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2017 North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year entries announced

Over 40 vehicles will compete for the 2017 North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year awards. If that name looks a little strange, it's because the competition added a third category. In years past, pickup trucks, crossovers, SUVs, commercial vans, and minivans competed for the same award. That's why there were occasionally weird comparisons, like last year's competition between the Volvo XC90 and Nissan Titan XD. The new format separates pickups and commercial vans into the truck contest and CUVs, SUVs, and minivans into the utility competition. A complete list of eligible vehicles is below, but here are a few highlights. For one, the entire list of entries has a luxurious lean. Of the 43 vehicles, nearly half of them are from premium brands. There are two eligible Bentleys – the Bentayga and Mulsanne – the Rolls-Royce Dawn, Jaguar F-Pace, Audi Q7, and the Mercedes-Benz GLS-, E-, and S-Class Maybach. The performance ranks are lofty, too, with the Audi R8, Acura NSX, Alfa Romeo Giulia, Mercedes SL- and SLC-Class, Porsche 718, and F-150 Raptor. The mainstream entries are just as comprehensive. From the Chrysler Pacifica to the Chevrolet Cruze to the Fiat 124 Spider to the Mitsubishi Mirage, NACTOY has covered an enormous price range with this year's contestants. Of course, these are only the eligible vehicles. They'll need to run through three rounds of judging, starting in September at NACTOY's traditional Hell, MI, test drive. The Canadian and American journalists involved in the judging will announce this year's nine finalists – three in each category – on December 6. Cars Acura NSX Alfa Romeo Giulia Audi A4 Audi R8 Bentley Mulsanne Buick Cascada Buick LaCrosse Cadillac CT6 Chevrolet Bolt Chevrolet Cruze Fiat 124 Genesis G90 Hyundai Elantra Infiniti Q60 Jaguar XE Kia Cadenza Lincoln Continental Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan Mercedes-Benz S550 Maybach Mercedes-Benz SL-Class Mercedes-Benz SLC-Class Mini Clubman Mitsubishi Mirage/G4 Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman Rolls-Royce Dawn Toyota Prius Prime Volvo S90 SUVs Audi Q7 Bentley Bentayga Buick Envision Cadillac XT5 Chrysler Pacifica GMC Acadia Infiniti QX30 Kia Sportage Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class Jaguar F-Pace Mazda CX-9 Nissan Armada Trucks Ford F-Series Super Duty pickups Ford F-150 Raptor Honda Ridgeline Nissan Titan half-ton Related Video: Featured Gallery Bentley Bentayga View 23 Photos News Source: Automotive News - sub.

Genovation Cars readies all-electric Corvette prototype

Chevy runs the full spectrum from some of the most environmentally friendly cars to the least. At one end are EVs like the Spark and Volt. At the other, performance models like the Camaro and Corvette. But one American company wants to bridge that divide. That company is Rockville, MD-based Genovation Cars, which reports that it is almost done building its prototype for an all-electric Corvette. Dubbed the Genovation Extreme Electric (or GXE for short), the prototype is based on a previous-generation 2006 Chevy Corvette Z06, but ditches its enormous 7.0-liter V8 for an array of inverters, batteries, and electric motors said to be good for over 700 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque. That promises to deliver a 0-60 time of about 3.0 seconds and a top speed in excess of 200 miles per hour. Those are supercar benchmarks for performance if we've ever seen them, and ought to leave even the top-spec Tesla Model S P85D in... well, not a cloud of smoke, but whatever the electric equivalent is, in a non-polluting cloud of that. The GXE is also supposed to be able to travel for 150 miles on a single charge, and handle well while it's at it with 50/50 front-rear weight distribution and a low center of gravity. Sorta like the Power Wheels 'Vette pictured above, then, but bigger and faster. Look for the GXE to debut at the Electric Vehicle Technology Expo this coming September in Michigan, after which Genovation says it will put the GXE to the test on the track to back up its performance claims. Genovation Cars Nearing Completion of High-Performance All-Electric Corvette, the GXE ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Genovation Cars is nearing the completion of a prototype high-performance all-electric Corvette called the Genovation Extreme Electric or GXE. Assembly of the GXE will be completed by the end of July, followed by a three-week testing phase. The GXE is based on a 2006 Z06 Corvette. Several contributors to the GXE effort have helped design and build record-breaking electric vehicles. They include an MIT electrical engineer and a mechanical engineer from Cosworth. "We are using state of the art inverters, batteries and electric motors that will produce in excess of 700-hp and 600 lb-ft of torque," said Genovation CEO Andrew Saul. "We expect the car to achieve 0-60 mph in around three seconds and have a top speed of over 200 mph.

GM recalling over 243,000 crossovers over possible seat belt defect

2010 Buick Enclave - Click above for high-res image gallery
The summer of 2010's recall hit parade continues unabated today, with General Motors having just announced that it is asking 243,403 owners of its 2009-2010 Lambda crossovers to bring their three-row haulers in for inspection. The culprit? Second-row seat belts in select Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia, and Saturn Outlook CUVs have "failed to perform properly in a crash."
According to GM, a second-row seat-side trim piece is to blame, as it can impede the upward rotation of the buckle after the seat is folded flat. As a result, if the buckle makes contact with the seat frame, cosmetic damage can occur, potentially requiring additional force to operate the buckle properly. So far, no great shakes, but in the process of applying that additional force, the occupant may push the buckle cover down to the strap, potentially revealing and depressing the red release button. As a result of this, the belt may not latch, or in certain cases, it may actually appear to be latched when, in fact, it isn't.