Review: 2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz tags nostalgia, re-ups minivans
Posted in General

Review: 2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz tags nostalgia, re-ups minivans

  • U.S. spec is 3-row, 10 in. longer than Euro version out two years ago
  • Larger 91-kwh battery pack, higher-power rear motor
  • EPA range up to 234 miles, 10-80% in 26 min.
  • Starts at $61,545, spans to $71,545 for top 1st Edition AWD 

VW’s electric Bus reboot is finally arriving in the U.S.. And by design, it’s hard to imagine a better way that VW might have positioned an electric van for the past and the future, all at once. 

Everybody wants one. Sure, it’s late and it’s been wracked by decades of false starts and concept vehicles, and by now the original Hippies may have ended their traveling days. But across generations, everyone has stories and feels tinges of nostalgia upon seeing the nose of this van and the signature two-tone themes. 

This past week I drove the ID.Buzz not in San Francisco but on the rural back roads and through the suburban communities of north Georgia. Based on the diversity of questions, gawkers, and thumbs-ups—love from a tattered Tacoma, an Explorer, and a Cybertruck—it took all of 10 minutes to see that mass-market demand for this thing beyond “blue” America and counterculture hotpots is on the verge of boiling. 

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

The ID.Buzz gets smiles everywhere it goes and hums above the frequency of American EV discord, whether or not it’s electric, which is no small feat this election year. Of course it’s electric, and who cares if it’s electric, all at once. 

If VW was fretting about the timing, it made me wonder if the late arrival helps this thing realize its potential—because the ID.Buzz isn’t an awkward, two-dimensional homage to the past. 

ID.Buzz styling hits highs, won’t harsh your mellow

Unlike a long list of vehicles in recent automotive history—including, let’s be honest, VW’s New Beetle—the Buzz doesn’t push its retro waves so insistently that it harshes your mellow. The Buzz offers just the right amount of retro-fun on the outside, but inside the Buzz is just a great van that takes full advantage of its EV platform. 

The ‘50s and ‘60s air-cooled cues may be there, but from the inside out, from any angle but the front, the Buzz is more a reboot of the Eurovan formula. It’s (almost) a flat-floor box on wheels, with three rows of seating, good for up to seven, and a huge amount of versatility and cargo space. 

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

In U.S. form, the ID.Buzz is offered in a series of seven different two-tone schemes pairing various colors with white, or a Cherry Red-and-gray two-tone, or monochromatic white, gray, or black. And for now and the foreseeable future the ID.Buzz comes to the U.S. only in this three-row form, with an overall length of 195.4 inches, riding on a very long wheelbase of 127.5 inches. Its overall height of 76.2 inches makes it about 10 inches taller overall than VW’s ID.4 crossover, while still offering 6.1 inches of ground clearance that should be just fine for getting down two-tracks on the way to campsites or trailheads. 

VW ID.Buzz impressions: Quick and quiet, precise but heavy

VW decided at some point that it couldn’t launch the ID.Buzz in the U.S. with its original standard-wheelbase form factor—thus adding two long years to its arrival date. So for us, the upgrades include about a 10-inch stretch, a new infotainment interface, software improvements, and a more powerful rear motor—as well as a bigger 91-kwh battery (vs. the 82-kwh pack in those Euro versions). 

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

How does the ID.Buzz drive? In a word: heavy. Yes, you do feel all three tons. It’s also softly sprung, and clearly tuned more for a compliant ride than for handling. But thanks to the low center of gravity and precise steering, it’s never a handful. And if you’ve done plenty of drive time in full-size, truck-based vans and minivans alike, it’s a driving experience that’s clearly in the minivan zone. The ID.Buzz is quite wide, at 78.1 inches without the mirrors, and on the narrow Georgia backroads, with no shoulder, I appreciated its predictable behavior and easy lane placement. 

In parking lots, the same thing goes, within the reality that it’s every bit as long as some three-row SUVs. In single-motor rear-wheel-drive form as the one I drove, the turning circle is an amazing 37.4 feet, although AWD versions will raise that to 42.7 feet. Having real, old-fashioned, through-the-windows outward vision—beyond camera systems and beeping sensors—really helps. 

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

While VW hasn’t outlined any serious changes to suspension tuning in refreshing this model for the U.S., this ID.Buzz didn’t provide as much nosedive under hard braking as we experienced with a drive in the shorter version a couple years ago—perhaps a benefit of the longer body. 

