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Tesla’s pulling a page from In-N-Out Burger’s playbook and giving Model Y buyers the chance to order a cheaper variant off a proverbial secret menu. Though the automaker’s website currently restricts Model Y orders to those of the $54,380 Long Range or $58,380 Performance variants, Tesla’s list of online inventory shows that a number of its stores are stocked with salable base Model Y EVs that wear a starting price $2000 less than that of the Long Range model. (As of this writing, however, it seems most of these entry-level Ys in inventory include at least $2000 worth of optional 20-inch wheels and tires, thus effectively negating the base model’s cost savings over its Long Range counterpart.)SUZANNE CORDEIRO|Getty ImagesUnlike the prior entry-level rear-drive Model Y, which Tesla stopped producing in 2021, this new base-level Model Y comes standard with a dual-motor all-wheel-drive system. It also packs a greater EPA-rated range relative to its single-motor forebear. With up to 279 miles of driving range on a full charge, the cheapest Model Y variant betters the old Standard Range model’s range by 35 miles. That said, it falls short of the Model Y Long Range and Performance’s figures by up to 51 and 24 miles, respectively.SUZANNE CORDEIRO|Getty ImagesPowering the electric motors of this latest addition to the Model Y line is Tesla’s 4680 battery pack, which the company produces at its Texas plant. Though Tesla is mum on the pack’s rated capacity and other details, given the lesser range of Model Y’s equipped with this pack, it’s safe to assume the useable capacity of these batteries falls short of the 75.0-kWh pack that powered a 2020 Model Y Long Range we previously tested, which was EPA-rated to travel up to 316 miles on a full charge. We managed just 220 miles of range while testing the Model Y on our 75-mph highway test.Whether the range deficit of the base 2023 Model Y relative to its Long Range kin is worth its $2000 price reduction is a matter of personal preference. That said, the extra stacks in a base Model Y buyers’ pocket can go toward added options for their new EV or a lower monthly payment or paying off those gambling debts. Look, we’re not here to judge. We’re only here to let you know that Tesla offers its own version of an Animal Style burger for the Model Y.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

Four government agencies—the Departments of Energy and Transportation, plus HUD and the EPA—said last fall that they would work together to create more clean and accessible transportation across the nation by 2050. This week, they released the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, with details on how this will happen.Redesigned cities and communities and better public transportation are part of the plan, but the biggest reductions in emissions will come from cleaning up the vehicle fleet.The agencies see three main fossil fuel alternatives in our future—electricity, hydrogen, and sustainable biofuels—but they have wildly different use cases.Last fall, the Departments of Energy, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency announced they will work together to create a “clean, safe, accessible, equitable, and decarbonized transportation system for all.” This week, the agencies released their promised blueprint that puts some details on those bones.Called the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, the first-of-its-kind document envisions three familiar technology solutions for net-zero travel by 2050: batteries, hydrogen, and sustainable liquid fuels. It’s how the blueprint predicts these three technologies will be used that is most interesting, if not exactly surprising, for drivers. The technology with the “greatest long-term opportunity” to decarbonize light-duty vehicles, for example, is battery power. For long-haul heavy trucks, hydrogen is at the top of the list. And sustainable liquid fuels are likely best for boats and planes.The More You KnowMore interesting, perhaps, is that the agencies do not see a place for hydrogen in the light-duty vehicle fleet. While hydrogen is considered to have limited opportunity to green up short-haul heavy trucks and off-road vehicles, the blueprint’s chart doesn’t even support that bit of optimism for passenger cars. Despite the fact that the blueprint lists establishing a clean hydrogen infrastructure as one of the research priorities for the country, it will not help clean up our daily drivers, apparently.U.S. Department of EnergyChanging the Way Cities Look?The 88-page National Blueprint addresses more than energy types, including rethinking