2020 Porsche Taycan 4SHandout / Porsche Canadian Porsche Taycan customers will be happy to hear that when their super-EV arrives on their doorstep, theyll be getting aside from the blistering speed and the sleek styling three years of charging, already included in the purchase price.Yes, the price tag ($119,400 for the base 4S) will cover 36 months of charging at Volkswagen-owned Electrify Canada public charging stations.Electrify Canada’s highway and metro stations offer 350-kW DC fast-charging as do many Porsche dealers which means the Taycan, which runs on 800-volt tech and uses a combined charging system (CCS) plug to charge at a max 270 kW, can be juiced up from five- to 80-per-cent charge in only 22 minutes and 30 seconds.(Fine print: your complimentary charge runs out after 30 minutes, and while the 32 Electrify Canada stations set to open across the country by 2020 will have an average four charging dispensers, only a minimum one of those will be guaranteed to be a 350-kW charger.)Still, that would be great news if the vehicles range was anywhere close to what Porsche claimed it was. According to new numbers just released by the EPA, it might not be. Porsche claims the Taycan can nail 300 miles (482 kilometres) of driving range with a fully charged battery, and the European WLTP testing standard showed it could indeed net up to 280 miles (450 kilometres) of range in the real world.The U.S.-based EPA tests delivered a bombshell mid-December, however, showing the Taycan could realistically only manage 201 miles (323 kilometres) of range in its tests.To combat the poor rating, Porsche has already hired an independent testing firm to put the Taycan through its electric paces. The numbers that third party delivered were much more favourable 269 miles (433 kilometres) highway, and 283 (455 kilometres) city.Whatever the Taycans real-world numbers end up looking like, range anxiety aint stopping people from wanting to drive it. In Europe, there have already been 30,000 customers whove put down money to get the Taycan in their garage. Some 20,000 Taycans are expected to be delivered to Europeans in 2020.LISTEN: What do you get when you combine a cross-country electric vehicle road trip with a poignant love story? Mary Ann’s Electric Drive, that’s what. In this week’s episode of Plugged In, we chat with Harvey Soicher, a Vancouver man who tragically lost his soul mate 18 months ago but found some semblance of healing by embracing what he calls a ‘pioneer spirit’ to drive his Audi e-tron from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean and back.
Origin: Porsche Taycan price covers three years of charging in Canada
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News Roundup: Key-fob-relay thieves hit Ontario, CR names the year’s best and worst, and more
Sometimes, a defective key fob can be the cause of glitches with your cars alarm system.Supplied / iStock.com Welcome to our weekly round-up of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam.Here’s what you missed while you were away.Look out Toyota and Lexus owners! Key fob relay thefts on the rise in CanadaCanadian thieves have been capitalizing on the key fob’s imperfect digital security to steal dozens of newer Lexus and Toyota vehicles from Ontario driveways. A report by the CBC explains how tech-savvy criminals are making hay by catching the key fob’s wireless signal near the front doors of a drivers’ homes, and tossing them to a second device which is then used to open and start the vehicles. Scary, but there’s good news: you can protect yourself with something called a Faraday pouch. Consumer Reports names 2019’s most (and least) reliable modelsConsumer Reports released a pair of insightful lists, naming the year’s most and least reliable vehicles, as identified through driver surveys. The research organization landed on a pretty typical collection of worst and best, with mostly Japanese-made cars on the top and mostly American-made on the bottom.Beating out Lexus for the number-one spot was the Mazda MX-5 Miata (that’s right, a sports car!) while the Chevrolet Colorado brought up the rear at the very bottom. Reports suggest GM will take a loss on base CorvettesThe new Chevrolet Corvette is a predator, and not just because it looks like the kind of creature that, if it had a chance under the cover of darkness, would totally eat your baby. It’s also priced like