Electric Vehicle

Rivian hasn’t gotten the smooth start it may have hoped for.

The California-based EV maker announced late last week that its losses tripled to $1.7 billion last quarter, reports The Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately for the company, things will likely get worse before they get better.
Despite rave reviews for its first two battery-powered vehicles—the R1T truck and R1S SUV—Rivian has struggled to get going since production started last year. The company said on Thursday that its revenue for the second quarter of the year came in around $364 million. Like so many other automakers, it has been hampered by parts-related supply issues and rising costs triggered by inflation during the first half of the year. Because of this, the company has reported an adjusted net loss of $1.62 per share, which is about what many analysts were expecting. Rivian had $15.46 billion in cash and cash equivalents on June 30, down from around $17 billion at the end of March.

The first Rivian R1T built for a customer last September 

Rivian/Twitter

“We’ve seen unprecedented levels of inflation, especially across our raw material inputs and lithium prices,” Claire McDonough, Rivian’s finance chief, was quoted as saying. “We’ve also experienced increased costs in regard to our expedited freight expenses.”
Rivian reaffirmed its promise to build 25,000 EVs by year’s end, according to the Journal. The company built 4,401 vehicles over the last three months, a number that it will have to double in each of the final two quarters of 2022 to hit its target. Whether or not it does reach its goal, losses are expected to grow to $5.45 billion. Previously, losses had been projected to come in at around $4.75 billion for the full year.
Its first year of production hasn’t been without setbacks, but Rivian remains hopeful for the future. The company said it expects losses to shrink once its factory in Normal, Ill., starts producing 150,000 vehicles a year. To hit this target, the manufacturer is currently staffing up and planning to run the plant on both day and night shifts going forward. The brand also plans to cut capital expenditures from an expected $2.6 billion to $2 billion to help hold onto cash.

Classic cars can be beautiful. But they can also be daunting, a reality that newcomer Kindred Motorworks aims to overcome by modernizing the processes that transforms derelicts into attractive, reliable objects of rolling automotive art. 

According to CEO and founder Rob Howard, the California Bay Area-based company “spent a lot of time visiting hundreds of local shops and identifying everything we needed to eliminate all their inefficiencies.” With that goal in mind, they formulated a “Blueprint” technology that they say “maps each car’s genome and underpins every subsequent process, from parts sourcing to procurement to final assembly.” VP of Technology Troy Eastlack says the process includes documenting everything from specifications to parts and tools. 

If the looks of their builds are any indication, these custom creations are aimed at the same strata of buyers who might cross-shop high-end options like a Ford Mustang from Revology, a Mercedes-Benz Gelaendewagen from Expedition Motor Company, or a Land Rover Defender from any number of custom outfits.

Kindred Motorworks VW bus 

Kindred Motorworks

Kindred launches with three iconic classics: old school Chevrolet Camaros ($149,000 for LS3 power, $199,000 with an LT), first-gen Ford Broncos ($169,000), and Volkswagen Buses ($199,000), the latter available with a Tesla-sourced EV powertrain good for 200 miles of range. The company says electrification will spread to other models in the lineup, in addition to a forthcoming fourth model, the Kindred Chevy 3100 Pickup.
According to Design Lead John Aizarini, “Our design philosophy is to modernize vintage vehicles and make them safer, more efficient, and more powerful without losing the spirit of that vehicle.” Also incorporated are modern conveniences like power locks and windows, heated seats, and cupholders.

Kindred Motorworks Camaro 

Kindred Motorworks

Founded in 2019, Kindred Motorworks has raised over $20 million in funding from CPMG, Goldcrest, Fifth Down Capital, and Robert Downey Jr.’s Footprint Coalition, with additional support from Hagerty and various angel investors. The company will be showing off their EV-powered VW Bus at Monterey Car Week, with pre-orders opening on August 19 at kindredmotorworks.com.

The Nürburgring has a new electric king—and this time it’s German.

