w/ Andrew Santino podcast last week, where he revealed his daily driver: a Honda Civic Type R. The clip about the hot hatch was also shared widely on Twitter and TikTok.This content is imported from Tiktok. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.”It’s got tech, it’s manual, it’s reliable,” Cena said. “It’s a 2020 and it’s got a third pedal. At 145 [mph] it’s stable. It’s got seats in the back, I can actually pick people up.”In F9, Cena, who played Dominic Toretto’s brother Jakob, drove a Ford Mustang and a Toyota Supra. More Cena, More Type R”If you have a purse in a Countach, you’re screwed,” Cena added. “They’re a little rough around the edges. The clutch is a dogfight and it’s really tough to get those things running right. So if I actually need to drive a car more than 10 miles, it’s the Civic.”Check out the full interview right here:This content is imported from Tiktok. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.It’s John Cena! | Whiskey Ginger w/ Andrew Santino 231Watch onYouTube IconYouTube IconRoad & Track staff writer with a taste for high-mileage, rusted-out projects and amateur endurance racing. More

GM has launched a new educational tool called EV Live to answer customers’ questions about electric vehicles and how to charge them.The site is open to all—you can ask about charging, range, and even non-GM products, though they’re happy to discuss GM vehicles and technology.On evlive.gm.com, users can schedule a live session with a real person.Other carmakers have various means of educating and informing potential electric-vehicle buyers about EVs, but none has gone as far as General Motors’ new EV Live. Through an online web address, evlive.gm.com, anyone who wants to can schedule a meeting with a living, breathing, walking, and talking product expert who can answer just about any question or concern you may have about electric cars. More on EV LiveThe experts can also literally take you inside any of GM’s various electric-car offerings, from a Bolt EUV to a BrightDrop commercial vehicle, all from a space inside GM’s Tech Center in Warren, Michigan. EV charging questions are open for discussion, too. “Anybody can access it—it’s always available, and it’s free,” said Hoss Hossani, GM’s vice president of the EV Ecosystem. “It’s not just for GM customers. It’s really for anybody. It’s basically an interactive education platform.”A potential customer uses EVLive online on a tablet.GMAnd the answers cover the whole of the EV universe, delivered by a real person.”There’s a lot of content on the site,” Hossani said. “The ideal experience is to actually speak with one of our EV Live specialists that are real humans. These aren’t avatars or bots or ChatGPT AI. Behind the scenes is a real human being. You can see them on video (they can’t see you), and you can ask them literally any question you have about EVs: charging, range, batteries, longevity, sustainability, recyclability, cost of ownership. They’re really there to help demystify EVs for the masses. And for folks who are on the fence, or maybe they don’t believe in EVs altogether. So that’s the gist of what EV Live is all about.”We Put It to the TestI got to try it out. A technician in a big hotel meeting room in Los Angeles showed me the EV Live experience on a large TV screen. Most people will be watching this on their phones, though you can connect to it on any internet-capable device. Immediately I was whisked virtually into a studio in wonderful Warren, Michigan, and there was a confident and friendly EV expert. She showed me around the EUV Bolt, pointing out a few features.I asked a question I’ve heard many times: How can I charge an EV if I live in an apartment? “Oh gosh, we have lots of solutions,” said Jen, the EV specialist on the screen. Know Your StuffJen told me that she herself wants to buy a Chevy Bolt EUV. In her apartment complex there is a charging hub for residents, with three charging cables available, she said, and that at some workplaces there are charging outlets that allow EV owners to charge while at work. And if that doesn’t do it for you, there are more fast chargers being built all the time. For public chargers, you can get an EVGo credit of $500, Jen said. I asked about BrightDrop, GM’s commercial-electric vehicle. Jen recommended I set up a tour with Trish, the EV Live BrightDrop specialist. GM offers a lot of EVs, with more coming soon.GMThere are separate GM EV Live studios for Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, and GMC. “We have this very seamless handoff between the EV Live studio and, for example, the Chevy studio if you want to find out more about the Equinox that’s coming out—whether it’s a gasoline Equinox, or the electric Equinox—this studio is meant to be focused on that education, around EVs.”EV Live is not the only way for customers to become educated about GM EVs.”Every General Motors customer, if they have a Chevrolet, they