36 May 2019 _ PopularMechanics.com
2019
AUTOMOTIVE
EXCELLENCE
AWARDSPHOTOGRAPH BY CRAIG CAMERON OLSENTHE FIRST SIGNS OF OUR TRANSPORTATION FUTURE
PLEASE
BUCKLE YOUR
SEAT BELT.
THE FUTURE
I S A B O U T
TO BEGIN.
THERE ARE A LOT OF COOL MACHINES hitting the road this year. We’ve got a Shelby GT500
that promises to give the Ford GT a case of engine envy. There’s a new Toyota Supra. Cadil-
lac’s building a twin-turbo V-8. Ram’s got 1,000 lb-ft of torque. Awesome, all of it. But when
we look a little further ahead, the potential for wildly different forms of transportation
feels like it’s tantalizingly close. And yeah, we know—you might have believed that in 1998,
too, and been totally wrong. But this time, we think we’re right. And not about autono-
mous blob pods puttering apathetic ride-sharers from WeWork to SadVille. We’re talking
electric dune buggies. Pickup trucks that do zero-to-60 in three seconds. Porsches that
charge as fast as Porsches do everything else. And these aren’t just wish-list ideas from
EV-loving Buckminster Fullers. This is stuff that is all actually imminent (Porsche Taycan),
supposedly imminent (Rivian R1T truck, available for preorder now with production slated
for 2020), or at least plausible (Volkswagen’s e-buggy concept, which debuted at the Geneva
Motor Show and rides on VW’s new modular electric platform). To everyone who looked at
that shockingly horrible Mr. Potato Head Google car a few years ago and started hoarding
Fox-body Mustangs in your prepper compounds, we say, stand down. The car market circa
2022 might not turn out exactly the way we expect, but good things are on the way. Say it
with us, loud enough for Volks wagen to hear: Electric dune buggies need to happen. The
great thing is, they just might.BY EZRA DYER