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Chris Harris pits Fiesta ST against Mercedes G63 AMG in 0-60 battle... sort of

Vehicle performance tests are serious business, with reputations made or broken by things like braking distance, top speed, and lateral g-forces. King of the metrics, though, is the 0-60 run, which for unknown reasons has become the benchmark for what truly makes a car a performance machine.
Now, Chris Harris from Drive has turned the whole idea behind the sprint to 60 on its ear. Taking a new Ford Fiesta ST, Harris asks a simple question: would the ST be quicker to 60 on its own, or on a trailer being towed by a Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG?
It's a fair question, really. The Fiesta Harris tested hit 60 in 7.2 seconds on a slightly uphill section of runway. It should be noted that Harris quotes his ST at 182 horsepower, which is about 15 ponies less than what we're getting in the US, so these numbers might not hold up all that well against an American model. The G63 AMG, meanwhile, is a 536-horsepower monster, powered by a twin-turbo V8 that, able to propel the big SUV to 60 mph in just 5.2 seconds without towing a Fiesta.

EV tax credits: Here's every electric car or plug-in hybrid that qualifies

Starting on April 18, the Internal Revenue Service released new guidance for U.S. buyers shopping for a new electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle. On April 18th, the IRS showed only six fully electric vehicles on the qualified list, but a day later Volkswagen confirmed its U.S.-built ID.4 also qualifies. That means right now, seven fully electric vehicles qualify for the full $7,500 EV tax credit, with three more from Chevrolet coming for the 2024 model year (we would expect these 2024 models to roll out slowly and be difficult to find for at least the first few months they are on the market). In addition to those seven fully electric cars, two plug-in hybrids also qualify for the full $7,500 credit. To qualify, a vehicle must be assembled in North America and must meet a strict set of guidelines that cover where battery materials were sourced. If any battery materials come from certain countries (importantly including China), the vehicle's tax credit is automatically cut in half. Further, according to the IRS, the vehicle's manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) can't exceed $80,000 for vans, sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks or $55,000 for any other type of vehicle (basically meaning sedans). Electric vehicles that qualify for the full $7,500 EV tax credit: Cadillac Lyriq (2023-2024) Chevrolet Blazer EV (2024) Chevrolet Bolt EV (2023-2024) Chevrolet Bolt EUV (2023-2024) Chevrolet Equinox (2024) Chevrolet Silverado (2024) Ford F-150 Lightning — all models (2022-2023) Tesla Model 3 Performance (2022-2023) Tesla Model Y — all models (2022-2023) Volkswagen ID.4 — U.S.-built models (2022-2023) Plug-in hybrid cars that qualify for the full $7,500 EV tax credit: Chrysler Pacifica PHEV (2022-2023) Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring (2022-2023) A smaller credit is offered on fully electric cars and plug-in hybrids that are assembled in North America but have batteries with materials sourced from unqualified countries (mostly China).

All eyes on Detroit as automakers prepare for slow, careful reopening of plants

DETROIT — The U.S. factories that make Fords, Chevys and Jeeps are coming back to life this week as workers install new safety equipment and wake up machines ahead of the high-stakes restart the Detroit automakers plan to launch on Monday. Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles all plan to reopen North American factories on May 18. The reopening of the U.S. auto sector will be a closely watched test of whether workers across a range of industries can return to factories in large numbers without a resurgence of COVID-19 infections. How well the automakers do will be significant for the U.S. economy, as nearly 1 million workers are employed in the sector. Executives at Ford and GM said separately this week the companies have not recorded any cases of COVID-19 transmission in plants outside the United States since adopting new safety protocols. Those procedures include mandatory face masks, separation of workers on assembly lines, frequent cleaning of work areas and requirements that workers pass through temperature monitors and report any symptoms before entering a plant. The Detroit Three have taken unprecedented steps to share information about coronavirus safety practices and develop a common set of workplace standards for their restarts, working with the United Auto Workers union, executives said. "We thought it was critical that we did it together," Ford manufacturing and labor chief Gary Johnson told Reuters. "We've never done this as an industry." The Detroit automakers will restart U.S. plants without regular testing of workers, because they do not have access to sufficient testing capacity, executives and UAW officials said. They will test workers who report COVID-19 symptoms or have fevers discovered by temperature scanners installed at factory entrances. "We have to continue to push for this testing," United Auto Workers union Vice President Cindy Estrada told Reuters on Wednesday. "Unless we have testing weekly to keep sick people out of the plant there is always a risk." Adopting new safety practices is just part of the work the companies must do to reopen after an extraordinary shutdown that has lasted two months.   Wave zero At Ford, workers going in to ready factories are part of what Chief Operating Officer Jim Farley calls "wave zero." The work of wave zero employees "is really important for success of the startup," he said in an interview.