have a myChevrolet app. If they’ve got a GMC, they have a myGMC app,” said Hossani. “People are initiating a live call or looking to go deeper than the information we’re providing on the website, which is the whole point, to allow us to have deeper conversations that are more personalized to your individual use case.”Why this? Why now? Last year 6 percent of vehicles sold in the U.S. were electric. That could be a tipping point.”Based on what we’ve seen in China and in Europe, once you hit that 5 or 6 percent of new-vehicle sales being EVs, you start to see an acceleration,” said Hossani. “So the next five years, we’ll see it become a tipping point. I see a lot more people getting into electric over the next five years than we did over the last 10.” Mark Vaughn grew up in a Ford family and spent many hours holding a trouble light over a straight-six miraculously fed by a single-barrel carburetor while his father cursed Ford, all its products and everyone who ever worked there. This was his introduction to objective automotive criticism. He started writing for City News Service in Los Angeles, then moved to Europe and became editor of a car magazine called, creatively, Auto. He decided Auto should cover Formula 1, sports prototypes and touring cars—no one stopped him! From there he interviewed with Autoweek at the 1989 Frankfurt motor show and has been with us ever since. More

We tried it, and we can categorically state that Gran Turismo 7 on PlayStation 5 is a whole new experience when you add Sony’s PS VR2 headset.The virtual reality headset uses a high-resolution OLED display compatible with 4K HDR games at up to 120 frames per second.Available exclusively for the Sony PlayStation 5, the PS VR2 headset with its two VR2 sense controllers will set you back $549.The floor space of Toyota’s GR010 Hybrid Le Mans Hypercar is awash with computers, wiring harnesses, and carbon-fiber bodywork all neatly packed by an assortment of stainless-steel fasteners. Until recently, the handy work by Toyota Gazoo Racing engineers required a stint with the race team, but we’re having a look from the living room couch. Using Sony’s all-new PS VR2 headset, these finer details shine bright enough to make you squint. The PlayStation 5 virtual reality experience isn’t just a new toy it makes Gran Turismo 7, the company’s exclusive driving sim, feel brand-new all over again.Game Time, All the TimeThe PS VR2 virtual reality headset is a profound pair of goggles. It’s a wired unit that’s only compatible with the PlayStation 5. It uses a high-resolution OLED display for each eye that illustrates compatible video games in 4K HDR at up to 120 frames per second. The headset even tracks eye movement to simulate how we focus in the real world. When experiencing this in Gran Turismo 7, it means when your eyeballs are pointed at the braking zone marker, the sharpness intensifies in one specific spot and feathers away from what you’re looking at. Can’t see the rearview camera because your knuckles are in the way? No problem, pick your chin up to look around them. The game’s level of detail adjusts on the fly instead of painting all of it at once across a television screen.SonyThe headset weighs just over a pound, which is much lighter than even the most expensive carbon-fiber lightweight racing helmet. While the PS VR2 only covers your eyes and forehead, the way the hardware locks you into a vision-canceling aura is similar to what it’s like peering out of something Snell certified. Drive across the curbing of Inner Loop at Watkins Glen, and the headset’s vibration deepens the illusion. There’s even plenty of room in the viewing area to accommodate prescription eyeglasses. The magic of playing Gran Turismo 7 while wearing the PS VR2 is that everything becomes a three-dimensional experience. Whether you’re competing online against real people, attempting to complete license challenges, watching replays, or taking a tour of every car at the dealership, the entire game is all up in your face. Mountain Dew–Flavored DramamineExploring the supremely detailed interiors that Polyphony Digital has developed for Sony’s driving sim is like seeing color television for the first time. You can’t help but let out an audible “oh my God” and quickly forget what Gran Turismo 7 was like without it. It’s seriously that good. The change of perspective while wearing the PS VR2 headset is major. It’s a lot of fun but doesn’t feel like playing a game; it feels exceptionally real.A word of caution: sometimes things can get a little too real, so take it slow. Especially if you’re new to VR. Don’t put the headset on and expect to stomach an hour of intense driving at the Nürburgring in a GT3 race car. We tried that, paying the price of nearly revisiting our Taco Bell lunch. Polyphony Digital CEO Kazunori Yamauchi suggests starting slow and in a convertible. Saying in an interview to just drive normally and build up your tolerance in stints, just as you would out on a real race track for the first time. Although even when we were warmed up after hours of gameplay, the elevation change and vehicle movement during rally races had us pausing to take a break. 