Nissan has revealed the IMk concept, an electric city car that hints at future styling for the maker’s small car range. The Japanese car maker said the concept, which sits on a new EV platform, previews a “new direction of Nissan’s design language” and brings to life Nissan Intelligent Mobility, the brand’s umbrella term for technology including connectivity and autonomous systems. The boxy concept, to be shown at Toyko motor show later this month, is reminiscent of popular Japanese kei cars, but the car maker said the IMk was created to address a segment that’s “prevalent in Japan and becoming so the world over: the city car”. This suggests the IMk previews a global model, rather than a kei car, examples of which are typically only sold in Nissan’s home market. When asked whether a production version would be sold outside of Japan, Nissan said: “It’s a concept car. It shows the possibility of a small, chic urban EV. We look forward to hearing what potential customers think about it.” Currently, Nissan sells one EV: the Leaf. A zero-emissions SUV, previewed in the IMQ concept, is expected to be revealed in 2020. A production version of this IMk concept would allow Nissan to offer a cheaper EV, and one focused on city dwellers who are most likely to buy EVs. Given that the IMk concept sits on a new EV platform, it is likely such an architecture will be used across a number of Nissan’s cars to ensure economies of scale. The slightly bigger Micra is one candidate for the platform. The concept is shorter, narrow and taller than the current Micra, in line with traditional kei cars, although the bespoke EV platform will allow for considerably more interior space. Inside, the cabin is intended to be a new type of room “that exudes the nature of a cafe or lounge”, said Nissan. It features bench-style seating and, other than the start button and gear selector, is devoid of physical controls. Instead, driving information, such as sat-nav directions, appears in mid-air via a prism display. Other information is conveyed via holographic displays. The concept represents “another step toward fully autonomous driving”, said Nissan. The Remote Park feature, powered via a smartphone, can search for a car parking space after the car’s occupants have left the car. When you’re ready to leave, you can summon the car. Nissan sales boss Asako Hoshino said: “The IMk concept provides a glimpse of the new direction of Nissan Intelligent Mobility as technology evolves toward electrification and connectivity. At Nissan, we intend to continue launching cars with the latest advanced systems to maintain our lead in automotive
Origin: Nissan reveals electric IMk city car concept
Volvo UK boss: focus is electric XC40 and online sales
Volvo’s new UK boss has outlined a three-point plan focused on electric cars, boosting online sales and improving dealer profitability – while Brexit is lower down his priority list. In his first interview since taking over in June, Kristian Elvefors said his first big challenge is to launch Volvo’s first all-electric model, a variant of the XC40, successfully in the UK from next year while exploiting the plug-in hybrid cars that Volvo now have on every bodystyle. “We are very well placed with electrification and the XC40 will move us into a new, growing segment,” he said. The XC40 is currently Volvo’s UK best-seller, taking over from the out-of-production V40, and the new plug-in hybrid and battery-electric models are likely to further strengthen the compact SUV’s position in Volvo’s UK line-up. In the medium term, Volvo UK will work towards the corporate goal of 50% new car sales of electrified cars – hybrids and BEVs – by 2025, which will inevitably mean a bigger share of those models in the UK. In his first four months in the job, Elvefors has seen how UK consumers are comfortable with online purchasing and sees an opportunity to broaden Volvo sales on the web. “We don’t do Ocado and Amazon in Sweden like you do here,” he said. “That must be an opportunity for us.” However, there is still no firm date to introduce Volvo’s subscription