It’s 2037, and These Tech Breakthroughs Have Radically Transformed Your Car

Honda will build an electric car developed by Sony by 2025. Before you make any Sony Driveman jokes—get it, like the brand's iconic Walkman music player?—this is huge news for an industry that's had a hit-and-miss relationship with the tech sector so far.Sony has been sending clear signals that it intends to build electric vehicles, even showing off concept versions of the Vision-S 01 sedan and Vision-S 02 SUV recently. But Sony has no infrastructure for or experience in building cars—and company execs admit it, though Sony also said as recently as last year that it has no plans to produce any car.Sony won't be physically building any cars at all, at least not at first, so previous statements about not building any cars weren't totally wrong. Instead, per a joint announcement from Sony and Honda, the latter will build a car for the tech giant as part of a new joint venture getting off the ground this year, dubbed simply "New Company" in the announcement.The agreement stipulates that the two companies "plan to engage in the joint development and sales of high value-added battery electric vehicles (EVs) and commercialize them in conjunction with providing mobility services."The joint venture aims to leverage Honda's experiences building cars, sales know-how (and, presumably, its sales networks), supply chains, etc.—you know, car company stuff—with Sony's "development and application of imaging, sensing, telecommunication, network, and entertainment technologies."The new vehicle will be co-developed by Honda and Sony via this New Company, which will "plan, design, develop, and sell the EVs, but not own and operate manufacturing facilities," with that final distinction being key.Honda will be building the cars at its existing manufacturing facilities, at least for the initial new vehicle being launched in 2025. It is noted that Sony is expected to furnish a new "mobility service platform" for the cars as well, which we take to mean some kind of sweet infotainment package bundled with driver assistance technology.There is no mention of how the agreement impacts Honda's future in-house EV plans (which involve, among other things, utilizing General Motors to produce an electric SUV using that brand's Ultium EV platform), or whether this New Company will carry a more original and marketable name. We know now only that it is natural that a tech giant such as Sony would get hitched to an established automaker to make its, ahem, Vision cars a reality, and we look forward to seeing where this joint venture goes.

High-performance SUVs are a thing. Or just ask Ford, Jeep, Dodge, Acura, virtually all the European luxury brands, and now Cadillac. The 2023 Cadillac Escalade-V is the first and seemingly least-likely Cadillac SUV to wear the V-Series badge. But, with the brand focusing on expanding its high-performance V sub-brand—and on the heels of the launch of the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing—the humongous Escalade-V starts to make sense. Why not combine your most recognizable product with the V treatment you're hoping to make more recognizable, even if that product is a full-size, three-row SUV seemingly antithetical to V's athletic aspirations?And it's not like we didn't see the Escalade-V coming. We've seen it in spy photos and teasers. Cadillac now is sharing the first pictures of its massive performance SUV. All the pertinent details, however, are being reserved for a later date this spring. But with the pictures and video below, we can at least see how it will look like and gather some hints about what lies beneath.To the surprise of no one, the Escalade-V looks pretty much like the regular Escalade with V-Series badges and quad exhaust tips. Sporting a black grille and black details on the lower door panels, the 2023 Cadillac Escalade-V rides on unique wheels and high-performance Bridgestone tires. Big red brake calipers can be spotted peeking through those rims, and likely are sourced from Brembo. Expect GM's Magnetic Ride Control adaptive suspension to come standard, too.To address the elephant in the room, yes, the Escalade is gigantic. Any other smaller, lighter Cadillac SUV would have made more sense as a V-series. But remember, GM's chassis engineers are magicians, as evidenced by Cadillac's other V-series models' fine handling. While they'll have their work cut out making the tall and heavy Escalade dance, we can't wait to see what they've done.The big question is what will be under the Escalade-V's massive hood. Based on the exhaust sounds in video released by Cadillac, we're expecting the supercharged LT4 V-8. This engine also is used to power the CT5-V Blackwing sedan, where it makes 668 hp and 659 lb-ft of torque. Those numbers might not be the same in the Escalade-V—Cadillac will probably sacrifice some horsepower for greater torque lower in the rev range to help git this beefcake moving—though no matter what we'll see more than the 420 hp in the regular gas-fed Escalade. As far as the transmission goes, expect the 10-speed automatic to stick around, albeit retuned for snappier shifts and more eager gear selection.Inside, things should remain pretty much the same. A V-Series logo can be seen on the steering wheel, and we will perhaps see it on the headrests, too. Cadillac only revealed one picture of the interior, so we can only guess it will incorporate more carbon fiber trim and contrast stitching. But the 38-inch curved OLED dashboard screen should remain and perhaps will include the Performance Traction Management system that the CT5-V and Chevrolet Corvette have, which lets the driver adjust the stability control's settings for more performance.Although Cadillac is referring to this SUV as a V-Series model, it looks like it will officially bear the name of Escalade-V and not Escalade-V Blackwing. But that info and all the details are reserved for the spring when Caddy plans to share more with the world, after which time expect the 2023 Escalade-V to arrive at dealerships on the second half of this year.

