The Range Rover SV Coupe Will Never See the Light of Day

When Land Rover first showed off the Range Rover SV Coupe, it was a bit of a head-scratcher. Sure, it looked great, but at the same time it came with a near-$300,000 price tag. Would there really be buyers for such an expensive two-door Range Rover? As it turns out, apparently not.

As Autocar confirmed with Land Rover this week, the Range Rover SV Coupe has officially been canceled. In fact, it never even made it to (limited) production. Instead, Land Rover reportedly decided to invest those resources into developing the next-generation Defender and Discovery Sport.

 

In a statement confirming the Range Rover SV Coupe’s cancelation, Land Rover told Autocar, “We have taken the difficult decision to inform our customers that the Range Rover SV Coupé will not proceed into production. Instead, Land Rover is focusing its resources and investment on the next generation of world-class products. With exciting plans for electrification, enhanced craftsmanship, innovation and technology we are working to ensure that we continue to offer our customers a choice of world leading SUVs.”

As for SVO, Jaguar Land Rover’s special projects division, it sounds like there will still be plenty of work to do despite the SV Coupe’s cancellation. “Our Special Vehicle Operations division is continuing to develop exciting cars that push the boundaries of luxury, performance and capability—the all-new Jaguar F-Pace SVR is weeks away from its first deliveries and we have many more new models in development,” said Land Rover.

Source: Autocar

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2018 Hyundai Sonata 2.4 Limited First Test: Cruising Comfortably

Tesla Posts Profit in Q4 2018, Outlines Challenges for 2019

Coming off of a profitable third quarter, Tesla announced it once again achieved a profit in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Tesla achieved a GAAP net income of $139.5 million last quarter. This is up from the $675.4 million loss the company suffered in the last quarter of 2017. Operating income remained stable compared to the third quarter of 2018 at $414 million. Total revenue during Q4 came in at $7.2 billion, up from $3.3 billion during the last quarter of 2017.

According to CNBC, fourth-quarter earnings were short of analysts’ expectations, and shares dropped 2.5 percent in after-hours trading. Factors that negatively impacted Tesla’s earnings include higher import duties on parts from China, lower prices on the Model S and Model X in China, declining revenue from the sale of regulatory credits, and the new less expensive Model 3 with the mid-range battery pack.

In many ways, the Model 3 was a success story in the previous quarter. Production increased throughout the quarter, and December was the highest-volume month ever for the electric sedan. More than 63,350 copies of the Model 3 were delivered to customers in North America in the final quarter. Coming out of challenges building the Model 3, Tesla reduced labor hours per Model 3 by about 20 percent compared to Q3 and 65 percent in the second half of the year.

For the new quarter, Tesla expects to deliver slightly fewer copies of the Model S and X compared to the same quarter a year ago. This is because Tesla is presuming that demand had increased recently due to the phase-out of the federal EV tax credits. And as the Model 3 expands into Europe and China, Tesla is expecting Model 3 deliveries to be lower in the first quarter because of vehicle transit times to those markets. Model 3 production will increase in the quarter, however, Tesla says.

In 2019, Tesla expects to deliver a total of 360,000 to 400,000 vehicles, which would signal an increase of about 45-65 percent from last year. It is expecting to maintain a positive GAAP net income in every quarter beyond Q1. In Q1, it is giving an optimistic target of a “very small GAAP net income.” On an earnings call Wednesday, chief financial officer Deepak Ahuja announced his retirement. Ahuja was Tesla’s CFO from 2008-2015, but rejoined the company in that same role in 2017 when previous CFO Jason Wheeler resigned abruptly. This latest development follows a number of other executive departures at Tesla. Ahuja will be replaced by Zach Kirkhorn, the company’s current vice president of finance.

Tesla also threw in a tidbit about the upcoming Model Y, saying it will start tooling for production of the vehicle this year. According to Tesla, the cost of the production line for this vehicle “should be substantially lower than the Model 3 line” in Fremont since it will share about 75 percent of its components with the entry-level sedan.

