"Chapter A Day" presents “Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary, Resilient, Disabled Body” by Rebekah Taussig, available for listening in its entirety until May 29.
The post Author Rebekah Taussig’s new book redefines disability — now available for listening on ‘Chapter A Day’ appeared first on WPR.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office seized more than 160 roosters and hens from an alleged cockfighting operation Thursday, according to an animal welfare group.
The post Birds euthanized after being seized from suspected cockfighting operation in Wisconsin appeared first on WPR.
How Wisconsin’s K-12 students are learning math is changing. On WPR’s “Wisconsin Today,” a panel of math educators discussed the state of mathematics education in Wisconsin.
The post Wisconsin’s fourth and eighth grade students are above average in math appeared first on WPR.
Last week, Milwaukee's City Hall and nearby municipal building were evacuated after what turned out to be a false alarm of a shooting.
The post Emergency response to last week’s Milwaukee City Hall threat a ‘failure,’ alders say appeared first on WPR.
The school has partnered with the Waukesha-based mental health provider Empathia for crisis response support.
The post UW-Platteville providing additional mental health services to students following tragic shooting on campus appeared first on WPR.
Two different employers this month announced facility closures in Oconomowoc and Prairie du Chien, expected to leave 100 workers out of a job.
The post 2 companies announce facility closures in Oconomowoc, Prairie du Chien appeared first on WPR.
An expert on the history of the abortion debate joined WPR's "Wisconsin Today" to discuss her new book on the anti-abortion movement's push for fetal personhood.
The post Wisconsin and other states have laws establishing fetal personhood. What could that mean for abortion access and IVF? appeared first on WPR.
Dermatologist Dr. Apple Bodemer joined WPR's "The Larry Meiller Show" to talk about common summertime skin issues.
The post Tips for summertime skin care appeared first on WPR.
Access Corrections is part of the conglomerate that also runs the state prison system’s glitchy phone technology.
The post Vendor failure means Wisconsin prisoners can’t buy food or other items appeared first on WPR.
If you’ve been watching the news and keeping up, you’ve noticed that fluoride in drinking water has become controversial, writes Dr. Zorba Paster. Why now, since fluoride has been in municipal drinking water for decades?
The post Zorba Paster: The origins of fluoride in our drinking water appeared first on WPR.
In a 5-2 ruling the Wisconsin Supreme Court kept alive a woman's lawsuit against a doctor who had recommended surgery to another doctor that was performed on the woman without her knowledge. (Photo by Henry Redman/Wisconsin Examiner)
A patient whose ovaries were removed without her knowledge during colon surgery can sue the doctor who she says recommended the procedure, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Friday.
In the opinion, five of the Court’s seven justices agreed that lower courts were correct when they refused to dismiss the patient’s lawsuit. With the ruling, the case is sent back to Rock County Circuit Court.
The patient, Melissa Hubbard, was being treated for endometriosis in 2018 by an obstetrician/gynecologist, Dr. Carol Neuman. During the time, Hubbard also was referred for surgery to remove a section of her colon.
The surgery was performed by Dr. Michael McGauley. During the procedure, Hubbard’s ovaries were removed, but she wasn’t told beforehand that would be part of the operation.
Hubbard initially sued McGauley, but that lawsuit was dismissed. She subsequently sued Neuman, charging that — without telling her — the OB/GYN had suggested to McGauley that he remove Hubbard’s ovaries during the colon surgery.
The lawsuit charges that when Neuman made the recommendation to McGauley, she violated Hubbard’s right to informed consent under Wisconsin law.
Neuman’s lawyers filed a motion in Rock County circuit court to dismiss the lawsuit on saying that, in the context of the surgery, Neuman was not Hubbard’s “treating physician” under the informed consent law.
Neuman’s lawyer argued that because the state law’s informed consent requirement applies to the “treating physician,” Hubbard had no case against Neuman since she did not perform the surgery and she never gave a formal order to the surgeon to remove Hubbard’s ovaries.
The circuit court judge denied the dismissal motion, and the state 4th District Court of Appeals agreed.
With Friday’s opinion, the Wisconsin Supreme Court also denied the motion to dismiss the case.
“We disagree with Dr. Neuman,” Chief Justice Anne Walsh Bradley wrote on behalf of the majority. “The essence of the inquiry is whether Hubbard’s complaint sufficiently alleges that Dr. Neuman was a ‘physician who treat[ed]’ Hubbard, even though she did not actually remove Hubbard’s ovaries herself. We conclude that it does.”
Bradley was joined in the majority by Justices Rebecca Dallet, Brian Hagedorn, Jill Karofsky and Janet Protasiewicz.
According to the opinion, the complaint depicts “Neuman’s intimate involvement with the removal of Hubbard’s ovaries” — first, diagnosing Hubbard with a severe case of endometriosis and then advising her to consider removing her left fallopian tube and ovary.
“Second, after Hubbard agreed to undergo colon surgery, Dr. Neuman allegedly helped plan the surgery with Dr. McGauley,” Walsh Bradley wrote. “The physicians’ pre-surgery discussions and plans included Dr. Neuman’s plan to attend and participate in Hubbard’s surgery and to remove Hubbard’s ovaries herself. Hubbard also alleges that Dr. Neuman recommended to Dr. McGauley that he remove Hubbard’s ovaries.”
Those allegations in the lawsuit are enough to consider Neuman a treating physician in the case, Walsh Bradley wrote.
Justice Annette Ziegler, joined by Justice Rebecca Bradley, disagreed.
“To be a treating physician under [the informed consent statute], the physician needs to either provide the treatment at issue himself or formally order the treatment at issue,” Ziegler wrote, citing the text and history of the law along with “the decisions of courts across the country that have addressed who qualifies as a treating physician.”
While Hubbard never told Neuman she wanted her ovaries removed and never consented to their removal in the surgery, Ziegler wrote, “the complaint never expressly alleges, nor reasonably implies, that Dr. Neuman performed or participated in the surgery or attended the surgery.”
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President Donald Trump points during a White House event for the release of Make America Healthy Again commission report on May 22, 2025. Also pictured are, from left, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Education Secretary Linda McMahon. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — The Make America Healthy Again commission, created earlier this year by President Donald Trump, released its first report Thursday, calling on the administration and lawmakers to improve the well-being of the country’s children.
The 73-page report was published just after Trump and several Cabinet secretaries held an event highlighting their concerns with four areas — nutrition, physical activity, environmental factors and “overmedicalization.”
“Over the next 80 days, the commission will build on its work in this report to develop a road map to bold and transformative public health reforms for our consideration,” Trump said.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the report and the administration’s approach to childhood health issues is that “there is no difference between good economic policy, good environmental policy and good public health policy and good industrial policy. We can have all of them.”
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said that everyone knows American farming interests need to be at the center of the Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, agenda.
“We have the most robust, the safest, the best agriculture system in the world,” Rollins said.
Mainstream farm groups, however, were not happy. “Farmers are identified as ‘critical partners,’ yet were excluded from development of the report, despite many requests for a seat at the table,” American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall wrote in a statement.
The numerous ways that American agriculture and the food people choose to eat have evolved received considerable attention in the report.
“Our agricultural system has historically focused on abundance and affordability. The progress we have made is largely thanks to the hard work of American farmers, ranchers, and food scientists,” it states. “However, the rise of (ultra processed food) has corresponded with a pattern of corporatization and consolidation in our food system. Today’s diet-related chronic disease crisis, demand a closer examination of this pattern and its broader impact.”
The report mentions pesticides numerous times, but doesn’t call for them to be banned outright.
“Some studies have raised concerns about possible links between some of these products and adverse health outcomes, especially in children, but human studies are limited,” the report says. “For example, a selection of research studies on a herbicide (glyphosate) have noted a range of possible health effects, ranging from reproductive and developmental disorders as well as cancers, liver inflammation and metabolic disturbances.”
Kennedy testified during a U.S. Senate committee hearing earlier this week that based on drafts of the report he had seen, “there is not a single word in them that should worry the American farmer.”
His comments came during an exchange with Mississippi Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who specifically asked him about glyphosate, a commonly used herbicide, that she referred to as “one of the most thoroughly studied products of its kind.”
“We’re talking about more than 1,500 studies and 50-plus years of review by the EPA and other leading global health authorities that have affirmed its safety when used as directed,” Hyde-Smith said. “Have you been able to review thousands of studies and decades of scientific review in a matter of months?”
Kennedy responded during that Tuesday hearing that her “information about the report is just simply wrong.”
The report combines recommendations that have long been supported by research, like exercising regularly and eating a well-balanced diet, with proposals that aren’t fully supported by science.
It notes that “physical activity, encompassing moderate-to-vigorous exercise, aerobic fitness, and reduced sedentary time, is critical for child health and well being.
“However, American youth have seen a steady decline in activity and cardiorespiratory fitness over decades, contributing to rising obesity, diabetes, mental health disorders, and cardiometabolic risks.”
The report calls out children who are unable to get enough sleep and chronic stress as health challenges, in addition to the prevalence of social media.
“The near-ubiquitous presence of social media in the lives of American adolescents, with up to 95% of teens regularly using at least one or more of these platforms—is increasingly correlated with a concerning rise in mental health challenges, particularly among younger users,” the report says. “With the vast majority of teenagers engaging with these platforms, understanding the nuanced consequences and mental health impacts of social media on their developing well-being is of critical public health importance.”