a predator. According to a GM source quoted by Motor Trend, the $69,998 tag on the C8 ‘Vette “would have to go through the roof in order to cover GM’s cost” in the coming years. So brace, if you want a base, or buy now. Jaguar F-Type 2021 hits 450 km/h (on Hot Wheels track)Jaguar took to the toy chest to hype up a mid-model refresh of its F-Type. With a video of a camouflaged toy car ripping down a 232-metre Hot Wheels track, the British brand teased and then revealed (in pieces) the new two-seater. You can watch the stunt, which includes multiple loop-the-loops, “gravity-defying” jumps and peaks at the bits of the actual F-Type including its grille, head rest and wheels before its full reveal at the end, right here. 2020 Nissan Qashqai gets priced just over $20,000As Nissan’s second-best-selling model in Canada, the Qashqai is worthy of any SUV shopper’s attention. With a recently announced starting price of $21,498 for the base S MT FWD model, the Qashqai is $1,300 more than its predecessor, but comes with a bunch of added comfort features like rear-seat heating and cooling, and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, plus a suite of intelligent safety systems including high-beam assist, rear sonar, traffic sign recognition and driver attention
Origin: News Roundup: Key-fob-relay thieves hit Ontario, CR names the year’s best and worst, and more
The mayor of Montreal rode in a steam-powered car 120 years ago today
Today marks a special day in history: 120 years ago, on November 21, 1899, Raymond Prfontaine became the first mayor of Montreal to ride in an automobile.And its likely there wasnt much of Montreals infamous road construction to dodge, because there wasnt really much in the way of roads back then, anyway. Most were dirt, dusty in summer and muddy in winter.He was driven around by Ucal-Henri Dandurand (pictured above in his French-made De Dion-Bouton, sometime between 1903 and 1912), who took him out in a steam-powered Waltham automobile hed bought and had shipped up from Massachusetts.Dandurand claimed his Waltham was the first car in Montreal, although historians say there were at least three automobiles in the city prior to that. But Dandurand, a real estate developer, loved to make headlines, and he took Prfontaine on their historic ride the day the car was delivered.Quebec was actually a hotbed of auto activity in the early days, dating right back to Canadas founding year of 1867. Thats when Henry Seth Taylor, a watchmaker in Stanstead, built a steam-powered carriage that most consider to be Canadas first car.Taylor crashed it at an event he never bothered to put brakes on it and stashed it in a barn. It was found a century later and restored, and is now owned by Ingenium (the former Canadian Science and Technology Museum) in Ottawa.A Quebecer also built what’s thought to be the first gasoline-powered car in Canada. Working in Sherbrooke, George Foote Foss completed his car in the spring of 1897.He only built one Fossmobile, as he called it, but in 1902 he moved to Montreal and started distributing the Crestmobile, built in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Some people think Dandurand made his historic journey with the mayor in a Crestmobile, but thats not so. The Crestmobile was still under development at the time and given George Foote Foss ties to the American car, and its similarity to his Fossmobile, many believe he had a hand in its design.Its not clear if Dandurand bought the Fossmobile, but he was photographed with it. And in Montreal he was also famous for an enormous recreational vehicle he commissioned, which looked like a Pullman railway car and could sleep eleven people. It cracked the floor when it was displayed at the 1913 Montreal Auto Show, and reportedly never left the city because none of the bridges could hold its
Origin: The mayor of Montreal rode in a steam-powered car 120 years ago today
Dodge’s latest Special Edition celebrates 50 years of Challenger