how local communities are laid out so that “job centers, shopping, schools, entertainment, and essential services are strategically located near where people live. Communities like this will reduce the amount of time people spend commuting, among other benefits. Making public transportation and trains more reliable and affordable is also in the plan, but the biggest carbon reduction improvements will happen in cleaning up the transportation options themselves.”With this second major step in the decades-long decarbonization plan now complete, the four agencies also provided a general outline for that milestones that are planned for the coming decades as the U.S. moves to a net-zero economy. Between now and 2030, it’s research and investments to support deployment. In the 2030s, the clean transportation solutions will scale up, and in the 2040s, we will be “Completing the Transition.” That’s the plan, anyway.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

Chevrolet Corvette Z06 owner Marco Garcia hasn’t had an ideal experience with his mid-engine sports car thus far. After traveling just 52 miles in the car after taking delivery, the Z06’s 5.5-liter LT6 V-8 engine failed, leaving Garcia stuck on the side of the highway. After his initial videos related to the event caught the attention of fans online, GM has opted to make the situation right. Garcia says the car will be repaired free of charge.This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.I ❤️ my C8 Z06 again, but she needs some TLC.Watch onThis Z06 fiasco began back on December 23, when Garcia purchased the black-over-black Z06 from Covina Hills Chevrolet in Covina, California. Garcia paid $182,457.38 for the car, a price bolstered by nearly $50,ooo in dealer markups. Following the purchase process, a dealership employee offered to follow Garcia back home in the C8 Stingray he arrived to purchase the Z06 in. The pair dropped the modified Stingray off at Garcia’s construction yard before the two jumped into the Z06 and headed back to the dealer. After returning the employee, Garcia began his trek home. That didn’t last long before the engine let go in a cacophony of smoke and stressed metallic sounds. Garcia walked into town to get some charge on his phone, which led to a calamity with OnStar. That continued on day two, as the Z06 was “too new” to appear in the OnStar warranty system. Good News and Bad NewsThe whole situation left Garcia with a bad taste in his mouth at first, with the new Z06 owner initially noting in now deleted YouTube videos that he was done with the car. Things changed once GM corporate stepped in and got in contact with Garcia. The automaker acknowledged the issue and gave Garcia three options. His choices were to get a full refund, have the car repaired for free, or spec an entirely new Z06 to replace his faulty unit. Garcia originally bought the car to enjoy and modify, and he wasn’t ready to let the LT6-powered car go after less than a day of proper ownership. A new Z06 would take about six months to build, and GM estimated a wait of just two months for the necessary parts to repair the car. Garcia ultimately opted for the repairs, which came with a Platinum Protection Plan from GM tossed in. That plan covers the car bumper to bumper for 100,000 miles, which should bring some peace of mind when the new engine is installed. Garcia chose to remove his earlier videos following the conversation with GM. It’s unclear if that was requested by the automaker. Nobody should have to go through the new-car experience that Garcia faced with his Z06. Let’s hope this particular LT6 engine gets a full teardown, so Z06 enthusiasts can get the full story on what happened with this faulty car.DW Burnett More

Seeking to preserve its heritage for a greener future, Toyota just unveiled two restomodded classic 1980s hatchbacks at this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon, one powered by hydrogen, the other a pure battery EV.The Corolla Levin and Sprinter Trueno are both Japan-market variants of the sporty yet economical Corolla GT-S that was sold in the U.S.These cars were lightweight but low on power, and they are commonly known by their chassis code, AE86. While simple and relatively low-tech, these rear-wheel-drive machines became pop-culture icons in the 1990s thanks in part to the popular anime series Initial D.If asked to list Toyota’s most important heritage vehicles, you might jot down the mighty twin-turbo Mk IV Supra, the unkillable Hilux pickup truck, the wafting Toyota Century (Japan’s only production V-12), or perhaps the million-dollar 2000GT. However, the most famous Toyota of all time is an underpowered hatchback with pop-up headlights and a speed warning chime that comes on if you exceed 64 mph. At this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon, Toyota moved to preserve the heritage of this little car, building a pair of restomods at great expense: one powered by liquid hydrogen, the other with a battery and electric motor.Out of context, Toyota’s efforts seem a little like GM’s engineers showed up and said, “Good news, everyone, we’ve saved the Chevette for future generations!” However, the Corolla Levin and (more important) Sprinter Trueno shown off this week are far more than mere sporty commuters. In North America, these cars were sold as the Corolla GT-S, and they had a small but enthusiastic following. In Japan, they were known by their chassis code—AE86 or hachiroku, Japanese for eight-six—and they were rock stars.Then and NowThat hero worship didn’t arrive immediately. The fifth-generation Corolla arrived in 1983 with rear-wheel drive, not because that was the fun option, but as a carryover from the 1970s, when the front-wheel-drive Civic was the exception to the rule. For the 1984 model year, Toyota stuffed in a twin-cam 1.6-liter engine shared with the first-generation MR2 and fitted a five-speed manual gearbox. In Japan, the car was sold as the Corolla Levin (with fixed headlights) or the Sprinter Trueno (pop-up headlights, same as the U.S. Corolla GT-S).AE86s made for popular race and rally cars, for the same reasons that the first- and second-generation Ford Escorts were popular in Europe. An 86 was cheap, it was easy to hammer back together after a shunt, and the handling was lively. One of the engineers during development was Nobukai Katayama, who came from a background in Toyota Motorsport, so the 86 had been bred to transcend its humble roots.Pardon Us While We Veer into a Discussion of MangaEven so, we’re talking about a car with scarcely 128 horsepower on high-octane JDM fuel. Where the AE86 really came into its own was in manga, the serialized graphic novels that are ubiquitous in Japan.Created by Shuichi Shigeno, Initial D tells the story of a naturally skilled driver getting into the illegal street racing scene around the fictional Mount Akina. Shigeno based the manga around his first car—a Sprinter Trueno, which he still owns after more than 25 years—and wove in a tale of disaffected youth in post-bubble-economy Japan, cold nights and hot turbochargers, drift battles on narrow mountain roads. Basically, think Japan’s American Graffiti, but with Skylines and RX-7s.The hero of the story, Takumi Fujiwara, battles his way to the top of the pile despite driving an underdog Sprinter Trueno. That car, painted “panda” black and white and bearing the name of the Fujiwara tofu shop, is now easily the most famous car in Japanese culture. Regrettably, the explosion of popularity in drift culture and Initial D’s rising overseas popularity means that many AE86s have been written off. That makes the survivors valuable.Further, the notoriety of the hachiroku is sufficient for Toyota to both name its Subaru collaboration after it—hence, GR86—and to try to make sure that the AE86 will still be on the road long after the last fuel pump closes.Now Back to CorollasTo that end, these two Corollas have been futureproofed with alternative powertrains. The Corolla Levin has been fitted with the electric motor out of a Tundra hybrid, with a Prius-sourced lithium-ion battery. Power is around a lowly 50 horsepower, but torque is plentiful at above 180 pound-feet. The standard five-speed couldn’t handle the twist, so Toyota swapped in the six-speed out of a GR86. Engineers were quick to point out that donuts were most definitely on the menu.The Sprinter Trueno retained its twin-cam 4A-GE engine but was converted with Mirai parts to run on liquid hydrogen. Toyota already ran a current Corolla converted to hydrogen power in last year’s Fuji Super TEC 24-hour endurance race. In this case, the 4A-GE’s antiquated engine management saw a drop in power over stock, but the car still runs, drives, and drifts.The best part of both machines is that the weight penalty is minimal. EV swapping a conventional ICE-powered car often blunts the character, but Toyota’s proof of concepts are still sub-2200 pounds. With both also being manual-transmission, perhaps there’s hope for the lightweight sports car yet.For fans of the AE86, both machines are proof that Toyota actually cares about the enthusiasts in the audience. We know that the company will sell more examples of the Corolla Cross than they ever did AE86s. Even so, the plucky hachiroku is an important part of the Toyota story. Long may it reign. More