Which upcoming electric car might lead the luxury market in aerodynamics?
Which automaker is reportedly working on a hydrogen fuel-cell SUV?
This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending July 3, 2020.
Our most popular piece of the week, without a doubt, was our first drive of the 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid. The much-awaited Prime is due to arrive at U.S. dealerships starting this month—albeit probably not at a pace to meet demand for some time.
2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime first drive. - July 2020
Porsche revealed a “base” version of its Taycan electric car for China, with a single-motor, rear-wheel-drive layout and optional air suspension. No decisions have yet been made as to whether this model is coming to the U.S.
Nissan has set a date for the debut of the production-bound Ariya electric crossover—July 15—although the model might not arrive in the U.S. until the second half of 2022.
Nissan Ariya Concept - CES 2020
GM also marked a date, for the debut of its upcoming Cadillac Lyriq EV. To be built on GM’s Ultium propulsion toolkit and BEV3 underpinnings, the Lyriq will set a new design direction for the brand and its multiple upcoming EVs.
Hyundai released specs for the upcoming Santa Fe plug-In hybrid SUV that’s likely coming soon to the U.S.—albeit not yet officially confirmed.
Lucid claimed a coefficient of drag of just 0.21 for its upcoming Air electric car—making it the world’s most aerodynamically efficient luxury car if it can keep that number for the production version due later this year.
Lucid Air wind tunnel testing
Ford has shifted to list its Mustang Mach-E battery packs by usable capacity instead of by their gross/sum cell capacity. This is a smart move for transparency and meeting customers’ expectations over the long run.
Plenty of readers chimed in about the Nikola Badger, the upcoming electric pickup from Nikola Motor Company. Even though Nikola has only revealed its Badger pickup in sketches and renderings, and never delivered a production vehicle, it’s taking $5,000 pre-order deposits for the truck, to be powered by batteries and hydrogen fuel cells.
Nikola Badger
Jaguar Land Rover is reportedly working on a hydrogen fuel-cell SUV, as part of a UK-funded program—that the company's engineering chief later clarified will counter the "diminishing returns" of heavy batteries in big SUVs. Which of its models might benefit from the configuration?
Arrival, the UK-based commercial electric vehicle maker that originally got notice fors quirky, retro-modern delivery vans, has revealed an electric bus that fits right in with its aesthetic.
Arrival electric bus
Tesla somehow finished Q2 with some unexpectedly positive results—delivering more vehicles in April through June versus the first quarter, even amid a global pandemic and stay-at-home orders affecting many in the U.S. and Europe. And although this week brought nothing definitive in continued reports of negotiation over Austin, Texas, for its Cybertruck factory, according to documents filed in Germany, Tesla is scaling down its plans for its European Gigafactory—Giga Berlin—by cutting out the battery building. How will that work?
Politics is part of the clean-transportation movement, and in the clean energy action plan revealed by Democrats in the U.S. House this week would boost EVs and green energy infrastructure but skip over many of the Green New Deal’s social-justice items.
1961 Bentley S3 and 1953 Jaguar XK120 EV conversion by Lunaz
And going back to last weekend: Do top-notch electric conversions of rare classic cars, like those from UK-based Lunaz, do justice to the designs of the past, or are they sacrilege to the experience?
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