Latest news with #ToyotaTacomaHybrid
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
The Toyota Corolla May Be Closest Thing To A Tariff-Proof Car
Wall Street, automotive boardrooms and dealership lots across the country are bracing for President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on car imports. Industry experts expect the tariffs, set to go into effect on April 2, will make every car more expensive regardless of where it was built or whether it's new or used. However, the humble Toyota Corolla may be the affordable car model best suited to withstand a turbulent economic future There are only 16 vehicle models sold in the United States with an average sticker price under $30,000, according to Reuters. Of those cars, the Toyota Corolla sedan is the only one assembled within the country's borders. Corollas have rolled off the assembly line at Toyota's plant in Blue Springs, Mississippi since the facility opened in 2011. The Japanese automaker stated on Monday that it has no intention of raising its prices when the tariffs come into effect. However, words are one thing and actions are another. Read more: 2024 Toyota Tacoma Hybrid Blows Away Every Truck In Its Segment The Corolla and other U.S.-built cars aren't manufactured and sold in a vacuum. While Toyota promises not to raise prices, other automakers aren't doing the same. Current estimates from Cox Automotive have a $3,000 price increase on domestically produced cars alongside a $6,000 price hike on foreign-built vehicles. This forecast also sees customers who typically gravitate towards new affordable cars looking to the used car market instead, increasing demand and raising used car prices. To add even more uncertainty, the pending tariffs will also apply to car parts imported into the country. The trade tax would apply to defined key components, including "engines, transmissions, powertrain parts, and electrical components." This would muddy the waters for domestic and foreign automakers. It's a rarity that any model is wholly constructed in a single country, and the process of shifting an entire supply chain would be a lengthy, expensive process. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ladies, Start Your Brooms: The Crescent County Playable Demo Is Here
What do you get when you cross Kiki's Delivery Service, Ride 4, and Stardew Valley? You get a cute, fun, and rad little game called Crescent County. The brainchild of illustrator, game designer, and all-around creative powerhouse Anna Hollinrake, the game is the debut project from Electric Saint, the studio Hollinrake founded with their creative partner Pavle Mihajlovic. It tells the story of a messy young witch named Lu who tries to start a new life on a witch-tech island called Crescent County. Once on the Island, it seems that Lu gets caught up with a group of like-minded young witches who spend their days working and their evenings flirting and racing motorbrooms — magical witch brooms fitted with motorcycle parts. A press release found on Electric Saint's website has this to say about the game's premise: "Crash headfirst into this witch-tech open world, drifting and driving on the back of your new motorbroom. Make deliveries, trick out your broom, and race your new friends (and crushes) as the sun sets. Decorate your flat, sort your life out, and discover what it means to find home." Okay, yeah. I'm in like Flynn. Sign me up. Read more: 2024 Toyota Tacoma Hybrid Blows Away Every Truck In Its Segment So, I spent about an hour with the demo and it's pretty great. You start off on a hill with your broom, and a short tutorial leads you through the basic controls. Then you're off to the races. As you ride along you notice different kinds of terrain — dirt/grass, gravel roads, paved roads, etc. — affect how fast your motorbroom moves and how it handles. Eventually you meet up with a couple of friends and the game takes you through some racing, how to use both your map and your phone (complete with witchy apps!), and how to modify your broom. That part of the tutorial ends with a shared pizza on a hillside and a job offer for Lu. The next day, the second part of the tutorial, teaches you how to take on jobs and plan routes. You do three different jobs and get to explore the island a bit while you do so. While you make your deliveries, you learn more about the island, various technologies, and things like gliding and boosting. Once you do your deliveries, you have enough money to buy an upgrade for your motorbroom. Motorbrooms have four stats — Top Speed, Hover, Off-Road Speed, and Handling — and the various mods you can buy from your new friend's garage affect those stats differently. For example, in my playthrough, I went with the LeyTech Offgrid mod which improves both Handling and Off-Road Speed (and looks like a motocross bike's saddle). From what little I saw of it, the game's upgrade system looks like a fun, lightweight version of Ride 4's (or Tourist Trophy's for you older bike nerds) upgrade and customization system. Even in its incomplete state, Crescent County kinda rules. The backgrounds are gorgeous, the character design is charming, and the brooms handle well even in their base, unmodified state. The music is great, too, all dreamy electronica and woman-fronted indie rock. There's even an option to play your own Spotify playlists through the game instead of