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April 2020 COVER STORY

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How do new electric offerings from Kia and Nissan stack up against the Tesla Model 3?

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Tests & Drives 30 Green Is Good Acura NSX vs. BMW i8 vs. Lexus LC 500h vs. Polestar 1 Yes, it’s possible. These cars prove ‘hybrid fun’ is not an oxymoron. Christian Seabaugh

ON THE COVER Super Hybrids Do these fuel sippers have what it takes to be green and fun to drive?

42 Free-Range EVs Kia Niro Electric vs. Nissan Leaf Plus SL vs. Tesla Model 3 What if your affordable EV also has to be your only car? Kim Reynolds 54 Gas vs. Electric Hyundai Kona 1.6T vs. Hyundai Kona Electric We drive two Hyundai Konas, identical except for what’s dramatically different under the hood. Which is the better experience? Christian Seabaugh

60 Electric Rodeo New-Gen Trucks Rounding up all the electric pickups coming our way. Frank Markus 68 Drifting the Taycan ... in Finland 2020 Porsche Taycan S Well, someone had to make sure Porsche’s first electric sports car is up to every task. Alisa Priddle 74 Moment of Clarity 2019 Honda Clarity PHEV With the Chevrolet Volt discontinued, Honda’s PHEV has an opportunity to shine. Kelly Lin

30 EST. 1949 VOL. 72 NO. 4

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MotorTrend (ISSN 0027-2094) April 2020, Vol. 72, No. 4. Published monthly by TEN: Publishing Media, LLC, 275 Madison Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10016. Copyright© 2020 by TEN: Publishing Media, LLC; All rights reserved. Periodicals Postage Paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. Subscriptions: U.S. and U.S. Possessions $18 for 12 issues. Canada $30 per year and international orders $42 per year (including surface mail postage). Payment in advance, U.S. funds only. Postmaster: Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 707.4.12.5); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: send address corrections to: MotorTrend, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235.

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The 2020 installment of CES showcased some brilliant examples of automotive tech, such as the Vision-S from Sony (yes, that Sony).

Departments 14 Reference Mark Wait, where’s Ed? 16 Intake This month’s hot metal 26 Technologue Science will find a way to zero-carbon transportation 28 Interview Robert “RJ” Scaringe, CEO, Rivian 86 The Big Picture There’s no silver bullet when it comes to driving green

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MTGARAGE Arrival Kia Soul Updates Genesis G70 • Mazda3 Ram 1500 Verdicts Ford F-150 • Honda Civic Type R

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NEWS I OPINION I GOSSIP I STUFF

Mark Rechtin

Reference Mark

@markrechtin

T

here has not been a coup d’état. But if you happen to have noticed a change in the MotorTrend masthead, I am the new editor-in-chief. But I am not new to these pages, having served as executive editor for the past three-plus years and implementing our editorial mission shoulder to shoulder with Ed Loh. So where’s Ed? He’s still very much at the head of the ship, enjoying the executive fridge and the other perks that come with being promoted to head of editorial for the entirety of MotorTrend Group. All 22 titles under our corporate aegis now fall under Ed’s purview—from Automobile to Super Street and Hot Rod to FourWheeler. Rest assured, Ed will still be a presence here. He retains an editor-at-large title, and he will appear from time to time to collaborate on major MT events, including Best Driver’s Car and Car of the Year. Although we all hope he will grant us his byline from time to time, when you are overseeing 22 publications, there aren’t a lot of hours left to drive Corvettes and Porsches up Route 198. We all wish him well in his promotion to master of the realm. As for me, before I joined MotorTrend, I was the cars team leader for Consumer Reports, and for the 20 years before that, I was a writer and editor for Automotive News—collecting a few investigative reporting and industry analysis awards along the way. But underneath the thick skin of a business reporter lies the soul of a petrol-sniffing, knuckle-busting, throttle-flooring motoring enthusiast. I’ve evaluated more than 2,500 cars, trucks, SUVs, and motorcycles in my career. My wife and I have raised a Ducati 900SS and 748 Monoposto, two BMW 3 sedans (E30 and F30), four Volvo bricks, a 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera, and a rust-bitten 1974 Alfa Romeo Spider. I resurrected a Datsun 240Z from a junkyard then sold it to a former boss (revenge is a dish best served carbureted), who drove it around Mexico for many inexplicable years. I had a piece of crashed Formula 1 carbon fiber whizz a foot over my head while covering the Phoenix F1 Grand Prix back in the day. I wholeheartedly believe that exhaustive vehicle testing is MotorTrend’s forte, and no one does it as well (or as regularly, or as thoroughly) as we do. We will continue to be at the forefront as information experts, informing our readers of the most important vehicles coming from the world’s automakers, the events surrounding the industry, and the people who make the car business go vroom vroom. We’re going to break the news and sometimes even make the news. And we’ll be opinionated about it. In my time at MT, I have become accustomed to the wrestling over how much we write about lottery-fantasy 14 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

vehicles as opposed to yet another comparison test of routine but vital mall-crawling SUVs. There will be spirited debates as to how much we cover electrified vehicles (as in this issue) versus wallet-friendly crossovers or old-school, tire-shredding, big-displacement muscle cars. And there will be a smattering of automotive eccentricities, because cars are fun, damn it. That sort of variety is what makes the job challenging, because we write about motor trends. It’s right there in our name. Journalism’s purpose is to illuminate what’s important as well as what’s popular. As a writer and editor, my goal is to honor the MT reader’s intelligence, devotion, and curiosity when we write about all things automotive. For the same reason I believe it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow, I value writing that challenges precepts and turns conventional wisdom on its ear. We will pursue “Wait, what?” stories and narratives that unearth unimagined aspects of the car business. There’s a long-standing saying in journalism: “Everybody needs an editor.” In my case, I’ll have a million of you in that role. Reach out to me via Twitter @MarkRechtin (mind that you don’t trip over the soccer talk), or shoot an email to MotorTrend@MotorTrend.com. Let us know how we’re doing. Q

Meet the mature, buttoned-down new editor-in-chief of MotorTrend.



NEWS I OPINION I GOSSIP I STUFF

Trend 4.20

The Best Cars of CES W

ith the Detroit auto show bumped to June, CES 2020 might have been the most autoheavy iteration of the consumer electronics– focused show in its history. We saw not only tons of automotive gadgets, innovations, and technologies—you can check out our coverage of those online—but also actual cars, and perhaps more of them than you might expect. Heavy hitters like Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and Honda showed off fancy wheels, but the vehicles most grounded in reality came from lesser known names like Fisker, Byton, and Sony (yes, that Sony). For all the details, check out our rundown of the visionary CES cars you need to know about.

WORDS MOTORTREND STAFF

Audi AI:ME

Byton M-Byte Byton wants you to think of its new M-Byte electric crossover as “the world’s first smart device on wheels.” It’s a corny tagline inspired by tons of research indicating that customers are starting to value connectivity over traditional automotive characteristics, and it’s a main reason this thing has a 48-inch(!) interior screen. Multiple modems and antennas allow for serious bandwidth when exploiting Byton’s shopping and entertainment partnerships. When you’re not playing (but also not driving), the screen allows for video conferencing with screen sharing. It’ll be controlled by hard buttons, gestures, voice control, and touchscreens on the center console and steering wheel—the latter of which remains upright while the wheel rotates around it. Although the M-Byte isn’t selfdriving yet, it’s loaded with a full suite of Level 2 advanced driving aids and the ability to be upgraded to Levels 3 and 4 in the future. (Level 5 is full self-driving with no steering wheel at all.) However it’s driven, it’ll go 250 to 325 miles on a charge, depending on battery size, and cost between $45,000 and $70,000 when it goes on sale next year. 16 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

First shown at the 2019 Shanghai auto show, the AI:ME made an appearance at CES 2020. It’s an autonomous car that places the focus on its occupants’ relaxation. Without being distracted by driving, occupants can enjoy VR goggles and plants growing on the headliner. A Level 4 self-driving car, it still packs a steering wheel and pedals, so you’re welcome to fill your spiritual bucket with good ol’ driving, too. Really, it’s designed for commutes and running errands where you’ll never break 45 mph and not travel long distances, so Audi saved weight by limiting the battery to 65 kW-hr and the motor to just 167 hp. LED light matrices around the exterior can provide illumination or act as projectors, shooting symbols and words onto the road to inform pedestrians of the car’s intentions. Inside, surfaces light up only when you need them, and the seating will be reconfigurable to allow you to create more room for cargo, relaxation, or productivity as needed.

Fiat Centoventi The Centoventi first appeared last March to celebrate Fiat’s 120th birthday (centoventi means 120), and it’s one of the coolest concepts we’ve seen in years. A production version would be painted just one color from the factory, the modular battery pack is upgradeable after purchase, and owners can customize their cars with tons of accessories or colored body panels. A standard 60-mile battery can be augmented by renting or buying up to four additional pop-in battery packs (three under the car, one under the driver’s seat) for up to 300 miles of range. The extra packs could be rented for trips, and the driver’s seat one can be popped out at your destination and charged indoors. Also swappable: the bumpers, wheel covers, and roof, complemented by body wraps for other panels. Inside, a mesh panel on the dash lets you plug in any number of accessories. The front passenger seat—made from antimicrobial recycled yarn—is designed to be removed and replaced with a child seat, pet carrier, or storage compartment.


Fisker Ocean

Hyundai Mobis M-Vision S

Boutique alternative-fuel carmaker Fisker has unveiled its firstever fully electric SUV. The compact model has mass-production aspirations and an overtly environmentally conscious vibe. Roughly the size of a Chevrolet Equinox, it rides on a new EV platform with a roughly 80-kW-hr battery capable of 250 to 300 miles of range. A rooftop solar panel is claimed to add up to 1,000 miles of driving range over the course of a year (color us skeptical). Fisker claims the standard two-wheel-drive model will have 300 hp, and a performance all-wheel-drive model with more power will hit 60 mph in 2.9 seconds. Inside, the interior is mostly made of recycled materials. Its party piece is a 16.0-inch center screen, matched with a 9.8-inch screen for the instrument cluster and a head-up display. Another neat feature: the ability to lower every piece of glass save the windshield. It’s promised to start at $37,499 when it goes on sale in 2022, but you can put down a $250 deposit today if you’re so inclined, or wait and lease it at $379 per month with $2,999 down.

Hyundai’s in-house Tier I parts supplier Hyundai Mobis ginned up an autonomous transportation pod concept that can, in a pinch, be manually driven. This M-Vision S is also a real communicator—both to occupants inside and pedestrians outside the car. Different colored lighting, sounds, digital signboards, and headlamps that project images and words on the ground all help the M-Vision S communicate the vehicle’s intentions to the outside world, especially when it’s being manually driven. Doing so moves the driver’s seat into position and disgorges a handlebar steering system from the dash. Most of the time, though, the computer will do the driving while you work or play with the screens inside the vehicle, all of which are controlled by gestures. As you might expect, a digital assistant recognizes you with a facial scan, links automatically to your phone, and suggests vehicle functions based on everything from your calendar to your mood.

Mercedes-Benz Vision AVTR

Honda Augmented Driving Concept This cute little roofless thing is an autonomous vehicle that lets you pretend to drive—though it won’t let you get yourself into trouble. It won’t remind you too much of driving in the good old days because there are no pedals: You push forward on the steering wheel to accelerate and pull back to decelerate or brake. You can also pass the steering wheel from left to right to swap “drivers” while in motion. In autonomous driving mode, swiping across the steering wheel will initiate a lane change. The fully encased wheels are a question mark, though a video Honda produced shows the car with normal tires. Although the car recalls the adorable Honda E, it wasn’t designed by the same person.

The Vision AVTR is inspired by and linked to the Avatar movie franchise, which is getting a second installment 12 years after everyone stopped talking about the first one. Mercedes hitched its wagen to this star because the movies touch on sustainability, environmental preservation, and a connection between human and machine, the exact themes designers toyed with when dreaming up the AVTR concept. The car is controlled by a big nub on the center console that works like a joystick. There are no buttons or even screens for you to poke. Everything is projected onto the dash and center console from the ceiling and manipulated by a virtual controller projected onto the palm of your hand and activated by gesture controls. The “wheels” have a skinny contact patch to minimize their footprint but can tilt onto their convex sides and allow the car to crab walk, if you needed to for some reason. More conventionally, a compostable organic cell chemistry battery gives the car a 400-mile range.

← Sony Vision-S The biggest surprise at CES was that Sony displayed a car, a battery-electric vehicle called the Vision-S. Don’t expect it to go into production, though. It’s really a showcase for Sony technologies with an automotive application, like solid-state lidar and CMOS imaging sensors. In total, 33 sensors ring the vehicle to provide the data needed for autonomous driving. While the tech takes the wheel, passengers are treated to a front and individual rear displays paired with Sony’s 360 Reality Audio sound system. Sony didn’t provide technical specs of any kind. We know it’s an EV, but that’s about it. APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 17


NEWS I OPINION I GOSSIP I STUFF

Future Car Tech from CES Once known as the Consumer Electronics Show but now exclusively referred to as CES, the huge annual technology showcase in Las Vegas is increasingly becoming the home of concept cars and automotive tech coming to your future vehicle sooner than you think.

The Smart Sun Visor Invented in 1924, the traditional sun visor still blocks more view than it does sun. Bosch’s Virtual Visor reimagines the concept by using an occupant-monitoring camera to locate the eyes and identify shadows on the face. Then artificial intelligence directs segments of an LCD screen to darken, shading only the area around the driver’s eyes and tracking their position as the head or vehicle move relative to the sun. Visibility through the visor is thereby improved by some 90 percent while the rest of the visor retains the transparency of a pair of polarized sunglasses. Watch for it in three to five years.

Hyundai Partners With Uber to Develop Air Taxi Flying cars? Nah. Hyundai says the wave of the future is a flying Uber—and the South Korean chaebol is going to build them. Hyundai revealed a mockup of its Personal Air Vehicle (PAV), the S-A1. Hyundai’s creation employs VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing)—it takes off vertically then tilts its rotors to take wing like an airplane. When it reaches its destination, it transitions back to vertical flight for a helicopter-like landing. Like a drone, 18 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

the SA-1 will be all-electric and will use multiple rotors, quelling noise and providing redundancy. It has a capacity for four passengers and a pilot, though it’s intended to fly autonomously once technology and regulations allow. Designed for trips of up to 60 miles, it will cruise 1,000 to 2,000 feet above the ground at speeds of up to 180 mph. Should everything go Tango Uniform, the S-A1 has an emergency parachute deployment system.


TREND I 04.20

Wireless Charging Without the Charging Pad Have you noticed that those increasingly ubiquitous Qi wireless charging mats you set your phone on are kind of homely and take up a lot of space? Brooklyn-based startup Yank Technologies proposes replacing said mat with a way to wirelessly charge your phone without needing to place it in a specific spot. The near-field magnetic-resonance technology Yank Technologies employs is similar to what today’s Qi pads use. The charging power is 30 watts (assuming a nominal 12-volt electrical system, that’s a reasonable 2.5-amp recharge rate).

Sunday, June 7 : Summit Motorsports Park, Norwalk, Ohio Monday, June 8 : Montgomery County Fairgrounds, Dayton, Ohio Tuesday, June 9 : Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, Indiana Wednesday, June 10 : World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, St. Louis, Missouri Thursday, June 11 : State Farm Center, Champaign, Illinois Friday, June 12 : Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, Davenport, Iowa FINALE on Saturday, June 13 : Alliant Energy Center, Madison, Wisconsin

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NEWS I OPINION I GOSSIP

Intake 2021 Genesis GV80

Although the body structure is made from high-strength steel, the doors, hood, and tailgate are fashioned from aluminum to lighten the load.

FIRST DRIVE

M

otorTrend was among a handful of foreign press invited to Seoul for the global debut of the Genesis GV80 midsize SUV, which went on sale immediately after in South Korea. It will arrive in North America in the fall, starting at about $48,000. Power comes from a modified version of the new Smartstream 2.5-liter turbofour, adapted for the rear-wheel-drive vehicle. There’s also a new 3.5-liter twinturbo V-6 that appears poised to replace the 3.3-liter turbo V-6 in Genesis’ lineup. In the GV80, they will mate to an eightspeed conventional automatic controlled via a rotary gear selector in the center console. Genesis has no plans to give the GV80 a dual-clutch unit. The new GV80 has an electronically controlled suspension with an integrated road preview function that uses forward-facing cameras and navigation information to scan the road ahead for bumps; once an imperfection is detected, the suspension primes to make it all but imperceptible to the 20 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

occupants. It’s not designed to cross the Rubicon, but the GV80 does have all-wheel drive and a terrain management system with sand, mud, and snow settings for added traction. The system works with the electronic limited-slip differential located at the rear axle. Inside, you’ll find exquisite ash wood trim and quilted leather in a minimalist theme; the few hard buttons and switches reinforce the clean and simple look. Soft materials cover every surface, from the inside of the door handles to the quilted kneepads that line the lower sides of the center console. Genesis says the seats are the most advanced to date. A 14.5-inch, split-screen-capable display sits atop the dashboard. If you don’t like using a touchscreen keyboard, the GV80 has handwriting recognition via a touchpad. The GV80 also comes with road-noise cancellation technology as well as a host of driver assist technologies. On a short drive from Seoul to Incheon and back in the Korean-market 3.0-liter I-6 diesel, the softly sprung steel springs

soaked up bumps. There are no plans for an air suspension, but the springs will be tuned to deliver a more spirited ride for North America. Braking was smooth with no unnecessary biting. It was hard to gauge steering with so much straight-line driving, but it felt well centered and held steady. We found the cabin quiet enough. It wasn’t a cocoon, though; rumble strips on the drive were still evident. This first of three planned Genesis SUVs—the others are the smaller GV70 and a midsize electric SUV—is significant not only through its mere existence but also because it rides on a new, brandspecific platform that will be used for the next G80 midsize sedan. Alisa Priddle SPECS Base Price $48,000 (est) Vehicle Layout Front-engine, RWD/AWD, 5-7-pass, 4-door SUV Engine 2.5L/295hp/315-lb-ft turbo DOHC 16-valve I-4 (est); 3.5L/385-hp/395-lb-ft twin-turbo DOHC 24-valve V-6 (est) Trans 8-speed auto Curb Weight 5,100 lb (mfr) Wheelbase 116.3 in L x W x H 194.7 x 77.8 x 67.5 in 0-60 MPH 6.8 sec (MT est) EPA City/Hwy/Comb Fuel Econ Not yet rated On Sale in U.S. Fall 2020



NEWS I OPINION I GOSSIP

REAR VIEW From the MotorTrend Archive ...

Intake 2021 Kia Optima/K5

T

he fifth generation of the Kia Optima is such a big leap forward in looks and tech that the automaker is considering changing the name to K5, used in all markets outside the U.S. The 2021 K5 is an inch wider, 2.0 inches longer, and 0.8 inch lower than its predecessor. This and its 112.2-inch wheelbase allow for ample room in both the front and rear seats. The new platform provides a stiffer body and chassis in a vehicle that has dropped some weight. It also now offers all-wheel drive. On our drive of early-build Koreanmarket cars, the chassis was extremely forgiving, as evidenced by the car’s ability to handle the country’s myriad speed bumps. The expectation is the suspension will be tightened up for the U.S., though heavy traffic and highway driving limited our handling evaluations. We drove units with the standard 1.6-liter paired with the new eight-speed automatic, a first for Kia. It proved to be a powerful little combo. Acceleration was swift and smooth. Changing drive modes did not produce vastly different experiences with the exception of Sport, which brings an artificially enhanced exhaust

note that turns up the volume noticeably. The upgrade from the old six-speed provided seamless shifting, and the car has a new rotary dial electronic gear shift. The GT, which the U.S. will get later in 2020, will have the high-performance 2.5-liter Smartstream turbocharged engine mated to Kia’s new eight-speed wet dual-clutch automatic. Kia says the GT will go from 0 to 60 mph in about 6.6 seconds. Much care was taken with the interior. The cabin is quiet, with little road noise filtering in. Material choices include very nice wood for the price class. The 12.3-inch instrument cluster has mood themes that vary with the weather. (It’s not known whether the U.S. will get this feature.) The wide infotainment screen is bright and intuitive, and it covers functions from navigation and stereo to heating and cooling controls. An even larger 10.3inch screen is optional, as is an optional 8.0-inch head-up display. Kia strategically placed USB and power outlets near the wireless charging pad up front, and there are more outlets for the rear passengers. On the K5, a smartphone and app can act as a digital key to start the engine, unlock and open the vehicle, and even autonomously pull the car out of a tight parking spot. Alisa Priddle SPECS Base Price $25,000 (est) Vehicle Layout Front-engine, FWD/AWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan Engine 1.6L/177-hp/195lb-ft turbocharged DOHC 16-valve I-4; 2.5L/290-hp/310-lb-ft turbocharged DOHC 16-valve I-4 Transmission 8-speed auto; 8-speed twin-clutch auto Curb Weight 3,300 lb (mfr) Wheelbase 112.2 in L x W x H 192.9 x 74.2 x 56.7 in 0-60 MPH 6.6-8.2 sec (MT est) EPA City/Hwy/Comb Fuel Econ Not yet rated On Sale in U.S. Fall 2020

22 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

50

Pantera. We joined a Ford engineer, stylist, and product APRIL 1970 planner in Italy at PRICE: $0.50 the Ghia design April 1970’s cover studio to look was dedicated to at the progress auto show coverage, being made on but to the modern the Ford-powered eye there were far Italian supercar. more interesting The Pantera would stories inside. Our go into production pick? Our first look at the following year, what would become with 7,000 built the De Tomaso from 1971 to 1992.

30

10

If you love performance cars, we bet you’d have liked this issue. Our feature story for the month was a review of every variant of the 1990 Corvette. Unsurprisingly, our favorite was the 375-horsepower Corvette ZR-1, which was described to us by its chief engineer, Dave McLellan, as “a Corvette, only more so.”

“Buick is back!” we declared rather prematurely in April 2010. In our defense, with new product in the form of the Lexusfighting LaCrosse and both the Regal Turbo and the Regal GS, it sure seemed like Buick was on the right track. Unfortunately, a decade later, with the recent discontinuation of the Regal line, it seems like we’re back where we started.

