Auto Show Coverage
Gas 2 covers several auto shows throughout the year, with an emphasis on alternative fuel, high-mileage, and low-emission vehicles.
Honda Reveals Electric CRF Concept (10 Photos)
If there was any lingering doubt that the future is going to be electric, Honda just put another nail in the internal combustion future’s coffin with the release of an incredibly sexy and obviously capable electric motorcycle concept this past weekend. Meet the Honda CR Electric concept, and understand that this isn’t a 125-equivalent trainer, like Yamaha’s electric concepts. This bike is intended to be a direct replacement for Honda’s awesome, bigger, and race-ready CRF250R. (!) Launched at the Tokyo Motorcycle Show a few days ago, the concept seems to be based on a modified CRF250 aluminum frame. The electric motor appears to be liquid-cooled, with a pint-sized radiator featured prominently behind the race-spec suspension. Other bits, too– from the Renthal F...
Volvo Polestar 2 Teased in Android App
Volvo’s hotly anticipated “mainstream” electric sedan hasn’t been officially revealed. Now that several aspects of its design have been leaked in an Android Auto app at CES, however, we have a pretty good idea of what it’s going to look like! Volvo | Native Android Auto App Here’s what we know: Volvo has plans to follow-up to their jaw-droppingly gorgeous and obscenely powerful Polestar 1 hybrid supercar with a smaller, more mainstream sedan called the Polestar 2. That car is expected to compete directly with the popular Tesla Model 3 and loaded variants of the new Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt in both price and range. What we didn’t know, really, was what the new Polestar 2 was going to look like. At least, we didn’t know until a few day...
2020 Ford Explorer Gets ST, Hybrid Variants
At last week’s Detroit auto show, Ford showed off two new versions of its 2020 Ford Explorer that caused a lot of excitement. The first one is a more powerful, sporty version of the soccer mom SUV called the ST that’s with a twin turbo 3.0 liter EcoBoost engine good for 400 HP. The other version is probably more exciting to Gas 2 readers, though: it’s a hybrid! Surprisingly, this isn’t a boring, half-hearted, cynical PR-grab attempt at a hybrid, either. The 2020 Ford Explorer Hybrid seems to be pretty well-sorted, and is projected to produce a combined three-hundred and eighteen horsepower and have a more than 500 mile range between fill-ups. That’s– that’s a lot of horsepower AND serious cruising range! Check out the press release from Ford below,...
40 Photo Gallery: All-new 2020 Toyota Supra
Jeez– it’s been over a week since Toyota launched the all-new for 2020 Toyota Supra, and I can barely bring myself to care. I have a feeling, if I’m being honest, that you’re probably not that excited about it, either. Weirdly, no one seems to be. Are people underwhelmed because the new Supra just “feels” a lot more BMW than it does Toyota. Maybe it’s because the production car looks so much like the FT-1 Concept that debuted back in 2014 that we’re already used to its shape. Maybe it’s because we were promised a 400 HP hybrid supercar … and what we got was a fairly conventional sporty coupe with a 3.0 liter, BMW-built, turbobocharged six cylinder that makes “just” 335 HP and 365 TQ that feeds power exclusively through...
2020 Bronco Shown at National Dealer Meeting
The upcoming Ford Bronco was shown off to Ford’s dealers earlier this month, and the company doesn’t seem to have confiscated phones on the way into the meeting. Thanks to that “oversight”, pictures of the new Bronco are circulating all over the internet– specifically, the ones shown, above. Way back in 2015, we talked a lot about the upcoming Bronco in an article that– for a while– was stupidly popular. We predicted that the new Bronco would be heavily based on the Euro-market Ranger, and look a lot like the then-new Australian Ford Everest SUV. 2015 Ford Everest We I got the part about its looks wrong, mostly. The rest of it, though? Gear Patrol and Top Speed are published stories about an anonymous Ford engineer who revealed that, under the skin...
LA 2018: Toyota Launches First AWD Prius
Whether it was through leaked technical drawings or fanciful renderings of our own making, we’ve been been predicting the coming of an all-wheel drive Toyota Prius for years. It never arrived– until last week’s LA Auto Show, that is, when Toyota took the wraps of the all-new Toyota Prius AWD! Well, it’s not ALL all-new. See, Toyota has been offering an AWD Prius in Japan since 2016. There, the system is called “e-Four” instead of “AWD-e” as it will be called here. Regardless, it works the same way– which is to say: it’s weird. In typical Prius fashion, AWD-e doesn’t have a conventional drive shaft from the front to the back axle. Instead, a second electric motor is installed at the back of the car. That motor provides extra ...