The ID.Buzz gets VW’s own uprated electric drive unit (called AP550 and now used in the 2024 VW ID.4) at the rear wheels, making 282 hp and 413 lb-ft of torque. Those upcoming AWD versions will get the same drive unit at the rear wheels plus an inductive motor at the front wheels, making 99 lb-ft of torque and upping the total output to 335 hp. 

Although one editor who drove the ID.Buzz called it sluggish, I found it to be plenty perky with the single-motor setup. 0-60 mph times will be 6.0 seconds in dual-motor form, according to VW, while rear-wheel-drive versions like the one we drove take it to about 7.5 seconds. Towing capacity for the ID.Buzz is 2,600 pounds for a braked trailer, or 1,650 pounds unbraked. 

Yes, it’s heavy. Even in its leaner rear-wheel-drive form that we test-drove, it officially weighed in at just 32 pounds short of three tons. Add the dual-motor AWD setup and you’re at 6,197 pounds. 

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

ID.Buzz range and efficiency

As in other VW EV products, a twist of the shifter allows access to either the ‘D’ mode, which lets you glide with minimal regeneration, or the ‘B’ mode, which dials up regen somewhat but remains quite mild. Switching the drive mode to Sport makes each of these levels slightly higher, with Sport and ‘B’ a good companion for hilly, twisty roads, but there’s still nothing quite like a one-pedal mode here. But brake pedal feel and blending are exactly what they need to be—predictable and progressive.

VW says that the ID.Buzz gets 2.5 miles per kwh (83 MPGe) combined, with the EPA highway cycle yielding 2.2 mi/kwh (75 MPGe). In a 110-mile loop up into low mountains, including some U.S. freeway speeds, fast-moving backroads, and mid-speed suburban streets, with outside temps around 50 degrees Fahrenheit, I averaged 2.6 mi/kwh according to the trip computer. Then, on an easygoing highway cruise, most of it pretty level at 65-70 mph, I averaged 2.4 mi/kwh.

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

We charged the ID.Buzz, too, with Level 2 charging that flexed its 11-kw onboard charger, and with some DC fast-charging. In an experience that admittedly wouldn’t mimic what most owners would have on a road trip, we plugged a 160-kw CCS connector in at 44% and still saw a peak of 117 kw around 49%, with the state of charge reaching 90% in about a half-hour. VW says that DC fast charging at up to 200 kw enables a 10-80% charge in as little as 26 minutes.

In all, while a 100% charge amounts to as little as 191 miles according to the gauge cluster, we saw better, with our results roughly corresponding to the Buzz’s EPA range rating of 234 miles (or 231 mi. in AWD form). 

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

Trip planning is built into the native navigation system, and it will start preconditioning of the battery pack to access the maximum charge rate automatically with a charging stop along the route, or with a press of the virtual button on the screen. And if you want to bypass it all and go with the mapping app of your choice, you can still pair your phone for Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. I mixed it up between CarPlay and the built-in interface, and both sides worked great. 

Buzz bins of flexibility, space, tech here

The three-row VW ID.Buzz also has a lot of flexibility in door bins and various storage places. The tall console between the front seats can lift completely out of the vehicle, as a sort of mini-cooler if you wish, and the pull-out drawer with cupholders and more storage stows away neatly to keep it feeling airy and spacious. Two levels of door bins and a dash tray give you plenty of space for the smaller pieces of a road trip. 

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

I found the grippy phone shelf just to the right of the steering wheel to be an ideal place for my phone to charge wirelessly without sliding around. And in the effort to kit this model out a bit better for three rows, there are now eight USB-C ports on board. Front seats are heated, cooled, and power-adjusted, providing an inbound armrest plus an upright driving position and the kind of back support I like for longer trips. 

The sliding door powers open and closed in a way you’ll find absolutely familiar if you ever had premium minivans in the household—and, it just barely stays out of the way of charging-in-progress, we found. The biggest choice ID.Buzz buyers might face, other than the color, of course, will be the seating layout—trading out the middle bench in our model for second-row captain’s chairs and a six-passenger capacity (the only way for AWD versions). 

