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The 2023 Lincoln Aviator Lincoln makes a few small changes to its offer, as related by Ford Authority. On the feature side, the 12-way Comfort Front Seats for driver and passenger are gone. The bottom three trims, Standard, Reserve and Grand Touring all come with a 10-way Comfort Front Seat for the driver and an eight-way throne for the passenger. The Black Label and Grand Touring continue with their 30-way Perfect Position front seats. Outside, the Bronze Smoke Metallic and Burgundy Velvet Metallic colors depart the exterior palette, replaced by Diamond Red Metallic Tinted Clearcoat and Jewel Sandstone. The Jet…

In August, we found out about Montana’s Go Fast Campers (GFC), maker of Swiss army knife pickup bed wedge tents. The tent bed sat on a convertible platform allowing various kinds of reclining as well as an 8-foot standup height inside the pickup bed, the structure’s three locking panels created a topper that also provided shade plus weather and cargo protection, and the pickup bed could be used for its intended hauling purposes with the tent installed. A company called Space Campers is here with the same kind of multipurpose, bed-topping wedge tent for the Cybertruck. The California-based outfit showed…

The 2023 Genesis GV60 Performance is the top-level version of Genesis’ electric SUV. It unlocks the best acceleration and handling that this crossover has to offer, and it’s surprisingly fun to drive. With the Performance model, Genesis adds in a more powerful front motor, replacing the standard AWD model’s less potent front motor. This inherently makes the Performance quicker in all driving situations, but the model also adds a “Boost” mode. Press the “Boost” button, and it raises output by 40 horsepower for 10-second bursts, allowing for a 0-62 mph time of just 4.0 seconds. Beyond the performance characteristics of…

Audi’s A6 family is about to expand to include an electric member, and a prototype has just been spotted. The electric variant is the A6 E-Tron, which Audi first previewed in 2021 with a thinly veiled concept version. The automaker followed up the original concept with an A6 Avant E-Tron concept earlier this year, hinting strongly the A6 E-Tron will be offered in both sedan and wagon body styles (Avant is Audi’s name for wagons). The production A6 E-Tron is confirmed for launch in 2023, meaning it will likely arrive at dealerships as a 2024 model. It will compete against…

Acura plans to revive its ZDX nameplate for a mid-size electric SUV due in 2023, and on Tuesday the automaker released photos of a prototype for a sporty Type S variant. Prototypes for the regular variant are also out testing. The new ZDX is one of the two electric SUVs announced by Acura parent company Honda in 2020. The other is the Honda Prologue mid-sizer, which is also slated to arrive in 2023. Both will arrive as 2024 models. Both have been designed around General Motors’ Ultium dedicated EV toolset. GM will also build the vehicles, while Acura and Honda…

EV startup Rivian continues to add new functionality to its R1T pickup truck and R1S three-row SUV. The latest is a Snow mode, which as the name suggests is designed for driving in snowy conditions. Rivian on Monday said the new Snow mode, available via an over-the-air update, simplifies dealing with wintry conditions such as snow, slush, and ice, but only when on the road. For wintry conditions when off the road, Rivian recommends the use of the existing Off-Road All-Terrain mode. Rivian introduces Snow mode on R1T and R1S Rivian said Snow mode introduces more relaxed brake and throttle…

The EV tax credit continues to take form, and it may mean cheaper leases. Washington and Oregon join California in banning EV-only cars by 2035. EV drivers are charging more in the winter, but are plug-in hybrid drivers charging often enough? And what can we see in all of our past Best Car To Buy winners? This and more as we wrap up some holiday time, here at DriftBreath Reports.  Guidance released by the U.S. Treasury Department Thursday confirms that buyers of some EVs will qualify for a $7,500 EV tax credit starting January 1—although potentially only through March. Ford,…

The U.S. Treasury Department confirmed Thursday that buyers can effectively bypass both the American final assembly and critical-mineral requirements for electric vehicles—if those EVs are leased. That means, according to Reuters, starting Jan. 1, automakers selling EVs with final assembly outside North America may be eligible for a commercial-vehicle tax credit of up to $7,500 if applied to subsidized leases, in what amounts to a workaround for the American-made requirements of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and its restructured EV tax credit. The move, which has been anticipated by many in recent weeks, perhaps quells some of the trade pushback…

It’s well established that electric cars lose some range in cold weather, but for drivers that generally means more charging rather than less driving, according to a new report from battery analysis firm Recurrent. Recurrent’s primary business is producing battery health reports for used EVs, but the company analyzes data used to produce those reports to draw other conclusions about EV driving. Its most recent report found that while most EV drivers are discharging their batteries a little deeper, cold-weather performance is satisfying driving needs. The most noteworthy consequence is that they’re just spending more time charging. 2021 Ford Mustang…

BMW has licensed solid-state battery cell designs and manufacturing processes from Colorado-based Solid Power, taking the partnership between the two companies up a notch. The automaker, which began partnering with Solid Power in 2017, will install copies of the firm’s solid-state cell pilot production lines at its facilities in Germany, and Solid Power will supply its sulfide-based solid electrolyte for those pilot lines, the battery firm announced last week in a press release. These arrangements will “allow for parallel research and development activities,” Solid Power said. Solid Power battery cells BMW has agreed to pay Solid Power, which also counts…