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Rick Ross had some of his vintage vehicles on display in a recent Instagram video, walking the camera down a line of retro eye candy that included several Chevy Bel Airs.Ross’s passion for cars is well documented in his music, and he recently said his collection includes around 100 vehicles.Ross, who named his record label after the luxurious Maybach automotive brand, also recently visited Jay Leno to film a segment on his custom 1957 Bel Air.Back in 2010, Rick Ross rapped the lines “New Mercedes sedan, the Lex’ sport/So many cars, DMV thought it was mail fraud” on Kanye West’s “Devil in a New Dress.” Although it’s certainly not uncommon for rappers to brag about owning dozens of luxury cruisers and exotic supercars, Rick Ross wasn’t exaggerating—in a recent Instagram video, the rapper gave a brief tour of some of the old-school metal in his expansive collection.In the video, Ross ambles down the seemingly endless driveway to his 400-acre, 109-room estate in Georgia, giving a taste of some of the classic cars he owns. We can spot at least 12 vehicles in the video, although Ross apparently has around 100 cars to his name. The video begins with multiple blue Chevrolet Bel Airs, all second-generation models from between 1955 and 1957, and wraps up with some retro trucks, including a brown and tan 1980s Chevrolet C/K with aftermarket LED headlights. His cars all look to be in beautiful condition, glistening under the Georgia sun, and most of them appear to be stock, although a few ride on glitzy chrome or gold rims.

Ross is certainly one of the biggest car enthusiasts in hip-hop. Along with his sprawling collection and referencing cars in his music, he is the CEO of Maybach Music Group, a major record label that Ross founded and named after the opulent Mercedes-owned brand. Ross also recently met up with Jay Leno, touring the famous garage before filming a segment for Leno’s show about his red custom 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. Ross clearly has a thing for the Bel Air, as the ’57 that he shared with Leno is not one of the four Bel Airs in his most recent Instagram video.
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GMC shared a video of the upcoming 2022 Hummer EV pickup doing a “Watts to Freedom” launch-control start. The new Hummer EV pickup, when equipped with its available 1000-hp three-motor setup, is claimed to launch to 60 mph in 3.0 seconds. The Hummer EV pickup will arrive by the end of the year and an SUV model and cheaper configurations will go on sale within the next few years. GMC’s new Hummer EV pickup will enter production this fall, and GMC says it has up to 1000 horsepower and will reach 60 mph in 3.0 seconds. That’s with its launch-control mode that’s called Watts to Freedom, and GMC shared a video of the feature in action on a prototype truck—a fitting way to launch into the holiday weekend.

GMC

We’ve yet to experience it for ourselves, but Watts to Freedom aims to provide a different experience than traditional gas-powered cars’ launch-control systems. It still involves the driver mashing the accelerator and brake pedals simultaneously, but Watts to Freedom aims to elevate the auditory experience thanks to the lack of a noisy internal-combustion engine. The Hummer EV first lowers itself by 2.0 inches via the air suspension followed by a series of sounds, haptic feedback in the driver’s seat, and visual elements in the 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster, including a g-force meter. Once this sequence is complete, then it’ll launch to 60 mph in a claimed 3.0 seconds.

The GMC Hummer EV will eventually offer pickup and SUV variations, and they will be the first General Motors products to use the automaker’s new Ultium battery platform. In its most powerful configuration, the Hummer EV has three electric motors producing up to 1000 horsepower and all-wheel drive. Cheaper models have two-motor setups and less power. The first Hummer EV to arrive will be the fully loaded Edition 1 pickup starting at $112,595, and the cheaper configurations and SUV models will go on sale in the next few years. We’ll let you know how quick the electric Hummer is when we get our hands on one for testing, and we’ll show you all about how Watts to Freedom and the Hummer’s other features work.
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After existing solely in the digital realm for a year, a real-life version of the Vision Urbanaut has been released by Mini and is on display in Germany.The Vision Urbanaut is designed to be autonomous and electric, putting the emphasis on passenger comfort and convenience.The interior can shift among three modes—Chill, Vibe, and Wanderlust—that alter the lighting, layout, sound, and fragrance inside the Urbanaut.The Mini Vision Urbanaut first appeared last year as a series of renderings, but the sleek minivan concept has now returned as a full-scale model, debuting at the Digital-Life-Design Summer conference in Munich. The Urbanaut is a peek into Mini’s crystal ball, showcasing a future of electric lounge-style autonomous pods.

