Hey, Your Top Automobile News for 02 December,2020

Your Daily Automobile updates From Around The World [img]  [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [img]( [The Automobile News]( [Audi A6 PHEV a Subtly-Handsome Car]( THE Audi A6 is one of those subtly-handsome cars. Call it executive, or premium, whichever is your taste … just don’t say luxury, which is one of those terms that scrapes at my nerves.As a model it has been around for five generations, since 1994. Last year it was Audi’s best-seller here, and so far in 2020 is dancing around the same leader board top place with its smaller new A4 sibling. Even though they have several really good SUVs in their lists, two saloons topping the salesrooms is testament to the fact that at a certain level, executive punters like traditional cars.The current A6 is only two years on the market, and my review version here is even fresher. All current A6s come with mild hybrid powertrains, but this is the model’s first plug-in hybrid contender. We’re now used to Audis having strong front styling, and my 50 TFSIe had that in spades, a big chrome grille, hawk-eye lights, and sculpted bumper lines. The relatively smooth exterior of the rest of the car eased the whole thing back to that subtle presence I mentioned. The highly styled alloys which I had to be so careful about added foundation and class. The Mythos Black colour was a moody Aristotelian reflection. The interior was also black, which was a Stygian pity because a lighter mood inside the car would have been good. There’s nice ivory white leather available that would make a serious difference on a long journey. Still, it came with nearly all the comfort and tech that a car in this class should have. Stands equal And, there’s something about Audi that has long attracted me in the rarified space of its key competitor Mercedes-Benz and BMW products. Not that the Audi is necessarily better, maybe that I appreciate how it has come from more humble beginnings to where today it stands equal to those.From a driver’s perspective I like the way the A6 screens are integrated into the whole dashboard area. That I think there are too many is a matter of personal opinion — I’d happily go without the console one that manages mostly the car’s climate. The two optional views of the main instruments are useful, because if you want the sat-nav maps in front of you, the second view gives you more space for it. The battery’s extra weight doesn’t interfere with the car’s performance, as the combined 367hp output is more than enough to sprint to 100km/h in under five seconds. So the driving experience could be anything I wanted, from gentle fluid to strong poke in the back. Most of the time I liked in between, and the S-tronic seven-speed dual clutch auto proved a perfect transmission for all needs. Consistent A charged battery gave me a consistent 46km range in EV-only mode, which I tried to keep for urban driving where the ICE motor is at its least efficient. The modes allowed me to hold that charge until I needed it.There was also a full hybrid that appears to have a lot of ‘intelligence’ in managing how it operates. Including, if you have a destination in the sat-nav, it tries to leave you with EV available for the last stages. I’d have liked a way, like with the Mitsubishi Outlander, for using my motorway journeys to recharge the battery on the run. It doesn’t seem to have that. And, given that I was trying to take such care of those alloys against the kerb, I really would have appreciated a rear view camera. The backup light at night didn’t give me enough visibility in the offside mirror.Small cribs, on the surface. But not so, I think, given the price of the car. At some €11,000 more than the same grade S-Line version without the plug-in battery, it should have stuff that you’d get as standard in a Nissan Leaf. [Read More]( The post [Audi A6 PHEV a Subtly-Handsome Car]( first appeared on [TheAutomobileNews.com](. [Read Full Story]( [Fully-Electric Volvo XC40 Recharge To Arrive In India In 2021]( Indian is a huge automobile market, with a lot of potential. As the world is moving towards a greener future, India too is transitioning towards electric vehicles. However, a lot of manufacturers are still in their research and development phase and the Indian market still lacks proper infrastructure for attracting a lot of EV buyers. But the journey has begun, and a lot of car manufacturers like Hyundai, MG, and Tata, have successfully achieved a good response to their mass-market EVs like Hyundai Kona, MG ZS EV, and Tata Nexon EV. Some manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki, Toyota, and Honda still trust the concept of hybrids as the best option. However, the premium luxury carmakers are yet to capture a major chunk of the Indian market. Understanding this fact, premium carmakers like Mercedes Benz and Jaguar have recently launched their EVs. Following the same trend, Volvo Cars India, while revealing its new luxury sedan S60 for the Indian market, officially confirmed the launch of fully-electric XC40 Recharge for India in 2021. The upcoming Volvo XC40 Recharge, which was globally unveiled in 2019, will be the carmaker’s first all-electric for India. The Volvo XC40 Recharge is a sub-compact SUV, based on the standard XC40. Due to this, the EV’s exterior is similar to the standard XC40. The XC40 Recharge is ultimately based on the same Compact Modular Architecture platform. However, under