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Mazda will make all-wheel drive standard on all CX SUV models starting for the 2022 model year.The updated 2022 CX-5 has already been revealed, but we haven’t yet seen what’s in store for the 2022 CX-9 and CX-30.Front-wheel drive was previously standard on each of these models, so their base prices are likely to rise.The CX-5 isn’t the only Mazda SUV that will now come standard with all-wheel drive. Mazda says that all 2022 CX models, comprising the CX-30, CX-5, and CX-9 crossovers, will no longer be offered with front-wheel drive as standard. We don’t yet have official word on how this will affect pricing, but it’s a sure bet that each of these models will have a higher base price for 2022, as AWD was previously a $1400 option on the CX-30 and CX-5 and a $1900 option on the CX-9.Mazda has already shared updates for the 2022 CX-5, which include a few interior upgrades and a freshened appearance. We haven’t heard details yet on the 2022 CX-30 or 2022 CX-9, so we’re not sure if they will receive any updates other than the newly standard all-wheel-drive system.

We’re also curious to see how this shift affects future Mazda SUV models that could ride on the company’s new longitudinal platform and use its new inline-six engines. If all-wheel drive is standard on these upcoming vehicles, it means we’re unlikely to get a rear-wheel-drive version of the rumored CX-50 or a possible larger three-row model to replace the CX-9. Some luxury automakers do offer rear-wheel-drive versions of their SUVs, such as BMW’s sDrive versions of the X3 and X5.
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A New York state law signed by governor Kathy Hochul sets a goal of 100 percent new passenger car and truck sales in the state being zero-emission vehicles by 2035, similar to executive order issued earlier by California governor.Newly adopted legislation sets similar goal for medium- and heavy-duty trucks in New York state, but with a target year of 2045.EV sales in New York state accounted for less than 2% in 2020, pointing to a need for significant gains over the next 13 years.Following a trend set by a number of states in the U.S., New York state has passed a law that sets a target for 100 percent of new passenger cars and trucks sold or leased in the state to be zero-emissions vehicles by the year 2035. The legislation was signed by Governor Kathy Hochul just a few days ago. The legislation contains a similar goal for off-road vehicles and equipment by 2035. The law also establishes a goal for all medium- and heavy-duty trucks sold or leased in the state to be zero-emission vehicles by 2045, “for all operations where feasible.”

The signed legislation is more akin to a policy statement or executive order, in that it directs a state agency—namely the Department of Environmental Conservation—to propose regulations that will require increased volumes of zero-emission vehicles to be offered for sale with the goal of achieving a 100 percent mark by 2035. The law effectively compels state agencies to phase out sales of gas- and diesel-engined vehicles and trucks by a certain date through agency rules, which itself have yet to be adopted.The law as drafted lacks enforcement mechanisms and concrete steps that agencies will need to take in order to phase in sales of zero-emission vehicles. In effect, there are no corresponding state agency rules that have been enacted to promote sales of zero-emission vehicles to such a significant extent, or (perhaps more importantly) actively inhibit sales of internal-combustion vehicles at a dealer level. Further legislation and agency rules, complete with enforcement mechanisms, will be needed.The law also requires that a zero-emission vehicle strategy be developed by 2023, which will then be used by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to create programs and policies to actually promote EV sales.

“Using California’s Advanced Clean Trucks Rule as a template, the proposed regulation would require truck manufacturers to transition to clean, electric zero-emission vehicles,” the governor’s office said in a statement. “Truck manufacturers would be required to meet a certain annual sales percentage of zero-emission trucks, which will vary among vehicle weight classes, beginning with model year 2025. By the 2035 model year, at least 55 percent of all new Class 2b-3 pickup trucks and vans, 75 percent of all new Class 4-8 trucks, and 40 percent of all new Class 7-8 tractors sold in New York State will be zero-emission. The proposed regulation provides medium- and heavy-duty truck manufacturers with several compliance options and would require a one-time reporting from applicable truck fleets.”The statement above, you may have noted, mentions proposed (but not yet adopted) regulations aimed at out-of-state truck manufacturers, rather than sales by truck dealers within the state, while also seeking compliance from reports by specific fleets.New York state faces some headwinds in achieving 100 percent zero-emission sales of passenger cars and trucks by 2035, with the market share of electric vehicles in the state currently hovering around 1 percent. Plug-in hybrids will also qualify as zero-emissions vehicles. Sales of these ZEVs will have to make significant gains while sales of gas- and diesel-engined vehicles will have to surrender significant market share each year. This is likely to be dictated by market forces more than anything, absent some compelling incentive programs.