Mini

At 175.6 inches long, the Urbanaut is only about six inches longer than Mini’s diminutive Countryman crossover, but the interior appears far more spacious thanks to an electric powertrain, which allows for a flat floor and living-room-like proportions. The exterior design of the Urbanaut is smooth and simple, and the front and rear ends are dominated by LEDs. In the original renderings, the LEDs were lit up in organic patterns to resemble traditional headlight and taillight units, but the new photos give a sense of how the LED panels look when not in use during the daytime. The only other major change from the renderings is the color, which goes from green to a light bluish silver.Apparently Mini “sees its future self primarily as an enabler of and companion for unforgettable times,” which it dubs “Mini moments.” The Urbanaut features three such “moments”—think of this marketing jargon like a drive mode, except only one of the settings is actually centered around travel. The first, called Chill, turns the car into a retreat from the outside world. The interior lighting mimics “a green forest canopy,” and the instrument panel transforms into a table lamp, “eliminating displays or switches that might remind the customer of their automotive surroundings.”

Mini

The Vibe mode is all about socializing, with the door sliding open and the windshield raising up to create a welcoming, airy environment. The instrument panel is now dedicated to entertainment, and the Urbanaut will project graphics that move along to the rhythm and tempo of your tunes for what Mini claims is “a pleasant club atmosphere,” which sounds like an oxymoron. The only driving-oriented moment is called Wanderlust, which sees the instrument cluster switch to displaying an animation of the route, the estimated arrival time, tourist attractions along the way, and other trip information. Although the Urbanaut is envisioned as being capable of autonomous driving, a steering wheel and pedals will emerge at the press of a button.

Mini

Mini also touts the Urbanaut’s sustainability. The design team decreased the number of components by having certain features serve two functions—the dashboard can morph into a day bed, for instance. The interior is swathed in recycled textiles including wool, polyester, and Tencel, and the steering wheel and sections of the floor are made from recyclable cork.

The Vision Urbanaut will not go into production, but expect the design philosophy seen here to appear on Minis across the next decade as the automaker transitions towards electric propulsion. Mini also points out that the Urbanaut’s interior does not feature chrome or leather, an approach it says will be implemented on its next-generation models.
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Volvo aims to have half of its sales be EVs by 2025 with a transition to an EV-only lineup by 2030, and its partnership with battery maker Northvolt will be crucial for these ambitions.A new in-house operating system, developed in partnership with Google, will underpin a revised infotainment interface designed to limit driver distraction.Volvo will analyze data from its vehicles’ lidar and radar sensors in real time so it can quickly roll out over-the-air updates that will increase its cars’ autonomous abilities.While rolling out the Concept Recharge today, Volvo used its Tech Moment event to reveal plans for technological advancements in the coming years. The company focused on a few key areas: battery production, computing power, infotainment, and, of course, safety.

