Motor News

An electric version of Ram’s full-size commercial van is coming Stateside later this year. Stellantis confirmed the EV version of the ProMaster will be unveiled in the first half of 2023, and deliveries will begin in the latter half of the year. We expect the EV version to be competitive with the Ford E-Transit in terms of payload capacity. Ram is joining Ford in the world of electric #Vanlife and making good on its promise to introduce an electric ProMaster van by the end of 2023. We know that the commercial van will be unveiled in the first half of 2023, and deliveries will begin in the latter half of the year. A Stellantis spokesperson confirmed to C/D that the ProMaster EV is coming to the North American market. StellantisRelated StoriesOther than the rough timeline, and a single teaser image, we don’t have any specifics about the ProMaster EV yet. What we do have are images and specs for Fiat’s E-Ducato (pictured at top), which is essentially a rebadged ProMaster. So it’s reasonable to glean some information from the E-Ducato, which is already offered in Europe, to inform our speculation on the upcoming ProMaster EV. The E-Ducato is offered with two battery options, a 47.0-kWh standard pack and a larger 79.0-kWh optional pack. On the less stringent WLTP cycle, Fiat claims 146 miles of range for the standard battery and 229 miles of range for the larger pack. Accounting for the differences of the U.S. EPA range cycle, that could put the standard battery right in contention with the 126 miles offered by Ford’s E-Transit van, while the larger pack could beat the Ford by a significant margin. Fiat’s claimed payload capacity of up to 4189 pounds is down from the 4680 pound maximum payload offered by the current gasoline-powered ProMaster, but beats the E-Transit’s 3880 pound maximum. 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

Lordstown Motors has halted production of the Endurance electric pickup truck, citing issues with supplier components.The truck has been in production since last fall, with Lordstown planning to assemble about 500 units with current funding.The Lordstown factory was purchased by Taiwan’s Foxconn in the spring of 2022, with the tech giant planning to produce a number of EVs stateside, although few have been built to date.The Lordstown Endurance, has only been in production for a few months, but the truck is now facing a production halt. The EV maker said it “has experienced performance and quality issues with certain Endurance components,” leading it to make the decision to stop production temporarily. The company’s response to the performance and quality issues, which it did not specify in detail, also affects completed trucks that are awaiting delivery to customers. But the entire pool of affected trucks only amounts to 19 vehicles that have either been delivered, or are currently being used internally by the company.Enduring Challenges with the StartupThe EV maker said it is working with suppliers on the causes of these issues and that potential solutions could include retrofits and design modifications, as well as software updates. The formal decision to issue a recall, however, was made in light of “a specific electrical connection issue” that could produce a loss of power while driving.The Lordstown Endurance is unique among electric pickups—and EVs as a whole—in that it features in-wheel hub motors. The truck produces a combined 440 horsepower, thanks to its four motors, and is powered by a 109.0-kWh battery. However, this setup gives the truck an EPA-estimated range of 193 miles, which places it near the bottom end of the spectrum for electric pickups currently on the market. The truck’s overall positioning and $65,060 starting price perhaps make it a curious choice in a segment finally seeing some compelling choices—and some serious competition from longtime automakers.2023 Lordstown Endurance.”While our experienced team has made significant progress in addressing the underlying component and vehicle sub-system issues affecting the Endurance build schedule, we remain committed to doing the right thing by our customers and to resolve potential issues before resuming production and customer shipments,” said Edward Hightower, Lordstown Motors CEO & president. Production of the Endurance began in early October 2022, just a few months after the plant was sold to Taiwan’s Hon Hai Technology Group, better known as Foxconn. At that time the company said it planned to assemble only up to 500 trucks, with 50 having been scheduled for delivery in 2022. The rest were slated to be delivered in 2023, “subject to raising sufficient capital.” Therefore, there are still a few asterisks to the entire venture. Jay Ramey grew up around very strange European cars, and instead of seeking out something reliable and comfortable for his own personal use he has been drawn to the more adventurous side of the dependability spectrum. Despite being followed around by French cars for the past decade, he has somehow been able to avoid Citroën ownership, judging them too commonplace, and is currently looking at cars from the former Czechoslovakia. Jay has been with Autoweek since 2013.  More

