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USA Today
29-04-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
2026 Detroit Auto Show will kick off with iconic Route 66 cross-country drive
2026 Detroit Auto Show will kick off with iconic Route 66 cross-country drive Show Caption Hide Caption New York International Auto Show celebrates its 125th anniversary The New York International Auto Show is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. "The New York Auto Show really got things started for the auto industry back in 1900 at the old Madison Square Garden," said Show president Mark Schienberg. Up to nine vintage cars, primarily from the Big 3 automakers, will make the journey from Santa Monica to Chicago, then Detroit. The drive aims to honor Detroit's automotive heritage and its role in connecting America. A cross-country drive along Route 66, stretching from California to Illinois, will kick off the 2026 Detroit Auto Show. The event will involve car enthusiasts, historians and everyday people who want to experience 'The Drive Home' 100th anniversary celebration of the famous highway that American families have traveled for generations. Organizers are planning to leave Santa Monica on Jan. 3 , arriving in downtown Chicago on Jan. 11. From there, the group will drive over to the Motor City to open the 10-day auto show at Huntington Place in downtown Detroit. The event, coordinated by America's Automotive Trust based in Tacoma, Washington, and the National Route 66 Centennial Commission, is designed to celebrate Detroit and its role in connecting all parts of America. Up to nine vintage cars will make the drive. Afterward, they will be displayed at the Detroit Auto Show, which is scheduled for Jan. 14-25. 'We're going to focus on 1960s cars and vehicles that can make the long, tough journey in the winter so we don't have to worry about potential breakdowns,' David Madeira, CEO of America's Automotive Trust, told me. 'We're going to emphasize the Big Three. There will be Ford, Chevy and Chrysler.' Madeira, a Rhode Island native who developed strong ties with Detroiters two decades ago — including General Motors executive Bob Lutz and longtime Detroit Auto Show leader Rod Alberts — when he first reached out to create America's Car Museum in Tacoma, said spotlighting the city is a personal mission. 'It looks like we're going to include a '65 Ford Country Squire Station Wagon,' Madeira said. 'I want to remind people that this is the great family vacation. My dad had one and we drove around America and followed Route 66 in 1964, when I was 14.' Madeira approached Sam Klemet, who just took over as executive director of the Detroit Auto Show, with the idea. 'He got it instantly,' Madeira said. 'We're trying to preserve and honor the past and celebrate the present, to get people out driving their cars and enjoying life. We want to call attention to the importance of Detroit still.' In case you missed it: Why these three cars stole the attention at the 2025 New York International Auto Show There's no better way to spotlight Detroit's car culture than getting people behind the wheel with stops in towns all across America for two weeks, Klemet said. 'It's only fitting that 'The Drive Home' ends here, the auto capital of the world, where the automotive industry continues to push the boundaries of innovation.' In the past, Route 66 trips have begun in Tacoma, Boston, Orlando and Houston. But this big one will be spotlighting everything from passion to restoration. Folks usually join for parts of the journey, as events are promoted in advance. Details will be posted on America's Automotive Trust website, which is not yet active. Some people will fly out West for the kickoff, including Klemet, and others will make the whole journey. 'People think the Santa Monica Pier is the end point but it's really Mel's Diner' about a half-mile inland, Madeira said. 'In our very first year, we had a guy drive the whole way with us. But a lot of people will drive for an hour or a day. Anybody can come on the caravan. You get to hang out at all the stops and have fun.' While Route 66 will forever have a presence in pop culture, the highway was actually decommissioned in 1985, noted Matt Anderson, transportation curator at The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn. 'Still, it lingers in the popular imagination,' Anderson said, because of books and movies and songs and TV shows. 'It's a way to go back in time. Back in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, these were routes to get places. Now the highway is a destination in and of itself.' Nat King Cole recorded '(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66' in 1946, after John Steinbeck won the Pulitzer Prize for his 1939 novel 'The Grapes of Wrath.' In the film based on the book, Henry Fonda played the patriarch of the Joad family, traveling from Oklahoma seeking a better life after their farm was seized by the bank. The TV show 'Route 66' (1960-64) spotlighted the adventures of two men in a Chevrolet Corvette convertible. 