1991 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce Red Convertible on 2040-cars

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Porsche 911 Turbo and Nissan GT-R Nismo star in World's Greatest Drag Race 4

We love Motor Trend's annual World's Greatest Drag Race video. Now back for its fourth appearance, the idea of lining some of the world's fastest cars up for a ten-wide, straight-line, full-throttle run is, well... it's pretty freaking badass.
The lineup this year boasts some impressively fast cars to be sure. The group of ten includes the following darlings: Alfa Romeo 4C, BMW i8, BMW M4, Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, Ford Fiesta ST, Jaguar F-Type R Coupe, Nissan GT-R Nismo, Porsche 911 Turbo S, Subaru WRX STI and, last but not least, the Volkswagen GTI. Give us any one of those for the weekend, and we're happy to take the keys.
It must be said though, that for a publication that draws as much water as Motor Trend does, there are some big cars that we might expect to be here instead. The Lamborghini Huracán or Ferrari 458 Speciale would have added some exotic flare to the list, and the omissions of the Chevy Corvette Stingray (for the second year in a row) and the Dodge Challenger Hellcat are real head-scratchers.

Stellantis aims to eliminate separate inverter, charger to improve EV efficiency

Stellantis has announced that, in collaboration with French battery company Saft and French National Center for Scientific Research, has made significant progress in eliminating two major components of an electric vehicle powertrain: the on-board charger and the power inverter for the motor. The company claims that doing this will allow for better space use in vehicles, as well as improvements in efficiency, cost and reliability of components. As a quick primer, also explained in the below video, the on-board charger and power inverter are sort of translators to get the right current to different parts of the electric powertrain. The on-board charger takes AC power from the grid and converts it to DC to charge the batteries. Then when power goes from the batteries to the electric motor, the power inverter converts that DC power back to AC. These components aren't exactly small. Frequently you'll find them packaged somewhere under the hood. What Stellantis and its cohorts have developed, and have been using on a test vehicle since last summer, are small power inverter boards that can be mounted very closely to the battery packs. They can handle both conversion needs, for charging and discharging, instead of needing two separate devices. The most obvious perk to this is that you can do away with those traditional components and free up more space, either for making smaller vehicles without losing interior volume, or adding space to a vehicle that wouldn't have had it otherwise. There's the additional benefit of reduced weight, something that EVs struggle with. Stellantis also claims improvements in efficiency, reliability, and cost, however, it didn't go into detail as to how this setup would do that exactly. We'll try to get in touch with representatives from Stellantis in order to get more information. We're still a ways out from seeing this technology in production Stellantis vehicles. The company said it aims to apply it to vehicles by the end of the decade. Saft is also looking at using it on stationary battery systems as well. So maybe we'll see it on a 2029 Ram 1500 REV, but for now, we'll be living with traditional chargers and inverters. Related Video: Green Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Fiat RAM Technology Electric

Alfa Romeo Tonale drops the non-hybrid 2.0-liter for the U.S.

Until last week, we were expecting the Alfa Romeo Tonale to be sold with two powertrains here. When the compact crossover greeted the world for the first time in February, Alfa Romeo told us our market could expect a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder as the base option, putting out 256 horsepower through a nine-speed automatic to all four wheels. The premium choice would be a plug-in hybrid powertrain that paired a 177-hp, 1.3-liter four-cylinder turning the front axle with a 121-hp electric motor working the rear axle for a combined 275 hp. The PHEV would also be capable of 30 miles of pure-electric motoring in the U.S. Alfa Romeo boss Jean-Philippe Imparato told Automotive News Europe during the media drive that the non-hybrid 2.0-liter is no longer an option for the U.S. because Alfa Romeo needs to go especially aggressive on reducing emissions here. In Europe, the Tonale can be ordered with both powertrains as well as a diesel. Here, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) recently proposed a new set of regulations that lay out tougher benchmarks for an automaker's CO2 emissions. If the regulations pass, 35% of an automaker's sales in the state will need to be zero-emissions vehicles (ZEV) by 2026 and 100% by 2035. California, by itself, is on the cusp of passing Germany as the world's fourth-largest economy, according to Bloomberg. Furthermore, 13 states and the District of Columbia adhere to CARB emissions rules, nine of those follow California's ZEV program, and three more states will join the ZEV regulations over the next three years. Alfa Romeo sold just over 18,000 cars here last year, and it needs plenty of Tonales to offset all those Stelvios. Across the Atlantic, the Euro 7 emissions giving carmakers public fits are slated to come into force on July 1, 2025. For these reasons as well as Alfa Romeo's commitment to going all-electric this decade, Imperato told ANE the PHEV is "an existential need" in the lineup. An Alfa Romeo spokesperson in the U.S. elaborated to Car and Driver, "As a premium brand, the PHEV better aligns with what our customers want in this segment as it provides an elevated experience, greater performance, and more than 30 miles of electric range." The subtext here is that the Tonale's corporate twin, the Dodge Hornet, will offer both powertrains when it goes on sale next year.