the built-in score. That's just thoughtful game design right there. From the press release: "I've had Crescent County, and this world, living in my head since 2017. I need to make it. If I don't make it I will start peeling off wallpaper with my teeth." Hollinrake said in the Crescent County presser. "We're obsessed with building crunchy motorbroom gameplay with moreish home decoration and broom upgrade systems, whilst sticking a big vulnerable heart in the middle of it. We call it cozy-with-bite: making this beautiful, wholesome world people want to live in, and still have a tonne of fun, with challenge you can opt in to. Plus we want romance in there, but like, the messy kind." I didn't get a chance to play all the way through the demo, but you can bet I'm going to. There's no word from Electric Saint yet on an official release date, but hopefully it's soon. I need to know everything about this setting, its people, and its technology STAT. If you have some time to spare, I highly recommend giving Crescent County's demo a try. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
The Best-Looking Pickup Trucks Ever Sold, According To Our Readers
Once you're no longer in high school and have actually driven more than one or two cars, it gets much harder to answer questions like, "What's the best truck?" Not everyone values factors such as fuel economy, reliability, durability, repairability, off-road capability, bed size or even styling exactly the same way you do. That doesn't mean people don't have plenty of opinions about all of those things, though. They definitely do. To keep things focused, on Tuesday we asked you what you thought was the best-looking truck ever sold. Somehow, the Tesla Cybertruck wasn't the top answer, but maybe your eyes just aren't yet prepared to fully appreciate the beauty of the incEl Camino. Still, we got far more answers than we could ever include in this roundup, but let's take a look at some of the most popular responses. Read more: 2024 Toyota Tacoma Hybrid Blows Away Every Truck In Its Segment Completely personal preference because it was the second truck I ever owned: 1992 Toyota 4x4 xtra cab. Probably good it wasn't a few years earlier, because I might've spent a bunch trying to make it look like Marty's SR5 in Back to the Future. Suggested by: Barret LeBlanc I'm biased, I'll admit. But the OBS Ford was up there for how a truck should look. I specifically had a soft spot for the Lightning version of it. Regular cab, 6' bed, 2WD. It's a great look. I Also loved the early-90s 454SS from Chevy. They were wicked as well. Suggested by: potbellyjoe My grandfather's 1972 Chevrolet Cheyenne. Single cab, rear wheel drive, It was blue, had a metal dashboard, and frequently had a camper rig over the cab and bed for trips down to the Ozarks. Suggested by: Papa Chris The 1998-2004 Dakota 5.9 R/T, specifically in a single cab. Every proportion of the truck is just "right". It also manages to have some pretty sculpted lines (The front fenders, the way the bed flares out for the wheel arches) without being overstated or "LOOK AT THESE MACHO HARD TRUCK LINES, 'MERICA!". The R/T Specific wheels and all trim being in body-color sets it off. Suggested by: Samuel Dougherty Late 1950's Chevrolet Apache. It had unique styling, a strong drivetrain, heat and a radio. That's all I need in a pickup. Suggested by: TMc993 Not a truck guy but a Tacoma X-Runner always makes me do a double take. Also, the one truck I have owned was a 1988 Bronco which I thought looked pretty cool for a truck. Suggested by: RC350F Second Gen C10. Simple, clean looks great with both the long and short box, lowered, lifted or stock. Suggested by: JaredOfLondon 1940s powerwagons, no contest. I'm far from a Dodge guy, and this is still my dream truck. Suggested by: Consider What could have been if GM didn't pull the plug on Pontiac. But instead, we must admire them from afar. Suggested by: disadvantage I always thought my 62 Ford F100 Unibody shop truck was a good looking pickup. Put nearly 500k miles on it during the time I had my custom furniture business, back in the 90's and early 2000's. I've noticed over the last few years that they are showing up highly customized at the Grand National Roadster Show, so it appears others feel the same. I personally prefer the proportions of the long bed, but the short bed looks good as well. I had never known this model existed until buying this one. Only made from 61-63. Suggested by: Dan60 A little biased here, but I remember an old family photo of my grandfather and my then 4-year old mother posing next to the 1939 International Harvester pick-up my grandfather purchased in 1945 after WWII gasoline rationing ended. i always loved the lines of that truck. Too bad it didn't survive long enough for me to see it in the metal. Suggested by: Earthbound Misfit I 1946 Studebaker. No question. That's the truck dodge mimicked when they flared headlights, and nothing comes close to the sloped windshield. Gorgeous piece of metal, that thing! Suggested by: KingKellen I don't know why, but El Caminos and El Rancheros do it for me. I mean, it's like someone at Honda saw one and said "I think we can make that a little weirder" and BOOM! we got a Ridgeline Suggested by: Omer Carrothers Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
I Have $20,000 For A Post College Commuter Car! What Should I Buy?
