1978 Cadillac Deville Coupe on 2040-cars

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Recharge Wrap-up: Free chargers for Canadian ELR buyers, Renovo gets funding for EV supercar

Chevrolet offers versions of its Express passenger van with B20 biodiesel and E85 capability. Customers can buy the van with the Duramax turbodiesel V8, which is compatible with the 20-percent biodiesel blend. There is also a FlexFuel V8, which can use the 85-percent ethanol gasoline blend. It's a great option for shuttling the whole soccer team to practice using renewable fuels. Read more at Domestic Fuels. Early buyers of the Cadillac ELR in Canada will get a 240-volt charger installed at their home for free. It should help convince some buyers to adopt the range extended luxury EV. Cadillac's Chief Marketing Officer Uwe Ellinghaus says, "Professional installation of the fastest home-charging unit is a natural way to mark the introduction of ELR to the luxury market." Read more in the press release below. Renovo has received venture capital funding from California-based True Ventures to build its Coupe electric supercar. The impressive EV, with its 500 horsepower and 1,000 pound-feet of torque, is an inspiring vehicle built by a promising company, according to its financial backers. Toni Schneider of True Ventures says that Renovo has "created incredibly advanced technology and a beautiful machine that is well positioned to disrupt the automotive market." Read more in the press release below. Renault says it will build its Fluence ZE electric car in China for an unnamed brand, pending government approval. Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn announced the plan at a test drive event in France on Monday. Renault has a partnership with Dongfeng Motors to build and sell its cars in China. Read more at Reuters. Germany has lifted its ban on Uber. While the German court believes the ride-hailing service is operating illegally without proper licensing for drivers, it says Taxi Deutschland waited too long to file the case against Uber. The taxi association plans to appeal the decision soon. See more in the video below, and read more at The New York Times. A new report from UC Davis claims that a global expansion of public transit could save 1,700 megatons of carbon dioxide yearly and over $100 trillion by 2050. A "high-shift scenario" would be necessary, wherein governments invest in rail and clean buses, expand biking and walking infrastructure and shift focus away from projects that encourage car use. This shift to public transit would especially be important in the US, China and India. Read more in the press release below.

Cadillac ATS Coupe spy photos show more sedate two-door

Remember when the Cadillac CTS Coupe debuted, and we were all like, "Oh hello there?" Well, don't expect the same thing to happen when the new ATS Coupe is unveiled - these brand new (overexposed) spy shots show a two-door that's decidedly more sedate than the angular yet curvaceous and all-around good-looking CTS Coupe. This isn't to say that the smaller Caddy Coupe won't be attractive - the four-door version is plenty pretty, to be sure - it just likely won't have that extra somethin'-somethin' to truly set it apart from the sedan.
Fine, then. We don't doubt that the two-door ATS will be just as enjoyable to drive as its sedan sibling, with a lot of the mechanical stuff likely carrying over unchanged. That includes the powertrain options, meaning buyers will be able to choose from the naturally aspirated 2.5-liter inline-four, turbocharged 2.0-liter four, or larger free-breathing 3.6-liter V6.
Look for the 2014 ATS Coupe to enter production in January of next year, meaning a reveal later this year (LA Auto Show, perhaps?) would be in order.

2020 Cadillac XT5 leaks onto web, adopts elements from smaller XT4

Cadillac just showed the new XT6 at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show, but today's news covers its smaller brother the XT5. A couple of leaked images on GM Authority along with information about the cars squirmed its way onto the web for the 2020 mid-cycle refresh, and we have the details for you. In looking at the shots here, not much has changed. The mesh grille is the most obvious update, adopting the same look as the compact XT4 crossover. Its lower grille has ever-so-slightly grown in size, and the headlights and taillights get new internal LED designs. Yawn. Better news comes out of the powertrain side. Information from the leak suggests GM's updated 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder will be tapped for duty. As of now, the 2.0-liter offered in international markets has not been an option in the U.S. That could very well change this time around, since it's already being used in one Cadillac — see our first drive of the XT4 with this engine for the full breakdown on its improved refinement and efficiency. The 3.6-liter V6 will undoubtedly carry over, but it'll be getting the GM nine-speed automatic also paired to the new four-cylinder. This should be a marked improvement over the Aisin-based eight-speed torque converter it makes do with now. We weren't exactly blown away by the Cadillac XT6's interior, but expect styling elements from the slightly newer Caddy SUV to make its way to the XT5, too. A reveal for this updated crossover should be on its way soon, as GM will most likely be selling the updated 2020 XT5 before the year is done. We asked GM if it could confirm or deny any of the information in this report, and will update when we hear back. Related video: