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The Tesla Model S and Model X are once again available with a regular steering wheel.A yoke is still offered, but a steering wheel (pictured above)—now with capacitive buttons versus stalks—returns as a no-cost option. Already yoked Model S or X EVs can have a steering wheel retrofitted for $700, but the Tesla service isn’t available until March.The tried-and-true steering wheel returns to the Tesla Model S and Model X. While the steering yoke that has been mandatory since the cars’ 2021 redesign is still offered, people who order a new S or X can once again drive with a normal wheel at no extra cost.Unlike before, the new steering wheel in the Model S and Model X doesn’t have stalks that control the blinkers, windshield wipers, or gear selection. Instead, all of those functions are now handled through capacitive buttons and controller balls, just like those found on the yoke.One of these is not like the other.TeslaTeslaWhat about all the folks who bought a Tesla Model S or X with the yoke-style setup and are unhappy with it? Well, Tesla is letting those customers swap it out for a real wheel with a retrofit option through its online store. It won’t be available until March, and it costs $700, which is said to include installation through Tesla service.The return of a regular steering wheel to the Model S and Model X represents a symbolic U-turn by Tesla—and, more specifically, by CEO Elon Musk. Back in 2021, in the months after the company stirred up controversy by only offering both models with a yoke, Musk tweeted that there was no chance a traditional steering wheel would return, even as an option. The irony is that eggs have a yoke, and Musk may have a little on his face.Tesla In the NewsWhile Tesla’s yoke-style tiller has its fair share of detractors (including us), it’s still better than a steering wheel that flies off in your hand while you’re driving. 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.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

A new set of data shows what we’ve been seeing over several months: monthly payments on new-car loans are hitting and exceeding four figures at a distressingly high rate.One reason is rising interest rates, which in turn are affected by supply-chain issues and inflation.Another reason: a growing number of customers tend to owe more on the vehicle they’re trading in than it’s worth, tempting them to roll the negative equity into the next purchase.The share of new-car loans with a monthly payment above $1000 hit a record high last year, new data from Edmunds shows. The company says 15.7 percent of buyers who financed a new car in the fourth quarter of 2022 signed on for four-figure monthly payments.That’s up from 10.5 percent in 2021, a nearly 50 percent increase in the overall share. Supply constraints and inflation put upward pressure on prices, while that same inflationary crisis led to much higher interest rates. Consumers attempted to account for rising prices by spending more money upfront, bringing the average down payment up to $6780. Markups—which usually cannot be financed as easily as money toward a vehicle’s MSRP—likely contributed to that rising average down payment. How to Pick OneBeing Upside Down Makes It WorseEdmunds also sees rising car payments and an inflated market as a potentially dangerous combination. In the fourth quarter of 2022, 17.4 percent of new car purchases with a trade-in had negative equity rolled into the new loan. That means they still owed more than the car they traded in was worth, forcing them to roll the owed money into the new purchase. In the event of a market collapse, if a higher percentage of owners owe more than their vehicles are worth, that could at worst, cause a crisis. At best, the market would likely see a slowdown in new-car purchases. “Vehicle equity is really a tale of two gears for consumers over the past few years,” said Ivan Drury, Edmunds director of insights. “At the onset of the pandemic, consumers benefited from low-interest rates and elevated trade-in values, helping shield even the more questionable financing decisions from resulting in negative equity. This unique confluence of market forces resulted in some vehicle owners being able to take advantage of positive equity on their loans and even their leases. But as we shifted toward an environment with diminished used-car values and rising interest rates over the past few months, consumers have become less insulated from those riskier loan decisions, and we are only seeing the tip of the negative-equity iceberg.”This content is imported from OpenWeb. 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

VinFast, a Vietnamese startup automaker, announced it will start taking orders for its VF6 and VF7 electric SUVs starting in March. The company had previously announced it would start delivering its larger VF8 to the U.S., but customers have not received them as of the beginning of January.The subcompact VF6 is expected to have a WLTP range of up to 248 miles, which could translate to a 200-mile EPA rating.The compact VF7’s WLTP range is estimated to top out at 280 miles, or as much as 224 EPA-rated miles.Following up on the reveal of the VF6 and VF7 electric SUVs at the 2022 Los Angeles auto show, Vietnamese automaker VinFast said it will open the reservation process for these two models in March. Speaking at the 2022 CES show in Las Vegas, VinFast CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy said that deliveries are expected to begin at the end of the year and into early 2024. More Details and SpecsVinFast also updated the specifications for each SUV with an estimated range. The 174-horsepower Eco version of the subcompact VF6 is expected to go 248 miles on the WLTP test cycle, while the 201-hp Plus trim is slightly lower at 237 miles. As a rough estimate, that converts to somewhere between 190 and 200 miles on the EPA test cycle, but the final numbers might be lower. The VF8 goes 293 miles on the same test but will initially have an EPA-rated estimated range of 179 miles. A VinFast representative claimed that the VF8’s range is expected to increase following an upcoming over-the-air update, and the official rating will be revised after recertification. VinFast had promised delivery in late 2022 to U.S. customers but most recently has said its first customers in California will start receiving this model this month,The compact VF7 is targeted to go 280 miles on the WLTP test in 201-hp Eco trim, and the 348-hp, two-motor AWD Plus version will go 268 miles. That translates to somewhere between 170 and 224 miles of EPA-rated maximum range. The company did not mention the overall battery capacity for the VF6 or VF7.How Much?Pricing for both models will be announced sometime in the next month or so. The VF6 is estimated to start around $30,000, while the VF7’s estimated base price is under $40,000. Reserving the VF8 and VF9 requires a $200 deposit on the VinFast website, so customers should be able to claim a place in line for the same amount when the VF6 and VF7 reservation system opens.Also speaking at VinFast’s CES press conference, Gareth Dunsmore, Deputy CEO for sales and marketing, said that the first reservation holders for the VF6 and VF7 will have “additional rewards with meaningful benefit” with details to follow. The “VinFirst” program for the VF8 and VF9 included an NFT allowing special access to the Vingroup Metaverse, along with discounts of $3000 and $5000, respectively. VinFast had initially promised U.S. deliveries of its larger VF8 before the end of 2022, and while a ship carrying the electric crossovers arrived in the United States in late December, those planned deliveries did not happen before the new year.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.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

