The third all-electric vehicle in six weeks came my way in April in the form of the BMW i4 M50 all-wheel drive, a coupe-styled four-door hatchback. It is the first electric car developed by BMW’s M performance division.

The i4 M50 is a synchronous dual-motor “gran coupe,” with a motor at each axle with combined 536 horsepower and 586 lb.-ft. of torque. A liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery pack of 81.5 kWh provides a projected driving range of 200 to 225 miles. Transmission is single-speed, direct-drive.

Two other recent electric tests were with the Ford Mustang Mach-e GT and the Mercedes-Benz EQS450.

On a Sunday, after church, Jan and I drove the BMW west into the mountains and enjoyed four hours of highway straightaways, narrow rural roadways, hill climbs and descents, short sprints, corners and bumper-to-bumper slowdowns at Estes Park.

Center of gravity for the low-slung, relatively heavy i4 is 1.3 inches lower than for the 3 series sedan. It’s a road-hugger with agility. Handling has been the long-term forte for the Bimmers, dating back to the “oh two” models of the ‘60s and ‘70s.

And the power, oh, my gosh, off the line is near the quickest and twisting those uphill switchbacks is done in full-bore low, and beautifully loud, yes, characteristic engine roar in sport mode has been added with guidance of German film score composer/Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer (hired by BMW in 1919 to create sounds for electric concepts). Those 16-inch brake discs inside the 20-inch wheels lend some feeling of security.

Predicted range in the BMW’s battery had topped out at 202 miles as we began our Sunday drive. On return to our garage at home, we’d driven 100 miles and the battery pack had 50 percent of its energy remaining, a favorable performance for the i4. Though it used excess in the climb-dominated first couple of hours of the trip, the return was filled with descent which moved energy use into the frugal column. Most of drive was split between comfort and sport plus use, though on return I occasionally enabled Eco Pro for more regeneration of energy and controlled speed.

The i4’s handles are flush with the door sheet metal and easily slip off fingertips as they’re lifted upward for opening. Legroom in the four-door hatchback is tight in the rear-seating area. An audio upgrade for the BMW electric is the 16-speaker Harman Kardon surround sound system.

The BMW i4 electric competes against Tesla Model 3, Ford Mustang Mach-e GT and other midsizer EVs. While the Tesla is slightly longer in wheelbase, 113.2 inches to 112.4, the BMW is almost 4 inches longer in overall length, 188.5 to 184.8.

Price of the BMW i4 M50 climbed from a base of $65,900 to $77,070 sticker with the following options:

High-performance M tech $2,500, driver assistance $1,700, HUD curved display $1,000, adaptive LED with laserlight $1,000, heated seats/steering wheel/lumbar support $950, parking assistant and active park-distance control $700, mineral white metallic paint $550.

BMW also offers a single-motor i4 eDrive40 of lesser power and more range.

Nissan communications executive Steve Parrett handed me the keys to “the new Z” only a few minutes after I had seated myself very comfortably inside the old Boulderado Hotel one morning in May.

A quick exit got me into the driver’s seat of the beautiful passion red 2023 Nissan Z Performance sport coupe, where the comfort level also was pleasurable, though one look at the instrumentation, shifter and pedals and, considering its rear-wheel-drive configuration, promised some side antics.

The 400-horsepower, twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6 engine and 9-speed automatic transmission got me very quickly out of Boulder for photo op, then back into town and over to Canyon Boulevard and some miles up and back in Boulder Canyon. The canyon drive from Boulder to Nederland is 17 miles of twists and turns and downshift-inducing rises in the narrow roadway.

The Z was smooth and powerful and quick-shifting, though a bit rough on downshifts in manual mode.

Accompanying me on the test-drives about the Boulder area was Paul Shippey, owner and president of Automotive Media Solutions (AMS). Under direction of Shippey and his general manager, David Polley, AMS distributes new models to journalists such as me from 22 manufacturers, everything from an A-Class Mercedes to the Z car from Nissan.

