Car FYI

Photo Credit: Ferrari S.p.A. Product Lineup: 296 GTB, 296 GTS, Portofino M, Purosangue, Roma, Roma Spider, SF90 Spider, SF90 Stradale, SF90 XX Spider, SF90 XX Stradale Overall Brand Impression:  The devotion of the Italian artisans that has kept Ferrari as a premium sports car leader stretches right back to the company’s founder. However, while Enzo Ferrari believed in the construction of pure performance machines in disregard for creature comforts, today’s vehicles are assembled with more consideration of customers seeking luxury alongside supercar power. Despite a long resistance to engaging in the popular crossover category, Ferrari demonstrates a level of concession to the mass market in 2024 by introducing the all-new Purosangue. The Purosangue joins an exciting 2024 Ferrari lineup that also includes the introduction of the brand’s first street legal XX program vehicle. What’s New for 2024:  Every vehicle in Ferrari’s 2024 lineup is a merger of style and power. An auto b...

Photo Credit: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles North America The figurehead of the Jeep brand, the image of the Wrangler is a storied shape in automotive history created by necessity. The military-developed four-wheel drive vehicle related to the modern Jeep Wrangler was manufactured as a specialized mode of transportation for reliability handling rough terrain. Since the end of the second world war, the vehicle was steadily contemporized over the decades improving its looks, function and comfort. When the latest generation Wrangler was introduced in 2018, FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) retained much of its rugged off-roading personality but applied the flexibility to accept advanced technologies. Along with a powerful Pentastar V-6 engine, the 2018 Jeep Wrangler arrived with the choice of a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that included the additional electric power punch of an eTorque system. For 2021, the introduction of the Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid allows drivers to ch...

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy Purposed to be the choice family shuttle heading into 2017, the Chrysler Pacifica premiered less than a year ago at North American International Auto Show in Detroit centered on rising the bar for comfort, practicality and advanced technology, Advertised as a vehicle with 40 firsts in the minivan category, the 2017 Pacifica's momentous roll-out is bolstered by remarkable available equipment such as Forward Collision Warning-Plus, hands-free sliding door and liftgate opening, a Stow 'n Vac integrated vacuum supplied RIDGID and a rear seat Uconnect Theater entertainment suite consisting of internet-enabled 10-inch touchscreens that can be used to play built-in games. In addition to innovations made in the name of safety and comfort for the new Chrysler minivan, the Pacifica would be the first Fiat Chrysler Automobiles product sold in North America with a plug-in hybrid powertrain.   Featuring a modified version of the 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 engin...

Photo Credit: Karma Automotive At the turn of the decade, the prospect for automobiles moving with literally a revised kind of energy was becoming not only a means to reduce gasoline consumption but a future fashion icon. In the late 2000s, inflated fuel prices eventually hurt everyone in the pocketbook as both the working class as well as the wealthier elite. In fact buyers who could afford high-end luxury vehicles, there was a humanizing reality when poor fuel mileage of their heavyweight premium cruisers combined with potentially lower income as a result of a massive global economic recession of 2008. While markets rebounded, fresh memories has led to creative visions of a new luxury car genre attempting to exploit electrified powertrains for an uncompromising road-going performance. In 2007, a start-up auto company seeing an entry position in a premium electrified vehicle category conceiving a plug-in hybrid sedan. Co-founded by Bernhard Koehler Henrik Fisker, an automotive ...

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...

Last year in New York, BMW teased a concept of their X5 sport activity vehicle operating on a plug-in hybrid powertrain. Combining the 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine using BMW TwinPower Turbo technology combined with an electric motor, the X5 eDrive Concept was one of many interesting ways to envision BMW's top crossover vehicle. Recently, a diesel-powered version of the BMW X5 was imported into North America allowing owners to explore greater distances between fuel stops. Less than a year since the X5 eDrive Concept debuted, the vehicle has been granted the production green light as the 2016 BMW X5 xDrive40e. Employing a similar powertrain layout displayed on the concept, the 2016 model year X5 xDrive40e operates primarily on an electric power before relying on a gasoline engine for longer range driving. From concept to production, the BMW plug-in hybrid vehicle has undergone some gains as well as some loses. The one gain made with the showroom-ready version of the ele...

It's finally time to get charged up about the 2016 Chevrolet Volt. Just in time for the 2015 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the second-generation version of the first major production plug-in hybrid car has been completely unwrapped for the public. Capable of going as far as 50 miles on a charge, the 2016 Chevrolet Volt promises improved efficiency and better practicality. As for the look of the 2016 Chevrolet Volt, most of us are already familiar with its sleeker profile and more sophisticated exterior style. An auto brand that impressed me with their ability to hold back the seventh-generation Corvette until the day of its debut in 2013, I have say that Chevrolet has lost its mojo when it comes to climatically introducing a vehicle. Perhaps desperate to find something to wow at the 2015 Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, General Motors and Chevrolet treated an audience to a 'speak peak" at the 2016 Volt ....

Like it or hate it, no one can doubt that the first-generation Chevrolet Volt was an important car. A premise founded as a concept car, the first plug-in hybrid powerplant vehicle was believed to be the product that would shepherd a recently bankrupt automaker into the future. The technology potentially enabled several short distance commuters to travel on electricity along without relying on a range-extending gasoline powerplant. Close to its introduction, a hefty price tag and loss of some of its novelty value led to the downplaying for the importance of the vehicle. Despite some apprehension, the Volt sold reasonable well as an electrified niche vehicle. No longer the only plug-in hybrid available to North American motorists, Chevrolet realized that the 2016 model year could provide the Volt with an edge capitalizing on new advances in technology and design. On Sunday night, the face of the highly-anticipated 2016 model year Chevrolet Volt greeted an audience in Las Vegas at thi...

With governments and even consumers requesting automakers to explore green technology, luxury cars offer the most viable place to create electrified powertrains. Luxury vehicles are typically sold at a high profit margin allowing the incorporation of new, exotic technologies to be performed without the limitations or sticker shock associated with electric cars trying to appeal to a growing market. That has been the key of success for Tesla Motors and the BMW i line is launching with the anticipation they can find a similar premium market for electrified cars. Taking their first step into the plug-in hybrid vehicle marketplace, Mercedes-Benz is all charged up with the newest variant of their flagship S-Class sedan . Set to be one of the largest plug-in hybrid cars on the market, the Mercedes-Benz S550 Plug-in Hybrid will also be perhaps the most lavish vehicle to be chauffeured through zero emissions motoring. For up to 20 miles, the S550 Plug-in Hybrid will exclusively run ...