Honda is adding a cheaper LX base trim to the 2023 CR-V, as first reported by Capital One.The 2023 Civic is adding back the LX, too, and it now starts under $25,000.Honda says these LX models should help the company ramp up production.Honda is lowering the base price of two of its most popular models, the Civic and CR-V, thanks to the reintroduction of the base LX trim level. Both had previously dropped this price-leader model for 2023 but a Honda spokesperson told C/D that Honda decided to add back the LX due to “unprecedented demand.”That’s good news for shoppers on the price front, as it causes the 2023 Civic’s base price to drop by $1400 and the 2023 CR-V’s to drop by $3200. Honda also says that it should help on the availability front, as these less well-equipped vehicles won’t be as production-limited by the microchip shortage.More on Civic and CR-VThe 2023 CR-V LX starts at $29,705 and does without much of the equipment offered on the EX. It has 17-inch steel wheels with hubcaps instead of the EX’s 18-inch wheels and a manual driver’s seat instead of the EX’s power-adjustable seat. And it doesn’t have a sunroof, heated front seats, or a blind-spot monitoring system. But it does have the same 190-hp turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-four engine and it offers all-wheel drive as a $1500 option like other CR-V trim levels.Civic LXHondaThe Civic LX, which starts at $24,545 for the sedan and $25,545 for the hatchback, is similarly decontented compared with the Civic Sport that sits a level higher in the lineup. It has a 158-hp 2.0-liter inline-four and comes only with a CVT automatic; the hatchback’s Sport and Sport Touring trims still offer a manual, but you’ll pay more for those.Neither LX version is listed yet on Honda’s consumer site yet but we found CR-V LXs listed in dealer inventory. Honda says the LXs will be added to the website within the coming weeks.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

Ford has revealed a new Edge L for the China market, but the new crossover is not expected to replace the aging Edge in America.The Edge L is powered by either a 248-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four or a hybrid setup pumping out a combined 271 horsepower.The interior features screens galore, with a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster sitting aside a 27.0-inch central display.Reports have suggested that the Ford Edge will be discontinued in the United States after the 2023 model year, ending a 15-year run for the nameplate. But over in China, the mid-size crossover is still going strong and a new Edge L was revealed yesterday, bringing sharp styling, three rows of seating, and an available hybrid powertrain. FordThe new Edge L doesn’t look anything like the Edge sold stateside, which has been languishing since 2015 with only a light facelift in 2019. The Edge L features a fresh look dominated by horizontal lines, with a wide grille bookended by L-shaped LED headlights. The blacked-out roof is a trendy look, as is the fin in the bodywork that rises at the C-pillar to give the bulky crossover a little pizzazz. The Edge L stretches 196.9 inches from nose to tail, about 8.0 inches longer than the U.S.-market Edge and only a couple of inches shy of an Explorer. The all-wheel-drive, seven-seat Edge L has two powertrain options, starting with a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four producing 248-hp and 279 pound-feet of torque. Ford is also offering hybrid setup good for a combined 271 horsepower and 299 pound-feet of torque, and Ford claims this powertrain will be good for around 37 mpg.More New FordsThe cabin is decked out with a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a gigantic 27.0-inch touchscreen that spans most of the dashboard, a feature we expect will migrate into U.S.-market Fords in the near future. The interior design is clean and modern, and lots of amenities are on offer, including a head-up display and ambient lighting. The China-built Edge L will go on sale in that market this spring, and we hope that Ford decides to offer it in the U.S. to bridge the gap between the Escape and Explorer and continue the Edge’s lineage.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

This 1996 Honda Acty Crawler fire truck was imported from Japan last year, and it still includes the equipment rack, flashing lights, and siren system.A tiny 656-cc three-cylinder engine sends 37.5 horsepower to 12-inch front wheels and rear tracks via a four-speed manual transaxle.With five days before the Bring a Trailer auction ends on Tuesday, February 28, bidding is currently at $11,500.Car and DriverIn America, fire trucks are gigantic beasts that can hold up to 1500 gallons of water and carry ladders that can stretch around 100 feet long. But Japan’s narrow streets require unique solutions, leading to cute rescue vehicles like this 1996 Honda Acty Crawler that is up for auction on Bring a Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos. Bring a TrailerThe Honda Acty is a long-running work truck sold in Japan’s kei class, a designation for miniature vehicles that fit within diminutive dimensions and are powered by engines with a maximum capacity of 660 cc. The Crawler was a quirky variation of the Acty with the rear wheels replaced by treads wrapped around two axles and was built on special order for five years in the 1990s.This Acty Crawler, modified for fire service, comes in red with gold graphics and a unique badge on the nose. The bed features bench seating, chrome handles, and racks for mounting firefighting equipment, while the siren and emergency lighting are still attached to the roof of the cabin. The 12-inch wheels are shod in narrow 145-width rubber up front, with a spare underneath the bed and four extra wheels included if you want to replace the rear tracks.Bring a TrailerThe tiny fire truck is motivated by a 656-cc inline-three mounted ahead of the rear axle. The 37.5 horsepower is routed through a four-speed manual transaxle with ultralow forward and reverse gears. A rear locking differential and a Real Time four-wheel-drive system help the little Crawler scoot around, and front disc and rear drum brakes are used to slow the Acty.More Quirky Auction VehiclesThe interior is simple, with gray cloth seats, rubber floor mats, a heater, and a factory stereo system, along with the controls for the siren and flashing lights. The selling dealer imported the vehicle into the U.S. in December 2022, and the odometer shows 3600 kilometers or approximately 2237 miles. You probably won’t be rushing to any emergencies in the Acty Crawler—and certainly won’t want to take it onto an American highway—but the adorable fire truck will definitely help you stand out at your local Cars and Coffee meet. Bidding currently sits at $11,500 with five days remaining on the auction.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