You can’t yet buy a new Z; its release date has been delayed to sometime this summer. When you can make the purchase, here is what you’ll pay:

$41,015 is base price for the cheaper Nissan Z Coupe Sport; $51,015 is beginning price for the Z Coupe Performance model, the one I drove, and $54,015 for a special Z Coupe Proto Spec edition. All three trim levels are available with 6-speed manual or 9-speed automatic transmission to go with the twin-turbo V-6.

Adding illuminated kick plates, two-tone paint and floor mats to the Z that I drove raised its sticker price to $53,610. Included among its standard items are 9-inch touchscreen with navigation and voice recognition, Bose audio, SiriusXM satellite radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.

I remember those “kind of loose, spindly shifters” in the early 240Zs from the ‘70s. Nissan (known as Datsun at the start) continued use of alphanumeric names through the 370Z until its end in 2020. The new one will be simply called “Z.” Its 9-speed automatic replaces a 7-speed of the 370Z.

The 370Z competed against the Mazda Miata and Toyota 86; the new Z will challenge the Toyota Supra head-on. The Supra uses a BMW-built, inline-6-cylinder of 382 horsepower with an 8-speed automatic.

At 172.4 inches, the Z is 5 inches longer than its predecessor, though its wheelbase remains the same at 100.4 inches. Trunk volume is only 7 cubic feet. Curb weight is 3,550 pounds.

This country’s expected eventual move away from the internal-combustion engine got a truckload of attention with production of the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning all-electric pickup.

Most of us aren’t yet ready to turn to fully electric for our transportation needs.

Some, though, are transitioning partway with purchase of gas/electric hybrid vehicles.

The most economically successful hybrid of the past 20 years is the Toyota Prius, which has depended upon extremely high fuel mileage to override a perceived lack in level of comfort and conventional exterior style.

By slipping a Prius power package into the third-best-selling-sedan in the country, Toyota came up with what perhaps is a far-more-appealing hybrid in the 2022 Corolla. It is available only in the LE, a lower trim level. The setup is a 121-horsepower Atkinson cycle 1.8-liter 4-cylinder gas engine, two dual permanent magnet synchronous electric motors, an electronic continuously variable transmission and, beneath the rear seat, a lithium ion battery, positioned to aid weight distribution.

The one I drove for a week was priced at a relatively low $27,191 with synthetic leather seats, cruise control, satellite radio, lane correction and automatic emergency braking.

The Corolla hybrid’s fuel usage is EPA-estimated at 53 city/52 highway miles per gallon.

It was my main source of travel last week for 350 miles, including 110 miles from Greeley to Denver and back, several other highway drives and lots of in-town stop-and-go maneuvering. The transition from gas to electric power is very smooth.

The front-wheel-drive Corolla is a fairly slow, mild performer in its default driving mode, Eco; I used its Power mode at least half of those 350 miles for increased throttle response and steering pressure.

That didn’t seem to affect its high fuel mileage, which ranged from around 56.6 mpg to 58 on the readout in the driver-information screen; I couldn’t imagine it achieving that level of mpg through all the varied drives I made, so after 322 miles, I pulled into a service station gas pump, filled the Corolla’s tank – it took 5.6 gallons for 322 miles, averaging 57.5 mpg. That is excellent.

An upgraded interior, besides the synthetic leather, includes heated front seats, power driver seat with lumbar support, leather-trimmed steering wheel, 8-inch touchscreen. Tightly positioned tiny buttons for cruise control on the steering wheel lend themselves to occasionally canceling the set speed when the intention is to increase or resume the pace.

The Corolla’s curb weight is 2,850 pounds on wheelbase of 106.3 inches and overall length of 182.3. Wheels are 15-inch, with front struts and multilink rear suspension. Trunk space is only 13 cubic feet.

The Corolla Hybrid is assembled at a Toyota plant in Aichi, Japan. The Corolla was introduced into the U.S. was back in 1968.

A fairly sparkling performer, the new Kia EV6 is the sixth all-electric vehicle I’ve driven in first five months of 2022. From a nicely styled front end, the design goes somewhat wild at the rear with an overhead spoiler and bright taillights protruding along the middle of the liftgate.

