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  Its looks might still call back to the battlefields of World War II, but there's nothing old-fashioned about the Jeep Wrangler 4xe's powertrain. [credit: Jeep ]

It is not a hard-and-fast rule, but most cars would be better with the addition of some electric motors. There are always exceptions—heavy batteries and an electric motor would ruin a Caterham 7, for instance—but it holds true for most cars. Consider the Jeep Wrangler 4xe, the new plug-in hybrid variant of the nation's favorite rock-crawler.

For non-car people, Wrangler might as well be synonymous with Jeep. The current-generation Wrangler only dates back to 2017, but it still carries plenty of styling cues that hark straight back to the original World War II Jeep. Big wheels project out from the body, protected in plastic arch extensions that house the LED daylight running lights up front.

But it's not a particularly big SUV by the standards of 2021, at 188.4 inches (4,786 mm) long (including the rear-mounted spare tire). The doors signal to you that they're removable by way of large external hinges. The only real clues that this is a plug-in hybrid are some electric blue bits here and there (like the tow hooks) plus the charging port that lives just below the A pillar on the driver's side.

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  The BMW X5 xDrive45e is a 50 mpg plug-in hybrid SUV. [credit: BMW ]

It's been a while since we spent time with BMW's plug-in hybrid X5. Since then, the German automaker replaced the X5 with an all-new model called the X5 xDrive45e. The brand has returned to its iconic inline six-cylinder engine configuration under the hood and has doubled the traction battery in capacity, usefully boosting the SUV's electric-only range.

Styling-wise, the X5 xDrive45e is similar to its non-hybrid sibling. It's a big vehicle that looks particularly tall on the road. I think it lacks the handsomeness of the original X5, but the Internet already has enough takes on BMW styling and doesn't need another one from me.

On the inside, all the materials you sit on or touch feel high-quality, and the driver's seat has good forward and rear visibility. However, I felt a little like I was sitting on the car (in an overstuffed armchair) rather than in it. Ahead of the driver is a thick-rimmed multifunction steering wheel and a 12.3-inch digital main instrument display.

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  I'm very sorry, but this is as far off-road as I was able to take the Land Rover Defender during our time with the SUV. [credit: Jonathan Gitlin ]

I wasn't expecting to be quite as charmed as I was by the Land Rover Defender. We first saw the new Defender at 2019's Frankfurt auto show , where it proved to be a hit by marrying rugged looks and off-road skills with a healthy helping of tech. Even though I fell for its looks, I was trepidatious about spending a week with one, having failed to gel with most Land Rovers in the past. As I found out, those fears were misplaced (mostly), for the Defender was not at all agricultural in behavior, unlike its 20th-century forerunners.

But before we go any further, an apology of sorts, or at least an explanation. Last September, Land Rover held a media first-drive event for the SUV, where journalists got to spend a couple of days driving up and down Mount Equinox in the Taconics. Alas, Ars couldn't attend because of scheduling conflicts—instead, we used that time to test a couple of electric vehicles instead. And so, although the Defender is built to go off-road, the best I managed during my week with it was some radical parking, as seen in the gallery above.

Therefore, I don't know how well it fords water up to 35.4 inches (900mm) deep. I don't know how well it approaches breaks-over or departs from obstacles (at angles of 38˚, 28˚, and 40˚, respectively). I can't really tell you how good the permanent four-wheel-drive system, with twin speed transfer case and optional locking center and rear differentials, works on rough ground. I can't opine on how well the various software systems—Terrain Response 2, All Terrain Progress Control, Hill Descent Control—manage the task of keeping you right-side up and moving in the intended direction. Which makes this review somewhat lacking, given that stuff is basically the Defender's raison d'être . Mea culpa .

Enlarge / Yes, I am aware that photographing an electric car in front of an electricity power station is a cliché. Sorry. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

I wasn't expecting the Ford Mustang Mach-E to draw quite as much attention as it did. Over the past few months, I've driven some wild-looking cars, but more people pulled out their camera phones to capture the Mach-E drive pass than they did for the McLaren GT . When stopped in traffic, the Mach-E garnered more curious questions—from other drivers, as well as pedestrians—than did the Polaris Slingshot . Ford's new battery electric vehicle definitely has mindshare, no doubt helped by the fact that over a year has passed since the production version was first unveiled to the public in November 2019 .