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

Although the far-back cargo area of the Buzz appears a little strange at first look, with baskets underneath a sturdy hinged door, the folded third row, and the folded second row all line up at the same level—save for a gap of a few inches between the second and third row. If you want to sleep in the thing, that’s nothing a good piece of plywood won’t solve. Remove the seats—they’re heavy—and the rearmost section bumps up to again require some sort of level-up, if you plan to sleep, live, or otherwise inhabit this vehicle for something other than just driving.

VW is guessing that the majority of Buzz customers will come from “large SUVs.” It boasts more interior space than the Atlas, in the footprint of a Cross Sport. VW also claims best-in-industry third-row legroom versus. other American-market vehicles. 

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

One thing VW has carried over from the ID.4 and the Euro-spec ID.Buzz is its one-fits-all power window controls, combining the front and rear window operation—for the otherwise very cool rear window-within-a-window in back—into one switch. Here it’s even more potentially overwhelming and confusing. VW, why did you subject us to this?

My only other dynamic gripe follows what’s otherwise a compliment—the absence of engine noise and great isolation of road-surface noise. Just above 65 mph we noticed some whooshing wind noise in the zone between the front pillar and the side mirror, which wound itself almost to a whistle by 80 mph. I should note the version I drove was still officially a pre-production prototype, so window sealing may not have been up to production snuff. 

The ID.Buzz, in U.S. form, achieves a coefficient of drag of 0.29, according to VW, and the top speed is up to 99 mph (from 90 in earlier Euro versions). 

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

ID.Buzz prices: The start of a bad trip?

The pricing and positioning of the Buzz is the only bad trip here. It’s just confounding 

Because of the way it was implemented—pragmatic interior, retro cues on the outside, but not overdone—the biggest puzzle in all of this is how and why VW sees the ID.Buzz as a niche model. 

The Buzz starts at $61,545, including the $1,550 destination fee, with the Pro S, which includes all the active-safety tech, three-zone climate control, a power tailgate and power sliding doors, heated second-row outboard seats, and the quicker, revamped 12.9-inch infotainment system. Pro S Plus versions add the retractable tow hitch, a head-up display, Harmon Kardon premium sound, and in AWD versions only, the captain’s chairs layout and a heated windshield. The top 1st Edition costs $67,045 in single-motor form or $71,545 with AWD and adds the panoramic roof and two-tone look (optional separately), roof cross bars, and floor mats. 

Our test ID.Buzz, a Pro S Plus in Cabana Blue and Candy White on the outside ($995 extra), with a Dune interior and the optional $1,495 electrochromic panoramic roof—huge, at 67.4 inches long and 40.8 inches wide—adds up to $67,535. That glass became a pearlescent gray as the sun shone on it. VW says that and the retractable trailer hitch are firsts for the brand in America. 

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

VW has no plans to build the ID.Buzz in the U.S. anytime soon, so there’s no hope for a $7,500 tax credit (although discount leases are likely via the EV leasing loophole). It didn’t even develop the Buzz through normal passenger-vehicle channels, instead turning to its commercial-vehicles unit to realize this product—which seems like it should have been a Golf-like project at the core of the company’s survival.

In 1965, when Microbus sales started to accelerate and get wrapped into the counterculture, the average cost of a new vehicle was about $2,650, and the admittedly no-frills Microbus lineup topped out around $2,550. According to the federal government’s official consumer price index calculator, VW’s $2,550 then would equate to about $25,400. 

Today, the average price of a new vehicle today stands at around $48,000, and VW’s choice to sell this vehicle at 25% above that clearly underscores that they see it as a premium vehicle, a niche model that may come and go. 

But in this format, the ID.Buzz could command a market of one for years. Remember when minivans made a design statement? The Chevy Astro Van, the Ford Aerostar, the Pontiac Trans Sport and the other “dustbuster” vans from GM, the Toyota Previa: This is just as head-turning, with staying power. 

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

The ID.Buzz really needed to be a just-the-basics $40,000 vehicle, sold much like Scion was selling its vehicles some years back, plus a modular interior and an endless lineup of official VW accessories. It would have sold like crazy—to businesses, to younger active types, even to families seeking to have a vehicle they can change the configuration of over the years—and it would have answered dealerships’ trepidation over the sustainability of the retail model in the EV era. 

As it is, the ID.Buzz is a great product that limits the future of the brand in the U.S. within a ridiculously narrow bandwidth. 