The Kia EV6, like the Hyundai Ioniq5, is based on the Hyundai Motor Group’s E-GMP (electric global modular platform). The two electrics differ, though, in appearance and performance. The Kia EV6 is a standout in handling, while the Hyundai Ioniq5 makes use of softer suspension for a more-quality ride.

For instance, the Kia offers four driving modes – Eco, Normal, Sport and Snow. The power-output gap between the Eco and Sport is the most extreme, I believe, of the all-electric products I’ve driven, at least in its class. Eco, using only the rear-drive motor when called upon, is of very-limited power; Sport is highly spirited and produces full-blast handling maneuvers in fulltime use of both motors for all-wheel drive. Normal is a delightful tradeoff.

Kia offers the EV6 in three trim levels of Light, Wind and GT-Line. The model brought to me is the EV6 Wind, with all-wheel drive and 77.4 kWh battery-pack energy, dual AC synchronous permanent electric motors for combined 320 horsepower. The weight of the lithium ion polymer battery pack, stored beneath the auto’s floor, is 1,052 pounds.

The EV6 Wind AWD delivers a range of 274 miles (310 for the rear-drive version). In my fourth day with the Kia, its remaining range was at 117 miles when I stopped at Greeley Nissan for a quick recharge. Thirty minutes of charge raised the range to 224 miles. For the week, the EV6 delivered its promised range and then a few more miles. Regenerative braking accounts for some of the recovered miles to the battery; a Mobis iEB is the regen brake of the EV6.

Featured up front inside the Kia are vegan-leather heated and ventilated seats, dual 12.3-inch displays with navigation, Android Auto/Apple CarPlay, Meridian premium audio. Headroom and legroom are sufficient in the rear row, and the seats are heated. Cargo space behind the seating is 24.4 cubic feet; the seatbacks can be folded down to double that amount of room. The EV6 rides on Kumho 235/55R19 tires.

Flush door handles which pop out awkwardly when pushed are among features which drew interest in the parking lot Sunday morning as Jan and I left services at First United Methodist Church in Greeley. With the upper-end GT-Line trim, the key pod will automatically pop out the handles for use.

For the EV6 Wind, though, sticker price reached $54,110 with addition of surround-view monitor, remote smart parking assist and blind-spot view monitor. By using the key fob, the driver can step out and remotely guide the EV6 into or out from a parking spot. The EV6 is built in Hwasung, Korea.

Another all-electric, the ‘22 Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin Ultimate, rolled quietly into my driveway, the fourth fully-electric I’ve driven in March and April 2022.

The Recharge is Volvo’s compact offering, beautifully styled from its short hood up front, over its sharply raked windshield and black cap roof, to its high-riding spoiler and large, wavy taillights at the rear.

And performance-wise, things were going so well, from Greeley to DIA for dropping off a passenger for her flight to Atlanta, on down south to pick up our finished tax returns, back east for lunch stop at New York Deli News, then over to AB&C for supplies.

Heading out of Denver northward toward home, the driver-information center estimated the Volvo had 80 miles of energy stored in its big battery pack. “That’s plenty to get us home (50 miles away),” I reassured Jan.

But those terrible winds which have dominated our spring weather thus far hit us at about 120^th Avenue.

The all-important digital reading of projected miles began rapidly dropping by 5’s, to 75, to 70, to 65, to 60. At about 25, most all the excess mileage from the easy morning drive had been eaten up and we weren’t yet to the Berthoud Exit. Thinking of where I might find a charger in Loveland, if we made it that far, the message center asked, “Want to locate a charging station?” “Yes,” I punched.

“12 miles to one on Berthoud Parkway (west of I-25),” we were informed and followed the map guidance to a ChargePoint station at the Berthoud Recreation Center at Waggener Farm Park.

We connected the heavy charge cord from the cargo space in the Volvo, and in 28 minutes a total of 82 miles had been added to the car’s battery at a cost of $11.57. We headed home with no problem. Volvo claims maximum range for the Recharge of 210 miles.

