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Winnebago has built wheelchair-accessible RVs before, but they’ve always been the Class A behemoths that cost $270,000 or more. The new Roam is a smaller Class B RV based on the Ram ProMaster van that still has room for someone in a wheelchair to move around inside.Winnebago designed the interior with help from accessibility advocates, and the RV maker used universal design as the guiding force when deciding what to include.Options include a pop top for more sleeping space, a TV, and your color choice. Steering hand controls, if needed, can be installed by a third party.Sometimes, when the #VanLife calls, what you’re really looking for is a #VanLift. Wheelchair users who enjoy spending time on the road will likely be interested in the new Winnebago Roam RV, the company’s first Class B RV that was designed specifically with accessibility in mind.

While some wheelchair-using adventurers have taken to building their own accessible home on wheels, like quadriplegic photographer Kirk Williams and his rugged conversion van, not everyone has that kind of desire. The Roam, which Winnebago announced today, fills the bill in a smaller package than what the company’s larger wheelchair-ready RVs, the Adventurer AE and the Inspire, already offer. Those are both bus-sized Class A RVs with sleeping room for five and price tags starting at $269,000.Class B RVs are usually around 21 to 24 feet and often feature more off-grid conveniences like toilets and refrigerators than smaller conversion vans but sleep one or two people just as easily. Winnebago told Car and Driver it will announce pricing for the Roam within the next two months.
Built using a 2021 Ram ProMaster as the base and with a BraunAbility wheelchair lift under the sliding side door, the Roam is less than 20 feet long, but Winnebago said it was “designed with enough floor space to support a wheelchair and critical accessible features.” That means an under-vehicle wheelchair lift, standard wheelchair tie-downs, a shower and toilet with grab handles, accessible light and system controls, and a powered sofa bed. It can seat up to five people and sleep up to four, if you order it with the optional pop top that sleeps two.The only other options Winnebago will offer is a built-in TV and a choice of three colors (red, silver or white). Winnebago will not be installing any hand controls for driving the Roam, leaving that to third-party companies if the buyer is interested. Everything else you can see in the pictures of the vehicle, like the refrigerator and microwave, are standard. Winnebago will also switch the Roam over to 2022 ProMasters once those become available.
The accessible features in the Roam were selected from user feedback based on decades of building the larger Class A motorhomes, the company said. Winnebago also got ideas from several hosted RV trips with travelers in wheelchairs, who made suggestions about what to change and keep. Winnebago also spoke to people in the accessibility community, including caregivers, as it was developing the Roam.”While there are some features, like the wheelchair lift and tie-downs, that are focused on the traveler in a wheelchair, many of the features stem from a desire for a universal design,” a Winnebago spokesperson said. “This includes easily reachable controls, gauges, and displays. More open spaces to move around, an easy-to-access bathroom, and added privacy features.”When the Roam goes on sale this fall, it will be available at only three authorized dealerships: La Mesa, Campers Inn, and Pleasureland. These were chosen because they have shown a commitment to Winnebago’s accessible product line in the past and they have multiple locations, Winnebago said, and more dealers may be added when demand and production capacity increase.
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The 2023 Mercedes-AMG GT63 S E Performance is the first of AMG’s plug-in-hybrid models, which will also include the next AMG C-class. It’s powered by a twin-turbo V-8 paired with an electric motor on the rear axle, and it has 831 horsepower and 1082 pound-feet of torque. It will arrive in the U.S. for the 2023 model year. Mercedes-AMG has just revealed the first in its new product lineup of E Performance plug-in-hybrids. It’s called the GT63 S E Performance. It will be joined soon by other AMG PHEVs, including the next top AMG C-class. For now, the GT63 S is the most powerful AMG road car yet—but only until the 1000-plus-hp One arrives.

The new model uses a familiar twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 that produces 630 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque, with a permanent-magnet synchronous AC motor and a 4.8-kWh battery pack incorporated in the rear axle. Through a two-speed gearbox, the motor adds an additional 201 horsepower for up to 10 seconds, or 94 horses continuously. The lithium-ion battery pack is charged via the 3.7-kW onboard AC charger.