APRIL 1990 PRICE: $2.95

APRIL 2010 PRICE: $4.99



NEWS I OPINION I GOSSIP

TREND I 04.20

Intake

MIKE CONNOR

PHOTOS WILLIAM WALKER

MT CONFIDENTIAL The last Jaguar XJ sedan powered by internal combustion rolled off the assembly line at JLR’s Castle Bromwich

FIRST TEST

2020 Nissan Sentra SR

T

he 2020 Sentra rides on a new platform that’s 2 inches lower and wider, features a new multilink rear suspension in place of the old torsion beam, and has a new electric power steering rack engineered to improve ride quality and handling performance. There are now just three trim levels: S, SV, and SR, with the latter two available with premium packages. Prices creep up a hair, with the Sentra S starting at $20,015, the SV starting at $21,195, and the SR starting at $22,355. Fully loaded Sentras should top out around $25,000. Whereas the old Sentra wheezed, groaned, and floated down the road, the 2020 model feels solid, competent, and quite nice to drive. The biggest improvement is in ride quality and body control. The Sentra’s ride is compliant yet firm, with minimal body roll. It’s not exactly sporty, but it tracks straight and has decent feel from its slightly overboosted but otherwise improved steering. Nissan’s four-pot is nowhere near segment-leading in power, but for most buyers it’ll get the job done just fine. It’s relatively smooth off the line and makes power consistently throughout its rev band—though it surges somewhat in heavy

stop-and-go traffic. The Sentra’s CVT does its best to convince you it’s a real automatic when you stomp on the gas, faking a whole bunch of shifts before eventually giving in and holding rpm steady. Our 2020 SR tester’s 8.0-second 0–60 time is right in the mix with key competitors—a second slower than the Civic EX but 0.2 quicker than the Corolla XSE. Although the Sentra’s best 60–0 braking performance of 114 feet beat the Civic and Corolla, we noted ABS pulses in the pedal, generous dive, and inconsistent performance over four tests. The real surprise was how the 2020 Sentra presented itself on the figure eight. With a time of 27.0 seconds at 0.63 g, the Sentra SR split the difference between the Civic’s two engine options but handily beat the Corolla. The cabin is a nice place to be, especially if you’ve opted for a premium package ($2,170 extra on the SR.) This adds orange accents throughout the SR’s interior. Material quality is significantly improved. The cabin is also relatively spacious. The front buckets are comfortable, and both occupants will have an easy time finding outlets and cubbies. Passengers in back get adult-friendly seats and a USB outlet. Christian Seabaugh and Zach Gale SPECS Base Price $22,355 As Tested $25,325 Vehicle Layout Front-engine, FWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan Engine 2.0L/149-hp/146-lb-ft DOHC 16-valve I-4 Trans Cont variable auto Curb Weight 3,104 lb (61/39%) Wheelbase 106.8 in L x W x H 182.7 x 71.5 x 57.0 in 0-60 MPH 8.0 sec Quarter Mile 16.2 sec @ 87.8 mph Braking, 60-0 MPH 114 ft Lateral Acceleration 0.89 g (avg) MT Figure Eight 27.0 sec @ 0.63 g (avg) EPA City/Hwy/Comb Fuel Econ 28/37/32 mpg Energy Cons, City/Hwy 120/91 kW-hr/100 miles CO2 Emissions, Comb 0.62 lb/mile On Sale in U.S. Currently

24 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

plant in the U.K. last July, ending 51 years of continuous production of the iconic nameplate. The XJ isn’t going away, though: JLR is deep into durability testing of the all-electric XJ, scheduled to make its public appearance later this year. Sources in Gaydon say the electric XJ will be a more conventionally styled car than the groundbreaking I-Pace, though it will have a large rear hatch instead of a trunk. The new XJ won’t share its underpinnings with the I-Pace, either, but will be built on the company’s new Modular Longitudinal Architecture, designed to accommodate mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains in addition to a BEV powertrain. Meanwhile, Porsche is hard

at work on the all-electric Macan, due to appear in 2021. Porsche insiders confirm the current Macan will be sold alongside its redesigned electric sibling for a period, but the intention is to phase out the internal combustion version. By 2025, Porsche’s entry-level SUV will be an EV exclusively. The electric Macan will be built on VW Group’s new PPE premium electric vehicle platform, and like the Taycan, the launch versions are expected to be high-performance models badged Turbo and Turbo S. Less powerful and less expensive versions will follow. Although

Volkswagen’s decision to launch the striking, coupe-styled Arteon in the U.S. is welcome, America’s allergy to wagons means we won’t be getting the best one. That would be the R version of the Arteon Shooting Brake, powered by a 330-hp version of the versatile 2.0-liter turbo-four, with all-wheel drive and a dual-clutch transmission. Ford is

reportedly developing a radical new high-performance Focus RS. Sources in Europe hint the new RS will pack well over 400 hp and have all-wheel drive. But here’s the twist: The rear wheels will apparently be solely powered by an electric motor, the turbocharged mild hybrid combustion engine driving the fronts only. The radical hybrid will have to carry a sizable battery, said to be mounted under the rear floor to improve weight distribution. But it won’t need a heavy and complex all-wheel-drive system, and the motor allows for highly variable torque vectoring strategies. So the handling should be razor sharp.


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NEWS I OPINION I GOSSIP I STUFF

Frank Markus

Technologue Science Will Find a Way to Zero-Carbon Transportation

Light/Personal Vehicles Battery-electric drive will handle the lightest-duty ground-vehicle and shortdistance air-taxi service. Engineering advances underway will greatly increase the volumetric and gravimetric energy density and the inherent safety of the batteries themselves while reducing the time required to recharge them until users find them as convenient to live with as today’s combustion powertrains. IBM very recently announced the discovery of a battery that uses a nickel- and cobalt-free cathode and a highflash-point liquid electrolyte that helps resist formation of the lithium dendrites (spikes) that can form on the cathode during fast charging and cause a short circuit. The three promising new undisclosed materials it uses can reportedly be extracted from seawater. Research is also ongoing into solid-state batteries, and companies like GBatteries are developing ways such as pulse-charging to reduce charging times for all batteries. Larger Ground Transit/Hauling Carrying heavy loads over long distances presents significant challenges to battery power, so fuel cells can take on these tasks. We’ve covered Nikola’s ambitious plans to sell fuel cell–powered semis and to build a network of 700 nationwide refueling stations by 2028. The Toyota Project Portal and Hyundai HDC-6 Neptune are both fuel cell semis, and all are counting on economies of scale to bring down the cost of manufacturing the fuel cells and building out of the infrastructure. For now Nikola is planning to ask $375,000 for its tractor—roughly triple the cost of a comparable diesel rig. All such plans rely on implementation of the H70HF (70 MPa/10,000-psi high-flow) refueling standard due for release this year. Such pumps will dispense fuel at a rate of roughly 310 miles in 5 minutes. 26 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

Ships and Planes Electric power just doesn’t make sense for shipping and air travel, so biofueled combustion will be the best carbon-neutral option. That means biodiesel and derivatives like biojet-A. The U.S. leads the world in annual biodiesel production, at 1.8 billion gallons, most of which comes from chemically reacting a lipid (vegetable oil or animal fat) with an alcohol. Its well-to-wheels (or wings) carbon content doesn’t net to zero yet, however, and even devoting 100 percent of our arable land to its production wouldn’t replace our petro demand. But using algal biodiesel cultivated in tubes might reduce the required land use to the size of Maryland, according to estimates by the Department of Energy. Sadly, the energy required to separate the lipids from these algal cells today can be greater than the energy they contain. But researchers at the University of Utah recently demonstrated a “mixing extractor” that shoots reusable solvent at algae sludge, causing the lipids to attach to the solvent, from which they can easily and quickly be separated. Research is ongoing, so these hurdles will surely prove surmountable. Carbon Neutral Energy In a postFukushima nuclear-averse world, some will fret about where the carbon-free energy will come from to make any of these advances possible. Hydrogen boosters advocate using surplus wind and solar power (after vastly ramping up the capacity of each) to hydrolyze water into oxygen and hydrogen. Meanwhile, the Bill Gates–backed Heliogen startup has just set up a solar mirror farm in the Mojave Desert; it features computeraligned movable mirrors the company says can concentrate enough solar energy to generate up to 2,700-degree heat. (Water dissociates into hydrogen and oxygen without electricity at 2,500.) That’s well above the 1,000-degree temperatures generated by typical solar mirror farms, and it’s hot enough to produce steel. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Let’s hope we muster enough will to utilize our vast engineering know-how. Q

ILLUSTRATION: QUARTA_

W

ith the rest of this issue focused on the auto industry’s small but significant next steps toward reducing the transportation sector’s carbon footprint, I figured I’d zoom out for a big-picture view of the end game: zero-carbon transportation. The concept may sound like the lunatic ravings of a bearded Vermonter in a Rabbit diesel trailing french fry fumes, but it’s a long-term planetary imperative that wise and wealthy visionary venture capitalists are investing heavily in right now.



NEWS I OPINION I GOSSIP I STUFF

Interview

For a more thorough overview of the Rivian R1T electric pickup, check out page 60.

Robert “RJ” Scaringe

CEO, Rivian

ivian, an electric vehicle startup, already has more than 1,800 employees (with 1,000 being added this year) and has raised $3.5 billion to build the R1T electric pickup truck and R1S three-row electric SUV at a mothballed Mitsubishi plant in Normal, Illinois. Rivian will also build an electric SUV for Ford and fulfill a contract for 100,000 electric commercial delivery vans for Amazon Prime. Rivian is led by CEO RJ Scaringe, who splits his time between operations in Michigan, California, and Illinois.

in operating the vehicle. They can be on their phone or reading a book. It requires a robust set of sensors in the vehicle for redundant sources of perception, so multiple cameras, radar, ultrasonics for close range, and two forward-facing lidars so we don’t mistake a white truck for the white sky, and everything is checking itself. There will be a lower sensor set version that provides Level 1+ or Level 2 features. That’s an option. We launch with the full [Level 3] capability.

When do you start production? End of this year, first truck then SUV. We will build pilots in Q3, but the first delivered pickup will be December, with the SUV about three months later. There are efforts to pull that forward, but we’re being realistic.

channel, so we’re not working with dealers. Unfortunately, because of the regulatory environment in the United States, it creates a challenging situation in states like Michigan or Texas. You can view vehicles at Rivian locations, but the purchase will have to take place in a state that allows it.

R

Will you have a dealer network or direct sales like Tesla? It’s a direct sales

How does the plant handle so many different products of varying sizes? The

place was laid out to have a skateboard line (the frame with batteries, suspension, motors, brakes)—one line that does Rivian vehicles, Amazon, and other variants [such as the Ford SUV]. Batteries come from another line and plug into the skateboard. Then we have two [final trim] lines: one for high-content Rivians and one for low-content vehicles for Amazon. Do you have any concerns about building a Ford competitor to your own SUV? No

we don’t. We believe the broad-based movement to electrification is good for everyone. It helps infrastructure challenges and awareness. The products are set up in such a way that maybe there is 5 percent overlap, but they are such different market positions. The Rivian brand is so focused on going after a more adventure-oriented market that we’ve left other markets untouched. The ability for us to go in and touch other markets through another brand is great. What we’re doing with Amazon is a perfect example. We’re able to play in the commercial logistics space, but we’re not doing it in a way that dilutes our brand. 28 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

And for service? We have a unique As you add more Rivian vehicles, how will you name them? It’s relatively simple. R1

refers to our R1 platform. Our next set of products we’ll call R2. It’s a smaller platform. We have a third R1 product that we haven’t announced yet. And we have two R2 products. We’re not going to be saying much about R2 for a while. There’s a lot of momentum on the program internally, but we’re not showing it or talking about it yet. You will launch with Level 3 autonomy?

Rivian’s version of Level 3 operates under a set of geofenced domains: On a highway with limited access, you can remove hands from steering wheel and eyes from road and no longer be the redundant layer

opportunity because every vehicle we sell will be smart. It will be connected; it’ll have robust health diagnostics for predictive maintenance and to assess problems. If it can’t be fixed with remote services, we’ll pick up the car and give you a loaner or do the service on site. If it needs significant work and it is in an area that does not have a service station, that’s where the partner networks that we’re setting up will come into play. Are your vehicles designed to be retail passenger vehicles only or also car-sharing fleets? For Rivian, everything

is for consumers to purchase, but over time we will introduce various modes of sharing. We’re creating subscription models, but they work best once you have all the infrastructure to support that— whether it is service, retail, the logistics of moving vehicles around. It also lends itself to higher levels of autonomy. Will there be Easter eggs in the Rivians for customers to find, like Tesla has? Tons. I’m

working on them. Alisa Priddle


TREND I 4.20 WRITE US AT 831 S. Douglas St. El Segundo, CA 90245 Email us online at MotorTrend.com or send an email direct to MotorTrend@MotorTrend.com

Your Say... More EV Coverage, Please I just received my November issue of MotorTrend and read with interest your review of the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Turbo S. Let me begin by saying I have owned four Porsches and two Tesla Model S’s. My current car is a 2017 Tesla Model S P100D—by leagues the best vehicle I have owned out of 46 other cars in my 74 years, including 11 Mercedes, nine BMWs, and four Porsches. I would not think to quarrel with your praise of the Taycan, but you might as well be comparing a Tesla Model S to a Nissan Leaf. The Taycan Turbo (with a few goodies) is a $180,000 vehicle. The Taycan doesn’t have the range of the Tesla Model S, nor does it have Autopilot, nor will it “refresh” itself as the Tesla does with its frequent downloads. How can you say it’s a competitive vehicle? No doubt the Porsche handles better and looks better than the Tesla, but your review isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. I will be eager to read your review of the vanilla version of the Taycan and see how that stacks up against the Model S. Don’t you find it interesting that the Model S came to market in 2012, and nine model years later no manufacturer has yet to challenge it? Hooray for Porsche. Glen Sondag New York, New York

retirement, but things change. Please send along my gratitude for getting me through my difficult hours.

Reader on location This month’s readers on location are Jim and Casper Revett, of Palm Bay, Florida. Jim says that Casper, his 35-year-old female greater sulphurcrested cockatoo, is a big MotorTrend fan, perching on his shoulder every time he picks up an issue. “I know she would be excited to see her picture in a magazine!” he said. Thanks for reading, guys!

From the MT Family I recently had a seven-day stay in the hospital for cancer. For most of the first three days, I could not sleep. On July 30 and 31, I was able to watch MotorTrend all day and night, where fabricators restore old cars. Those creative individuals were great to learn from and keep my mind off my discomfort. I have many projects at home that I was planning to take care of in my

I have been reading MT since that first issue back in 1949 when I was three months shy of my 12th birthday. My dad, Paul, and his brother, my uncle Joe, were dedicated car buffs and instilled in me the love of all things automotive. Dad brought the first MotorTrend home and started me on the road of MT readership that has endured to this day. My whole life, I have subscribed to or purchased MT except for the two years in the late ’60s when I was a U.S. Air Force C-130 pilot based in Southeast Asia. Thanks, MotorTrend, for creating a lifetime of automotive reading enjoyment. Congratulations on achieving 70 years of publishing Mr. Petersen’s vision. C. Darrell Franklin Mesa, Arizona

Glenna R., Dallas, TX the arrows! Where’s “Love the radar? They tell me every time. A detector without the arrows is like a car without headlights.

Doug Moore Sun City Center, Florida

Ahead

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Although there are some differences between how we review cars with internal combustion engines and their electric counterparts, they have far more in common than you might think. As for an electric MT, well, we think you’re going to like the issue you’re holding, Doug.—Ed.

All the best to you, Henry. No matter how you consume MotorTrend, thanks for being a part of the family.—Ed.

Trust ...V1 earns it one ambush at a time.

You make a great point about range—try as they might, many manufacturers are still struggling to match Tesla.—Ed. The time is now for MotorTrend to write exclusively about EVs. When reviewing an all-electric vehicle, there’s some commonality with their gas counterparts, but when it comes to motors, transmissions, batteries, and charging, everything is totally different. I’d love to know how often a battery would need to be charged in the real world and which EVs are sold in all 50 states. I would like to be one of the first to get a five-year subscription to the new MotorTrend-E magazine.

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COMPARISON I 2020 Acura NSX vs. 2019 BMW i8 vs. 2020 Lexus LC 500h vs. 2020 Polestar 1

WORDS CHRISTIAN SEABAUGH PHOTOGRAPHY JADE NELSON

I

blame the Prius. I know—the word “hybrid” is enough to make your eyes glaze over. You’re probably even second-guessing your decision to read this article. You’re thinking these will be compromise cars, like getting tofu sausage and a kale shake with your pancakes. But hybrids don’t have to suck. When engineers flip the switch from green to mean, from fuel economy to performance,

30 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

pairing an electric motor—or three—with a gas engine is a recipe for more power, more torque, and more efficiency. What’s not to love? Hybrid race cars have even won the grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans. As the industry makes the inevitable transition to electric cars, hybrids—especially performance hybrids—are the automotive equivalent of breakfast for dinner. They may be more complicated

and heavier than gas-only sports cars, but they’re also charming in their own right. So we gathered up the four sport hybrids with the most performance potential to see which is best. Each, as you’ll soon see, has a unique approach to the electrification equation. The 2020 Acura NSX, 2019 BMW i8 Coupe, 2020 Lexus LC 500h, and 2020 Polestar 1 currently represent the


COMPARISON

Green is good

YES, IT’S POSSIBLE. THESE FOUR CARS PROVE ‘HYBRID FUN’ IS NOT AN OXYMORON. pinnacle of performance hybrids and automotive complexity. Are they pricey? Absolutely. But so is any high-end sports car or grand tourer. Together these four cars share four turbochargers, a supercharger, 19 cylinders, eight transmissions, and nine electric motors. They average 479 horsepower, 496 lb-ft of torque, a 4.0-second

0–60 run, and a combined fuel economy of 46 mpg. Although I appreciate numbers, they tell just half of the story. Only driving these cars back to back can tell us which one offers the best experience and whether any can hold a candle to the longstanding truth of displacement-based horsepower machines.

To find out, we took these four sports cars on our favorite—and wildfire-scarred—driving roads that swerve and dip in the hills above Malibu, then to the test track. Do hybrids represent a potential long-term powertrain solution, or are they merely a brief waypoint on our route to an all-electric future? We’re about to find out. APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 31


Cramped packaging is appropriate for a two-seat sports car, but we have a hard time looking past its design, which looks like it’s been yanked from a 5-year-old Acura MDX.

Acura NSX

The Lexus LC 500h is the least expensive car here, but its cabin feels the most luxurious (so long as you avoid Lexus’ terrible infotainment system).

Lexus LC 500h

ON THE FACE OF IT, THE LC 500h HAS A LOT TO OFFER. ITS CLASSIC COUPE PROFILE IS ABSOLUTELY STUNNING.

32 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

Fourth Place: 2020 Lexus LC 500h A Head Start Squandered By all accounts, Lexus—and parent company Toyota—ought to be building the best hybrids in the world. Toyota was first to come to market with a mass-produced hybrid, the 1997 Prius in Japan. What followed were fuel economy theories shattered and millions of Priuses sold. Nearly every Toyota or Lexus model now offers the company’s vaunted Hybrid Synergy Drive. Even by the middle of the last decade, with everyone else also offering a hybrid, the Prius alone still accounted for more than 40 percent of the hybrid market share in the United States. That long history of hybrid know-how and sales success primed us with anticipation for the 2020 Lexus LC 500h—and it would help explain our disappointment with it, as well. Quite simply, we want more.


We wish the BMW i8 followed in the i3’s path with recycled textiles, open-pore wood, and hemp cloth. As it sits, the i8’s cabin looks pretty boring.

BMW i8

We find no fault with the Polestar 1’s interior design or quality, but it doesn’t feel like it’s worth $150,000; you can get almost the same cabin on a $50,000 S90.

Polestar 1 On the face of it, the LC 500h, Lexus’ flagship hybrid, has a lot to offer. For starters, its classic long-hood, short-deck, rear-drive coupe profile is absolutely stunning. Even in our tester’s dull Atomic Silver, the LC’s taut, sweeping sheetmetal is arguably one of the prettiest designs to come out of Japan in the past decade. The cabin is even better. “Holy cow, does it punch above its weight,” associate

online editor Stefan Ogbac said. “I’d even argue that it deserves to be a pricier car.” Featuring a beautiful mix of colors, textures, and materials—and ignoring its dumpster fire (but finally CarPlayfriendly) infotainment system—the LC 500h is the clear bargain of this quartet at its as-tested price of $100,605. Unfortunately, the LC 500h’s powertrain isn’t as thoughtfully integrated as

its design. One of two traditional hybrids here, the Lexus uses a Hybrid Synergy Drive–derived system that works like this: Power from the corporate 3.5-liter V-6 gets combined with that of two electric motors in an e-CVT. It then flows through a four-speed automatic, with the whole thing supposedly programmed to provide the feel of 10 traditional gear ratios. A little 1-kW-hr lithium-ion battery pack mounted between the rear seats and trunk backs up the system. Total output is 354 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque, and combined EPA fuel economy is 30 mpg. The Lexus is at its best when you don’t ask much of it. When slicing through traffic around town or on the highway, the LC’s dance between engine and motor and through all that complex gearing is relatively unobtrusive. The car feels quick and nimble, with light, natural steering and relaxed ride quality. Sadly, “EV mode” APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 33


is a joke, only working up to about 15 mph with a feathered throttle. Open it up on a built-to-thrill road, and the LC falls apart quicker than my last woodworking project. Ignoring the shrill soundtrack piped into the cabin in Sport+ mode, it seems like none of the LC’s powerplants or transmissions like being paired with one another. The main electric drive motor is underpowered and thus unable to make up for the V-6’s complete lack of low-end torque. The LC’s transmission is also overcomplicated; one senses conflict between

The Lexus LFA lives on in the details in the LC 500h; the drive mode control stalk mounted on top of the instrument cluster (left) is one example.

the surging of the e-CVT and the rough clunks of the four-speed planetary automatic as you attempt to build up a decent pace on a good road. The Lexus’ chassis and suspension tuning can’t keep up, either. “As soon as we started charging up the hill, the chassis and driveline fell to pieces,” road test editor (and very fast man) Chris Walton said. “Understeer in this corner, oversteer in that one. There was absolutely no

chance of keeping up with the NSX or i8 in front of me.” Ultimately the LC, as my dad was always fond of saying, is all show and no go. The potential for a great sports car is there (the V-8 LC 500 proves it), but the LC 500h will never get there with this hybrid system. Although Lexus has squandered its early lead in hybrid technology, it thankfully has lots it can learn from our top three finishers.

ENJOY THE BMW i8 WHILE YOU CAN; DEALERS WILL STOP SELLING IT THIS YEAR.

