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Autoblog Electric launches; we talk EV news, VW ID.4 and Kia EV6 | Autoblog Podcast #770

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. In company news, we launched the Autoblog Electric hub this week, and as such, we spend a lot of this episode talking about EVs. WE start by talking about some electric pickups on the way, EV charging and U.S. infrastructure plans, states banning ICE sales, the happiest EV owners, thoughts on the viability of smaller electric automakers and Formula 1's renewed stance against goinf electric. We also share notes on the Volkswagen ID.4 and Kia EV6 we've been driving, as well as other memorable EVs we've driven in the past year. Finally, we reach into the mailbag for a Spend My Money update before talking about late winter/spring beverages.  Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #770 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Autoblog launches Autoblog Electric Electric pickup trucks available in 2023 and beyond The current and future state of EV charging New Jersey is the next state to ban light-duty ICE vehicle sales by 2035 Rivian R1T, Mini Cooper Electric owners happiest with their EVs Thoughts on smaller electric automaker firms F1 CEO vows there will never be an electric car on the grid Cars we're driving Long-term 2022 Kia EV6 2023 VW ID.4 Other memorable EVs Spend My Money update: Replacing an Alfa Romeo Giulia with a BMW i4 Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related video: Government/Legal Green Motorsports Podcasts Kia Lotus Volkswagen Green Automakers Green Culture Green Driving Truck Crossover SUV Electric Racing Vehicles Infrastructure Lucid

Lotus Type 132 electric SUV previewed ahead of March 29 debut

Lotus is about to unveil its most important and most controversial car. It will jump into the electric crossover segment when it launches a model called Type 132 internally, and it released a short video that gives us a preview of what the people-hauler looks like inside and out. Aimed at the Porsche Cayenne, among other high-riding and high-horsepower machines, the Type 132 will spearhead the British firm's entry into the mainstream; it likely won't be a high-volume model but we're betting it will become the best-selling Lotus. The preview video reveals a handful of styling cues, like a light bar that stretches across the rear end, and it confirms that the cabin will offer a long list of tech features. Drivers will face a digital instrument cluster and a meaty steering wheel with backlit buttons and a pair of shift paddles, though it's too early to tell what purpose they'll serve. We know that the Type 132 — a name which won't be retained for production — will be entirely electric so the paddles will very likely not be connected to a gearbox. Both are labeled "+" and they may be used to adjust the level of regenerative braking. If that's the case, then odds are there's also a "-" symbol on each paddle that's hidden from view in the 1:12-long teaser video (shown above). Lotus Type 132 preview View 4 Photos Spy shots taken in China in February 2022 suggest that the Type 132 will tilt more towards the sporty side of the crossover scale; Lotus isn't interested in rivaling, say, the Mercedes-Benz GLS in terms of passenger and cargo space. The sheet metal will hide a modular platform called Evolution Architecture, and the crossover will reach 60 mph from a stop in under three seconds in its most powerful configuration thanks in part to a dual-motor powertrain. It will be interesting to find out how Lotus, whose founder's now-famous motto was "simplify, then add lightness," will offset the lithium-ion battery pack's significant weight. Lightweight materials, like carbon fiber, will certainly play a role. Lotus will introduce the Type 132 online on March 29, and production will start shortly after in a new facility located in Wuhan, China. Looking ahead, the company plans to continue its model offensive by releasing a four-door sedan that's called Type 133 and tentatively due out in 2023, a second SUV known as Type 134 that we should see in 2025, and a sports car dubbed Type 135 that will make its debut in 2026.

Race recap: 2015 Singapore Grand Prix full of odd sideshows

What greeted the Formula One teams in Singapore? Confusion. The haze was so thick that observers wondered if the race would be held at all. Then practices began, and Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg took the first one, but the team fell away after that. Mercedes said it couldn't get the tires turned on, but no one believed the Silver Arrows was in genuine trouble. Then qualifying set the confusion in stone. Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel laid down the best time in Q3, taking the team's first pole position since Germany in 2012. Daniel Ricciardo got his Infiniti Red Bull Racing into second, about one tenth behind Vettel. (That may make the team feel better after Ricciardo publicly asked for a better engine than the current Renault unit, and team advisor Helmut Marko said the outfit will quit F1 at the end of this year if it can't get a stronger powerplant for 2016.) Kimi Raikkonen put the second Ferrari in third, Daniil Kvyat put the second Red Bull in fourth. And only then came the Meredes'. Lewis Hamilton's best got him fifth, the Brit saying, "We don't really know what we have got wrong. For some reason the tires are not working on the car. We do the warm-up the same as everyone else and then you see someone one second up the road." For added emphasis on the reversal of fortune, his time was 1.6 seconds behind Vettel's. Teammate Rosberg is next to him in sixth, a further half a second back. Williams is still a hurting a bit on slow tracks, so Valtteri Bottas could only get into seventh ahead of Max Verstappen in the Toro Rosso and teammate Felipe Massa in ninth. When the red lights went out, the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix would get both less interesting and more interesting all the way to the final lap. The men up front got good getaways, and the order into Turn 1 was Vettel, Ricciardo, and Raikkonen. The race finished with those three in that order, never having conceded position. Vettel's Ferrari enjoyed the track so much that he laid a second per lap into Ricciardo for the first five, then relaxed. He'd let the gap come down later in the race a couple of times, but any time he wanted to see what his mirrors looked like without anyone in them he'd take off again. Rosberg took fourth position after holding down sixth for the first stint. It looked like he'd have an even worse day - for a Mercedes driver - when he had problems getting his car started and onto the grid before the race.