Will priced-out ID.Buzz buyers buy a Kia EV9 or base Rivian R1S instead? Will VW dealers behave with their markups? Let the craziness begin. 

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Chevrolet Silverado EV Vs. Ford F-150 Lightning: Here’s How They Compare
Posted in Reviews

Chevrolet Silverado EV Vs. Ford F-150 Lightning: Here’s How They Compare

Americans looking for a brand-new electric pickup truck don’t have a lot of options to choose from. There’s the adventure-oriented Rivian R1T, the “look at me!” Tesla Cybertruck, the Ford F-150 Lightning, and the Chevrolet Silverado EV. The GMC Sierra EV and outlandish GMC Hummer EV complete the picture.

From the rather short list of available options, the F-150 Lightning and Silverado EV are the most similar to each other–and when compared to a conventional gas-powered truck. They look just like any other pickup on the road–which may be good or bad, depending on what your expectations are–but there are big differences between them.

That’s why our own Tom Moloughney chose to compare his own 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat with a brand-new 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV RST First Edition. You can watch the comparison video embedded below, but here are the main takeaways in written form.

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For starters, the black F-150 Lightning you’ll see in the video already has about 27,000 miles on the clock, with Tom saying it’s probably his favorite EV of all the electric cars he’s owned in the past 14 years. And he’s owned almost a dozen EVs, so he knows a thing or two about them.

With the Silverado EV, General Motors is bringing its A-game. So much so, that owners of F-150 Lightnings might be tempted to switch their rides. Here’s why.

For starters, Chevy’s electric truck has a massive, 205-kilowatt-hour battery pack which results in an impressive driving range of over 400 miles on a full charge. Meanwhile, the F-150 Lightning has a maximum EPA range rating of 320 miles.

Then, there are the charging speeds. On a Level 2 home charger, both EVs are similar in performance, but when DC fast charging is the name of the game, the Silverado EV “wipes the floor” with the F-150 Lightning. GM’s electric pickup can draw up to 350 kilowatts from a compatible stall, while Ford’s electric F-150 can only go up to a theoretical maximum speed of 150 kW (although sometimes it can reach 190 kW but only for a couple of minutes).

The 2024 Silverado EV RST also packs a bigger bed and can be equipped with a folding midgate that increases the storage capacity even further compared to the Lightning. To top it off, it has adjustable air suspension, four-wheel steering and GM’s Super Cruise advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) which can do automatic lane changes.

Meanwhile, Ford’s BlueCruise ADAS doesn’t yet offer automatic lane changes on Tom’s 2022 Lightning, although new 2024 Lightning and Mach-E drivers can use the functionality.

However, it’s not all good news with the Silverado EV. Price-wise, the 2025 Silverado EV is more expensive than the 2024 F-150 Lightning, but all trims offer more range and power than Ford’s truck.

Furthermore, almost all F-150 Lightning trims are eligible for the $7,500 tax credit because they’re cheaper than the $80,000 cap, whereas just one version of the Silverado EV is eligible for the federal tax credit.

*Edit: The Ford F-150 Lightning XLT, Flash and Lariat trims qualify for the Federal Tax credit, and the Silverado EV LT and LT Premium also qualify. Only the Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum, the Silverado RST, and the RST Max do not qualify.

Lightning vs Silverado Price Comparison

Lightning vs Silverado Price Comparison

InsideEVs

According to Tom, the noise insulation is “exceptional” in the Lightning and better than the Silverado EV. The electric F-150 Lightning is also more comfortable, and provides a softer ride, whereas the Chevy’s suspension is stiffer and a bit sportier.

Depending on the trim level, both the F-150 Lightning and the Silverado EV can tow up to 10,000 pounds. However, Ford’s truck has the edge when it comes to payload, with a capacity of up to 2,000 lbs, whereas the 2024 Silverado EV tops out at 1,750 lbs. But, Chevy’s truck is capable of towing further, thanks to its bigger battery pack,

So which is better? As always, it depends on what you need. One is cheaper and has a smaller bed and shorter driving range, while the other has more goodies, more range and a higher price tag. Our man Tom Moloughney said it would be hard for him to decide which he would buy if he didn’t already own an F-150 Lightning–that’s how close the two electric pickups are. But what do you think? Let us know in the comments below.