the hood, it gets a new 78kWh battery pack. Technically, the battery pack is actually placed under the front seats, which allows users to get additional cargo space in the front trunk. Speaking about the power and performance, the battery pack powers two electric motors, that together, produce 402bhp of power and 660Nm of peak torque. With this, the Volvo XC40 Recharge can reach from 0 to 100kmph in just 4.9 seconds with a limited top speed of 180kmph. - Speaking about the range, the company claims that the Volvo XC40 Recharge comes with a WLTP range of 418 km, and can be charged by a 150kW DC fast charger from 0 to 80 percent in just 40 minutes. Moreover, there is also an option of another 11kW AC fast charger, which can charge from 0 to 100 percent in eight to ten hours. On the feature front, the EV gets a new nine-inch Android-based infotainment system with some handy services like Google Maps and Google Assistant. Other features on the EV includes a digital driver’s display unit, dual-zone automatic climate control, four USB-C ports, Harman Kardon stereo system and a panoramic sunroof. Being an EV, the XC40 Recharge gets a host of safety features like four high-definition 360-degree cameras for parking view, blind spot information system, lane aid, cross-traffic alert, and also a set of adaptive headlights. There is also Volvo’s connected car tech, through the ‘Volvo On Call App’, that can pre-heat or pre-cool the car remotely. [Read More]( The post [Fully-Electric Volvo XC40 Recharge To Arrive In India In 2021]( first appeared on [TheAutomobileNews.com](. [Read Full Story]( [2020 Chevy Blazer: The Coolest Features Found Inside The SUV]( The 2020 Chevy Blazer offers more tech and features than ever before. Check out if this is the right SUV for you. The Chevrolet Blazer is one of the most iconic SUVs and SUV names of all time. Back in the late 60s, it was a total revolution, despite the fact it started out as a small, two-door pickup. Designed to compete with the Ford Bronco and the International Scout, the Blazer slowly evolved into the rugged, compact SUV that everyone loves and modifies today.A couple of years ago, General Motors brought back the iconic Blazer nameplate. But, rather predictably, it was for a different kind of vehicle; a sporty compact crossover. Though this was quite a polarizing move, the new Chevy Blazer is full of cool features that might just mean it’ll find a spot on your shortlist. Styling Pretty much all compact SUVs nowadays look the same, and with a few worthy exceptions, not many of them seem to experiment with unique styling. The Blazer takes a different and rather cool approach to styling. As seems to be the general consensus, the new Blazer looks like a beefy, four-door SUV version of the Camaro. As the Camaro is another highly recognized General Motors nameplate that has evolved into a fantastic muscle car, that’s a definite plus point. What’s more, unlike other car-inspired compact SUVs, the Blazer does the job surprisingly well. Tech One of the biggest selling points of just about any car nowadays is the tech available on-board. Thankfully, the Chevy Blazer offers tech in bucket loads. Every Blazer gets an 8-inch infotainment display as standard, as well as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto across the board. The phone connectivity systems are quite important, as navigation is not offered on the lower trim levels. It also gets plenty of safety tech like adaptive cruise control, forward collision alerting, a rear-view camera and lane keep assist. Interior The cool, Camaro-inspired design of the Blazer is continued into the interior as well, with a cabin bearing some resemblance to General Motors’ famous muscle car. The most notable area is the air vents, which seem to be taken directly from the Camaro. Elsewhere, the interior seems to be very well laid out, with the infotainment system placed right on top, and a partially digital gauge cluster seemingly inspired by Cadillac models, which we don’t really see in General Motors’ other SUV offerings. There also seems to be a good air of quality, with soft materials and silver accents about the place, particularly on the steering wheel. Amazon Alexa More and more automakers these days are equipping their vehicles with artificially intelligent voice assistants, most of which are developed in-house. The Blazer, meanwhile, makes use of a proven and successful AI assistant; Amazon Alexa. GM is slowly rolling out Alexa across most of their models, and the Blazer is one of the few vehicles available in North America. As well as available at any time through the car’s infotainment system, you can download a myChevrolet skill for Alexa if you have a compatible device (Amazon Echo) for example, and you can control some functions of your vehicle through said device. Space One of the most important aspects of an SUV is the interior space, cargo, and passenger. While you won’t find as much space as you would in bigger offerings, such as the Ford Explorer, there’s plenty of room inside the new Blazer for stuff and people. North America doesn’t get the China-exclusive three-row Blazer, but even then, there’s significant space in the back for three adults, 31 cubic feet of cargo space with the seats up and 64 with them down. [Read More]( The post [2020 Chevy Blazer: The Coolest Features Found Inside The SUV]( first appeared on [TheAutomobileNews.com](. 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