The report didn’t include any mention of gun violence, a leading cause of death in American children and teenagers, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, analysis from the nonpartisan health research organization KFF and a report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.
“The United States has by far the highest rate of child and teen firearm mortality among peer nations. In no other similarly large, wealthy country are firearms in the top four causes of death for children and teens, let alone the number one cause,” KFF’s analysis states. “U.S. states with the most gun laws have lower rates of child and teen firearm deaths than states with few gun laws. But, even states with the lowest child and teen firearm deaths have rates much higher than what peer countries experience.”
The Johns Hopkins report notes that the gun death rate in children between the ages of 1 and 17 has “increased by 106 percent since 2013 and (has) been the leading cause of death among this group since 2020.”
In 2022, there were 2,526 gun deaths in that age range, for an average of seven a day, according to the report.
The KFF analysis shows other leading causes of childhood death include motor vehicles, cancer, suffocation, congenital anomalies, poisoning and drowning.
Farm groups were dubious about the report’s conclusions.
The American Farm Bureau’s Duvall said it was “deeply troubling for the White House to endorse a report that sows seeds of doubt and fear about our food system and farming practices, then attempts to celebrate farmers and the critical role they play in producing the safest food supply in the world.”
“The report also expresses a desire to ensure farmers continue to thrive, but undermining confidence in our food system directly contradicts that noble goal,” said Duvall. “The report spotlights outlier studies and presents unproven theories that feed a false narrative and only then does it acknowledge a mountain of evidence about the safety of our food system.”
Iowa Corn Growers Association Chair Jolene Riessen said the “misinformation surrounding crop protection tools is incredibly upsetting because if there’s one thing all farmers have in common, it’s that we care about raising safe, healthy, and affordable food that nourishes families around the world.
“Agriculture is a science, and we have spent years testing and researching pesticides, like glyphosate, to reaffirm that they are a safe and vital tool farmers rely on to feed and fuel the world.”
Others said the report was lacking. Lori Ann Burd, the Center for Biological Diversity’s environmental health director, wrote in a statement the “report’s acknowledgement of pesticides’ risks to our children’s health is a small step forward,” before rebuking Trump administration officials for not going further.
“The grassroots movement of millions of Americans who trusted Trump with their votes won’t forget that RFK Jr. was cowed by the powerful industrial farming forces determined to make sure there are no U.S. restrictions on harmful pesticides like atrazine, which is banned in 60 nations,” Burd wrote. “Instead of protecting our kids, we use over 70 million pounds of atrazine each year on the corn and sugarcane crops that are making Americans sick. The fight to ban atrazine will continue.”
Earlier this week, the House of Representatives passed its version of H.R. 1, the reconciliation package, by a slim majority. The bill now moves to the Senate, where we have another opportunity to advocate for and protect clean energy.
Solar and storage are an American success story, supporting thousands of good jobs, millions in energy savings, and a surging manufacturing sector. However, Congress is considering cutting policies that support this success, threatening billions invested in our communities. This includes harsh restrictions on tax credits while gutting others, or quickly phasing them out.
As it stands, the legislation before Congress falls short of the policies necessary to help the U.S. meet its growing energy demand, create jobs, and continue the successful build-out of the solar and storage supply chain here in the U.S.
We invite you to join us in this effort and urge Congress to defend American energy incentives and protect the economic engine that clean energy has created. In the last two years, American solar and storage have surged. In that time, American-made solar module manufacturing has grown six times.
Solar installations can now provide enough homegrown energy to power more than 40 million homes. This expanding industry also means jobs that pay people well. The solar and storage industry already supports over 280,000 good jobs, many of them right here in Wisconsin.
We already know that solar energy is affordable, abundant, and easy to deploy. So, as America works to meet the rising energy demands of AI, data centers, and advanced manufacturing, clean energy and energy storage are critical to keeping energy bills in check and maintaining our economic competitiveness.
This is a critical moment, and we cannot afford to slow our progress now. We need to double down on clean energy for our economy, our communities, and our children.
Tell your representative to protect American solar and energy storage!
The post Action Alert: Tell Legislators Clean Energy Benefits All Americans appeared first on RENEW Wisconsin.
Volkswagen has a long history with campers, from the original T1 to the fully electric ID. Buzz. The latter served as an inspiration for a tiny scale model that roams the streets of Hamburg’s Miniatur Wunderland while towing an equally small caravan.
Making a replica in 1:87 scale is already a difficult challenge, but the tiny VW also needed to be driveable, complete with an electric motor and functional lighting units. Still, after almost 200 hours of work, the micro camper started its maiden voyage.