Together, they make 831 horsepower and 1082 pound-feet of torque. A nine-speed automatic transmission handles the gear exchanges, and AMG’s 4Matic+ all-wheel-drive system delivers torque to all four corners. Additionally, the electrified rear axle has an electronically controlled limited-slip differential. AMG claims the GT63 S E Performance will reach 62 mph in 2.9 seconds with 124 mph arriving in less than 10 seconds. We expect it to be much quicker as a GT63 S reached 60 mph in 2.6 seconds in our test.Like the nonhybrid model, the GT63 S E Performance is equipped with AMG’s air springs with electronically controlled adaptive dampers. Seven drive modes are available, including an electric mode that’s good for a claimed 7 miles of driving range and speeds up to 80 mph, and four levels of regenerative braking are toggled via a button on the steering wheel. Its carbon-ceramic brakes measure 16.5 inches up front and 15.0 inches in the rear, 0.7 inch larger in the front and 0.8 inch in the rear than the nonhybrid.

Mercedes-AMG

You can tell them apart by a red GT63 S badge on the rear just above the charge port and a “V8 BiTurbo E Performance” badge on each front fender. Seven new exterior color choices are available, too, along with four matte and five metallic colors and new 20- and 21-inch wheels. The MBUX infotainment system can display hybrid-specific information such as electric driving range, the power of the electric motor, battery temperatures, and power flow, which can also be displayed on the optional rear passenger screens. Mercedes-AMG will announce U.S. specs, including pricing, closer to the GT63 S E Performance’s launch for the 2023 model year.
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Lotus Cars says its future EV lineup will include a sports car, a coupe-sedan, and two SUVs, following soon after the Evija EV hypercar.To facilitate its move to electrification, the British specialty firm is launching a new Lotus Technology subsidiary and opening a new headquarters in Wuhan, China.Group Lotus Design will now be headed by Peter Horbury, who is currently design chief at Geely, Lotus’s owner.We already know that Lotus’s future is electric: the company has already confirmed that the forthcoming 2022 Emira will be its last new model to have a combustion engine. Now the company has released some more details about what will be the rapid deployment of the four fully electric models that will follow on from the Evija EV hypercar.

The future Lotus electric lineup will include two new SUVs, a coupe-sedan (in other words, a low-roofline four-door), and the new EV sports car the company has already dropped details about. They’re all being developed under what is described as the Vision80 plan, which concludes in time for Lotus’s 80th anniversary in 2028. To speed its move into electrification, Lotus is also creating a new subsidiary, Lotus Technology, which will be based in Wuhan, China. This will work on the future models and will also have investment from Li Bin, founder of Chinese automaker Nio.

Lotus’s new headquarters in Wuhan, China.
Lotus Cars

Peter Horbury.
Stan Papior/Lotus

Car and Driver has also learned that Peter Horbury is set to become head of Group Lotus Design, leading work on this new generation of models as well as on the consultancy work for third-party automakers. The 71-year-old Brit is currently head of design for Chinese automaker Geely (which owns Lotus as well as Volvo) and was previously design director for Volvo (twice) and Ford Americas. Lotus Cars chief designer Russell Carr will continue to work under him. According to German media reports, former Bentley design boss Stefann Sielaff is set to replace Horbury at Geely. In terms of new product, the SUVs and the coupe-sedan, described by Lotus as “lifestyle vehicles,” will all sit on the company’s forthcoming Lotus Premium Architecture. The company says, with impressive exactitude, that this can sit underneath cars with wheelbases ranging from 113.7 to 122.0 inches and will feature batteries with capacities from 92.0 to 120.0 kWh and support 800-volt systems. The official release also says that at least some of the products developed from the new platform will be able to dispatch the zero-to-62-mph benchmark in under three seconds.We’ll see the larger SUV first, with its launch scheduled for next year. It will be followed in 2023 by the coupe-sedan, with a smaller SUV arriving in 2024. All these vehicles will be built at Lotus’s new plant in Wuhan, which is set to have a capacity of up to 150,000 cars a year, although Lotus insiders say it will take time to get close to that figure. The pure EV sports car that will follow in 2026 will be built in the U.K. and will also form the basis of a new model for Renault subsidiary Alpine.Two other fascinating details have emerged from the official announcement. First, Lotus’s Wuhan plant will include what is described as an “integrated intelligent test track” where vehicles will be able to operate autonomously at speeds of up to 140 mph through 16 corners. Secondly that Lotus is working on what it describes as “track-level intelligent drive,” a 10-year project with the ambition to “assist drivers to perform as well as an F1 driver on track.” We look forward to learning more about that one.