15 minutes later, we sat back down and finished the race without the worry of experiencing Return of the Cheesy Gordita Crunch. Many Pennies, But Worth It For our experience with the PS VR2 headset and Gran Turismo 7, we used the PS5 DualSense controller instead of a racing wheel. The two VR2 Sense controllers that are necessary in other VR games, aren’t apart of the Gran Turismo 7 experience. The PS5 DualSense does its best to imitate brake fade and pedal feel through adaptive triggers and haptic feedback. Even without a racing wheel, we’d argue the dynamic perspective helped us improve our lap times. The combination of the force feedback in the PS VR2 headset with the PS5 DualSense adaptive triggers is a gift to gamers without the money or space to park a bucket seat and steering wheel in their living room.Sony PlayStation VR2 BundleSony PlayStation VR2 BundleThis heightened sense of simulation doesn’t come cheap. The PS VR2 currently retails for $549. That’s $150 more than the PlayStation 5 console required to use it, or $50 more if you purchase the more expensive PS5 that comes with a disc drive. Buying a bundle could add hundreds to that price. If watching that much money go toward video games gives you motion sickness, we should point out it’s a cheaper alternative to a sim rig that uses a direct-drive steering wheel and pedals. Another neat trick with the PS VR2 headset; you aren’t required to face the television, even if you’re using a full-on rig. Just create a play space as far as the headset’s 14.7-foot cord will reach and get racing.Incredible Hardware with Few Choices The PS VR2 headset isn’t the first VR experience in the competitive world of sim racing, but it’s a first for the Gran Turismo series. Popular racing games such as Assetto Corsa, Assetto Corsa Competizione, iRacing, rFactor, and Dirt Rally 2.0 unlocked virtual reality long before Sony’s new hardware launched earlier this year. Those racing sims, each have their own range of virtual reality headset options, much of which takes place on PC instead.Sony’s library of PS VR2 compatible games, outside of our own obvious favorite, still leaves a lot to be desired. Horizon: Call of the Mountain takes full advantage of the headset OLED screens with beautifully-rendered environments in an action-packed story. The space explorer No Man’s Sky is a different adventure worth checking out, one that delivers clever use of the headset and controller’s haptic feedback. For now, we’ve got more car interiors to explore in 4K.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.Associate EditorYes, he’s still working on the 1986 Nissan 300ZX Turbo project car he started in high school, and no, it’s not for sale yet. Austin Irwin was born and raised in Michigan, and, despite getting shelled by hockey pucks during a not-so-successful goaltending career through high school and college, still has all of his teeth. He loves cars from the 1980s and Bleu, his Great Pyrenees, and is an active member of the Buffalo Wild Wings community. When Austin isn’t working on his own cars, he’s likely on the side of the highway helping someone else fix theirs. More

Hyundai is updating the Sonata for 2024 with a striking new exterior design.The interior is also thoroughly updated and features new display screens.We expect the Sonata to go on sale in the U.S. later this year.Hyundai is restyling the Sonata mid-size sedan with a new look that falls in line with other recent redesigns such as the Kona crossover, the Staria van, and the Grandeur sedan. It looks surprisingly different from the outgoing Sonata that first launched for the 2020 model year, and the new face is particularly futuristic.More Cool Hyundai DesignsThe full-width LED light strip stretching across the front is immediately noticeable, and the grille and headlights are reshaped. Out back, the taillights incorporate a similar light strip and the lower fascia looks more aggressive than before. Hyundai showed both the standard car and the sportier N Line model, and both have new wheel designs as well.HyundaiThe changes inside center around two large 12.3-inch screens that are now housed in a single curved display binnacle. Certain dashboard components such as the climate controls are also rearranged, and the materials appear to be an upgrade compared with before. The steering wheel is also new, and the gearshift is relocated to the steering column to free up space in the center console.We don’t expect too many changes to the Sonata’s powertrain lineup, which currently comprises a 2.5-liter inline-four, a turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-four, a turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-four for the N Line, and a hybrid setup. Hyundai will reveal more details about the car soon, and U.S. specs should come within the next few months.