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Hyundai Sonata PHEV will go 27 miles on electric power

The Hyundai Sonata Plug-in Hybrid will have an all-electric range of 27 miles. That will make it the second-highest among US plug-in hybrids, after the Chevrolet Volt. The Volt is technically an extended-range plug-in, according to Chevy, but we feel fine comparing the two here. Either way, the Hyundai beats out the 19-mile all-electric range of Ford's two plug-in hybrids and the paltry 11 miles of the Prius Plug In. The good news is that the Sonata's numbers are a bit better than previously expected. The plug-in hybrid was forecast to be able to go 24 miles on electricity alone. The Sonata PHEV also delivers 202 but, though, as well all know, range drops precipitously if you're shooting to use all of them horses at once. The seventh-generation Sonata body style is also sleeker and delivers better aerodynamics. No word on how much the PHEV will cost yet, but it will go on sale in the US this fall. And while the Sonata PHEV will technically available for Hyundai dealers to stock in all 50 states, if you live outside of California or the nine states that follow its zero-emissions vehicles rules, you will need to special order the vehicle. Based on the US Department of Energy's Fueleconomy.gov site, the Sonata PHEV's miles-per-gallon-equivalent rating of 99 beats out that of the Ford Fusion Energi and C-Max PHEVs but trails the Chevrolet Volt's. Again, the Sonata came in with better numbers than we previously thought, as it was expected to have a 93 MPGe rating. You can read our First Drive of the Sonata Plug-in Hybrid here. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2016 Hyundai Sonata Plug-In Hybrid: First Drive View 20 Photos News Source: US Department of Energy via Hybrid CarsImage Credit: Copyright 2015 Sebastian Blanco/AOL Green Hyundai Hybrid PHEV mpge ev range hyundai sonata plug-in hybrid sonata plug-in hybrid

Autoblog Podcast #362

Episode #362 of the Autoblog podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth and Chris Paukert cover the year-end news, including the surprise resignation of Hyundai Motor North America CEO John Krafcik, strong early sales for the 2014 Jeep Cherokee, and 2015 Ford F-150 rumors ahead of its expected Detroit Auto Show debut. Dan also had a chance to look back at 2013 and ahead to 2014 with Autoline's John McElroy. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the new rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along after the jump with our Q&A. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #362:
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Poor headlights cause 40 cars to miss IIHS Top Safety Pick rating

Over the past few months, we've noticed a number of cars and SUVs that have come incredibly close to earning one of the IIHS's highest accolades, the Top Safety Pick rating. They have great crash test scores and solid automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems. What trips them up is headlights. That got us wondering, how many vehicles are there that are coming up short because they don't have headlights that meet the organization's criteria for an "Acceptable" or "Good" rating. This is a revision made after 2017, a year in which headlights weren't factored in for this specific award. This is also why why some vehicles, such as the Ford F-150, might have had the award last year, but have lost it for this year. We reached out to someone at IIHS to find out. He responded with the following car models. Depending on how you count, a whopping 40 models crash well enough to receive the rating, but don't get it because their headlights are either "Poor" or "Marginal." We say depending on how you count because the IIHS actual counts truck body styles differently, and the Infiniti Q70 is a special case. Apparently the version of the Q70 that has good headlights doesn't have adequate forward collision prevention technology. And the one that has good forward collision tech doesn't have good enough headlights. We've provided the entire list of vehicles below in alphabetical order. Interestingly, it seems the Volkswagen Group is having the most difficulty providing good headlights with its otherwise safe cars. It had the most models on the list at 9 split between Audi and Volkswagen. GM is next in line with 7 models. It is worth noting again that though these vehicles have subpar headlights and don't quite earn Top Safety Pick awards, that doesn't mean they're unsafe. They all score well enough in crash testing and forward collision prevention that they would get the coveted award if the lights were better.