Welcome to My Car Week, a newsletter by Thomas Gigold. I’ve been writing about cars and mobility for 20 years now. Feel free to share & subscribe, helping me to keep it real. ✌️

Hu?
Friday already? And you're telling me it's been two weeks since the last newsletter hit your inbox? No, I must be kidding ... Well, sorry. I was too busy with the summer, the sun and all that stuff. But here we are again.

Let's take a look at what's been going on in the automotive world over the past few days!

– Thomas

In This Mail (4 Minutes Reading Time)

• How Happy Are Drivers with Their Cars (after 90 Days)?

• The Magarigawa Club is a Private Racetrack in Japan

• The New Audi A6 is … A Beauty!

How Happy Are Drivers with Their Cars?

How satisfied are car buyers with their vehicles and the brands they drive?
This is the question that J.D. Power examines in its annual studies.The latest edition for the USA, with more than 99,000 respondents, is now available.
It shows that Tesla drivers in particular are becoming increasingly dissatisfied and that traditional manufacturers are catching up in the EV sector.

Also, across all fuel types, emotional satisfaction is highest among owners of non-Tesla BEVs (877), surpassing Tesla (870), owners of gasoline (842) and plug-in hybrid (841) vehicles. Tesla remains strong for satisfaction among its loyal buyers but is lackluster with conquest buyers. Porsche ranks highest among premium brands, MINI among mass market brands.

The parent company receiving the most model-level awards is Hyundai (seven segment awards), followed by BMW (four segment awards and highest-ranking model – the BMW 7 Series) and Lexus (of Toyota).

These are the cars with the highest satisfactory after people bought and drove them for 90 days:

Hyundai & Kia: Genesis GV60, Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Carnival, Kia EV6, Kia EV9, Kia Forte and Kia K5

BMW: BMW 2 Series, BMW 7 Series, BMW iX, BMW X4 and MINI Countryman

/ APEAL US by J. D. Power

🏎️ Chevrolet is bringing the Corvette ZR1 – the new top-of-the-range model of its iconic racing machine. The new ZR1 will be equipped with “the most powerful V8 engine ever produced in America,” Chevrolet says. Thanks to a twin turbo and 5.5 litre displacement it will offer 1,064 hp. / NetCarShow (EN)

The Magarigawa Club is a Private Racetrack in Japan, Drawn by Hermann Tilke.

What if you're rich, a motorsport enthusiast and bored?
Sure, you simply build yourself a private racetrack in the Japanese hills for 200 million US dollars. Including in infinity pool, dog park, and karaoke bar.

The Magarigawa Club in Japan is a private race track designed by Hermann Tilke, a renowned F1 circuit designer. The 3.5km road track features 22 challenging turns, a 800-meter long straight, as well as a mix of uphill and downhill sections. While the track, which opened 12 months ago, is technically open to the public, only members can access it. The membership prices are close to affordable at first glance: the admission fee to the club is around 250,000 euros, the annual fee about 1,400 euros and the using fee is 69 euros - you don't pay less in exclusive golf clubs, do you?! / Club Website (EN)

🤝 Honda and Nissan agreed to collaborate on software, batteries and other electric vehicle-related technologies to save on costs and better compete in markets such as China. Mitsubishi, which already has ties with Nissan, will join a broader strategic partnership with the duo. / Bloomberg (EN)

How To Brick Destroy a Cybertruck

This video is crazy … WhistlinDiesel put the Cybertruck to a what they call “durability test” – i say, it is crazy shit fun, but hey. 14M Views within 5 days. And for that reason, you don’t want to miss it neither. / Youtube link

⚡️ Starbucks and Mercedes-Benz announced a partnership to install fast electric vehicle chargers at 100 Starbucks cafes along the US Interstate 5. I wonder why we don't come across such co-operations much more often ... / LA Times

The New Audi A6 is … A Beauty! 😱

The new Audi A6 will be electric only.
This means that the RS6 - the most beautiful estate in market - is also a thing of the past. On the other hand, for the first time in years, Audi's new model makes me want one again!

Both, the Sportback and the Avant, are very stylish.
Moreover, the BMW i5's new arch-rival has a much longer range than its rival from Munich - Audi manages to squeeze up to 750 kilometres into the battery, while the i5 gets by on a (still very adequate) 582 kilometres.

The Audi comes with an 800-volt battery system that can charge the battery from 10 to 80 per cent in 21 minutes. Prices start at 63,000 euros. / NetCarShow (EN)

🌳 Tesla puts a “Hold” on the expansion of its German Grünheide plant, while sales & revenue figures are declining, and local citizens' initiatives and environmentalists are protesting on the doorstep of the plant. / MSN (DE)

There’s a New Hypercar That You Will Never See in Reality

The Nilu 27 is a car you've never heard of before and will probably never hear of again after reading this. Even thought, the real-life concept car will be shown at Pebble Beach next week.

For now, all the images that exist are renders only.
The new hypercar is equiped with a V12 engine. Production shall include only 15 units, says designer and soon-to-be manufacturer Sasha Selipanov, formerly a designer at Koenigsegg. / NetCarShow (EN)

🔋 Chinese automaker BYD and Uber announced a multi-year partnership aimed at bringing 100,000 new electric vehicles into business. The partnership will start in Europe and Latin America. / Reuters (EN)

Kia Announces Prices for its new EV3

Kia is launching its next electric SUV, the EV3. It competes against the ID.3 and other EVs in the compact segment and, depending on the battery, has a range of up to 600 kilometres.
 Prices start at 36,000 euros.

… have to admit, that I like the Kia style these days. / heise (DE)

🚙 The global number of cars with electric drives has risen from 27.75 million at the end of 2022 to 42 million at the end of 2023. / taz (DE)

That’s all folks.
With this Goodbye, I also say Goodbye Suzuki Jimny.
The little, iconic off-roader will be discontinued in the EU because it’s too harmful to the environment and Suzuki has to pay fines with every new Jimny.