Car and Driver January 2022

IN THE FOLD Your October 2021 cover made me laugh. “Pay Less,” “Cheap & Fast.” Sounds like the first online date I went on. —Kristopher ContrerasMiami, FL THE COUNT I read the entire October 2021 new-cars issue while waiting in line at the county treasurer’s office to pick up personalized plates for my car. Thanks for your efforts, but I could’ve used another 16 pages. —Bob DickelmanJohnston, IA Well, you could’ve told us what you got on your personalized plates, but here we are—Ed. ROLLOUT Very clever, C/D, to use song titles for all the new-cars headlines in the October 2021 issue. I especially appreciated your use of “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “Like a Surgeon” for the Hyundai Santa Cruz—most people ignore parodies for the original, but I think that song was much more appropriate there than Madonna’s. —John BellSacramento,…

Spoiler alert: I did it. I got faster. In late 2020, I decided I’d try to keep up with our Lightning Lap drivers at the next version of our running of the bulls. I was pretty certain that with some training I would get at least a little bit faster, but readers, I got a lot faster. And I was going to hold off and tell you all about it in our February/March issue, but then life did what it does and moved forward on its own terms. I’m deeply sad to say that the last day of our putting this issue to bed was my last as editor-in-chief. I’m moving on to direct content strategy for all of Hearst’s automotive brands, focusing on videos, podcasts, and other digital stuff. For some…

In March, an unsuspecting tourist in Hawaii might have wandered into one of 2021’s more illustrative stories. As reported by Hawaii News Now, a pandemic-related rental-car shortage meant that visitors to Maui interested in a Toyota Camry would be on the hook for more than $700 a day. In Honolulu, vans were going for $500 a day and convertibles for up to $1000. U-Haul, however, held to its standard prices for vans and pickups, and so moving trucks began showing up at the beach, surprising no one more than U-Haul itself. Kaleo Alau, U-Haul Company of Hawaii president, told the TV station KHON2 that during the usual pre-rental interview, customers would admit they weren’t moving anything, saying instead, “Oh, we’re just going to use it to drive around.” In 2021, Stellantis officially…

While EV sales are still a low-single-digit percentage of the market, the transition to electric vehicles gained momentum in 2021. Most manufacturers made bold claims about electrified futures, and some made big investments to back up the big talk. Here’s a timeline of what stood out through the year. JANUARY GM hopes to sell only EVs by 2035 (with asterisks): The largest U.S. automaker said it “aspires” to sell only electrics by 2035 for its light-duty lineup. Crucial caveats: Aspirations aren’t commitments, and 300-mile electric trucks may not qualify as light-duty (GM’s goal to fully electrify heavy-duty pickups is 2040). MAY 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning debuts: A day after President Biden took a joyride, Ford lit up its headquarters in electric blue. The all-electric truck’s specs (up to 300 miles of range and 563…

AVERAGE COST OF CARS AND LIGHT TRUCKS SOURCE: U.S. BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS You likely know this, because it’s daily news of late, but there’s a chip shortage, and it’s affecting new-car availability. Limited supply coupled with strong demand has led automakers and their even more opportunistic dealers to jack up new-car prices, sometimes to shocking highs—for example, $10,000 added to the sticker for the popular Ford Bronco Sport. Is it just a few outliers skewing the curve, or is it really as extreme as it seems? For context, we looked at government data on the cost of new cars and trucks over the past few decades, and, well, this is pretty dramatic. Think of the rolling slope of the Great Plains before they hit the Rockies, then bam—the Rockies. How steep…

LOSER: CADILLAC Off to the Great Unknown Cadillac won everything with its new Blackwing sedans, including two 10Best spots [see page 27]. We even petitioned the Hockey Hall of Fame to engrave their names on the Stanley Cup (we haven’t heard back). But Cadillac is still a loser this year because it’s throwing in the towel. Just when its mainstream cousin Chevrolet spent Cadillac money on a new double-overhead-cam V-8 for the Corvette Z06, Caddy says “No more internal-combustion V cars.” Quitting when you’re on top of your game is admirable for an athlete. This is a squandered opportunity. But anyone who has worked at General Motors will tell you that “squandered opportunity” is the unofficial slogan of the executive suites. WINNER: FORD MUSTANG MACH-E What’s in a Name? The giant test of EVs detailed…