Chinese electric car sekr 001 got into the Guinness Book of Records, and in two categories at once. The races were held at the CATARC training ground in China back in June, but the results have only been approved and published now. The first record is the fastest drift on an electric car. Racer Zhao Junfeng managed to drive a five-door all-wheel drive with a capacity of 544 hp. in a power slide at a speed of 207.996 km / h. True, the “petrol” record is still far away: the Nissan GT-R has been holding it for six years with a score of 304.96 km / h. The second record is the fastest slalom on an electric car: Zeekr 001 drove a “snake” of 50 cones in 49.05 seconds.
Concept car unveiled Lincoln Model L100, timed to coincide with the centenary of the transition of the Lincoln company under the wing of the Ford concern. The streamlined sedan has a pop-up roof and rearward-swinging huge doors, and the styling is in line with the recent crossover. Lincoln Star Concept. As planned, this is an unmanned electric car: the concept does not have a steering wheel and pedals, and the combined backrest of the front seats can be rearranged for landing facing forward or backward. The concept has no prospects for becoming a production car.
Published the first teaser of the concept car Audi Activesphere. The coupe-shaped crossover will be a continuation of the original trilogy of “spherical” show cars: a roadster was introduced over the past year Listen to Skyspheresedan Audi Grandsphere and minivan Listen to Urbansphere, with a fourth model not originally planned. The off-road electric concept car will not be declassified until early 2023.
Company Porsche conducted the first tests of a prototype with an internal combustion engine running on hydrogen at the Nurburgring. The car itself is not shown, but it is equipped with a converted V8 4.4 engine with a two-stage supercharging system: two turbochargers (one for four cylinders) with auxiliary electric motors are installed, and each “snail” has two compressor wheels that are included in the intake tract in series. The resulting hydrogen engine produces 598 hp. and with a margin fits into the promising eco-norms of Euro-7. The 2,650 kg prototype completed the Nurburgring lap in 8 minutes and 20 seconds: that’s the time of a 2000 BMW M3.
Head Alfa Romeo Jean-Philippe Imparato has announced that the company will introduce a new sports car in the first half of 2023. It will be a concept or prototype, while the production version will arrive in time approximately in 2024-2025. It is not yet clear what the power plant of the future sports car will be, but either a gasoline engine or an all-electric drive is being considered: there are no plans for a hybrid.
Compact van Proton Exora, produced in Malaysia since 2009, has already undergone its sixth update. True, quite easy. New logos appeared, the wheel design was changed, the body color palette was revised. The stabilization system is included in the basic package, the top version now has leatherette instead of the combined seat upholstery, but there are still only two airbags. The cars are equipped with a 1.6 turbo engine (140 hp) and a CVT, prices start from 14 thousand dollars.
Geneva International Motor Showlast passed yet in 2019, canceled once more. In the past three years, the exhibition was not held due to the pandemic, and the next car show was supposed to be held from February 14 to 19, 2023. But the organizers canceled it too, citing “uncertainties in the global economy and geopolitics” and the risk of a continuation of the pandemic. Instead, the show under the traditional name GIMS (Geneva International Motor Show) will be held in Qatar for the first time. This exhibition was scheduled for November next year, but had the status of a minor, and now it has become the main one.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia has prepared a draft of a new automotive industry development strategiesfor the period up to 2035. The previous strategy for 2018 set the main goal of increasing production capacity, but now the main task is to increase the degree of car localization to 80%. The priority is diesel engines, automatic transmissions, airbags and ABS. According to the plan until 2035, investments in the automotive industry will amount to 2.7 trillion rubles, but the main burden will fall on business, and not on the state. The strategy has not yet been adopted and is in the process of being agreed upon.
Also today we talked regarding the restyled family Hyundai HB20 and minivans Buick GL8.