Motor News

Rugged, off-road-capable vehicles are having a renaissance and Nissan dealers reportedly want to have their own adventurous offering. More

The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E California Route 1 has an EPA-estimated 305 miles of driving range on a full charge.
The Mach-E California Route 1 is equipped with an 88.0-kWh battery pack and rear-wheel-drive.
It starts at $50,900 and is available to order now.
The 2021 Mustang Mach-E California Route 1 is Ford’s longest-range electric vehicle yet, and the EPA estimates that it will travel 305 miles on a single charge. That’s five more miles than rear-wheel-drive Mustang Mach-E models equipped with the 88.0-kWh extended-range battery. The $50,900 California Route 1 model does, however, fall 21 miles short of the Tesla Model Y Long Range electric crossover, which starts at $51,190.

Ford

Tesla’s Model Y Long Range has all-wheel drive, although a rear-wheel-drive Standard Range model is now available with an EPA-estimated 244 miles of range. The Mustang Mach-E California Route 1 is equipped with rear-wheel drive. All-wheel-drive Mach-Es are available, but offer less range because the secondary drive unit has “associated parasitic losses,” Ford told C/D at launch. The California Route 1 is equipped with an 88.0-kWh battery pack paired with a permanent-magnet synchronous electric motor on the rear axle. Total output is 290 horsepower and 317 lb-ft of torque, and Ford claims that that the California Route 1 gets to 60 mph in 6.1 seconds.

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Ford says that the Mustang Mach-E California Route 1 is lighter than the rear-wheel-drive Extended Range model, which has a 300-mile EPA-estimated range. It also has tweaks to improve aerodynamics including a set of 18-inch wheels with black aero covers wrapped in Michelin all-season rubber.
The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E starts at $43,995 for the rear-wheel-drive Select model with an EPA-estimated 230 miles of range. The 305-mile California Route 1 starts at $50,900 and is available to order now.
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As part of a press conference about an executive order regarding the expansion of the “Buy American” act of 1933, President Biden said that the federal government’s fleet of vehicles will be replaced with clean electric vehicles.
The fleet replacement portion of the news conference is part of a campaign promise Biden made while running for president.
As of 2019, the federal government has over 645,000 vehicles in its fleet, so it’s likely going to take years for a full replacement to happen.

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As part of his campaign, President Joe Biden announced a plan to replace the gas-powered federal fleet of vehicles with EVs. Today he announced that the pledge will become a reality during a press conference regarding an executive order to expand the “Buy American” act.
At the announcement of the executive order, he noted that “the federal government also owns an enormous fleet of vehicles, which we’re going to replace with clean electric vehicles made right here in America, by American workers.” For U.S. automakers that have invested heavily in electrification, as GM has, this is great news.
Biden said the electrification of the fleet would create jobs for autoworkers and that it would be “the largest mobilization of public investment in procurement infrastructure and R&D since World War Two.”
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The actual executive order itself makes no mention of the fleet replacement. Instead, it’s meant to increase the number of components a product is made up of in order to qualify to be a domestic good. It’s currently set at 50 percent. Biden hasn’t set a new percentage threshold. What Biden and the order do say is that the value of the individual components need to be such that they contribute to the U.S. economy. Stating that the components will be “measured by things like a number of American jobs created and or supported.”
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The United Auto Workers issued a statement following the press conference about the executive order stating, “with the stroke of a pen, President Joe Biden today sent a strong message to American workers that our government will do all it can to support buying American products, made here by American workers, recommitting to the men and women of working America. Through today’s order, the Biden Administration commits the vast power of the U.S. government to U.S. citizen made products.”
GM said that it “is encouraged by President Biden’s commitment to supporting American manufacturing.” Ford said, “President Biden’s early focus on investing in American manufacturing is critical to the continued success of the U.S. auto industry.
How long the transition from gasoline-powered vehicles to EVs will take is unknown, although it’s likely to take a few years. According to the General Services Administration, as of 2019, the government fleet has over 645,000 vehicles on the road. That’s a lot vehicles to be replaced by clean-running counterparts.
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We’re not surprised to see these slow-selling sedans go away given the existence of Hyundai’s Genesis luxury brand and the market’s insatiable demand for SUVs. More

Hyundai Motor Group has created a four-foot-tall AI-powered robot named DAL-e, which will be a pilot project in one of its dealerships in South Korea.
The robot, equipped with facial recognition tech, is intended to help customers in showrooms by providing information about products and services.
DAL-e will go through improvements while it’s being piloted, but if all goes well, other Hyundai and Kia dealers could get their own DAL-e.
One Hyundai dealership in South Korea is gaining a new employee: DAL-e, a four-foot-tall artificial-intelligence-powered robot. If all goes well in the pilot program, the Hyundai Motor Group—which includes Kia—could send another DAL-e, which stands for “Drive you, Assist you, Link with you-experience,” to the Hyundai or Kia dealership nearest you.