3rd Place: 2019 BMW i8 Coupe Weird for Weird’s Sake It’s hard to believe, but BMW deserves the lion’s share of the credit for establishing this segment. Its i8, when it launched in 2014, was the first car that answered the question of what a performance hybrid would (or should) look like. Space age, it turns out. Even five years after its debut, the carbon-fiber-bodied i8 looks simultaneously modern and 34 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

futuristic (though who knew the future is full of blind spots and high-silled carbon tub and sitting-in-the-bathtub seats?). Underneath the carbon butterfly doors and Formula 1–inspired aerodynamics sits a mid-mounted 1.5-liter turbocharged I-3 (exactly half of BMW’s classic straight-six) bolted to an electric motor and a six-speed automatic transaxle responsible for driving the rear wheels. Up front sits one more electric motor,



COMPARISON I Acura NSX vs. BMW i8 vs. Lexus LC 500h vs. Polestar 1

The BMW i8’s trunk ties for the largest in this comparison. That’s especially impressive considering there’s a turbocharged I-3 sitting in it.

driving the front wheels through a two-speed automatic gearbox. Tying the system together is an 11.6-kW-hr lithium-ion battery mounted between and underneath the front seats to keep the center of gravity low. Updated for 2019 with more battery capacity, EV range, and power, the i8 plug-in hybrid (PHEV)—essentially a hybrid with a bigger battery that you can plug in, allowing for significantly more time spent cruising with the engine off— now sports a total system output of 369 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque. Electric-only range is up to 17 miles before the I-3

36 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

fires up. Its EPA score is a test-best 69 mpg-e (a fuel economy score averaging electricity and gas usage). Although the i8 impressed us when it first hit the streets, our top two finishers prove that more is possible from a performance hybrid. A good mid-engine car is typically well balanced and capable of pushing hard into a corner, settling, and rocketing out quickly. Yet the i8 never really settles down when driven hard. Steering feel is artificial, the chassis firm, the suspension flinty. Combine that with its relatively narrow-profile front tires, and the i8 fights you instead of working with you on a winding road, pushing and clawing for grip in areas where the top two contenders weren’t. The i8’s two motors, two transmissions, and one engine wasn’t our favorite powertrain, either. Although they provided good off-theline torque and zippy performance when dicing through traffic, the i8’s engine and motors don’t deliver the high-end power we expect from a carbonbodied, mid-engine BMW. Instead of complementing each other, the i8’s I-3 and motors all seem to run out of steam at the same time, just north of 60 mph. A close-ratio eight-speed gearbox in back could likely help make more of less, but adding power seems like the far simpler solution. Ultimately, the BMW i8 paved the way for all four of these performance hybrids, but as editor-in-chief Mark Rechtin puts it, the i8’s performance, “while sporty, doesn’t live up to the intergalactic styling of the exterior.” Thankfully, our top two finishers deliver on all promises.


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COMPARISON I Acura NSX vs. BMW i8 vs. Lexus LC 500h vs. Polestar 1

The Polestar 1 reminds you of its electron-motivated rear axle every time you open the trunk.

2nd Place: 2020 Polestar 1 The Future of the GT Is Here In a lot of ways, the Polestar 1 represents the best of what both Lexus and BMW have to offer. Like the Lexus, it’s a beautifully designed and luxurious three-box grand touring coupe. Its design was derived from a 2013 concept by parent brand Volvo, but it’s nevertheless clean, crisp, and modern-looking on the road seven years later. Like the BMW, it’s a super-efficient plug-in hybrid. Unlike the BMW and Lexus, it’s a well-balanced sport tourer with the power and performance credentials to back up its sheetmetal.

38 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

Built almost entirely of carbon fiber to keep its weight down, the Polestar 1 nonetheless packs on the pounds with two battery packs totaling a test-best 34 kW-hr of capacity, a front-mounted super/turbocharged I-4, an eight-speed automatic transmission to transmit power to the front wheels and the batteries, and an electric motor and planetary gearset at each rear wheel. Total system output is 619 hp and 738 lb-ft of torque, with a Polestar-claimed electric-only range of 65 miles. If that number passes muster with the EPA, that’d make the 1 the PHEV with the longest electric-only range on the market. Granted, it’ll set you back $156,500, but look at what you get. It would be fair to say that Volvo has never really been known as a purveyor of sporting cars, but Polestar, Volvo’s performance subbrand (and the face of Volvo and parent company Geely’s new electrification effort), is. It cut its teeth building touring cars starting in the ’90s. And given the Polestar’s weight, we expected the 1 to be a far more capable grand tourer than canyon carver. Yet the Polestar delivers on all fronts.

“I was really hoping it wouldn’t drive like a Volvo, and it doesn’t,” Walton said. “The Öhlins suspension doesn’t do that brittle/crashing thing other Volvo Polestars do, the body motions are very well controlled, and the steering has a bit of heft to it—the good kind.” Although the manually adjustable Öhlins shocks deserve most of the credit for the handling prowess, the twin rear motors help a ton, providing instant torque vectoring that makes the Polestar feel smaller than it is. The Polestar’s powertrain is even more impressive. More so than any other car in the test, the 1 feels like an electric car first and a hybrid second. The rear motors make a combined 232 hp and 354 lb-ft of torque, giving the Polestar plenty of power and battery capacity to get around

We love the ride quality of the Polestar’s Öhlins manually adjustable shocks (right), but you have to put the car on a lift to gain access.


ACURA’S MID-ENGINE HYBRID SUPERCAR HAD THE IMMENSE CHALLENGE OF LIVING UP TO THE CRUSHING REPUTATION OF THE ORIGINAL.

The Acura NSX isn’t the new kid on the block, but its exterior design still makes it a head-turner.

on electrons alone. With the engine on and the Polestar in Power mode, the gas and electric integration is seamless— the motors mask any of the engine’s low-end weakness, and the engine quickly takes over from where the motors leave off. The Polestar’s powerplants pull hard in a straight line, but they really come alive on a switchback-ridden road, where the torque vectoring, instantaneous power delivery, big Akebono brakes, and tremendous grip from the all-wheel-drive system help the 1 dive hard into a corner and claw itself out just as fast. A car that weighs as much as a Jeep Gladiator shouldn’t rotate this quickly, yet the Polestar continually lives up to the brand’s origins as a Volvo race team. Best seats of the bunch, too. So what relegated the Polestar 1 to spot No. 2? Simply put, our No. 1 finisher is a more engaging, dynamic, and thrilling hybrid performance car.

1st Place: 2020 Acura NSX Eureka, Acura Found It! To say the second-gen Acura NSX had a rough start would be an understatement. From 2007 to the time it hit the streets a decade later, the NSX evolved three times as Acura attempted to figure out just what a modern NSX should be. The mid-engine hybrid supercar Honda Motor would end up launching had the immense challenge living up to the crushing reputation of the original. It didn’t help that NSX 2.0 was undertired, prone to plow, and lacked the original’s organic nature. In our 2016 Best Driver’s Car competition, the NSX suffered a disappointing eighthplace finish, as our staff waited for the “Eureka!” of the new-age sports car experience that never came. So how did the 2020 NSX topple the Polestar 1, BMW i8, and Lexus LC 500h? You can thank Acura’s 2019 update for that. Thicker anti-roll bars help cure the car’s tendency to understeer, stickier tires improve grip and steering feel, and a rethink of many of the car’s electronic control systems capture a touch of that sparkle that made the original so special. The changes work hand in hand with the NSX’s unchanged hybrid powertrain. A mid-mounted 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6 paired with an electric motor and nine-speed dual-clutch automatic drive the rear wheels, and up front an electric

motor drives each front wheel. A small 1.3-kW-hr battery between the engine bay and cabin scavenges electricity for the powertrain. Total system output is 573 hp and 476 lb-ft of torque. We had to wait a while for Acura to get the NSX’s ride and handling balance sorted, but that wait was worth it. The NSX’s magnetic shocks help the supercar feel as docile as a Honda Accord around town and as buttoned down as a Civic Type R on a good road. “The suspension is terrific and ‘breathes’ so well,” Walton said. “Docile, compliant, and, even in Race mode, it’s no harsher than a Porsche 911 in Comfort mode.” The Acura also handles better than before, too, with light and precise steering (“McLaren-like,” Walton adds) with none of the pesky plow and lack of feel that the pre-refresh car suffered from. As good as the chassis changes are, the NSX’s powertrain is the star of the show. Despite the immense complexity of ensuring three motors, two turbos, six cylinders, and nine gears play nice with one another, the Acura’s powertrain is nearly organic in its responsiveness. The linear way the NSX delivers power is truly impressive. The Acura’s three motors provide a strong, forceful shove off the line as the turbos whoosh behind your head, building up boost. Just as the electric motors start to wane, the V-6 begins to howl, with the full boost of APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 39


POWERTRAIN/CHASSIS

2020 Acura NSX

2019 BMW i8 Coupe

2020 Lexus LC 500h

DRIVETRAIN LAYOUT

Mid-engine, AWD

Mid-engine, AWD

Front-engine, RWD

ENGINE TYPE

Twin-turbo 75-deg V-6, alum block/heads plus 2 front/ 1 mid electric motors

Turbocharged I-3, alum block/head, plus 1 front/1 mid electric motors

Atkinson-cycle 60-deg V-6, alum block/heads, plus 2 electric motors

VALVETRAIN

DOHC, 4 valves/cyl 213.2 cu in/3,493 cc 10.0:1

DOHC, 4 valves/cyl 91.5 cu in/1,499 cc 9.5:1

DOHC, 4 valves/cyl 210.9 cu in/3,456 cc 13.0:1

POWER (SAE NET)

500 hp @ 6,500 rpm (gas), 2 x 36 hp (front elec), 47 hp (mid elec); 573 hp (comb)

228 @ 5,800 rpm (gas), 141 hp (elec); 369 hp (comb)

295 hp @ 6,600 rpm (gas), 100 hp (elec); 354 hp (comb)

TORQUE (SAE NET)

406 lb-ft @ 2,000 rpm (gas), 2 x 54 lb-ft (front elec), 109 lb-ft (mid elec); 476 lb-ft (comb)

236 lb-ft @ 3,700 rpm (gas), 184 lb-ft (elec); 420 lb-ft (comb)

257 lb-ft @ 4,900 rpm (gas), 150 lb-ft (elec); 350 lb-ft (comb)

REDLINE

7,500 rpm 6.9 lb/hp 1-speed auto (front); 9-speed twin-clutch auto (rear)

6,500 rpm 9.4 lb/hp 2-speed auto (front); 6-speed auto (rear)

6,700 rpm 12.6 lb/hp 4-speed auto + cont variable = 10-speed auto (comb)

3.58:1/2.27:1

0.42:1/2.47:1 (elec front); 3.68:1/2.47:1 (gas rear)

3.36:1/2.18:1

DISPLACEMENT COMPRESSION RATIO

WEIGHT TO POWER TRANSMISSION AXLE/FINAL DRIVE RATIO SUSPENSION, FRONT; REAR

Control arms, coil springs, adj Multilink, coil springs, adj shocks, shocks, anti-roll bar; multilink, coil anti-roll bar; multilink, coil springs, springs, adj shocks, anti-roll bar adj shocks, anti-roll bar

Multilink, coil springs, adj shocks, anti-roll bar; multilink, coil springs, adj shocks, anti-roll bar

STEERING RATIO

11.1-12.9:1 1.9

16.0:1 2.5

9.8-13.6:1 2.5

BRAKES, F; R

14.5-in vented, 2-pc disc; 14.2-in vented, 2-pc disc, ABS

13.4-in vented, drilled, 2-pc disc; 13.0-in vented, drilled, 2-pc disc, ABS

15.7-in vented 2-pc disc; 14.1-in vented disc, ABS

WHEELS, F; R

8.5 x 19-in; 11.0 x 20-in, forged aluminum

7.5 x 20-in; 8.5 x 20-in, cast aluminum

8.5 x 20-in; 9.5 x 20-in, forged aluminum

TIRES, F; R

245/35R19 93Y; 305/30R20 103Y Continental SportContact 6

215/45R20 95W; 245/40R20 99W Bridgestone Potenza S001 (star)

245/45RF20 99Y; 275/40RF20 102Y Bridgestone Turanza T005

WHEELBASE

103.5 in

110.2 in

113.0 in

TRACK, F/R

65.2/63.7 in 176.0 x 76.3 x 47.8 in 39.7 ft 3,930 lb 42/58% 2 38.3/- in 42.8/- in 57.6/- in 3.9 cu ft

64.7/67.8 in 184.9 x 76.5 x 50.8 in 40.4 ft 3,484 lb 48/52% 4 38.7/32.4 in 43.1/28.2 in 56.7/49.6 in 4.7 cu ft

64.2/64.4 in 187.4 x 75.6 x 53.0 in 35.4 ft 4,469 lb 52/48% 4 37.2/32.2 in 42.0/32.5 in 56.5/48.9 in 4.7 cu ft

0-50/0-60

1.2/1.7 sec 2.3/3.0

1.9/2.7 sec 3.5/4.5

1.9/2.7 sec 3.6/4.8

0-70/0-80

3.8/4.8

5.7/7.0

6.5/8.2

0-90/0-100

5.9/7.2

8.5/10.3

10.2/12.7

0-100-0/PASSING, 45-65 MPH

11.0/1.4

14.7/2.0

Not tested/2.6

QUARTER MILE/BRAKING, 60-0 MPH

11.2 sec @ 124.0 mph/101 ft 12.9 sec @ 112.1 mph/111 ft 1.00 g (avg)/23.8 sec @ 0.87 g (avg) 0.93 g (avg)/24.7 sec @ 0.79 g (avg) 1,700 rpm 1,800 rpm

13.6 sec @ 103.3 mph/113 ft 0.90 g (avg)/26.1 sec @ 0.68 g (avg) 1,400 rpm

$159,495/$164,695 Yes/Yes 7: Dual front, side, curtain, driver knee 4 years/50,000 miles

$148,495/$152,195 Yes/Yes 8: Dual front, front side, f/r curtain, front knee 4 years/50,000 miles

$98,535/$100,655 Yes/Yes 8: Dual front, front side, f/r curtain, front knee 4 years/50,000 miles

EPA CITY/HWY/COMB ECON

6 years/70,000 miles; 8 years/100,000 miles 4 years/50,000 miles 15.6 gal/1.3 kW-hr 21/22/21 mpg

4 years/50,000 miles; 8 years/100,000 miles 4 years/Unlimited miles 11.6 gal/11.6 kW-hr 27 mpg/69 mpg-e (comb, gas/gas+elec)

6 years/70,000 miles; 8 years/100,000 miles 4 years/Unlimited miles 22.2 gal/1 kW-hr 27/35/30 mpg

ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY

160/153 kW-hr/100 miles

125/49 kW-hr/100 miles (comb, gas/gas+elec)

125/96 kW-hr/100 miles

CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB

0.90 lb/mile Unleaded premium

0.72/0.28 lb/mi (gas/gas+elec) Unleaded premium, 240V electricity

0.64 lb/mile Unleaded premium

TURNS LOCK TO LOCK

DIMENSIONS

LENGTH X WIDTH X HEIGHT TURNING CIRCLE CURB WEIGHT WEIGHT DIST, F/R SEATING CAPACITY HEADROOM, F/R LEGROOM, F/R SHOULDER ROOM, F/R CARGO VOLUME TEST DATA ACCELERATION TO MPH 0-30/0-40

LATERAL ACCEL/MT FIGURE EIGHT TOP-GEAR REVS @ 60 MPH

CONSUMER INFO BASE/AS TESTED PRICE

STABILITY/TRACTION CONTROL AIRBAGS BASIC WARRANTY POWERTRAIN; HYBRID/ BATTERY WARRANTY ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE FUEL/BATTERY CAPACITY

RECOMMENDED FUEL


2020 Polestar 1

COMPARISON

Front-engine, AWD Turbo- & s’charged I-4, alum block/head, plus 1 front/2 rear electric motors DOHC, 4 valves/cyl 120.2 cu in/1,969 cc 10.3:1 326 hp @ 6,000 rpm (gas), 71 hp (front elec), 2 x 114 hp (rear elec); 619 hp (comb) 384 lb-ft @ 2,600 rpm (gas), 119 lb-ft (front elec), 2 x 177 lb-ft (rear elec); 738 lb-ft (comb) 6,500 rpm 8.3 lb/hp 8-speed auto (front); 1-speed auto (rear) 3.20:1/2.15:1 (front) Control arms, coil springs, adj shocks, anti-roll bar; multilink, transverse leaf spring, adj shocks, anti-roll bar 15.6:1 2.8 15.7-in vented, drilled, 2-pc disc; 15.4-in vented, drilled, 2-pc disc, ABS 9.0 x 21-in; 10.0 x 21-in, forged aluminum 275/30R21 98W; 295/30R21 102W Pirelli P Zero VOL 107.9 in 64.8/65.2 in 180.5 x 77.1 x 53.2 in 37.4 ft 5,155 lb 47/53% 4 38.0/33.3 in 42.0/20.9 in 56.3/49.7 in 4.4 cu ft

1.6/2.3 sec 3.0/3.8 4.7/5.8 7.1/8.4 12.3/1.6 12.0 sec @ 119.1 mph/102 ft 0.98 g (avg)/24.5 sec @ 0.83 g (avg) 1,400 rpm $156,500/$156,500 Yes/Yes 7: Dual front, front side, f/r curtain, driver knee 4 years/50,000 miles

the turbos taking over. Shifts from the close-ratio nine-speed gearbox snap off instantly as the V-6 growls to its 7,500rpm redline, and the whole process begins again. The end result is a tremendously powerful drivetrain that feels, well, naturally aspirated. Aside from the obvious acceleration advantages, the NSX’s motors also make it a better handler. Just as the Polestar’s twin rear motors provide instant torque vectoring, the Acura’s twin front motors do the same, independently distributing power through bends and helping give the NSX a disgusting amount of midcorner grip—providing the driver with a magnificent amount of confidence while pushing the car harder down a back road. Inside, the interior interfaces are beginning to look a bit dated compared to the Polestar’s Volvophile user experience, but ultimately it’s the NSX’s confidence-inspiring performance, combined with the engineering voodoo that turned the Acura’s four separate powerplants into one cohesive team, that helped Team Acura earn its redemption and victory. On nearly every metric, both objective and subjective, the NSX outclasses the Polestar, BMW, and Lexus. It’s quicker, sharper, and sportier than its electrified rivals. Most important, it’s more fun to drive. Although the Acura is the least fuel-efficient car here, the NSX’s seamless powertrain integration ought to provide

a good model for others to follow as we enter a new decade and inch ever closer to an internal combustionless future. Sharp-eyed readers will notice that our order of finishing also matches the field’s escalation in as-tested price. That is coincidental. Our grading in performance, drivability, and livability among our finishers was more about how well the hybrid technology was applied than about optional features and benefits (though the Lexus’ 50 grand discount from the rest of the field is indeed notable). In the case of the NSX, however, the quality of its hybrid technology easily distances it from the rest of the field. If you’d asked any one of us a decade ago if an electrified sports car could ever be as engaging as a gas-powered car, you’d have gotten a resounding no. (Call it the Prius factor.) But as the NSX, Polestar 1, i8, and LC 500h prove, the future doesn’t have to be scary. Or boring. Q

ON NEARLY EVERY METRIC, THE ACURA NSX OUTCLASSES THE COMPETITION.

4 years/50,000 miles; 8 years/100,000 miles 4 years/50,000 miles 15.9 gal/34 kW-hr 65 mpg-e (comb, est) 52 kW-hr/100 miles (comb, est) 0.30 lb/mile (comb, est) Unleaded premium, 240V electricity

APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 41


COMPARISON I Kia Niro Eco Electric vs. Nissan Leaf Plus SL vs. Tesla Model 3

Free-Range WHAT IF YOUR AFFORDABLE EV ALSO HAS TO BE YOUR ONLY CAR?

“W

42 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

Chargeageddon! The good news: People are using Teslas for travel. It’s also sometimes the bad news if you need to stop to use a Supercharger.

PHOTO: STEVEN CONROY

hy are you making this so complicated?” my editor asked. “Remember how superior the Model 3 was over the Nissan Leaf Plus and Kia Niro EV during our Car of the Year testing? The Tesla will easily win this. It’s simple.” He’s right, it wins this. The Tesla is slam-dunk the best driver of these three. But there’s far more to this story than that one angle. In the real world, very little about electric cars is simple. Especially now that affordable ones with bigger batteries and fast charging rates— abetted by stories of a spreading web of Level 3 chargers—are naturally causing folks to rethink whether an EV should be their primary transport. For instance, consider the YouTube video taken by Steven Conroy at the Tesla Supercharger station outside the Madonna Inn along Route 101 between L.A. and San Francisco back during

Thanksgiving’s madhouse travel days. (Search “Steven Conroy Supercharger.”) When Steve shot it, there were at least 16 Teslas waiting to plug in at its 14 permanent chargers (with even more umbilicaled to a giant Megapack battery that Tesla trailered in to feed the flood of demand).

I’m using the example of Chargeageddon to rattle us out of our routine of seeing an EV roundup as just another car-versus-car hardware comparison test. All those Teslas in the video aren’t local-limited secondary commuter cars. They’re wearing the yokes of primary, go-anywhere transportation.

Nissan Leaf Plus SL

Tesla Model 3

$44,695

Standard Range Plus

$42,690


EVs

ChargePoint offers noticeably cheaper rates, but unfortunately this one was dead. Lesson: First check your app to ensure it works.

WORDS KIM REYNOLDS PHOTOS BRANDON LIM

And because they’re battery-electric ones, they’re tightly interwoven with their respective fast charging infrastructures. At no time since the gas crisis of the early ’70s would people endure waiting hours to refuel their cars, so this Supercharger saturation is now a troubling issue for Tesla’s bespoke system. If a Model 3 is your only car, are you willing to put up with this possibility on your next holiday road trip?

Two years ago, we assembled a trio very much like this, featuring 2017’s most incandescent electrics: Tesla’s thenbrand-new Model 3, Nissan’s second-gen Leaf, and that year’s reigning Car of the Year, Chevrolet’s Bolt. As we flip forward 25 calendar pages, our lineup has evolved a bit: The Model 3 is back but in its cheaper (more mainstream) $40,690, 250-mile Standard Range Plus version.

