While
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Draw the
CybertruckStart with an
acute trapezoid.Add a scalene
triangle on top of it.Draw two circles
for wheels.Finish the
drawing.44 MAY 2020 ~ CAR AND DRIVER
PHOTO^ ILLUSTRATIONS:^ HYUNDAIBYRADOVANVARICAK,^MASERATIBYANDREI^AVARVARIIBrand Expanders
2021 Hyundai Santa Cruz
WHAT IT IS Hyundai’s foray into the
pickup market. It follows Honda’s
approach rather than the formula that
American manufacturers perfected. The
unibody truck will be offered with a single
bed length, a four-door crew cab, and a
choice of four-cylinder engines.
WHY IT MATTERS Hyundai is building
the Santa Cruz as an affordable and
efficient choice for drivers who haul
bulky but not necessarily heavy items.
Think mountain bikes, kayaks, and
camping gear rather than gravel, boats,
and cinder blocks.
PLATFORM The Santa Cruz will ride on
the same basic bones and be built in the
same Montgomery, Alabama, plant as
the Santa Fe mid-size crossover.
POWERTRAIN Expect to see the
Santa Fe’s 2.4-liter and turbocharged
2.0-liter inline-fours paired with an eight-
speed automatic and all-wheel drive.
COMPETITION Mostly the Honda
Ridgeline, but also the Chevrolet
Colorado, Ford Ranger, GMC Canyon,
Nissan Frontier, Toyota Tacoma, and to
a lesser extent, the Jeep Gladiator.
WHAT MIGHT GO WRONG Hyundai has
confirmed production, but with towing
and payload capabilities below those of
its competitors, there’s no guarantee
that sales will materialize.
ESTIMATED ARRIVAL AND PRICE It should
reach dealers in 2021 with a starting
price around $25,000.
25 Cars Worth Waiting For
We Shall See
The automotive world is littered with the
wreckage of big ideas that fizzled out.
The following EV startups have made
grand promises, but we wouldn’t
recommend holding your breath.Bollinger: Thus far, founder Robert
Bollinger has financed development of the
rugged $125,000 B1 electric truck on his
own, but he’s now looking for $100 million
in funding to kick off production. Not
securing that money could disrupt things.
Byton: Production of the electric
M-Byte SUV should begin in China soon.
Unfortunately, that country is in the
process of reining in EV subsidies, which
could hurt Byton’s plans.
Fisker: Henrik Fisker’s second or
third go as a carmaker starts with the
Ocean SUV. You can reserve one with
a $250 deposit to the company, which
claims production will begin in 2021 but,
as of press time, hasn’t announced where
that will happen.
Karma: After parting ways with
Fisker, Karma Automotive began
tweaking the nearly decade-old Fisker
Karma into the Karma Revero. Deliveries
have begun, but so have the layoffs. The
company has shed 260 employees since
the start of the new year.
Lordstown: GM’s old Lordstown,
Ohio, plant will be ready to build electric
pickups as soon as new owner Lordstown
Motors can secure a government loan
to help with the retooling. The problem:
The Trump administration wants to
eliminate the program that would provide
such a loan.
Lucid: It wants its electric Air sedan
to take on the German luxury brands, but
Lucid needs to finish its Arizona factory
first. Construction is underway, but the
projected start of production later this
year might be on the optimistic side.
Nio: This Chinese automaker’s U.S.
plans are fuzzy at best. With China’s
market slowdown affecting its bottom
line, it’s unlikely Nio will sell vehicles for
the foreseeable future.