service Care By Volvo to the UK. Care By Volvo bundles all the costs of running a car, including insurance, into a single monthly payment, like a mobile phone contract. “In Europe, we’re trialling it in Germany and the Netherlands,” he said. “If you can make it work in Germany, you can make it work anywhere. But we have to see how it goes before it comes to the UK.” Although Elvefors says Volvo is “prepared for Brexit”, he feels that there is enough uncertainty to remain tight-lipped about Volvo’s end-of-year UK sales. The short-term aim is 60,000 units by 2020 and Volvo already reached 30,000 new car sales in the first half of the year, but a couple of tough months post-Brexit at the end of October, if it happens, could knock the numbers back. “All I can say is that we are happy with our sales volume numbers,” said Elvefors. Elvefors has switched jobs with Volvo UK’s former boss Jon Wakefield and must now keep UK sales percolating while Wakefield has a chance to move Sweden back ahead of the UK. Much of Elvefors’ perspective on the UK market is framed by his successful stint overseeing Volvo’s Swedish sales – where he increased market share to 20.6% and recovered the company’s market position. Increasing fleet sales might be a card Elvefors could play. He’s not planning a blitz on daily rentals, but sees the fleet mix in the UK, about 22%, well behind Sweden, where it’s around 72%. Another approach will be to encourage UK dealers to bring services that they currently outsource in-house. “I want us to capture more of the profits from this sort of business,” Elvefors
Origin: Volvo UK boss: focus is electric XC40 and online sales
Nova Scotia finishes up repairs to roads after Dorian damage
A toppled building crane is draped over a new construction project in Halifax on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019.Andrew Vaughan / The Canadian Press Earlier this month, summer storm Dorian wreaked havoc across the province of Nova Scotia, leaving a trail of damage and destruction in its wake after moving into the region with Category 2 hurricane-force winds.Trees were uprooted, a crane was toppled, and some infrastructure was ruined. Fortunately, it was primarily just items that were damaged, not people. Stuff, after all, can be replaced.Which is what the Nova Scotia government is doing as we speak. Nearly a month after the storm blew through on September 7th, the clean-up continues, especially on the transportation front.According to a spokesperson with the provinces Department of Transportation and Urban Renewal, road infrastructure actually fared pretty well overall when Dorian decided to make its presence known. The majority of provincial road closures were in Cumberland County in the northwest corner of the province due to culvert washouts, downed trees and busted powerlines.The area of Kings County, closer to Halifax, also experienced a small number of road closures for similar reasons, and department staff responded to one culvert washout in Halifax Suburban. Compared to what residents of the Bahamas endured, your authors province got off rather lightly.Most repairs are now complete, with government spox estimating total infrastructure damage from the storm in the ballpark of $1.5 million. As with all repairs, the crew’s primary concern is public safety, so repairs were prioritized to that effect. In that vein, clean-up of the collapsed crane mentioned at the top of this story has also been taken over by the Nova Scotia government, as public safety trumped financial liability. Harbourside Engineering Consultants and RD Crane are listed as the two companies hired to remove the crane, a decision made by government after it apparently became clear that finger-pointing about potential liability was likely to paralyze the clean-up. With occupied residential buildings nearby, the current focus is getting the thing removed safely. Government will determine who to go after to recoup their money at a later
Origin: Nova Scotia finishes up repairs to roads after Dorian damage
Is a supercar still fun to drive in traffic?