I don't think I'm being hyperbolic when I say the Mach-E might be the most important new car of the year. The ubiquity of Ford dealerships makes the Mach-E accessible to people in parts of the country where brands like Tesla or Polestar have yet to reach (although, like its startup rivals, the Mach-E is configured and ordered online, not bought from a forecourt). The influence of Tesla is evident in more than just the sales process, too; the Mach-E's minimalist interior is almost button-free and dominated by a large touchscreen. But the vehicle still offers the familiarity of the Mustang name and some of the sports car's design cues to go with it, like the distinctive triple-barred tail lights.

Not everyone is on board with the Mach-E being called a Mustang. Car people in particular are unhappy that the long and storied name has been attached to a five-door crossover, not a two-door coupe. But Ford wants to sell the Mach-E to the mainstream, and the car-buying public at large wants crossovers, so here we are. Personally, I'm more upset that, over in Europe, Ford chose to resurrect the Puma as a crossover—I offer this anecdote only to show that, to normal people, we sound a bit obsessed when we complain about stuff like this. (Also, the fact is that plenty of Mustangs have been unexciting cars, as anyone who ever rented a V6-powered one in the mid-2000s will attest.)

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  This is definitely one of the Kia Sorento Hybrid's better angles. [credit: Kia ]

You may have noticed that Kia is on a roll recently. It won over enthusiasts with the Stinger GT. The Niro EV is one of the few electric vehicles to rival Tesla in terms of range efficiency. And its big Telluride SUV has been a runaway success , garnering awards and plaudits as it flies out of the showroom.

Now it's the turn of Kia's popular Sorento SUV to get the revamp. It's a bit smaller and a bit cheaper than the Telluride, but it's still a three-row SUV. And, unlike the bigger vehicle, it's available with a 37mpg (6.4L/100km) hybrid powertrain from $33,590.

In fact, that's probably all anyone needs to read to know that the Sorento is going to be a hit. Over the two days we spent with a 2021 Sorento Hybrid EX—$36,590 plus $445 on some fetching red paint—we had no problem matching that EPA combined fuel number, as well as the 39mpg (6L/100km) city rating. If you want an efficient three-row hybrid SUV for less than $40,000, you can pick this Kia or the slightly more expensive Toyota Highlander, and that's about it. So even if the Sorento were mediocre in all other respects, its sales success seems inevitable. Happily, it's not mediocre.

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  No, you're not mistaken, we did review a 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S just over a year ago. But we're revisiting that model again today. [credit: Jonathan Gitlin ]

Over the years, the Porsche 911 Carrera has changed. The silhouette may still be the same, the engine is still in the back, and after all these decades, it's still a treat to drive. I won't dissect all the changes made over the years from the first 911 (nearly called a 901, until Peugeot intervened), for Ars has you covered with one of those we prepared earlier . But you only have to park the current car—known as the 992—next to an older one, even just a couple of generations old, to see effect of time. All that extra stuff is added technology.

The 911 has grown, in length and width, largely to fit the energy-absorbing safety structures that we now reasonably expect our cars to contain. The interior uses glossy, pixel-dense digital displays instead of the old-fashioned arrangement of dials. The engines are all turbocharged now , even though it doesn't say "Turbo" on the back in that distinctive cursive typeface. This arrangement balances out the fast version of the electric Taycan being called a Turbo , but more importantly, it means the distinctive flat-six engines can meet modern emissions requirement, and there's enough power to account for the addition of weight over time. (The 911 Turbo is a separate, more expensive, more powerful model, which we would have reviewed in March but COVID-19 set fire to those plans.)

Doppelkupplungsgetriebe

And more often than not, the engine sends its power to the rear wheels via a PDK transmission. PDK standing of course for Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe, or Porsche double-clutch transmission. Porsche first developed PDK in the 1980s to win races at Le Mans, then tinkered with the idea for another couple of decades before debuting the technology on its road cars in 2009.