The Leaf returns, as well, now as the Plus SL, with a bigger battery and a critical 65-mile gain in range, bumping it up to 215 miles. But the Bolt—last round’s runner-up— has been benched for the newer and frankly more compelling Kia Niro Eco Electric ($44,045 to start, with 239 miles of range) despite the Chevy’s improved info screen and a battery update of its own that adds 21 miles. I see the cartoon balloon question marks popping up over your attentive heads: Why keep the Leaf Plus with its still-iffy 215 miles and add the Kia but disinvite the newly 259-mile Bolt? The Niro has been waved forward in part due to our already exhaustive exposure to the Chevy—and how quickly it’s being engulfed by the shadow of Ford’s looming Mach-E, the presumptive best of the Detroit electrics. But also—and critical in this setting—there’s the Bolt’s

retention of its once-fast, now-obsolete 55-kW DC Level 3 peak charging rate. That’s molasses compared to the Model 3 Standard Range Plus’ peak of 170 kW at Version 3 Superchargers (with a recent over-the-air update), the Leaf Plus’ 100 kW, and the Niro’s observed 77 kW. (I’ll show you how this impacts real-world recharging on the go later on.) Our biggest struggle last time was vexing over whether the Model 3 could conceivably win, given its big-battery version’s ridiculous $22,585 price premium over the Leaf; it was a merely absurd $16,595 more than the Bolt. Since then, Tesla has released a magic trapdoor beneath its early price penalty, with this Model 3 (still with good range and quick performance) now actually cheaper than its two contemporaries.

Kia Niro Eco Electric

$47,405

APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 43


Our top-trim Leaf Plus SL was overtly festooned with features. It’s a comfortable and nicely finished cabin that loses no interior space to its bigger battery capacity.

Nissan Leaf

The Niro’s more modest interior conceals a raft of features. Although we rarely used the regen-adjusting steering wheel paddles, the rotary shifter is the best of the bunch.

Kia Niro

44 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020


COMPARISON Unbelievably, it’s (as tested) now $2,005 less than the Leaf Plus and undercuts the Niro by an astonishing $4,715. There goes the argument that the traditional, experienced manufacturers are more efficient at building cars. However, electric cars are often a hall of mirrors. Tesla’s federal tax credit is now exhausted. (Way to punish successful first movers!) As such, the Model 3’s as-tested price stays at $42,690. The Kia and Nissan, on the other hand, continue to enjoy the $7,500 tax credit, thus placing the Leaf at $37,195 ($5,495 beneath the Model 3’s

effective price) and the Niro at $39,905 ($2,785 below the Tesla). What you get for these prices are three distinct flavors of automobile. It’s not one of those perplexing ice cream shop choices between hazelnut-almond-rum or coconut-pecan-raisin. This is a much simpler chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry situation.

The Model 3’s interior is Zen-like compared to the other two, and its screen is multiple times larger (though we’re not fans of white seats).

The Leaf Plus is a Tempur-Pedic passenger car, Dad’s Buick in the lithium age, with comfy, settle-in seats to glide Mom to her regular doctor’s appointment with minimal grumbling and a hatch that rises to invite the kids’ hockey gear. The Niro is a fishbowl-windowed compact SUV—as Kia likes to describe it—with a firm (often pitching, even pogoing) ride that pays off with nimble maneuvering in the hands of a 20-something driver’s game-controller reactions. The Model 3 is a low, slinky sport sedan (remember those?) with a trunk and a fancy French-curve profile that slightly compromises rear leg comfort but fabulously amplifies the driving experience. So let’s swing out the Model 3’s flush-surface door levers and tug on the Niro’s and Leaf’s door handles. Which is the best mainstream EV for everyday life?

Tesla Model 3

WHAT YOU GET HERE ARE THREE DISTINCT FLAVORS OF AUTOMOBILE—A SIMPLE VANILLA, STRAWBERRY, AND CHOCOLATE SITUATION. APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 45


The Leaf’s more powerful motor compensates for added weight and benefits higher-speed acceleration. The rear seats are nicely appointed.

3rd Place: 2020 Nissan Leaf Plus First mover, now trailing The Leaf Plus’ easy-driving likability and admirable over-delivering on interior quality make for a melancholy realization that the EV world Nissan once rabbited ahead of has now swept past it. Sure, there are still attributes that trigger approving second glances— ProPilot Assist is equal to a blood pressure pill in de-stressing the rush-hour madhouse. Its lane centering accuracy is the best we’ve seen from a single-camera system (though it still requires periodic corrections). Its one-foot-driving e-Pedal mode sometimes lets you regen to a stop without touching the brake at all, though selecting B mode (heavier regen) requires you to toggle the selector twice. The car’s brake-by-wire system is smart enough to compensate for the temporary absence of regen when the battery is full, by increasing the grip of the friction brakes (though after its emergency braking tests, associate road test editor Erick Ayapana jotted, “Lots of dive, long pedal travel, and typically numb brake

feel”). And its cargo space is the best of the bunch. But there are elephants in the room. Nissan is still clinging to its CHAdeMO-type plug, which is now a real disadvantage (and complicates the lives of other EV drivers) as CCS plugs have won this war. And its battery is cooled by stirred air, which is today’s equivalent of drum brakes or a three-speed automatic. During our day of track testing, road test editor Chris Walton wrote about the Leaf Plus’ figure-eight performance: “Its ABS can trigger emergency braking (where it remains on, even after my foot is not). It’s hard to get it right with so little

pedal feel. Its steering isn’t light, but it has no feel whatsoever. With traction control off, I managed to spin one of the tires on each of the skidpad exits.” As car enthusiasts, we want to know the personality of any car’s performance at its limit. But the Leaf Plus is bred for those who don’t care about such things, who are indifferent to handling nuances and only care about getting to point B. Sadly, the Nissan’s 215-mile range is a Band-Aid two sizes too small. One day, I needed to make a round trip to Palm Springs and minimize my recharging time in order to hurry back. I was happy I was in the Niro and not the Leaf Plus.

THE NISSAN LEAF IS BRED FOR THOSE WHO DON’T CARE ABOUT LIMIT PERFORMANCE OR HANDLING NUANCES.

46 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020


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COMPARISON

The Kia Niro’s EPA-rated range of 239 miles seems conservative. Softfooted drivers likely eke out more.

2nd Place: Kia Niro Eco A quality low-cost EV contender At first encounter, the Niro’s interior seems to be doing a heck of an impersonation of an old Nissan Versa taxicab. It’s so plasticky-predictable that you wonder if it’s cleverly deliberate, a safe haven for first-time EV drivers still fretting that this is one of those “science experiment” cars. You do have to poke around to understand how it could possibly cost $47,405. Using its Monroney as a Rosetta Stone, the mystery is revealed: It came loaded. This EX Premium’s standard features include a power sunroof, ventilated front seats with power lumbar support, a Harman Kardon sound system, navigation, wireless phone charging,

48 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

adaptive cruise control, and strong-willed lane centering. Our car (in California) somehow had the $1,080 Cold Weather package (battery heater and heat pump) and another $1,000 slipped in to honor its being a Launch Edition (including a heated steering wheel—strangely not part of the Cold Weather package). There’s also a total of $280 for carpeted floormats and a cargo mat and net. The Niro EV doesn’t delete all your doubts once the Monroney is folded away, either. “There’s no real-time power reading or display,” said co-evaluator Alec Brooks, an expert on charging and infrastructure (and co-creator of the prototype for GM’s EV1). “Eco mode provides very light regen on accelerator-pedal lift, and its steering wheel paddles have different functionalities in different drive modes—

it’s very confusing! To its credit, there’s a paddle/mode combination that allows pure coasting with no regen. But overall, it’s way too complicated: two paddles, multiple drive modes, tiny indicator on dash showing regen level.” I wrote some testy comments on its at-the-limit performance while at the test track, too: “Its steering is a bit abstract, and it brakes as if by ropes.” After running some laps through our stabilitychallenging lane change test, I added, “It’s the only car today that feels like it’s about to spin. Spooky with stability control off.” Nevertheless, this Niro EV handles normal roads like a happy 6-month-old puppy that keeps jumping at you with affection, even if it occasionally slobbers a little by mistake. If anything, its 239-mile range is excessively conservative (I repeatedly saw over 250), and its EV silkiness and right-pedal responsiveness are a constant contrast with its appearance of an ordinary gasoline car. Often, I found myself glancing at a Tesla next to me on the freeway, wanting to yell, “Hey, this thing’s better than you think it is!” Despite the Leaf’s and Bolt’s huge head starts, the Kia Niro EV is currently the best of the rest.


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SIDEBAR I Anecdotal recharging

The Electric Gas Station: Sampling the infrastructure hereas most automakers’ EVs are part of a larger powertrain portfolio, Tesla only makes electrics. That concentration pushed its engineers into understanding that EVs need to be thought of as a system, not merely as just another car in the lineup. With the charging infrastructure still in its nascent stages, allow me to tell you about the “systems” out there and what you might experience. The smart way to charge is during the day at work, when renewables are often being wasted, said our charging and infrastructure expert Alec Brooks. He noted that in one recent lunchtime hour, 74,000 EVs could have been charged from California’s available but idled solar production. But not everyone has that luxury. Some people need to get around. And I wanted to see where things stand for fast charging

Tesla Model 3

W

Kia Niro

on the go. So we mapped our drive loop to sample a series of fast charging stations clustered in Los Angeles’ South Bay area. Will this loop prove applicable to your life? Perhaps. Maybe not. But it highlights some of the infrastructure flaws that still exist. First stop was a lone 50-kW ChargePoint station in the parking lot of a Torrance public pool. It was dead. My bad: I should have checked my PlugShare app, which had this station flagged for months. But what would you do while it’s charging? Swim, I guess. There were eight other single chargers in a 5-mile radius (including another nonoperational one). But the comments left by their prior users read like the forum of the Yugo owner’s club. If I were a first-time EV buyer, I would not be encouraged. Next stop was a concrete grotto of EVgo chargers on a lower level of a Del Amo Fashion Center parking structure. Or so I thought. You slowly drive to its exact GPS spot—but nothing there. Duh, it’s still one more level directly below me. Circling down

Nissan Leaf How did the EV industry ever allow three types of plugs to exist? Best is the thincable, slim-plug Tesla. The rarer CHAdeMO, still used by Nissan, needs to go.

another ramp finds 19 (gratis) Level 2 plugs for shoppers, two 50-kW CHAdeMO plugs, and one 50-kW CCS. A Kia Soul EV was cabled to one CCS, and we couldn’t get the remaining 50-kW unit to work. Strike two. A quarter mile south is the new kid in town, a nest of Electrify America fast chargers in the mall’s parking lot. This is the fast-expanding network infamously funded by Volkswagen’s $2 billion punishment for its dieselgate misdeeds. It’s sort of a mini Supercharger station with five 150-kW CCSs and a 50-kW CHAdeMO. When I stopped to check it out a few days earlier, a couple in a Dodge Challenger pulled into one of the charger stalls, got out, and arm-in-arm headed toward Vegas Seafood Buffet. The woman looked back and asked, “Isn’t that for the electric cars?” The guy dismissed her: “It doesn’t matter.” He beeped its doors locked.

EVgo’s app (above) works well and offers cheaper charging than Electrify America’s chargers.

Electrify America’s CHAdeMO cable was too short to plug in the Leaf without parking at an angle. What the heck?


While Alec and I set about charging the Niro at a CCS, Alan was struggling to maneuver the Leaf next to the CHAd. After multiple false starts using my credit card, my bank called to ask about strange, repeated activity. “It’s, it’s … OK,” I defused them. Finally, the charger worked. But despite multiple repositionings, the CHAdeMO’s cable couldn’t reach the receptacle at the Nissan’s nose. Astoundingly, Electrify America goofed on the cable length needed by the car that will be its prime client. Alec also noted how thick and awkward these cables are to wrangle compared to Tesla’s. We finally nosed the Leaf in at an awkward angle. Later, I stopped to fully fill the Niro at a 350-kW station, arriving with about 40 percent of charge and leaving with a $38 bill (about a dollar per kW-hr, roughly four times our home charging cost). Huh? They billed per minute of charging (even though the rate slows dramatically near full), and adding to the complexity, there were four different price tiers ranging from $0.25 to $0.99 per minute, depending on your charging rate. As of January 1, California has banned this for new units starting in 2023, requiring stations to charge per kW-hr dispensed (just like gasoline). Ironically, this applies to Superchargers, which may now have to add silly redundant displays outside of the car. As for recharging the Tesla, as Autopilot sliced our Model 3 through the gentle curves heading north through Redondo Beach, I tapped the Supercharger icon on the Model 3’s screen. Three destinations appeared, with graphics showing how many chargers were at each and how many of those were currently available. Picking one, Autopilot routed me to it, and as I neared, I began to hear the battery being automatically preconditioned to quicken the charging when I got there. Charging at these is seamless and simple—just plug in. The system recognizes your car and automatically bills your credit card while the cost and kW-hr are calculated on the car’s screen. Bored? There are games to play on the car’s big central screen (including a driving sim that lets you use the car’s steering wheel and pedals). Recently, Netflix has been added as a streaming option. The only problem is that when we got there, a long line had already formed. Notice a trend starting? Later, Alan and I returned to the mall’s Electrify America station to record some real-world numbers that don’t require an electrical engineering degree to comprehend: How long does it take to add 100 and 150 miles of range to the Niro and Leaf at their respective chargers (each starting at need-to-charge-now 20 miles to empty)? We wanted to cut through the mathematical noise of the Niro’s charger being

Blocked access scuttled our hopes to use EVgo’s Level 3 charger. Having multiple units at a location (à la Electrify America) improves your odds of finding one open.

150 kW but the car only accepting 77, the Leaf’s charger (at this location) being 50 kW and the car maxing at 100. We plugged them in and started writing numbers. The Niro added 100 miles after 25 minutes; the Leaf needed five minutes longer. Getting to 150 miles took the Kia 32 minutes, the Nissan 45. A separate measure at a Tesla V2 Supercharger (there are slower 72-kW chargers, too, that don’t share power between adjacent cars) saw 11 and 21 minutes to 100 and 150 miles. As we were doing this, a diminutive young guy in a Toyota Prius Prime pulled into the Electrify lot, eventually activated one of the chargers, and started to wrestle the cable to the car’s port. Huh? That car doesn’t accept fast charging; it won’t even accept that plug. But he kept stabbing the plug at the Prius, pausing, and then looking around for help. From a distance, I started to half wave, mouthing, “That isn’t going to work.” But I paused. Suddenly I was David Attenborough observing a leopard stalk an impala. Don’t interfere with nature. Just watch it play out. Outside of the curated world of Tesla, nature still isn’t a simple—or pretty—sight. But as you can see from our Hyunai Kona EV test we conducted only a couple months later (see page 54), the charging network is evolving and improving rapidly. KR

Electrify America’s app lets you activate a charger with a few taps, a touch of your phone, or—sometimes—a credit card. Teslas can use CHAdeMO plus via an adapter.

APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 51


What to do while waiting for your Tesla to charge? How about stream Netflix or play this driving game that responds to steering and pedal inputs? Cool.

1st Place: Tesla Model 3 Still the best affordable EV After driving the Model 3’s explosive Dual Motor Performance version, this reardrive, 50-kW-hr Standard Range Plus feels like you’ve met that extrovert car’s reclusive younger brother. Whereas the Performance model is all about smoking Track mode handling and dragstrip acceleration, the Standard Range Plus is just as impressive in the real-world rat race. On the road, it’s relentlessly delighting with agile handling for a 3,500-pound car and a firm but absorbent ride. Our Model 3 ran the table for best-inclass in almost every category you can invent: from a scat-quick 5-second zip to

Alan Lau and Alec Brooks flank the author. Verdict: The best affordable EV is the Tesla.

52 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

60 mph to 240 miles of range from this trio’s significantly smallest battery (i.e., the most efficient). It has a blistering 170-kW fast charge rate (assuming a charger is available). Then there’s the standard Autopilot, which although imperfect is still laps ahead of the pack. Just pay attention, keep your hands and feet at the ready, and don’t presume it’s a trustable self-driving car. It isn’t. The Model 3’s only real bruises are its 14.6-cubic-foot trunk and the rear passengers’ raised-knee seating position. (Tesla revamped the seating position after we complained about it two years ago, but it still can’t get past the physical

limitations of the compact sedan silhouette and battery pack location.) Testing assistant Alan Lau thought its rearview mirror vision was compromised, and he’s right about that. Tesla’s early bets on its Supercharger network and over-the-air updatability are paying off now, big time. If you think of the Niro and Leaf as frozen photographs of two pretty good cars, the Model 3 is a self-improving video stream. Autopilot and Summon are updating so often now that it’s hard to keep track. In fact, while I simmered over this piece, our car’s range and acceleration both improved. You have to write fast to keep up with Tesla. Q


COMPARISON POWERTRAIN/CHASSIS

2019 Kia Niro Eco Electric (EX Premium)

2019 Nissan Leaf Plus SL

2019 Tesla Model 3 (Standard Range Plus)

DRIVETRAIN LAYOUT

Front-motor, FWD

Front-motor, FWD

Rear-motor, RWD

MOTOR TYPE

AC permanent-magnet electric motor

AC permanent-magnet electric motor

AC permanent-magnet electric motor

POWER (SAE NET)

201 hp @ 3,800 rpm 291 lb-ft @ 0 rpm 19.4 lb/hp 1-speed auto 8.21:1/8.21:1

214 hp @ 4,600 rpm 250 lb-ft @ 800 rpm 18.0 lb/hp 1-speed auto 8.19:1/8.19:1

283 hp @ 5,100 rpm 307 lb-ft @ 0 rpm 12.6 lb/hp 1-speed auto 9.00:1/9.00:1

SUSPENSION, FRONT; REAR

Struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar; multilink, coil springs, anti-roll bar

Struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar; torsion beam, coil springs

Multilink, coil springs, anti-roll bar; multilink, coil springs, anti-roll bar

STEERING RATIO

13.3:1 2.6 12.0-in vented disc; 11.8-in disc, ABS

13.2:1 2.6 11.1-in vented disc; 11.5-in vented disc, ABS

10.3:1 2.0 12.6-in vented disc; 13.2-in vented disc, ABS

WHEELS

7.0 x 17-in cast aluminum

6.5 x 17-in cast aluminum

8.5 x 18-in flow-formed aluminum

TIRES

215/55R17 99V M+S Michelin Primacy MXV4

215/50R17 90V M+S Michelin Energy Saver A/S

235/45R18 98W M+S Michelin Primacy MXM4 TO

WHEELBASE

106.3 in

106.3 in

113.2 in

TRACK, F/R

61.4/61.8 in 172.2 x 71.1 x 61.4 in 34.8 ft 3,906 lb 55/45% 5 40.1/37.7 in 41.7/36.0 in 56.0/55.1 in 18.5 (53.0 rear folded) cu ft*

60.6/61.2 in 176.4 x 70.5 x 61.4 in 36.1 ft 3,846 lb 57/43% 5 41.2/37.3 in 42.1/33.5 in 54.3/52.5 in 23.6 (30.0 rear folded) cu ft*

62.2/62.2 in 184.8 x 72.8 x 56.8 in 38.1 ft 3,553 lb 46/54% 5 40.3/37.7 in 42.7/35.2 in 56.3/54.0 in 14.6 cu ft*

0-50/0-60

2.5/3.5 sec 4.7/6.2

2.8/3.8 sec 5.0/6.5

2.1/3.0 sec 3.9/5.0

0-70/0-80

8.0/10.3

8.4/10.9

6.3/7.9

0-90/0-100

12.9/– 3.0 14.8 sec @ 95.7 mph 123 ft 0.80 g (avg) 27.1 sec @ 0.66 g (avg)

14.0/– 3.0 15.1 sec @ 93.3 mph 123 ft 0.76 g (avg) 28.2 sec @ 0.60 g (avg)

9.9/12.2 2.2 13.5 sec @ 104.9 mph 128 ft 0.84 g (avg) 26.4 sec @ 0.69 g (avg)

PRICE AS TESTED

$44,045 $47,405

$43,475 $44,695

$40,690 $42,690

STABILITY/TRACTION CONTROL

Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes

AIRBAGS

7: Dual front, front side, f/r curtain, driver knee

6: Dual front, front side, f/r curtain

8: Dual front, front side, f/r curtain, front knee

BASIC WARRANTY

5 years/60,000 mile

3 years/36,000 miles

4 years/50,000 miles

POWERTRAIN; BATTERY WARRANTY

10 years/100,000 miles; 10 years/100,000 miles 5 years/60,000 miles 64.0 kW-hr 123/102/112 mpg-e 27/33 kW-hr/100 miles

5 years/60,000 miles; 8 years/100,000 miles 3 years/36,000 miles 62.0 kW-hr 114/94/104 mpg-e 30/36 kW-hr/100 miles

8 years/Unlimited miles; 8 years/100,000 miles 4 years/50,000 miles 50.0 kW-hr 148/132/141 mpg-e*** 24/27 kW-hr/100 miles***

CHARGING RATE, LEVEL 2/ LEVEL 3 (65-90 DEGREES F)

7.2 kW/75 kW (est)

6.6 kW/100 kW

7.6 kW/150, 170 kW****

L3 CHARGE TIME FROM 20 TO 100/150 MI RANGE

At 150 kW CCS: 25/32 min

At 50 kW CHAdeMO: 30/45 min

At 72-kW SC: 22/33 min; 150-kW V2 SC: 11/21 min; 250-kW V3 SC: 11/21 min

TOTAL RANGE

239 miles

215 miles

250 miles***

RECOMMENDED FUEL

120, 240 & 400-volt electricity

120, 240 & 400-volt electricity

120, 240 & 400-volt electricity

TORQUE (SAE NET) WEIGHT TO POWER TRANSMISSION AXLE/FINAL DRIVE RATIO

TURNS LOCK TO LOCK BRAKES, F; R

DIMENSIONS

LENGTH X WIDTH X HEIGHT TURNING CIRCLE CURB WEIGHT WEIGHT DIST, F/R SEATING CAPACITY HEADROOM, F/R LEGROOM, F/R SHOULDER ROOM, F/R CARGO VOLUME TEST DATA ACCELERATION TO MPH 0-30/0-40

PASSING, 45-65 MPH QUARTER MILE BRAKING, 60-0 MPH LATERAL ACCELERATION MT FIGURE EIGHT

CONSUMER INFO BASE PRICE**

ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE BATTERY CAPACITY EPA CITY/HWY/COMB ECON ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY

*Hatchback and sedan cargo volumes are measured differently and hence are not directly comparable. **All prices before incentives and rebates, which vary by region ***Values reflect latest over-the-air update ****V2, V3 Superchargers

APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 53


GAS WORDS CHRISTIAN SEABAUGH PHOTOS ROBIN TRAJANO

T

o the average American, electric cars aren’t an option. They don’t work as the main household transportation, and too many folks can’t plug in at home. Forget about long trips; the charging network sucks, and it takes forever to recharge. And aren’t they prohibitively expensive for a car that has so many limitations?