'Detroit was never on Route 66, because it ended in Chicago,' Anderson said. 'But the Route 66 celebration does speak to Detroit's role in popular culture and automotive culture. The connections between Detroit and Chicago are long-standing.' He added, 'It speaks to Route 66's role as 'America's Main Street' that Tacoma and Detroit are a part of this centennial celebration — even though neither was on the actual highway!' Sergio Rodriguez, 44, a U.S. Army veteran in Chesapeake, Virginia, who works as a military contractor, loves the idea of taking part in the cross-country celebration next year. If he can get the time off work, he's going. Rodriguez drove Route 66 from St. Louis to Barstow, California, in 2015 after finishing a project at Fort Leonard Wood. And again in 2024. 'I took seven days cruising Route 66. I would totally do that drive again,' he told me. 'The vibe is all about history. You get to see some pretty old buildings and scenes. It's pretty cool knowing that Route 66 is the road of all roads in the USA. It's where it all began.' During the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s, Route 66 was the primary route for migrants heading west. Travel continued during World War II because California offered opportunities, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation historical page. Because of the efforts of the U.S. Highway 66 Association, Route 66 was the first highway to be completely paved in 1938. It became a safe route for moving military equipment, too. By the 1950s and 1960s, Route 66 became a major tourist destination. Small shops and restaurants popped up all along the road catering to adventurers. Steinbeck referred to Route 66 as 'the mother road.' Historic features along the route were restored after President Bill Clinton signed the National Route 66 Preservation Bill in 1999 that provided for $10 million in matching fund grants. In 2008, the World Monuments Fund listed Route 66 on its Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites. 'It spans the heart of America, symbolizing mobility, freedom and pursuit of the American Dream,' according to the National Park Service website. 'Route 66 is of national significance as a symbol of our transportation history and the impact of the automobile.' Phoebe Wall Howard, who was a Free Press auto reporter for nearly seven years, writes a column on car culture, consumer trends and life that appear periodically on and in print. Her Shifting Gears column appears on Substack at Contact her at phoebe@
USA Today
25-04-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
2026 Kia EV4 first look: Affordable style redefines compact EVs at the NY Auto Show
2026 Kia EV4 first look: Affordable style redefines compact EVs at the NY Auto Show Show Caption Hide Caption New York International Auto Show celebrates its 125th anniversary The New York International Auto Show is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. "The New York Auto Show really got things started for the auto industry back in 1900 at the old Madison Square Garden," said Show president Mark Schienberg. The regulatory climate surrounding EVs might be in flux, but Kia is pressing forward with an aggressive expansion of its electric vehicle offerings regardless. And why not? Kia doesn't seem to need government help building appealing EVs such as the big new EV9 three-row SUV, sporty EV6 crossover or forthcoming EV5 compact SUV. Next to be flushed down the product pipeline — er, zapped across the wire? The super affordable (and small) EV3 SUV, though it might not make it stateside, and these, the all-new 2026 EV4 sedan and hatchback models. The EV4 made its official debut at what Kia is calling its "2025 EV Day," an EV-focused event in Spain, with the U.S.-spec version landing at the 2025 New York auto show. And while we were also shown the EV4 hatchback, we'll pop your balloon up front: Only the sedan is coming here in early 2026 . The bigger news, however, is the expected price: Kia suggests the EV4 sedan will cost about $37,000 bucks when it lands stateside — and it made no carve-out for the $7,500 EV tax credit in that price, which we're taking to mean $37,000 will be the MSRP. Any government incentives would just be gravy on top, if they're still around in a year, of course... Trust us, it's mostly conventional In case you're staggered by the EV4's wild, concept-car looks, allow us to ground you somewhat with its (actual) size. The EV4 is a compact car, though it's notably smaller than the Ioniq 6 electric sedan built by Kia's corporate cousin, Hyundai, measuring a few inches shorter in length, about an inch narrower, and half an inch shorter in height, with a significant 5.1-inches-shorter wheelbase. This does not mean the EV4 is "small," though — it simply places it in line with conventional compact cars you're familiar with, namely the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, as well as Kia's own gas-fed K4. 