Porsche has just announced that the Taycan has regained its title as the fastest production EV to circle the infamous “Green Hell” after completing a lap in just 7:33.3. That time easily beats the previous mark, which was set by the Tesla Model S last year.
Lars Kern drove the Taycan Turbo S on its recent record-setting run around the race complex’s 12.9-mile north loop, according to the automaker. He was able to complete his trip around the winding circuit more than two seconds quicker than the high-performance Tesla Model S Plaid managed last September (its time was 7:30.9). This isn’t Kern’s first time setting a record at the famous track. He drove a Taycan Turbo around the north loop in a then-record 7:42 in the summer of 2019.

The record-setting 2023 Porsche Taycan Turbo S with the Tequipment performance kit 

Porsche

The Taycan Turbo S was equipped with Porsche’s just announced Tequipment performance kit for its latest record run. The company’s top-of-the-line electric sedan is already a beast, thanks to a drive unit that can pump out up to 750 hp, but the pack adds 21-inch wheels wrapped in street-legal Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires and Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control software. The Taycan Kern drove was also completely stock, with the exception of a roll cage and racing seats for safety purposes.
“We’re delighted that the Nürburgring record for electric cars is back in Porsche hands,” Kevin Giek, the vice president of the Taycan line, said in a statement. “This lap time not only shows how much potential lies in our new performance kit, but also confirms once again the sports car genes of the Taycan.”

Looking to set some records of your own? The Tequipment performance kit will soon be available to purchase for €13,377. It’s only available on the 2023 Taycan Turbo S and unfortunately only in Germany for the time being. Considering how popular the Taycan has already proven to be, we wouldn’t be surprise to see that soon change.

Bowlus continues to be a pioneer.

The California-based company unveiled a new, all-electric model called the Volterra on Tuesday. The gorgeous trailer is the first fully battery-powered luxury RV to go into production.
The Volterra makes its debut 88 years after Hawley Bowlus first started selling the aluminum-riveted travel trailer that would go on to inspire the Airstream Clipper. The company’s latest model may sport Bowlus’s classic Streamline Moderne design, but everything else about it is thoroughly modern.

The Bowlus Volterra’s solar panels 

Bowlus

This is especially true of its battery system and power bank. The Volterra doesn’t need any fossil fuel to operate and has twice as much battery capacity as the brand’s previous range topper, the Terra Firma. Helping keep the battery at full capacity is an AeroSolar system that can charge the trailer’s battery pack while you’re cruising on the highway or parked on the campground. The setup uses ultra-efficient monocrystalline cells with PERC technology that can absorb a combined 480W of solar power. Thanks to the system you’ll be able to live off the grid indefinitely. The RV is also equipped with 20A outlets that will allow you to add 65 miles of range to your EV’s battery in a pinch.
The 27.1-foot trailer’s interior, which has real-wood walls and ceilings, may not be as revolutionary as its power and solar systems, but it’s still noteworthy. Inside the cabin you’ll find a galley with a two-burner induction cooktop, a spacious entertainment area (that can sleep two), a hotel-style en suite bathroom with a shower and a bedroom with room for a true king-size mattress. The Volterra comes with a limited-edition color scheme called La Cumbre inspired by the mountain peak located behind Santa Barbara. You can customize the fully vegan interior if you want something a little bolder, though. Other vital features—especially if you’re spending a lot of time away from the city—include a 50-gallon fresh water tank and high-speed Starlink satellite internet.

Inside the Bowlus Volterra 

Bowlus

“The new Volterra will benefit customers as the perfect complement to an electric vehicle,” Geneva Long, who resurrected Bowlus in 2013, said in a statement. “You can charge your Bowlus while you drive and have a fully electric experience once you arrive, and, with Volterra’s new solar panel set up, you can live off-grid indefinitely and sleep with confidence knowing you’re helping preserve the great outdoors while you enjoy its splendor.”