Blake just graduated from college and wants to upgrade his old Jetta with something sturdy that can handle long drives. With a budget of about $20,000, he would like good MPGs, a respectable stereo, and a comfortable interior. What car should he buy? (Welcome back to What Car Should You Buy? Where we give real people real advice about buying cars. Do you want us to help you find a car? Submit your story on our form.) Here is the scenario. I'm a 23 year old recent college grad living on my own in Austin. I currently drive a 2011 VW Jetta that has a ton of computer and brake issues, that would cost more to repair than the car is worth. I want something reliable that I don't constantly have to worry whether it can survive a 2 hour trip. I want something relatively new with low miles, that I can keep for a little while. I would also like good gas mileage, easy-to-use infotainment, good sound system, prefer leather (easy-to-clean interior) My budget is around $20,000. Budget: up to $20,000 Location: Austin, Texas Daily Driver: Yes Wants: Reliable, good MPGs, ideally leather seats Doesn't want: Something too old Read more: 2024 Toyota Tacoma Hybrid Blows Away Every Truck In Its Segment Now that you are off into the "real world" you don't want to be stressing about having a car to get you where you need to go. While you may be tempted to opt for a tried and true Honda or Toyota product, selecting that leather seat option is going to mean a higher-mile car that is a bit older with no warranty remaining. My suggestion would be a Hyundai Elantra. A worthy competitor to the Civic and Corolla but you get to use some depreciation to your advantage at the sub-$20,000 price point, especially if you want a well-equipped model. The Elantra is a comfortable cruiser even for a compact and comes nicely optioned even at the base trim. The four-cylinder motor will return up to 40 MPG on the highway, which is pretty impressive for a non-hybrid. Here is a Limited model for just under $20,000. This has leather seats, a BOSE stereo system in addition to all the infotainment and safety tech features you could ask for. You're young and the future is uncertain, why choose something boring when you could have a little fun with it? Get yourself a nice Mustang to drive around. Not only will you have something stylish and fun to drive, but the 2.3-liter Ecoboost engine pumps out 310 horsepower and 320 pound-feet of torque, which is more than enough to get into a little trouble, but it's still reasonably frugal delivering up to 31 miles per gallon on the highway. There's a nice leather interior and beautiful blue paint on this one. There are lower-mileage examples out there, but with just 67,000 miles on the odometer it should still have plenty of life left in it, and the price is too good to pass up. Just seventeen thousand dollars separates you from your next (cool) daily driver. Make it happen. Well, Blake, you're in luck because not too long ago, a friend's younger brother (and admittedly, my favorite of the two) had the exact same question. He didn't live in Austin, but he even had an identical budget. I tried offering a few more enthusiast-focused suggestions, but in the end, he bought a Honda Insight that he's been perfectly happy with. Sure, you could always get a Toyota Prius, but everyone thinks "Prius" when they hear "hybrid," which means the Insight flies under the radar, and there's a good chance you'll be able to negotiate a better deal since so few people even remember Honda brought back the Insight for another generation in the first place. Since you're just starting your career, the Honda badge is also a bonus. It's the kind of car you're "supposed" to drive, unlike, say, a heavily depreciated BMW that may have cost less but still looks fancy. You shouldn't have to think about this kind of stuff because it's so stupid, but coworkers gossip, and people think a luxury badge automatically means you spent a lot of money. I hate it, too, but it never hurts to give your new coworkers something to gossip about. Here's one that isn't too far away and also looks like it ticks all your boxes. It's a 2020 model with 82,000 miles, making it far newer than your Jetta, and even with a decent number of miles on it, you'll be able to keep it for years. The Touring trim also offers all the features you could possibly want, including that leather interior, while still staying within budget and getting great gas mileage since it's a hybrid. It also looks better than a used Prius, and that's a win for everyone. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Telo Electric Pickup Is No Bigger Than A Mini With A Bed The Size Of A Toyota Tacoma's
