#Lotus Launches All-Electric Hyper-SUV, The Eletre

[Auto Styling News]

The all-new and all-electric Lotus Eletre is a strikingly gorgeous SUV. It takes the core principles and Lotus DNA from more than 70 years of sports car design and engineering, evolving them into a desirable all-new lifestyle car from the British automaker. (* Now 51% owned by Chinese automaker Geely Holdings, 49% owned by a Malaysian holding company.)

Eletre has an elegant and highly exotic look, with active aerodynamics and a dramatic, porous design. The use of pioneering sustainable materials is just icing on this delicious looking cake.

With it's high stance and gaping maw up front, it instantly reminds one of the Lamborghini SUV, Urus, which will be direct competitor in this segment, along with the Aston Martin DBX 707 and the upcoming Ferrari Purosangue. The Tesla Plaid also has to be mentioned in the same breath as these supercars.

Of course, to compete in this realm means one has to look absolutely stunning, in this vehicle delivers.

An all-glass roof offers much light to the interior greenhouse. 

The car has more creases and indentations then the face of an octogenarian actor. Heavy creases on the doors is this car look right, though, and give it an exotic feel. The rear features taillamps hidden in deep crevices, and an elegant light bar. 

The rear of the car is dominated by a carbon fiber spoiler that has its center removed so that it resembles wings, a look inspired by racing vehicles, the company says.

Despite being electric, the company says it offers a true Lotus experience. Optimal structural rigidity and active dynamics, combined with a potent blend of high power and torque, provide the kind of performance that is expected from a Lotus.

The vehicle - which Lotus claims is a "hyper SUV" - might very well live up to that hype, since it will deliver a stunning 900 horsepower and have a 373-mile range on a charge. This more than makes it a strong competitor with the other, gas-powered luxury SUVs in this class.

The company crows, "With powerful electric motors and a low centre of gravity, this new icon makes ordinary driving, extraordinary."

Unlike earlier Lotus models, which could have sparse interiors, this one looks as lush and gorgeous as the exterior.

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Auto Styling News is a blog that covers car concepts, newly released models, and the auto industry.

#Maserati Set To Unveil Small SUV Grecale

[Auto Styling News]

The Maserati Grecale has been spotted with no camouflage for the first time ahead of a public debut tomorrow, March 22. 

New images posted on Instagram by Wilco Blok show the Porsche Macan rival in full production-spec bodywork. 

It was wearing some of the promotional stickers seen in some recent teaser images, but largely appears as it will at a full official unveiling tomorrow.

The Grecale, named for a Mediterranean wind system, is the second SUV from the Italian automaker, the first being the larger Levante.
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Auto Styling News is a blog that covers car concepts, newly released models, and the auto industry.

#Lucid Air Is Winning Awards And Delivering EV Luxury

[Auto Styling News]

Lucid Air was awarded MotorTrend’s Car of the Year late last year, competing successfully against a formidable field of 24 competitors from major manufacturers.

The win marked the first time that the initial product from a new automotive company has been awarded MotorTrend’s flagship Car of the Year award.

Designed in Silicon Valley and built in Arizona, Lucid Air delivers an industry-leading 500+ miles of range from Lucid’s proprietary powertrain technology, which is designed and built in-house.

The announcement followed the start of customer deliveries for the fully-reserved Lucid Air Dream Edition, a car that retails at $169,000. The lower end Air is a bit cheaper, at 77,000, and reservations for the Dream have already closed.

The dream comes with a mind-blowing 1, 111 horsepower, which blows almost anything off the road except a Tesla Plaid, which is just about it's only EV competition.

The exterior styling of this beautiful car immediately tells you that it is a luxury vehicle.

Not only is Lucid Air simply stunning, it’s also among the most aerodynamic cars in the world — with a 0.21 coefficient of drag. Inspired by the elegant shape of aircraft, we aimed for clean lines in every detail to create a phenomenally fluid form. Even functional features like the autonomous driving sensors were sculpted in seamlessly.

Exterior lighting is another way Air gets its wow factor. Designed entirely in-house, the Intelligent Micro Lens Array headlights are dazzling. And at the rear, a sweeping speedform taillight creates an uninterrupted impression of light and depth.

And this luxury EV is winning hearts and minds. Legendary Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, a disenchanted former Tesla owner, recently took delivery of his Lucid Air.

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Auto Styling News is a blog that covers car concepts, newly released models, and the auto industry.

EV Automaker Rivian Sees Stocks Plummet After Bad Fourth Quarter

[Auto Styling News]

Rivian, the U.S. electric automaker that went public late last year, reported its fourth-quarter financial results and calendar 2021 outcome, results that along with its production forecast for 2022 disappointed Wall Street and sent shares to a new low, according to TechCrunch.