Interested in the industry’s first all-electric luxury trailer? Bowlus is taking orders now through its website. The Volterra starts at $310,000, which is $25,000 more than the Terra Firma. Once complete, it will be delivered directly to you.
Click here to see all of the photos of the Bowlus Volterra all-electric travel trailer.

Bowlus

Nearly six decades ago, an enterprising Bruce Meyers conjured a custom vehicle that transformed VW components into go-anywhere dune buggies. The creation was dubbed Meyers Manx, and the modular, customizable rig made waves in 1967 by busting speed records in Baja California and winning the inaugural Mexican 1000 (later known as the Baja 1000). The grassroots buggy not only won over offroad racers, but it also made a splash in Hollywood when it was driven by Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway in The Thomas Crown Affair and Elvis Presley in Live a Little, Love a Little.

What began as a Southern California fixture emerged as a cultural icon. But with explosive growth came imitators—more than a quarter million, according to the Historic Vehicle Association, officially branding Manx “the most copied vehicle in history.” The rampant theft led Meyers’s “visualization of friendship and love” to end in frustration. But decades later, after a fresh dose of inspiration, he chose to reinvigorate the company.
As fate would have it, a budding young car enthusiast fell in love with the marque when his family rented Manxes while vacationing in Hawaii. An ocean away, the future designer of landmark vehicles including the Audi TT and Porsche 959 grew up admiring the life and lifestyle of Bruce Meyers, who lived nearby in Newport Beach. Those forces coalesced when the enthusiast, Phillip Sarofim, acquired the Meyers Manx brand in 2020, appointing the designer, Freeman Thomas, as CEO. 

The interior of the 2.0 Electric. 

Evan Klein courtesy of Meyers Manx

On a clear summer evening in Malibu, Sarofim and Thomas unveiled the first reimagining of the groundbreaking buggy: the Meyers Manx 2.0 Electric. With a feathery curb weight of 1,500 pounds, its proportions are identical to the original. The only shared part is a headlamp housing. The EV Manx will come with a standard 20 kWh battery and 150 miles of range, or an optional 40 kWh unit that delivers 300 miles. The lithium-ion pouch cells are packaged adjacent to two motors and an inverter, while the gear train tucks beneath the rear bodywork, which was sculpted around an air-cooled engine in the original. Rooting the new model in heritage was the original Meyers Manx circa 1964, which was displayed nearby.
“For me, the Meyers Manx has always had this elusive spark—it’s an antidote to the complexity of life, a holiday or break,” Sarofim said at the reveal of the electric model. “I’ve had Manxes in my life since my teens and I can tell you that the feeling of escape you have when driving one is very, very real, and most interestingly, reaches far beyond the car itself.”

Parked against the same Southern California sky that framed Bruce Meyers’s pioneering efforts decades ago, the new EV model manages to tip a hat to the past while embracing the future. 
The Meyers Manx EV’s first 50 customers will join a Beta program when they take delivery of the new 2.0 model in 2023, sharing feedback with the carmaker as they refine the production version. While this highlights there may still be work to be done, it also suggests that embracing a DNA hotwired to optimism goes a long way toward building a sunny future.
Click here to see all of the photos of the Meyers Manx 2.0 Electric.

Evan Klein courtesy of Meyers Manx

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You’re strolling the Bonhams auctions at Monterey Car Week, taking in a sea of vintage eye candy. The surrounding sheet metal is luscious, but in the distance something looks off—a gorgeous Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa appears to have been left in the drier a tad too long. 

The subscale steed in question is a perfect representation of the Maranello original, and is even licensed by Ferrari. But at 75 percent the size (and with a sale estimate of $90,000 to $120,000), this 2022 Ferrari Testa Rossa J by The Little Car Company represents a fraction of the cost and scale of the eight-figure original. The company’s pint-sized lineup also includes a scaled-down Aston Martin DB5 and Bugatti Type 35.

If those unmistakable pontoon fenders look pitch perfect, it’s because this specimen was built the proper way: manually, using hand-beaten aluminum panels, just like they did it in the 1950s. It was also developed from the original drawings documented by Ferrari Classiche. Hailing from the UK, nearly every aspect of this particular Prancing Horse is about as authentically evoked as can be. The perfectly scaled 12-inch Borrani-like wheels are wrapped in Pirelli Cinturato rubber; the red seats with white piping use the leather sourced from the same tanneries as used by Ferrari; pedals are plucked from the F8 Tributo parts bin, and the Nardi steering wheel boasts the world’s smallest quick release system. Even the Bilstein coilover dampers were tuned and approved by a Ferrari test driver at the marque’s famous Fiorano circuit near the factory. 

The interior. 

The Little Car Company

Rather than replicate a tiny V-12 Colombo engine, the J is motivated by a 48-volt electric motor producing 12 kW. It’s good for a rip-roaring 50 mph, which likely feels like twice that speed given the J’s low-to-the-ground, alfresco setup. Channeling your inner racer is the name of the game here because this particular specimen is configured as an homage to serial number 0732TR, a.k.a. “Lucybelle II,” a private entrant that was driven by Ray “Ernie” Erickson and Pebble Beach resident Ed Hugus and finished a remarkable seventh in the famous California race. (The top spot was taken by Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien in another Ferrari 250 TR.) In keeping with the authenticity theme, this model’s white and blue-striped scheme uses the same paint as Ferrari applies to its current models.

Linking the original model’s Pebble Beach roots to the modern day, this example adds a “1 of 1—2022 Pebble Beach Edition” plaque to the dashboard, with The Little Car Company donating profits of the sale to the Pebble Beach Company Foundation. A total of 299 Testa Rossa Js will be built, this example enabling the winner to essentially skip the year-long waitlist. And lest you hesitate if the value marches well into the six-figure range, consider that an unrestored 1957 250 TR sold in 2014 for more than $39,000,000—making this miniaturized driver seem like a relative bargain in the grand scheme of things.
Click here to see all the photos of the 2022 Ferrari Testa Rossa J.

The Little Car Company

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It’s a long journey from prototype to production car and the Rimac Nevera has finally completed it with the first delivery going to Formula 1 champ Nico Rosberg. 

Not that the Nevera hasn’t already impressed us plenty—the world record setting, Robb Report Best of the Best-winning EV hypercar has already proved its mettle as a highly functional, extraordinarily capable speed machine, as confirmed in our first drive. But delivering a production-spec car to a paying customer is easily the steepest milestone any carmaker faces, and paves the way for the inevitable gauntlet of real world durability, build quality and reliability.

The Croatian-built Nevera touts some astounding specs—0 to 62 mph in 1.85 seconds, nearly 2,000 hp and a seven-figure price tag. Rosberg’s stats aren’t bad either, as his 11 years in F1 included 206 races, 57 podiums, 23 wins and a 2016 World Champion title. The German-Finnish former racer is a near-ideal debut customer for the outrageous Nevera, the first product from Bugatti Rimac, which has helped raise $500M on the company’s valuation of $2B.

The first Rimac Nevera delivered 

Bugatti Rimac

Interestingly, though Rosberg’s 20-minute YouTube video of the delivery process feels like a sponsored sales pitch for the company, he reveals that he foolishly opted out of an early opportunity to invest in the company. Rosberg does, however, express genuine wonder at its organ-compressing acceleration, remarking that a YouTube drag race against a Ferrari SF90 made the Italian supercar look like “it’s some kind of Renault Twingo or something.” 
“Ever since I first met Mate and truly understood the genius behind Nevera, I knew I wanted car number one,” Rosberg says in Rimac’s official press release. Based on his business track record, it appears his passion for EV life is real: Rosberg has invested in more than 20 mobility startups, as well as Formula E. Furthermore, his 2021 championship-winning Extreme E race team is currently leading in points.

Rosberg and Rimac discussing the Nevera 

Bugatti Rimac

CEO Mate Rimac adds that “… we set out to build a car that impress even the best drivers in the world. Nico was on that list, and it’s a great feeling to know that someone who has mastered the most focused and cutting-edge motorsport in the world gets such a thrill from the car we’ve created.” Even better? Mate won’t have to worry about bad PR from reckless pileups when the ex-F1 champ maneuvers his new Rimac through the streets of Monaco. We hope.

It’s been more than half a century since Cadillac dominated the US luxury market. Over the past decades, the automaker rolled out show cars that promised to turn the hearts of the country—and the world—back to Detroit sheet metal. Yet despite the bold and often polarizing design concepts, such as the spaceship-like Voyage of the 1980s, the sinister Cien of the early 2000s and the elegant Elmiraj from 2013, Cadillac’s production cars often failed to measure up to the promises made by their eye-catching prologues. We’re hoping things are different this time around with the Celestiq, a sleek, fastback grand tourer that herald’s Cadillac’s shift to electrification, and perhaps the strongest push yet to resurrect the brand’s glory days.

“The future of Cadillac design changed when we made the decision to go all electric,” says Magalie Debellis, head of Cadillac Advanced Design, “It was the opportunity for a rebirth of the brand.”

The all-electric Cadillac Celestiq concept. 

Cadillac

A careful blend of past and future defines the Celestiq, with its low, wide proportions enabled by GM’s Ultium electric platform, the same that underpins the Cadillac Lyriq crossover and the new battery-powered GMC Hummer. In a time when many EVs are shifting to cab-forward designs, Cadillac kept a strong cab-rearward stance with the Celestiq—think muscular rear haunches—with a fastback glass roof that evokes shades of a modern Porsche 928.
Yet the Celestiq still stays true to long-entrenched Cadillac design cues such as strong vertical lighting signatures and a familiar front face, although the latter is reimagined for electrification since large air intakes aren’t needed. “The front grille is a total reinvention, the integration of high-end technology artfully integrated with a very sculptural and proud front end that blurs the limits between the different elements,” Debellis explains. “Being fully electric gave us the freedom to reinvent and push the boundaries with a very distinctive avant-garde design.”

Inside the Celestiq, a 55-inch LED display stretches from door to door. 

Cadillac

Elaborate lighting is de rigueur for any luxury car these days, and the Celestiq is no exception. “When you approach the vehicle, the lighting choreography welcomes the passengers, illuminating the badge then moving toward the headlamps as a digital “rain” for a truly vertical lighting-design signature,” Debellis says.

Designers and engineers looked to early Cadillac models for inspiration, including the hand-built, limited-edition 1957 Eldorado Brougham and bespoke, prewar V-16 sedans. Further inspiration came from mid-century architecture, including the work of Eero Saarinen, whose credits include GM’s famed design studio in Warren, Mich.

The interior, comprising materials crafted by hand, features reclining executive seats at the back. 

Cadillac

Inside the Celestiq, a 55-inch LED display stretches from door to door, with technology that blocks the view of the front passenger’s side of the screen from the driver to minimize distraction. Debellis calls the cabin “incredibly airy and modern” and notes the reclining executive rear seats and the glass roof, which uses suspended particle device technology that enables four different zones of variable lighting, from transparent to fully opaque—a welcome feature in hot and sunny climes. Debellis also says that while details have yet to be announced, the interior materials are crafted by hand and “make use of several sustainable and socially conscious design practices.”

Although many EVs are shifting to cab-forward designs, the Celestiq has a strong cab-rearward stance. 

Cadillac

An upcoming model based on the Celestiq is slated for production by late 2023. Reports are that the price will be in the neighborhood of $300,000, but Debellis promises more details on the vehicle later this year. We hope that many of the show car’s elements, including the tinted glass roof and the instrument panel, make it to the showroom floor. Meanwhile, the Cadillac Celestiq concept will be on display this year at various events during Monterey Car Week, culminating in the 71st Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on Sunday, August 21.
Click here to see all the photos of the Cadillac Celestiq concept.

The all-electric Cadillac Celestiq concept. 

Cadillac