2021 Hyundai Palisade Sel on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Recharge Wrap-up: Alguersuari out for Formula E season 2, hydrogen range test video

A pair of hydrogen proponents drove a Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell 1,480.73 miles in 24 hours. Arnt-Goran Hartvig and Marius Bornstein, nicknamed The Viking and The Scientist, drove a 186-mile route in Germany repeatedly as many times as they could over the course of a full day to set the distance record. The advantage of short refueling times for the hydrogen vehicle helped the duo spend more time on the road. See the video above, and read more from Hybrid Cars. Jaime Alguersuari will miss the second season of Formula E. His license was suspended after fainting at the end of the Moscow ePrix, and he is still waiting for a diagnosis. "During the month of July I underwent several tests for which there has not been a medical resolution and I am still waiting for the final diagnosis," says Alguersuari. "For this reason I need to announce that, unfortunately, I will not be able to take part in the FIA Formula E Championship for the 2015/16 season with my team DS Virgin Racing." The former Formula 1 driver will make an announcement about his future in September. Read more at Autosport. Jeb Bush has come out against the Renewable Fuel Standard. In an interview in an Iowa Falls Dairy Queen, the Republican presidential hopeful gave his opinion about the ethanol mandate. "The best way to get to energy security, in my mind, is letting the markets work," says Bush. "So the RFS has had great success, and over a period of time I think it has to be phased out." Ditching the ethanol mandate could hurt Bush in the important corn-growing state of Iowa, though he thinks his record as Florida governor will help his status with voters. Read more at Grist, and from KCCI.

Hyundai will add Ioniq EVs to WaiveCar car-sharing fleet

Hyundai Motor America will add its Ioniq electric vehicles to a Southern California-based car-sharing fleet that launched earlier this year with Chevrolet Spark EVs. Hyundai reached an agreement with Santa Ana, Calif.-based WaiveCar in which Hyundai will provide 150 Ioniq EVs to the fleet by the time sales begin for the model early next year. Hyundai may add an additional 250 Ioniq EVs to WaiveCar fleets in other cities. WaiveCar is an app-based car-sharing service that debuted in Los Angeles in early 2016. The company offers drivers the cars for free for the first two hours, then charges $6 an hour for more time. WaiveCar also generates revenue via external advertising wraps around the vehicles, and also features geo-located targeted ads. Take a look at Hyundai's press release about the WaiveCar agreement here. Curiously, and somewhat admirably, Hyundai earlier this week went on record as saying the Ioniq's 124-mile single-charge range won't be sufficient in the long haul. The South Korean automaker has vowed to replace the upcoming version with an Ioniq EV for 2018 that will be able to go at least 200 miles on a full charge. That's not a bad move, considering General Motors is preparing to launch its Chevrolet Bolt EV, while Tesla is working on its Model 3. Both of those models will have 200-mile-plus full-charge ranges. Hyundai announced the incoming sales of the Ioniq EV earlier this year. A hybrid version of the Ioniq also debuted in South Korea earlier this year. Overall, Hyundai is looking to debut more than two-dozen hybrids, plug-ins, and fuel-cell vehicles to the world by the end of the decade. Related Video:

Korea's sport compact | 2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport First Drive

When we drove the then all-new 2017 Hyundai Elantra earlier this year, we came away impressed but slightly bored. There is nothing fundamentally flawed with the compact sedan, but there also is nothing about the car that gets our blood pumping. The new Elantra is an affordable and reasonably well-equipped people mover. It's an improvement over its predecessor, but the driving experience leaves us indifferent. Hyundai was aware of this from the outset. The product plan includes the Sport model you see here, intended to inject some life into what is otherwise a rather milquetoast car. On paper, everything looks good and all of the right boxes are checked, including more power and a tighter suspension. Hyundai was clear that this is far more than just an appearance package like the previous generation's Sport trim. As such, the new Elantra Sport is fitted with a 201-horsepower, 1.6-liter turbocharged engine mated to either a six-speed manual or a seven-speed dual clutch automatic. A revised suspension replaces the standard torsion-beam rear axle with a fully independent multi-link rear setup, paired with bigger brakes, wheels, and tires. Other accoutrements, like sport seats and a flat-bottomed steering wheel, are also included. Check, check, check. The Elantra Sport with a manual transmission starts at $21,650 before destination and, sitting just below the top-of-the-range Limited model, comes very well equipped for the price. Heated leather seats are standard, as are HID headlights, keyless entry and ignition, and a seven-inch touchscreen display with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. That's a lot of equipment for a car in this size and price range. The only option on both the manual and paddle-shifted DCT model (that one starts at $22,750) is the $2,400 Premium Package. It adds an extra inch to the display, navigation, an eight-speaker Infinity sound system, Hyundai's Blue Link connectivity, a sunroof, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, dual automatic climate control with an auto defogger, and an auto-dimming rearview mirror with HomeLink and a compass. Lots of checks in lots of boxes at a reasonable price point and a long warranty has been Hyundai's modus operandi for a while now, and that's fine for most of its models. It's the case with the non-Sport Elantra, which is packed with features but otherwise makes us shrug. The Sport may not be a revolution, but it is a lot of fun to drive.