The Biden administration has done Canada a solid with its buy-North-American awakening. We would help ourselves by reciprocating
Canada’s auto sector got a boost this week – from U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration. Will we be good neighbours and return the favour? After a marathon voting session, the U.S. Senate finally passed a slimmed-down version of Biden’s landmark climate and economic renewal legislation. The U.S. House of Representatives is set to okay the…
Volvo has a lot riding on the C40 as it begins the transition to offering only fully electric vehicles by 2030
Volvo’s first pure electric crossover is the Volvo C40 Recharge P8 AWD. Although it’s a new model, the C40 shares many components with the boxier XC40 Recharge all-electric model. There are two main differences. First, the C40 is electric only, while the XC40 is available with either a gas engine or an all-electric powertrain. Also,…
This is a people-carrier par excellence and is amazingly quiet on the highway
With the price of gas hovering around the two bucks a litre mark in most of the country, does it make sense to buy one of the more gas-thirsty vehicles on the market? I'm talking about full and mid-size SUVs models like – oh – the Toyota Sequoia, Chev Suburban, Jeep Wagoneer, and so on.…
The GV60 has plenty of unique features that put it well above its Hyundai and Kia relatives
The first Genesis model with a dedicated all-electric platform is the GV60, a high-end compact crossover. Genesis is the luxury brand for Hyundai. While the GV60 shares some underpinnings with the related Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Kia EV6, it has plenty of unique features that put it well above its Hyundai and Kia relatives.…
Student clubs offer a taste of what it means to work together on a multifaceted design project
Engineering clubs are created by students and for students. They provide a sandbox that lets future engineers make new things, sometimes starting with mistakes. COVID-19 jeopardized the clubs, but they’re coming back strong and punching above their weight. “It’s not something that you expect a group of students to take on because of the technical…
The hatchback body configuration is just about as versatile as you can get in this market
Hyundai’s 2012 edition of the Elantra Touring was kind of an in-between vehicle. The hatchback entered the North American market for the first time in 2009 but received a complete overhaul in 2011. Hyundai was quick to point out that the Touring was not just the Elantra sedan with a different body configuration. It was…
Improving charge capacity could offer big advantages for manufacturers and consumers
Cruising down the highway in an electric car, who wouldn’t want to squeeze a few hundred extra kilometres out of a single battery charge? University of Alberta researcher Jasper Woodard is hoping to achieve just that. He’s working to improve a particular component in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles (EVs) – and everyday…
The 2022 Maverick doesn't sport any weird idiosyncrasies. Mainstream ergonomics all the way
Does the world need another pickup truck? Virtually every manufacturer on the market has a light truck on offer. Sometimes it seems like every other vehicle is a pickup of some sort. Light truck sales in Canada are as healthy as ever, despite ridiculous gas prices, a looming recession and the high cost of living.…
Mazda has mastered the art of building innocuous, practical family transport, and CX-30 is right on target
Car manufacturers sometimes market their products in a confusing way. In the old days, it was called “badge engineering,” where one model would be gussied up or slightly altered and sold as something else – even though it was virtually identical to the vehicle it was based on. The Oldsmobile Cutlass, for example, was sold…
Car racing relies on oil and gas. Canada should be the choice supplier, rather than nations like Saudi Arabia
German Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel sat on a podium in Montreal last week in gear emblazoned with his sponsor logos – including Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil giant Saudi Aramco, owned by the tyranny state of Saudi Arabia – and told reporters that Alberta’s oil sands is “criminal.” He had arrived earlier…
Canada’s auto sector got a boost this week – from U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration. Will we be good neighbours and return the favour? After a marathon voting session, the U.S. Senate finally passed a slimmed-down version of Biden’s landmark climate and economic renewal legislation. The U.S. House of Representatives is set to okay the…