Many automakers have rolled out ambitious goals for transitioning to EV-only lineups, but even these goals come with plenty of asterisks. For one thing, assuming comparable levels of annual vehicle sales in the US until 2035, the recovery and processing of raw materials for the production lithium-ion batteries alone would have to experience significant growth, absent the sudden arrival of solid-state battery technology that would rely on more easily obtained raw materials. So even the plans of automakers to go EV-only by a certain year are based on other industries being able to keep up with that transition.

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Lucid Motors announced official EPA range and efficiency ratings for several versions of its Air sedan.The Dream Edition Range model wearing 19-inch wheels can go the furthest with a 520-mile range, while the Grand Touring model, which has 133 less horsepower, goes 516 miles on 19-inch wheels.Upgrading to the 21-inch wheels knocks off a significant amount of range, with the Dream Edition Range dropping to 481 miles with the bigger wheels and the Grand Touring decreasing to 469 miles.Many of today’s electric-vehicle startups tout jaw-dropping performance figures and driving range figures. But Lucid Motors, which aims to deliver its first customer cars before the end of the year, has now taken a major step forward with official EPA estimates for the range and efficiency of its upcoming Air sedan. And the numbers are big.

Lucid

The launch model of the Lucid Air, called the Dream Edition, comes into two configurations, with the Range prioritizing driving distance and the Performance focusing on extra power and acceleration. The 933-hp Range, unsurprisingly, goes the furthest on a charge, with the EPA estimating the range at 520 miles on the standard 19-inch wheels and 481 miles on the optional 21-inch wheels. The 520-mile figure gives the Lucid Air the longest range of any EV rated by the EPA.

While the 1111-hp Performance version sacrifices distance for power, the EPA still estimates it can go 471 miles on a charge with the 19-inch wheels, a figure which dropps by 20 miles when fitted with the 21-inchers. Along with the Dream Edition available at launch, the Air will be offered in Grand Touring specification, which produces 800 hp. The Grand Touring can travel an estimated 516 miles with the 19-inch wheels and 469 miles with the 21-inch wheels. For reference, the Tesla Model S that goes the furthest on a single charge—the creatively-named Long Range—has an EPA rating of 405 miles, while the ultimate performance version of the Model S, the 1020-hp Plaid, has a EPA range estimate of 348 miles. Lucid also says it now has the highest MPGe ratings for the EPA’s Large vehicle class, with the most efficient version of the Air, the Grand Touring with 19-inch wheels, rated at 130 MPGe in the city, 132 MPGe on the highway, and 131 MPGe combined. The least efficient Air is the Dream Edition Performance on the 21-inch wheels, which earned a rating of 110 MPGe in the city and 111 MPGe on the highway for a combined 111 MPGe.Lucid had originally planned to start production of the Air in the spring of this year, but this was delayed to late 2021. With the EPA ratings now in place, Lucid is one step closer to delivering vehicles to customers.
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Over $104 million in tolls generated from the Pennsylvania Turnpike went uncollected in 2020, according to a report from the Associated Press. An internal report filed in July and obtained by the AP revealed that 11 million out of the 170 million Turnpike rides, nearly 6.5 percent, went unpaid last year. The biggest reason? People just don’t pay the charges. The Pennsylvania Turnpike switched to a purely automated toll collection system last year, driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. Out of those 170 million rides, about 145 million—93 percent—are paid by motorists using the electronic E-Z Pass system. The other seven percent are billed via “toll-by-plate,” which uses cameras to take pictures of license plates, and bill motorists through the mail.

At 6.7 million rides, the biggest hit for collections comes from motorists who are billed but simply do not pay. The uncollected fees are written off by the Turnpike after three years. The state set up a system in 2017 that suspends PA registrations for six or more unpaid toll violations, but has yet to implement a system to similarly penalize drivers from out of state. According to AP, Pennsylvania is working on agreements with Delaware and New York to install such a penalty system. Other reasons for the Turnpike missing out on toll payments? A total of 1.8 million rides went unpaid because license plates could not be identified. Roughly 41 percent of those failures were blamed on obstruction to the plate, such as a bike rack or trailer. Just 1.1 percent of obstructed plates were blamed on motorists intentionally blocking their plates from view. Another 1.5 million tolls went uncollected because motor vehicle agencies failed to provide addresses for vehicle owners. And in just over 1 million instances, bills sent out via the toll-by-plate system went undeliverable.

