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Editors’ Picks October 2022 | Electric trucks and some excellent SUVs

This month sees a bevy of totally new or totally redesigned cars gain Editors’ Pick status. Important EVs like the F-150 Lightning and GMC Hummer EV quickly jump into the list, and they do so with authority, as all our editors love these trucks. The Range Rover is always a superb experience, and this generation proves to be no different. Plus, the new generation of Kia Sportage continues to surprise and impress. In case you missed our previous Editors' Picks posts, hereÂ’s a quick refresher on whatÂ’s going on here. We rate all the new cars we drive with a 1-10 score. Cars that are exemplary in their respective segments get EditorsÂ’ Pick status. Those are the ones weÂ’d recommend to our friends, family and anybody whoÂ’s curious and asks the question. The list that youÂ’ll find below consists of every car we rated in October that earned an EditorsÂ’ Pick. 2022 GMC Hummer EV The Four-Wheel-Steer system lets the 2022 GMC HUMMER EV Pickup m View 17 Photos Quick take: The Hummer amazes as an electric supertruck with its wild acceleration, incredible off-road capability, luxuriousness and epic utility. It's far from a "green" eco-friendly vehicle, but that's not the point of this technological powerhouse. Score: 8.5 What it competes with: Rivian R1T, Ford F-150 Raptor R, Ram 1500 TRX Pros: Stupid quick, tons of tech, off-road capability in spades Cons: Not efficient, annoying in tight spaces, price From the editors: Road Test Editor Zac Palmer — "I don't think I've driven a more ridiculous vehicle this year, but that's sort of the point with the Hummer. There's a great argument against this sort of EV in that it doesn't live up to being an efficient and planet-friendly vehicle, but hey, that's not the point. The Hummer EV is a supertruck and wild technological masterpiece for off-roading in the same way that a mid-engine supercar is to track performance. It's not meant to be the EV everybody drives to work and back (mostly because few can afford it), but it serves as a line in the sand of what can be done with electric off-road trucks. This pickup rules, and if you can afford one, you're going to love it." Senior Editor, Green John Beltz Snyder — "This Hummer revival is a showcase of technology and capability on the part of GM, making it an absolute blast to drive and a joy to use.

Ford C-Max Commercial Brings Cadillac 'Poolside' Ad Down To Earth

If we had tried to predict the first video response to the controversial Poolside video for the Cadillac ELR, we would not have thought it would center on compost. But, hey, it's always nice to be reminded that the real world is sometimes better than fiction. Instead of the chic swagger of 'Poolside,' 'Anything Is Possible' is all about getting dirty. The new short in question is called Upside: Anything Is Possible and it promotes two things: Detroit Dirt and the Ford C-Max Energi. As in the ELR ad, Ford's plug-in C-Max only makes an appearance at the tail end of the spot, but instead of the chic swagger of Poolside, Anything Is Possible is all about getting dirty. The ad stars Pashon Murray, co-founder of Detroit Dirt, which takes natural waste from around Detroit, composts it into soil and then spreads that around "forgotten parcels" of Detroit to create urban farms. Detroit Dirt gets its bio-waste from a lot of sources, including the Detroit Zoological Society (all that herbivore manure has to go somewhere), Ford and General Motors, but this particular ad was the idea of Ford's PR agency, Team Detroit. It was a frenetic shoot, filmed with an LA-based director right after a big winter storm blew through Detroit, and Murray couldn't be happier with the result. "This was Ford Motor Company pushing my story, letting me tell the story that I believe in," Murray tells AutoblogGreen. "I get to help push this car and I get to tell my story." She says that the Team Detroit and Ford had to agree on the message, "from my understanding, [YouTube] is where they wanted to start, not where they wanted to finish." The ad is already getting a positive response on Twitter, so we won't be surprised if it shows up in more places soon. "It's not saying Ford is better than GM. It's telling the story of a black woman who's working hard in Detroit." As Detroit Dirt has off-screen support from both GM and Ford, it's unsurprising to hear Murray say that the video "is not a rivalry thing." She notes that the ad agency Team Detroit came to her and offered to tell the Detroit Dirt story using the framework of the GM ad. "It's a parody on this commercial, but it's not saying Ford is better than GM," she said. "It's telling the story of a black woman who's working hard in Detroit." What is that story? It's about urban farming, recovery and recycling. Murray tells us that for the last seven or eight years, she's been dedicated to sustainability.

Ford fights back against patent trolls

Some people are just awful. Some organizations are just as awful. And when those people join those organizations, we get stories like this one, where Ford has spent the past several years combatting so-called patent trolls. According to Automotive News, these malicious organizations have filed over a dozen lawsuits against the company since 2012. They work by purchasing patents, only to later accuse companies of misusing intellectual property, despite the fact that the so-called patent assertion companies never actually, you know, do anything with said intellectual property. AN reports that both Hyundai and Toyota have been victimized by these companies, with the former forced to pay $11.5 million to a company called Clear With Computers. Toyota, meanwhile, settled with Paice LLC, over its hybrid tech. The world's largest automaker agreed to pay $5 million, on top of $98 for every hybrid it sold (if the terms of the deal included each of the roughly 1.5 million hybrids Toyota sold since 2000, the company would have owed $147 million). Including the previous couple of examples, AN reports 107 suits were filed against automakers last year alone. But Ford is taking action to prevent further troubles... kind of. The company has signed on with a firm called RPX, in what sounds strangely like a protection racket. Automakers like Ford pay RPX around $1.5 million each year for access to its catalog of patents, which it spent nearly $1 billion building. "We take the protection and licensing of patented innovations very seriously," Ford told AN via email. "And as many smart businesses are doing, we are taking proactive steps to protect against those seeking patent infringement litigation." What are your thoughts on this? Should this patent business be better managed? Is it reasonable that companies purchase patents only to file suit against the companies that build actual products? Have your say in Comments.