The company (trading as RIVN) are holding steady at just below $36 a share, after losing 12% of its value in after hours trading on Thursday. That followed losing 6% of its value Thursday during daily trading.

A worldwide computer chip shortage, lingering doubts about future energy supplies, and range anxiety are all creating a perfect storm that is causing EV adoption hesitancy in the electric car market, despite a great deal of hype from the auto industry itself.

That is having a serious effect on startups like Rivian and lesser known companies like Canoo (GOEV) an electric automaker that has also has seen its stock plummet in recent months (it stands at $5.76 a share, down 1.35% Thursday) despite a new factory having been constructed in Oklahoma and promises of their van-like Lifestyle vehicle being produced by the end of the fourth quarter of this year - the seemingly ambitious goal that is also being doubted among those watching Rivian.

Nevertheless, Rivian produced just over 900 vehicles by the end of 2021, despite the fact that this was not enough to turn a profit.
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Auto Styling News is a blog that covers car concepts, newly released models, and the auto industry.

#Hyundai Launches Handsome #IONIQ 5 EV

[Auto Styling News]

Just one look at the introduction photographs of Hyundai's IONIQ 5, and you'll instantly be taken by how startlingly handsome this vehicle is. 

The tiny slit in the front end that hides tiny, rectangular headlamps, the small upturned bumper, the complex wheel design, and the equally handsome rear pillars and tight, no-nonsense taillight design, all work together to give this electric SUV instant street credibility.

The breakthrough SUV is the first model the company has ever built to be exclusively electric. Its arrival marks the beginning of an entire series of all-new, all-electric vehicles. 

The company website gushes that it was created to "make waves with its unique, futuristic design, innovative, airy interior space, and ultra-fast charging battery."

The Korean carmaker days it is partnering with Electrify America to give buyers two years of complimentary access to the largest public fast-charging network in the US. The IONIQ 5 can be charged while on-the-go in as little as 30 minutes.

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Auto Styling News is a blog that covers car concepts, newly released models, and the auto industry.

#KIA EV6 Will Run For 300+ Miles Per Charge, Says EPA

[Auto Styling News]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has certified a maximum all-electric range (AER) of 310 miles for the 2022 Kia EV6 when equipped with a 77.4 kWh battery and rear-wheel drive. The all-electric range (AER) for the entire EV6 lineup was announced ahead of the EV6 going on sale in the first quarter of 2022.  More information about the certification is available at Fueleconomy.gov
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Auto Styling News is a blog that covers car concepts, newly released models, and the auto industry.

#KIA Set To Pull "Sedona" Name In 2022, Replaced With Handsome #Carnival Model

[Auto Styling News] 

The 2021 Kia Sedona will be the last vehicle of that name, internet sources are revealing. In 2022, the vehicle will get an entirely new design, and take on the name used already overseas, Carnival. (Sorry, Arizona!)

Now KIA has to pray that Carnival Cruise Lines does not have a major disease outbreak on board one of its ships, or other disaster in the coming years that will associate the name with something bad, or even tragic. 

Photos obtained from the Sedona forum blog end the Korean Car Blog (and posted here) show an incredibly handsome new vehicle with a much longer wheelbase and an updated front fascia.

What's really interesting is that we know from the Korean model (currently on the road there as a 2021 model) exactly what next year's Carnival will look like here in North America.

The handsome grill work, surrounded by chrome is a zigzag pattern, surrounds LED daytime running lights that are visibly much smaller than the current Sedona.

A single character line runs the length of the car, with bold wheel arches and sharp lines giving a more modern, sculpted appearance. 

A key design highlight of the 2022 KIA Carnival will be the new ‘island roof’ design, with blacked-out A- and B-pillars beneath a body-colored roof. An eye-catching new C-pillar signature design also stands out, with a chrome fin bearing a subtle diamond pattern.

The rear features a wide, distinctive new look, accentuated by a full-width light bar. Another element of its SUV-inspired design is the metallic lower skid plate, further affording a more robust appearance.

In South Korea, they also currently enjoy a "Hi Limousine" model that comes with a large luxurious chair in the second row, and with curtains in all the rear and side windows, accepting the passenger and driver window up front. 

This is supposed to be the ultimate luxury model, which it's a safe bet that it will not come to America, because, to the casual observer, it resembles very strongly a hearse. Sales would not likely be very good for that reason.

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Auto Styling News is a blog that covers car concepts, newly released models, and the auto industry.

New Fleet-Focused Electric Truck, #Lordstown Endurance, Garners 100k Pre-Orders

[Auto Styling News] 

Lordstown Motors Corp., an emerging producer of electric light duty trucks focused on the commercial fleet market, says it has received more than 100,000 non-binding production reservations from commercial fleets for its Lordstown Endurance all-electric pickup truck, with an average order size of nearly 600 vehicles per fleet.