If you had asked 13-year-old me if I wanted to drive a supercar everywhere, I would have said absolutely. My younger self would say I would drive it to the grocery store; I would drive it to the movie theatre; and that of course I would drive it to work every day, likely at 200 mph the entire way there. Well, 13-year-old me didnt think about speed limits, speed bumps and speed cameras, all of which are facets of the real world in which even the most dreamy of supercars must exist. And its hard to think of one dreamier than this.The 2020 McLaren 720S Spider is the latest carbon-fibre missile from McLarens Super series of cars. The numbers surrounding this car are easy to find and staggering. You can Google up the Wikipedia list of fastest-accelerating production cars and find it there just behind the LaFerrari and ahead of a slower car called the Bugatti Veyron.It has doors that go up, electric tangerine paint (McLaren calls it Papaya); carbon-fibre aero bits everywhere you look; and, of course, a 710-hp V8 flanked by a pair of gnarly turbochargers. Given a long enough stretch of open pavement, it will do 217 mph (349 km/h) flat out. But were not going to find a stretch of road like that. No, were going to find out what its like to commute to work, in the real world, in a supercar. Now you can call this a waste of such high-calibre machinery and youd be right we are using a thoroughbred to pull a plow, as it were. If you want to know what the 720S is like on a racetrack, you can read our track test here; and if youd like to know what its like on winding backroads, check our first drive of the 720S Spider here. No, for our third drive of the spectacular 720S, we decided to use it like regular car. Which it absolutely isnt.Usually I try to avoid traffic, but for this test I threw myself straight into the wood chipper to slog it out with all the other 9 AM commuters. Immediately after setting off, the first thing you realize is how stiff the McLaren is over crumbling pavement. Of course it is. Its meant to feel grounded and stable at 200 mph. You feel every single imperfection in the road, and in Toronto, there are many to be felt. The seats are supportive, though not incredibly so, and the seating position, while natural, is almost normal. Whats not normal is the feeling of your butt skimming over the pavement with maybe three to four inches of carbon-fibre tub separating you from the ground.Even at low speeds, its obvious that this is no regular car. There is zero latency in the steering and directional changes happen right now. Mid-throttle driving will make the turbo blow-off valve whistle amusingly. You also just feel special sitting around in an alcantara-lined super-space pod like the McLaren. But in the same way that a Corolla isnt built for the race track, the McLaren wasnt designed for street driving. I can only imagine what it would be like if snow or ice was added to the mix. Dont get me wrong, its not that its too fragile for street work. Even on the hottest of days, the 4.0-litre V8 stayed cool, and thanks to superb air-conditioning, I stayed cool as well! But the McLaren is very low. Youll fret every raised manhole cover and every pothole in this car. I found myself on a one-lane construction zone where they were grading the road. I was confronted with a raised manhole cover and had to move construction cones while blocking traffic in my orange supercar to go around it. Not subtle.The McLaren simply isnt built for commuting. Its built for something more. You can commute in a McLaren in the same way you can track a Corolla: Itll do it but it wont be happy about it. Will you be happy commuting in a supercar? Fleeting moments of joy are possible when supercar commuting, but the opportunities you have to actually use the power are few and far between. Sorry, 13-year-old me, the future just isnt the way you imagined
Origin: Is a supercar still fun to drive in traffic?
Toyota and Subaru confirm they’re co-developing a next-gen 86 and BRZ
2017 Toyota 86 Toyota and Subaru confirmed late September there will be a next generation of their jointly-developed sports cars, the 86 and BRZ.The fate of the vehicle was on shaky ground for a while, and we didnt know if it was going to survive for another iteration. Luckily, it will apparently be part of a massive expansion of the alliance between the two brands, which will include a whole bunch of new products.The 86 is expected to arrive sometime in 2021, though powertrain possibilities are still up in the air at this point. Its possible the vehicle could migrate to the Toyota New Global Architecture platform instead of the modified Subaru platform it currently rides on; this would mean the Boxer engine could be replaced by Toyotas turbocharged inline-four. Whatever they decide to do with the car, it will apparently be engineered to spark more joy to drive than the Supra at least, according to Toyotas lead engineer. (Or was that Marie Kondo?)Among the other projects the automakers will work on together are a Battery Electric Vehicle; a host of connected and autonomous vehicles; and an AWD vehicle that will apparently offer the ultimate sensation in all-wheel driving. (Celica GT4, anyone?)Toyota also announced it would investing more in Subaru, increasing its stake in the company from 16.83 per cent to 20 per cent. Subaru will acquire shares in Toyota of equal value to the money Toyota
