Latest news with #hybridcar
The Verge
3 days ago
- Automotive
- The Verge
Chevy's electrified ZR1X is the quickest Corvette ever.
We're barely recovered from meeting the 2025 Corvette ZR1, and now Chevrolet has announced a regenerative hybrid variant (no plugging in here), dubbed the ZR1X. This 2026 Corvette model takes the E-Ray's EV modes and all wheel drive setup, turns up the horsepower, and puts it in a package with the ZR1's LT7 V8, along with some other tweaks for maximizing performance on the road or the track. This 'true American hypercar' with 1,250 horsepower will go from zero to 60 mph in under two seconds, GM estimates. No price announced yet.
The Sun
02-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Sun
Major car brand's smallest motor bought by 300,000 drivers unveiled with new look… & will be hybrid-only
A MAJOR car brand has unveiled a new look for its smallest motor due to be rolled-out later this year. The tiny Toyota Aygo X has received a mid-life update, with its mini 1.0L petrol engine being swapped out for a hybrid powertrain, borrowed from its big brother, the Yaris. 4 4 When it arrives in the UK later this year, it will be the smallest entirely hybrid car on sale in the country. Toyota will also discontinue its manual gearbox petrol version, making the Aygo X hybrid-only. The Japanese carmaker has found a great deal of popularity with its "A-segment" city car, selling nearly 300,000 since they were introduced in 2022. Now, its refreshed Aygo X could attract even more buyers with its 114bhp 1.5L petrol-electric hybrid setup - borrowed from the larger and more expensive Yaris and Yaris Cross. However, the design has been adapted from these other motors, due to the Aygo's tight dimnesions. For example, while battery cells are usually found parallel in the Yaris, the Aygo X will have them placed as two stacks alongside each other underneath the rear seats. The auxiliary battery will also be moved under the boot storage in order to not cramp the space inside the tiny motor. In terms of power, this new hybrid setup churns out a respectable 114bhp, far more than the 71bhp seen in the current Aygo. Toyota says this means the Aygo X will be able to go from 0-62mph in "less than 10 seconds". The new motor is also expected to boast fuel economy figures beyond 70mpg, reports Car Magazine. Vauxhall Mokka hybrid is a smarter, greener & better equipped version of old motor… but small detail really lets it down On top of this all, Toyota says the new Aygo X will have CO2 emissions of just 86g/km, the lowest of any car that does not need to be plugged in. The iconic Japanese carmaker has also claimed to have made the Aygo quieter and more comfortable through increased noise insulation, especially on the top-spec model - which will come with thicker glass. On its exterior, the updated Aygo X boasts new sharp LED headlights as well as a redesigned front bumper. The motor stretches 76mm longer than its predecessor, primarily to accommodate the larger hybrid powertrain. World's largest car maker hatching plans to invest £40 million in a new assembly line in UK The world's largest car maker is planning to invest a whopping £40million for a new assembly line in the UK. The Toyota plant at Burnaston could be in line for a major investment, as the company weighs moving production for the US market from Japan to Derbyshire. The car maker plans to invest around £41 million to set up a new production line dedicated to making GR Corollas, according to Reuters. Toyota has denied that Trump tariffs are behind the potential shift, despite taxes on Britain being 10 per cent compared to Japan's 25 per cent. In light of the potential move, Japanese automaker Toyota revealed that new cars could be added to the European market. Currently, the GR Corolla is only available in Japan and is exported to North America and select other markets. Burnaston plant currently produces the Corolla hatchback and estate for the UK and European markets, but production rates could significantly improve with the proposed investment. A new production line could be operational within 12 months, with reports suggesting that Japanese engineers may temporarily relocate to Derbyshire to assist with the transition. On top of a new bonnet, there is also an option to have a retractable canvas roof. If you're feeling like splashing out some more cash, there's also a newly introduced GR Sport trim level for the Aygo X, said to be "inspired by Toyota's motorsport teams". In the cabin, there aren't many changes to come with the update - although a new seven-inch digital instrument cluster has been added. There is also expected to be a new wireless smartphone charger for higher-spec cars. Prices and specifications have yet to be fully announced for the Aygo X, although experts have said to expect a "healthy increase" on top of the car's current starting price of £16,845.
