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Nissan Titan Pro-4X, Hyundai Kona and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV | Autoblog Podcast #621

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski and Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. They talk about cars they've driven recently, including the 2020 Nissan Titan Pro-4X, Hyundai Kona and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Then they talk news, starting with Volvo's new pick-up and drop-off service. Then they talk about Q1 U.S. sales figures. Lastly, they discuss the possibility of new styles of motorcycle from Harley-Davidson, including a flat-track bike and a cafe racer. Autoblog Podcast #621 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving 2020 Nissan Titian Pro-4X 2020 Hyundai Kona Ultimate AWD 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Volvo Valet U.S. car sales plummet Harley-Davidson cafe racer and flat track motorcycles Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Mitsubishi kills CHAdeMO on upcoming Outlander PHEV

Mitsubishi will be adding a number of features to its Outlander Plug-in Hybrid SUV when it introduces the model to the US this summer. It'll also be subtracting a CHAdeMO-standard fast-charging port. The Japanese automaker is saying there aren't enough compatible stations in the States to warrant it, so domestic drivers will have to settle for the SAE port for their fast-charging purposes. Mitsubishi and Nissan are the two Japanese automakers that have been pushing hardest for CHAdeMO as a fast-charging standard. Many US and German automakers have been pushing the competing SAE Combo standard for fast-charging, but the charging station companies seem to be just as happy to install EVSEs with both ports on them. Mitsubishi showed off an Outlander PHEV at a reception in advance of the North American Auto Show in Detroit starting this week, though the car won't be at the show itself. The place where the CHAdeMO port is usually placed was covered by a plastic plate, according to Automotive News. Mitsubishi Motors North America spokesman Alex Fedorak confirmed to Autoblog that the Outlander PHEV will make its US debut by late summer, and that it wouldn't have a CHAdeMO charging port. The Outlander PHEV will start sales in August, and Mitsubishi is hoping the model's introduction will push Mitsubishi's US sales above the 100,000-vehicle threshold for the first time since 2007. The automaker has repeatedly delayed the US debut of the Outlander PHEV. While Mitsubishi hasn't released specifications, the model is likely to have better fuel efficiency and more power than its Japanese and European counterparts. Featured Gallery Plug In 2014: Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV View 12 Photos News Source: Automotive News, Automotive NewsImage Credit: Copyright 2016 Sebastian Blanco / AOL Green Mitsubishi SUV Hybrid PHEV

Weekly Recap: Toyota wants cars to be your 'close friends' around 2020

Toyota confirmed plans this week to launch autonomous technology in its production cars around 2020. The automaker's version is called Highway Teammate, and it's one element of a broader mobility strategy that includes vehicles communicating with each other and the grid. "Toyota believes that interactions between drivers and cars should mirror those between close friends who share a common purpose, sometimes watching over each other and sometimes helping each other out," the company said in a statement. That sounds utopian, and perhaps a bit cheesy, but it's an acknowledgment that autonomous driving requires more than technology developed in a vacuum. Toyota is looking at its research in a broader context, and dubs its overall strategy the Mobility Teammate Concept. Highway Teammate is the first step. Its test vehicle is a modified Lexus GS, which uses road-mapping data and external sensors to merge or exit highways, change lanes, and maintain safe distances during driving. It's operated on the Shuto Expressway in Tokyo. Toyota has been working on autonomous tech since the 1990s, with the goal of providing mobility for older people and the disabled, as well as lowering the frequency of traffic accidents. Toyota's push comes as an early adopter, Nissan, is hedging on its own deadline to implement the autonomous tech by 2020 due to a lack of firm laws governing self-driving cars around the world. Conversely, Volvo took the landmark step of being the first automaker to accept liability for when its cars will operate in autonomous mode, and urged the US government to set federal guidelines to regulate the technology. OTHER NEWS & NOTES 2016 BMW M4 GTS: Your water-injected, turbo-boosted demon BMW is unleashing its most powerful M4 ever, a 493-horsepower special edition that's road legal yet bred for the track. The company is making 700 copies for sale around the world, and 300 of them will come to the United States. The twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter six-cylinder revs to 7,600 rpm and uses a water-injection technology to cool the intake air and lower the compression temperature. BMW says this allows it to wring more power out of the inline six. The car also uses carbon-fiber reinforced plastic for the roof, hood, engine compartment strut brace, drive shaft, and rear spoiler to reduce weight. The M4 features BMW's organic light-emitting diode taillights, which are said to be an industry first.