All the Automotive News You Missed This Week That You Should Know About

We heard rumblings there may have been something going on in the political realm as well, but it was a busy enough week in the car world that we didn’t really notice. Here at the Gear Patrol Motoring desk, we previewed the most important cars you’ll meet in 2021, surveyed the personal automobiles of past presidents, drove an awesome custom Land Rover Defender and what may be the best value in luxury cars and touched on some fun (or not-so-fun) matters, like a claim the Ford Mustang will go all-electric this decade.

Alas, we are mere mortals. Our coverage is limited by time and available hands to type, so we weren’t quite able to get to everything that happened over the past week. Here are some quick thoughts on a few items we missed.

Bronco Sport demand is downright bonkers

Ford

The new Ford Bronco drew all the headlines. But the Bronco Sport turned out to be a fine little boxy crossover in its own right. It is in dealers already. And demand appears to be, as we suspect no young person has said in quite a while, off the chain.

CarsDirect found dealer markups of up to $10,000 over MSRP for the Bronco Sport, with the off-roading Badlands trim listed for $46,750 — more than a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon.

Good night, sweet Golf

VW

We’ve known America’s best cheap car is going away for some time, but it still hurt when VW finally made it official this week. Production of the Mk7 Golf for the U.S. market will end this month. 2021 will be the last model year of a 46-year run in America.

Not all is lost, though. U.S. consumers are still getting the higher-powered Mk8 GTI and Golf R versions.

The Porsche Taycan 4S gains EPA range for 2021 by doing…nothing

Courtesy

Independent tests have shown that the EPA’s range estimates for the Porsche Taycan are incredibly conservative, sometimes coming in at close to two-thirds of the real-world range. It seems the EPA is learning to get a little more realistic; the feds are rating the 2021 Taycan 4S with the 93.4-kWh battery as having a 227-mile range versus last year’s 203, even though the model is…exactly the same.

Is Elon about to bore his way through Miami?

Pool

Newly crowned world’s richest person Elon Musk mused on Twitter about building a Boring Co. project in Miami. The mayor, courting tech entrepreneurs, called the idea a “no brainer,” despite Miami being built on porous limestone and swamp in the face of a rising sea.

And, yeah, it’s never been quite clear how Musk’s tiny tunnels for Teslas are more efficacious than 19th and 20th century tunnels that accommodate large amounts of traffic….or trains.

Mercedes-Benz’s 2021 reveal schedule leaks online

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes is set to have a big year full of reveals — and a leaked slide from an apparent internal presentation gives us a sense when we can expect to see all those new cars. The new EQA compact electric SUV revealed this week comes first, obviously; come Q2, we’ll see the all-new C-Class and a facelifted CLS; Q3 will see the debut of the electric EQS seen here, as well as a facelifted GT 4-Door; and come Q4, we’ll finally meet the new SL-Class.

Check out this gorgeous Tesla convertible

Ares Design

Italian coachbuilder Ares Design converted a customer’s Tesla Model S into a two-door, grand-touring style convertible. There aren’t any photos of it with the retractable soft top up, notably. But sans roof, it is stunning.

What’s the most popular car in your state?

Insurify.com

Insurify.com determined the most popular car in each state based on car insurance applications. As expected, the Ford F-Series dominates a wide swath of Middle America. The Honda Accord and Civic have an East Coast vs. West Coast battle going on. SEC country explains why Nissan does so much college football sponsorship.

Hawaii sounds like a fun place. Indiana? Not so much. Check out the favorite car in your home state.

The 16 Best Cars to Buy in 2021

Ford

Kelley Blue Book has released their best cars to buy awards for 2021. The results may surprise you.

Cadillac V-Series Blackwing Reservations Start Feb. 1st

Cadillac

Cadillac unveiled the CT4-V and CT5-V sedans for 2020. Reviewers, us included, like them. But they don’t quite meet the performance standard of “V” cars. The more powerful V-like sedans everyone wanted arrive soon as the “V Series Blackwing,” but without the Blackwing V8 engine. And there will be a manual transmission option.

Because all new cars must now have online reservation frenzies at launch, you can land first 250 CT4-V and 250 CT5-V Blackwings with a $1,000 refundable deposit, starting at 7:30 pm ET on February 1. Check your browser speed and have your credit card at the ready.

Ford tells its suppliers to stop leaking, leak reveals

Maverick Truck Club

Almost every hot new Ford vehicle has leaked online before its launch. The latest one is the Maverick small pickup. You might think Ford would want the discussion fire stoked before launching a cool-looking new truck, but an irked Blue Oval is actually asked its suppliers to knock it off with the cell phone photos…which, of course, we found out through a leak.

The entity formerly known as FCA may build flying taxis

Toyota

Stellantis, the company just unveiled the 10 mpg city Ram 1500 TRX, is not the first name in electric mobility. But the company formerly known as FCA is partnering with Archer, a mobility startup, to mass-produce electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft for urban air taxis. They will travel at up to 150 mph with a range of 60 miles.

Sound futuristic? Well, they may arrive sooner than you think. Archer plans to unveil their “eVTOL” vehicle later this year and bring it into production by 2023.

Could Toyota revive an iconic name?

Pascal Rondeau

The gr86.org forum found that Toyota applied to trademark the name “Celica.” Toyota hasn’t used the name since 2005, when it took the Celica out of production after 34 years. It’s probably just routine rights retention. Or…maybe Toyota rebrands the 86 after a multiple-title-winning ’80s and ’90s rally legend?

It would be weird having a rear-wheel-drive Celica, though less weird than reviving the Supra as an automatic transmission BMW.

Charge an EV in 5 minutes? It may be possible soon

Janine Schmitz

Israeli company StoreDot and Chinese manufacturer Eve Energy factory have produced an electric car battery capable of fully charging in five minutes. Such capability would make refilling a car battery take about as long as filling up a tank of gas (and eliminating range anxiety).

The problem? We don’t have anywhere near the charging capacity required. StoreDot hopes to have a battery capable of adding 100 miles in five minutes on the market by 2025.

The Best Winter and Snow Tires You Can Buy for 2021

iStock

We picked the best tires to help you stay mobile through the winter months.

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