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GM confirmed that there will be an electric version of the Corvette coming soon.A hybrid powertrain will be added next year, and the battery-powered model will follow.The EV model will use GM’s Ultium battery platform, and it could be called E-Ray.What’s more radical, a mid-engine Corvette or an electric Corvette? We’re about to find out, as GM President Mark Reuss confirmed today on CNBC that a Corvette EV is nigh and that it is coming soon after Chevy launches a hybrid model in 2023.
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The electric Corvette will use GM’s Ultium battery platform, and we speculated in the past that Chevy’s trademark of the name “E-Ray” could be used for some sort of electrified Corvette model. We’re guessing that the prototype in this video is the hybrid model, as there’s a clear soundtrack of a V-8 gasoline engine playing in the background, but Chevy should release some teasers of the EV model in due time. The camouflaged prototype appears to have the exact same body as the gas-powered Corvette—the main visual difference we can spot is the yellow color of the brake calipers.

When the electric Corvette arrives, it will have to offer impressive performance specs to compete with its internal-combustion siblings. The Corvette Z06, for one, has a 670-hp 5.5-liter flat-plane-crank V-8, while the hybrid model is rumored to offer around 1000 horsepower from a twin-turbo version of that engine combined with an electric motor powering the front wheels. In the video, we can see that the front wheels start spinning before the rears, confirming this all-wheel-drive setup; we think that the electric version will offer AWD as well.We look forward to hearing more about both the hybrid and the electric model within the next few months as Chevy prepares to offer a broader Corvette lineup than ever before.
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The last-generation Audi RS6 Avant might not have come to the U.S., but we still love it. A twin-turbo V-8–powered wagon making over 500 horsepower is always a good time, after all. This one’s been tuned by Akrapovič, and it’s capable of over 200 mph. But it does have at least one electrical gremlin that needs sorting out. The AutoTopNL YouTube channel was given the opportunity to do some top-speed testing on this Akrapovič RS6. The test driver doesn’t hold any of the car’s 700 horsepower back on the autobahn, taking it all the way to an indicated 324 kph (201 mph). But a few moments after the car crosses the 324 kph barrier, something strange happens to the speedometer: It falls all the way back down to zero. The speed of the car doesn’t change, and there aren’t any warning lights that pop up on the dash. For a second or two, the computers nestled behind the dashboard thought the car had come to an extremely abrupt stop. As soon as the speedo drops to zero, though, it jumps all the way back up to 320 km/h, and all is normal. It’s unclear why the car briefly thought it wasn’t moving, though if I had to guess, it was likely a faulty wheel speed sensor on one of the corners (though the car likely would’ve thrown an ABS fault, so who knows?) German cars can get weird out of warranty.

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Mazda’s four-rotor sports prototypes of the late Eighties and early Nineties are legends, thanks in large part to their extraordinary sound. Perhaps the least well known of this group is the RX-792P, of which just three were built for IMSA GTP racing in 1992 before Mazda canceled the four-rotor program, as the engine could no longer be raced in Europe.

But the RX-792P is a glorious thing nevertheless. Mazda North America still has one and brought it out for the historic races at Long Beach earlier this month. Road & Track contributor Marshall Pruett was there and managed to capture video, and perhaps more importantly, audio of the car. The noise is, as ever, scintillating.Around the three-minute mark, driver Tom Long really gets on it, and the sound plus the Long Beach scenery whizzing by will give you goosebumps. Next time around, the car fully warmed up, and he spends a few seconds buzzing the rev limiter in fifth. You’ll want to replay that over and over.The first Mazda four-rotor racing engine was the 13J, which debuted in the 1988 767. It evolved into the stronger, more powerful, yet more efficient R26B, which made its debut in the 1990 787. The 787B in 1991 got a unique variable-length intake system and made 690 horsepower at 9000 rpm. Unfortunately, the FIA banned rotary engines for the 1992 season, leaving America as the only place to run an R26B.Which Mazda did for 1992. As to be expected, the RX-792P—which shared little with the 787B—had a number of first-year teething problems and only managed two podium finishes over the 1992 season. Mazda North America planned to race the car in 1993, but with Mazda Japan canceling the four-rotor program entirely, it had no engine. Thankfully, we have historic racing, and the RX-792P can still be raced today.

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Ken Block is one of the most skilled drifters on the planet, so if there’s anyone who can get an 8000-pound diesel-powered dually pickup truck sideways, it’s him. Block thought it would be a good idea to slide his massive 2019 Ford F-450 Super Duty tow rig around an empty parking lot at Utah Motorsports Campus for a recent YouTube video after one of his Hoonigan colleagues snapped the half-shafts on his Mk 2 Escort. With a curb weight well over four tons and a suspension designed to tow 35,000 pounds, the truck isn’t exactly the best-suited drift machine. But thanks to a 6.7-liter Power Stroke turbo-diesel V-8 making a massive 935 pound-feet of torque under the hood, Block somehow makes it work. And he does it in spectacular fashion. By keeping the truck in third gear, Block is able to pull off some truly impressive slides, linking transitions and executing perfect donuts around his broken Escort. And because he has so much room to play with, there’s a lot of speed involved too. Leave it to Ken Block to turn a tow rig into a competent drift missile.