54 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

Those arguments, however, are falling apart fast. Even ignoring Tesla’s (expensive) cars and (expansive) Supercharger network, EVs increasingly offer longer ranges and fast charger compatibility. Have we reached the point that an electric car can work as a family’s only vehicle? And more important, which offers a better driving experience?

Until now, there was no way to perform a direct comparison. Thanks to the Hyundai Kona, though, we can finally make this evaluation happen. For now, it’s the only vehicle in the U.S. to include both traditional gas engines and a long-range electric option, which allows us to control for sheetmetal variations, size and weight differences, and equipment variables.


Hyundai Kona Electric vs. Hyundai Kona 1.6T I COMPARISON

WE DRIVE TWO HYUNDAI KONAS, IDENTICAL EXCEPT FOR WHAT’S DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT UNDER THE HOOD. WHICH IS THE BETTER EXPERIENCE? (Volvo is scheduled to release an electric XC40 late this year, and the Kia Niro is offered as a hybrid and an EV.) Using a Kona Electric and a Kona 1.6T, we devised a series of tests to see if average Americans could rely on an electric car as their sole mode of transit—and with all things equal, determine which powertrain is more rewarding to drive.

For most of us, how a car handles the ins and outs of the weekday commute and weekend errands is the most relevant factor in a new car purchase, so testing director Kim Reynolds and I decided we’d start there. Each of us would spend a week living with each of the Konas, with the aim of figuring out which model (and

thus which powertrain) best handles the doldrums of daily driving. In a lot of ways the Hyundai Kona is the perfect medium for this test. For starters, we happen to really like both the gas- and electric-powered Konas; we named the entire lineup an SUV of the Year finalist in 2019. Its subcompact tall-hatchback body style is also APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 55


Without a traditional shifter, the Kona Electric has a more spacious center console. The button shifter affords space for extra storage.

increasingly relevant as more buyers ditch cars for crossovers. Most essential for our purposes, though, is that Hyundai effectively treats the electric version like either of the Kona’s two gas four-cylinder powertrains, so we could spec two Konas as identically as possible. Although the Kona Electric SEL’s base prices starts at $38,285 before the $7,500 federal (and any applicable state) tax credit(s), our Kona Electric included the top-level Ultimate trim, ringing in at $46,630 , which would allow us to best mimic the equipment level of a gaspowered Kona. The front-drive Kona Electric (the EV’s only driveline) fits an electric motor making 201 hp and 291 lb-ft of torque mated to a one-speed automatic, with a 64-kW-hr battery pancaked underneath the floor and rear seat. The EPA rates the 2020 Kona Electric’s range at an impressive 258 miles per charge, and its 132/108/120 city/highway/combined mpg-e score also ranks it among the most efficient vehicles on the road today. The gas-powered Kona is impressive in its own right, especially when you spring for the optional 1.6-liter turbocharged I-4 instead of the standard 147-hp 2.0-liter I-4. Our tester makes a healthy 175 hp 56 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

and 195 lb-ft of torque, and it drives either the front (as in our Kona tester) or all four wheels through a seven-speed twin-clutch automatic. Our loaded 1.6T stickers for $28,980. (That puts the price premium for a hypothetical base Electric SEL, minus incentives, and this Kona gas model at a mere $2,495.) The gas model scores 28/32/30 mpg city/highway/combined in EPA tests, and a 13.2-gallon fuel tank helps give it a 396-mile range on regular fuel. Despite its modest power output, the gas-powered Kona drives much like a high-riding hot hatch. Its four-pot is pretty laggy off the line, and impatience with the throttle will only result in torque steer and tire squeal. Once the Kona hooks up, though, it can be pretty entertaining, has plenty of character, and offers a good amount of power up high in its powerband. When pushed, the Kona’s seven-speed dual-clutch bangs off quick upshifts, doing its best to help the hard-working 1.6-liter engine stay in its powerband. “It’s spritely to drive, with no significant flaws, and has a happy demeanor,” Reynolds said. “It’s weird how some cars similar to this feel like penalty boxes, whereas the Kona gas feels like a treat.” “No significant flaws” is true, but it doesn’t mean the gas-powered Kona is flawless. Its biggest issue, its lack of transmission refinement, rears its head during our daily commutes. Although the “dry” type dual-clutch shifts smartly when pressed, it tends to stutter at low speeds, especially in stop-and-go traffic. (“Wet” clutches, such as those used by Audi and Porsche, tend not to suffer this stuttering problem but are more expensive and less efficient.) What’s more, the throttle is difficult to modulate smoothly, as the transmission haltingly

slips its clutches while determining the best gear to get the car moving. The end result is a near-constant motion sickness– inducing seesawing in stop-and-go traffic. Whereas you’re always working around the gas Kona’s laggy turbo and lurchy transmission, the Kona Electric couldn’t be smoother. Its power—and critically, its torque—is available the instant you dip into the accelerator, allowing you to zip off the line or plug a gap in traffic. “The EV is almost continuously better to drive than the gas,” Reynolds said. “Its silky acceleration and right-foot response are akin to a Rolls-Royce.” Unlike a lot of EVs, the Kona Electric doesn’t slow down as speeds pick up; Hyundai appears to have tuned its little While the electric Kona charges, Kim Reynolds enjoys a leisurely lunch.


COMPARISON

We prefer the Electric’s interior design, but the gas Kona’s easyto-use shifter is more traditional than the EV’s button approach.

permanent-magnet AC motor to have a broad powerband, giving this Kona ample passing power—something the Kona 1.6T lacks. The Kona Electric’s sole wart is its brakes. Despite four levels of driveradjustable regeneration (adjustable via steering wheel–mounted paddles), smooth stops are difficult to accomplish. We wanted to see if our impressions matched up with the cold, hard numbers, so we took the twin Konas to our test track. Surprisingly, they were even more evenly matched than we’d thought. Despite what our driving impressions would have led us to believe, the gaspowered car is quicker. It accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in 6.4 seconds; the Electric needed 6.6. The EV starts to pull on the gas car from there, though. It ties the Kona 1.6T’s 15.1-second quarter-mile time, but it’s doing 95.9 mph by that point to the gas car’s 91.7. Still, for most commuters, these marks are even Steven. Thanks to the Kona Electric’s lowrolling-resistance tires, the gas car performs better in braking and handling tests. It stops from 60 to 0 mph in 119 feet compared to the EV’s ponderous-for-itssize 138 feet (batteries weigh a lot). On the figure eight, the gas car laps in 26.9 seconds versus the electric’s 27.8 seconds, both at 0.65 g average. Even considering the Kona 1.6T’s acceleration, braking, and handling advantage at the track, the Kona Electric is the car that both Reynolds and I want to drive in the real world. In an urban environment, the EV’s instant-on power is preferable to that of the laggy 1.6, and with charging infrastructure becoming widespread in SoCal, charging publicly and cheaply

(sometimes free!) at Level 2 chargers is about as easy as refueling the gas Kona. But what happens if you have to leave the safety of Los Angeles—or New York, Chicago, or hell, even Helena—and hit the open road for a good, old-fashioned American road trip? We pointed our Konas north to find out.

The most common argument I hear about electric vehicles—Tesla or otherwise—is that you plain can’t travel long distances because the charging infrastructure doesn’t exist or because it takes too long to charge. That may have been the case as recently as five years ago, but things have changed. Companies like ChargePoint, EVgo, and Electrify America have Level 3 fast charger stations sprouting nationwide, with the latter already offering more than 1,700 fast chargers (and counting) spanning coast to coast and border to border. You can thank VW’s diesel emissions scandal for that.

So we devised a plan: We’d drive both cars north to the growing vineyard town of Paso Robles, with Reynolds driving the gas Kona and me the electric one on the northbound leg, swapping cars for the return south. Normally a 220-mile trip that would take between four and five and a half hours, depending on traffic, the drive is about the same distance as a trip from New York to Washington, D.C. or Chicago to Detroit. In other words, it’s a realistic distance that the average American family may expect to travel to visit family or friends in a distant city a couple times per year. Too near for an airplane but too far for an EV? To level the playing field, we decided to treat the two cars as equally as possible. We’d both leave our L.A. headquarters at the same time, fully charged and gassed up, take the same route on both legs, and drive in the same manner north and south. To make matters more difficult for the EV, we weren’t going to bother with any fancy route-planning apps—we knew there were both ChargePoint and Electrify America fast chargers along I-5 near Paso Robles, so if we needed a charge, that’s where we’d go. Once in Paso Robles, we’d fully fuel both vehicles, turn south, and start out again. Before the trip I was a bit apprehensive that the Kona Electric would only make the journey with great difficulty. Truth be told, though, the experience couldn’t have felt more normal. I’d left the Kona Electric’s drive mode in its default Normal setting (Eco mode nets you a couple extra bonus miles of range), I had the heater going damn near full blast to deal with the cold January air, the heated seats and steering wheel were in use, and I was charging my phone and blasting music over the stereo. In other words, I treated the electric Kona as I would any other car. On the freeway, the electric Hyundai Kona feels surprisingly normal.

APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 57


Electrify America “pumps” can be activated via app, Apple Wallet, or a credit card swipe; at right, Seabaugh manhandles the bulky CCS charger.

Despite room elsewhere, a CX-5 and C-Class were parked in EV charging spots.

In the old days of electric vehicles, leaving L.A. via the 43-mile-long Grapevine was a daunting obstacle that would bleed off battery range. Not the case here. I lost 67 miles of range on the 30-mile climb, still had 155 miles left at the 4,144foot summit near Gorman, and gained back 12 miles on the harrowing 13-mile plunge into the San Joaquin Valley. After a sole half-hour stop near Bakersfield, with me snacking at an Electrify America station and Reynolds at a Taco Bell, both the Kona Electric and 1.6T arrived no worse for the wear 4 hours and 25 minutes after we’d set off. Ducking an illegally parked non-electric Mazda CX-5 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class (no respect!), we plugged the Kona Electric into Paso Robles’ sole remaining free Electrify America fast charger space, charged the battery to full—in retrospect an expensive decision—and went off to brim the gas Kona’s tank and grab lunch. The return trip, this time with me in the gas Kona and Reynolds in the electric, went much the same as the first—uneventful. Although I missed the electric car’s smoothness and quietness, I didn’t hate getting back to L.A. about 90 minutes before Reynolds, whose 5.5-hour journey included a stop at an Electrify America station to charge and grab a late lunch—and heavier late-day traffic. With both cars re-energized, the gasser from our local Chevron and the electric from an EVgo fast charger across the street from our office, we started to crunch the numbers to see how much time and money we’d spent on the trip. The results surprised us. We’d assumed the gas Kona would do the trip quicker A half hour to add 30 percent charge to the Kona’s battery is pretty quick. We found the onboard charge meter to be dead-on accurate.

TIME AND MONEY SPENT

TRIP MILES

Kona 1.6T actual

514.6

Kona Electric actual

514.6

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

REFUELING TIME

COST

17.15 gal (572 kW-hr equiv)

29.3 mpg

10 min

$63.03

168.63 kW-hr

102.8 mpg-e

276 min (L3)

$140.97

Optimal L3 charge plan via ABetterRoutePlanner.com

205 min (L3)

$98.60

Optimal L3/L2 charge plan via ABetterRoutePlanner.com

94 (L3) + 466 $82.90 (L2) = 560 min

Reference, Level 2 home charging for similar distance

575 min (L2)

ENERGY ADDED

$25.87*

*Assumes $0.1534/kW-hr average California residential electric price

but the electric one would do it cheaper and more efficiently. As my high school Army JROTC instructor, Sergeant Wayne Atherton, was fond of asking, “You know what happens when you assume, right?” Our over-reliance on Electrify America stations, which charge a $1 session fee plus a per-minute fee based on the charge rate your vehicle is capable of accepting (which in our case works out to $0.69 per minute for up to 125 kW) to fully charge the Kona’s battery is largely to blame for the massive cost—especially because EV charging rates slow significantly once a battery exceeds 80 percent capacity. Our two times charging to 100 percent were blow-out expensive, Reynolds said, calling the decision “stupid” in retrospect. Per-minute charging by Electrify America and EVgo puts a preposterous penalty on charging to 90 or 100 percent, particularly Electrify America, which has higher dollar-per-minute rates. “Our loosey-goosy planning exposed how eye-wateringly expensive minimal planning can be if you choose to travel across Electrify America’s network,” Reynolds said. “The Kona Electric cost us over double what the gas version did to do basically the same trip—even while using far less energy. This is completely upside down from the usual situation where the EV is about half the cost per mile of a gas car, based on far cheaper home charging. If we fumbled like this all the way across the country, we’d be broke by Brooklyn.”

It would break with the spirit of our story, but a little planning would’ve gone a long way. Although there’s no app available for other EVs as easy to use as Tesla’s Trip Planner (because it’s built into Tesla’s infotainment system), free websites like ABetterRoutePlanner.com show that we could’ve easily saved $40 or so if we’d fast charged the Kona’s battery only enough to get us to our destination and then opted for slower Level 2 charging overnight at our hotel. Hindsight and whatnot.

As with all things, both gas and electric powertrains have their compromises. The former offers a less refined experience, is generally more expensive to run day to day around town, and pollutes more. But there are refueling stations everywhere. The latter is generally more expensive up front, will cost more to travel with, requires some planning before embarking


POWERTRAIN/CHASSIS

2020 Hyundai Kona Electric

DRIVETRAIN LAYOUT

Front-motor, FWD

Front-engine, FWD

MOTOR/ENGINE TYPE

Permanent-magnet AC synchronous electric

Turbocharged I-4, alum block/head

VALVETRAIN

TRANSMISSION

N/A N/A N/A 201 hp @ 3,800 rpm 291 lb-ft @ 0 rpm Not indicated (11,200-rpm max) 18.7 lb/hp 1-speed automatic

DOHC, 4 valves/cyl 96.6 cu in/1,583cc 10.0:1 175 hp @ 5,500 rpm 195 lb-ft @ 1,500 rpm 6,500 rpm 17.6 lb/hp 7-speed twin-clutch auto

AXLE/FINAL DRIVE RATIO

7.98:1/7.98:1

4.29:1 (1, 2, 4, 5), 3.17:1 (3, 6, 7, R)/2.29:1

SUSPENSION, FRONT; REAR

Struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar; multilink, coil springs, anti-roll bar

Struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar; multilink, coil springs, anti-roll bar

STEERING RATIO

13.2:1 2.5 12.0-in vented disc; 11.8-in disc, ABS

13.8:1 2.5 12.0-in vented disc; 11.2-in disc, ABS

WHEELS, F; R

7.0 x 17-in cast aluminum

7.0 x 17-in cast aluminum

TIRES, F; R

215/55R17 94V (M+S) Nexen NPriz AH8

235/45R18 98V (M+S) Goodyear Eagle Touring

102.4 in 61.2/61.6 in 164.6 x 70.9 x 61.2 in 6.2 in 16.6/14.6 deg 34.8 ft 3,763 lb 54/46% Not recommended 5 38.0/37.7 in 41.5/33.4 in 55.5/54.5 in 45.8/19.2 cu ft

102.4 in 61.4/61.7 in 164.0 x 70.9 x 61.0 in 6.7 in 17.5/16.7 deg 34.8 ft 3,073 lb 62/38% Not recommended 5 38.0/37.8 in 41.5/34.6 in 55.5/54.5 in 45.8/19.2 cu ft

2.9/3.9 sec 5.1/6.6 8.4/10.6 13.2/16.5 3.0 15.1 sec @ 95.9 mph 138 ft 0.79 g (avg) 27.8 sec @ 0.65 g (avg) 6,400 rpm

2.5/3.5 sec 4.9/6.4 8.6/11.2 14.5/18.7 3.3 15.1 sec @ 91.7 mph 119 ft 0.85 g (avg) 26.9 sec @ 0.65 g (avg) 1,800 rpm

$38,285/$46,630 Yes/Yes 6: Dual front, front side, f/r curtain 5 years/60,000 miles 10 years/100,000 miles (battery included) 5 years/Unlimited miles 64.0 kW-hr (1.9 gal gasoline equiv) Not tested 132/108/120 mpg-e (258-mi range) 26/31 kW-hr/100 miles 0.00 lb/mile (at vehicle) 110-220V AC/400V DC electricity

$26,995/$28,980 Yes/Yes 6: Dual front, front side, f/r curtain 5 years/60,000 miles

DISPLACEMENT COMPRESSION RATIO POWER (SAE NET) TORQUE (SAE NET) REDLINE WEIGHT TO POWER

on a long journey, and will take longer to refuel on the way (though we predict that ever speedier fast charge times will soon enough minimize the recharge/refuel time difference). We set out with our two Konas to answer two questions: All things being equal, is gas or electric better to drive? And can the average American household get by with an EV as its only car? When it comes to driving these two Konas, we prefer the electric one. “Just about every minute you drive the EV is better than that minute in the gas car, except for braking to a stop,” Reynolds said. The Kona Electric is silky smooth, powerful, and refined. The Kona 1.6T is good, but the Kona Electric is better. The latter question has a more complicated answer, but we think the answer is yes, with some obvious caveats. With more than 250 miles of range, electric cars like the Kona Electric are easier than ever to daily drive. For those lucky enough to have room for a charger in a garage or driveway, charging nightly couldn’t be more painless. Some forward-thinking office complexes are stocked with chargers for their employees. Apartment dwellers might have to rely on public chargers, which in our experience is becoming far less of a hassle than it sounds. Chargers are found in places where you’re spending time anyway, like malls, grocery stores, and movie theaters. As for long-distance travel, a change in your way of thinking is necessary. Fast charging availability and capability are improving rapidly, but “fuel” stops still aren’t the splash-and-dash affairs of gasoline. A little bit of planning will go a long way in saving you both time and money (prices differ at gas stations, too). But above all, long-distance electric travel is no longer a Tesla monopoly. With expanding charging networks across the country, especially from Electrify America, the democratization of the electric car is finally here. Q

TURNS LOCK TO LOCK BRAKES, F; R

2020 Hyundai Kona 1.6T

DIMENSIONS WHEELBASE TRACK, F/R LENGTH X WIDTH X HEIGHT GROUND CLEARANCE APPROACH/DEPART ANGLE TURNING CIRCLE CURB WEIGHT WEIGHT DIST, F/R TOWING CAPACITY SEATING CAPACITY HEADROOM, F/R LEGROOM, F/R SHOULDER ROOM, F/R CARGO VOLUME, BEH F/R TEST DATA ACCELERATION TO MPH 0-30/0-40 0-50/0-60 0-70/0-80 0-90/0-100 PASSING, 45-65 MPH QUARTER MILE BRAKING, 60-0 MPH LATERAL ACCELERATION MT FIGURE EIGHT TOP-GEAR REVS @ 60 MPH CONSUMER INFO BASE/AS TESTED PRICE STABILITY/TRACTION CONTROL

AIRBAGS BASIC WARRANTY POWERTRAIN WARRANTY ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE BATTERY/FUEL CAPACITY REAL MPG, CITY/HWY/COMB EPA CITY/HWY/COMB ECON ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB RECOMMENDED FUEL

10 years/100,000 miles 5 years/Unlimited miles 13.2 gal 26.4/38.7/30.8 mpg 28/32/30 mpg (396-mi range) 120/105 kW-hr/100 miles 0.65 lb/mile Unleaded regular

APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 59


WORDS FRANK MARKUS

E

lectrified vehicles have evolved from the purview of Earth First tree-huggers to the surest way to break into the 2s in the 0–60 dash. With electric propulsion’s image going from wuss to wunderkind, suddenly it’s no longer absurd to imagine a strong, capable electric pickup truck. Have you seen the video of the electric F-150 prototype pulling a 625-ton train? Now there’s a rush on to introduce an electric pickup for every purse and purpose. Rivian made a splash with its sleek four-motor truck and SUV at the

60 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

2018 L.A. Auto Show. A year later Tesla made an even bigger splash with its wacky stainless steel, “bulletproof,” rolling-wedge Cybertruck. In the meantime, GM and Ford have announced full-size e-pickups of their own, and Bollinger is readying an electric heavy-duty pickup and SUV. The relative ease with which an electric powertrain can be developed has other relatively unknown players threatening

to drop an oar in these new e-truck waters. Here’s what we know about every electric pickup that may be coming, listed in chronological order of their expected introductions. Note that some figures are manufacturer estimates, some are our own, and some healthy skepticism is required, especially when it comes to towing and payload, where high curb weights inherent to large vehicles with large batteries will cut into capability.


Electric Pickups I ROUNDUP

Rivian R1T Late 2020 Price $69,000 (high-content launch model, 105-kW-hr battery, before applicable tax credits) Powertrain Layout 4 inboard motors; 402–750 hp/413–829 lb-ft comb; 1-speed auto gearboxes; 105-, 135-, or 180-kW-hr battery pack Configuration 4-door/5-pass/4.5-ft bed L x W x H; Wheelbase 217.1 x 79.3 x 71.4 in; 135.8 in Performance 0–60: 3.0–4.0 sec; 230-, 300-, or 400-mile EPA range* Towing/Payload Capacity 11,000/1,760 lb* Unique Selling Propositions 12.4-cubic-foot “gear tunnel” stowage compartment offering pull-out kitchen and other accessories, “tank-turn” maneuverability on dirt, removable speakers and flashlight, three-position Swing-and-Drop (90- or 180-degree) tailgate *estimated ivian wants to be to outdoorsy adventurers what Tesla is to on-road performance lovers: a fashionable, high-performance, upscale, thoughtful, green product filled with surprise and delight features. Countering Tesla’s Superchargers will be the Rivian Adventure Network of rural CCS chargers in places like national parks, which non-Rivian owners will be able to use, as well. A short 4.5-foot bed keeps the R1T maneuverable and easy to park, with its reduced cargo volume amply augmented by an 11.7-cubic-foot frunk and a novel 12.4-cubic-foot “gear tunnel” under the rear bench seat, which is accessible from either side via swing-down doors that function as seats while donning adventure gear or as bed steps (300-pound max). With the gooseneck-hinged tailgate folded down, the bed deck is long enough to accommodate a typical road or dirt motorcycle. The tailgate will also be able to drop straight down to improve bed accessibility, and it can be motorized. Other bed features include Gear Guard security cables, which include a fiber optic line that alarms and messages the owner if cut. The camera facing the bed also works

R

Rivian’s dressy interior is designed for easy cleanup. The SuperFabric carpet and mats inspired by outdoor furniture can be hosed off.

like a Ring-style doorbell cam, watching and recording any suspicious behavior. The launch models will all feature fourmotor all-wheel drive with a choice of three battery sizes and different power output levels. The announced $69,000 initial price buys a loaded launch edition with the 105-kW-hr battery and full SAE Level 3 autonomous driving capability (in good weather and on limited-access freeways, ramp to ramp). The middle 135-kW-hr battery gets the highest output rating (750 hp/829 lb-ft) to deliver Tesla-esque 3.0-second 0–60 acceleration. In Tesla fashion, more affordable R1T variants will follow, along with additional powertrain options in 2021 or later. The Rivian party trick Tesla can’t match is the tank-turn. On low-friction dirt, sand, or snow, it can spin the left tires in one direction and the rights in the other to pivot in place. A height-adjustable air suspension features Tenneco Kinetic hydraulically cross-linked dampers that function like anti-roll bars and can be

delinked for full articulation off-road. Like all new EVs, a 110-volt charger comes with the vehicle. Rivian will sell a Level 2 home charging unit; at public DC fast chargers the battery can accept up to 250 kW when the battery is near empty. If you’re fretting about this startup’s long-term prospects, please note that even if nobody buys a single R1T or R1S, the Normal, Illinois, plant can keep busy for years while building the 100,000 Amazon Prime delivery vans and undisclosed number of Ford SUVs already contracted. But we reckon Rivian’s timing and product are right for the R1T to make a splash.

APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 61


WE QUESTION THE WISDOM OF THAT BIG, CONVENTIONAL HOOD ON A TRUCK WITH WHEEL MOTORS. WHY NOT OPT FOR A MUCH MORE CAB-FORWARD/LARGER-BED DESIGN?

Lordstown Endurance November 2020 Price $52,500 (before applicable tax credits) Powertrain Layout 4 in-wheel motors; 600 hp/4,400 lb-ft* comb; 90-kW-hr* battery pack Configuration 4-door/5 pass/6.5-ft bed L x W x H; Wheelbase 234.0 x 80.0 x 73.9 in; 143.0 in Performance 0–60: 5.0 sec*, 200-mile EPA range* Towing/Payload Capacity 6,000/2,200 lb Unique Selling Propositions Claimed fewest moving parts of any motor vehicle, 3.6-kW 120-volt job-site power *estimated emember the Workhorse W-15 extended-range hybrid-electric pickup we reported would go into production in 2018? Never happened. Instead, GM decided to close its Lordstown, Ohio, plant—but was under pressure to reduce job losses by finding a buyer that would continue to build vehicles. Workhorse CEO Steve Burns seized the opportunity to found Lordstown Motors Corp., acquiring the 6.2 million-square-foot plant at a substantial discount (along with a $40 million loan from GM) with a promise to build electric trucks. As part of the deal, Burns gave Workhorse a 10 percent stake in Lordstown in exchange for licensing rights to the W-15, as well as the 6,000 preorders Workhorse had sold. Lordstown also hopes to provide overflow manufacturing capacity for Workhorse, which has shifted its focus to last-mile electric delivery vans. Now Lordstown Motors’ website describes a substantially different fully electric work truck called the Endurance, which scraps the BMW range extender

R

62 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

and two inboard motors for four in-wheel motors that together pack 600-hp. There’s no official word about torque, nor any mention of who’s supplying the motors, but Elaphe produces a 110-kW/1,500-Nm (148-hp/1,106-lb-ft) unit that would work. Remember that in-wheel motors don’t benefit from the torque multiplication of a transmission or final drive gear, so this lofty torque spec equates to a combined inboard motor output of about 400–500 lb-ft with typical gearing. Lordstown claims a battery range of about 200 miles, which suggests a pack size of about 80 to 90 kW-hr, but no official specs have been provided. The truck can also allegedly climb a 30 percent grade when fully loaded, though the company has yet to disclose its max payload. (The W-15 was rated to carry 2,200 pounds.) Another work truck bonus is an onboard inverter that can provide 30 amps of 120-volt power for operating tools and the like.

Peek inside those shallow-dish wheels to see the electric motors with integral brakes, which will propel and stop the Endurance.

But we question the wisdom of that big, conventional hood on a truck with wheel motors (which, if they’re Elaphes, even incorporate the power electronics). There appears to be ample room under the conventional bed floor for batteries, and a frunk seems less useful than added bed space, so why not opt for a much more cab-forward/larger-bed design? Burns’ aggressive timing aim is to have prototypes running by about the time you read this, with production following in November. Color us skeptical. Nothing is hidden: The rivets, fasteners, and door and rear window hinges are all proudly displayed.


ELECTRIC PICKUPS

The primary motivation behind its industrial design is ease of manufacture. Price $125,000 As with mighty Tesla’s Cybertruck, tiny (before applicable tax credits) Bollinger eliminates capital-intensive Powertrain Layout 2 inboard motors; sheetmetal stamping by designing the 614 hp/648 lb-ft comb; 2-speed auto body panels so they can be bent on simple gearboxes; 120-kW-hr battery pack equipment in a couple of operations. The Configuration 4-door/4-pass/6.0-ft bed complex corners are castings. The glass is L x W x H; Wheelbase 207.5 x 77.2 x 72.7 all flat, and the side windows slide to open. in; 139.0 in Performance 0–60: 4.5 sec, The doors, windows, and sunroof panels 200-mile EPA range* Towing/Payload Capacity 7,500/4,000 lb can be completely removed. A mid-gate hinges down flush with the cargo floor, and Unique Selling Propositions Class 3 the rear seats are removable, allowing truck payload (4,000 lb), mid-gate and removable rear seats expand bed to 8 feet, 8-foot sheet goods to fit inside the tailfrunk pass-through and tailgates support gate. Another pass-through to the front trunk, a front tailgate, and a clear, level 19.3-foot-long narrow items, portal axles for 15-inch nominal ground clearance floor from front to rear mean a B2 could *estimated potentially transport a telephone pole. Another big expense savings: Its 10,001ollinger’s B2 pickup and B1 SUV are pound gross vehicle weight rating qualifies aimed at a narrower niche of greenit as a 3500-class truck, exempting it from minded landed gentry looking to many light vehicle safety regs like airbags. explore their undeveloped estates in Bollinger is nevertheless developing a a clean, quiet, no-frills vehicle with the stability control system and conducting off-road capability of a Hummer H1. In rigorous simulation testing of sideessence, it’s like an electric H1 in a Land impact pole crash tests, roof crush tests, Rover Defender costume. It even features and others to ensure its vehicles provide H1-like portal axles. expected levels of occupant safety. Of course, fortifying the chassis to shoulder 4,000 pounds of payload added some cost. Hydropneumatic spring/ damper units provide self-leveling, deliver similar ride quality loaded and empty, and can vary the ground clearance from 10 to 20 inches. Hydraulic cross-linking delivers the anti-roll benefits of Rivian’s Tenneco system. More clever cost savings: The suspension corners are diagonally interchangeable, with the steering tie-rods pinned to the chassis when fitted to the rear. Bolstering Bollinger’s off-road bona fides are lockable axle differentials, a virtual center diff lock, those portal axles (which provide a 1.94:1 gearing reduction at

Bollinger B2 Early 2021

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the wheels), and two-speed gearing in the bespoke front and rear gearboxes. The low range is for off-road use and provides an overall 22.5:1 crawl ratio. High range yields 11.3:1. That’s numerically higher (“shorter”) than most EV drive ratios, but Bollinger’s bespoke motors operate up to 12,000 rpm to deliver a 100-mph top speed. The B1 and B2 prototype development has been self-funded. Now the company is arranging financing and selecting a manufacturing partner, working toward a launch date in early 2021. Sales and service of the $125,000 trucks will be provided by a network of independent dealers.

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ROUNDUP I Electric Pickups

Ford F-Series electric 2021 Price $60,000* (before applicable tax credits) Powertrain Layout 1–4 inboard motors; 255–459 hp*/306–612 lb-ft* comb; 1- or 2-speed auto gearbox(es); 75–150-kW-hr* battery pack Configuration 4-door/5-6-pass/5.5–6.5-ft bed* L x W x H; Wheelbase 232.0–244.0 x 80.0 x 75.0 in*; 145.0–156.0 in* Performance 0–60: 4.5–6.5 sec*, 450-mile EPA range* Towing/Payload Capacity 7,550–14,050/2,500 lb* Unique Selling Propositions Patented batteries-in-crossmembers frame construction* *estimated

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he electric F-150 will not be Ford’s first e-pickup. Some 1,500 limited-range electric Rangers were built between 1998 and 2002. But we expect the fully electric F-150 appearing in 2021 will draw a lot more inspiration from Rivian (in which Ford has invested $500 million) and the Tesla Cybertruck than it does from that Ranger. No official details have been released on the e-F-150 yet, but patents have come to light that might provide clues as to Ford’s intentions—including a new method of mounting and carrying batteries. Instead of a single rigid structural battery case bolting to the frame rails, Ford proposes welding in channels that serve as trays where battery modules can be installed. Pundits have lauded this approach for adding strength to the frame and building in battery modularity (longer frames simply get more battery modules). But we see it as greatly complicating the thermal management of (and electricity flow within) the battery system, creating a need for additional coolant connections and high-voltage connecting cables

linking the disparate modules. Another patent covers a frunk design involving a grille that opens, interior lighting, and a drawer that pulls out. The battery patent protects for a single electric motor at either or both ends of the chassis and an individual motor powering each wheel, à la Rivian. It’s also no stretch whatsoever to imagine a Raptor-esque variant leveraging the Rivian four-motor layout in the coming years. A word about Rivian: Ford’s electric F-150 will be built in Dearborn, not at Rivian’s Illinois plant. That’s another vehicle. We expect Ford’s electric pickup to be sized and styled like an F-150 and to strive for best-in-segment payload and towing stats, because that’s the Ford way. Despite what YouTube suggests, its SAE J2807 tow rating will come in well below 1.25 million pounds. A safe bet might be to take whatever Tesla is claiming and add 50 pounds. Pickup truck buyers are fiercely loyal, and this truck is sure to keep the Ford faithful from straying if/when they find themselves concerned about the environment.

PUNDITS HAVE LAUDED FORD’S APPROACH FOR ADDING STRENGTH, BUT WE SEE COMPLICATIONS.

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Chevrolet Silverado/ GMC Hummer electrics, Fall 2021 Price $60,000–$100,000* (before applicable tax credits) Powertrain Layout 2–4 inboard motors; 400–800 hp*/500–1,000 lb-ft* comb; 1- or 2-speed auto gearboxes*; 60–200-kW-hr* battery pack Configuration 4-door/4–6-pass/ 4.0-6.5-ft* bed L x W x H; Wheelbase 213.0–241.0 x 75.0–81.0 x 72.0-78.0 in*; 136.0–148.0 in* Performance 0–60: 3.5–6.5 sec, 250–400-mile EPA range* Towing/Payload Capacity 7,500–12,000/1,500–2,500 lb* Unique Selling Propositions Overt off-road orientation of Hummer truck* *estimated


ELECTRIC PICKUPS This speculative illustration presumes a design that trades heavily on F-150 styling themes, but Ford could as easily head in a radically different design direction, given the truck’s unique underpinnings.

f Ford’s playing, by golly, so is the General. Actually, GM may well have initiated its e-truck engineering efforts before Ford but held the announcement for use as a UAW bargaining chip during contract negotiations (production keeps GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant running). GM’s strategy includes a platform architecture in three sizes to support utility vehicles and pickups for three brands. Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC are expected to get these new products, which launch in 2021, with the Cadillac making its debut first. A Silverado-sized Chevy will be based on the largest of GM’s three electric platforms and rival the claimed capabilities of the Rivian/ Ford/Tesla competition. The second truck, on the middle-size platform, will be an off-road lifestyle vehicle branded Hummer and sold through GMC dealers. That one will be an electric Jeep Gladiator alternative in terms of style and capability.

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Nomenclature is uncertain. If any GMC badging appears on the Hummer, we expect something like a subscript “by GMC.” And Chevy might well eschew Silverado nomenclature and follow its pattern of giving EVs vaguely electricsounding names. No powertrain or chassis specifics have been divulged yet. It’s tempting to imagine that an easy and expedient initial powertrain solution would be to attach a Bolt EV motor to each axle—or to each wheel for Rivianbesting torque vectoring. (The Chevrolet E-10 SEMA concept pickup shown in November was powered by two Bolt EV motors, but they were ganged together as an eCrate concept electric retrofit package that bolts to a conventional automatic transmission.) Because the duty cycles are so different between the compact Bolt EV

and a pickup truck (and electric motors are relatively inexpensive to develop), we instead expect a more bespoke approach. A two-speed gearbox enabling low range would boost the Hummer’s off-road cred. We’d also like to see EV pioneer GM revert to the EV1’s AC induction technology for the front motor so that during low-load cruising it can idle without producing drag as a permanent-magnet rear motor does the work. Like all other electric pickups on our radar, GM’s will feature independent suspension front and rear. Electric truck buyers who insist on leaf springs and a live rear axle are going to have to build it themselves using that Chevrolet Performance eCrate solution. We would expect the Chevy to use steel springs and the Hummer to go with height-adjustable air springs.

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Renders: Avavarii


ROUNDUP I Electric Pickups

Tesla Cybertruck Late 2021 Price $39,900–$69,900 (before applicable tax credits) Powertrain Layout Rear, front/rear, or 1 front/2 rear inboard motors; 310–800 hp*/503–1,000 lb-ft* comb; 1-speed auto gearbox(es); 75–200-kW-hr* battery pack Configuration 4-door/6-pass/6.5-ft bed L x W x H; Wheelbase 230.9 x 79.8 x 75.0 in*; 149.9 in* Performance 0–60: 2.9–6.5 sec*, 250–500-mile EPA range* Towing/Payload Capacity 7,500–14,000/3,500 lb* trunk in the bed floor and RamBox-like Unique Selling Propositions stowage in the sail panels flanking the Design, bulletproof bodywork, ramp for bed. Naturally, there is also a frunk. loading cargo *estimated esla is shattering the three-box paradigm and creating a simplistic double-sided doorstop formed entirely of planes, creases, and angles. The body material and construction method are also radically rethought, replacing the traditional thinsheathed endoskeleton of steel beams for a partially exoskeletal unibody armored with 3mm-thick unpainted 301 stainless steel—the same material that sheathes the Cybertruck’s corporate cousin, the Mars-bound SpaceX Starship. The simplistic flat body panels are claimed to be bulletproof to 9mm handgun rounds and eliminate the investment, energy, and environmental costs of a stamping plant and paint shop. The Tesla truck’s innovation doesn’t stop there, of course. To reduce aero drag, a roll-top-desk-style tonneau cover smooths airflow from the roof peak to the tailgate, stowing in a compartment below the bed when loading or transporting tall items (with 360-degree cameras compensating for the lost rear visibility). Ramps deploy from the tailgate, and with the air suspension lowered in back and raised in front, motorcycles and quad-runners can drive right in. Innovations borrowed from existing trucks include a Honda Ridgeline–inspired

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Three drivetrains are envisioned. A single rear motor, probably shared with Models S and X, is good for an estimated 310 hp and 503 lb-ft. That motor plus a Model 3 Performance rear motor in front should combine to produce 690 hp and 824 lb-ft. And perhaps a year after launch, Tesla’s new Plaid powertrain is expected, combining a permanentmagnet front motor with two rear induction motors combining to produce 800 hp and 1,000 lb-ft total. Each will drive through a single-ratio gearset. Three battery capacities are anticipated, but specifics are not yet available. And a long-travel version of Tesla’s air suspension should deliver Ford Raptor–like desert-running capability. We’re told to expect the rear-motor, small-battery (75-kW-hr?) $39,900 version to deliver 6.5-second 0–60 performance, a 110-mph top speed, 250 miles of range, and a 7,500-pound towing capacity. Those metrics for the $49,900 dual-motor midsize battery truck should be 4.5 seconds, 120 mph, 300 miles, and 10,000 pounds; the three-motor (200-kWhr?) $69,900 model should manage 2.9 seconds, 130 mph, 500 miles, and 14,000 pounds. Payload for all is 3,500 pounds. Like all things Tesla, expect details to evolve, including the anticipated launch date in late 2021. Q

Karma EREV

VAPORWARE? Atlis XT, Karma EREV If the previous all seem too wimpy, Atlis Motor Vehicles claims to be readying a heavy-duty electric pickup for 2020 available in regular bed, flat-bed, service body, and dually configurations with towing capacities ranging from 6,000 to 35,000 pounds and payloads spanning 1,000 to 5,000 pounds. Special nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries sized 125 kW-hr and up reportedly recharge lickety-split (15 minutes!), top speed is 120 mph, and 0–60 takes between 5.0 and 18.0 seconds (unladen and with max payload). The Atlis website is taking orders from cockeyed optimists. Want your e-pickup to have a range extender like the defunct Workhorse W-15? Then hold your breath for the Karma EREV, which might even use the same small BMW three-banger range extender as the original W-15. Very little is known about this product, which was mentioned at a press event preceding the L.A. show in November.

Atlis XT

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FEATURE

E H T G N I T F I DR

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PORSCHE TAYCAN IN FINLAND I FEATURE

… N A C Y TA IN FINLAND WORDS ALISA PRIDDLE

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n Finland, local Napue gin has long been the go-to for a proper gin and tonic. With some cranberries for color and a sprig of rosemary, it’s kind of like Christmas in a glass. But then Finnish berry grower and winemaker Arctic Blue expanded into distilling, giving Napue new competition in a fledgling local industry that’s been taking off.

WELL, SOMEONE HAD TO MAKE SURE PORSCHE’S FIRST ELECTRIC SPORTS CAR IS UP TO EVERY TASK Porsche is a storied brand, but when it comes to electric sports cars, the Taycan is the new entry—like Arctic Blue gin—that wants to change the minds of those who previously would have ordered Napue or bought a Tesla Model S. So it’s fitting that we head to Levi, Finland, 110 miles north of the arctic circle, to see how the new Taycan luxury electric sports car performs in the cold,

ice, and snow. After all, this is the 2020 Taycan 4S with two synchronous electric motors, one on each axle, for all-wheeldrive capability. The Taycan Turbo and Turbo S first arrived at dealerships in December. These higher-end models will be followed by the Taycan 4S in late April. The base 4S starts at $106,410, but the initial stock of 4S models will be Performance Battery APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 69


FEATURE

Plus, which starts at $114,430 and has the bigger 93.4-kW-hr battery, a $6,580 option. The base model will follow in June with the 79.2-kW-hr Performance Battery. The early builds also have a standard panoramic roof. Range was expected to be about 270 miles with the Performance Battery Plus, and Porsche was expecting the actual EPA ratings to be much smaller than what the car gets in real life. Although EPA ratings are still not in for the 4S, the Taycan Turbo’s were even lower than expected, at 201 miles. In short, the Taycan’s range is substantially less than that of the aging but still dominant Model S. The Model S dates back to 2012, about the same time five Finnish men were sitting in a sauna, drinking American rye whiskey, and ruminating on why no one had made rye whiskey in Finland—where rye bread is the national food and rye is the No. 1 crop. With zero experience, they founded the Kyrö distillery and tried to figure out how to make whiskey. To make money during the years whiskey needs to age, another sauna summit yielded the idea of making Finland’s first gin in the interim. Napue gin is made of rye, cranberries, and other botanicals that make it smell and taste like a spruce grove or birch-lined forest. It hit the market in 2014, as the Model S was becoming the top-selling electric car in many countries. Both were on upward trajectories with no real competition. But no one goes unopposed for long. Arctic Blue is a Finnish winery established in 1989 by a trio of Finns who were skilled berry growers and expanded

into wine and then sparkling wine. They introduced their first gin 2017. It incorporates the bilberry, a wild arctic blueberry. Suddenly, Napue had a viable competitor. Porsche’s history is synonymous with gorgeous driver’s cars, but always with a conventional combustion engine. Going electric takes Porsche onto a whole new track. Like Arctic Blue, which is new to gin but not the spirits industry, Porsche is taking its institutional knowledge and capability and taking a leap with a new architecture designed exclusively for EVs; the family will expand with the Cross Turismo crossover launching next year. It was crucial that the Taycan be worthy of the brand in terms of both looks and performance. We think the designers nailed it with lines reminiscent of the 911 in this true four-seater. Inside is an impressive array of screens and a mix of luxury and sportiness. One area where EVs have fallen short: adverse winter conditions. My task was to see if the Taycan fulfills its implied promise, the ability to flick the back end and drift. Hence, a day in Lapland, a frozen swamp lined with snowbanks, and a Taycan charged and ready to go. The day started with a 90-mile dash from our hotel overlooking Finland’s largest ski hill in Kittilä to the Porsche Performance Center. Most of the drive was in the dark. At this time of year in the land of the midnight sun, the sun rises at 11:05 a.m. and retires again two hours later. The light was dim, but the world was white, the roads, snowbanks, trees, and sky all sharing the same pale palette. The car handled the rough road with aplomb. Ice and packed snow had created a foundation, akin to a rumble strip, with layers of softer snow on top. It was the perfect surface to test the three-chamber air suspension. Slick surfaces elicited the occasional full-body shimmy, but overall, the stability inspired confidence. It was easy to speed down roads with precious few tire tracks for guidance. The pitfalls of such conditions are real, as evidenced by a couple other vehicles (no Taycans) that slid off the road.

The Taycan can’t match a Tesla Model S for range, but this highly visible display at least keeps drivers informed on exactly how much juice they have left.


The quiet is eerie. In an electric car on remote roads in the land of a thousand lakes, all you hear is the thwack of icy pellets flung off the 20-inch Goodyear non-studded winter tires. Porsche does enhance the motor sound. It put the motor on a dyno, recorded it, and highlighted certain frequencies. The soundtrack didn’t disturb the serenity of the postcard scene, though, with trees groaning under the weight of the snow. That is, until you change drive mode to Sport Plus and the augmented artificial whirr sounds like a spaceship about to

land. It spoiled the mood for me, but it’s a matter of personal taste. There are two times when braking is no fun: on ice and snow, and in EVs where the regenerative capability makes the brakes grab and grip abruptly. Not so with the Taycan. Most of the speed is scrubbed with regeneration rather than the brake system, but braking was smooth and effective, even down a snowy hill. Once we arrived at the Porsche Experience Centre in Levi, it was time to play on the test tracks. I was given keys to a Taycan and told to drift it under a number of scenarios. When in doubt, accelerate. Don’t look at the snowbanks, and you won’t end up in them. It was the definition of a winter wonderland. We started with a slalom course and made our first run in Sport Plus with Porsche Stability Management (PSM) activated. Instructive. When the back end starts to swing out, the traction control rights it time after time. PSM effectively acts as the fun police, but the nice kind. It’s exactly what you want on the road, especially if there’s oncoming traffic or the roadsides slope down to a ditch. But the point of the day was to turn off PSM and find the car’s happy place: sideways with wheels spinning. The rear-wheel steering is incredibly precise. The anti-roll system kept the car planted on slick turns and kept the shiny side up—even on pure ice and in flat light that made the narrow sides of our figure-eight exercise hard to discern. The Porsche was undaunted even when its driver was not. The slightest throttle starts the slide, and fast hands can keep it going. Too much, and it’s donut time, kind of glorious in a safe environment like this. No snowbanks were harmed.

