Wrangler 4xe winter drive, Mazda rotary particulars, GM small electrical truck: The Week in Reverse

Which automaker revealed this week that a few of its front-wheel-drive EVs are going rear-wheel-drive?

Which charging community did Shell announce plans to purchase?

That is our look again on the Week In Reverse—proper right here at Inexperienced Automotive Stories—for the week ending January 20, 2023.

The 2023 Jeep Wrangler 4xe is the king of the plug-in hybrid off-roaders for practicality. And in a current take a look at drive, whereas we discovered it’s simple to rack up the electrical miles, it’s additionally onerous to maintain the fuel engine off with loads of cost, amid blizzard situations. 

Volvo has introduced the return of rear-wheel drive, in range-boosted single-motor EVs. The configuration returns in 2024 Volvo XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge fashions, though U.S. particulars and availability are but to be set. 

Mazda MX-30 R-EV

Mazda revealed some technical particulars concerning its rotary range-extended MX-30 e-Skyactiv R-EV, and it supplies a puzzling set of parts and combined alerts. It’s a automobile that People, fairly actually, won’t get. 

GM is contemplating the addition of a $30,000 compact electrical pickup to its lineup. The undertaking is reportedly a part of a design-based undertaking to look at future reasonably priced EVs.

GM electrical pickup silhouette – from 2020 Ultium platform preview

Shell introduced this week that it’ll purchase Volta, the community offering free ad-supported EV charging. Volta joins Greenlots and Ubitricity, among the many oil big’s current EV charging acquisitions. 

May hydrogen fuel-cell tech change plane jet engines for cleaner passenger air journey? With cryogenic hydrogen storage and a “megawatt-class propulsion system,” Airbus is engaged on the likelihood—and a flight take a look at of the concept by the center of this decade.

Airbus ZeroE platform

With extra polluting pre-2010 diesel huge rigs now banned in California, the state is fining operators nonetheless utilizing them and denying registration. It’s a part of laws carried out greater than a 12 months in the past. 

In-wheel motor maker Elaphe and McLaren Utilized Applied sciences collectively declare {that a} partnership will lead to a brand new technology of in-wheel motors and coordinated inverters that may assist maximize effectivity and make EVs hyper-responsive.”

Aptera-Elaphe partnership

The rental automotive big Hertz plans to funnel hundreds of EVs to main U.S. cities. Together with that, it’s aiming to put in supporting charging infrastructure in precise neighborhoods—with Denver as the primary rollout metropolis. 

Nikola has developed a trailer-mounted cellular hydrogen fueling rig for fuel-cell vehicles. The corporate is because of present it at an occasion subsequent week, and what may basically be a big tank is wanting like a stopgap answer as Nikola delivers extra vehicles earlier than hydrogen stations arrive. 

Toyota AE86 BEV and H2 ideas

Toyota has constructed two zero-tailpipe-emissions variations of Eighties Corolla GT-S coupes—one with a battery electrical powertrain and the opposite with a hydrogen combustion engine. The undertaking goals to point out that retrofitting older vehicles is a risk. 

And though the shift from passenger vehicles to SUVs continues, a uncommon few within the business see the development reversing sooner or later. One in every of them is the CEO of Citroën, who just lately mentioned that SUVs are “finished” resulting from EVs—due to vehicles’ higher aerodynamics and the necessity to ship most vary with minimal battery price. Simply inform that to Citroën’s wildly profitable, SUV-focused company cousin, Jeep. 

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