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Kia has released detailed U.S. specs for the 2022 EV6 electric crossover.The least powerful version has rear-wheel drive and 167 hp, while the performance GT model has all-wheel drive and 576 hp.The standard EV6 models will arrive in the U.S. early in 2022, with the GT arriving in late 2022.When Kia’s new 2022 EV6 electric car arrives in the U.S., it will offer an extremely broad lineup including two battery-pack sizes, one- and two-motor configurations, and a ridiculously large horsepower spread. The least powerful EV6 has 167 horsepower while the most powerful GT version has more than three times as much, with 576 hp.The base model has a single electric motor that powers the rear wheels and a 58.0-kWh battery pack. There’s also a rear-wheel-drive EV6 with the larger 77.4-kWh battery pack that should offer the longest range of any model. Kia claims that multiple configurations will meet its claim of 300 miles on a charge, but hasn’t yet offered specific numbers.

Kia

The dual-motor, all-wheel-drive configuration requires opting for the larger battery pack. Its front and rear electric motors provide a total of 313 horsepower, and Kia claims it gets to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds. The top-dog EV6 is the GT model, which has the 77.4-kWh battery pack and more powerful front and rear electric motors for a total of 576 hp. Kia says it accelerates to 60 mph in less than 3.5 seconds.The EV6 will be able to charge at DC fast-chargers at up to 350 kilowatts, meaning it can add a claimed 70 miles of range in 5 minutes and go from 10 to 80 percent charge in 18 minutes, Kia says.

Kia

A First Edition model will be offered in three different color combinations: white with a green interior, yellow with a black interior, and matte grey with a black interior. It will be limited to 1500 units and reservations will open June 3. It has AWD and the larger battery as standard and comes fully loaded with options such as a panoramic sunroof, 20-inch wheels, and a premium audio system.We expect the EV6 to start around $45,000 when it reaches U.S. showrooms early in 2022. The GT is likely to cost considerably more, possibly around $55,000.
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The White House via YouTube

Images of the Ford F-150 Lightning have leaked out as part of President Biden’s visit to Michigan.It looks much like the gas truck but with a few key differences that make it look more futuristic.The full truck will be revealed tomorrow, May 19, on Ford’s website.Ford’s new F-150 Lightning has appeared ahead of its official debut as part of President Biden’s visit to the Ford Rouge electric-vehicle facility in Michigan. The new electric pickup is visible behind Biden alongside the gas F-150 and several historic Ford pickup trucks.
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The Lightning appears to have the same body as the standard F-150 but its headlights and wheels are different. It’s a crew-cab model which means it’s likely to offer the shorter 5.5-foot bed offered on the F-150. Other photos posted on Twitter show its six-spoke wheels are likely to be exclusive to the Lightning.
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We’re expecting the F-150 Lightning to come standard with two electric motors providing all-wheel-drive capability. Ford has claimed it will be more powerful and quicker than any of the gas-powered F-150 models. It will have a large battery pack that should provide at least 300 miles of range. A video from Ford’s proving grounds shows Biden driving a prototype version of the Lightning and mentioning a 60 mph acceleration time in the 4.3 to 4.4 second range.
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More details are coming tomorrow, May 19, as part of Ford’s official debut of the Lightning on its YouTube channel.
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The full Lamborghini road-car range will be plug-in hybrids by 2024, CEO Stephan Winkelmann announced at an event today. After that, an all-electric fourth model is planned to follow. The Aventador replacement will use a hybridized V-12. Lamborghini has announced it is set to fully electrify its range, first with an all-plug-in-hybrid lineup, and then with the planned launch of a fourth model that will be a pure EV.

The Direzione Cor Tauri plan—named after a star in the Taurus constellation—was unveiled by Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann at an event in Italy this morning. Car and Driver got the chance to talk to him about it in more depth. The plan means that the last Lamborghini road car to be powered exclusively with a combustion engine will be made before the end of 2024. “This is a big challenge for the company, but it’s also good news for all of us,” Winkelmann said when we interviewed him by video link, “we want to keep the DNA of the brand unchanged, but we want to reduce the emissions by at least 50 percent starting from 2025 onward.”This new plan isn’t going to diminish the sound and fury that Lamborghini models are most famous for, in the short term at least. Winkelmann confirmed our earlier reports that the Aventador replacement will use a version of the current car’s characterful powerplant in addition to hybrid assistance.

Lamborghini Aventador.
Lamborghini

“The follow-up to the Aventador will still be a V-12, so the sound issue is not going to be something we need to take care of because the engine will still be there, and it will have the right sound,” he said.