Car and Driver
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
A McLaren Artura Spider Is Its Own Spring Break Plan
My kids' spring break is timed to coincide with Easter. This means that the dates vary wildly from year to year, because so does Easter (it's the Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox, if you need a refresher on your moon-based holidays). This year, Easter was late—mid-April—which is about the time you might expect some decent weather in North Carolina, where we live. And so I made a bold decision for our spring break plans, which is that there would be no spring break plans. Well, except for one: drive the McLaren Artura Spider. Get your hands on an Artura, and the plans make themselves. A school pickup becomes an event that's Snapchatted across the county. A trip to the grocery store is an epic journey. And a drive to the beach might lead to sublime sensory immersion the likes of which prompted Coleridge to write Kubla Khan, but this time without the opium. Ezra Dyer | Car and Driver The Artura is McLaren's hybrid V-6 model, and it spits out a total of 690 horsepower via a turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 and an electric motor. Cleverness abounds: The eight-speed dual-clutch transmission has no reverse gear, with that job handled by the electric motor spinning backward. The engine is mounted so low, it sits beneath the tops of the wheels. You can get it with Pirelli Cyber tires that report their temperatures and take note when you're driving faster than 167 mph, so you can adjust pressures accordingly. The Artura is also arguably the most beautiful contemporary McLaren, with its graceful buttresses and one-piece rear clamshell, and that's saying something. Ezra Dyer | Car and Driver That's a pretty car. With the weather forecast looking decent, we decided to head for the coast, which means a slog across the flatlands of Route 74. Typically that's a boring stretch of road, but not long into the drive, a battle erupted in the skies above, sunshine and thunderstorms fighting for the upper hand and spraying rainbows down across the farmland. The view ahead, swept clear by the McLaren's single wiper blade, was like the world turned into a Lucky Charms box. Through the rearview mirror, I watched geysers of spray hang in the sunshine and burst into yet more rainbows. The Ventura Orange of the car played its own part in this explosion of color, and a normally dreary drive turned into, dare I say, a profound experience. Beach Days Beach towns can be automotively haughty. A car like an Artura would blend with the scenery in Malibu, and Cape Cod is the land of the six-figure old-school Jeep Wagoneer. Holden Beach, North Carolina, isn't like that. The general store sells bait, the best restaurants are open to the elements, and a street-legal side-by-side is the preferred vehicular flex. It's apparent that the people who might have Artura money—this car wore a window sticker of $325,258—choose to deploy their financial resources on boats. You don't see cars like this. Ezra Dyer | Car and Driver So it wasn't a huge surprise when I got a knock on the door and it was about the Artura. A high-school freshman named Oliver had a camera in hand and wanted to know if it was okay to take photos of the car. I told him to go for it, of course, because that's exactly what I would have done at his age if I stumbled across a McLaren in my neighborhood. After he got his shots I gave him a ride home, which was only two blocks away down a 35-mph road, but at least now he can say he rode in a McLaren. Ezra Dyer | Car and Driver Over the next few days, I made excuses to drive the Artura—I felt it was my responsibility to the general public. Grocery runs, bait procurement, and pizza pickup were all dispatched in style. One day I was big-upped at the hardware store by a V-12 Lincoln Zephyr wearing a hand-written For Sale sign taped to the window: respect. I should note that all of these errands were accomplished with the Artura in Sport mode, not because I was doing anything particularly sporty, but because Sport mode forces the 120-degree V-6 to fire up, and your audience demands to hear it. This car had the $5100 sports exhaust system, which issues a properly exotic caterwaul that harmonizes with the rush of the turbos as you approach the 7500-rpm horsepower peak. The Artura will keep the engine running if you want to charge the battery (it's EPA rated at 11 miles of electric range), with one exception: the "engine conditioning" wait period immediately after you start the car. Ezra Dyer | Car and Driver Upstaged by a V-12 at the hardware store. You can climb into the Artura and start driving immediately, but the engine won't fire up until it's done pre-warming the catalysts, which only takes about seven seconds