GM has filed a patent with the USPTO for a self-cleaning touchscreen, as first reported by autoevolution.com.The patent for the self-cleaning display describes the use of a photocatalytic coating and violet light to remove blemishes.Neither the coating nor the light are visible to the human eye, so drivers could amaze their passengers with the “magic” glass.General Motors could have good news for greasy-fingered drivers. The automaker is developing a touchscreen that cleans itself, according to a patent GM filed last week with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).Fingerprint RemoverThe patent for the self-cleaning display was discovered by autoevolution.com. The system described in the patent uses a photocatalytic coating and violet light to remove oil residue, fingerprints, and other debris. As anyone with a touchscreen in their car knows all too well, these type of blemishes can quickly accumulate, resulting in a smudge-riddled surface.A closer reading of the patent explains that touchscreens with LED displays emit visible red, green, and blue light. The violet light in the proposed self-cleaning unit constitutes an invisible fourth LED. It reacts to the photocatalyst in the transparent coating on the touchscreen along with moisture in the air to clean the glass surface. GM’s patent states this process can be manually turned on or automatically activated based on the amount of sunlight exposure or under various other circumstances.The Cadillac Escalade’s huge screen has lots of real estate for fingerprints.Car and Driver”Magic” GlassWith the touchscreens in GM’s newest models getting bigger and bigger, it makes sense to devise an effortless way of keeping their expansive glass clean. Currently, the job requires a clean cloth and some elbow grease. In the future, it could be as easy as pushing a button. We think such a feature could be used to amaze passengers too, as neither the photocatalytic coating nor the violet light used to clean the screen are visible to our human eyes. We’d cosplay as our favorite Harry Potter character and call it “magic” glass. Of course, it still remains to be seen whether GM takes its proposed self-cleaning display from patent to production. Until then, storing some napkins in the glovebox is the simplest way to keep greasy fingerprints at bay. Other GM PatentsThis 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 EditorEric Stafford’s automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual ’97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a ’90 Honda CRX Si. More

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.Dodge revealed an updated version of its simulated exhaust sound for EVs earlier this month at the Chicago auto show, giving potential buyers an idea of what to expect on the finished product once the company’s all-electric muscle cars go on sale in 2024. Called the Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust, the purely electric external sound system uses an amplifier near the rear of the car to produce a 126-decibel “exhaust” noise. It was first shown to the public in August 2022 to mixed reactions. “Did we crack the code on wide-open motors? Not yet. But we’ve got two years,” CEO Tim Kuniskis said in an interview following the event. “We have changed the sound of that car 1000 times and we will continue to.”Meanwhile . . .The video above is the latest iteration, then, and while we aren’t given any proper revs, we do get a good sense of what the “idle” will sound like while the car trundles around at a slow pace. It sounds way more like an actual V-8 than before, which we think is a step in the right direction. We won’t get a real sense of whether it’s worthy of replacing Dodge’s actual V-8s until we hear it in person, however. 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.Road & Track staff writer with a taste for high-mileage, rusted-out projects and amateur endurance racing. More

Subaru has announced pricing for the redesigned 2024 Impreza hatchback.It starts at $24,085 for the base model and ranges up to $28,975 for the new RS trim with a more powerful engine.Subaru says the new Impreza will arrive at U.S. dealerships starting this summer.The new 2024 Impreza is still the cheapest Subaru you can buy, but it’s not as cheap as it was. That’s because Subaru has eliminated both the sedan body style and the standard manual transmission, meaning its new starting price of $24,085 is $3270 higher than the cheapest version of last year’s Impreza. Even when comparing apples to apples, the 2024 Impreza hatchback with an automatic transmission costs $1470 more than the equivalent 2023 model.A healthy dose of extra standard equipment helps soften the sticker shock, as even the base model now has automatic climate control, LED headlights, and an upgraded set of driver-assistance features, which Subaru brands as EyeSight. The 2024 Impreza Sport starts at $26,085, which is slightly cheaper than last year’s Impreza Sport hatch. It adds 18-inch wheels, different suspension tuning, a larger 11.6-inch vertically oriented touchscreen, pushbutton start, and fog lights.More on Subaru ModelsBoth the base and Sport models have a carryover 152-hp 2.0-liter flat-four engine and a continuously variable automatic transmission. All-wheel drive is standard, naturally.The RS model, starting at $28,975, is new to the lineup and includes a more powerful 182-hp 2.5-liter flat-four engine. Other than its badges and black and carbon-fiber trim pieces, additional equipment also includes a leather-wrapped steering wheel, aluminum pedals, an All-Weather package, and extra driver-assistance features such as blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.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 Editor  Despite 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