When Tesla finally starts rolling the Cybertruck off the production line in 2022, the electric vehicle will debut with a four-motor variant. CEO Elon Musk wrote on Twitter that model will offer "independent, ultra fast response torque control of each wheel." Some other EVs have a motor on each wheel, including Rivian's R1T.
Initial production will be 4 motor variant, with independent, ultra fast response torque control of each wheel
Tesla removed all Cybertruck specs and pricing from its website in October. Would-be owners can plunk down a refundable deposit of $100 and configure their order close to when Tesla starts production, which is scheduled to happen next year. However, it seems you'll likely have to wait longer if you want a two-motor version.
Nissan has unveiled the lunar lander prototype it has been working on with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The automaker has been collaborating with the agency on driving controllability since January 2020.
To help ensure the rover doesn't get stuck on the lunar surface, Nissan has employed a version of its e-4orce all-wheel control technology. The company says its driving-force controls can minimize wheel spin "in accordance with surface conditions." Not only could that prevent the rover's wheels from digging into the moon's powdery, rocky terrain, it might help the lander conserve precious energy.
Nissan announced the e-4orce powertrain system early last year. The tech, which is featured in the Ariya electric crossover and upcoming next-gen Leaf, allows for precise, independent control for all four wheels. The Ariya has front and rear motors, and the torque of each can be controlled individually to deliver traction during acceleration.
The company believes "the knowhow gained from this joint research with JAXA will lead to innovations in our vehicles that will bring benefits to customers," according to Toshiyuki Nakajima, general manager of Nissan's Advanced Vehicle Engineering Department.
The current design of the rover isn't aesthetically exciting, unfortunately. Right now, it's a rectangular box on wheels. But, as is usually the case, it's what's on the inside that really counts.
Polestar just offered a teaser of what might be its most important EV to date. The badge has provided its first good look (the last one was draped in a curtain) of the 3, its first SUV and its first US-made vehicle. The "premium" vehicle may be lightly disguised with QR code-like camouflage, but it looks like what you'd expect — it's a taller, roomier sibling to the 2 sedan. That's not necessarily a problem, though, and Polestar is betting on a few factors that could make the machine successful.
The company isn't shy about the target audience: this will be an EV built "in America for Americans," who keep buying upscale SUVs in large numbers. The category is likely to be one of the first to fully embrace EVs, Polestar said. The 3 should also be one of the "most climate-responsible" cars to date, and will eventually include hands-free highway driving through a combination of LiDAR and NVIDIA computing hardware.
The 3 arrives in 2022 and will join a growing EV lineup that includes the long Polestar 5 sedan. How well it fares will depend on factors like pricing and competition from its sibling brand Volvo, but it's clear Polestar is ready to be known as more than a niche brand — even if its sales goals (290,000 per year by 2025) are still modest.
Tesla has started selling the Cyberquad, but it's not the ATV it previewed when it unveiled its electric truck in 2019. No, the Cybersquad you can now buy from the automaker's store is a much smaller version of the vehicle meant kids — and yes, it actually works.
The four-wheel ATV is powered by a lithium-ion battery and will run on electricity like its bigger version. It has 15 miles of range with a configurable top speed of 10mph, a full steel frame, a cushioned seat, adjustable suspension and LED light bars. In other words, it looks like a shrunken down version of a legit ATV.
A small Cyberquad will set you back $1,900 and is expected to start shipping within the next two to four weeks. But before you seriously start considering getting it as a gift for your kid this Christmas, know that Tesla says that orders aren't guaranteed to arrive before the holidays. Also, it's only currently available from Tesla's US shop and can only be shipped to continental United States.
We first saw a glimpse of the Cyberquad (the actual one for for adults) at the Cybertruck event, where it rode onto the back of the truck to show how its adaptive suspension enables easier loading. Musk then confirmed that it will be available for purchase initially as an option for Cybertruck buyers.
BMW M, the famous automaker's subsidiary in charge of high-performance vehicles, has introduced its second standalone model over 40 years after the M1 was first sold to the public. The new vehicle is a plug-in hybrid model called the Concept XM, and it's apparently the most powerful BMW M car to ever go into series production. It will use the company's newly developed M Hybrid drive system that combines a V8 engine with a high-performance electric motor. That will give the vehicle an all-electric range of 80km (50 miles), the capability to make 750 horsepower and to reach peak torque of 1,000 Nm (737 lb-ft).
In addition to being the second-ever pure M model, Concept XM is also the subsidiary's first electrified vehicle in the high-performance segment. That "points the way for the future of the M brand," the company's announcement says, which hints at more electric-powered cars in the future.
