Always wanted a Tesla but didn’t want to deal with resellers? Well, here’s your chance. Tesla Malaysia has announced that the Model Y, its latest all-electric SUV, is now available to order in Malaysia with prices starting from as low as RM199,000.
The Model Y has a 5-star rating from NHTSA and Euro NCAP and provides flexible seating and storage for up to five passengers and their belongings with more than 2100 litres of cargo capacity. The Model Y comes with an all-glass roof, autopilot, active safety features, and a HEPA air filtration system.
Volkswagen has just released the first sneak peek of the brand-new Passat, which will make its global debut at the end of August this year. However, the all-new Passat variant will only officially be launched in the first quarter of 2024.
This new variant will be 144 mm longer than its predecessor, measuring 4917 mm in length. It will also have an extra 50 mm of legroom due to its larger size. Cargo space has increased by 40 litres to 690 litres with the rear seats in place. When the seats are folded, the volume increases by 140 litres over the original Passat waggon to 1,920 litres.
Front seats with ergoActive technology will be available as an option. These have electrical adjustability (up to 14-way, depending on model and equipment) as well as massage and air conditioning capabilities that can be programmed variably.
According to Transport Minister Anthony Loke, 200 vocational Public Service Vehicle (PSV) bus licences are being given away to the B40 group in the eastern states.
It was an addition to the 500 PSV bus licences that had been made available by the government under the MyPSV scheme that has just been introduced.
The moment has finally arrived for this long-awaited small SUV. Honda Malaysia has officially launched the WR-V, which made its global debut in Indonesia in November 2022.
The WR-V marks Honda’s first foray into the small SUV segment in the Malaysian market, making it the first non-national car maker to do so.
There will be four variants available: sitting on top is the RS variant, followed by the V, then the E and finally the S spec.
Exterior
The WR-V has a unique design language but shares a few similarities with the HR-V. For example, the placement of the rear door handle at the side of the door panel rather than on the door panel as with conventional handles.
The WR-V has total dimensions of 4,060mm long, 1,780mm wide, and 1,608mm in height, which makes it slightly smaller albeit wider than the Perodua Ativa.
The RS features the same exterior kit as the one introduced to the Thai market including the chrome chequered grille and 17-inch two-tone alloy wheels. Additional features include automatic LED headlights with sequential turn signals, power-adjustable door mirrors, LED daytime running lights, and LED front fog lights.
The KC23, created by Ferrari’s Special Projects division, is the latest in a long line of one-offs, including the SP51, based on the 812, and the SP48 Unica, which started with a F8 Tributo. That is not to mention legends like the FXX and such.
Just like the FXX and 599XX, the KC23 is a track-only toy based on the company’s most popular racing car ever, the 488 GT3 Evo. It was built over three years for one of the brand’s “most passionate collectors.”
According to Ferrari, the glass and light clusters, along with every single line on the 488 GT3 Evo, were modified. Highlights include a massive rear wing, motorised air vents in the flanks that fold away when not in use to keep the design as tidy as possible when the car is parked, and butterfly doors that are typically only found on Ferrari hypercars.
Caterham Project V, a brand-new all-electric sports car, has finally been unveiled after what seems like an eternity of teasing. Project V is a rear-wheel-drive, lightweight sports car, similar to the Seven, the company’s roadster based on the original Lotus Seven. It might be here as early as the end of 2025 and, unlike the Seven, this is fully electric.
Project V was always meant to be an electric car. It offers 268hp and an expected range of 400km thanks to a 200-kilowatt motor placed in the back axle and a 55-kWh USOC lithium-ion battery pack. A 150kW DC rapid charger can also recharge it from 20% to 80% in just 15 minutes.
In order to develop and run the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail project through public-private collaboration, MyHSR Corporation Sdn Bhd (MyHSR Corp) is planning to send a request for information (RFI) to private sector partners.
According to MyHSR Corp, the RFI will be made available for local and foreign partnerships to submit their proposals.
This would enable the government to examine issues like technical requirements, project costs, commercial and business models, consortium and governance framework, and interest and capacity of the industry to completely fund the project.
Aston Martin has unveiled the Valour, a limited edition sports car to mark its 110th anniversary. And guess what? It has a manual gearbox!
The model boasts a retro-inspired look that is unlike anything else in the lineup and is modelled after the 1980 RHAM/1 ‘Muncher’ Le Mans racer as well as the original V8 Vantage.
The Valour has a clamshell hood with a ‘horse shoe’ vent and twin NACA ducts, as well as carbon fibre bodywork. A large grille, vertical air curtains, and round LED headlamps are further down. A noticeable splitter and accents made of exposed carbon fibre connect them.
Most cars released these days are fitted with new technology or as the automakers call it, “cutting-edge technology.” However, new technology does not seemingly translate to good quality. Some are just unnecessary and the car would do fine without it.
The JD Power 2023 US Initial Quality Study, based on 93,380 participants who purchased or leased new 2023 model-year cars in America, found that the industry average increased to 192 problems per 100 (PP100) vehicles from 180 in 2022.
Now, we are not hating on electric vehicles (EVs) but according to the study, the majority of problems are from EVs. We can see why too. Because every automaker wants to release a new model that will “wow” the people, but this seems to cause more problems in the long run.
Apple CarPlay is arguably one of the best device-to-car applications introduced in the history of the automobile. It offers seamless connectivity between an Apple device and a car, but one of the major drawbacks is that CarPlay does not integrate vehicle settings, which means that a user will have to backtrack to the main menu to change vehicle settings, which can be annoying and distracting.
But Porsche seems to have figured it out, and claims to be the first manufacturer to do so.
The Porsche companion app, which is available on the App Store and lets users access a car’s status and get real time data such as travel range, tyre pressure, trip data, close status of the windows and doors, among others. It also allows users to remotely turn on the air-conditioning, and even supports remote parking.
The app has obviously been useful but it has now been upgraded to make it simpler for drivers to control numerous car functions from within the CarPlay interface. A supposed first for any car maker.
The My Porsche app, which was updated on Monday, gives users access to several aspects of the car, including the battery’s level of charge, destinations for the navigation system, and air conditioning settings. These features have been added to CarPlay in an update to the app.
Drivers can now view images of their exact car model within CarPlay, as well as sound profiles, radio station controls, climate management, and ambient lighting, according to the upgrade. The various settings can be configured inside wellness modes like “relax” or “warm up,” and can be called up using Siri, using quick actions in CarPlay.