50th Anniversary Edition Challenger celebrates golden anniversary with new exterior paint color, body-color Shaker hood on HEMI® V-8 models, unique badging and heritage style available on four Challenger models. Never one to turn down a chance to market yet another special edition of its wares, Dodge pulled the wraps off a 50th Anniversary Edition Challenger today at the L.A. Auto Show this week.Available in Canada on the Scat Pack 392 Shaker trim, this rear-drive brute earns a body-colour Shaker hood in addition to a raft of unique badging.On this side of the border, 70 numbered units of Scat Pack 392 Shakers painted in eye-popping Go Mango will mark Challengers original 1970 model-year introduction.Check Out All Our Auto Show CoverageThat Shaker hood puts the fun in functional, by the way, and comes with a Mopar cold-air intake that deploys a conical air filter and matching air box for improved airflow. Be sure to make like Brian OConnor and pop the hood, as youll also find a SHAKER underhood decal thats reminiscent of the original 1970 Challengers.Each 50th Anniversary Edition car will also wear a Satin Black painted hood and black-wrapped roof and decklid. Its interesting to your author that Dodge paints one panel but wraps the others.Challenger 50th Anniversary logo badges will show up on the grille and spoiler in a new Gold School finish (Dodges retro marketing team strikes again). Fender badges are also finished in this colour, while the standard Satin Black fuel-filler door with jumbo FUEL lettering adds a touch of nostalgia. From the steering wheel to the instrument panel, startup screens, gauge faces, seat backs, door bolsters and floor mats, the 50th Anniversary theme extends into the Challenger’s athletic interior. Future bidders at Barrett-Jackson, take note: All 2020 model-year Challenger SRT Hellcat and SRT Hellcat Redeye models will feature the 50th Anniversary badge. Dont let em fake you out in Scottsdale in twenty years time.Elsewhere in the FCA-in-LA booth, the Fiat brand showed off a refreshed 500X Sport, a machine that will need to take up much sales slack now the 500 has gone to the great scrap heap in the sky. The cousins of Giulia and Stelvio also got some tweaks for 2020, including a revised interior and some flashy new
Origin: Dodge’s latest Special Edition celebrates 50 years of Challenger
Volvo PHEV buyers offered a years free charging
Volvo PHEV buyers offered a year’s free charging Twin Engine model buyers will get their charging reimbursed Volvo is offering customers a year’s free electricity to charge their car if they buy any of the Swedish manufacturer’s plug-in hybrid models. The deal is available to buyers of any of Volvo’s seven-strong PHEV line-up. These see PHEV powertrains available in the XC40, S60, V60, XC60, S90, V90, and XC90 ranges. Volvo’s aim is to encourage drivers to maximise their zero-tailpipe emission mileage with an incentive to off-set costs associated with charging their car. Customers will charge their car throughout the year, and Volvo will then reimburse them their associated costs at the end of the 12 month period. The amount repaid will be based on the average cost of electricity in the UK, and will be calculated by using the Volvo On Call app. This offers customers a number of features, but includes the ability to track how much power the car consumes. Since the majority of trips in the UK are well within a Volvo’s electric-only range, it is hoped that this added incentive will see fuel costs for a year significantly reduced for customers, while also reducing emissions produced on each journey. The offer is available to both private and business customers, with Volvo recognising that the best way to maximise a PHEV’s efficiency is to charge it as often as is reasonably possible. Since the focus is to improve driving and charging behaviour, for business customers, the refund will go to the driver rather than the company or fleet operator. Kristian Elvefors, Volvo Car UK Managing Director, said: “At Volvo, in keeping with our Swedish roots, we’ve always taken a keen interest in looking after the environment. Our recently stated ambition to become a carbon-neutral company by 2040 shows we are serious about addressing climate change. “It’s crucial that we help our plug-in hybrid customers understand how they can make the most of their car’s electric potential. So, by meeting their electricity charging costs for a year, we can encourage them to develop the good habit of regularly recharging their car’s battery, as well as saving them money at the same time.” Volvo offers plug-in hybrid options across its entire range, and is increasing the choice available to two PHEV models in some models. Hybrid options have recently been phased in, and a pure-electric XC40 is due soon as Volvo electrifies its fleet.