The Porsche Taycan, like our Finnish Detroit editor, handled the Arctic quite well.

The final exercise was a matter of drifting around a pair of circles, big and small. There was lots of room to play with the throttle as the last vestiges of snow were rubbed off, leaving nothing but ice. Hoot and holler. Range wasn’t an issue. We drove all morning and recharged during lunch. An 800-volt fast charging station can take the battery from 5 to 80 percent charge in just over 20 minutes under normal conditions. Cold wasn’t an issue, either, because the batteries can be pre-conditioned (heated or cooled) to make them receptive to a quick charge. Waste heat from the motors

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A Look Inside Porsche’s Taycan Factory orsche is betting big on the Taycan. Make no mistake, Taycan is more than just greenwash, more than just a hastily improvised mea culpa for the Volkswagen Group’s dieselgate. Porsche is spending more than a billion dollars to bring its first electric sports car to market, almost $800 million of that on a dedicated new factory. The Taycan factory has been wedged in and among various existing buildings at Porsche’s manufacturing site in Zuffenhausen, Germany. Clearing the site alone cost more than $50 million, making it a more expensive option than simply expanding the newer

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production facility at Leipzig where the Macan and Panamera are built. Taycan production specialist David Thor Tryggvason points out the site is the symbolic heart of Porsche, where the iconic 911 has long been made. “We want Taycan to be part of Porsche,” he says, “and to send a signal that the future of Porsche is at Zuffenhausen.” The new Porsche Taycan factory includes a facility that assembles motors, transmissions, and axles, along with a dedicated body assembly line, a new paint shop, and a 2,900-foot-long conveyor that transports bodies, motors, battery packs, and axles to the final assembly hall. The innovative factory makes heavy use of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) developed in-house by Porsche. Small AGVs in the powertrain and axle assembly areas

and batteries warms the interior. Even in reindeer country, I had to remove my jacket in the car. That Porsche wasn’t afraid—even encouraged us—to test the car’s limits in a harsh environment telegraphs the confidence engineers have in the new Taycan. The automaker originally planned to make 20,000 Taycans annually but has already decided to double capacity at the plant in Zuffenhausen and is training 72 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

navigate between stations using sensors and wireless communication. Larger AGVs that rely on optical sensors to follow QR codes on lines taped to the floor are used instead of traditional conveyor belts in the body and final assembly areas. The QR code system makes the layout of the factory’s large final assembly plant very flexible. Assembly lines can be moved or changed simply by laying a new line of tape. And without the need to support bulky conveyors, the building’s floors didn’t have to be as robustly engineered and expensive to build as they would be in a conventional factory. The Taycan will launch in two-motor form, with motors in two levels of tune. Core motor parts are from third-party suppliers. The casings and transmission, however, are Porsche’s own design. Because the motors will be built in two power variants, Porsche says this requires a high-precision assembly process. But although the motor assembly is largely automated, Porsche workers hand-select the shims that ensure there is just 0.3mm of clearance between the rotor/stator and the housing. Porsche wants its workers to be actively involved in building the Taycan’s motors. The Taycan factory is slowly being brought up to speed. The first motor, transmission, and axle assemblies were built in the middle of 2018, and the first

more workers now. The U.S. will get as large an allotment as needed to meet demand, we are told. Much like Arctic Blue is challenging Napue for the hearts of the Finnish gin drinkers, Porsche is using the Taycan as a throwdown in the electric luxury sedan market. It’s betting beauty, quality, engineering, repeatable performance, and the Porsche name will convince buyers to consider a new brand. Q

bodies a few months later. The first completed Taycan came off the line in the unfinished final assembly hall in December 2018, just before Christmas. Once production processes have been bedded in and Porsche is confident cars can be produced in higher numbers without impacting quality, the factory’s innovative and flexible layout means output could readily be doubled from its original estimate of 20,000 Taycans up to 40,000 units a year. What’s more, Porsche claims it is already holding 30,000 orders for the Taycan, before a single customer has even driven one. Based on the company’s 2018 production numbers, that would make this electric Porsche more popular than the 718 Cayman/Boxter and within striking distance of both the 911 and the Panamera. And it’s roughly 60 percent of total Tesla Model S production last year. Yes, Taycan is a big bet. But so is the potential payoff. Angus MacKenzie

SPECS 2020 Porsche Taycan 4S Base Price $105,150 Vehicle Layout Front- and rear-motor, AWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan, hatchback Motors 429-482-hp/472-479-lb-ft AC permanent-magnet electric (comb)* Transmissions 1-sp auto (fr), 2-sp auto (rr) Curb Weight 4,800-5,000 lb (mfr) Wheelbase 114.2 in L x W x H 195.4 x 77.4 x 54.3 in 0-60 MPH 3.8 sec (mfr est) EPA City/Hwy/Comb Fuel Econ Not yet rated On Sale in U.S. April *522-563 hp in launch control mode


FIND YOUR JOURNEY! MARCH 7 & 8, 2020 Costa Mesa, CA — OC Fair and Event Center VENDOR MIDWAY • OUTDOOR LIFESTYLE EDUCATION SERIES ADVENTURE RIGS ON DISPLAY • PRODUCT DEMOS • CRAFT BEER GARDEN


FIRST TEST I 2019 Honda Clarity PHEV Touring

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ait a minute—that’s no Accord. Unless you’ve done your research, you probably haven’t heard of this Accord lookalike (albeit one with a funkier rear end). It’s the Clarity, which Honda offers with three powertrains. There’s a lease-only hydrogen fuel cell version that requires the use of our nation’s very limited hydrogen infrastructure, as well as an EV with a mere 89 miles of range. That’s why we’re most interested in the practical plug-in hybrid variant, which can travel 47 miles on pure electricity and hundreds more when the gas engine comes alive. Plus, if you drive solo to work, the Clarity PHEV still gains you access to California’s carpool lanes. Most plug-in hybrids can’t compete with the Clarity’s all-electric range, with the exception of the now-departed Chevrolet Volt. GM killed the Volt to concentrate on pure-electric vehicles. But a case can still be made for PHEVs when folks

still suffer from EV range (and recharging) anxiety. As such, can the as-tested $37,530 Clarity fill the gap left by the industry’s most popular plug-in hybrid riding off into the sunset? Here’s how the Clarity works. Typically, it runs only on an electric motor that produces 181 hp and 232 lb-ft of torque. This motor gets electricity from a lithiumion battery pack. A four-cylinder gas engine with 103 hp kicks in only when needed. It provides additional driving range when the battery is low and more potent acceleration when you press the pedal past a certain point. Total system output is 212 hp. In Hybrid Drive mode, the gas engine drives a motor-generator to produce electricity, which goes directly to either the electric motor or the battery pack. In Engine Drive mode, power routes directly from the engine to the front wheels. The Clarity automatically switches between the electric, hybrid, and engine

WITH THE CHEVROLET VOLT DISCONTINUED, HONDA’S PHEV HAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHINE WORDS KELLY LIN PHOTOGRAPHS BRANDON LIM

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modes to match the current driving situation. But there are four drive modes you can select: Normal, Eco, Sport, and HV. In Eco mode, the threshold for the engine to kick in with extra power is higher than in, say, the more aggressive Sport. Selecting HV mode conserves the battery’s charge level, and a longer hold on this button recharges the battery considerably. During my commute and with the battery low, I regained more than 26 electric miles before a message popped up telling me to plug in if I wanted more electric range.


On the test track, the Clarity glided from 0 to 60 in 7.6 seconds, recording its quickest run in Normal mode. This respectable time is just a tenth of a second behind a 2017 Volt we drove. Honda took care to make the Clarity feel like a regular sedan. The brakes clamp down with more confidence than you’d expect from a hybrid. Still, our test team noted a little bit of travel before they really bite. The Clarity took 121 feet to come to a full stop from 60 mph, and it did so with good body control and minimal dive. Regenerative braking is unobtrusive. Even in Sport mode—which is a misnomer—steering feels a bit vague. Testing director and EV whisperer Kim Reynolds called the Clarity’s handling “benign” in the figure-eight test. “This car is about efficiency and comfort, not performance,” he said. “It behaves itself well enough, which is the main point.” Power delivery dropped when the battery ran out of juice, Reynolds said, adding, “There’s a terrible amount of engine noise under acceleration—the CVT lets the engine boom away at high and near-constant rpm.” The Clarity soaks up bumps in the road before they can disturb those inside the cabin. But at higher speeds, you’ll notice some undulations. Honda managed to keep road noise within reasonable levels, so you should have no problem holding a conversation. With an EV range of 47 miles, the Clarity blows away the Toyota Prius Prime’s 25 miles and the plug-in Kia Optima’s 28 miles. (The battery-only range was 53 miles in the Volt.) In my driving, I found the Clarity lives up to its estimated EV range. In terms of overall driving range, the Clarity isn’t as impressive when you factor in its tiny 7-gallon gas

tank. It gets an EPA-estimated 340 miles, 2019 Honda Clarity PHEV Touring far less than the Prius Prime’s 640, OptiBASE PRICE $37,530 ma’s 630, and Volt’s 420 miles. Honda $37,530 also offers the Insight hybrid in a similar PRICE AS TESTED package; it costs significantly less and has VEHICLE LAYOUT Front-engine, FWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan a longer range, but it’s not a plug-in (so ENGINE much for carpool access). 1.5L/103-hp/99-lb-ft DOHC 16-valve Atkinson-cycle I-4 We’ve long complained about the Volt’s plus 181-hp/232-lb-ft AC cramped interior, but Honda is well permanent-magnet electric motor; 212 hp comb known for cleverly packaging people and their stuff. The Clarity offers plenty of TRANSMISSION Cont variable auto space for passengers and cargo. For those CURB WEIGHT 4,036 lb (57/43%) up front, a cutout in the center console (F/R DIST) makes an excellent storage cubby, and WHEELBASE 108.3 in the cupholders are deep, so go ahead and LENGTH X WIDTH 192.7 x 73.9 x 58.2 in order that large drink. The cabin’s highX HEIGHT quality materials and excellent forward 0-60 MPH 7.6 sec visibility deserve praise. QUARTER MILE 16.1 sec @ 86.6 mph Honda confirmed to MT, “The Clarity Plug-In Hybrid is still available for order BRAKING, 60-0 MPH 121 ft 0.83 g (avg) LATERAL in all 50 states, but our focus is increasACCELERATION ingly going to be on our hybrid vehicles as 27.5 sec @ 0.63 g (avg) having the widest appeal in the market.” MT FIGURE EIGHT Without going into more detail, Honda 44/40/42 mpg (gas), 110 EPA CITY/HWY/ COMB FUEL ECON mpg-e (comb, elec) confirmed a Clarity for the 2020 model year. For the sake of those who enjoy the ENERGY CONS, 77/84 kW-hr/100 miles CITY/HWY flexibility offered by a plug-in hybrid with CO2 EMISSIONS, strong electric range, we hope this one 0.46 lb/mile COMB keeps going strong. Q

The 2019 Honda Clarity offers smart interior packaging but relies on a dated infotainment setup, which notably lacks a volume knob.


ACURA RDX

Updates on our long-term fleet

MT ARRIVAL: 2020 Kia Soul EPA CITY/HWY/COMB Fuel Econ: 25/35/29 mpg

“I put my heart and this Soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process.” Robin Trajano Base price $23,685 As tested $25,755 hen the Kia Soul was first introduced to the U.S. via dancing hamsters, it was a hit. Its combination of funky styling, eye-catching colors, and fun marketing made it Kia’s best-seller.

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76 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

Now the Soul is in its third generation, freshly revitalized with its most drastic change yet but still retaining its box-on-wheels figure. Nissan, Scion, and Toyota have all abandoned their boxy hatches, but Kia still has hopes for the Soul. We’ve added a 2020 Kia Soul EX to our long-term fleet to see if it still has enough, ahem, soul to stand out in a segment that’s saturated with solid options. We opted for the EX trim, one step below the rangetopping GT-Line Turbo, and sprang for the Platinum Gold exterior, a $345 option. The EX starts at $23,685. It comes with the standard 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine pumping out a meager 147 horsepower

mated to a CVT, or Intelligent Variable Transmission (IVT), as Kia calls it. The EX comes with a substantial list of safety features, including forward collision avoidance, blind-spot collision warning, rear cross-traffic collision avoidance assist, lane keep, and driver attention warning. Convenience and luxury features include a large 10.3-inch touchscreen display, dual-zone climate control, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shifter, a

power-adjustable driver’s seat, heated front seats and outside mirrors, and a wireless phone charger. Other features that also come standard in lowertrim Souls include hill-start assist control, tire pressure monitoring, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, keyless entry, Bluetooth wireless connectivity, cruise control, 60/40 split rear seats, and auto-on/ off headlights. That’s a healthy list, but to give the Soul some extra pizzazz we also ticked the box for the $1,500 EX Designer Collection package, which adds 18-inch alloy wheels; LED headlights, foglights, and taillights; and leatherette seat trim. We rounded out the package with carpeted floormats for $130 and a cargo tray for $95. Total: $25,755. I can’t give a reliable first impression just yet because I’m still mourning the departure of my beloved BMW X3 M40i (verdict to come). To help ease the pain of moving from a luxury compact SUV to an affordable subcompact, I’m hoping the Soul still retains enough of the mojo that made its previous iterations so popular. I will say that I’m dreading going from 355 hp down to 147.

The Soul's well-equipped (and well-designed) cabin is one of the many things that made it a Car of the Year finalist.


BMW X3

BMW X2

MAZDA3 UPDATE

NISSAN KICKS

CHRYSLER PACIFICA

RAM 1500 LARAMIE UPDATE

second row up. As a photographer I tend to carry lots of gear and sometimes people for assignments. The shortage of room in the cargo area could be a limiting factor for my needs, so I predict swapping into a larger vehicle for photo shoots. (Real owners would have to weigh their own cargo needs, of course.) It’s not all grim, though. The Soul was a finalist in our 2020 Car of the Year competition. It was in the top three, as a matter of fact, right up there with a C8 Corvette (winner) and the Tesla Model 3. I have a feeling I shouldn’t have too much to worry about.

2020 Kia Soul EX Vehicle Layout Front-engine, FWD, 5-pass, 4-door hatchback Engine 2.0L/147-hp/132-lb-ft DOHC 16-valve I-4 Transmission Cont variable auto Curb Weight 2,981 lb Wheelbase 102.4 in 0-60 MPH 8.6 sec Quarter Mile 16.7 sec @ 83.8 mph Braking, 60-0 MPH 116 ft Lateral Acceleration 0.85 g (avg) MT Figure Eight 27.4 sec @ 0.61 g (avg) Energy Cons, City/ Hwy 125/102 kW-hr/100 miles CO2 Emissions, Comb 0.66 lb/mile

PAUL LAGUETTE

Height 63.0”

Width 70.9”

Length

165. 2 ”

TOYOTA RAV4

SUBARU ASCENT

It's not easy to make a subcompact hatch look stylish, but Kia has continually succeeded with the Soul.

One of my gripes with my Honda HR-V long-termer was its lack of power; it had a similar 141 ponies. To make matters worse, the Soul uses a CVT, a transmission that isn’t known for performance. Another potential issue I noticed right away was the lack of cargo space with the

HONDA INSIGHT

UPDATE GENESIS G70

HYUNDAI KONA

JEEP WRANGLER

VOLKSWAGEN ATLAS

VOLVO S60

ARRIVAL KIA SOUL

VOLVO XC60

2020 Mazda3 Service life: 2 mo/3,575 mi • Avg Fuel Econ: 28.0 mpg

“Some early impressions: The Mazda3 does a good job keeping my head up and ears open.” Erick Ayapana Avg CO2 0.69 lb/mi Energy cons 120 kW-hr/100 mi Unresolved problems None Maintenance cost $0 Normal-wear cost $0 Base price $24,520 As tested $28,420 EPA City/Hwy/Comb Fuel Econ 25/35/29 mpg ’ve come to appreciate a few things in our longterm Mazda3 that set it apart from its main rivals, like the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. For starters, the optional head-up display (Active Driving Display in Mazdaspeak) is well executed, and Mazda gets bonus points for including its brightness and screen height in the programming of the Driving Position Memory buttons (another rare feature in the segment). The display is fairly sharp and includes a comprehensive list of info, including vehicle speed, active cruise control settings, cross-traffic alerts, and lane keep assist warnings. I’m also a fan of the blind-spot indicators, which flash on the left or right side of the screen. One downside? Head-up displays are notorious for “disappearing” when you're wearing polarized sunglasses, and unfortunately the Mazda’s screen does appear dimmer through the lenses of my Ray-Bans. The Mazda3’s Bose sound system is another standout in the compact hatch. It puts the

I

Civic’s and Corolla’s premium audio offerings to shame and isn’t far off from more expensive setups, like the Bowers & Wilkins systems used in Volvos. The Mazda’s audio magic consists of 12 speakers. Most notable are the bass speakers housed within the front footwells, just under the A-pillar. The location is considered the corner of the cabin, which is ideal for low-frequency amplification (and frees up storage on the door where these speakers are typically located). There’s also a subwoofer housed within the spare tire in the trunk. Tweeters in the A-pillar and midrange speakers on the doors point directly toward passengers. The result is clear and powerful sound that’s satisfying to the ears. The audio system also supports high-definition lossless audio files, including FLAC. Audio controls are learnable, and the menus are mostly intuitive, but it’s not perfect. I’ll save those details for another update when I get more familiar with the system. APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 77


MT GARAGE

2019 Genesis G70

Testing director Kim Reynolds: “Lots of fun hanging the tail out, but it would probably scare most people.”

Service life: 5 mo/5,506 mi • Avg Fuel Econ: 19.9 mpg

“The G70 is proving a better sport sedan than its direct competitors and just a shade off those costing much more.” Mark Rechtin Avg CO2 0.97 lb/mi Energy cons 169 kW-hr/100 mi Unresolved problems None Maintenance cost $0 Normal-wear cost $0 Base price $44,745 As tested $46,495 EPA City/Hwy/Comb Fuel Econ 17/26/21 mpg

aving returned from the dealership to solve some baffling transmission issues, our long-term Genesis G70 now appears ready to romp around Los Angeles, its snarling 3.3-liter twin-turbo V-6 full of energy and excitement. As such, we were ready to take our Genesis to Fontana for instrumented testing. At Fontana, we nailed down some pretty impressive numbers relative to the G70’s substantially more expensive European rivals. Acceleration to 60 mph clocked in at 4.5 seconds. The quarter-mile run came through

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in 13 flat at 108.5 mph. That puts it in a bit of in-between. While markedly quicker than the comparably priced Lexus IS 350 F Sport RWD, the G70 is a shade slower than the BMW M340i and Mercedes-AMG C 43, which cost $10,000 to $15,000 more. “It’s one of those stealthyquick cars people won’t suspect, and you can shock them with the acceleration,” road test editor Chris Walton said. “Launch control works rather well. Revving to 2,250 rpm and immediately releasing the brake almost produces some wheelspin and shoves you

2019 Ram 1500

Service life: 4 mo/8,147 mi • Avg Fuel Econ: 15.6 mpg

“Technological advances provide many useful features, but they also provide more things to go wrong.” Scott Evans Avg CO2 1.24 lb/mi Energy cons 211 kW-hr/100 mi Unresolved problems None Maintenance cost $0 Normal-wear cost $0 Base price $46,140 As tested $62,020 EPA City/Hwy/Comb Fuel Econ 17/22/19 mpg odern cars are rolling Best Buys, stuffed with computers performing all sorts of tasks. Each does something to make your life easier or safer, but not always in the exact way you’d want them to. Our long-term 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie truck has a few features we’d like to reprogram. Rear Park Assist with Stop Included with the front and rear parking sensors, this handy feature just doesn’t work for my situation. In theory, it’s a good safety net that prevents you from backing into things by automatically applying the brake if the

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78 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

back in the seat. Upshifts are quick and smooth.” The G70’s best 60–0 braking distance of 109 feet is Subaru WRX STI turf. Walton described the G70 as having “aggressive pedal jump-in, crisp bite, minor dive, some ABS noise, but little vibration, and always straight.” Roaring around the figure eight took 24.9 seconds at 0.77 g (avg). That’s on par with the aforementioned AMG C 43 4Matic, as well as the Jaguar XE 35t R-Sport, which we lauded for its handling. And for all you brand snobs out there, all the above G70 times and distances are just a hair better than those of the G70’s longer, platform-sharing cousin, the Kia Stinger GT. Wailing around the skidpad is one thing. But do these tendencies replicate on city streets? Yep.

My daily commute up Pacific Coast Highway through the South Bay beach cities involves lots of threshold-braking panic stops as impatient drivers dart and weave to get that extra car-length advantage between stoplights. In this instance, brake control is just as important as stopping distance, and the G70 is calm and precise, never panicky. What we’ve found: Performance per dollar, the Genesis G70 3.3T is one of the best values on the market. High-tech features can be buggy, but the low-tech one works well.

computer doesn’t think you’re going to stop in time. I have a steep driveway that I typically drive into nose first. When I go to back out, the long rear overhang puts the bumper fairly close to the street before the nose comes down off the hill and levels out the truck. As a result, the parking sensors always think I’m about to reverse into the road surface. With the rear parking assist feature, the truck would slam on the brakes every time I backed out of my driveway. I had to dig into the settings to disable the stop function. Alternatively, I could manually disable the rear parking sensors every time I left my house and reactivate them down the road. Neither option is appealing. Rear Camera Display The Uconnect infotainment system on the 12.0-inch screen lets you split the display horizontally, giving you two stacked screens. When in reverse, the rear camera takes over the upper half of the screen. The issue is it doesn’t always go away. Multiple times now the rear camera has stayed on after I shifted to drive. Closing the rear camera view with the X in the corner makes it go away, but selecting the function you want again brings back the rear camera instead. Changing to a full-screen display for nav or media then back to split-screen usually fixes it. Uconnect 4C Nav with 12-Inch Display When media is selected as one of the two displayed functions, the touchscreen has trouble recognizing some inputs. The radio presets have the biggest issue, with the system beeping to acknowledge a touch but nothing else happening.