2025 New York Auto Show: Highlights of every new car and SUV reveal Another differentiator? The EV4 is front-wheel drive, with a single front-mounted motor spinning out 150 kW of power (that's 201 hp); the Ioniq 6 is offered in both single- and dual-motor (all-wheel drive) configurations, but the two-wheel-drive version has its more powerful (225 hp) motor mounted arrears, driving the rear wheels. Other than their arrangement beneath the EV4's bodywork, the primary electric components — drive motor, battery, etc. — are shared with other E-GMP platform cars, including the Ioniq 6, Kia's own EV6 and EV9 and others. In America, the EV4 will come in three trim levels to start: EV4 Light, EV4 Wind and EV4 GT-Line. The Light model comes with the smaller of the EV4's two battery options, a 58.3-kWh unit good for a claimed 235 miles of range. The larger 81.4-kWh unit comes with the EV4 Wind and EV4 GT-Line models. Range estimates for the GT-Line (which also rides on larger 19-inch wheels than the Light or Wind, both of which use more modest 17-inchers) are TBD, for now, but Kia says the Wind, with its large battery and normal-sized wheels, should deliver 330 miles of range, best of the EV4 bunch. With either battery, the EV4 utilizes a 400-volt setup, a step down from the Ioniq 6's 800-volt architecture; this impacts charging times, if only slightly. The EV4 Light can be DC fast-charged from 10 to 80 percent in 29 minutes, while the big-battery Wind and GT-Line need 31 minutes. Equivalent Ioniq 6s can do the same deed in as little as 18 minutes. Interestingly, the EV4 Light's battery pack is smaller than the equivalent Ioniq 6's, while its bigger pack is larger, though the Ioniq 6 still beats the EV4 either way — small-battery 6s are good for 240 miles on the low end while big-battery models net 361 on the high end. But that stuff's boring — look at it! When the EV4 goes on sale next year, unless another automaker debuts a wilder-looking compact car, the EV4 will be the show-stealer in its segment. It even makes the Hyundai Ioniq 6, itself a vaguely Porsche-esque design with lots of crazy aerodynamic add-ons and wings — recently jazzed up for 2026, too — look normal. A Tesla Model 3 will fast become automotive wallpaper. After first seeing the EV4 in photos, we thought it seemed interesting, if a little awkwardly detailed. In person, the EV4 tries stealing the glances of everyone nearby with its angularity, snub-nose posture, and wide-set vertical LED lighting. We bet Cadillac designers are eating their hearts out right now — that's how successful the EV4's tall headlights are. Approach the EV4 from the front, and those LED slashes placed way out at the corners and the stubby, plunging hood make the car seem very wide. Walk around to the sides, and the Kia seems to stretch on and on — a clever visual trick of the tapered rear end, since, again, the EV4 is about the same size as a Civic. There is still a lot going on in the details, with intersecting cut lines, odd mixes of body-color and black-painted elements — especially around the roof — but the effect is more successful here than on Kia's conventionally powered K4 sedan, which is essentially this EV's gas-fed analogue. 2025 New York Auto Show: Hyundai's bold 2026 Palisade SUV debuts in New York City While some might lament the hatchback's exclusion from the U.S. market (for now), we think the sedan wears this styling better. The hatch is over eight inches shorter than the sedan, with all of that chopped from behind its rear wheels. As such, it suffers a severe case of pancake butt, and its T-shaped taillights seem ripped off the newest Chevy SUVs. And the sedan's long booty affords it a roomy boot, er, trunk — while the hatch's stunted length leaves its cargo hold relatively shallow front-to-back, though of course there is more vertical space than in the sedan. Eyeballing the two cargo areas, they seem about the same in size, just with the sedan's laid down and the hatch's standing upright. The hatchback also loses the EV4 sedan's more interesting double-bubble roof spoiler — yes, the four-door has winglets over the rear glass! — and width-emphasizing vertical taillights. Kia also claims the sedan wears the more slippery shape, slick enough for a super low 0.23 