Author: Popular Mechanics

A diesel-powered SUV from Japan is just over the horizon.

This post originally appeared on the Popular Mechanics website, where you can read it in its entirety. Written by Ken Gross.

Despite widespread acceptance of diesel engines in Europe (approximately 90 percent of the cars in the U.K. use diesels), Americans still shudder at the memory of General Motors’ hapless gas engine-based diesels of the 1980s, and smoky, clattery Mercedes-Benz 300SD oil burners. But there are some signs of progress. Persistent German carmakers continue to introduce new clean-burning diesel cars and SUVs, and next year, even the Japanese will enter the diesel market. We just had a sneak preview of a diesel-powered Mazda CX-7 that’s on sale now in parts of Europe and Japan, and we came away impressed. (more…)

Aptera unveils a design-intent version of its all-electric 2E and insists that it’s on the road to financial stability.

This post originally appeared on the Popular Mechanics website, where you can read the entire post. Written by Basem Wasef.

CARLSBAD, Calif.—On Wednesday, Aptera’s vice president and chief engineer Tom Reichenbach unveiled a design-intent prototype of the Aptera 2E. The all-electric vehicle—which was hours away from being shipped to Detroit to compete for the Automotive X Prize—wears a number of outwardly visible alterations from the earlier Typ-1 e prototype that will make it more suitable for daily use. Though the body is visibly paunchier than the predecessor we test drove two years ago, the 2E retains its striking, head-turning silhouette, not to mention a coefficient of drag that’s below 0.15.

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