03 April 2015

New York Motor Show - Highlights

The 2015 New York International Auto Show has introduced a handful of cars which are helping maintain the momentum towards a more sustainable form of personal transport. Predictably for a US auto show, most of the models are at the super-sized end of the spectrum.  Below are the highlights, in alphabetical order.

BMW X5 xDrive40e

Revealed a couple of weeks before New York started, the BMW X5 xDrive40e is a plug-in hybrid, mating a 242bhp 2.0 litre turbo-charged petrol engine with a 111bhp electric motor.

BMW X5 xDrive40e
It has an all-electric range of 19 miles, 85.6mpg fuel consumption and emissions of just 77g/km.  The 9kwH lithium-ion battery takes-up 150 litres of boot space.



The fourth generation of the Lexus RX was revealed, with the hybrid version, the 450h, with the F Sport trim being available for it, for the first time.

Lexus RX 450h
A 3.5 litre V6 engine will be mated to an electric motor.

Mercedes-Benz GLE 500 e 4MATIC

The GLE 500 e 4MATIC is Mercedes-Benz's first plug-in hybrid SUV.


Mercedes Benz GLE 500 e 4MATIC
A 3 litre V6 twin turbo-charged engine, combined with a single electric motor provide 328 and 114 bhp respectively, and it can run for 18 miles in all-electric mode (one of three driving modes to choose from).

The emissions are 78g/km, with fuel consumption of 85.6mpg, albeit presumably less outside laboratory conditions.



As the pioneers of hybrid technology, everyone takes note when Toyota releases a new model - and they've just done so with the new RAV4.

Toyota RAV4 Hybrid (2016)
Toyota are mating a 2.5 litre petrol engine with an electric motor for the rear axle.

VW Camper

Volkswagen hinted at ongoing work to potentially bring back the classic VW Camper, but this time, as an all-electric version.  I believe it was at the 2012 Canadian International Auto Show that the VW Bulli concept was released, which may hint at some of the styling we'd see.

VW Bulli Concept (2012)



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