The XC40 Recharge uses electric motors totaling a combined 402 horsepower and 486 lb.-ft. of torque at its axles, with single-speed transmission and a 78 kWh lithium ion battery pack; it is easily handled and acceleration is very quick. It also makes available 4Motion all-wheel drive. It rides on Pirelli Scorpion all-season 235/45R20 tires. Much of my drive was in one-pedal mode with regenerative braking in effect.

Getting used to lack of a start/stop button took some time. With keypod in pocket, slip into the driver seat, buckle up, move shifter to D or R, push accelerator and drive away. After parking, simply push the P button and exit the vehicle (with pod still in pocket).

Seats are comfortable, with stitched leather bolsters on either side of the semi-suede cushion inserts. The Recharge is 174.2 inches in overall length, with wheelbase of 106.4 and a hefty curb weight of 4,700 pounds.

Price tag is somewhat heavy, too, at sticker of $60,090, including surround-view camera, Harman Kardon premium audio, inductive smartphone charging, adaptive cruise, park assist, headlight high-pressure cleaning.

The XC40 Recharge is built in Ghent, Belgium.

After all those quiet, smooth, sleekly styled all-electric models I’ve been reviewing through April 2022, along comes a return to the automotive world we’ve long known in the form of a Ford Bronco 2-door with the Sasquatch and Wildtrak packages.

So deeply rutted in offroad capability is this one that its chief rival, Jeep Wrangler, put together a competitive trim, the Rubicon Xtreme Recon.

In addition to the four-wheel-drive wonders built into the Ford Bronco Sasquatch, it has a 2-inch-wider track than other Broncos and stands taller than most, with a 25-inch step-in height.

It’s not entirely an offroad show, either, for I found the Sasquatch street-friendly. In lots of highway driving, the Bronco exhibited excellent control, with none of those squirrely moves so much a part of oldtime 4X4s.

But offroad is, of course, the name of the game, and Sasquatch responds with locking front and rear differentials, high-clearance suspension, skid plates, rock rails, automatic swaybar disconnect. The Wildtrak package offers a HOSS 3.0 (high-speed offroad suspension system) with Bilstein shocks.

The Sasquatch package adds Goodyear Territory 35-inch mud-terrain tires, with beadlock on the 17-inch wheels to help prevent the tire’s bead detaching from the wheel. With the big tires and lifted suspension, the Bronco Sasquatch boasts 11.6 inches of ground clearance.

In its design, Ford has retained some of the boxiness of the original Bronco. From its white-lettered “BRONCO” at the grille and the tiedowns for limb risers at front edge of fenders, the look squares off over the top and down the back side.

The top can be popped easily and quickly over either or both the front seats by releasing levers and latches on the overhead panels. Highway speeds bring lots of wind noise with the panels locked in place.

Even in its two-door configuration, the Bronco offers a comfortable ride with plenty of rear-seat space and cargo room. The rear gate and spare tire are swung open from the driver side.

Performance comes from the surprisingly strong 2.7-liter, Ecoboost V-6 engine and 10-speed automatic transmission, with various drive modes. Horsepower is 315 and torque 410 lb.-ft. All that size, power and equipment is costly in the fuel-usage measure, where EPA rating is 17 in town, city and combined; my overall average was 18.5 miles per gallon.

Adding the $4,495 cost of the Sasquatch package to the Bronco brought its total sticker price to $55,970, which also included adaptive cruise control, heated steering wheel and sound deadening headliner.

The standard Ford Bronco 2-door, introduced a year ago to face the popular Jeep Wrangler, is 172.7 inches in overall length on a wheelbase of 105.1 inches and curb weight of 3,500 pounds. The Bronco 4-door, battling the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited for sales, has overall length of 189.4 inches on wheelbase of 116.1 and curb weight of 4,500 pounds.

I climbed back into the newest offering of the Chevy Colorado ZR2 offroad pickup, this time assessing it with the 3.6-liter V-6 engine and 8-speed automatic transmission.