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Ford tells some EV owners to stop using Tesla Supercharger NACS adapter
Posted in General

Ford tells some EV owners to stop using Tesla Supercharger NACS adapter

Ford is telling some electric vehicle customers to stop using the North American Charging Standard (NACS) adapters it provided for charging at Tesla Supercharger stations.

Ford led the industry last year in announcing a shift to the Tesla charge port, and in February it announced that it would ship free adapters to customers in late March. But last week the automaker issued a bulletin warning some customers not to use the adapters due to a “potential issue” that could result in reduced charging speeds, or potentially even damage to a vehicle’s charge port.

Ford Mustang Mach-E at Tesla Supercharger station

Ford Mustang Mach-E at Tesla Supercharger station

The issue applies to a specific batch of NACS adapters, which will be replaced free of charge in what Ford is classifying as a customer service action rather than a full recall, reports InsideEVs.

“Ford identified a potential issue with a batch of adapters sent earlier in the year where over time, continued usage may result in reduced charging speeds,” the automaker said in a statement to InsideEVs. “Ford does not recommend using the identified adapter.”

2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Flash

2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Flash

The automaker plans to begin shipping replacement adapters the week of Oct. 28, so that customers have time to check their shipping addresses. Retail customers should check the listed address in their FordPass accounts and update, if necessary, by Oct. 24. If the address is correct, no action is required. Fleet customers will be notified and asked to confirm their address directly by their National Account Manager.

As of Friday, InsideEVs reported that General Motors and Rivian have not experienced such issues with their Tesla NACS adapters, with Rivian confirming via a spokesperson that “drivers may continue to use their NACS adapters normally at this time.” While most other EV brands are shifting to the NACS port, only Ford, GM, and Rivian have shipped adapters so far.

Mercedes-Benz opens battery recycling plant in Germany
Posted in General

Mercedes-Benz opens battery recycling plant in Germany

As automakers continue to ramp up EV production, they’re already thinking about what to do with battery cells once vehicles reach the end of their useful lives. To that end, Mercedes-Benz opened a battery recycling center in Germany.

Located in Kuppenheim, in the southern part of the country, Mercedes claimed in a press release that the facility will be able to recover up to 96% of valuable materials such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt for reuse in new batteries through an “integrated mechanical-hydrometallurgical” process.

Mercedes-Benz battery recycling plant in Kuppenheim, Germany

Mercedes-Benz battery recycling plant in Kuppenheim, Germany

Being deployed for the first time in Europe, according to Mercedes, this process starts with the mechanical separation of plastics, copper, aluminum, and iron from the battery-electrode materials, leaving what Mercedes refers to as a “black mass.” Cobalt, lithium, and nickel are separated from that mass in a chemical process.

This separation process takes place at a lower temperature—around 176 degrees Fahrenheit—than other processes, making it less energy-intensive, according to Mercedes. The automaker claims the recycling plant will be net carbon neutral thanks to the use of 100% green electricity, including a rooftop solar array.

Mercedes-Benz battery recycling plant in Kuppenheim, Germany

Mercedes-Benz battery recycling plant in Kuppenheim, Germany

At full capacity, Mercedes estimates that the plant will be able to process up to 2,755 tons of material annually, which will help support production of more than 50,000 battery modules for new Mercedes EVs.

The new plant could create a bigger footprint for battery recycling in Europe to match China, which Bloomberg in 2023 estimated had the most battery recycling capacity, and the U.S., where the Biden administration has made recycling a priority alongside battery manufacturing. But the recycling market is not expected to heat up right away due to the relatively limited supply of recyclable batteries, owing in part to their long lifetime in the EVs they were originally installed in.

2025 Ford Mustang Mach-E adds standard heat pump, costs $38,490
Posted in General

2025 Ford Mustang Mach-E adds standard heat pump, costs $38,490

  • Ford gave the 2025 Mustang Mach-E a heat pump
  • 2025 Mustang Mach-Es get Ford’s BlueCruise version 1.5
  • The 2025 Ford Mustang Mach-E costs $38,490

The Ford Mustang Mach-E received a host of updates for 2024, including faster charging, more range on some trims, and polished performance credentials in the form of a new Rally variant and an optional performance upgrade for the Mach-E GT. But the 2025 model still gets a few updates as well.

