- Over half of Canadians still not ready to consider EVs
- The 2023 Honda HR-V is fortified with Civic underpinnings
- Toyota cleans up at 2022 Best Value Vincentric awards
- Lexus is finally moving on from its ‘Darth Vader’ spindle grille, sort of
- Watch cars get unintentional air over twin speed bumps
Welcome to our roundup of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam.
Here’s what you missed while you were away.
Over half of Canadians still not ready to consider EVs
A 2023 Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+ being charged at an Ionity EV charger Photo by Mercedes-Benz
J.D. Power Canada recently completed its first ever Electric Vehicle Consideration study and found Canadians are less ready for the electric evolution than their counterparts south of the border. Fifty-three per cent of Canadians polled said they were “very unlikely” or “somewhat unlikely” to consider an electric vehicle for their next purchase, while a majority of Americans (59 per cent) say they are “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to shop the EV aisle at their local dealership. We can probably chalk the variance up to a lack of inventory and infrastructure in Canada, but Canadians also cite price as a sticking point more often than Americans. According to J.D. Power Canada’s J.D. Ney, however, we’re still headed in the right direction. “The good news is that EV consideration increases dramatically across a number of metrics once consumers are either better informed on the capabilities of the newest EVs or, better yet, have personal experience with them,” he said.
The 2023 Honda HR-V is fortified with Civic underpinnings
2023 Honda HR-V EX-L Photo by Honda
Honda has chosen a new platform for the second-generation HR-V hatchback, building it on the same Honda Global Architecture platform that underpins the Civic, rather than the Honda Fit base it used before. This allows for a stretched and widened composition, and a bigger and smoother engine in the 158-horsepower 2.0-litre four-cylinder. The 2023 HR-V also gets an upgraded safety camera system, a re-tuned AWD system mated strictly to a CVT transmission, and a new Hill Descent Control that holds the vehicle under 18 km/h coming down steep grades, and a host of interior upgrades. Read more and check out the full image gallery in our First Look coverage here.
Toyota cleans up at 2022 Best Value Vincentric awards
2022 Toyota Corolla Hybrid Premium Package Photo by Jil McIntosh
Automotive data collector Vincentric has released its Best Value awards for 2022, naming Toyota as the best bang for buck for the 11th year running. Best Value in this case is a measurement of how much the “measured cost” (aka a segment average) deviated from the “expected cost” — in other words, those vehicles that sucked less money from their owners/operators than others in their segment. Mazda, Toyota, Lexus, Chevrolet, and Audi were named as brand winners, while individual rides like the Corolla Hybrid, Volvo V90, Ford Expedition, Tesla Model Y, and Toyota Tundra were among those selected within their segment. Check out the full list of winners here. The awards also honoured more hybrid vehicles than ever before, including 10 that scored better for value in their segments than straight combustion vehicles.
Lexus is finally moving on from its ‘Darth Vader’ spindle grille, sort of
2023 Lexus RX 350 Photo by Graeme Fletcher
The spindle grille has been a revealing feature for Lexus for quite some time now, leading its vehicles aesthetics in a bold and overstated way. But now the brand says it’s ready to move forward (sort of) with a new front-end design that’s less like the big bad from Star Wars, which Lexus global design chief Koichi Suga says it’s a simple matter of finding the “right balance.” The first few attempts at this new look are already visible on the electric RZ, which has no functional need for a grille whatsoever and so instead wears a smoother front end, as well as on the new RX SUV that tightens the spindle a bit and creates a more gradual transition at the borders. Comment on the story to let us know what you think of the new take on the spindle grille.
Watch cars get unintentional air over twin speed bumps
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A pair of speed bumps that have been present on Chestnut Avenue in Fresno, California since before 1997 are now gaining Internet notoriety for their hilarious ability to send unsuspecting drivers bouncing off the roof of their airborne cars. An eight-minute compilation video shows dozens of cars, trucks, and SUVs coming in too hot and screeching on the brakes before bucking over the double bumps, sometimes hitting a bumper or fender, and sometimes actually getting air, including in the case of a police Ford Explorer. It seems dangerous, but the man who films the videos from his window and posts them to YouTube says he hasn’t seen a collision in 11 years.
Keyword: News Roundup: A study reveals EV hesitancy, Lexus changes its grille, and more