Powered rear hatches make top hinged doors with a spare on them easily possible.

All good improvements in the new model but none of which have any considerable effect on the liftover height save for the spare tire... Which could easily still be wedged onto the back. 

I had some experience with a prototype ZF motor and controls a number of years ago and it was teeerrrible. Unconventional would describe the communications and controls configuration in the nicest way.

Here is what annoys me about all of the latest ‘offroady’ stylings of CUVs replacing hatchbacks and wagons - the crazy high liftover heights. I like to stick my dogs in the way back of a car and as the liftover heights get higher it reduces the number of cars which are available for that without also getting a ramp.…

I drove a Kona recently and I thought the ride was actually pretty harsh. 

Yes? 

We are, as a world population, getting fat and old. Cars are going to be taller until that changes.

Danke. It looks like it.

The Rav-4 is killing it right now in its HEV spec. Imagine if it came with 30+ miles of Plug-in range. It would be no contest.

I chose the Ioniq mostly because my dogs fit in the trunk better, but the Niro is a great car! 

Most US cities have roads within them that go over 50MPH. If that limit was bumped up to 70MPH then it would qualify I think. 

eBoost! 

I was super excited to learn about that truck until I read more in to it. Max speed of 50mph simply won’t work over here in the States.

Completely unrelated to the article - hot is the rear visibility in the new 3 hatch? It looks terrible.

Haha, sounds about right. I think if they were to unveil a hybrid performance model they just shouldn’t mention it being a hybrid. Ignore all power and torque numbers and just shout about its 0-60 numbers.

That dash / screen suuuuuuuucks. How many times did the sun beam straight into your face bouncing off of the plate of glass stuck immediately in front of you?

I don’t think you really even need hot-swappable batteries though. Waiting 30 minutes to recharge isn’t a huge deal if you need to be loading or unloading crap from the vehicle anyways.

I’ll agree with that. The system in my Ioniq is ready for a SuperSize treatment. 6 gear DCT with an inline electric motor? Right now its ~80KW ICE and ~30KW EV pairing. Doubling that would make for a hilariously fun car to drive

Where my wife works they’re chomping at the bit for AWD EV vans / trucks or SUVs. They see 4 to 8 clients per day all within our Metro area. They average ~100 miles per day (25K per year), so a 150-200 mile range would easily feel comfortable. They do go off road out into the middle of wet fields, so AWD is a must.…

The Fit is also a $16k car. I have had a number of ‘luxury’ cars that were built over the last 50 years and the Fit is more civilized than many of them. I would put the Fit on par with my ‘97 Civic LX (came standard with AC!).