The ZR2 package, with its wider track, shortened overhangs for improved approach and departure angles and added offroad enhancements, earns the Colorado the reputation of a smaller version of the Ford Raptor.

A year ago, I drove the ZR2 Bison powered by the turbocharged 2.8-liter, 4-cylinder, Duramax diesel. Comparing the two, the 3.6 V-6 is of 308 horsepower/275 torque; the 2.8 turbodiesel is 186 hp and stout in torque with 369 lb.-ft.

It is a four-door crew cab; other configurations are an extended cab and choice of short or long box. It has nice, leather seats, with Bluetooth audio streaming, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capable. The rear seating is slightly cramped for legroom.

Accessing the comfortable interior requires a 2-foot-high step-in, somewhat inconvenient, but running boards or step rails would deny the truck some offroad capabilities.

The responsiveness in ZR2’s advanced suspension, with Multimatic DSSV dampers, is impressive, whether jouncing around offroad or rounding a curve at 70 miles per hour on the highway. It rides on Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac 265/65R17 tires. Gauge availability includes an inclinometer for awareness of pitch/roll degrees of the 4X4, as well as slope of the terrain.

When not offroading, the ZR2 is very carlike in steering and ride quality. And while the turbodiesel with its torque superiority is an offroad champ, the 3.6 V-6 is more ideal for everyday highway travel.

Late one afternoon, we drove the Chevy to the levee of Strasburg, then joined Mike and Hannah McKenner and Bill and Kathy Allen for a performance of “Cinderella” by the Strasburg Elementary Singers, including two great-granddaughters Ava and Bailey McKenner. These were 4^th and 5^th graders, and residents from Strasburg filled the school auditorium at nearby Bennett, where the musical was staged.

With the curb weight of 4,900 pounds and all the normal 4X4 equipment, plus the ZR2 packages, the EPA estimate is a low 16/18 miles per gallon; my overall average was 16.8.

The Chevy was finished in a pleasant bright blue metallic finish; when my replacement, the 2022 Ford Maverick pickup, was delivered, its velocity blue metallic was near identical.

Sticker price of $45,865 includes transfer case shield, remote vehicle start, the ZR2 appearance package, spray-on bedliner, EZ lift and lower tailgate, Stabilitrak stability control system with traction control.

The Chevrolet Colorado and its counterpart, the GMC Canyon, are midsize pickup trucks; they were introduced in 2004 to replace the Chevy S-10 and GMC S-15/Sonoma. They’re built in Wentzville, Mo.

Stirring a measure of excitement into my routine some time back was the appearance of the 2022 Toyota 4Runner.

The interest came not from an upgrade to the Toyota’s old 5-speed automatic transmission or the aging jagged gate for its shifter. It has nothing to do with fuel mileage – still about 17 miles per gallon for the 4Runner.

It is “lime rush,” one of the brightest, most bold and distinctive exterior colors ever for a traditionally tough, body-on-frame sport utility vehicle.

It is exclusive to the ’22 Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro and lends new presence to the old standard, a longtime competitor of Jeep products. Offroad settings may become more luminous.

I’m remembering an outstanding photo of a blue 4Runner out front of the big red barn at the Wyoming Hereford Ranch near Cheyenne in 2017; what a contrast the lime green rush color would be with that background.

Responses from viewers of the 4Runner and its new color were generally positive, definitely so by younger individuals.

The ’22 4Runner is being offered in only three other hues – super white, midnight black metallic and magnetic gray metallic.

The Toyota is a great offroader with its part-time four-wheel drive, the low-range transfer case shifter on the console, locking rear differential and multi-terrain shift selector placed awkwardly on the overhead console. The two-row cabin is roomy, with 47.2 cubic feet of cargo space.

The heavy, 4,760-pounder is not particularly smooth in ride quality, somewhat bumpy, with its TRD-tuned Fox shocks and springs. Suited well to its size and weight are Nitto Terra Grappler 265/70R17 tires.

