Porsche adds electric Macan for 2023
The automaker’s top-selling model globally will soon be available with battery-electric power. The EV will use a dedicated electric platform — not shared with an internal-combustion model — and will reportedly look more like the Taycan electric sedan.
Porsche says the Macan EV will have a greater range than the somewhat paltry 360 or so kilometres offered by the Taycan. For Macan fans who aren’t into EVs, Porsche will continue to offer gasoline-powered models, the newest of which will arrive later in 2022.
***
The Toyota Sequoia sheds its fuelish ways with a standard hybrid system that couples a turbocharged V-6 engine to an electric motor. The combined city/highway fuel-economy rating improves by nearly 50 per cent. PHOTO: TOYOTA
A fuel-frugal Toyota Sequoia?
A major concern regarding full-size pickups and utility vehicles is their fossil-fuel consumption. The third-generation eight-passenger Sequoia, which arrives for 2023, addresses this with a hybrid powertrain as standard.
The system consists of a twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre V-6 along with an electric motor that’s part of the Sequoia’s 10-speed automatic transmission. Output is rated at 437 horsepower and 583 pound-feet of torque, compared with the previous 5.7-litre V-8 and its 381 horsepower and 401 pound-feet.
In the United States, the Sequoia’s fuel economy is estimated at 22 miles per gallon in combined city-highway driving, besting the V-8’s 15-mpg rating by nearly 50 per cent. The added torque also contributes to the Sequoia’s 9,000-pound (4,090-kg) tow rating. The 2022 model was rated at 7,300 pounds (3,320 kg). The tougher-looking Sequoia is expected to go on sale this summer.
***
Jeep will offer a version of the Compass with a third-row seat. PHOTO: JEEP
Jeep keeps adding longer models
The brand that’s part of the Stellantis group recently added a lengthier Grand Cherokee, called the Grand Cherokee L, and of course there’s a longer version of the Jeep Wrangler called the Unlimited.
For 2023, Jeep introduced an extended version of the Compass that’s more than 35 centimetres longer to accommodate a third-row seat. The bigger Compass was recently announced for Jeep’s global markets, where it’s called the Commander.
The L model will approximate the length of the Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Yukon XL and Cadillac Escalade ESV models.
***
Mercedes-Benz consolidates C-Class and E-Class coupes and convertibles under single banner
As with many automakers, the high demand for utility vehicles, pickups and crossovers has meant a decline in sedans, wagons, convertibles and coupes. As such, both C-Class and E-Class coupes and convertibles will be blended as the CLE-Class for the 2023 model year.
They’re expected to use turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engines combined with a 48-volt electric motors to produce a net 255 horsepower. An available plug-in hybrid system for the CLE is rumoured to arrive sometime after the initial launch.
***
The next-generation Morgan 3 Wheeler
The replacement for the previous British-built model, which was retired after the 2020 model year, has roots stretching back to 1909.
The next 3 Wheeler will retain some vestiges of its classic styling, except for the two-cylinder (V-Twin) motorcycle engine positioned ahead of the grille. It will reportedly be replaced by an inline three-cylinder engine supplied by Ford and positioned within the vehicle’s aluminum bodywork.
New Morgan models with four wheels currently in the planning stages could eventually follow.
UPS AND DOWNS
Down: Hyundai’s upside-down instrument panel – After discovering a most unusual problem, the automaker issued a recall affecting about 1,000 2022 model-year Santa Fe and Santa Fe plug-in hybrid utility vehicles in North America. In each case, the digital screen that displays the speedometer, tachometer and other vital driver info is inverted, obviously making it difficult to read. According to Hyundai, the problem mostly, but not always, occurs at start-up during extreme cold weather conditions.
PHOTO: HYUNDAI
Up: Lamborghini’s nifty new navigation – Instead of installing traditional nav systems in its models, the Italian automaker is adopting What3Words to help get drivers from Point A to Point B. The Google Alexa voice-controlled app divvies up the planet’s surface into 57 trillion three- by- three-metre squares, each with its own three-word code. Inputting a destination address gets you a unique code, which you repeat to Alexa. It will then direct you to that exact grid location. The benefit is for locations not identified by typical road mapping.