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Karen James Is a noted journalist who specializes in relationships, romance, and sex

Ask The Expert

Love, Marriage, and

Aging Well!

Men in Italy Don’t Need Viagra. Now We Know Why… A Secret Any Man Can Use! This month I got a letter from a reader in Texas about a “little secret” that has renewed her love life with her husband! Tina writes: Dear Karen,

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On his trip, he stayed next to an older, but very energetic Italian couple. Every day he’d see them out riding bikes or playing tennis. If that wasn’t enough, the were just as Sincerely, “energetic” at night. Let’s just say the Tina D., Fort Worth, TX hotel walls were paper thin... ina, you’re in luck, I do know Envious, one morning at breakfast he about them. Ever wonder why asked how they stayed so “active.”. older men from Italy and all over Instead of being embarrassed that Europe are famous for staying they’d been found out, they were positively glowing and happy to share energized, passionate, and sexually active well into their 80’s? For years, their “secret.” The man pulled out a these men have relied on a unique small pack from his leather satchel, blossom seed extract to enhance gave it to my husband and said their energy and libido. “these tablets come from a small

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In addition to hauling large items, our F-150 also ensured we stayed hydrated while testing other vehicles.

Verdict: 2018 Ford F-150 Lariat FX4 “Our 14 months spent with the 2018 Truck of the Year proved to us it was the right call.” Erick Ayapana Base price $46,335 As tested $57,910

Service life: 14 mo/26,442 mi Avg Econ/CO2 17.1 mpg/1.13 lb/mi ig trucks like our 2018 Ford F-150 can at times seem out of place in the busy and tight streets of Los Angeles, but that didn’t stop staffers from racking up miles on our dark green truck. After 14 months in #MTGarage, our 2018 Truck of the Year winner departed with 26,442 miles on its odometer. In that time it hauled or towed many things— two motorcycles, four sofas, two sets of washers and dryers, enclosed car trailers, and a camper, just to name a few. If this

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SPECS Options 502A ($5,835: Blind-spot w/ cross-traffic & trailer monitoring, 110V outlet, 18-inch chrome-look wheels w/ 275/65R18 all-terrain tires, front tow hooks & more); Adaptive cruise w/ stop and pre-collision assist w/ ped detection ($1,250); Tow package ($995: 4-pin/7-pin wiring harness, aux trans/oil cooler, class IV hitch/receiver, smart tow connector, upgraded front stabilizer bar, trailerbackup assist); hard tonneau ($995); FX4 Off-Road package ($770: hill descent control, shock absorbers, 26-gallon fuel tank, transfer case/front differential skidplates, 3.55 elec-lock axle, stickers); spray-in bedliner ($495); side steps ($325); trailer brake ($275); bed extender ($250); power-telescoping mirrors ($250); rubber floormats ($135) Problem Areas None Maintenance Cost $140 (2-oil change, tire rotation, inspection; 1-in-cabin air filter) Normal-Wear Cost $0 3-Year Residual Value* $43,800 (76%) Recalls None *IntelliChoice data; assumes 42,000 miles at the end of three years

truck had any weaknesses, it was our mission to expose them. We tried to do just that only a few weeks after its arrival when some friends and I acquired a 25-foot Airstream Flying Cloud for a weekend of glamping. The fancy camper weighed in at 6,280 pounds, which was definitely hefty but still comfortably within our truck’s max tow rating of 7,600 pounds. With a three-hour journey to the campsite just north of Santa Barbara, the drive could’ve been taxing and stressful. Thankfully, it wasn’t. The truck handled confidently and steadily at highway speed, and the 2.7-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V-6 showed no signs of struggle, even going up and over the challenging 841-foot Conejo Grade just south of Camarillo, California. The powertrain is equally impressive when the 5,166-pound truck is unladen. We recorded a 0–60 time of 6.3 seconds, making this the third-quickest vehicle in our long-term fleet at the time, behind the Volvo S60 T6 and Genesis G70 3.3T. The strong engine is mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission, and they worked well together for the most part. However, the transmission developed an issue where it would stumble through shifts, mostly between third and fifth gears. Apparently we weren’t alone; our local dealer knew exactly what we were talking about and immediately reprogrammed our truck’s powertrain and transmission


2018 Ford F-150 Lariat 4X4 (SuperCab) DRIVETRAIN LAYOUT ENGINE TYPE VALVETRAIN DISPLACEMENT COMPRESSION RATIO POWER (SAE NET) TORQUE (SAE NET) REDLINE WEIGHT TO POWER TRANSMISSION AXLE/FINAL DRIVE/LOW RATIO SUSPENSION, FRONT; REAR STEERING RATIO TURNS LOCK TO LOCK

control modules. That smoothed things back to normal, though we still experienced a few rough downshifts from time to time (but not as harsh as before the reflash). It looks like Ford still has some software tweaking to do. Our F-150 is EPA-rated at 19/24/21 mpg city/highway/combined, but according to our logbook it averaged 17.1 mpg during its stay. That’s acceptable considering the amount of towing and L.A. traffic we put it through. The log also reveals a couple of road trips where the truck hit 24 mpg on a tank of fuel. We opted for the Lariat trim level, and although some staffers winced at our truck’s $57,910 price tag, most everyone agreed our F-150’s cabin was a nice place to spend time in. Because of a discount that was active at the time our truck was built, the Lariat package cost us $5,835. It adds a long list of features, some of the most appreciated items being the instrument panel’s large and sharp digital display, the B&O Play sound system, remote start system, and ventilated front seats. The latter two helped with the warmer weather. That said, our truck had a few standalone options I could’ve done without. The foldable bed extender, for example, rarely got any use and also got in the way of latching the tonneau cover; it was most useful when folded forward to act as a bed divider. But again, it was mostly in the way. I’d also skip the tow

mirrors—they’re helpful for towing but not worth the hassle of having to avoid the posts in our office’s parking garage. Unfortunately one staffer misjudged a post and cracked the passenger-side mirror housing (costmetic damage we didn’t fix). The large mirrors also look somewhat goofy with our truck’s shorter SuperCab body style. Speaking of the SuperCab, I was initially worried about its practicality due to its smaller rear passenger area, but it didn’t take long to see that the pros outweighed the cons. The rear-hinged back doors were tricky in tight parking spaces, but I was a fan overall. The doors’ ability to swing open 180 degrees and the absence of a B-pillar made access to the rear seats super easy. Legroom was adequate for three averaged-sized adults. We had nothing but praise for the longer, spacious 6.5-foot bed, along with its eight hooks (including four with the optional BoxLink system), LED lighting, and spray-in bedliner. Our truck also had the optional retractable side steps near the front of bed, which got a lot of use. Our truck went in for two service visits for a total cost of $140. That’s a tad more than our long-term 2013 Ram 1500 (with the 395-hp V-8), which set us back $120.94 for two service visits. That truck also returned similar fuel economy at 17.3 mpg. Meanwhile, our 2014 Ram 1500 with the EcoDiesel V-6 covered more than 32,000 miles (and averaged 23.2 mpg); its pricey 30,000-mile service included a rear differential service, putting its maintenance total at $775.04. Based on dealer estimates, our F-150 would’ve cost $236.90 to maintain over a similar distance. With our F-150’s comfy interior, strong engine, and spacious bed, it’s no surprise it was in high demand during its stay. The fact that it was mostly drama-free only solidifies our case for our having crowned it our 2018 Truck of the Year.

Front-engine, 4WD Twin-turbo 60-deg V-6, iron block/alum heads DOHC, 4 valves/cyl 164.3 cu in/2,693cc 10.3:1 325 hp @ 5,000 rpm 400 lb-ft @ 2,750 rpm 5,800 rpm 15.9 lb/hp 10-speed automatic 3.55:1/2.26:1/2.64:1 Control arms, coil springs, anti-roll bar; live axle, leaf springs 17.4:1 3.2

BRAKES, F; R

13.8-in vented disc; 13.7-in disc, ABS

WHEELS

7.5 x 18-in cast aluminum

TIRES

275/65R18 116T M+S Michelin Primacy XC

DIMENSIONS WHEELBASE TRACK, F/R LENGTH X WIDTH X HEIGHT TURNING CIRCLE CURB WEIGHT WEIGHT DIST, F/R SEATING CAPACITY

145.0 in 67.6/67.6 in 231.9 x 79.9 x 77.2 in 47.1 ft 5,166 lb 59/41%

SHOULDER ROOM, F/R

5 40.8/40.3 in 43.9/33.5 in 66.7/65.8 in

CARGO VOLUME BEH 1ST ROW

31.6 cu ft

PICKUP BOX L X W X H

78.9 x 65.2 x 21.4 in 62.3 cu ft 50.6 in 1,334 lb 7,600 lb (SAE)/7,239 lb (VIN)

HEADROOM, F/R LEGROOM, F/R

PICKUP BOX VOLUME WIDTH BET WHEELHOUSES PAYLOAD CAPACITY TOWING CAPACITY TEST DATA ACCELERATION TO MPH 0-30 0-40 0-50 0-60 0-70 0-80 0-90 PASSING, 45-65 MPH QUARTER MILE BRAKING, 60-0 MPH LATERAL ACCELERATION MT FIGURE EIGHT TOP-GEAR REVS @ 60 MPH

2.0 sec 3.1 4.6 6.3 8.3 10.8 13.9 3.5 14.8 sec @ 92.1 mph 128 ft 0.74 g (avg) 28.5 sec @ 0.60 g (avg) 1,500 rpm

CONSUMER INFO BASE PRICE

$46,335 $57,910 STABILITY/TRACTION CONTROL Yes/Yes 6: Dual front, front side, AIRBAGS f/r curtain BASIC WARRANTY 3 years/36,000 miles POWERTRAIN WARRANTY 5 years/60,000 miles ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE 5 years/60,000 miles FUEL CAPACITY 26.0 gal PRICE AS TESTED

REAL MPG, CITY/HWY/COMB EPA CITY/HWY/COMB ECON ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB RECOMMENDED FUEL

18.6/23.9/20.6 mpg 19/24/21 mpg 177/140 kW-hr/100 miles 0.93 lb/mile

Unleaded premium

APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 81


MT GARAGE

I LOVED MY YEAR IN THE CIVIC TYPE R SO MUCH THAT I ASKED HONDA IF I COULD BUY IT. THIS CAR LITERALLY DOES IT ALL.

Verdict: 2018 Honda Civic Type R “The record-setting Honda Civic Type R might have set a new retained-value record, as well. It’s definitely been a year well spent.” Chris Walton Base price $35,595 As tested $35,595

Service life: 12 mo/20,100 mi Avg Econ/CO2 24.0 mpg/0.81 lb/mi o I have to give it back? Seriously, do I? When I started this yearlong evaluation, I wondered what it would be like to live with the best hot hatch in decades. Now, I’m wondering how I’m going to live without the 2018 Honda Civic Type R. The CTR, as its fans call it, proved to be a consummate comfy commuter, a maniacal mountain roadgoer, a multirecord-holding performer, a frugal road tripper, and a surprisingly spacious and convenient hauler. There may not be a more comprehensively satisfying long-term test car extant. It literally does everything. Let’s get right to the good stuff. The first Civic Type R (FK8) sold in the States is simply the best-performing front-drive production car in history. No

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SPECS Options None Problem Areas None Maintenance Cost $147 (2-oil change, inspection) Normal-Wear Cost $1,602 (4 new tires, rear brake pads) 3-Year Residual Value* $30,900 (87%) Recalls None *IntelliChoice data; assumes 42,000 miles at the end of three years

stock FWD car will beat it in a straight line, on our figure-eight course, or around any number of racetracks, including the infamous Nordschleife “Green Hell” circuit. Nothing will stop or corner with as much tenacity. We wish there were a way to launch it harder, so tricking the self-imposed rev limiter from a standstill nets “only” a 5.4-second sprint to 60 mph. At about 14,000 miles, our friends at Tire Rack replaced the stock Continental SportContact 6 tires with a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, and we ran the tests again. There were small but measurable improvements in all performance categories, but more important, added confidence and comfort. Comfort is not a quality one would expect from a very sporty, bewinged fourdoor hatchback, but the Type R is indeed at ease with most road surfaces, and

wind noise is surprisingly low and widely dispersed at highway speeds. Riding on 20-inch wheels but three-way adjustable dampers, the compact Civic hatch’s ride is remarkably compliant and quiet, even in Sport or R mode and especially after switching tires. However, the CTR’s 245/30R20 tire sidewalls are less than 3 inches tall and abhor sharp impacts. I even bent a front wheel on a sewer cover. Beyond the supple ride, the cloth/ Alcantara front seats are perhaps the best seats I’ve ever enjoyed, and I drive about 200 cars a year. So supportive and bolstered are they that a friend with back troubles noticed and said, “I don’t have to brace myself for corners. I’ll just sit here with my hands in my lap and enjoy this road with you.” I suffered no uncomfortable hot spots or fidgeting on long drives. I expected the tall thigh bolsters to wear, break down, or discolor from a year’s worth of unavoidable contact, yet they still look and feel like new. There were no complaints from high school–age rear passengers with the exception that the car only holds four people. The climate control system never failed to deliver cool/ warm air on demand in temperatures from 20 to 105 degrees. Over 20,100 miles, the Civic Type R consumed 835 gallons of California-spec 91-octane premium unleaded for a total cost of $3,322. Our tank-by-tank economy ranged from 12 to 32 mpg depending on locale and personnel, and our annual average was 24.0 mpg, nearly matching the EPA’s 25 mpg combined figure. We saw self-reported fuel economy as high as 34 mpg, but the longest single-day trip


2018 Honda Civic Type R DRIVETRAIN LAYOUT

Front-engine, FWD Turbocharged I-4, alum block/head VALVETRAIN DOHC, 4 valves/cyl DISPLACEMENT 121.8 cu in/1,996cc COMPRESSION RATIO 9.8:1 POWER (SAE NET) 306 hp @ 6,500 rpm TORQUE (SAE NET) 295 lb-ft @ 2,500 rpm REDLINE 7,000 rpm WEIGHT TO POWER 10.1 lb/hp TRANSMISSION 6-speed manual AXLE/FINAL DRIVE RATIO 4.11:1/3.02:1 SUSPENSION, FRONT; REAR Struts, coil springs, adj shocks, anti-roll bar; multilink, coil springs, adj shocks, anti-roll bar STEERING RATIO 11.7-14.9:1 TURNS LOCK TO LOCK 2.1 ENGINE TYPE

between fill-ups was 332 miles with 1.7 gallons to spare. This calculated to 31 mpg, easily surpassing the EPA’s 28 mpg highway figure. Had our friends at Honda not replaced one of the 20-inch wheels gratis, the bent wheel would have cost about $500. The Civic Type R was never out of service, except for two mornings for its scheduled maintenance and one to swap tires. At around 6,000 miles, the cost of the “A1” service (oil change, inspection, tire rotation, etc.) was $97. The 15,000-mile “B1” service would’ve cost the same for the same jobs (minus the tire rotation), but we had a coupon for a $50 service. The dealership found that the rear brake pads needed replacing ($222). This is a common trait for the FK8 CTR, as its rear brakes do much of the work stabilizing the car on twisting mountain roads driven at a spirited pace—even with the VSA stability control system supposedly disabled and in R driving mode. Subtracting fresh tires and the bent wheel, that’s $147 more than previous high-performance long-termers; the 2015 Subaru WRX STI and 2017 BMW M2 were each covered with $0 paid for routine scheduled maintenance for three years or 36,000 miles. Because it’s still common to see +$10,000 “market-adjusted” window stickers on these particularly desirable Civics, you might expect them to retain their value, as well. You’re right. Our

partners at IntelliChoice assume 42,000 miles at the end of three years, when the Civic Type R’s value would be a whopping 87 percent of its new price. I scoured our long-term reviews to find similar performance cars’ values. Well, that same 2015 Subaru WRX STI retained just 58 percent, and the 2017 BMW M2 was closer with a 76 percent residual value. The Civic Type R might have set another record. I loved my year in the 2018 Civic Type R so much that I asked Honda if I could buy it. I happily commuted, tore up Angeles Crest/Forest with zeal and confidence, comfortably emptied a tank or two in one sitting, and even hauled (not at one time) a set of four vintage speakers for repair, two loaner tower speakers, a 6-foot ladder, a small office table, and so on. To repeat, this car literally does it all. Also, with the car’s sole manufacturing facility closing in Swindon, England, my guess is that its uncertain future might inflate its value even more. Our friends at Honda reassured me that other Civic-building facilities, like the one in Ohio, will be drafted to accommodate the Type R’s relatively low production numbers. Honda, however, also knows the car’s value, so the price it proposed to sell me this one was out of my range. Darn it. Would I recommend the Civic Type R to a friend? You bet I would. There isn’t a more accomplished front-drive hot hatch available at any price. Q

BRAKES, F; R

13.8-in vented, drilled disc; 12.0-in disc, ABS

WHEELS

8.5 x 20-in cast aluminum

TIRES

245/30R20 90Y Continental SportContact 6

DIMENSIONS WHEELBASE

106.3 in 63.0/62.7 in LENGTH X WIDTH X HEIGHT 179.4 x 73.9 x 56.5 in TURNING CIRCLE 39.5 ft CURB WEIGHT 3,104 lb WEIGHT DIST, F/R 62/38% TRACK, F/R

SEATING CAPACITY

SHOULDER ROOM, F/R

4 39.3/37.4 in 42.3/35.9 in 56.9/55.0 in

CARGO VOL, BEH F/R

46.3/25.7 cu ft

HEADROOM, F/R LEGROOM, F/R

TEST DATA ACCELERATION TO MPH 0-30 0-40 0-50 0-60 0-70 0-80 0-90 0-100 PASSING, 45-65 MPH QUARTER MILE BRAKING, 60-0 MPH LATERAL ACCELERATION MT FIGURE EIGHT 1.6-MI ROAD COURSE LAP TOP-GEAR REVS @ 60 MPH

CONSUMER INFO BASE PRICE PRICE AS TESTED STABILITY/TRACTION CONTROL AIRBAGS BASIC WARRANTY POWERTRAIN WARRANTY

ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE FUEL CAPACITY REAL MPG, CITY/HWY/COMB

EPA CITY/HWY/COMB ECON ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY

The Civic Type R’s spacious hatch ensures it isn’t just a toy—it’s also seriously useful.

2.2 sec 3.2 4.1 5.4 6.9 8.3 10.6 12.9 2.5 13.9 sec @ 103.5 mph 100 ft 1.00 g (avg) 24.5 sec @ 0.78 g (avg) 84.81 sec 2,450 rpm $35,595 $35,595 Yes/Yes 6: Dual front, front side, f/r curtain 3 years/36,000 miles 5 years/60,000 miles 3 years/36,000 miles 12.4 gal 23.7/33.5/27.3 mpg 22/28/25 mpg

CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB

153/120 kW-hr/100 miles 0.80 lb/mile

RECOMMENDED FUEL

Unleaded premium

APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 83


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NEWS I OPINION I GOSSIP I STUFF

Angus MacKenzie

The Big Picture There’s No Silver Bullet When It Comes to Driving Green

Y

ou don’t have to poke around the dingier corners of the internet to wonder whether we’re barreling toward a new Dark Age, where superstition once again supplants science. These might be strange days, indeed, on planet Earth, but the vast and complex machinery of the universe grinds on regardless, and our precious little blue world is beholden to its laws, not our beliefs. Jump out of a tree, and you’ll hit the ground. Travel in a straight line, and you’ll eventually end up where you started. Put more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and you’ll change the climate. There, I said it. Climate change is a fact, not a political statement. If you listen carefully, the climate change debate is not a debate over a process that has been proven to be as ancient and elemental as the planet itself. It’s a debate about whether we contribute to it. And here the answer is clear and inescapable. Carbon dioxide is an inevitable byproduct of burning fossil fuels. Coal, natural gas, diesel, jet-A, gasoline. EPA numbers show the average light-duty passenger vehicle in the U.S. emits more than 14 ounces of carbon dioxide per mile traveled. As of 2017 there were more than 270 million such vehicles on America’s roads, and figures published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration show they collectively traveled more than 2.8 trillion miles in just 2017. You do the math. Then multiply the answer by four to get a rough idea of how much carbon dioxide is pumped into the atmosphere each year by cars, SUVs, and pickups around the globe. Yeah, we contribute. If you’re a member of MotorTrend Nation, then, like us, you can’t imagine life without the automobile. It might be more expensive, more regulated, and more complex than ever, but the modern automobile is—with all its faults, its capacity to maim and kill and congest and pollute—still a wondrous thing, capable of transporting both body

86 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020

and soul, of delivering freedom and adventure beyond the imagination of our ancestors a mere 150 years ago. The problem is, there is no one vehicle or powertrain concept that neatly solves the climate change conundrum, no silver bullet technology that’ll magically enable us all to drive greener. And that includes electric vehicles, because unless you’re plugging into a grid powered entirely by nuclear, geothermal, or renewable energy sources, the energy going into the battery has come from burning fossil fuels. For more than three decades now, people have been asking me what sort of vehicle they should buy. My first response has always been, “What do you want to use it for?” Right tool, right job; it’s always been a sound guiding principle when deciding on a daily driver. Today it’s arguably more important than ever. Not that long ago, almost everything on America’s roads was powered by an internal combustion engine that burned gasoline. Now you can buy vehicles with mild and plug-in hybrid gasoline-electric powertrains, as well as ones powered by diesels, electric motors, and even hydrogen fuel cells. None is perfect. But used the right way, each has the potential to help reduce the automobile’s contribution to climate change. If you live in a crowded urban area and have a regular commute in heavy stop-and-go traffic, then an electric vehicle, whose highly efficient motors only use energy when the vehicle actually moves, makes a lot of sense as a daily driver. If you regularly cruise long distances on the interstates, the much-maligned diesel, which is extremely efficient at constant throttle, is a good option. The best all-arounder? The gas-electric plug-in hybrid, coming versions of which will offer up to 60 miles of pure electric range around town and, thanks to motor assistance, the efficiency of a diesel on the highway. Yes, a plug-in hybrid is heavy and not the most efficiently packaged, because you have to carry around a battery as well as an internal combustion engine. But right now, it’s probably the closest thing we have to an automotive Leatherman. Q


A bad day on the road still beats a good one off it. Stay out there with basic liability insurance starting at $75 a year. Add roadside assistance for less than $1 a month.

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