Mercedes-Benz plans to launch its first wireless charging system for its electrified cars in 2018, aiming to cut out a lingering headache for plug-in EV owners. Expected to be offered as an option for select vehicles in the automaker's range, the wireless charging tech will require hardware changes to the car. However, after that's been carried out, it should make recharging it a no-brainer.
As daring automakers go, you might not count Honda as high on the list of risk-takers, but that's certainly not the case with the new 2018 Accord. Honda revealed its brand new sedan over the weekend, and while you might have thought the equation for what makes an Accord an Accord was sewn up right now, turns out the Japanese firm has something new in mind. As well as the dramatic new design, there are some potentially controversial new directions Honda is taking the car.
Given the success of Tesla and the growing popularity of hybrid and fully electric vehicles, it certainly seems like EVs are only going to continue rising in prevalence. Volvo apparently wants a slice of that pie, and a significant slice at that. The company announced today that all of the cars it launches from 2019 on will use an electric motor, marking a rather large commitment on its part.
Honda's Clarity trio is complete, with the new 2017 Clarity Electric and the 2018 Clarity Plug-in Hybrid joining the existing Clarity Fuel Cell car. Offering less extreme green options than the hydrogen powered car already on the market - albeit in limited areas of California - the two new Clarity variants balance zero-emission range with convenience. In short, if you're not quite ready for fuel cell life, Honda still has a Clarity it'd like to sell you.
Lexus already wowed us back in Detroit with the reveal of its all-new LS flagship sedan; now it's the turn of the 2018 LS 500h hybrid to steal the show. Launched today at the Geneva Motor Show, the new sedan picks up Lexus' torch of big, luxury cars with electrified powertrains. In this case, it's the combination of a 3.5-liter V6 gas engine and a pair of electric motors.
What if I told you that you could have the luxury of a big SUV, the performance of a V8, but the economy of a four-cylinder? That's what Audi is promising with the new Q8 sport concept, a second take on its SUV-range-topping Q8 concept that throws some "mild hybrid technology" into the mixture. And, while they may be saying "mild", this is no shy, retiring truck for the school run.
Mercedes-AMG has made a hybrid, but the GT Concept unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show today is not your Uber driver's Prius. A sleek and attention-grabbing four-door coupe, the trick to appreciating the GT Concept is to look past the hot red bodywork. The real meat is underneath.
Porsche's four-door Panamera has a new flagship model, and despite what you might expect it's actually a hybrid. Still, the 2018 Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid is no pious Prius. Instead, it's a 680 horsepower, 192 mph monster with a nod to being green.
Ford's seven-strong electrified vehicle announcement at CES 2017 this morning is the Detroit automaker's biggest commitment to EVs to-date, and there are no half-measures. On the cards - and, indeed, on the roads within the next few years - will be hybrid versions of some of the blue oval's biggest nameplates. It's a strategy that's markedly different from that taken by many of Ford's rivals, which have focused on a few halo hybrid and EV products amid the rest of their mainstream range. I caught up with Hau Thai-Tang, Ford group vice president of Purchasing and the automaker's "executive electrified vehicle champion" to find out more.
Ford has revealed seven new electrified vehicles today at CES 2017, including an F-150 Hybrid version of its best-selling truck, and a Mustang Hybrid sports car. The news, announced today by Ford CEO Mark Fields, is the tip of a 13-strong electrified fleet that the automaker intends to launch over the next five years. Ford is also beginning pilot trials of wireless charging technologies for electrified vehicles, along with tests of twenty Transit Connect hybrid taxi and van prototypes in several US cities.
The BMW 330e iPerformance isn't the car to buy if you want people to know you're saving the planet. In fact, from behind the wheel of the 2016 330e, I had to keep glancing at the display to make sure that I was, indeed, driving a plug-in hybrid and not one of BMW's regular 3 Series cars. Say hello to the Germans' secret green family.
Cadillac has taken the wraps off its newest electrified car, and after the underwhelming reception to the ELR, it's taking no chances this time around. The 2017 Cadillac CT6 Plug-In Hybrid is set to hit North American dealerships in the spring of next year, taking the previously-released and well-received CT6 sedan as its basis, and then throwing in an electric powertrain. Together, the gas and electric systems are good for over 400 miles of range.