Despite electric vehicle startups failing left, right and center these days, a new one has launched promising something that Americans actually want: an electric pickup truck. But wait, this isn't another oversized beast that'll weigh as much as a small house — it's a cutesy little EV that could be America's answer to the kei truck. The hopeful EV startup is Telo, a new company out of California that's got some serious backing behind it. The company is backed by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, the original founders of Tesla, as well as former Aston Martin exec Andy Palmer, reports InsideEVs. The company's first model is an adorable electric pickup truck that's no bigger than a Mini Cooper while still packing the bed space of a Toyota Tacoma. What's not to love about a creation like that? Read more: 2024 Toyota Tacoma Hybrid Blows Away Every Truck In Its Segment The inaugural EV from Telo is called the MT1 and it's promising some pretty lofty claims, like having "Tacoma capability, Tesla-like range and efficiency, in the footprint of a MINI Cooper," according to the company's website. Sounds impressive. To do this, the whole truck is packaged into a space that's just 152 inches long and 73 inches wide. Despite those diminutive dimensions, the Telo MT1 still has four doors, two rows of seats and a five-foot bed at the rear. Heck, there's even an internal space under the truck bed to stow gear, akin to Rivian's nifty gear tunnel concept. Even though it's small, the truck will still be capable of covering actual useful distances, if Telo is to be believed. The truck will reportedly launch with a 106-kWh battery pack that's good for around 350 miles of driving. In addition, the MT1 will be able to charge from 20 to 90 percent in just 20 minutes. If all that sounds a little too good to be true, then I've got good news for you as it (hopefully) isn't. The EV startup revealed this week that its prototypes are out on the road in America, according to MotorTrend, and the site even took a ride in the tiny truck: With these highlight specs in mind, we boarded the MT1 for Marks to take us for a ride. Even if we had been in the production MT1, our roughly around-the-block ride wouldn't have allowed for determinations about how it performs. Furthermore, our impressions should be taken with a grain of salt as large as the truck itself, given the Telo team was up until the wee hours of the morning before our meeting putting this prototype together. While the site concluded after its spin around the block that "much more refinement [had] to be done," it at least proves the company isn't vaporware. Of course, prototype vehicles in California are much easier to muster than full-scale EV production, but the company is promising it won't be another spectacular EV failure. With backing from the Tesla duo and a handful of other big names in tech, the company is plowing ahead and eyeing production Initially, it will build its pre-production models with the help of Aria Group, a Californian company that specializes in limited-run models and even movie cars. Once the design is finalized, Telo is targeting annual sales of around 5,000 units, which will be the point it becomes profitable. It will also use off-the-shelf parts to keep costs from spiraling. If the tiny trucks do go on sale, there will be a single-motor variant for $42,000 and a dual-motor option will cost $46,000. A long-range battery pack will also be optional for another $3,980. Here's hoping Telo isn't another flash in the electric pan and I won't have to mourn the loss of yet another cutesy electric carmaker. Please don't let me down, Telo. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