With the introduction of the 2022 Toyota Tundra, we began to wonder when we'd see the next Sequoia SUV come out. Considering the full-size three-row SUV is loosely based off of the full-size pickup, it'd make sense that a new Tundra might beget an updated Sequoia. Sure enough, it looks as though a new Sequoia is finally happening, as Toyota has begun to tease out the look of the next-gen large SUV. Even better? It looks like there might be a few stylistic references to early Sequoia models in the new one.What We Get To See, So FarFrom the looks of the teaser image above, the 2023 Sequoia's design is going to depart from the current, second-generation model, which has been around since 2007. The rear end shows just how much change to expect: Where rounded, doughy, early naughts bodylines once meandered there now live more muscular, straight edges. The tail lights also show a new "T" design fast growing familiar across the Toyota SUV lineup. They draw not only further forward and into the rear quarter panel, but also further across the liftgate.The teaser also shows that the C-pillar has adopted a piece of black trim (instead of a body-color treatment) and brings the rear quarter window closer—physically, as we can tell thanks to some exposure editing—to the back of the rear doors. Toyota also gives the rear quarter windows a new arrowhead shape with a gray, silver, or chromed piece of trim between it and the body. Also getting some potential chrome treatment on this teaser image are the door handles.The New Liftgate Design Is A First Gen Sequoia CallbackThe bumper has also changed from a straight body separation on the body to now an angular one from the lower portion of the tail light to the molded overfender, however this separation does not continue into it. With our enhanced exposure edit, we also get a look at how the rear gate blends into the quarter panels, seemingly like the piece on the first-generation XK30/XK40 Sequoia. Instead of being completely encased into the liftgate, the rear window now curves around the gate and into the body, just like the 2001-2007 models' did.Unfortunately, we can't see how the glass separates to form the liftgate as its separation is not evident in the edited image. It's possible that the last bit going into the body is just a piece of trim—either black plastic or darkly tinted glass bonded by adhesive—and the separation follows the line seen in the rear spoiler and taillight just as it did with the first generation Sequoia. Or it could be one whole piece that lifts up with the rest of the liftgate. Finally, we also get a quick tease of the wheel, which on the surely up-level trim highlighted here looks to be a black-painted aluminum wheel with a machined face.Anything Else Teased?For the moment, this is all Toyota is giving out. There is no news on available engines, drivetrains, suspension, TRD versions, or the like. We imagine that the new Sequoia will get the same engine and drive treatments as the newest Tundra short of the live axle rear. Despite the Tundra's change to coil springs, we just don't see the Sequoia backsliding from its multilink, independent rear suspension setup—recently adopted by segment heavyweights from General Motors, the Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon, and long a staple of Ford's Expedition—to the Tundra's live axle, however improved it might be.Given how the Sequoia's teaser train has left the station, figure on the big SUV making its formal debut sometime soon.