Volvo wants electric vehicles to comprise 50 percent of its sales by 2025 with a full EV lineup by 2030, and it has stopped work on internal-combustion engines. Volvo has entered into a partnership with Swedish battery maker Northvolt, working together to boost energy density by up to 50 percent over today’s batteries and slash charging times in half by the mid-2020s. Volvo and Northvolt aim to produce batteries using only renewable energy and to recycle as much material from old batteries as possible. The next generation of Volvo EVs will also include bidirectional charging, so homeowners could—in theory, at least—power their house via their car’s battery during periods of peak demand when electricity can be more expensive and dirtier than at off-peak times. This will depend on the owner’s charging equipment and their local utility’s billing policies. Long-term, Volvo is dedicated to vertical integration for EV production, hoping to bring the design, development, and production of batteries, motors, and software in house.Volvo’s reputation is built on its dedication to safety, and the company highlighted how autonomous driving systems will help reduce crashes. Lidar sensors, like the one atop the Concept Recharge, will supplement radar and traditional cameras to improve the precision of the car’s ability to visualize the environment around it. Volvo will—with owners’ permission—process the data collected by these sensors in real time so it can deliver over-the-air updates more quickly and gradually increase the level of autonomous driving its cars are capable of. Volvo said it is focusing on bringing unsupervised autonomous driving to highways first before expanding it to different geographical locations one by one as the data from those areas becomes available.

Volvo

Volvo also announced a new core computing system, which it will introduce on an EV arriving next year. Developed with partner Nvidia, the system is made up of three main computers, with one dedicated to vision processing and artificial intelligence, another for general computing, and a third focusing on infotainment. The core system will also decrease the number of electronic control units onboard each Volvo from 100 to 50, saving weight and improving energy efficiency. The core computing system will be coupled with Volvo’s own in-house operating system, dubbed VolvoCars.OS, developed in collaboration with Google. The new infotainment system is focused on safety, with the vehicle’s screen splitting up information in clear and simple ways to prevent distracted driving. Only the most relevant information, based on the driving situation, will appear on the screens, with important functions front and center instead of buried away in a sub-menu. With Volvo’s future products, your phone will act as a key and the Volvo Cars app will be used to find and pay for charging and activate remote features like pre-heating and cooling. Many of the features Volvo previewed at the Tech Moment will make their first appearance on the flagship SUV due to be revealed next year. This is expected to be the electric successor to the XC90, the largest vehicle Volvo currently builds, and should bear a strong resemblance to the Concept Recharge.
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The Volvo Concept Recharge is a demonstration of the design changes that dedicated electric platforms will bring, such as more flexible proportions and more interior space.The concept debuts Volvo’s new design language, which places an emphasis on technology through features like the prominent LiDAR sensor on the roof.The design of the Concept Recharge will likely be similar to that of the electric XC90 successor due to arrive next year.Volvo has unveiled the Concept Recharge, which previews the future of the Swedish automaker’s design language and shows how the company will increasingly integrate advanced technology into its cars. The concept takes the form of a two-row SUV using electric propulsion, and it demonstrates how Volvo thinks electric-vehicle platforms will revolutionize transportation design.

Volvo

Volvo’s existing EVs, such as the XC40 Recharge, are still based around an architecture designed for internal combustion engines, meaning the vehicles are largely beholden to the packaging requirements of gas cars. The next generation of Volvo EVs will instead be based on a dedicated EV platform. Like most dedicated EVs, the battery pack will live under the floor of the car. Volvo’s desire to have a large battery pack to boost range meant extending the concept’s wheelbase. This in turn means more interior space and shorter front and rear overhangs, with the wheels pushed to the edges of the vehicle. With no engine under the hood, Volvo was able to slide the A-pillars forward and lower the hood, which is said to improve aerodynamics and thus range. Because EVs also don’t require a chunky transmission housing in between the front seats, the flat floor also opens up room for extra storage space.

Volvo

The Concept Recharge also debuts what Volvo says is a new design language. Although the concept is still recognizable as a Volvo, its styling is more streamlined and simple compared with the company’s current offerings. Some EVs have tried to mimic the grilles required on ICE cars, such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E, but the Concept Recharge ditches the traditional face for a flat “shield-like” design broken up by the classic Volvo look featuring the logo bisected by a diagonal line. There is also an updated version of the Thor’s Hammer headlights, featuring a graphic which unfurls at night to display the main headlight units.

