modernvehicles

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New Ram EV

Last night was the Super Bowl and with that came many awaited and high production commercials. This year one of those was for the new 2024 Ram 1500 REV. While this it the last of the big three (Ford, Chevy, Ram) to release its EV truck offering, it is still looking good for consumer. Ram is attempting to address the supply-chain issues that occurred with the Ford Lightning by offering a $100 refundable deposit to save spots in line now for the 2024 release of the truck. Since the deposit is refundable I suggest anyone who wants to get their hands on one of these trucks to put the $100 down as soon as possible. While technical specs of the truck have not been released yet, we can expect to find out more in the next few weeks such as battery size, range, power, and most importantly price.

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New Mazda Cx-90

Last week Mazda unveiled its latest offering for the SUV class this being the Brand new for 2024 CX-90. As the name would suggest this is a continuation of its previously full sized SUZ the CX-9. While that car was powered by a inline four cylinder, the CX-90 is powered by a straight six making 280hp (base). This switch to a straight six should tell you all you need to know about who Mazda has in their sights when they designed the CX-90. German manufacturers like BMW and Mercedes have been known for their straight six's in years past, but even in recent years due to environmental concerns have been moving to smaller motors and hybrid powertrains. The rear hatch and taillights of the CX-90 are also very BMW. Its going to be interesting to see how this heavy hitting, German inspired SUV changes the marketing landscape in 2024.

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Lamborghini's Last combustion cars

World famous car manufacturer Lamborghini has been preparing for the death of the combustion engine for some time. With that of course comes with the death of their famous V12 engine. As cars like the sf90 have shown, Lamborghini is here to stay in this new era of electrification but who would they be to not give their famous V12 one last victory lap. Lamborghini will be releasing two one-off cars, the Invencible coupe and Auténtica roadster. Both of these are based of the Aventador with the motor pulled straight out of the Aventador Ultimae. While these cars are likely to not make public appearances its good to know Lamborghini is making a great sendoff for their V12.

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Bentley and Porsche recalls

Bentley and Porsche are recalling cars in response to a potential fire risk. This is because both cars are fitted to improperly fitted external fuel pumps which could cause humidity to form inside the system and result in a short circuit, thus causing a fire. The Porsche effected are Panameras built between 2017 and 2022. The Bentley's effected are only Continentals from 2020. All vehicles eligible with receive the maintenance to fix this issue free of cost from dealerships and I highly suggest any owner goes and gets this done as soon as possible. Porsche will most likely fit these issues on 2023 and newer models.

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Mustang Mach-E changes for 2023

Last year ford unveiled the latest version of the mustang, this time fully electric. Whether you a fan of the car or not, ford has sold a far number of these and will no doubt continue to sell them. For 2023 Ford is changing the price of the car quite a bit for a new model. It's long range battery option was $8600 and is now only $7000. The even newer Mach-E GT will see an even more drastic price drop (up to $5700 depending on options). Aside from lowering the prices across the board, Ford is also planning to make 60% more Mach-E's this coming year. Hopefully this keeps dealer markups down and allows customers to get the car they want.

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Jimny going EV

Although the United States does not get the Suzuki Jimny, all around the globe this little truck is a favorite by many for its off-road prowess and aesthetic appeal. The current model is powered by a 101 horse power four cylinder. While this may seem low for American buyers, the foreign markets that the Jimny is sold in see's power figures like this quite regularly. Another notable point is that in the image shown, Suzuki is making it seen as if only Europe will be getting this new fully electric Jimny. While this has not been confirmed or denied by Suzuki this choice could receive backlash from fans of the brand.

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Toyota bZ4X issues.

Fans were long waiting for Toyota to release their mass market EV to the world after crushing the hybrid segment for so many years. Last year Toyota finally released the bZ4X in partnership with Subaru. The launch was cancelled due to manufacturing issues and now is planned to sell in 2023. Toyota announced a planned 10,000 units sold for 2023, which is much lower than fans were expecting. This is likely to make getting these cars very difficult and one can only guess the dealer markup that will be placed on the ones that are sold. While Toyota did the right thing by fixing the manufacturing errors before the sale of the vehicle one can wonder if their sales estimates aren't a little underestimating for the demand.

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New Polestar 2 changes

Volvo's sister company Polestar started its life with the production of the Polestar one hybrid. This led many consumers excited about the company's first fully electric model. This was met with the Polestar 2, a medium sized family sedan. New for 2024 the Polestar 2 will now offer increased range (up to 300 miles) and power (up to 421 for the dual motor model). These figures will change based on if you go for the single or double motor version for the Polestar 2. This new version is set to come out later this year and cost more than the starting price of $49,000 for the current model year.

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New Corvette E-Ray

Chevy has just announced a all new version of the 8th generation corvette, this time being a hybrid. The other main standout being that the E-Ray is also the first corvette to be all wheel drive, this allows this new corvette to reach 60 mph in 2.5 seconds. This is a new record for corvettes even compared to the latest Z06. The motor in the E-Ray is virtually the same as the Z51 package, now offering an electrified front axel. The electrified LSD allows the car to handle like its rear-wheel-drive counterpart around a corner while still delivering a punch when exiting the corner and slamming on the accelerator.

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Tesla is offering round steering wheel to replace steering yoke.

Tesla is now offering a standard steering wheel as an option on its model S and model X. While customers can still option the controversial yoke, they will now get to decide which steering apparatus they prefer with no additional cost. More importantly customers who purchased a car when the yoke was the only available option will now be able to retrofit the steering wheel for an estimated cost of $700. Similar to how the yoke had no turn signal stalks, the new wheel will also have now stalks. Aside from the shape, the two options will function the same in every other aspect.

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Suzuki, a lesser talked about player in the automotive space recently unveiled its new fully electric vehicle. This happened at the 2023 auto expo in Delhi, India. This will be the companies first fully electric (EV) vehicle and as of now is being referred to as the eVX. The company has not yet released technical specifications on the vehicle but has said it will be 4-wheel drive (4x4) and is set to release in the year 2025. As of now this is a prototype and all specifications and the look of the car are subject to change in the following years.

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New Mahindra Thar

Indian Automotive manufacturer Mahindra recently released a new rear wheel drive version of Thar SUV. The Cheapest of the RWD models comes standard with a six speed manual transmission and 2.2 liter diesel motor. This base model referred to as the AX comes standard with two airbags and seats up to four people. The Thar is a two door SUV that is marketed as having off-road prowess, because of this even the base model Thar is sold standard with all terrain tires. On higher end models an optional automatic transmission is also available and a 2 liter gas motor can also be optioned.