“Receiving 100,000 pre-orders from commercial fleets for a truck like the Endurance is unprecedented in automotive history,” said Steve Burns, CEO of Lordstown Motors. “Adding in the interest we have from federal, state, municipal and military fleets on top of that, I think you can see why we feel that we are about to revolutionize the pickup truck industry.”

The Lordstown Endurance is a full-size, all-electric pickup that has a range of 250 miles, the equivalent of 600hp and can tow up to 7,500lbs. After successful prototype and Alpha builds, Lordstown is now building the first Beta Endurance vehicles and is on track for start of production in September of this year. The initial Endurance is a crew cab configuration with medium bed length, priced at $45,000 after federal rebate.

Lordstown Motors, an Ohio-based original equipment manufacturer of light duty fleet vehicles, was founded by CEO Steve Burns with the purpose of transforming Ohio's Mahoning Valley and Lordstown, Ohio, into the epicenter of electric-vehicle manufacturing. 

The company owns the 785 acre, 6.2 million square foot Lordstown Assembly Plant where it plans to build the Lordstown Endurance, believed to be the world's first full-size, all-electric pickup truck designed to serve the commercial fleet market. 

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Auto Styling News is a blog that covers car concepts, newly released models, and the auto industry.

#EV Company #Canoo To Build Roomy Van And Delivery Truck [Auto Styling News]

[Auto Styling News] 

You've heard of Tesla, but now get ready for Canoo.

Canoo is a Los Angeles-based company that has developed electric vehicles, as well.

Canoo says it has designed "a modular platform purpose-built to deliver maximum vehicle interior space and adaptable to support a wide range of vehicle applications for consumers and businesses."

In the beginning it will offer consumers would it cals a lifestyle vehicle and we'll also produce a delivery truck, called a "multi-purpose delivery vehicle."

The company won the Red Dot Design Award 2020: "Best of the Best" for concept design in the transportation and mobility category.

Based on Canoo’s proprietary electric platform, the vehicle will be offered in two initial size variants, with others to follow. 

Its all-electric multi-purpose delivery vehicle will be priced starting at around $33,000. Limited availability will begin in 2022, with scaled production and launch planned for 2023. Pricing and availability of the consumer-focused lifestyle vehicle have not yet been released on the company's website.

Customers can pre-order the multi-purpose delivery vehicle for a refundable deposit of $100 per vehicle.

The delivery truck will be a lot squarer then the consumer vehicle. Which makes sense, because it will be easier to install shelves in the truck that resembles an Amazon delivery truck then in one that resembles a pill.

Let talk about the design of the consumer vehicle - the minivan.

You can't accuse it of being ugly. In fact, it resembles a beautiful Tylenol tablet. The front is roundly curved oh, and the back of the thing is almost exactly the same shape.

In fact, owners will probably complain that they have trouble walking to the front of the vehicle when they get out of the store, because they continually walk to the rear instead.

The headlamps and the tail lamps resemble the letter T on its side. They are quite stunning, in part because they are unlike anything on the market today. In fact, this vehicle will not be mistaken for any other

vehicle that has ever existed. Although one can say it resembles, if you squint and use your imagination, a Toyota Previa minivan, which graced American roads from 1991 to 1997. 

The roof panel consists entirely of glass, which is becoming more and more common especially in luxury vehicles. In fact, the vehicle will have 22 windows in total. Visibility in this thing will be amazing!

The safari windows appear above where the normal four windows of the vehicle are. And in the front of the vehicle, where the dashboard usually would sit, a window will allow drivers and passengers to see through roadway ahead of them, and pedestrians, more clearly.

The company says there will only be one color offered for the vehicle, black, which brings to mind Ford Motor Company's hesitation - well, Henry Ford's - to offer any colors back in the early 1900s. (They finally relented, of course, and Model A's were offered in the spectrum of colors by the 1920s.)

However the cars will be offered with the option of wraps, and I'm sure the aftermarket for wraps will be hot if this car takes off.

Despite the push-me-pull-you jokes that are inevitable for people who remember the original Doctor Doolittle film, the car is actually quite handsome and striking from a distance. That alone is likely to how many people in and get them to plunk down $100 to reserve one, or invest in the company's stock (GOEV) which is already trading near $15.50  a share. 

At the time this blog was written, Tesla was hovering around $660 a share. Imagine if you had bought it at $15 a share?

It's very easy to get excited about this vehicle, and about this company and it's rather stunning looking vehicles. But the recent troubles with EV carmaker Nikola, which just lost a huge contract to build electric garbage trucks, shows that the market is very tender right now. 

Still, it's equally easy to envision millions of Americans driving their kids to school and to the supermarket in this round electric minivan in early 2023 and 2024.

See video below of a "beta" version of the family vehicle in action.

Auto Styling News is a blog that covers car concepts, newly released models, and the auto industry.