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Currently there is no timeline for when more DAL-e robots could appear, and before they do, Hyundai says, it will be updated and improved through the pilot program. The purpose of DAL-e is to provide information on products and services. So for now, at least, it doesn’t look like DAL-e will try to sell you a car, but perhaps that’ll change once it learns about commissions.

Hyundai Motor Group

AI technology gives DAL-e the ability to recognize faces and communicate. If a customer comes into a showroom without a mask on, DAL-e will recognize that and will be able to remind the person to put on a mask. DAL-e, with its four omnidirectional wheels, will also be able to move freely throughout a showroom, escorting customers to wherever they need to go.
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The 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander will debut February 16.
The redesigned crossover will likely share components with the Nissan Rogue.
Expect it to go on sale later this year.
Mitsubishi’s first new product in a long time, the redesigned 2022 Outlander, will officially arrive February 16. Of course, we’ve already seen much of the new model thanks to leaked photos of its new exterior styling, but we’ll learn more about its mechanical details and see its interior in a few weeks.

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Tested: Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid

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The new Outlander will look more modern than the current generation, which has been around since 2014. It’s expected to share components with the recently redesigned 2021 Nissan Rogue, including possibly its underpinnings and its 2.5-liter inline-four engine. The plug-in-hybrid version of the Outlander will also return for this generation.
Mitsubishi released a video showing a prototype of the Outlander driving off-road and says that it will offer a new version of the company’s Super All-Wheel Control all-wheel-drive system. The company also says that the new Outlander will be larger than before, which means its optional third-row seat is likely to remain.
The car will debut via live stream on February 16 at 6 p.m. EST, and the 2022 Outlander will go on sale in the U.S. sometime later in 2021.
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According to a new online survey from Cox Automotive, there’s a lot of good news for electric-vehicle fans.
Cox found that 40 percent of people planning to buy a pickup in the next two years would consider an EV pickup.
Not surprisingly, the survey showed that buyers who would put an electric truck on their shopping list tend to care more about technology, while those sticking with internal combustion are more likely to prioritize horsepower.
It’s no surprise that some of the hottest new electric vehicles are the upcoming barrage of pickup trucks. Certified fresh options from traditional automakers including Ford and GMC (through its revived Hummer brand) as well as startups like Tesla and Rivian will all be arriving in the next few years, and people have noticed.

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Those are the results from a new survey of pickup shoppers conducted by Cox Automotive, which found that 40 percent of consumers who plan to buy a truck in the next two years are considering an electric option, and a solid half of those in the market for an EV pickup truck find the current selection of electric vehicles appealing.
“Our research shows new EV pickup trucks are leading more consumers to consider an EV product,” said Vanessa Ton, senior manager at Cox Automotive, in a statement. “EV pickups are a catalyst for EV growth.”
To be sure, Cox did not conduct a massive, anonymous survey to discover these results. Instead, Cox worked with MarketVision to administer an online survey in November and December that ended up getting opinions from 155 consumers who are in the market for a pickup truck, including 60 who were specifically shopping for an electric pickup truck.
Not all truck shoppers are interested in the same things. Price and driving performance were the top two considerations, but after that, things diverge slightly, Cox found. One big difference is where horsepower or new technology rank on the list of important features. “ICE buyers prioritize horsepower; shoppers interested in EVs care more about technology,” Ton said.

Cox Automotive

Specifically, horsepower matters for 77 percent of of fossil-fuel truck shoppers but only 58 percent of EV truck shoppers. For a truck that’s “technologically advanced,” the difference is about the same but in the other direction. Seventy-seven percent of EV truck shoppers think an advanced truck is something to consider while only 56 percent of ICE truck shoppers thought so. And, for the traditional OEMs who think Tesla or Rivian have a steep conquest hill to climb, “brand name” came in near the bottom of the list for buyers interested in EVs (45 percent) and ICE (55 percent) truck shoppers.