Among those updates is a standard heat pump that, as previously shown in other EVs, generally means improved efficiency in cold weather, on longer trips. That helps address cold-weather range loss in EVs, an area where the Mach-E may have room for improvement. It had fairly high cold-weather range loss compared to other EV models in a 2023 study by battery-firm Recurrent.

The available BlueCruise 1.5 hands-free highway driving system (2024 models had version 1.3) adds automated lane changes, initiated when the vehicle ahead is moving slower than the system’s set speed, or when a car is following too closely in the passing lane. BlueCruise itself comes with one year of free access on GT and Rally models (it’s a $495 option on Select and Premium models) if the system is activated at vehicle purchase (otherwise, customers get a 90-day trial). When ordering, customers can purchase BlueCruise via a one-time fee, or set up a subscription plan.

A new Ford Connectivity Package includes connected navigation that enables an EV trip planner features, 5G wifi, and entertainment apps like YouTube (which only works while parked) and Alexa. The latter ports over one of the headline features of the Ford Digital Experience infotainment system rolling out in other models—but so far not the Mach-E.

Also new for 2025 is a Sport Appearance Package that applies some of the visual accoutrements of the Mach-E GT to lower-priced models. It includes the GT’s front fascia, grille, and red Brembo-branded front brake calipers, as well as black 19-inch wheels. Inside, the package adds red accent stitching and sport pedals, while all Mach-E models switch to a column-mounted shifter, replacing the previous rotary dial.

Range is likely to remain at a maximum 320 miles with rear-wheel drive and the 91-kwh (usable) Extended Range battery pack, or up to 250 miles with the 72-kwh Standard Range pack. All-wheel drive is also available with both packs, with range likely staying at 300 miles with the Extended Range pack and 230 miles with the Standard Range pack.

Mach-E GT models turn output from the dual-motor powertrain up to 480 hp and 600 lb-ft of torque. The optional GT Performance Upgrade increases torque to 700 lb-ft and allowing the Mach-E to gallop from 0-60 mph in a Ford-estimated 3.3 seconds and through the quarter mile in 11.8 seconds. The Mach-E Rally combines the GT powertrain with rally-ready tires, suspension, and software tuning.

Pricing starts at $38,490 (all prices include a mandatory $1,995 destination charge) for a Select base model with rear-wheel drive and the Standard Range Pack, and $41,990 for the Premium grade. All-wheel drive adds $3,000 to the MSRP for both grades, while the Extended Range pack costs $3,750 on Premium models. It’s $5,250 on the Select, and can only be ordered with all-wheel drive. GT and Rally models, which are only available with the larger battery pack, cost $54,490 and $57,990, respectively.

UPDATED to clarify that BlueCruise is initially available to customers for one year if activated at the time of vehicle purchase, before any subscription plans or other fees come into effect.

Ferrari secures one-two finish at 2024 F1 US Grand Prix
Posted in Reviews Speed

Ferrari secures one-two finish at 2024 F1 US Grand Prix

Ferrari at the 2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix - Photo via FerrariFerrari celebrated a one-two finish on Sunday at the 2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, which was held at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas. While it was Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen who took home the win during Saturday’s standalone Sprint race, the reigning champion couldn’t repeat that performance during Sunday’s main event. Instead it…

Posted in Design

Column: A deep dive into how AI is changing the auto industry

We’ve all learned a lot about generative artificial intelligence, its predecessors and machine learning in the last year and a half. It continues to pervade the automotive industry.

2025 Toyota Land Cruiser slims the lineup
Posted in Reviews Speed

2025 Toyota Land Cruiser slims the lineup

2025 Toyota Land CruiserFollowing its reintroduction to the U.S. for the 2024 model year, the 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser arrives at dealerships in late October essentially unchanged. Last year’s top-spec First Edition has run its course, leaving only the base Land Cruiser 1958 grade and an unnamed grade above it, priced at $57,900 and $63,900, respectively. Both prices…

Valtteri Bottas drops a track recorded on the track
Posted in Reviews Speed

Valtteri Bottas drops a track recorded on the track

Valtteri Bottas records music using biometric dataValtteri Bottas recently released his debut single, but the Finnish Formula 1 driver didn’t provide vocals or play an instrument. Currently streaming on Spotify, the track—titled “Flight of the Valtteri”—was made using biometric data from Bottas as he drove around California’s Thunderhill Raceway in an Audi R8. It was a marketing stunt…