The Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 are based on the same platform and share many of the same technologies but as Rory Reid from AutoTrader recently discovered, they are far from identical.
While the Ioniq 5 and EV6 aren’t the first electric vehicles from Hyundai and Kia, they are their most serious attempts at rivaling current Tesla models and as we recently discovered in our review of the Ioniq 5, Hyundai has created one of the finest EVs on sale. According to Reid, the Kia EV6 could be even better than its Hyundai sibling.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison between the pair as the Ioniq 5 tested was the entry-level model with a single 170 hp electric motor and a 58 kWh battery pack. The EV6 tested was the GT-Line model and has a larger 77.4 kWh battery pack, meaning it has almost 100 miles of more range than the base Hyundai.
The differences between the two continue into the cabin. The Ioniq 5’s interior is unlike any other Hyundai and has some innovative features like a sliding center console and a glove draw, rather than a typical glovebox. Interestingly, Reid notes that the EV6’s cabin feels slightly more premium than the Hyundai’s, even though it is a tad more conventional. He also says its second row is slightly more spacious than the Ioniq 5, despite the EV6 having a shorter wheelbase.
After heading out onto the road, Reid notes that the two feel very similar and drive almost identically. However, he does note that the seats of the Kia seem softer than those of the Hyundai.
We revisited the 2021 Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupe, the 2024 VW ID.Buzz was teased, again, and the 2024 BMW 5-Series was spotted. It’s the Week in Reverse, right here atMotor Authority.
We spent more time with the 2021 Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupe. This iteration of the Cayenne shows what happens when the dynamics of a sports car are married with the utility of an SUV. The GTS model provides an avenue for buyers to access the brand’s fantastic 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 without going full Turbo. We found the Cayenne GTS Coupe behaves like a much smaller vehicle.
General Motors retrademarked the Buick Electra nameplate in the U.S. and Canada. It’s possible the automaker’s preparing for an electric Buick. The Electra nameplate first appeared in 1959 and hasn’t been used on a production model since 1990. While unclear if the nameplate will once again see production, it’s now an option.
The iconic VW Bus is about to be reborn. The German automaker teased the 2024 ID.Buzz, again, as it confirmed the electric van’s debut in 2022. Despite being revealed in the new year, the vehicle won’t arrive in the U.S. until sometime in 2023 as a 2024 model. While the production ID.Buzz looks different than the concept versions, it appears little has changed from recent prototypes spotted testing on public roads.
We took a look at the 10 most powerful cars in production today. Ranging from the Bugatti Chiron and Hennessey Venom F5 to the GMC Hummer EV and Lucid Air, the list includes everything from hypercars and luxury sedans to pickup trucks. The one thing it doesn’t include is a Ferrari or Lamborghini.
The next-generation BMW 5-Series was spotted testing on public roads. The prototype for the 2024 5-Series was in early stages of development and lacked production lighting elements, but the proportions seem to be reminiscent of the much-loved E39 generation 5-Series from the late ’90s and early ’00s. The front end appears to be more swept back than the current model while the window and roofline retain their typical shape. Expect a debut to take place in 2023.
What kind of vehicle is the 2022 Nissan Titan? What does it compare to?
The 2022 Nissan Titan is a full-size pickup truck that does battle with some of the most popular vehicles on the road today: the Ford F-Series, the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, and the Ram 1500 pickup.
Is the 2022 Nissan Titan a good truck?
Review continues below
The 2022 Titan is like off-brand paper towels; it does the same job as big-league brands, but something’s missing in its overall execution. Overall, the Titan scores a middling 5.3 out of 10 on our scale. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
What’s new for the 2022 Nissan Titan?
Last revamped for 2020, the Titan largely stands pat for 2022. Base Titan S trucks now get a standard sprayed-on bed liner and a trailer hitch, while the Titan SV adds navigation, a power driver seat, heated front seats, remote start, and parking sensors.
This truck comes in a choice of crew- or extended-cab configurations, and a heavier-duty (but not quite heavy-duty) version called Titan XD is also available. The lineup lacks the depth and breadth of rivals, though Nissan does pack a lot of features into the Titan for the money—and discounts tend to be more readily available.
All Titans now use a big V-8 rated at 400 hp sent rearward or to all four corners via a 9-speed automatic transmission. Underneath, the Titan is conventional, if a bit dated. Don’t look for adaptive dampers, air springs, or coil springs here. Pro-4X models have Bilstein shocks and a locking rear differential, but these trucks are too big to be really useful off-road.
