#EV

A few days ago, we brought you news of the entry-level Blazer EV vanishing off the order sheet, a development caught by eagle-eyed fans and confirmed by General Motors. Now, the gearheads at Automotive News have learned the trim has been permanently deep-sixed for the 2024 model year.

Styling for the upcoming Acura ZDX was hewn at the brand’s design studio in SoCal, making the annual soirée at Monterey a logical location for its unveiling.

And if you’re wondering why our hero shot is so grainy, it’s because we brightened the image for ya in order to see more detail.

The General is set to launch several new electric vehicles this year, including the Blazer EV. When the model was first announced, it was indicated there would be an entry-level trim called the 1LT checking in at around $45,000. Fresh information tells us that’s no longer the case, at least for now.

It’s only a matter of time before nearly every major EV manufacturer hawking cars in this country moves to the so-called North American Charging Standard.

The very Italian marque Fiat continues to roll out new products – in markets not named North America, of course. This time, we learn it is launching the all-electric 600e, sized larger than the 500e since it is intended to play in the B-segment. 

And by “very Italian”, we, of course, mean its newest vehicle shares structure with a Jeep.

Collabs between car companies and the movie industry are nearly as old as the automobile itself; witness the innumerable tie-ups which have zipped their way across the silver screen. This year, Fiat is drumming up interest in its new Abarth 500e by attaching itself to the Mission: Impossible franchise.

GM is making good on its promise to exit this decade with Cadillac offering a portfolio of fully electric vehicles. To date we’ve seen the Lyriq and uber-lux Celestiq; next up, the Escalade IQ.

If you’ve travelled abroad and marveled at rigs like the factory-built luxury vans (that aren’t industrial-grade Sprinters) tasked with shuttling and chauffeuring, you may be interested to learn Mercedes-Benz is planning to sell such machines in America. In addition to setting its sights on that relatively untapped market in this neck of the woods, Stuttgart is readying the roll-out of its all-electric van architecture.

Score one for the vanishingly few people who still prefer a sedan over an SUV (read: just about everyone working here). BMW has introduced a new 5 Series sedan, one which will be available either as a gasser or an EV when it goes on sale later this year.

If you wondered how some of America’s speed houses were going to adjust to an all-electric future, today brings a partial answer. Shelby has introduced a Mach-E GT, a rig that adds carbon fiber body panels and a performance suspension – while leaving the powertrain untouched.

In a telling move, the first 100 copies are reserved for Europe.

Ask anyone who’s been behind the wheel of an electric vehicle lately about the state of public charging facilities and you’re likely to get an earful about broken facilities and wonky payment systems. Say what you like about Tesla (and we often do) but their original tack of building out a huge charging network ahead of dumping millions of EVs on America’s roads was the right call.

Remember that old Price is Right game in which the contestant would blindly reach into a bag and haul out numbers (or strikes) in an effort to guess the price of a car? It increasingly seems like that’s the tack for BMW’s naming system, particularly with some of their newer models – such as the just-announced i7 M70 xDrive.

If a plan from the nation’s largest retailer takes flight, the chargers one will find at Walmart won’t just be for small devices in the electronics department. The company hopes to install EV fast chargers at nearly all its stores across the country.

The design studios at Hyundai are firing on all cylinders these days, ironic since some of the eye-popping vehicles they’re churning out don’t have any cylinders at all. The upcoming IONIQ 6 is one of ‘em, set to be offered in a number of trims and powertrain options.

There’s little doubt that designers at Kia and Hyundai are currently hitting it out of the park in terms of styling, particularly with their EVs. Like ‘em or lump ‘em, at least rigs like the Ioniq5 and EV6 refuse to blend in at soccer practice.

Now, Kia has hauled the covers off its new EV9 – and its looks are bound to get a few jaws flapping.