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Aston Martin plans to launch the first electric model in the company’s history by 2025.Before the EV, Aston will start delivering its first plug-in hybrid–the Valhalla pictured above–in 2024.Aston also says that all of its models will be available with an electrified powertrain by 2026.For anyone who hasn’t figured it out by now, the auto industry is having a moment. It seems every other day another automaker is parading its plans to transition to an entirely electric lineup by the end of the decade. Today it’s Aston Martin’s turn. To no one’s surprise, the company is targeting 2030 as the expiration date of new models with internal-combustion engines. Of course, there’s a chance it’ll still build gas-burning special editions outside its core lineup. Besides that predictable announcement, though, Aston also says it’ll launch its first electric model by 2025.

A few years ago, the 600-hp Aston Martin Rapide E was earmarked to be the British automaker’s first production EV. We even got some seat time in a prototype before Aston canceled plans to build a limited run of 155 copies. Whatever the company’s brass learned from that experience, it looks like they’re ready to try again. This time around, we have no idea what body style the first Aston EV will be, but this author is willing to bet a year’s salary it won’t be another four-door sedan. Could there be an electric version of the DBX SUV? Or perhaps the next-generation Vanquish will be available with an electric option. After all, it’s now expected to launch in 2025, which conveniently aligns with Aston’s timeline.

Aston Martin

Before the British brand’s first EV arrives, the 937-hp Valhalla–Aston’s first plug-in hybrid–will start deliveries in 2024. That model will kick-start the planned transition to an electric lineup by the end of the decade. Within four years, Aston says every model in its lineup will be available with an electrified powertrain. That means if the DBX or the Vantage is around for the 2026 model year, they’ll be offered with some type of hybrid option, if not a full-blown electric version. In the meantime, Aston is keen to let the world know that the light is green going forward when it comes to targeting net-zero carbon emissions. Welcome to the club.
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The 20,000th Lamborghini Huracán has been built, an STO painted in Grigio Acheso Matt, destined for a customer in Monaco.71 percent of Huracán buyers have gone for coupes, while 32 percent of sales have been in the United States.Lamborghini says that 60 percent of Huracáns have been customized by the company’s Ad Personam program.For most of Lamborghini’s history, the Italian supercar marque managed to sell only a few hundred vehicles per year. But this changed when the Gallardo arrived in 2003—the junior V-10 supercar sold just over 14,000 units during a ten-year production run. This blew its predecessor, the V-8–powered Jalpa, out of the water, with only 410 Jalpas being sold between 1981 and 1988. But the Gallardo’s follow-up, the Huracán, has proved even more successful, and Lamborghini announced on Thursday that it has built the 20,000th example of the V-10–powered supercar that entered production in 2014.

Lamborghini

The 20,000th Huracán to roll off the line in Sant’Agata Bolognese was an STO, the high-performance, track-focused version that draws inspiration from the Huracán EVO Super Trofeo race car. This record-setting STO was finished in Grigio Acheso Matt paint for a customer in Monaco.

With the announcement, Lamborghini provided some details on how Huracán customers have ordered their supercars so far. 71 percent of Huracán owners have opted for a coupe version, while the remaining 29 percent wanted the ability to drop the top to better hear the naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V-10 sing. The United States has been the Huracán’s biggest market, with 32 percent of sales, with the U.K. and the China completing the top three.The majority of Huracáns have come with some form of personalization, with 60 percent of the 20,000 units sold so far being decked out by Lamborghini’s Ad Personam customization program. Lamborghini says that customers have taken inspiration for colors, trims, and materials from everything from furniture and clothing to makeup and precious stones. Central Europe, Japan, and the U.K. have been the biggest markets for the Ad Personam division. With STO production underway and the recent introduction of the Tecnica model, the Huracán should continue racking up sales before a plug-in hybrid model arrives in 2024.
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• This 1978 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz embodied Cadillac’s unique approach to luxury in the 1970s.• The ninth-generation Eldorado was a symbol of wealth and success when it was new, especially in full-fat Biarritz trim, but its appeal faded and many were scrapped in the 1990s.• This low-mileage coupe is for sale right now on Bring a Trailer, and the auction ends on April 25.You’d never guess this by walking through the traffic jam of classic European econoboxes in my garage, but I love American land yachts. My parents owned a series of bargelike General Motors cars when I was a kid—I remember my dad having to park his 1985 Oldsmobile Delta 88 diagonally to fit it in our garage—but none were as special as my step-grandfather’s Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. These massive Cadillacs have amassed a following in recent years, and there is what looks like an unusually well-kept 1978 Eldorado Biarritz currently live on Bring a Trailer – which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos.