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Polestar has shared a photo of a prototype of the upcoming production version of the Precept concept.It appears to be a large, sleek flagship sedan model with a near-identical body shape as the concept.Polestar says it will begin production before 2025.Polestar is keen to demonstrate that its Precept concept car from last year is more than just a design study. The EV brand already confirmed that it will produce the sleek sedan for real, and now it’s sharing an image of a Precept prototype as it undergoes engineering development. The company says the production version will come to fruition before 2025, when it will join existing models such as the Polestar 2 and the upcoming Polestar 3.From this photo, we can see that the production model has a nearly identical body as the concept. It’s a long and low four-door that invites comparisons to the Tesla Model S, Porsche Taycan, and Mercedes-Benz EQS. As such, it will likely carry a six-figure price point to match its status as Polestar’s luxury flagship.

The company hasn’t shared any technical information about the Precept, but we anticipate it will have an all-wheel-drive dual-motor powertrain with more grunt than the Polestar 2’s 402-horsepower setup. Due to its larger size, a bigger battery pack is also a sure bet to live up to constantly evolving expectations for longer and longer driving range.We should hear more about the Precept in coming months as Polestar shares more about its specs, production timeline, and design details.
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The Volkswagen ID.4 AWD Pro and Pro S models add an extra motor on the front axle, increasing power by 94 horsepower to 295 and boosting torque by 110 pound-feet to 339.These powertrain upgrades drop the range by around ten miles according to the EPA, with the AWD Pro going 249 miles on a charge while the Pro S can manage 240 miles.Opting for all-wheel drive will see the price raise by $3680 to $44,870 for the Pro and $49,370 for the Pro S, which adds tech and convenience features and the option of 20-inch wheels.The Volkswagen ID.4 EV launched for the 2021 model year, and now the the lineup is expanding to include the more powerful ID.4 AWD Pro and Pro S models. Although this version of the ID.4 is marketed under the GTX subbrand in Europe, the U.S. model gets a subtler moniker here but has the same upgraded powertrain. With the 2021 ID.4 AWD Pro and Pro S now ready for sale, Volkswagen has announced the EPA estimates for range and efficiency, along with pricing for the newest member of the ID family.

While the rear-wheel-drive versions of the ID.4 make do with 201 horsepower and 229 pound-feet of torque from the rear-axle mounted motor, the AWD models add another motor on the front axle, upping the horsepower to 295 hp and torque to 339 pound-feet. Still, the ID.4 AWD Pro and Pro S have the same battery pack, which offers 77.0 kWh of usable capacity. With the same battery but more power, the AWD Pro and Pro S models unsurprisingly lose some range, with the EPA estimating 249 miles for the Pro and 240 for the Pro S. This is down from 260 and 250 miles of range for the rear-wheel-drive Pro and Pro S, respectively. The all-wheel-drive ID.4s are also slightly less efficient that the rear-drive versions, with the Pro returning 102 MPGe in the city, 90 MPGe on the highway, and 97 MPGe combined. The Pro S, which adds tech and convenience features and can be optioned with 20-inch wheels, drops that to 98 MPGe in the city, 88 MPGe on the highway, and 93 MPGe combined. Volkswagen says that using a 125-kW charger, the ID.4 can hit 80 percent charge from five percent in 38 minutes, and all ID.4 owners get three years of free unlimited charging at Electrify America stations. The 2021 ID.4 AWD Pro will start at $44,870 and the the AWD Pro S will cost $49,370, increases of $3680 over the rear-wheel-drive models.
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The new 2021 Nissan GT-R T-spec is a limited edition that adopts bodywork from the Track Edition and the carbon-ceramic brakes from the NISMO while using the Premium model’s 565-hp version of the twin-turbo V-6.The T-spec comes in either Millennium Jade or Midnight Purple, two colors made iconic by special-edition versions of the R34 generation, built from 1999 to 2002.The T-spec features a Mori Green interior and gold Rays wheels, and will cost $140,285.For nearly ten years, Nissan has hinted at a next generation for its GT-R sports car. Nissan executives have suggested a hybridized replacement and the company even teased us with the Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo, designed for the eponymous video game series. But 2020 has come and gone and the R35 generation of the GT-R, originally unveiled in 2007, soldiers on. While 2021 hasn’t brought a full-fledged redesign, the GT-R will add a new limited edition model, the T-spec, which splits the difference between the cushier Premium model and the more focused Track Edition and NISMO variants.
Visually, the T-spec gains a carbon-fiber rear wing, blacked-out hood ducts, and the wider front fenders seen on the Track Edition. Peeking out from underneath those beefy fenders are gold forged aluminum wheels made by Japanese company Rays, and the T-spec also borrows the carbon-ceramic brakes and brake ducts from the top-dog GT-R NISMO. The special edition is also adorned by numerous gold T-spec badges.While the T-spec uses bits from the more more powerful Track Edition and NISMO, the new model is powered by the same engine found in the standard Premium model. The twin-turbo 3.8-liter V-6 churns out a healthy 565 horsepower and 467 pound-feet of torque (the faster versions up that to 600 hp and 481 pound-feet). The T-spec continues with all-wheel-drive and the same six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