At the rear, thin vertical taillights continue a design theme from Volvo’s station wagons and SUVs but gain small fins which extend at high speeds to help aerodynamics. The interior of the concept is open and airy and includes a 15.0-inch touchscreen which will form the basis of Volvo’s next-generation infotainment system. The roof of the concept also proudly displays the car’s LiDAR sensor, the product of a partnership with tech company Luminar which is a key part of Volvo’s upcoming autonomous driving features. Volvo also used the conference to announce a new flagship electric SUV that will arrive next year, which will likely be a successor to the current XC90. Although there are no explicit plans to produce the Concept Recharge, this upcoming EV SUV will likely heavily draw design influence from this future-looking concept.
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Chevrolet is adding a ZR2 off-road model to the Silverado full-size pickup lineup.The Silverado ZR2 will likely feature a suspension lift with spool-valve dampers, 35-inch tires, skid plates, and front and rear locking differentials. It will debut this fall and compete with the Ford F-150 Tremor and Ram 1500 Rebel. Chevrolet might not yet have an answer to the 450-hp Ford F-150 Raptor or 702-hp Ram 1500 TRX, but it’s adding the off-road-ready ZR2 treatment to the Silverado pickup to compete with Ford and Ram’s lesser off-road models. Chevrolet is expected to give the Silverado a refresh for the 2022 model year, and the ZR2 could be the first version of the new truck that we’ll see. It’ll debut this fall, Chevy says.
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The ZR2 treatment is already offered on the Colorado mid-size pickup, and in that application it adds a 2.0-inch lift, a 3.5-inch wider track, front and rear locking differentials, and Multimatic’s spool-valve dampers. We expect the Silverado ZR2 will have an even higher lift, 35-inch tires, and additional skid plates. It will sit above the existing Trail Boss model, which adds a 2.0-inch lift with the Z71 off-road package, a two-speed transfer case, and all-terrain rubber. The Colorado ZR2 can also be further upgraded with a Bison package that adds things like AEV front and rear bumpers and unique 17-inch wheels.

The Silverado’s ZR2 model is likely to have the option of either Chevrolet’s 355-hp 5.3-liter V-8 engine or 420-hp 6.2-liter V-8, and the Duramax diesel 3.0-liter inline-six could also be available. The 10-speed automatic transmission from the standard model will likely remain unchanged. Chevrolet wouldn’t tell us which trucks it’s targeting with the new Silverado ZR2, but we’ll know the full details and how it stacks up when it’s revealed this fall. We’ll let the F-150 Raptor and Ram 1500 TRX keep duking it out while we wait for GM’s answer.
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E-Legend, a German EV startup, has unveiled renderings of its first product, the EL1, which mimics the design of Audi’s pioneering Quattro rally car.The company claims 805 horsepower, zero to 62 mph in 2.8 seconds, and a 249-mile range from a 90.0-kWh battery and an unspecified electric motor setup.E-Legend says it will build 30 units by hand, with a prototype planned for early 2022 and additional models to follow.Audi’s Quattro badge currently graces every vehicle which features the automaker’s all-wheel-drive system, but Audi earned its reputation for AWD excellence with the legendary Quattro rally car, which dominated Group B rallying in the 1980s, and its roadgoing homologation counterpart. Audi has teased revivals of the original Quattro a couple of times—first with the chiseled 2010 Quattro concept and later with the plug-in-hybrid 2013 Sport Quattro concept. Now that classic car is finally making a return, but not as an Audi; instead, German EV startup E-Legend is building a limited-production electric homage called the EL1.

E-Legend

According to E-Legend, the EL1 weighs 3704 pounds, on the lighter side of things when it comes to EVs—for instance, the Audi e-tron weighs nearly 6000 pounds. The EL1’s looks are unashamedly inspired by the Quattro, with a squared-off front end, chunky wheel arches, a compact wheelbase, and a nearly identical roofline. The car will be constructed around a lightweight carbon-fiber monocoque and a 90.0-kWh battery, which the company claims will provide 249 miles of range according to the European WLTP methodology. Although no specifics on the electric motors were provided, the EL1’s 805 horsepower will be sent to both the front and rear axles. E-Legend says that this is enough oomph for the EL1 to zip to 62 mph in 2.8 seconds, to 124 hp in less than 10 seconds, and on to a top speed of 158 mph.