UPDATE 1/5/23: Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares confirmed the range-extender powertrain option for the upcoming Ram 1500 EV during a roundtable interview at CES 2023. While the Ram Revolution BEV concept is battery-powered EV, there will also be a version of this pickup offered with a gasoline engine that can recharge the battery.More on Ram EVBy the time the Ram 1500 EV hits the market in 2024, it’ll be a couple of years late to the all-electric-pickup-truck party that’s already getting started. However, it could arrive with an available range extender, which is not currently an option on rivals such as the F-150 Lightning, the GMC Hummer EV, or the Rivan R1T.Ram CEO Mike Koval Jr. first mentioned that the upcoming Ram 1500 EV will be offered with a range extender in an interview with EV Pulse. Powering a generator that can recharge the truck’s battery pack, it might help alleviate concerns some people have about driving range. It’s perhaps a hedge for buyers of electric trucks who plan on using them to tow, as it significantly affects efficiency and range. We’ve seen the Rivian R1T’s range shrink to just 110 miles when towing a modest load just half of the truck’s 11,000-pound maximum.Stellantis|Car and DriverOf course, a Ram 1500 EV with a range extender is no longer an EV, but a plug-in hybrid. Then again, Ram hasn’t had an issue with calling its V-8 a Hemi despite not having hemispherical combustion chambers, so maybe it will still label its electrified 1500 an EV. While we haven’t heard of any other new electric trucks that’ll offer a range extender, it’s unlikely that Ram would be the only company to have one if it’s an effective solution. In fact, Ford in 2018 filed a patent for a bed-mounted range extender for what we now know is the F-150 Lightning. However, Ford’s patent was for a modular unit versus one that’s built-in like the one used on BMW’s now-defunct i3 hatch. The i3’s two-cylinder engine was a pure range extender, used only to recharge the battery, but there’s a host of plug-in hybrids with lesser electric range where the gas engine also provides propulsion, such as the Chevy Volt or any number of today’s plug-in hybrids. Koval didn’t say what type of range extender would be used or when it might be available. Extra Ram EV ReadingThe news about the Ram 1500 EV’s range extender comes after the brand recently announced an initiative to gather input from real people regarding the development of its electric trucks and commercial vans via RamRevolution.com and a yearlong series of events called the Ram Real Talk Tour.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.This story was originally published February 10, 2022.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

The Lightyear 2 is an upcoming solar-powered EV, and a waiting list as well as more details about it were announced at CES 2023.The Dutch startup automaker, Lightyear, claims its second model will have more than 500 miles of range and cost under $40,000. The Lightyear 2 will be the first model sold in the U.S., with production expected to start by the end of 2025.No, the Lightyear 2 isn’t a sequel to the Pixar film about Buzz Lightyear, but the solar-powered EV is a follow-up to the Lightyear Zero. The latter is the first-ever model from Lightyear, a Dutch startup automaker. While the Zero—a limited-production $265,000 proof of concept—was never destined for the North American market, the Lightyear 2 will make it to our shores, provided all goes to plan.LightyearAll the Buzz about the Lightyear 2Earlier this year, during our drive of a pre-production development Zero, we learned about Lightyear’s ambitions to bring its second model to America. However, it was today at CES 2023 when we learned more details about the Lightyear 2 and heard that the company had opened a waitlist for pre-orders. For those who haven’t figured it out by now, Lightyear’s big thing is harnessing the power of the sun to power its electric cars, at least partially. The company claims this helps reduce reliance on the world’s electrical grids, with Lightyear CEO Lex Hoefsloot saying the 2 requires less plug-in charging than conventional EVs. He also said the car is capable of sending clean energy back into the gridLightyearAs with many startups, Lightyear makes some big claims about its upcoming model. The company says that, compared with EVs not powered by solar energy, the 2 will produce half as much carbon emissions. Its sun-powered car is also claimed to have a driving range of over 500 miles. However, Lightyear didn’t clarify whether that figure is based on the U.S. EPA scale, the European WLTP cycle, or simply in-house projections.Light Years Away? More Like Two YearsAlong with plans to sell the Lightyear 2 in the United States, the company says it will launch the EV in Europe. The U.S. version is said to start under $40,000, which, if true, would make it one of the more affordable electric models sold on our shores.Production isn’t slated to start until the end of 2025, which means a lot could change between now and then. Not only the Lightyear 2’s attractive base price, but also its actual existence.CES 2023: Read All About It!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.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