Top 10 Best Future Cars - The Short List

Unquestionably, the automotive industry is one of the most dynamic in the world. New vehicles are constantly under development by manufacturers.

Car companies are perpetually working to keep their product ranges fresh, to offer drivers more safety, efficiency, luxury and even performance. Pulling back the curtain, here’s a glimpse of what’s in store, 10 upcoming vehicles you should be excited about!

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And we ignite this firestorm of a list with Ford’s Mach-E, a possible name Dearborn will apply to the Mustang-inspired all-electric crossover it’s currently developing. The vehicle is going to ride atop a dedicated EV platform and will likely feature a large battery pack mounted under the floor. Specifics about it are not known right now, but this jauntily styled EV could go on sale relatively soon, possibly in 2020. At least they decided against calling this thing the Mach 1, which absolutely inflamed the Mustang faithful. How Mach-E-avellian of them…

But Ford is far from the only automaker working on a dedicated Tesla Model S slayer. Even Porsche is developing an all-electric four-door. The German luxury brand’s Taycan (pronounced Tie-Kahn) is MOST DEFINITELY a future car worth getting excited about. Basically a production version of the Mission E concept, this handsome sedan should deliver the goods: an estimated driving range of about 300 miles, zero-to-60 in the low-3.0-second range and a base price of around 75,000 U.S. dollars. Three performance potencies should be on the menu, models with 402, 536 or 670 horsepower. The production version of the Taycan should be unveiled relatively soon.

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Porsche’s corporate sibling is also deeply involved in the development of a premium electric vehicle. For now, the Audi e-tron GT is just a concept, but the four-ring brand promises a production model will hit the market in roughly a year and a half. A four-seater, it should feature a 90-kWh lithium-ion battery pack and have quattro permanent all-wheel drive with torque vectoring courtesy of front- and rear-mounted motors. Likely with 590 horses on tap, this car should be able to hit 62 miles an hour in just 3.5 seconds. The production version should also feature a mixed-materials body and structure, incorporating high-strength steel, aluminum and even carbon fiber.

Alright, that’s enough electric cars, for now at least. Let’s shift gears and focus on some more conventional vehicles.

And it’s hard to get more mainstream these days than full-size SUVs. GM completely overhauled its half-ton and heavy-duty pickup ranges for the latest model years, and now they’re giving some much-needed love to their outdated utility vehicles: the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, plus Cadillac’s Escalade. This passel of heavy-haulers should benefit from the same enhancements made to the corporation’s 1500-series trucks. They should also – and at long last – get an independent rear suspension design, a feature the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator have had for years. This family of SUVs is a BIG deal and a product range worth waiting for, especially the Escalade, which is expected to be offered with a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 delivering a metric s**t-ton of horsepower!

The Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer duet is yet another CHONKY vehicle range worth whipping yourself into a froth about. Luxury models, these two resurrected nameplates should compete with other high-end SUVs like the BMW X7, Range Rover family, Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator. Not much is known about the Wagoneer range at this point, but conventional internal-combustion and plug-in hybrid drivetrains are expected. FCA planned to invest $1.5 billion in its Warren Truck Plant, located in suburban Detroit, to build the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. Production should commence in early 2021, something the automaker confirmed back in June of 2018. We cannot wait to see what these vehicles offer. FCA has been killing it in the interior department lately and it’s likely these vehicles will push the bar even higher.

Another one of this Italian-American-Netherlands-headquartered automaker’s vehicles that could debut sooner than later is an all-new Dodge Dakota… er, sorry, Ram Dakota. The midsize-pickup segment is scorching-hot these days and FCA almost certainly wants a big ol’ slice of that pie. To date, CEO Mike Manley has confirmed they are indeed focused on building a smaller rig than the current Ram 1500, but it’s unclear exactly what that means. They could base an upcoming midsize pickup off the already-in-production Jeep Gladiator, which is sized right, though it is something of a niche product and one that’s gets VERY EXPENSIVE, they could also develop something entirely new or maybe they’ll federalize a different product currently offered in an overseas market, kind of like Ford did with its reborn Ranger. But we shall see what happens…

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Speaking of that automaker based in Dearborn, have you heard, they’re hard at work on a couple off-roaders?

If you’re reading this, you’re almost certainly familiar with the upcoming Ford Bronco and its smaller, car-based sibling. Let’s call it the Baby Bronco for now, though a swarm of different names has popped up in recent patent filings. These two highly anticipated vehicles have yet to officially debut, but they’ve got to be ready soon.

Bronco should share basic underpinnings with the Ranger midsize pickup. Its smaller sibling will likely be based off the new Escape crossover. Ford has got Jeep in its sights with these two vehicles, both the legendary Wrangler and the brand’s more soft-road offerings. It will be interesting to see what they bring to market with these products.

The very notion of a Ferrari-built SUV should make you mad, angry enough to immediately lose control of your bowels. Unfortunate messes notwithstanding, this most hallowed of Italian brands is evidently building a sport-utility vehicle. And can you blame them? When Lamborghini, Bentley, Rolls-Royce and even Aston Martin have caved in and cashed out, kowtowing to the unending crossover movement, it’s probably best to just follow suit.

Reportedly, this SUV is being developed under the name Purosangue, which means thoroughbred in Italian. Expect it to brandish MEGA horsepower, possibly from a turbocharged V8 engine and be built atop a new platform that will support future grand-touring cars.

Mazda already builds some tremendous cars and crossovers. There’s plenty to get excited about with its current product range. But the future holds even more for this small Japanese brand. Based on information found in an investor presentation, the automaker is developing a rear-wheel drive architecture as well as both gasoline and diesel inline six-cylinder engines. This is a hint that Mazda may be trying to ratchet itself even further up market. Perhaps they fancy themselves a luxury brand and want to compete in this profitable end of the automotive market. These are exciting times in Hiroshima. Imagine a rear-drive Mazda6 sedan with a buttery-smooth straight-six? That’s definitely worth getting excited about.

Finally, we come to something super-special, a thoroughbred exotic with a freight-train load of heritage backing it up. One car every driving enthusiast should be stoked about is the reborn Alfa Romeo 8C.

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The Italian automotive concern announced last year this famed nameplate would be making a comeback. It dates all the way back to the 1930s and was applied to both racing and road-going automobiles. Now, the last time Alfa Romeo offered something with that number and letter combination was in the early-2000s on their stunningly beautiful 8C Competizione.

The upcoming 8C should be something thoroughly exotic, a supercar likely built around a carbon-fiber structure and brandishing more than 700 horsepower courtesy of a hybridized and turbocharged drivetrain. With all that firepower, the dash to 60 miles an hour could take less than three seconds. Expect the new 8C to debut around 2022… maybe.

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