It will be the first car to sport BMW's new front-end design, as well. Based on Concept XM's images, BMW's front ends will have split headlights and near-octagonal kidney grills between them bearing the vehicle's logo. The company calls the vehicle's overall design "a highly progressive and distinctive take on BMW X," but not everyone would use those adjectives to describe it — BBC's Top Gear sounds downright disappointed with how it looks. Inside, there's a driver-focused cockpit, brown leather and BMW's curved screen for its infotainment system.
The series production version of the vehicle — the BMW XM — will start production by the end of 2022. It will be manufactured at the BMW Group Plant Spartanburg in the USA and will be available as a plug-in hybrid model only.
Nissan will invest 2 trillion yen ($17.6 billion) over the next five years developing new EVs and battery technology as part of a grand plan it calls "Ambition 2030," the company announced. It aims to release 15 new EVs total by 2030, with electrified vehicles making up half its vehicle lineup at that point.
The automaker said it will develop 23 electrified vehicles in total over the next eight years, with 20 of those coming in the next five years alone. It's shooting for a market mix of 75 percent electrified (EV and e-Power PHEV/hybrids) in Europe, 55 percent in Japan and 40 percent in the US and China by 2030.
The other part of that mix, would presumably be internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. It's worth noting that in early 2021, Nissan said that it planned to electrify every all-new car it launches by the early 2030s. Presumably, then, any ICE vehicles still available would be legacy models.
Nissan will launch EVs with all-solid-state batteries (ASSB) by 2028 and ready a pilot plant in Yokohama as early as 2024, it said. That technology promises benefits like reduced charging times, but has yet to arrive to market as expected. The company also wants to bring the cost of battery packs down to $75 per kWh by 2028 with a reduction to $65 kWh further down the road. That would be about half of what EV batteries cost last year, according to Bloomberg. By 2030, Nissan hopes to be producing 130 GWh of batteries.
The company said it plans to expand its ProPilot driver assistance technology to over 2.5 million Nissan and Infiniti vehicles by 2026. It will also incorporate next-generation LIDAR systems "on virtually every new model by fiscal year 2030."
Nissan
As part of Ambition 2030, Nissan also unveiled no less than four concept cars: the Chill-Out, Surf-Out, Hang-Out and Max-Out. Like most concepts, they're meant to give a taste of Nissan's future technology including self-driving, interior features and just far-out designs. However, Nissan has only shown images of the Chill-Out as a real vehicle, with renders of the other three vehicles.
The Chill-Out (top and above) is a smallish crossover that could be an early preview of the next-generation Leaf, which Nissan previously confirmed would move from a hatch to a crossover style body. It will use the Ariya's CMF-EV platform and e-4orce electric all-wheel drive system, and could arrive by 2025.
Nissan
The Surf-Out, meanwhile, is a small electric single cab pickup with a decent-sized bed and removable canopy. It would come with a dual-motor AWD setup and a variety of power outputs, offering off-road performance, utility power and extended cargo space.
Nissan
Then there's the Hang-Out, which is more like a small camper van/SUV designed to "provide a new way of spending time on the move." It has a completely flat floor and movable, theater-like seats, offering "the comfort of your living room in a mobile space" — something we've seen with other recent EV concepts. It also offers e-4orce and advanced ProPilot features.
Nissan
Finally, the Max-Out is a concept convertible sports car that offers "superlative stability and comfort." Body roll is limited to deliver "dynamic cornering and steering response" to optimize handling and occupant comfort. It's supposedly lightweight with a very low center of gravity, and also offers advanced e-4orce.
Nissan's new plan comes as the company has grappled with internal problems, including the arrest and subsequent flight of former CEO Carlos Ghosn. In the short term, the company plans to cut 300 billion yen ($2.65 billion) in fixed costs and reduce production capacity by 20 percent as part of its "Nissan Next" plan unveiled last year.
Xiaomi only announced its electric car plans in March, but it already has grand ambitions. According to Reuters, the economic development agency Beijing E-Town has confirmed that Xiaomi will build an EV factory in the city capable of producing up to 300,000 vehicles per year. The plant will be built in two phases and should start mass production in 2024.
The company will also set up its EV headquarters, research and sales divisions in Beijing, the agency said. Xiaomi already plans to use its retail stores to help sell cars.
There are still many unknowns for Xiaomi's car strategy, including the initial models and international expansion. The successful tech brand expects to invest the equivalent of $10 billion in the EV division over 10 years, but hasn't shared much detail beyond that. The Beijing factory says more — it suggests Xiaomi intends to become a mainstream (if initially small) EV manufacturer that competes not just with Chinese rivals like Nio and Xpeng, but significant foreign automakers like Tesla.
