Car FYI

Photo Credit: Volvo Trucks North America Since 1999, Volvo Group and its passenger car brand that operated under the same name and logo have functioned as separate entities. While the Volvo car brand (now owned by China’s Geely auto company) has made a recent pledge to shift towards a fully electric lineup by 2030, their former Swedish parent has concocted their own electrified plans for the heavy truck market.  An extension of Volvo’s VNR lineup developed for the North American market, a fully electric version of the Class 8 transport truck. Retaining the modern, purposeful appearance of existing diesel-powered machines, the Volvo VNR Electric model range is created as short range hauler. For Canada, the truck is available in three configurations consisting of a 4x2 straight truck, 4x2 Tractor and 6x2 Tractor.  Paired with a two-speed I-Shift automated transmission, a potent electric drive system is installed in the VNR Electric line generating 455 horsepower and 4,051 lb-ft ...

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy/Car FYI Canada Theme of the Show: Beyond Expectations For an event that featured the Canadian debut and/or exhibition of several high-performance vehicles, the opening ceremonies were a particularly high-octane affair. The late Sergio Marchionne, than-CEO of Fiat Group and later Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), took to the stage for the company’s press conference followed by a Q&A in an act that could be viewed as brave or foolish. Just ahead of the auto show, his automaker had been reportedly asking for $700 million in government assistance to upgrade their Canadian manufacturing short of five years after the company accepted nearly $3 billion in loans from the Ontario provincial and Canadian federal governments in order to restructure Chrysler Group. Despite the allegations there was some serious hardball being played by the auto company, Marchionne’s speech and tone attempted to divert any hostilities drawing heavily on his personal Canadian conne...

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy On International Women’s Day, it was prudent for Car FYI to recognize the many contributions of women to the auto industry. As a piece of complex machinery with no discrimination of gender itself, it is disheartening to note how past praise and innovation of automobiles have centred around men. Looking back into history, Karl Benz’s wife Bertha ultimate undertook the automobile’s first major publicity trip and endurance test. She was also instrumental in the financing of the automobile patent but could not be recognized in connections to due to her standing as a married woman in German law. With regards to the other half of Mercedes-Benz, the Mercedes name was derived from a customer of Gottieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. When it comes to vehicle design, the female influence on automobiles is a complicated story. In cases when men tried to identify with women, a laughable result was the 1955 and 1956 Dodge LaFemme that were even insultingly sexist fo...

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy It is an art for a premium automobile brand to provide a special aura around their vehicles. Historically, there are two ways to win over an affluent clientele. The first method is luxury features such as leather seating and advanced technology suites provide a comfort-oriented impression of high-end motoring. Another way a premium marque attracts special prominence is through performance. While luxury cars would often deliver more than enough power for a boulevard ride, the recent direction has been to infusing outright, pavement-burning high-performance into a model line-up. In doing so, boutique performance groups have grown inside popular luxury brands. BMW has their M models, Cadillac features a V line and Mercedes-Benz adds sensationalism to their vehicle lin-up through AMG. In 2013, Volvo joined the tailored high-performance fight through a partnership with a Swedish motorsport team. Founded in 1996, Polestar Racing instantly developed...

With the all-new Volvo XC90, the Swedish auto company will introduce the option of the world's first seven-passenger plug-in hybrid later this year. The 2016 XC90 T8 Plug-in Hybrid (also called the Twin Engine by Volvo) can be driven up to 43 kilometers on an electrical battery charge. Once the 9.2 kWh lithium-ion battery pack's charge is depleted, the 2016 Volvo XC90 T8 Plug-in Hybrid's 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbocharged and supercharged engine provides a confident 320 horsepower. All models of the large premium crossovers are propelled through an all-wheel drive and equipped with an eight-speed automatic transmission. For its introduction, the 2016 XC90 T8 Plug-in Hybrid crossover vehicle will come with a special standard technology making faster battery charging possible. The Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine is billed as the first plug-in hybrid to include a standard 240-volt charger with the portable TurboCord dual charger system. TurboCord featu...