1969 Jaguar Xke Coupe 2-door 2 Plus 2, 4.2l on 2040-cars

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2014 Jaguar XKR-S GT claws at the driving enthusiast in us

If you still find yourself coming up a few seconds short per lap in your Jaguar XKR-S, the British automaker has introduced the XKR-S GT - a cat specifically tuned for the racing circuit - at the New York Auto Show.
While Jaguar has left the supercharged 5.0-liter V8 unchanged (550 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque), it has tuned and tweaked all the items that really make cars go quicker on the track (e.g. suspension, aerodynamics, contact patches, brakes). A once-over reveals upgraded go-fast goodies including a new ventilated hood, extended wheel arch spats, reworked front end with a bespoke front splitter and canards, a massive rear wing, height-adjustable adaptive dampers, active exhaust, carbon-ceramic brakes and sticky Pirelli Corsa tires. Try as we might, the driver in us can't find anything we not to like about this enthusiast-tuned coupe.
Of course all of the upgraded XK goodness doesn't come easy, or cheap. Jaguar will limit North American sales to just 30 units and price each at $174,000. Learn all the juicy details in the official press release below.

2022 Jaguar I-Pace Road Test Review | 762 miles in Jag's EV

A legion of new electric cars has been launched over the past couple years, so it’s easy to forget about one of the earliest entries in the electric revolution: the Jaguar I-Pace. In fact, the I-Pace is so old now that itÂ’s getting a mid-cycle refresh of sorts for the 2022 model year. Autoblog had its “First Drive” of this futuristic-looking crossover-hatchback nearly four years ago, so itÂ’s time to see where the electric Jag stands now that it has more competition.  To really get a sense of where the I-Pace fits today, I decided to take it on a road trip from Detroit, Michigan, to Buffalo, New York, and back. This would test the carÂ’s real-world highway range, its charging ability and luxury prowess as a premium crossover. It also ended up being a test of the Rust BeltÂ’s charging infrastructure and ability to facilitate EV road tripping. The trip starts with a 100% charge in Michigan, 50-degree weather and a 381-mile drive ahead of me. According to the sticker for this 2022 Jaguar I-Pace EV400 HSE, it has a 222-mile range on a full charge — thatÂ’s down from the 234 miles it was rated for in 2021. I set out, and itÂ’s all good vibes at the start. This I-Pace has the standard 20-inch wheels (not the optional, giant 22s), which pair perfectly with the air suspension to provide a truly comfy ride. The adaptive cruise control makes dealing with rush-hour traffic through Detroit easy, and the I-PaceÂ’s dual-motor powertrain, good for 394 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, is a delight to unleash when the road opens up. Even at 60 mph-plus, the I-Pace has plenty of go to pin you back like other quick EVs do today. As I make my way into Ohio and navigate through Toledo, some gripes pop up. The lane-centering system is finicky and downright scary at times. Poor lane markings cause it to abruptly yank the car left or right, and you need to be quick at the wheel to keep it from driving onto the shoulder or worse — other cars with similar lane-following tech perform significantly better on the same roads. ItÂ’s even more frustrating when I learn how good it is on a highway with clear and proper lane markings, tracking beautifully Â… until the road no longer cooperates. Its inability to cope when lane markings suddenly deteriorate makes this system hardly worth using. Watching out for its bad behavior is more mentally taxing than just turning the system off and driving without.

Child cobalt miners: Automakers pledge ethical minerals sourcing for EVs

BERLIN - Leading carmakers including Volkswagen and Toyota pledged on Wednesday to uphold ethical and socially responsible standards in their purchases of minerals for an expected boom in electric vehicle production. Demand for minerals such as cobalt, graphite and lithium is forecast to soar in the coming years as governments crack down on vehicle pollution and carmakers step up their investments in electric models. To cover its plans for more than 80 new models by 2025, Volkswagen alone is looking for partners in China, Europe and North America to provide battery cells and related technology worth more than 50 billion euros ($59 billion). Talks with major cobalt producers, including Glencore, at VW's Wolfsburg headquarters last week ended without a deal. More than half of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country racked by political instability and legal opacity, and where child labor is used in mines. On Wednesday, a group of 10 leading passenger-car and truck manufacturers announced an initiative to jointly identify and address ethical, environmental, human and labor rights issues in raw materials sourcing. The partnership dubbed "Drive Sustainability" consists of VW, Toyota Motor Europe, Ford, Daimler, BMW, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo Cars and truckmakers Scania and Volvo. The alliance "will assess the risks posed by the top raw materials (such as mica, cobalt, rubber and leather) in the automotive sector," said Stefan Crets of the CSR Europe business network. "This will allow Drive Sustainability to identify the most impactful activities to pursue" to address issues within the supply chain.Reporting by Andreas Cremer.Related Video: Image Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images Green BMW Ford Honda Jaguar Land Rover Mercedes-Benz Automakers Toyota Volkswagen Volvo Green Automakers Green Culture Electric Scania ethics mining