When Spotify announced its stripped down Car View mode in 2019, it seemed like a smart way to prevent drivers from being distracted on the road. Whenever you connected to your car over Bluetooth, it would remove extraneous elements like menu buttons and album art. Instead, it gave you large buttons to pause and play music; jump to the previous or next track; or like a specific song. Nifty! But hope you didn't get too attached, as Spotify has confirmed it's "retiring" the feature, according to a recent support thread (via Android Police).
A Spotify moderator, who was replying to a user who noticed the feature had disappeared from his Android app, noted that Spotify is "actively exploring a variety of new ways to deliver the best in-car listening experience." They added that removing car view is necessary to "make way for new innovations." That's reasonable enough, though it doesn't excuse dumping a genuinely useful safety feature without a clear replacement.
The moderator suggested using Google Assistant (or Siri on iOS) to control Spotify hands-free, something that would also work while navigating with Google or Apple Maps. And, to be fair, that's how many people (including myself) end up controlling tunes on the road.
It could be that Spotify is de-prioritizing Car View simply because there are so many other ways to handle music playback in cars. If you've got a modern car with CarPlay or Android Auto support, you'll only be interacting with your in-dash display and will never see Car View in action. Many vehicles made in the last decade also have some sort of media control on their steering wheels.
Billy Steele/Engadget
Of course, there's a more nefarious objective, as some Spotify users mentioned in the forum thread. It could be that the company is trying to push people towards Car Thing, its $80 display accessory. We found it to be a useful upgrade for older cars, but it also seemed superfluous when you could just mount your phone and control Spotify directly. Without Car View mode, though, that strange gadget all of a sudden seems more helpful. In cases like this, though, the simplest explanation usually comes down to companies realizing certain features aren't being used much.
We've reached out to Spotify for a full explanation about Car View's retirement, and will update when we hear back.
Like other automakers, Renault has been known to play the nostalgia card with iconic models like the 5 reimagined as a modern EV. However, the company is taking that to a whole 'nother level with the Air4, a literal flying car version of the cult Renault 4 hatchback.
Renault teamed up with Miami design firm TheArsenale to create a human-sized drone with an updated version of the 4 sitting on top. The concept marks the 60th anniversary of the Renault 4 and aims to show where the brand might be 60 years down the road. "AIR4 is a symbol of independence and freedom, born out of the realization that traffic is compounding, lives are grinding to a halt, and the world above us is unhampered," Renault wrote.
The body is built entirely out of carbon fiber and carries a 22,000 mAh battery (with no voltage given) that puts out 90,000 mAh of total power. Thrust is given as 95 kg, or 209 pounds per propeller, for a total lifting capacity of around 840 pounds.
Renault
The driver enters by lifting the entire body from the front to enter an interior Renault describes as "utilitarian." It can take off at 31 MPH (currently limited to 9 MPH) and fly around at speeds of up to 58 MPH. It did briefly fly (above), but is now slated to go on display at the Atelier Renault museum in Paris and elsewhere around the world (Miami, New York and Macau) in 2022.
Renault once called the 4 (also known as the 4L or "quatrelle") a "blue jeans" car, and it launched in 1961 with a 603cc engine as a fun, cheap-to-operate vehicle. It sold more than 8 million models over 30 years across 100 countries, with the last version produced in 1992. Renault announced plans to revive that model as the Renault 4ever EV in 2025, so the Air4 might give some clues to its final design.... or not.
The first electric Hummers will be making their way to their new owners this holiday season. According to Autoblog, GMC boss Duncan Aldred has announced that deliveries of the Hummer Edition 1 — the all-electric truck variant that'll set buyers back over $112,000 — begin in December. The conference has also revealed that Edition 1 has an EPA range of 329 miles, a bit lower than the 350-mile range the automaker was originally expecting.
GMC's four-ton electric truck has 1,000 horsepower and 11,500 ft/lb of torque generated by its three motors, giving it the capability to get from zero to 60 miles-per-hour within 3 seconds. The truck can also tow up 7,500 pounds and can carry up to 1,300 pounds. It was built on the Ultium battery pack, the platform GM developed to electrify dozens of models across its brands in the coming years.
When it starts shipping out next month, the Edition 1 Hummer EV will become of the first electric trucks in the market along with Rivian's R1T. Tesla is also working on the electric Cybertruck, but the company delayed its release to 2022 in August. Autoblog says more than 80 percent of the reservations for the Hummer EV is for the Edition 1, but other versions of the electrified vehicle are still arriving in 2023. Some of those EVs will cost less and have longer ranges. GMC will also start deliveries for the SUV version of the Hummer EV in 2023.