Lamborghini Huracán.
Lamborghini

HuracánCompany insiders have indicated that the Huracán’s replacement will lose that car’s V-10 – which is shared with the soon-to-die Audi R8 – and will instead get a twin-turbocharged V-8. Which, we’d imagine, will also sound pretty good once Lamborghini’s engineers have finished with it. Based on conversations with senior engineers we believe that both cars will have electrically powered front axles in addition to blended hybrid assistance for their IC engines at the rear.

Lamborghini Sián.
Lamborghini

Sián Sadly, neither seems set to use the supercapacitor system that Lamborghini developed for the limited-run Aventador-based Sián.”That is fast charging, but also fast discharging,” Winkelmann said. “If you need to enlarge range and reduce emissions, you need a battery to hold the power. So this is something we cannot continue.”UrusThe Urus will also gain a plug-in hybrid powertrain, and although we haven’t been given further details we presume it will be a version of the V8 powertrain that Porsche uses in the Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid. But beyond that, Lamborghini is planning for a fourth model which will become the brand’s first EV.”We want to have a new model line in the second half of this decade,” Winkelmann said. “It cannot cannibalize what we have today, but my dream is to have the best of two worlds, to try to have a car which is a four-seater two-door like the GT cars of the Fifties and Sixties.”Pure electric supercars are further away. Winkelmann said there is still limited demand for them. But we’re told there are no plans to continue with combustion-only models alongside the next generation of PHEVs. One thing is very clear: Lamborghini’s future is electric.

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The V-12 version of the latest Maybach S-class is here. It’s now called the S680.Like the previous S650, it has a twin-turbo 6.0-liter V-12 engine with 621 horsepower.The S680 will go on sale in 2022 and should cost over $200,000 to start.The auto industry’s epochs don’t shift like gears so much as blend like sump oil. Manufacturers are both burnishing their green credentials and laying out plans for the electric future while also rushing out some of the last and greatest products of the combustion era—such as this, the Mercedes-Maybach S680.Given the existence of the V-8–powered Maybach S580, it is fair to say that nobody truly needs the V-12–powered S680. But Mercedes obviously thinks there are enough ultra-rich buyers who actively want more cylinders, more power, and a bigger number on the trunklid; hence, the mighty engine has made the transition to the new W223 generation of the S-class. Bentley and Rolls-Royce both still offer V-12s in this space, so why shouldn’t Mercedes?

Mercedes-Maybach

The mighty twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter V-12 has been carried over directly from the previous-generation Maybach S650. Peak power and torque—621 horsepower and 738 pound-feet—are unchanged, but like its V-8 sibling the S680 now has standard 4Matic all-wheel drive to help deliver that to the road without drama (the last V-12 S-class was rear-drive-only). Unlike the S580, the S680 doesn’t have any 48-volt hybrid assistance, and although Mercedes’s official 4.4-second zero-to-60-mph claim is two-tenths quicker than the number the company claims for the S580, any attempt to verify that figure is likely to earn the driver a stern rebuke from the back seat, or a prod from a gold-tipped cane.Like the V-8 model, the S680 gets standard rear-wheel steering to improve agility and reduce the turning circle, with the rear axle able to add up to either 4.5 degrees or 10 degrees. (Having experienced the 10-degree system on a non-Maybach S-class in Germany, we can confirm it makes the car feel much smaller and more maneuverable at low speeds.)Buyers will be able to specify a two-tone paint finish to distinguish the S680 from the common S-class, with 10 contrasting color finishes available. Other distinctions include the unique grille and stainless steel trim covering the lower intake, side sills, and rear bumper. The overall effect seems designed to help billionaires make millionaires jealous.