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.Senior EditorDespite being raised on a steady diet of base-model Hondas and Toyotas—or perhaps because of it—Joey Capparella nonetheless cultivated an obsession for the automotive industry throughout his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee. He found a way to write about cars for the school newspaper during his college years at Rice University, which eventually led him to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for his first professional auto-writing gig at Automobile Magazine. He has been part of the Car and Driver team since 2016 and now lives in New York City.   More

Plenty of ideas exist to eliminate the trouble of plugging an EV into a heavy charging cable. From wireless pads to robot arms, people have been working on this technology for a while now.Hyundai Motor Group is the latest to investigate human-free EV charging tech and will display its new Automatic Charging Robot at the Seoul Mobility Show that starts next week.Using a built-in laser, cameras, AI wheels, and a movable arm, the ACR can—with the right EV—make charging your Ioniq 6 as easy as pushing a button on the key fob.As simple as it can be to charge an electric vehicle at a known location like home or work, it could always be easier. WiTricity is working on wireless EV charging and has been for a decade. In 2015, Tesla showed a video of a metal “snake” that could plug a charging cable into an EV automatically. Ram is working on an inductive charging robot for its upcoming electric truck. This month in Seoul, Hyundai and Kia will display the latest of these automated charging technologies, this one called ACR. HyundaiThe Automatic Charging Robot is somewhat similar to Tesla’s metal snake, but it is more advanced. The snake had a proprietary Tesla connector built in, while the Hyundai Motor Group’s ACR instead has a hand that can hold different plugs. Granted, most of the time, it will use a J1772 or CCS connector, but it’s good to see this kind of forward-thinking compatibility. In fact, HMG designed the ACR to operate in any environment, “regardless of charger location, weather and potential obstacles,” the company said. It’s a waterproof and dustproof (IP65 rated) robot that uses a stationary safety pole with a built-in laser sensor installed in the ground nearby to warn the robot when it might run into a stationary or moving obstacle.HyundaiHyundaiThis is the “isn’t it fabulous” version of how the ACR is supposed to work. You park your car where it will charge up—or simply nearby, if the EV can then park itself—and tell the system to initialize charging from the key fob. The car that the ACR is attempting to charge up has to have a charging port door that can open without human interaction, and the ACR communicates with the car to open it up. The wheeled ACR then moves closer to the car and uses a 3D-camera-based artificial intelligence algorithm to determine where the charging plug is and extends the cable to the port. When the EV is charged up, the robot arm moves away.This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.Newly Developed Automatic Charging Robot (ACR) For Electric Vehicles l Hyundai Motor GroupWatch onYouTube IconYouTube IconHyundai released a video of the ACR in action, and this time it’s the real thing. In July 2022, the automaker released a computer-generated video showing the robot’s potential. The head of HMG’s Robotics Lab, Dong Jin Hyun, said the ACR can be a particular help for “people with mobility barriers, as charging cables become thicker and heavier to enable high-speed charging.”For now, the ACR is just a cool toy on display at the 2023 Seoul Mobility Show. But HMG said that it predicts robots will offer support for EV charging in the “near future.” Whenever the ACR or any of the other charging simplification technologies arrive, it’ll be the next concrete step that makes driving an EV more accessible and convenient.This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.New TricksContributing EditorSebastian Blanco has been writing about electric vehicles, hybrids, and hydrogen cars since 2006. His articles and car reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Automotive News, Reuters, SAE, Autoblog, InsideEVs, Trucks.com, Car Talk, and other outlets. His first green-car media event was the launch of the Tesla Roadster, and since then he has been tracking the shift away from gasoline-powered vehicles and discovering the new technology’s importance not just for the auto industry, but for the world as a whole. Throw in the recent shift to autonomous vehicles, and there are more interesting changes happening now than most people can wrap their heads around. You can find him on Twitter or, on good days, behind the wheel of a new EV.  More