Finished in Ruidoso Saddle Metallic, this old-school coupe effortlessly illustrates what Cadillac stood for in the 1970s. It says “I’ve got it made” without trying or leaning too far towards the ostentatious side of the scale. It didn’t need to: everyone knew what they were looking at. In a way, the spot that Cadillac occupied in popular culture during the 1970s was like the one that Mercedes-Benz currently enjoys. It’s not a Chevrolet Chevette or a Chrysler Cordoba that Johnny Cash built in “One Piece at a Time.”

Bring a Trailer

The stately Eldorado was a big deal, too; it was the epitome of the personal luxury car, that nebulous segment that embarked on a nosedive in the 1980s and crashed hard during the 1990s. The one listed on Bring a Trailer cost $15,074 new, which represents about $66,700 in 2022, and it’s optioned with a six-way power-adjustable front passenger seat, a tilting steering column, cruise control, and a cassette player. And, look at those Biarritz-specific pillow seats! I’d bet the inflation-adjusted cost of the optional rear window defogger that they’re at least as comfortable as the seats Cadillac puts in the 2022 CT5.

Bring a Trailer

Poke your head into the cavernous engine bay and you’ll meet a 425-cubic-inch (that’s 7.0 liters) V-8 that lazily developed 180 horsepower and a stout 320 pound-feet of torque. Front-wheel drive, which the Eldorado adopted for the 1967 model year, and a three-speed automatic transmission came standard.

Bring a Trailer

Calling the ninth-generation Eldorado rare wouldn’t be accurate: Cadillac produced 46,816 units during the 1978 model year, which was last call before the drastically downsized 10th-generation model landed in showrooms. But two things make this example special: first, it survived. By the 1990s, these big coupes were widely considered anachronisms, and not very exotic ones, and many were driven into the ground by a succession of increasingly careless owners. When I was growing up in Utah in the 2000s, when Cadillac was leveraging Art and Science to disassociate itself from land yachts, the Eldorado was a common sight in self-service junkyards or beached next to barns in rural parts of the state, landau roof–deep in weeds with rust holes big enough to fit a piston through. Two, it survived with astonishingly low mileage. The odometer shows just under 20,000 miles, which represents an annual average of about 450 miles.What are the odds of finding another 20,000-mile big-body Eldorado Biarritz without traveling back to a used-car lot in 1980? Bidding currently stands at $12,500, a sign that interest in these cars is growing.

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Volkswagen starts delivering EVs to residents of the Aegean Sea island of Astypalea in an effort to transform all transport on the island to electric mobility.The automaker plans for 1000 EVs to replace about 1500 gas- and diesel-engined vehicles on the island.VW is also introducing electric ride-sharing services to the 44-square-mile island, along with electric bicycles and scooters.Volkswagen has delivered the first EVs to private customers on Astypalea as part of an experiment to transform the Greek island to an EV-only oasis. VW handed over the first examples of the ID.4 and VW e-up! hatchback to the island’s residents, in addition to the new ID.3 hatch and the Seat MÓ eScooter 125. The automaker’s Smart & Sustainable Island project, conducted in partnership with the Greek government, will eventually see 1000 EVs replace a fleet of some 1500 gas- and diesel-engined cars on the 44-square-mile island, with electric bicycles and scooters also part of a new fleet being introduced. Emergency vehicles and commercial vehicles will also be replaced with electric ones in the near future, with vehicle rental agencies switching to zero-emission models as well.

“Astypalea is a laboratory for the mobility of the future. The island is experiencing the same change as any other region in Europe, only in a much shorter time. With the first private customers driving electric now, word will quickly get around how fascinating e-mobility is,” said Maik Stephan, project manager and head of business development at Volkswagen Group.VW is working on more than simply importing new EVs. It’s also getting rid of all the scrap vehicles currently polluting the island, often sitting abandoned in ravines instead of being recycled. (If you’ve ever been to Greece, you know this is a major issue in the country, even on the Aegean Sea islands.) The automaker is now working with the municipality and the importer for Greece Kosmocar to collect broken cars, trucks, and motorcycles from the island, and ship them to the capital Athens on the mainland to be professionally recycled.

Abandoned cars are a major issue in Greece, especially on islands that often lack large-scale metal recycling facilities. As a result, old cars tend to just sit around or are discarded improperly.
Volkswagen

As on other islands in the Aegean Sea, the ability of the local industry to properly recycle scrapped vehicles is limited, which often leads them to be stored indefinitely once they’re no longer running, often by the side of the road or hidden away in the countryside, as shipping them to the mainland imposes costs.The next stages of the project will include the launch of all-electric ride sharing and vehicle sharing, just in time for the summer tourist season.”E-mobility is a perfect match for Astypalea,” said Thanos Papagiannis, shown above, who’s the first ID.3 customer on Astypalea. “The distances here are short, the power consumption is low, and the charging network is now very well developed. I really hope that Astypalea will inspire other regions to increase their efforts for climate protection (by) adopting e-mobility solutions.”

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