Origin: Volvo PHEV buyers offered a years free charging
Volvo targets becoming Electric-only firm within 20 years
Volvo boss Hakan Samuelsson says the firm will become a fully electric car brand within the next 20 years – with the exact timeline will be determined by customer demand. The firm has just unveiled its first electric model, the XC40 Recharge, and is aiming for EVs to account for half of its sales by 2025. The firm will unveil one full electric car per year between now and then, while every new car it launches will feature an electrified powertrain. Asked whether it was a case of if or when Volvo become an electric-only brand, Samuelsson said: “It’s when.” But he added: “the ones who will decide (the timing) in the end are the customers. The higher the percentage of all-electric cars the faster we will shut down the combustion engine (programme). If only a small percent (of sales) are combustion engines we will probably stop faster.” Asked if he had a prediction on when thet point would be reached, Samuelsson highlighted Volvo’s vision to become carbon neutral by 2040, noting “that would be impossible if you still have combustion engines. Let’s see if that vision comes true.” Volvo has yet to confirm which EVs will follow the XC40, but is committed to offering electric versions of existing models, rather than launching electric-only machines as some rivals are doing. To do that it is developing platforms that can accept both full electric and hybrid powertrains. The XC40 is built on the firm’s new Compact Modular Architecture platform, while Volvo is also working on a new version of its larger platform, called SPA2, which is currently used for the XC60, XC90 and S60 models. That platform is due in 2021 or 2022, and will likely first be seen on the next-generation XC90 large SUV. Sister firm Polestar, with which Volvo shares architectures and development, is currently finalising the Polestar 2, which is built on the CMA platform, and is working on a large SUV-style machine that will be badged the Polestar 3, making it likely the second Volvo EV will be a similar-sized machine. The XC40 is the only model currently based on the CMA platform, but Samuelsson said that “I wouldn’t rule out that we will expand that with other models of this size.” He added that the firm could also consider introducing new nameplates comprised of smaller and bigger cars in the
Origin: Volvo targets becoming Electric-only firm within 20 years
U.K. man spends three years, $47,000 fighting $165 speeding ticket
A British man is dedicated to fighting the system after receiving a 100 ($165) speeding ticket he believes was wrongly issued, throwing more than $45,000 at the cause so far.Richard Keedwell, 71, received a fine for traveling 57 km/h in a 50 km/h zone in November of 2016, while Christmas shopping with his wife.I never saw the flash of the camera and I certainly didnt feel like I was doing faster than (50 km/h), Keedwell, of Bristol, told The Telegraph. I was incredibly annoyed when I got the fine through the post.Richard is a former RAF electronics specialist, and says the only reason he got a ticket was because of the double Doppler effect, wherein a speed camera receives two different signals due to the radio waves bouncing off of a second car and then onto his own, causing it to trigger the camera. Although, allegedly, neither car travelling through the intersection exceeded 50 km/h, the camera was triggered.According to The Telegraph, Richard is also an expert witness, and claims he has used this argument in court before. In 2015, he successfully used it to show a van driver was wrongly ticketed for doing 137 km/h in a 50-km/h zone due to the double Doppler effect.Unfortunately for Keedwell, his arguments arent working so well in his pursuing his own case. Even worse, legal fees are not cheap, and in fighting for his rights and the rights of motorists, hes racked up 22,000 ($36,212) in lawyers invoices across three hearings, even dipping into a fund set aside for his childrens inheritance to cover the costs. But when you start looking into this, you realize that its more about them getting money than road safety, Keedwell reasons, believing British motorists are being steamrolled by the system.Richard has since paid the ticket, but still has 6,700 ($11,028) in additional legal fees to settle as he decides whether or not to launch yet another appeal.Ordinary working people like me are getting done over by the system, he says. I have not been listened to and there has not been any justice in this
Origin: U.K. man spends three years, $47,000 fighting $165 speeding ticket
U.S. workers’ union starts first strike against GM in 12 years