The EL1 will be hand built and will cost the equivalent of more than $1.3 million for the Europe market, where it will be road legal. Just 30 units are planned, and E-Legend is aiming for a functioning prototype to be running by early 2022. The company is also apparently devising an EL2 and EL3, although we don’t know what shape these might take, or what icons they might draw inspiration from.
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Porsche’s new Cayenne Turbo GT is powered by a massaged engine that the German automaker says is the most powerful V-8 it has ever produced. The twin-turbocharged V-8 produces 631 horsepower and 626 pound-feet of torque, and it’ll launch the Turbo GT to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds, Porsche claims. It’s only available as a Coupe model, and orders are open now starting at $182,150.Porsche is stuffing a built twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter into the Cayenne Coupe, and it’s the most powerful V-8 the German automaker has ever produced. It makes 631 horsepower in this new Turbo GT model, and Porsche says its factory driver Lars Kern set a new SUV lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in it lapping the 12.9-mile course in 7:38.9. The new Cayenne will arrive in the U.S, only in Coupe form, next year starting at $182,150.
The massaged V-8 engine produces 631 horsepower and 626 pound-feet of torque, 90 hp and 59 pound-feet more than the standard Turbo Coupe. Total output might be less than the Turbo S e-Hybrid’s 670 horses, but that powertrain uses an electric motor and a 14.3-kWh battery pack. This is solely the work of the internal-combustion engine. Porsche upgraded the V-8’s crankshaft, connecting rods, and pistons; enlarged the turbos’ compressor wheels; and increased the fuel injection flow rate and the intake and cooling systems’ airflow to make the additional power. The eight-speed automatic transmission also shifts quicker compared to other models, and the all-wheel-drive system’s transfer case is water cooled. Porsche claims that the Turbo GT will launch to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds, hit the quarter-mile in 11.6 seconds, and reach 186 mph. In our test, a 541-hp Cayenne Turbo reached 60 mph in 3.5 seconds.

Turbo GT models sit 0.3 inch lower than the now-mild Turbo, and Porsche’s adaptive dampers and Sport suspension, variable-ratio steering system, and rear-axle steering are all specifically tuned for the new model. Porsche’s active anti-roll bars are also retuned to further reduce body roll. The front wheels are 1.0 inch wider than the standard Turbo Coupe, and their negative camber is increased by half a degree. The 22-inch wheels are wrapped with sticky Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires that were specifically developed for the Turbo GT. Carbon-ceramic brakes are standard, with 17.3-inch front and 16.1-inch rear rotors. Pictured here is a new color called Arctic Grey. The Turbo GT has wider air intakes up front with a revised front fascia and a carbon-fiber rear diffuser. The GT has a carbon-fiber roof and an upper rear wing with carbon-fiber side plates and an adaptive rear spoiler with a Gurney flap that’s twice the size of the standard Cayenne Turbo Coupe’s. Porsche’s titanium sport exhaust system with the center muffler removed is standard on the Turbo GT, and it exhales through center-mounted dual exhaust tips.
This new high-performance Cayenne is the first one to feature Porsche’s new infotainment system, which now has Android Auto capability along with Apple CarPlay. In the Turbo GT, Porsche’s eight-way sport front seats and two sport rear seats have Turbo GT–specific Alcantara inserts and Turbo GT script on the headrests. There’s either bronze or Arctic Grey stitching and a yellow marker line atop the steering wheel. The 2022 Porsche Cayenne Coupe Turbo GT is available to order now starting at $182,150, making it significantly more expensive than other German super SUVs such as the 617-hp BMW X6 M and 603-hp Mercedes-AMG GLE 63S, but it’s more powerful. And it’s only 10 horsepower behind the $222,004 Lamborghini Urus. The new Porsche will arrive in the U.S. early next year.
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