drag coefficient. Clever parts sharing While in Spain to meet the EV4, Kia let us loose on local roads in the new EV3 — which we previously drove in Korea — giving us a great opportunity to preview the EV4's cabin, as the two models share a lot. The centerpiece is a pair of 12.3-inch digital displays sandwiching a vertical 5-inch screen for climate controls, combined into one unit and perched atop the dashboard. It's the same as the gear installed in the EV3 (and a host of other recent Kia products), and it both looks great and works well (aside from the smaller HVAC screen's visual blockage by the steering wheel rim). But peer closely at the photos of the EV4's cabin here, then check out the EV3's — and you'll notice a lot of the same bits, just arranged on a slightly different canvas of door panels and dashboard components. Perhaps because all of these pieces look and operate so well, you won't notice or care that they also appear in other Kias. In fact, you'll appreciate the economies of scale they bring to the EV4's price tag, which Kia is claiming will be around $37,000 to start when it goes on sale here in America. With no mention of asterisks like "with the $7,500 EV tax credit included," we're taking that to mean the actual MSRP will be $37,000 and up. That's mega affordable for an EV in this class, with this much style. Hyundai's Ioniq 6 costs a little more, as does Tesla's Model 3 (though it qualifies for the tax credit, for now). We're genuinely excited to drive this EV4, and to see whether Kia eventually adds a second motor to the mix. Hey, it showed off the car in regular and sportier-looking GT-Line trim, though for now that GT-Line gets no extra performance, and we'd love to see the EV6 GT's 576-hp dual-motor arrangement in this smaller, lighter and even wilder-looking EV4. Photos by MotorTrend
USA Today
22-04-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
Volkswagen announces plans for hybrid Tiguan and Atlas at 2025 New York Auto Show
Volkswagen announces plans for hybrid Tiguan and Atlas at 2025 New York Auto Show Show Caption Hide Caption New York International Auto Show celebrates its 125th anniversary The New York International Auto Show is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. "The New York Auto Show really got things started for the auto industry back in 1900 at the old Madison Square Garden," said Show president Mark Schienberg. It will take a couple of years, but Volkswagen has plans to get some hybrids into the hands of North American customers. It isn't that the German automaker doesn't have them — it has regular and plug-in hybrids for sale in Europe. But the company, like many others, miscalculated the speed with which American customers would adopt electric vehicles, betting they would go all-in on full battery electric cars, trucks and SUVs with greater speed. But the forecasts were too ambitious, and the market is more interested in hybrids than pure EVs right now, catching VW flat-footed. 2025 New York International Auto Show: Why these three cars could steal the show The biggest miss: When the all-new 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan goes on sale this summer, this third generation of VW's bestselling vehicle will not offer a hybrid. A decision has been made The decision has been made to feature two vehicles with hybrid powertrains, Volkswagen of America CEO Kjell Gruner told a small group of media at the 2025 New York Auto Show. A hybrid is coming for the U.S. Tiguan to right the aforementioned wrong, but it is still a couple years off. To help bridge the gap, VW used the New York auto show to unveil a performance version of that small SUV that will be added for the 2026 model year. 2025 New York Auto Show: Highlights of every new car and SUV reveal The Tiguan hybrid will be joined by a hybrid version of the Volkswagen Atlas in roughly the same time frame. The next-generation Atlas is due in 2027, and we will get our first look at the updated three-row SUV next year. However, the hybrid is not expected to be ready at launch, Gruner said. Not plug-in hybrids This means VW will have added electric motors to its top-selling models by volume in North America. But they will be conventional hybrids which that don't require customers to change their behavior, not plug-in hybrids, Gruner says. This also saves on weight and cost. The automaker also wants to see how the regulatory environment unfolds over the next 24 months or so — the existence or absence of credits for low-emission vehicles is a factor. Volkswagen wants to make the hybrids — and source batteries — in North America even though it would be faster to import them from Europe where they are already offered. Gruner said there could be a mild hybrid for the VW Jetta in the future, as well. Volkswagen offered a Jetta hybrid in the past, discontinuing it after the 2016 model year. Photos by MotorTrend