Members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) who are employed at the General Motors Flint Assembly plant in Flint, Michigan, slow down salary employees entering the plant as they strike early on September 16, 2019.Jeff Kowalsky / AFP via Getty The United Auto Workers union is leading its first strike against General Motors in 12 years, digging in for a fight over jobs and benefits that could cost the carmaker dearly.The strike that took effect at midnight may cost GM about US$50 million a day in earnings before interest and taxes due to lost production, Dan Levy, an analyst at Credit Suisse, said Sunday.While GM touted an offer to invest in plants across the U.S. and boost wages and benefits, UAW leadership has been rocked by a corruption scandal and needs to show willingness to bring the fight to an automaker thats been scaling back its workforce.The union is playing some hardball. It seems they are pretty far apart, said Kristin Dziczek, vice-president of the labor and economics group at the Center for Automotive Research. GMs offer still doesnt address some of the unions demands.GM has offered US$7 billion of investment in eight U.S. plants and more than 5,400 additional jobs, most of which would be new hires. But the union said GMs proposal fell short in key areas including health care, use of temporary workers and the length of time it takes for shorter-tenured members to get to top-scale pay.The union is seeking pay raises for entry-level workers, who currently start at less than US$20 an hour, and to get them to the peak wage of almost US$30 an hour in three or four years, instead of the current period of eight years.Going into this bargaining season, our members have been very clear about what they will and will not accept from this contract, UAW Vice President Terry Dittes said at a press conference on Sunday.Temporary employees and those working their way up the pay scale are doing the same work for less compensation, said Ted Krumm, the head of the unions bargaining committee. We are fighting for the future of the middle class, he said. GM countered that it made the union a generous offer to invest in factories in four states, including a new vehicle in the Detroit-Hamtramck sedan plant that had been slated to end production in January.In Lordstown, Ohio, where GM has idled the factory that once had three shifts of workers making Chevrolet Cruze compact cars, the automaker plans to set up the first union-represented electric-car battery plant in the U.S. There are also four electric trucks coming that other UAW plants will build.GM offered workers a signing bonus of US$8,000 per member if they ratify the deal, plus wage gains or lump-sum payments in all four years of the contract. The carmaker says its offering to keep members health-care contributions the same as in the current contract.The walkout will be just the second national work stoppage at GM since a 67-day strike in 1970. GM did have a 54-day strike at a key plant in Flint, Michigan, in 1998 that effectively shut down most of its assembly
Origin: U.S. workers’ union starts first strike against GM in 12 years
DMV finally gets licence plate ‘pee’ joke after 15 years, revokes it
A driver in New Hampshire has just had her vanity plate yanked by the dour wanks at the states Department of Motor Vehicles despite it having adorned her vehicles for the better part of 15 years. Things really do move at a sloth-like pace at the DMV, eh?The sin committed by Wendy Auger of Rochester, for which she was (eventually) reprimanded? Daring to invoke a bodily function.Not an offensive one, mind you, simply in the form of an exhortation every parent since the dawn of the automobile has uttered at their offspring do you need to PBE4WEGO? Alas, the state rules out plates referencing human excretions of any sort, making this tag a line-crosser.DMVs on this side of the border have also been called out as grim-faced and heavy-handed. Up here in the Great White North, a Nova Scotia man is currently rowing with that provinces registrar over his plate, one which bears his own European surname.Apparently, another motorist took umbrage with his GRABHER plate, conflating it with a certain statement made by a certain politician Stateside. In the broad expanse of Saskatchewan, another driver was denied his surname as a vanity plate, too, though this one was slightly more understandable. The DMV rejected the mans request for an ASSMAN plate, even though it is pronounced Oss-men. In this instance, the motorist exacted his revenge by wrapping the entire tailgate of his truck with the word.What do you think of these bureaucrats decision to yank Augers plate? Whats the most creative one youve ever seen? Be sure to chime in
Origin: DMV finally gets licence plate ‘pee’ joke after 15 years, revokes it
Mercedes-AMG’s One hypercar reportedly delayed two years
Mercedes-AMG Project OneHandout / Mercedes-Benz The F1-derived Mercedes-AMG One hypercar will reportedly see first deliveries pushed back from this year to 2021, according to a new report, due to complications with its high-revving engine.The powertrain behind the One is a 1.6-litre V6 paired to an electric turbocharger and working alongside an electric motor.A second electric motor on the crankshaft is meant to work as another power-adder, and then theres an electric motor on each front wheel.The package as a whole is more complex than Mercedes-AMG engineers first thought itd be, says reporting from Germanys Auto Motor und Sport, with the problem relating specifically to emissions; and to adapting some of the engines F1-derived technologies to the street.(For example, in the cars Formula One equivalent, the oil is typically heated before the engine is even started something not too feasible for a street car.)Customers who were thinking of forking over 3 million Euros ($4.5 million) for the One will apparently have to twiddle their thumbs for another two years, now, before the car shows up in their driveway. It sounds like itll be worth the
Origin: Mercedes-AMG’s One hypercar reportedly delayed two years
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