Car FYI

The original trophy awarded to the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year winner, this trophy was sponsored by Indiana meat company Stark and Wetzel. For 2025, an all-new Ray Harroun Trophy was given to this year's top rookie. (Photo Credit: JeromeG111 Link to image here )   As Spain’s Alex Palou claimed the ultimate prize at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend by winning the 2025 Indy 500, a race for a desirable secondary trophy was fought for throughout practice, qualifying as well as the race. For this year’s event, the Indianapolis 500's Rookie of the Year award was handed to Robert Shwartzman who stunned the motorsport world by taking pole position driving for Prema Racing (also an IndyCar newcomer for 2025). The honour being given to Shwartzman despite a forgettable 26th place result in the 500-mile race is the latest example for the somewhat unique criteria used in crowning the achievement. First given out in 1952, the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award as...

Photo Credit: Genesis Motor North America untitled Launched in late 2015 as a luxury branch connected to South Korea’s Hyundai Motor, the Genesis brand has made impressive inroads to the premium vehicle marketplace in a short time. Today, Genesis constructs a brand lineup tailored under the design philosophy of ‘Athletic Elegance’ promoting well-appointed sedans and sport utility crossover vehicles. While finding the ability to compete against the longer-established luxury automobile marques such as Mercedes-Benz, Cadillac and Lexus, the not-even six-year-old marque is also in an enviable position of being able to quickly define their image of premium motoring as electrification grows. Genesis’ first fully-electric vehicle, the GV60, lends itself to adapting modern and even-more modern luxury touches. The Genesis GV60 is based on the Hyundai’s E-GMP (Electric-Global Modular Platform) that is also being used with the IONIQ 5 set for a 2022 ...

Photo Credit: Lotus Cars USA untitled Though often spoken after brand names such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche or even McLaren, Lotus Cars still stimulates the rise of adrenaline with lightweight, well-handling machines. A sports car name spawned by a legendary Formula 1 team owner and engineer Colin Chapman, Lotus has survived the loss of their founder back in 1982, the turbulence of multiple ownership arrangements and the change of the overall automotive sector before accounting for the British sports car marque’s largely modest existence in the flashy vehicle segment. Wanting to do more than just simply survive in the modern industry, Lotus wants to define itself in a personality-heavily high-performance sports car marketplace. The all-electric Evija brought eyes onto Lotus in 2019 with a limited production run of 130 vehicles recently commencing. Sending a message for the future, the car builder’s present focus in reshaping their brand’s lineup ...

Photo Credit: Daimler AG Nearing 80 years as a constructor of commercial trucks, Freightliner has a history for being an innovative name in the industry for heavy, work-duty vehicles. Starting with the creation of their first truck incorporating an all-aluminum cab, the brand is linked to pioneering the use of liquefied propane, the four-wheel drive Mountaineer tractor and more recently vehicle connectivity through factory-installed telematics. Freightliner’s Cascadia class 8 truck lineup has reflected much of the company’s current commitment to contemporary hauling since its introduction in 2007 featuring a lightweight, aerodynamic design as well as various cost-saving maintenance characteristics. Following the large vehicle’s debut, the Cascadia has been a frequent recipient of enterprising updates such as an optional in-cab exercise system and a technological productivity suite called Detroit Connect. In a project first seeing the light of day in 2018...

Photo Credit: McLaren Automotive For a supercar driver, the greatest sensation is travelling forward at a speed unreachable by a typical passenger car. The McLaren Artura, the latest high-velocity, road-going creation from the British auto racing team that expanded into exotic performance car builder is set to become another desirable machine for those with the style, courage and money to explore the wider boundaries of automobile performance.   Touting acceleration from 0 to 60 miles per hour (96.56 kilometers per hour) in just 3 seconds and a top speed of 205 miles per hour, McLaren’s Artura supercar muscle goes with the sophistication expected for a vehicle in the third decade of the 21st century. Momentum for the Artura is supplied by a new hybrid electric/gasoline powertrain combining a lightweight, twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 engine generating 671 brake horsepower with a 94-horsepower E-Motor that produces 165 lb-ft of torque. Equipped with a 7.4-kilowatt-hour lithiu...

Photo Credit: General Motors Part of General Motors’ christening for their new electric vehicle lineup supported by new Ultium battery technology is being parted by two high-performance, high-style sport utility models. The Cadillac LYRIQ was unwrapped this summer but a second vehicle was teased since the beginning of 2020. Introduced in disguise in a commercial during the 2020 Super Bowl, the GMC brand would reintroduce a name equally famous for extreme off-roading prowess as it was for high fuel consumption. Although revived as a highly-capable modern off-roader, the 2022 GMC HUMMER EV will shed the gas-guzzling image of its ancestors.       An all-electric super truck measuring 216.8 inches (5,507 millimeters) in total length, the GMC HUMMER EV is a radical four-door multi-terrain vehicle reaching peaks gasoline-powered vehicles will observe with awe. Operating on a three-motor e4WD drive system, the HUMMER EV’s maximum collective propulsion output is 1,000 horse...

Photo Source: Walmart Canada/Tesla Operating 410 stores and directly employing 85,000, Walmart’s presence in Canada went from virtually nothing to being one of the country’s largest, most-influential retail businesses over the course of nearly 25 years. While there are varying positive and negative views of Walmart Canada by the population in general, there is no deputing in the fact that the company is currently the go-to physical destination for Canadians. Understandably, moving goods from coast to coast requires a great deal of energy. Even if dealing with e-commerce, large quantities of items need to flow often through the use of transport trucks. Walmart Canada maintains a massive logistical network that includes 8.75 millions square feet of total distribution space. Despite importance for moving goods across Canada, the retailer is now focused in reducing the amount of energy consumed and emitted for daily distribution. In a bold 10-year plan, Walmart Canada will convert t...

Photo Credit: Volkswagen AG During the late 1960s, the classic Volkswagen Microbus was recognized as a staple with the Flower Power culture and the early figures leading to the current environmental-minded motions. Driven or ridden in by individuals of vision almost fifty years ago, Volkswagen Group has heeded calls towards greener motoring. Intent to have one million of their vehicles per year sold powered by an electric powertrain by 2025, Volkswagen had already pledged to construct a production version of last year’s I.D. Electric concept car for 2020. Coming shortly after the unveiling of the compact all-electric vehicle, the German auto giant wildly imagined one of their most celebrated shapes adhering to their vision for the fast-approaching future. Premiering at the 2017 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the Volkswagen I.D. BUZZ concept car explored the versatility afforded through an electrified powertrain. Styling of the electric concept car  wise...