LA 2018: Audi e-tron GT Concept
The latest Audi e-tron concept just landed at the 2018 LA Auto Show, packing nearly 600 electrified horsepower and nearly 250 miles of range into a sleek and slink four door coupe. There’s more to this Audi concept that usual, though, because this car is going to make it to production. Really. Bad news for EV fans, though– this Audi e-tron will probably make its production debut as a replacement for the aging Audi TT and Audi S5 coupes. At launch, they’ll probably be powered by internal combustion engines of one type or another. That’s my guess, anyway. What do you guys think? Is Audi going to bring this gorgeous, gorgeous e-tron coupe to market as a pure EV right off the bat, like Kia did with the 2020 Soul, or will the electric version have to wait a few years? Re...
LA 2018: 2020 Kia Soul EV Makes its Debut
We’re big fans of the Kia Soul, and not just because the Hamstars were the most fun marketing gimmick of the last ten years. We also dig the Soul’s funky styling, great audio options, cavernous storage capacity, and– most of all– the all-electric version I winter-tested back in 2015. For 2020, the Kia Soul EV is all-new, and should be available in all 50 states! Check out the official photo gallery, above, and LA Auto Show Automobility press release, below. Once you’re done with that, let us know what you think of the all-new 2020 Kia Soul EV in the comments section at the bottom of the page. NEW 2020 KIA SOUL EV COMBINES SOUL-FUL VIBE WITH ALL-ELECTRIC BUZZ LOS ANGELES – Kia Motors America (KMA) introduced the 2020 Soul, a completely new version...
LA 2018: Volvo Shows Off Autonomous Car Breakthrough
While I was busy scribbling away at our annual Best Fuel Efficient Motorcycles list, the 2018 LA Auto Show (going by the name, “Automobility 18”) got underway with announcements from several major brands. I’ll kick that coverage off, then, with one of my favorites: Volvo. Volvo did something pretty wild in LA, too. They didn’t show a single car. That’s right. No shiny, new S60 sedan. No tire-shredding Polestar hybrid supercar. Not even an electric version of the hot-selling XC40 crossover. No cars, then– just “an experience”. An experience, and some ground-breaking new lidar technology that will help make autonomous cars exponentially safer in complex, high traffic situations. New tech that makes future cars safer … gotta love that, rig...
EICMA 2018: Honda CRF450L Rally (w/ Video)
Honda followed up its CRF250L with the introduction of the all-new 2019 Honda CRF450L earlier this year. With the success of the Dakar-inspired Rally version of the CRF250L already well documented, it was only a matter of time before a Rally version of the 450L appeared– and you can expect it to look a lot like this when it does. I know what you’re saying: EICMA was last week! Indeed it was, and Honda had a full stage with updated 500s, all-new trail bikes, and– of course– an all-new, Neo-Café CB650R making headlines. Honda wasn’t done, however, and quietly released this CRF450L Rally Concept on the sidelines. Which, I mean– that’s pretty wild on its own! Now, to the bike. In addition to the CRF450L’s lightweight frame and high-end suspension...
EICMA 2018: Honda Trail Bikes Get Fuel Injection
EICMA is known for its concept bike reveals and new product launches, and Honda didn’t disappoint, revealing a raft of new or updated products for 2019. We already covered the sporty new 2019 Honda CB650R, but now we’re shifting gears and playing a round of, “Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need- roads” with Honda’s CRF line of trail bikes. All of which are getting electronic fuel injection for 2019! They’re two of the basic tenets of Gas 2. “The best way to appreciate nature is to get out in it,” and, “Two wheels are better than four.” Honda’s small-displacement trail bikes deliver nearly triple-digit fuel economy and, thanks to that fancy new fuel injection, they’ll do so with lower emissions than ever ...
EICMA 2018: All-new Honda CB650R
We knew Honda was teasing the new CB650R when we saw the Neo Café 2020 concept in Paris last month. What we didn’t know was just how soon the production version would follow it! Now, it’s here. Meet the all-new 2019 Honda CB650R. The new CB650R replaces the CB650F as Honda’s middleweight standard-bearer, and combines retro/modern styling with serious performance bits from the top-shelf CBR1000RR supersports bike. It’s a compelling package, on paper, but we’ll have to wait until April to ride one in person. I mean, unless Honda wants to send me to Texas to ride one again. I’ll let you know if that happens. In the meantime, check out the full spec sheet and more press photos of the new CB650R, below, then take some time to let us know what you think of the...