USA Today
20-04-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
2025 New York Auto Show: Highlights of every new car and SUV reveal
2025 New York Auto Show: Highlights of every new car and SUV reveal Show Caption Hide Caption New York International Auto Show celebrates its 125th anniversary The New York International Auto Show is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. "The New York Auto Show really got things started for the auto industry back in 1900 at the old Madison Square Garden," said Show president Mark Schienberg. Everyone had auto shows pegged for dead as media events, but the 2025 New York Auto Show proved an exception to that groupthink. The auto show was not some hollowed-out, sad shell of its former self — as the once-great shows in Detroit and other places have become as the pandemic pushed more automakers to choose competition-free reveals on their own timetables — but rather strikingly normal. At least, normal by pre-2020 standards. There were numerous major new-car debuts, with several automakers picking the venue to show off their latest wares. Here's a roundup of the New York Auto Show debuts you can't miss: Genesis X Gran Equator concept We've been uniformly impressed by Genesis' impressive SUVs, but when we think about off-roading, the luxury division of Hyundai Motor Company is not exactly the first brand that springs to mind. Genesis, it seems, wants to change that perception with the X Gran Equator concept. It shows a new design direction and signals the brand's intention to boldly go where other luxury SUV makers such as Range Rover and Mercedes-Benz have been going for decades before. Read the full story here. 2026 Hyundai Palisade Imagine your favorite whatever in a colorful new box that screams 'Now With X Percent More!' While we couldn't get an exact percentage out of Hyundai, that sums up the new 2026 Palisade SUV, revealed at the 2025 New York Auto Show: More space, more efficiency, more off-road ability, more luxury. It's inflation, but for once it's on the side of the consumer. Read the full story here. 2026 Ford Ranger Super Duty: A first look at the pickup built for Australia, not America 2026 Kia EV4 The regulatory climate surrounding EVs might be in flux, but Kia is pressing forward with an aggressive expansion of its electric vehicle offerings regardless. And why not? Kia doesn't seem to need government help building appealing EVs such as the big new EV9 three-row SUV, sporty EV6 crossover or forthcoming EV5 compact SUV. Next to be flushed down the product pipeline — er, zapped across the wire? The super affordable (and small) EV3 SUV, though it might not make it stateside, and these, the all-new 2026 EV4 sedan. Read the full story here. 2026 Kia EV9 Nightfall Edition The EV9 three-row electric SUV is already quite the looker, but the new 2026 Kia EV9 Nightfall Edition adds some black-painted detailing that helps make it pop even more. Plus, there's a new exterior color to choose from to set that poppin' off that much more. Read the full story here. 2026 Kia K4 Hatchback When Kia debuted the K4 sedan at last year's 2024 New York Auto Show, it teased us with some tantalizing photos of a hatchback variant. This is special because, as some might have noticed, small hatchbacks are a disappearing vehicle segment; with Ford, Chevrolet, Hyundai out of the game, only Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Mini and Volkswagen still compete in it. One year after the K4 sedan's arrival, however, here is Kia's new K4 hatchback, appearing in real-live sheetmetal at the 2025 New York show before it arrives in Kia dealerships towards the end of the year. Read the full story here. The cheapest Toyota EV: This Toyota just went on sale for under $20,000, but good luck getting it 2025 Jeep Wagoneer Overland Special Edition Overlanding is a word that brings about images of camping and living in the wilderness, far away from anything close to civilization. While most Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators can easily tackle those types of terrain, and their owners are likely familiar with a little car camping off-grid, the same might not be true of many full-size SUVs and their owners. Now with a full-size SUV in its lineup, Jeep's maybe hoping to change that paradigm somewhat, and is introducing a new Overland special edition package for the Wagoneer SUV. It's a purpose-built trim that will take owners further off-road than a regular Wagoneer, or at least do so more capably. Read the full story here. 2026 Subaru Outback The 2026 Subaru Outback will be both familiar and foreign to the model's legions