Mercedes-Maybach

The cabin is correspondingly special. Ultra-soft nappa leather is found throughout, including for the dashboard, the headliner, and even the sun visors. The rear compartment owes more to private jets than regular sedans, with reclining seats with leg rests. Pretty much everything that can be moved is power operated, and the panoramic sliding sunroof and rear sunshades can be deployed by simply waving a hand in the right way. Any surface that can be heated, cooled, or used to give massages can also deliver those functions. Buyers with lazy chauffeurs can even specify electrically operated rear doors, which can be opened or closed from the driver’s seat. And yes to the most important question: it is possible to specify silver-plated champagne flutes and a fridge.The Mercedes-Maybach S680 will go on sale in the first half of 2022 and will almost certainly be the last new car launched by Mercedes to use a V-12 engine. We will have to wait to discover how much of a supplement it will carry over the S580, but we can safely presume the base price will be over $200,000.
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We can’t rely on gas taxes forever, but there’s no simple, obvious way to integrate electric vehicles and other alternative-fuel vehicles into the funding structure.Texas state senators are discussing a bill that would charge EV drivers between $200 and $250 for their car each year, plus another $190 or more if they drive over 9000 miles.Other states have looked at fees for EVs, as well as road usage charge programs, which would charge every vehicle owner a fee based on miles driven and the weight of their vehicle.America’s current system where roads and other vehicle infrastructure projects are paid for, in part, from gas taxes obviously can’t survive in a world where everyone drives an electric vehicle. There is no single, obviously best solution to modernize the situation, but in Texas the issue has resulted in some Republicans coming out in favor of tax hikes.The bill being discussed in the Texas state senate—Senate Bill 1728—would raise fees on electric vehicle (EV) owners as a way to make up for the gas tax they’re not paying. The legislation would require an annual EV fee of between $190 and $240, an additional fee of over $150 for anyone who drives their EV more than 9000 miles a year, and an annual surcharge of $10 to fund a charging infrastructure advisory council.The state, which couches the fees in “equalization for road use consumption for alternatively fueled vehicles” terminology, said these fees would apply to approximately 300,000 vehicles and raise around $37.8 million for the State Highway Fund (SHF) in fiscal year 2022, climbing to $135,594,000 in fiscal year 2026. If passed, the bill would take effect on September 1, 2021.

Texas is not the first state to look at charging electric vehicle drivers a fee as a replacement for gas taxes, but its numbers appear out of line with the gas tax most people pay. Electric-vehicle advocacy group Plug In America noted in a white paper published in August 2020 that the national average in annual gas taxes for a light-duty vehicle is $73. PIA also found 20 states that have some sort of EV registration fee, with prices ranging from $50 to $200. In other words, in many cases, EV drivers would be asked to pay more to support vehicle infrastructure than drivers of fossil-fuel vehicles. The group’s stance is that “Policymakers need to realize that until EVs reach a certain threshold of all light-duty vehicles on the road in a state, they shouldn’t be incentivized on the one hand and punished on the other.” The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality did have an incentive program for people to buy or lease clean-air vehicles (including EVs, hydrogen, and CNG/LPG), but that program has ended. During the 16 months between September 2019 and January 2021, the state gave out incentives for 1371 EVs and 10 CNG/LPG vehicles. Some local incentives remain available, including an EV charging program in Austin. Tesla, of course, is building a large factory near Austin called Gigafactory Texas that is scheduled to start operating by the end of 2021. Local Tesla and EV fans in the state are decrying the fees that SB 1728 would introduce and have sent out a call to action asking people to ask their state senators to vote no on SB 1728 as a way to vote “FOR thriving jobs and clean trucks and cars made in Texas!”Instead of annual EV fees, which don’t take actual road usage into account, Plug In America and other EV advocates support what are called road usage charge programs, or ways to charge people for the actual miles they drive each year, often factoring in the weight of the vehicle. Seven states are conducting road usage charge tests with help from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Another group, called Road Use Charge West, is made up of 17 western states that have either enacted RUC policy, have pilot programs in place, or are researching if an RUC will work for them.
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Chevy has released pricing for the 2022 Equinox, which features visual updates.The base price is up $2000 to $26,995, as there’s no longer a base L version.The 2022 Equinox will go on sale in the third quarter of 2021.The Chevy Equinox is dropping its low-cost L model for 2022, meaning the base price is up by $2000, but most trim levels are cheaper than last year. Chevy originally unveiled the facelifted version of the compact crossover for the 2021 model year but delayed it until 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic; it will finally reach dealerships in the third quarter of this year.

The 2022 Equinox’s higher starting price is now $26,995 for the LS model, which is actually $600 less than the equivalent 2021 Equinox LS. The better-equipped LT starts at $28,095, a $700 decrease from last year, and the loaded Premier starts at $32,195, a $500 decrease. Replacing the L in the lineup is the Equinox RS, which includes an sporty-ish appearance package and starts at $31,295.All 2022 Equinox models come with a turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-four with 170 horsepower; the more powerful turbo 2.0-liter four, which we preferred, was dropped for 2021. All versions come standard with front-wheel drive and offer all-wheel drive as a $1600 option.
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Kia’s flagship sedan, the K9, has been updated with a new design.The K9 was sold as the K900 in the U.S. until Kia recently canceled it for our market.We don’t expect the K9 to return to our shores anytime soon.Although it was recently dropped from Kia’s U.S. lineup, the K900 luxury sedan continues on in Kia’s home market of Korea. Called the K9 there, it’s now the beneficiary of a comprehensive update that brings a new look and presumably an upgraded interior.Kia has only shared photos of the exterior so far, and the new K9 has a classier look that’s somewhat reminiscent of the related G90 sedan from Hyundai’s Genesis luxury brand. The new front grille is imposing, and the updates at the rear include an interesting new taillight treatment with a full-width light bar that goes across the trunklid.