The Titan XD has a beefier frame and a longer wheelbase that makes it more adept at towing. Its 11,000-lb rating is good, but the confidence it provides on the open road is even better.
Fuel economy is lousy: look for 18 mpg combined at best.
Inside, the Titan is well-appointed and spacious, with seating for five or six depending on configuration. Nearly all Titans you’ll find on dealer lots are crew-cab models, and higher-trim versions tend to be most popular. While no match for the attention to detail shown to rivals, the Titan has a convenient interior and a decent infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility.
Crash-test scores are mixed, though all Titan trucks come with automatic emergency braking.
How much does the 2022 Nissan Titan cost?
The latest Titan costs about $39,000 to start, but more popular crew cab versions with four-wheel drive ring in closer to $45,000.
Prices climb from there, but not with the ferocity of rivals. A loaded-up Titan XD Platinum rings the register at around $65,000.
When engineers went to work designing the fifth-generation Range Rover in 2016, the iconic luxury off-road SUV had to be capable of doing something no Range Rover has ever done before: carry seven people over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house.
Every Range Rover built since the first one in 1970 has been a two-row, five-passenger vehicle. That all changes next spring when for the first time a three-row option becomes available in the redesigned 2022 model.
Although the two-row and three-row long- wheelbase versions of the fifth-generation Range Rover share the same body panels and floorpan, adding a third row of seats was a major project that involved nearly every part of Land Rover’s engineering and design teams — interior decorators, electricians, safety experts, the seat team, human-machine interface engineers and others.
The job was complicated by several things:
The Range Rover’s new MLA high architecture was designed to accept an electric powertrain and new suspension technologies.
Jaguar Land Rover’s chief creative officer, Gerry McGovern, would not agree to any alterations that would change the vehicle’s silhouette.
A growing number of competitors — Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz, Maserati and others — are fielding six-figure luxury SUVs.
“When the fourth-generation Range Rover was being created, [around 2005], there wasn’t that competition,” Nick Miller, program chief for Range Rover, told Automotive News. “This time around there definitely is. Land Rover threw the kitchen sink at this program. We absolutely need to maintain our competitiveness and at the same time we’ve added a whole new variant,” Miller said in a video interview from England.
But it wasn’t just a simple matter of installing a stylish set of leather-covered third-row seats and bolting them to the floor.
Miller detailed the considerable engineering effort that Land Rover expended to deliver a third-row experience that luxury customers expect. The major focus areas included ingress and egress, passenger comfort and the vehicle’s utility. Engineers also had to take into consideration the technologies being introduced in the new Range Rover, such as rear-wheel steering and an electronic anti-roll system.
The length of the long- wheelbase 2022 Range Rover has grown by almost 8 inches. That added length comes at the rear of the vehicle and encompasses longer rear doors. That helped solve one problem, but Miller says it’s really the flexibility of the second- and third-row seats that makes the seven-passenger Range Rover more user-friendly. The second row slides forward electrically, or it can fold flat in just 8 seconds to open a clear path to the third row.
“It’s absolutely pivotal that we can move that seat right out of the way. That means the customer has a really big step-in area to get through and it invites them to make use of row three,” says Peter Bingham, architecture chief engineer for MLA high.
Once seated in the third row, passengers will find a low floor so they can maintain good posture. And there are first-class accoutrements, such as face-level ventilation, seat heaters, an armrest, ambient lighting and charging ports for each passenger.
All those items mean there is not a single common piece of interior trim common between the two-row and three-row Range Rovers from the rear doors back.
But engineers did reduce complexity elsewhere. Because the fifth-generation Range Rover was designed from the start to offer a third row, Land Rover engineers were able to develop a single floorpan for the long-wheelbase model. If you were to remove the carpet from a two-row Range Rover and three-row Range Rover, the aluminum pods bolted to the floor of the three-row version would be the only difference you’d see.
Miller could not say how much Land Rover invested in creating the third row. But the way the vehicle has been designed means that it likely won’t have to be re-engineered to meet planned future changes. The axles, for example, have been designed for the heavier weights of additional passengers as well as the battery packs that are coming in the electrified model, Bingham says. Range Rover generations tend to last around a decade or so.
Says Miller: “It’s not just about the design, which is fantastic, but the capability of the design and making people feel that it is special and extremely capable and [can] go wherever you want to take it.”