Moderate acceleration is provided by the 270-horsepower, 278 lb-ft. torque, 4.0-liter V-6 engine and the 5-speed automatic. This same powertrain has been used for more than 10 years. Most competitors have moved to 6-, 7-, 8- and 9-speed transmissions. The 4Runner’s EPA estimate is 16 city, 19 highway; my overall average was 17.4.

The 4Runner, built at Toyota plant Tahara, Aichi, Japan, is 190.2 inches in overall length on a wheelbase of 109.8 inches.

While its parts are often mentioned as old and aging, the pricepoint is where it remains modern. The ’22 TRD Pro carries sticker price of $53,435, with basic safety items precollision with pedestrian detection, cruise control, lane-departure alert and blind-spot monitor. Also standard are power sliding rear window, 8-inch touchscreen with navigation and JBL audio, Android Auto/Apple CarPlay compatibility and front skid plate. Beginning prices on 4Runner 4WD models are around $42,000.

The midsize 4Runner, in spite of its aging makeup, is fun to drive; the soundness of its body and its structural integrity are appreciated.

The 4Runner was introduced into the U.S. in 1984; it has been recognized as one of the most long-lasting of vehicles. It remains a strong seller for Toyota.

Its acceleration, perhaps, is the smoothest of anything I’ve driven, ever. And the quietness ranks right up there, too.

The 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS450 all-electric luxury sedan, with air-spring suspension, uses rear-steering at low speeds in which the rear wheels turn up to 10 degrees in opposition of the fronts, cutting the turning radius from 42 feet to just under 36.

It is the most aerodynamic production car in the world with drag coefficient of 0.20.

The EQS is noticeably lengthy, 207.3 inches overall on a wheelbase of 126.4 inches, same as the new S Class four-door with internal-combustion engine.

The EQS450 rides atop a 107.8-kWh lithium-ion battery pack; driving its rear wheels is a single electric motor of 245 kW producing 419 lb.-ft. of torque and 329 horsepower. Transmission is direct-drive single-speed. Its estimated driving range is 350 miles.

For a comparative measure with the Ford Mustang Mach-e GT I drove last month, the Mercedes is 21 inches longer in overall length, with a 9-inch-longer wheelbase and curb weight of 5,700 pounds (700 more).

Sticker price on the rear-drive EQS450 is $122,100; for about $20,000 more the EQS580 will offer all-wheel-drive capability and an electric motor at each axle for an amazing performance from 516 horsepower and 631 torque.

The smooth operation of the EQS450 suited me just fine, and its soft leather and wood trim interior, with soft-pillow headrests and three large info screens across the 56-inch-wide glass-covered dashboard were superb.

With the help of Dylan Blanton and Brenden Broyles at Greeley Nissan and its ChargePoint connector, the Mercedes battery was charged with 291 miles by the time we left for a drive northeast to Sterling.

We enjoyed a birthday lunch with my sister, Norma Wagner and Dave, and a birthday dinner that evening with Jan’s cousin, Don Carey and Audrey, at Hot Spot Smokehouse. Sterling is 100 miles northeast of Greeley, double that with the return drive and add some miles driven about town; on our completion we had 70 miles remaining on the Mercedes battery, so used 221 miles, which is approximately the amount of miles driven. Regenerative braking and descent of altitude brought savings of miles on the trip down, but that gain was erased by some climb and use of headlights on the return.

Mercedes information says with DC Fast Charging, the battery can be recharged from 10 percent to 80 percent in 31 minutes, and that charging with a 240-volt connection takes a little more than 11 hours. I added 90 miles to the EQS in a 24-hour charge from a regular 120-volt outlet at home.

A fixed hood covers a cabin air filter and other items. Since there is no opening, a small cup swings out from the driver-side fender as a receptacle for pouring fluid into the windshield-washer reservoir.

The hyperscreen package, head-up display, black microfiber headliner, air control with fragrance, ambient lighting and other options raised the price from a base of $103,560 to the $122,000 mark. The EQS is built at Sindelfingen, Germany.