We’ve seen some very successful new vehicle launches this year and it turns out, new owners are more excited than ever to get behind the wheel of the newest of the new. 

JD Power talked with over 110,000 new vehicle owners for their 2021 US Automotive Performance, Execution, and Layout study, known as APELS (appeals). Now in it’s 26th year, APELS measures owners’ emotional attachment and level of excitement with their new vehicles. 

Owners consider 37 attributes, ranging from the sense of comfort they feel when climbing into the driver’s seat to the exhilaration they get when they step on the accelerator. When it comes to mass market brands, Dodge came out on top, with a score of 882 out of a thousand, actually tying Porsche, which was the highest ranked premium brand.

Electric Vehicle startup Lucid is leaving range anxiety in the dust with their new EPA rating. At 520 miles of range, the Lucid Air Dream Edition R is now the longest-range electric vehicle ever rated by the Environmental Protection Agency. With that rating, it delivers over a hundred miles of additional range over its closest competitor.

Not only is Volvo aiming to be all-electric, they’re going leather-free too!

Starting with the new C40 Recharge, all new fully electric Volvo models will be completely leather-free. By 2025, Volvo is shooting for 25 percent of the material in their new cars to be recycled or bio-based content, such as forestry byproducts, recycled corks, and plastic bottles. The company says this move is driven by a concern about the negative environmental impacts of cattle farming, including deforestation.

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And that does it for this week’s Motor News.