of faithful fans. Bigger and boxier than ever, the new seventh-generation Outback aims to further blur the line between its station wagon roots and the SUVs modern customers desire. While debates may rage as to whether Subaru's newest model is a 'real' Outback, it nevertheless aims to blend the capability and functionality the Outback has become known for with modern technology and styling to broaden its flagship appeal. Read the full story here. 2026 Subaru Solterra After stumbling out of the gate with its first EV primarily due to lackluster range and charging performance, Subaru aimed to refine and improve its electric SUV for its midcycle refresh. Like its Toyota cousin, the bZ4X, the 2026 Subaru Solterra benefits from the company's teething issues, now offering more range, more power and quicker charging in a sleeker, more attractive package. Read the full story here. 2026 Subaru Trailseeker While some automakers are scaling back their EV footprints — or at least their future plans for electric vehicles — Subaru is heading in the opposite direction, doubling its all-electric offerings with the introduction of the 2026 Trailseeker. The brand's second EV promises more than just extra cargo room over the existing Solterra, its first EV, improving on that SUV with a faster charge rate and quicker acceleration. In other words, it's a better EV than Subaru's first effort, though just like the Solterra, the Trailseeker is a collaboration with Toyota. Look closely, and you'll see it shares a lot with the equally new Toyota C-HR+. Read the full story here. 2026 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL R-Line Turbo Time to do a burnout in your new Volkswagen Tiguan? The automaker is leveraging the 2025 New York auto show to introduce a new variant of the upcoming new-generation Tiguan two-row compact crossover, a new range-topping SEL R-Line Turbo trim level that will join the lineup late, for the 2026 model year — the new Tiguan lands soon as a 2025 model-year introduction — as the fastest Tiguan for the U.S. to date. Read the full story here. Photos by MotorTrend
The Independent
18-03-2025
- Automotive
- The Independent
Electric cars lead World Car Awards nominations
SPONSORED BY NEXT The Independent's Electric Vehicles Channel is sponsored by Next. Electric cars look set to dominate the World Car Awards again in 2025 with two of the three cars nominated for the overall World Car of the Year Award all-electric and the third available with petrol, diesel, plug-in hybrid or all-electric power. Five of the past six overall World Car of the Year Award winners have been full EVs, with Korean brands dominating for the past three years. Kia 's EV9 won the title last year, with Hyundai 's Ioniq 6 and Ioniq 5 winning in 2023 and 2022. Volkswagen's ID. 4 was the overall winner in 2021 with the Jaguar I-Pace winning in 2019. Kia's all-electric EV3 makes the shortlist, while another Korean-made EV, the Hyundai Inster, is also on the list. BMW's X3 makes up the three-car shortlist. The Kia and Hyundai are also up for the World Electric Vehicle Award along with the Porsche Macan, while the EV3 is also a contender for World Car Design of the Year along with the new Toyota Land Cruiser and all-electric Volkswagen ID. Buzz. The Inster is also a contender for the World Urban Car Award, alongside the MINI Cooper Electric and the BYD Seagull/Dolphin Mini – the first time BYD has been nominated for a World Car award. This comes in the year that BYD executive Stella Li has already been named World Car Person of the Year Contenders for the World Luxury Car Award include electric models with the Volvo EX90 and new Porsche Macan getting the nod, alongside another Porsche, the Panamera, which is available with plug-in hybrid power. All-electric and plug-in hybrid power also gets a look in with the World Performance Car, with the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT, Porsche 911 Carrera GTS and the BMW M5 all nominated. The 2025 World Car Awards winners will be revealed at the New York International Auto Show on Wednesday 16 April, marking the 20 th year of the announcement at the New York Show which itself celebrates a big anniversary. Commenting on the upcoming announcement, Mark Schienberg, president of NYIAS said, 'As the New York Auto Show marks an incredible 125 years, we're thrilled to kick off the celebration with one of the industry's most prestigious honours – the World Car Awards! Winning this award, judged by 96 of the world's top automotive journalists, is a true triumph and the perfect way to launch North America's first and most-attended auto show. A huge congratulations to the World Car team for over two decades of excellence, and best of luck to this year's outstanding finalists!'