Origin: Toyota and Subaru confirm they’re co-developing a next-gen 86 and BRZ
Ford brings luxury King Ranch trim to 2020 Expedition SUV
King Ranch® edition of 2020 Ford Expedition and extended-length Expedition MAX reintroduces premium option for buyers of large SUVs inspired by iconic Texas ranch, extending 20-year collaborationFord Ford is bringing its luxury King Ranch trim back to its Expedition SUV, slotting it above the Expedition Platinum at the top of the range.The King Ranch is set apart largely by a supple brown leather interior; a two-tone paint scheme; and lots of oversize badging inside and out calling out the truck as the top dog. Plus, of course, all the options youd already get on the Platinum.The automakers motives in the trims return are simple: luxury trucks boast massive profit margins, and, Stateside, Expedition sales are rising rapidly. One in five buyers go for the top-end Platinum, and two-in-five opt for the Limited just below it. They want luxo-trucks.Lucky for them, the King Ranch delivers, pampering them in a Texas-sized barge absent the frou-frou of a Lincoln Navigator. Indeed, the King Ranch is unabashedly cowboy-themed, with gray paint on the grille and lower bodywork regardless of the body colour chosen.The acres of leather on the dash, doors and steering wheel comes only in brown, with second-row captains chairs decked out in the cowhide, too. King Ranch® edition of 2020 Ford Expedition and extended-length Expedition MAX reintroduces premium option for buyers of large SUVs inspired by iconic Texas ranch, extending 20-year collaboration Ford Pricing was not revealed, but the 2019 Expedition Platinum starts at $72,552 in Canada. The Ford F-150 King Ranch pickup starts at $55,415, just below the $58,522 of the F-150 Platinum.The Expedition last wore a King Ranch badge in 2015, though the nameplates carried on via the F-150 range since then and to
Origin: Ford brings luxury King Ranch trim to 2020 Expedition SUV
New Land Rover Defender could get remote control for off-roading
The 2020 Land Rover DefenderLand Rover Land Rover’s redesigned 2020 Defender sports some impressive tech, but the automaker isnt stopping with whats already included its still whipping up more features that really think outside the box.Literally, Land Rover wants you to be outside its boxy truck when the going gets tough, and is working on new technology to allow drivers to remotely control their Defender.The idea is when youre off-roading, youll be able to see difficult obstacles much easier if youre not stuck behind the wheel or just using the various camera systems.This is more than just a parking feature the tech would actually allow drivers to step out of their Defender and control the steering, throttle and braking, reports Autocar. While Land Rover is still working on it, presumably it would be controlled by a key fob or with a smartphone. There are other factors to work out as well, such as how fast the vehicle should be allowed to travel, how far away the driver needs to be, and if it can be turned off quickly and safely.Although this is all super-cool tech, that doesnt necessarily mean itll be hitting the showrooms soon. Theres still a mountain of red tape the tech must go through before it can be approved for use on the road, or off.Stuart Frith, the firms chief product engineer, said in conversation with Autocar weve got as far as understanding how to do it, and weve run prototypes as well.Hopefully, the tech passes inspection just as BMW has finished its parking assist technology, and Tesla wraps its Smart Summon
Origin: New Land Rover Defender could get remote control for off-roading
Tory government pledges £25bn for road improvement
Chancellor Sajid Javid has outlined a £25bn road network improvement plan to get underway in 2020, in a speech at the annual Conservative Party Conference. The scheme is planned to get underway in 2020, making use of a ‘national roads fund’ set aside by Javid’s predecessor Phillip Hammond. Further funding, Javid said, will come from taxes and borrowing, augmented by “record low interest rates”. The first works to be undertaken will include the completion of the dualling of the A66 Trans-Pennine expressway and A46 Newark bypass, and improvement works to Manchester’s Simister Island interchange. Work will also get underway on the new A248 trunk road between Cambridge and Milton Keynes, and the often-congested A12 in the east of England will be widened. Alongside works to improve journeys for drivers, Javid has reaffirmed a commitment to improving Britain’s public transport network. Bus services nationwide stand to benefit from a £220 million cash injection, with £50m devoted to creating the country’s first ‘all-electric bus town or city’. Javid said buses “haven’t been given the attention they deserve from politicians, but they are still the backbone of our public transport in most of the country”. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was instrumental in replacing London’s much-criticised ‘bendy’ buses with the New Routemaster, underpinning his 2012 London Mayor election campaign with a promise to improve the capital’s transport infrastructure. Also on the cards are a series of ‘superbus networks’, which will lead to councils building more bus lanes to encourage service providers to offer more routes. A trial will be held in Cornwall next year. Javid has also voiced an ambition for all city buses in the country to offer contactless payment, as the technology becomes more universally
Origin: Tory government pledges £25bn for road improvement
The 2020 Dodge Charger Widebody will start at $59,945 in Canada
The 2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody is the most powerful and fastest production sedan in the worldDodge The new 2020 Dodge Charger Widebody will start at $59,945 for the Scat Pack trim in Canada when it goes on sale this fall, a premium of $8,000 over the same car without the 3.5-inch-wide (total) fender flares and 20-inch-by-11-inch wheels.Both Scat Packs, wide-body or not, get a 392-cubic-inch 485-hp HEMI, capable of rocketing the Widebody to 96 km/h from a standstill in just 4.3 seconds, and of covering a quarter-mile in 12.4-seconds from a standing start.If thats not quite quick enough for you, you can opt for the 707-hp Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody, which does the 96-km/h run in 3.6 seconds and eclipses the quarter-mile before plowing on to a 315 km/h (196 mph) top speed. For 2020 it gets electric power steering for the first time, plus 305-mm-wide Pirellis and tuned suspension.While it will cost you a fairly steep $83,495, for your money youll be getting what Dodge says is the worlds fastest and most powerful mass-production four-door sedan.The only way youll spend more at a dealer for a new 2020 Charger is if you go for the Charger Daytona 50th Anniversary Edition, commemorating the big-winged Charger Daytona of 1969. While it gets a much more modest spoiler than its namesake, it also sees 717-hp, numbers that only the 69 Daytonas NASCAR-spec sibling could dream of.Just like in 69, Dodge is building just 501 of them, with 50 set aside for Canada. They come in B5 Blue, Pitch Black, Triple Nickel and White Knuckle and will set you back $88,490, or about twice the price of a 2020 Charger R/T.The bargain-basement entry-level Charger, the SXT RWD, starts at $37,345 this year. New colours this year include Frostbite, Hellraisin and Sinamon Stick. Order yours now in F8 Green, obviously and expect delivery in early
Origin: The 2020 Dodge Charger Widebody will start at $59,945 in Canada
Bentley unveils one-off Continental GT art car
Bentley has unveiled a one-off version of its Continental GT W12 painted by renowned Icelandic artist Katrin Fridriks. Created as a collaboration between London’s JD Malat Gallery and Bentley’s Jack Barclay dealership, the car wears a custom livery inspired by Fridriks’ show, Speed of Light – Commander. The car’s paintwork is primarily black, but Fridriks’ addition of a swirling grey pattern is said to imbue “the car with a sense of speed and motion, even at rest”. In her wider Speed of Light – Commander show, Fridriks adopts speed as a central motif, focusing more particularly on the speed of light. Fridriks said: “I’m so excited about working in partnership with Jack Barclay Bentley to create this unique, automotive artwork. “It’s the perfect marriage of the cornerstones of my art – capturing speed and energy, design, craftsmanship, precision and a strive for excellence.” The model pictured here is a show car, but Bentley will make one Fridriks art car available for sale, with the buyer able to specify their preferred trim. Pricing is available on application, and expected to be well in excess of the standard W12’s £159,000 starting price. The one-off has been signed by the artist, and will be on display at Jack Barclay Bentley in Mayfair, London, until 7 October, alongside a collection of her other works. It will then travel to the nearby JD Malat Gallery to be shown at a number of special events. The Continental artwork is the latest in a series of limited-run and one-off models unveiled by Bentley this year. As part of the firm’s 100th anniversary celebrations, it has launched special editions of its Bentayga, Continental, Flying Spur and Mulsanne models, as well as reviving its iconic Blower and Corniche classic sports
Origin: Bentley unveils one-off Continental GT art car
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