The 2019 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4X4 is about as throwback and old school as you can get. Remove the roof and side panels, lay the windshield flat, and you almost get whooshed back to 1945 when the earliest ancestor of this creature was patrolling the battlefields of Europe.
The light show rollout and hype-filled introduction of the Tesla Cybertruck has disrupted the marketplace and undoubtedly shifted marketing plans for a variety of companies.
Manufacturers showcased more than a dozen electrified cars, SUVs and crossovers at the 2019 LA Auto Show, demonstrating the importance of auto companies getting into this area of vehicle propulsion and the breadth of expanded plug-in offerings.
While presented as beefy and capable as the Ford F-150, because of its non-standard configuration, the Cybertruck will likely fail to be seen as a true head-to-head competitor, even if it can keep to its stated $39,900 starting price.
What Ford has done is expand the Mustang lineup with the all-new, all-electric 2021 Mustang Mach-E SUV.
The second-generation 2019 Mazda CX-9 is a driver-oriented midsize crossover SUV that can also hold seven passengers.
Our 2019 Toyota Prius LE AWD-e Hybrid was rated at 52 mpg city/48 highway/50 combined, only a two-mpg deficit compared to the standard Prius and four-to-six mpg less than the stingy Prius Eco.
The 2019 BMW 745e combines the inline, 280-horsepower, 3.0-liter six-cylinder with an 111-horsepower eDrive electric motor and a 10.3 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack to deliver a potent 389 total horsepower. That’s good for a 4.9-second zero-to-60 sprint.
Which brings us to the 2019 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid, which is actually a plug-in hybrid. It’s Subaru’s first car with a plug.
The bottom line is FCA, often beat-up for not being as enthusiastic about electric drive, appears to have stealthily positioned itself to become one of the country’s leaders in electrification.