but can sometimes seem like an eternity. Like, for instance, when I was leaving the driveway and a mom and two little boys stopped in their tracks on the sidewalk to watch the McLaren depart, and I whirred away with a 94-hp electric hum. Hopefully they kept looking long enough to hear the V-6 bark to life—this car makes sounds, I promise. Now, as much as I wanted to use the Artura for every chore possible, we're a family of four, and not every task is McLaren-appropriate. Like, for instance, buying some outdoor furniture. That's a truck trip, so the McLaren stayed parked—out of sight but not, evidently, out of mind, because when we got home we realized that the furniture that struck our fancy was almost the same shade of orange as the Artura. It probably doesn't require much psychoanalysis to deduce what happened there. Someday, when the kids ask why we have orange rocking chairs, I'll say, "Remember that Artura Spider?" Ezra Dyer | Car and Driver No idea why the orange furniture seemed appealing. The morning the Artura was to be picked up, I felt a keen sense of impending loss, so I went for a two-hour morning drive with my younger son, Finn. We did a few launch-control starts out in the boonies, visited a gas station on the far end of a fun, curvy road, and stopped by a place called Fort Apache that really deserves its own story. Fort Apache's proprietor, Dale, wasn't around, but we grabbed a few photos in front of the Crackhead Express, a city bus that used to have a huge crack pipe on the roof. At some point, Dale replaced that with a shark eating a water-skier, as one does, and added rows of toilets all around the vicinity. This is why you stop by Fort Apache now and then—you've got to keep up with the happenings. Ezra Dyer | Car and Driver Ezra Dyer | Car and Driver Once the Artura was cruelly wrenched from my clutches, I was forced to contemplate my return to life without 690 horsepower and flying buttresses. And in ginning up a pep talk for myself, I think I actually stumbled upon a truth that should have been obvious: All of these pointless little fun trips that I took in the McLaren would also have been fun in my Daihatsu Rocky, or our Gladiator. Maybe not so much in the Pacifica, but you get the idea. You don't need a $325,000 McLaren convertible to enjoy an aimless drive. But it sure helps. Ezra Dyer Senior Editor Ezra Dyer is a Car and Driver senior editor and columnist. He's now based in North Carolina but still remembers how to turn right. He owns a 2009 GEM e4 and once drove 206 mph. Those facts are mutually exclusive.
E&E News
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- E&E News
New EV fees won't fix highway funding problems — and could ding transit
Electric vehicle and hybrid car fees included in the Republicans' sprawling party-line bill would be the first new revenue dedicated to the Highway Trust Fund in 30 years. But there's a catch, experts and lawmakers say. The fees would go only part of the way toward closing the fund's massive spending gap. And, as currently written, the legislation would direct the money only to highway projects, to the exclusion of transit. Historically, 80 percent of the fund's money has gone to highways and 20 percent to transit. Advertisement Republicans — and the construction industry — are optimistic about securing a long-term solution to pay for the nation's aging roads. But public transportation advocates and some Democrats are worried that buses, rail and ferries will be left at the station.
The Herald
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Herald
Jaecoo J7 SHS plug-in hybrid confirmed for South Africa
Jaecoo has confirmed its J7 SHS plug-in hybrid will go on sale in South Africa in June. The J7 SHS is powered by a 1.5 l turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine paired with an electric motor and a Dedicated Hybrid Transmission. According to the Chinese manufacturer, the system — dubbed 'Super Hybrid System' — delivers fuel consumption of under 5 l /100km, placing it among the more efficient vehicles in its segment. An 18.3kWh battery enables up to 90km of electric-only range and when connected to a 40kW DC charger the battery can be charged from 30% to 80% in about 20 minutes. Standard equipment includes leather upholstery, ambient interior lighting, 19" alloy wheels, wireless charging, a 10.25" digital instrument cluster, 360° camera system, an electric tailgate, an eight-speaker Sony sound system and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. A comprehensive suite of driver assistance features is also included, such as adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, lane departure warning and rear cross-traffic assist with automatic braking. Local pricing and detailed specifications will be confirmed closer to the launch date.