Source: Tesla, CNBC

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Volkswagen’s Latest Concept is a Fully Electric Dune Buggy

One of the great things about the original Volkswagen Beetle was that its chassis could be used to build all sorts of other vehicles. From kit cars to dune buggies, there’s a long history of people turning Beetles into completely custom creations. So for its latest concept car, Volkswagen decided to use its new electric platform to build a dune buggy of its own.

Technically, the images shown here are supposed to be teasers, but they don’t hide much. Even though it looks completely modern, the concept is clearly a modern interpretation of the Meyers Manx, with no doors or roof, open side sills, and large wheels wrapped in off-road tires. Range and powertrain information haven’t been announced, but we’ve got to say, it looks like one heck of a fun car to drive. Even better, there’s a good chance it’s rear-wheel-drive.

“A buggy is more than a car. It is vibrancy and energy on four wheels. These attributes are embodied by the new e-buggy, which demonstrates how a modern, non-retro interpretation of a classic can look and, more than anything else, the emotional bond that electric mobility can create,” said Klaus Bischoff, Volkswagen’s head of design, in a statement.

If Volkswagen were to actually put an electric dune buggy into production, you have to assume it would only appeal to a limited number of buyers. But according to Volkswagen, that’s exactly the point. The concept was built to show how versatile the MEB platform is and how it could be used to develop low-volume specialty vehicles.

Look for more information closer to its official reveal on March 5.

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Chevrolet eCOPO Camaro Pops an Electric Wheelie on Its First Pass!

Check out what we caught! The literal first-ever run of the Chevrolet eCOPO Camaro, an all-electric drag racer, and it’s popping its wheels up! To reiterate: The photo you are looking at from January 26, 2019, is the first time this all-electric dragster has ever been on a drag strip. Our resident photographer Brandon Lim just happened to be at Arizona’s Wild Horse Pass drag strip because yours truly and my cohost Jethro Bovingdon were filming a new episode of Head 2 Head. Talk about being in the right place at the right time! Back to the run, the eCOPO ran a 10.14 on its first launch, before eventually dropping the time down to 10.03 at 138 mph. Does this bode well for the future, or what?

A little background: The SEMA darling eCOPO is a joint venture between McCue & Lane Electric Race Cars and General Motors. Patrick McCue is a high school shop teacher in Washington State. The motors and batteries were designed and manufactured by GM in Michigan, and then McCue and his team integrated them into the eCOPO in Washington. The dual-stack motors bolt right up to any transmission that can handle a Chevy LS motor. Think of it as a concept crate motor. The eCOPO uses the normal COPO’s TH400 three-speed automatic transmission. The eCOPO was built to run in the NHRA’s Stock Eliminator class.

Output is “just under” 800 horsepower, with each motor producing 317 lb-ft torque, for a combined total of 634 lb-ft. The car uses a 32-kW-hr battery pack with enough juice for three full-burst launches. However, the eCOPO team uses a car-specific 11-kW charger to make sure the Electric Blue beastie is fully charged for every run. Why? “Voltage is the limiting factor in RPMs,” says McCue. The more RPMs, the more speed. Anecdotally, I’ve noticed that—for instance—a fully charged Tesla Model S launches better than one that’s a bit drained. Moreover, the car has an adjustable ramp rate, which controls how quickly the electrons hit the motors. That first run, the rate was set at 50 percent. The later runs were 100 percent, and the torque simply overwhelmed the Mickey Thompson drag radials.

I reached out to former Camaro chief and newly appointed head of engineering for all things electric at GM, Al Oppenheiser, for a comment. Oppenheiser says, “As Mary [Barra] and Mark [Reuss] have made clear, we are transitioning our company into the next generation. A world of zero emissions, zero crashes, and zero congestion. The eCOPO is an example of what can be done to a traditionally internal combustion sport in a world of zero emissions.” Al adds, “And hey, how about that instant torque?” How about it, indeed? Want to see the eCOPO Camaro pop wheelies and try to crack into the 9s with your own eyes? McCue and his crew will be running it (with wider tires) at the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, California, starting February 7.

 

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