Kia

The K900 offered a single powertrain in the U.S., a twin-turbo 3.3-liter V-6 with an eight-speed automatic and all-wheel drive. Other engines are available globally, including a 5.0-liter V-8 and a naturally aspirated version of the V-6, but Kia has yet to release detailed specs for the updated version.

We don’t think the K9 will make its return to the U.S. market, as sales were slow here and the Genesis division has taken over as Hyundai-Kia’s luxury marque of record. But we can still admire Kia’s large-sedan lineup from afar, as both the K9 and the slightly smaller K8 are introducing some interesting designs to the lineup that may eventually propagate to other Kia models that will be sold on our shores.
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Tesla has bought and sold a lot of the cryptocurrency bitcoin, and was also taking it in payment for EVs but suddenly stopped earlier this month.CEO Elon Musk’s cited reason was that mining bitcoin is too hard on the environment; he said Tesla would not accept it for EV purchases until the production of the coin becomes more environmentally friendly.Musk claimed he wouldn’t be selling off the company’s own bitcoin, and it’s likely at least some form of cryptocurrency will be accepted again to buy a Tesla eventually. Meanwhile, there are dealerships around the country that are accepting bitcoin now for other brands.UPDATE 5/16/2021, 9:30 p.m.: Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, has hinted that he may sell off the company’s bitcoin holdings—in classic Musk fashion, via a Twitter response to a post by @CryptoWhale, as Bloomberg reported this evening. The tease caused a sharp drop in the value of the cryptocurrency.
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Like most activity in the modern stock market, Elon Musk’s sudden reversal to stop accepting bitcoin as payment for Tesla has little basis in reality—except for speculators in cryptocurrencies and Tesla stock.It was a short-term bet that paid off handsomely for Tesla: buy $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin at the close of 2020 when it sold for under $20,000; sell off 10 percent of it during the first quarter of 2021 as bitcoin neared $50,000; reap a $101 million profit. That profit accounted for almost a quarter of Tesla’s $438 million net income that quarter. At the end of March, either before or after the sale, Tesla began accepting bitcoin on its website for crypto customers who could fire off a digital deposit or an entire car’s worth of coin. Then, on May 12, Tesla yanked it.”Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment,” Musk said that day in a formalized statement on Twitter. “Tesla will not be selling any bitcoin and we intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy.”Bitcoin’s price, which had crested to nearly $60,000 in the days before Musk’s tweet, was already dropping heavily all day before it sank below $48,000 in the hours that followed. Thousands of people and bot accounts replied to Musk, as they usually do, but this time offering lesser-known cryptocurrencies hoping that a tweet from Musk—an endorsement, by any measure—would send their bank accounts soaring.”Working with Doge devs to improve system transaction efficiency. Potentially promising,” Musk tweeted the next day. That was days after he was on Saturday Night Live on May 8 and said, “Yeah, it’s a hustle” when asked about dogecoin, the joke that turned into serious cryptocurrency after Musk popularized it with tweets in April. As expected, his comments on the TV show sent dogecoin on a downward slope—more than 35 percent, according to Coindesk. Lo and behold, after Musk’s tweet on May 13, it’s going back up. Tesla’s stock also dipped sharply to below $600—one of the lowest dips of this year—and already in after-hours trading this weekend, it’s trending upward.Tesla’s experiment with bitcoin didn’t help customers, who were warned they could overpay for their cars if the currency’s exchange rate changed and that Tesla couldn’t pay them back if it did, that hackers could steal currency, that bitcoins could be “lost or destroyed,” and that if they entered the wrong wallet code, the bitcoin might go anywhere other than Tesla. Not problems that ever happen to people using real currency. Although you won’t be able to buy a Tesla (for now) using bitcoin, there are dealers around the country that have already started to accept the cryptocurrency. Two examples, located by Reuters and CNBC, are the Houston luxury-car dealership Post Oak—which displays a shiny bitcoin on its homepage—and the Alabama and Georgia Kia dealer Carriage Auto Group. Post Oak’s owner told CNBC earlier this year that the dealership has already sold 17 cars using bitcoin. Carriage will take it only if buyers can pay the entire cost of the vehicle purchase with the currency. So as long as you realize it’s still an unregulated, complex marketplace, and arguably still a bit shady, it’s still possible to purchase a vehicle in some places using bitcoin. As for Tesla, it’s to be expected that cryptocurrency will become a medium of exchange there again sooner or later.
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