GMC

Rivian

That doesn’t mean Ford will undoubtedly lose tons of customers because of the Cybertruck or the Rivian R1T. When Cox showed people pictures of trucks from the four companies surveyed—Ford, GMC, Rivian, and Tesla—but without any brand and model indications, 59 percent said they liked the Ford F-150 electric pickup truck, while only 19 percent said the same about the Tesla. Once the names were attached to the pictures, interest in the Cybertruck jumped to 32 percent, while Ford dropped to 45 percent. That still made the F-150 the truck people were most interested in—”perhaps indicating familiarity is attractive,” Cox said—but it also shows the strength of the Tesla brand.
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Earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a final ruling for Low Volume Vehicle Manufacturers.
It’s not official yet, but when it is, companies such as DeLorean and Superformance will be able to sell finished, turnkey replica cars in the U.S.
Replica makers must apply for approval from the NHTSA, EPA, and CARB, and U.S. sales will be capped at 325 units per year.
On January 15, in the waning days of the Trump administration and roughly four years after it was expected, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finalized a 102-page ruling that will permit the production of turnkey replica cars from companies including the new DeLorean Motor Company (DMC).
The ruling will allow Low Volume Vehicle Manufacturers (LVVM) to build and sell up to 325 units of replica cars per year in the United States. That means DMC—same name, new company—can get back to work on its version of the updated DMC-12. Superformance—which provided the Cobras in Ford vs. Ferrari—will be able to sell complete Cobras and Daytona coupes. And Morgan can bring its vintage wares to our shores already built and ready to drive.

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That is, as soon as the rule is published in the Federal Register, the last step toward making a regulation official. There was hope that could happen within a week, but Wednesday evening, in the first hours of the Biden administration, a regulatory freeze went into effect giving new agency heads a chance to review work in progress.
“The people I am talking to are not sure if we are talking days or weeks but not likely months,” Stuart Gosswein, the senior director of federal government affairs for the SEMA aftermarket trade group, told us.
Congress originally instructed NHTSA to finalize the rules by the end of 2016, but it wasn’t until January 2020 that the agency finally issued a 118-page proposed ruling. NHTSA went silent after that. In November, when we spoke to DMC and SEMA about the delay, both shrugged. They never knew what had happened or when something might be done.
It’s equally mystifying why NHTSA finally moved the process forward, but no one is complaining. In a release, SEMA president and CEO Christopher J. Kersting said: “The roadblocks have been eliminated. Companies will be able to hire workers, start making necessary parts and components, and produce and sell cars.”
The final draft addresses all of the points in the earlier proposal that SEMA and replica-car makers took issue with, such as agreeing to let courts handle intellectual property disputes. NHTSA also agreed to a 10 percent variance in vehicle dimensions, and replicas don’t need to be exact clones of the original down to moldings and trim pieces. Only engines with current EPA approval can be used, but lighting, window glazing, and certain seat belt provisions will be covered under the federal motor vehicle standards in effect at the time the original vehicle was produced.

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Gosswein said LVVMs will need to register with NHTSA, the EPA, and, if they wish to sell cars in California, the California Air Resources Board (CARB). After submitting information and a picture of the original and replica vehicles to NHTSA, the agency has 90 days to review the application. If there are no complaints, the manufacturer can start the production lines at the end of those 90 days. Before Wednesday’s regulatory hold, that could have meant some new replicas on the streets as soon as May.
Not so with a new DMC-12, however. Company vice president James Espey told Car and Driver that DMC doesn’t plan on submitting its paperwork to the two federal agencies and California until it has finalized the powertrain and financing for the new stainless-steel coupe. The engine the company planned for four years ago runs out of emissions compliance in 2024. He’s not sure it makes sense to use a motor so close to the end of its life. DMC could also go electric. “We have to consider all the things available now that weren’t on the table five years ago,” Espey said.
Espey said the company needs to go over the new ruling with its engineering team in the U.K., find a way forward with its planned engine supplier and sort out approvals, and line up between $5 million and $10 million to complete development and begin production. So a new DeLorean is optimistically still at least 18 months away.
SEMA to Focus on Powertrains
SEMA’s Gosswein said that since NHTSA has done its job, SEMA will turn its efforts to powertrains. “We need to get engine companies to produce engine packages or work with big manufacturers so that [LVVMs] can collaborate.”
SEMA doesn’t want to see replica makers forced into producing their own EPA-compliant engines because OEMs and engine suppliers decline to invest the time and money necessary to provide suitable units. SEMA wants to create a replica-engine ecosystem ensuring a variety of makes and sizes are available.
For instance, “GM had an LS3 engine package from 2012 that was for specially constructed vehicles in California,” Gosswein said. The approval for the LS3 package lapsed, but “that’s something GM can update for the current model year and get CARB to recertify.”
In the meantime, DMC has big plans for this year. January 21 marked the 40th anniversary of the final assembly of the original DMC-12. Considering the DMC-12’s continued brand recognition, Espey is confident we’ll get the gullwinged wonder we’ve been hoping for. He said he continues to get a few messages a week from potential buyers asking if they can send deposits.
“I still think the brand has a lot of power,” he said. “We’re open to talking to suppliers, investors, and others because there’s a lot of demand, and I don’t think having to wait a year or a year and a half is going to put a lot of people off.”
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