No Reserve Runs Great!! Loaded Volvo on 2040-cars

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2022 Volvo C40 Recharge First Drive Review | All electric, all Swedish

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Volvo doesnÂ’t rock the design boat often, but the 2022 Volvo C40 Recharge is an exception to the Swedish car companyÂ’s staid, yet handsome norm. The C40 is a fully-electric crossover coupe, and it is VolvoÂ’s first vehicle to adopt this fastback shape. Not only that, but itÂ’s also VolvoÂ’s second electric car, following closely on the heels of the XC40 Recharge, a vehicle weÂ’ll drive soon. With the C40 Recharge being a new shape for Volvo, the design and technology teams are using it to debut some new ideas both inside and out. The rear end features new LED taillight technology from Volvo that features segmented LEDs and sequentially activating turn indicators for a different look than the typical fully-lit Volvo taillight. Its grille is debuting a new “Iron Mark” that houses a brand-new (and improved) suite of radar for the driver assistance systems — the logo is also now heated to ensure that neither ice nor snow buildup will stop the systems from functioning.  As for the crossover coupe part of this design, youÂ’ll notice the rear is full of spoilers. VolvoÂ’s head of design, Eric Beak, tells us that the dual, fin-like rooftop spoilers are there as aerodynamic aids in a bid to increase range. Meanwhile, the big spoiler jutting out on the carÂ’s trailing edge is designed to give the car greater stability at high speeds by reducing lift. The 20-inch wheels you see pictured here are the only option, so hopefully you like them. We do, and we like the look of this car overall. Photographs donÂ’t properly capture the angularity and shape of the body panels, but the C40 is a striking crossover coupe when you get up close to it. What could ultimately be even more controversial than the exterior design are the interior material choices. You wonÂ’t find an inch of leather covering the C40Â’s interior. Instead, Volvo is focusing on sustainable materials made using recyclables. For example, the seats are constructed of VolvoÂ’s suede-like Microtech material that is made of recycled polyester. Ditching leather is great, so long as the replacement is suitable for a luxury vehicle at a luxury price, and in this case, it works in nearly every area. Our one complaint is the steering wheel, for the synthetic leather substitute used here feels too much like plastic and is nowhere near as nice or supple to hold as quality leather is. When it comes to driving and charging the C40, the experience is a vaguely familiar one.

Daimler, Geely mull China as production hub for hybrid powertrains

FRANKFURT — Daimler and Geely on Friday said China could emerge as a manufacturing and export hub for hybrid powertrains jointly developed for Volvo and Mercedes-Benz cars. Earlier this week, Daimler said it would cooperate with China's Geely to build next-generation combustion engines for use in hybrid vehicles. The engines will be produced in China as well as in Europe, and Geely and Daimler will cooperate in engineering, sourcing and production, the companies said in a joint press release. "The export of the engine from China is considered to be an option," the release further said. Mercedes-Benz aims for more than half of its passenger car sales to be comprised of plug-in hybrids or purely electric vehicles by 2030. Geely is ChinaÂ’s most internationally known automaker. It owns Volvo Cars and Lotus, almost half of Proton and 9.7% of Daimler. Through wholly owned company Polestar, it builds low-volume Polestar 1 hybrid performance cars in the western city of Chengdu and Polestar 2 volume sedans in Taizhou in the east. "The companies plan to develop a highly efficient modular engine," a spokesman for Daimler said, adding that it would be used in hybrid drivetrains and manufactured in Europe and China. The modular engine will be used in cars under different marques at Geely and Daimler, a person familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity as the companies are still in the early stages of developing the engine. An Conghui, President of Geely Holding Group, President and CEO of Geely Auto Group said: “This project reflects the need for economies of scale and targeted research and development investment in clean and highly efficient powertrains and hybrid drive systems and their applications." Geely also plans to build a plant with annual manufacturing capacity of 30,000 premium EVs in the western city of Chongqing, run by a wholly owned, newly registered company, according to documents on its website. Geely and Polestar declined to comment. The plan comes as foreign automakers including BMW AG and Tesla expand EV production in the worldÂ’s biggest market, sourcing major EV components such as batteries locally and often even exporting a portion of the vehicles it builds.   Auto News Earnings/Financials Green Plants/Manufacturing Mercedes-Benz Volvo Green Automakers Future Vehicles Hybrid

Autoblog's Editors' Picks: Our complete list of the best new vehicles

It's not easy to earn an “EditorsÂ’ Picks” at Autoblog as part of the rating and review process that every new vehicle goes through. Our editors have been at it a long time, which means weÂ’ve driven and reviewed virtually every new car you can go buy on the dealer lot. There are disagreements, of course, and all vehicles have their strengths and weaknesses, but this list features what we think are the best new vehicles chosen by Autoblog editors. We started this formal review process back in 2018, so there's quite of few of them now. So what does it mean to be an EditorsÂ’ Pick? In short, it means itÂ’s a car that we can highly recommend purchasing. There may be one, multiple, or even zero vehicles in any given segment that we give the green light to. What really matters is that itÂ’s a vehicle that weÂ’d tell a friend or family member to go buy if theyÂ’re considering it, because itÂ’s a very good car. The best way to use this list is is with the navigation links below. Click on a segment, and you'll quickly arrive at the top rated pickup truck or SUV, for example. Use the back button to return to these links and search in another segment, like sedans. If youÂ’ve been keeping up with our monthly series of the latest vehicles to earn EditorsÂ’ Pick status, youÂ’re likely going to be familiar with this list already. If not, welcome to the complete list that weÂ’ll be keeping updated as vehicles enter (and others perhaps exit) the good graces of our editorial team. We rate a new car — giving it a numerical score out of 10 — every time thereÂ’s a significant refresh or if it happens to be an all-new model. Any given vehicle may be impressive on a first drive, but we wait until itÂ’s in the hands of our editors to put it through the same type of testing as every other vehicle that rolls through our test fleet before giving it the EditorsÂ’ Pick badge. This ensures consistency and allows more voices to be heard on each individual model. And just so you donÂ’t think weÂ’ve skipped trims or variants of a model, we hand out the EditorsÂ’ Pick based on the overarching model to keep things consistent. So, when you read that the 3 Series is an EditorsÂ’ Pick, yes, that includes the 330i to the M3 and all the variants in between. If thereÂ’s a particular version of that car we vehemently disagree with, we make sure to call that out.