ArcaMax

There are now lots of electric vehicles on the market, but only two of them can be characterized as affordable alternatives to nonelectric cars.

One of those two being Nissan's Leaf.

It doesn't go as far as other EVs, and it's not nearly as quick, an EV selling point. But the fact that it's a car within the means of people who cannot afford a ...Read more

Why do most people prefer to drive rather than take the bus? It's because they don't have to plan their trip -- and so, their day -- around a schedule they didn't make.

Electric cars have that same issue in that you have to think constantly about scheduling your day around how much range you have left -- and how much time you don't have to wait...Read more

Interested in a time capsule? One you can drive right off the dealer's lot?

The 2023 GMC Savana van fits the bill. It hasn't been changed much since 1996, making it the only almost-30-year-old brand-new vehicle on the market.

But why would you want to buy it?

Maybe because it is literally built like they used to make 'em.

What It Is

The ...Read more

What's the difference between Nissan's 370Z and the new just-Z?

A smaller engine and a lot more horsepower -- also about 200 more pounds.

But that hasn't slowed things down.

What It Is

The Z, as it's now called, is the descendant of Datsun's (as Nissan was once called) 240Z sports car, which made its debut in the United States back in 1969. ...Read more

Volvo, as everyone knows, is a Swedish brand. What many do not know is that it is owned by a Chinese company and that "Swedish" cars like the S90 are also made in China.

So, is it still a "Volvo"?

What It Is

The S90 is Volvo's largest and top-of-the-line luxury sedan.

Technically, it is Geely Motors' largest and top-of-the-line luxury sedan,...Read more

Fiat stopped selling cars in the United States last year, but there's still an Italian-brand car you can buy here (other than a Ferrari).

It's the Giulia, one of two Italian cars made by Alfa Romeo.

Of course, it being Italian, and so something different, is only one reason to consider buying it.

Are there any others?

What It Is

The Giulia ...Read more

It is not just the end of the line for the 300 sedan, which Chrysler has just announced will be retired after the end of the 2023 model year. It may also, by dint of that, be the end of the line for Chrysler, too. For once the 300 is gone, the only remaining Chrysler model will be the Pacifica minivan.

You can't maintain an entire ...Read more

Once upon a time, Chevy's Blazer was a full-size 4x4 -- this was before there were "SUVs" -- and it came standard with a V8 engine. It has since gotten smaller -- and it's now a crossover.

Similar to so many others.

But it does still offer a V6, and that's something that's becoming hard to find in a new crossover.

And, so equipped, it can ...Read more

The saying goes that you cannot eat your cake and have it, too. But what if you could?

Plug-in hybrids like the Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe can be electric vehicles -- without the problems that beset electric vehicles. It can travel about 25 miles without burning any gas. But you don't have to worry about what you'll do when it runs out of...Read more

Tesla made the first modern electric cars, beginning about 15 years ago. It also made the first electric cars that weren't focused on being economical or practical cars -- as the first electric cars (like the Baker electrics) were designed to be, some 120 years ago.

Tesla's concept was to make electric performance cars -- so as to make them ...Read more

Here's something that's hard to find: an electric version of a car that costs less -- at least to start -- than the engine'd version of the same car.

That would be the Mercedes EQS.

But there might be a reason for that ...

What It Is

The EQS is essentially an electrified S-Class sedan, which is Mercedes' top-of-the-line (and full-size) ...Read more

No one makes the six-passenger full-size sedans Americans used to take for granted that also had room in their trunks for six peoples' things, and -- if there wasn't enough room for that -- could also pull it behind them.

Today, you need a truck to do that.

That probably explains why trucks, which used to be a relatively small slice of the ...Read more

It's interesting that the first electric vehicles of the modern era weren't trucks, which have a lot more room than cars do for batteries. This matters because electric vehicle batteries take up a lot of space, which means less of that for people and stuff in an electric car.

In the case of the F-150 Lightning, the electric version of ...Read more