The real draws of the T-spec are its two exclusive paint colors, which pay homage to iconic past GT-Rs. The first is Millennium Jade, which last appeared on the R34 GT-R V-Spec II Nür, a coveted special edition from the early 2000s named after the Nürburgring racetrack. Of the 718 V-spec II Nür units built, just 156 of them were Millennium Jade, and the new T-spec is the first time this color is available stateside. The second color, Midnight Purple, harks back to the Midnight Purple III on the R34 V-spec, of which only 132 units were built. The color also recalls the Midnight Opal that came on a special edition GT-R in 2014 that was limited to 100 units worldwide, of which 50 came to the U.S.
The T-spec’s interior is outfitted in Mori Green and features leather seats with pearl suede accents, a quilted Alcantara headliner, and T-spec badges. The T-spec will be priced at $140,285, around $25,000 more than the Premium and undercutting the Track Edition by about $7,000. While Nissan says it will be a limited production model, the company hasn’t specified just how many will be built.
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The 2022 Mazda CX-5 compact SUV gets a handful of visual and mechanical changes.The CX-5’s more elegant appearance is highlighted by updated front and rear ends with sleeker surfaces.Mazda drops front-wheel-drive CX-5 models, making all-wheel drive standard. Adding to a resume that includes being Mazda’s best-selling model in the U.S. and earning multiple appearances on our annual 10Best list, the 2022 CX-5 compact crossover receives a host of subtle, albeit meaningful, updates.

Although it might be hard to notice without a side-by-side comparison with last year’s model, the 2022 CX-5’s already attractive bodywork is massaged to be more elegant. Not only are its LED headlights more distinctive, but its grille becomes more prominent thanks to wings that extend outwards toward the headlights and a new textured mesh. The lower front fascia now looks smoother, too, with the same type of streamlining appearing at the back of the SUV along with redesigned LED taillights. A new set of wheel designs are also part of the visual evolution.
The 2022 CX-5 lineup is largely unchanged, but the previous Grand Touring Reserve trim is replaced by a new 2.5 Turbo model, which references its 250-hp 2.5-liter turbo inline-four engine. The Turbo slots between the Grand Touring and Signature trims. It has gloss-black exterior bits as well as red accents and stitching inside. The Signature also looks more upscale, as Mazda has replaced the plastic cladding around the wheel wells with body-colored pieces. All models add new seats that are said to be more supportive, and there’s now a wider selection of drive-mode settings. Previously, a single Sport mode was the lone performance adjustment.It’s also no longer possible to order a CX-5 with front-wheel drive. Every version now comes standard with Mazda’s i-Activ all-wheel-drive system. Feeding all four of its wheels is either the 187-hp naturally aspirated 2.5-liter inline-four-cylinder base engine or the available turbocharged 2.5-liter four-pot. While both engines are unchanged and still pair with a six-speed automatic transmission, Mazda says the gearbox is retuned to be more responsive. Likewise, enhancements to the CX-5’s suspension and a more rigid frame are said to improve its noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) levels, which should provide a quieter cabin and a smoother ride.
Mazda hasn’t released pricing for the 2022 CX-5 lineup, but with the newly standard all-wheel-drive system, we expect the previously $1400 option to be baked into the cost. The 2021 CX-5 AWD lineup currently ranges from the $27,945 Sport model to the $38,680 Signature, so expect 2022 models to cost slightly more than that when they reach dealerships this winter.
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