2014-21
Its best sales year was 2015, when slightly more than 11,000 of the EVs (including the REx model, the one with the optional range extender) found homes. And yet, its odd looks and practical shape would fit right in with today's electric cars.
The i3 may have wheels that look like pizza cutters, but there's nothing cut-rate about it. A carbonfiber passenger's cell rides on an aluminum skateboard that carries the suspension, a single motor driving the rear wheels, the battery, and, in the REx version, a small engine borrowed from a BMW scooter. Equally odd is the 2+2-door configuration, and instead of typical materials, interior panels are hemp-reinforced plastics showing off a random fiber pattern.
This story is from the July - August 2023 edition of Car and Driver.
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This story is from the July - August 2023 edition of Car and Driver.
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AN AMERICAN TOURING SCOTLAND IN AN ENGLISH CAR BUILT IN CHINA
In Dornbach, Scotland, Kitman walks past a modern MG and a Morris Minor, its distant relative. From left: Motoring through the Scottish Highlands; lobster traps in Dunbeath; taking on electrons at Gridserve; traversing the North Sea coast.
THE MAD SCRAMBLE
AN 814-HP V-12 THAT SCREAMS TO 9400 RPM IS JUST THE START OF THE INTENSE EXPERIENCE THAT IS THE LAMBORGHINI REVUELTO.
2022 Rivian R1T
This EV pickup proves to be E-Z to live with.
Spite Defender
Ineos Grenadier HIGHS: Dapper off-road style meets genuine off-road capability, wonderfully smooth powertrain, built like a brick outhouse. LOWS: Incessant warnings, sloppy and slow steering, noisy on the highway.
The Revivalist
The Nissan Murano emerges fresh-faced and revitalized from a long-overdue redo.
ELECTRICAL CONNECTION
The Toyota Camry, the Honda Accord, and the Hyundai Sonata all take different approaches to hybridization, but which one does it best?
The Achilles Kneel
Mercedes-Benz W123 wagons doing the Carolina Squat can get their droopy self-leveling rear suspension back up to snuff courtesy of a Californian.
Dollars to Donuts
Despite the high cost, automakers are still drawn to racing.
G to the Power of E
Mercedes-Benz G580 with EQ Technology HIGHS: Quicker than the old G550, improved handling, better braking. LOWS: Cubist shape torpedoes highway range, cramped inside, dorky name.
The Best Odds
The cars I recall most fondly were neither the prettiest nor the quickest. Certainly not the most expensive. They were machines that emerged willfully peculiar and intractably idiosyncratic.