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Toyota will launch a hybrid version of the Corolla Cross subcompact SUV.We don’t know powertrain details yet, but we hope it will have more power than the Corolla sedan hybrid.The Corolla Cross hybrid will arrive sometime next year, likely as a 2023 model.The new Toyota Corolla Cross will join many of its brethren in offering a hybrid powertrain, as Toyota has confirmed that a gas-electric variant will arrive soon. The company had hinted at a Corolla Cross hybrid during this new model’s debut earlier this year, but we now have full confirmation that the hybrid variant will launch in the U.S. sometime in 2022.

There’s no word yet on which hybrid powertrain the Corolla Cross will use, but we sure hope it has more power than the Corolla sedan hybrid. That model has a 1.8-liter gasoline engine and the drivetrain makes just 121 horsepower in total, which resulted in a sluggish 60 mph time of 10.7 seconds in our testing. That hybrid setup wouldn’t suffice in the larger, heavier crossover version, so we can expect a larger, more powerful gasoline engine in the Corolla Cross hybrid.We also think Toyota is likely to offer an all-wheel-drive version of the Corolla Cross hybrid, possibly with a similar setup as the Prius e-AWD model that has an additional electric motor powering the rear wheels at lower speeds. The nonhybrid Corolla Cross uses a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter inline-four with 169 horsepower, and it’s offered with both front- and all-wheel drive.Stay tuned for more information still to come on the Corolla Cross hybrid, which should be added to the lineup for the 2023 model year.
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Ram was ranked #1 and Dodge #2 in the J.D. Power 2021 Initial Quality Study.The study surveys new-car owners on problems they had with their vehicles during the first 90 days of ownership, and it ranks brands according to problems per 100 vehicles. Lower scores are better.The study was redesigned last year to give new-car owners more ways to report problems. In the 2020 study, infotainment was the most troublesome category.The results of the 2021 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study are in, with Ram and Dodge securing the top two spots. The 223-question study surveys new-car owners on problems they experience with their new cars in the first 90 days of ownership and assigns each brand a score based on the problems per 100 vehicles. Problems could range from serious mechanical issues to difficulties related to the infotainment system. In this year’s survey, Ram owners reported 128 issues per 100 new cars, while Dodge owners had 139 complaints per 100 vehicles.

J.D. Power surveys tens of thousands of new-car owners each year to suss out problems with the quality and user-friendliness of new cars. Owners can report a wide variety of complaints ranging from problems with the powertrain to issues with the driver assistance systems, infotainment, or climate control. In fact, in 2021 smartphone connectivity was the issue most frequently complained about. The 128 problems per 100 vehicles reported by Ram owners in the 2021 study represented a 13-point improvement compared to 2020. Dodge’s problems per 100 cars score was up slightly from 136 last year. Ram is the first truck-only brand to top the J.D. Power survey rankings. Ram Brand CEO Mike Koval Jr. told Car and Driver that the ranking is “clearly an accomplishment, but also not a surprise,” citing what he described as a “clear trend in quality improvements.” The company says its rise from a 21st-place finish in 2019 was driven by the heavy-duty 2500 and 3500 trucks it released for 2020, which ranked first among heavy-duty trucks in this year’s study. The half-ton Ram 1500 ranked second in its class, which also includes the bestselling Ford F-150. The Dodge Charger and its cousin, the Chrysler 300, made the podium in the large-car class.

J.D. Power

The Initial Quality Study can be a helpful starting point when shopping for a new car, but it shouldn’t be taken as gospel. The study focuses entirely on the quality of brand-new cars. Ninety days is only a tiny fraction of a car’s life, and plenty of things can go wrong after that period that would never be captured by this survey. And though the study notes serious malfunctions and manufacturing defects, low scores could also be caused by so-called “design defects”—features that may work exactly as intended but are criticized by the customer because they are frustrating, unintuitive, or unfamiliar. If you’re interested in a bigger picture, J.D. Power also conducts a three-year vehicle dependability study. In this year’s study, which ranked cars from the 2018 model year, Lexus and Kia earned top honors.
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