More: No More IDs, VW’s EVs Will Get Real Names
The caravan and the roof rack don’t just serve cosmetic reasons; in fact, they provide enough space for the mechanical bits that didn’t fit in the original shell. Despite its size, the model stays true to the design of the original, featuring a yellow and white paint combination.
The miniature Buzz is powered by a microscopic electric motor sourcing energy from a 4 volt system. When the battery runs out of juice, the car automatically drives to a dedicated charging station, where it recharges in 30 minutes using its mirrors as electrical conductors.
According to VW, the mini ID. Buzz is the smallest moving vehicle in the fully automated road traffic system of the made-up city of Knuffingen in Miniatur Wunderland, and the only one that tows a caravan.
The most popular tourist attraction in the city of Hamburg has over 1,200 trains, and a total of 16 km (10 miles) of tracks and detailed landscapes. It is worth noting that one of these trains is stuffed with VW Polo models – also in 1:87 scale – as a nod to the 50th anniversary of the small hatchback.
More: This Guy Replicates Crash Tests With Extremely Detailed Scale Models Made Of Clay
The tiny minivan was designed after the ID. Buzz of #BULLILOVEstories that has covered over 125,000 km (77,671 miles) through 41 countries. Presenter Christian Schluter has spent more than 220 nights in the vehicle, as he travels around the world collecting stories about the iconic VW Bus.
Interestingly, VW is keeping track of the distance traveled by the tiny ID. Buzz camper in Miniature Wunderland, converting it to scale to see if it surpasses the mileage of the original. Furthermore, the company has hidden another miniature ID. Buzz within the facilities in Hamburg, as an Easter Egg for visitors.
After a marathon session in the House, lawmakers passed Donald Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’. While it still has to go through the Senate before becoming a law, the implications are indeed big. Under the proposal, hybrid owners could pay $100 more every year to register their car, while EV drivers would face a steeper fee of $250.
Those new taxes are meant to combat the debt that the government incurs as a result of crumbling infrastructure. Right now, that work is mostly funded by gas taxes which are currently set at $0.18 per gallon. With more people driving EVs and hybrids, people are buying gas less and so the funds are dwindling.
More: California’s EV Future Just Got Canceled By Washington
“The bill includes provisions from the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to provide historic investments in the United States Coast Guard to strengthen our national and border security, as well as … ensuring that electric vehicles begin contributing to the Highway Trust Fund,” said Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), chairman of the influential Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
According to TTNews, the last time the Highway Trust Fund received any sort of assistance was back in 2021. Despite that, it goes into tens of billions of dollars of debt every year. Since EVs buy very little fuel, they’ve often been seen as freeloaders on American roads. Hybrids fall into the murky middle. Both tend to weigh more on average than a gas-powered car in the same segment so it’s worth considering that they have the potential to do more damage.
A Broken System Gets a Shakeup
The reality here is that with or without EVs and hybrids, the government’s plan for funding highway infrastructure was a failure. It’s never been tied to inflation, so it’s continually lagging behind, and now we’re here, 20 billion dollars in debt annually.
That said, it seems that the pendulum of failure might be swinging just as strongly but in the other direction now. As we pointed out in our earlier coverage of this topic, now, EV and hybrid drivers will end up paying far more than gas-car drivers. Ultimately, this could still end up getting axed before it becomes law. GOP leaders in the Senate could make several changes before trying to pass it there.
California is going to war, legally speaking, against the Federal government. On Thursday, the GOP-led Senate voted to strip the state of its longstanding ability to set its own vehicle emissions rules. California’s response? A firm promise to sue the federal government if and when US President Donald Trump signs the measure into law.
More: GM’s Urgent Warning, California’s EV Rules Could Harm You
When the news broke, California Governor Gavin Newsom didn’t wait long to respond. He immediately called the move illegal and said it was harmful to health and the environment. “The party of MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) is making our world smoggier,” he said. To revoke the waiver from California, the Senate did go against counsel from two nonpartisan government entities that both said it would be illegal to do so.
States’ Rights or Regulatory Overreach?
That said, the GOP felt that California had too much power and was leveraging that power to set rules on a pseudo-federal level. Several states had joined California in imposing the same rules, including one that banned new gas-car sales after 2035.
Based on data, those goals were far too lofty considering the current state of EV adoption in the U.S. The GOP decision takes the stress off of automakers, oil companies, and dealers who felt they were going to be stuck with products that wouldn’t sell well.
Health First, Says California
For many in California, the state’s regulations are prioritizing health and wellness above all else. “We have real-world evidence that these rules are improving public health,” said Dr. John Balmes, of UC Berkeley. A recent study from the University of Southern California showed a significant reduction in asthma-related emergency room visits for children and adults associated with the number of electric vehicles in a zip code.”
Others in the state see the revocation of the waiver as a positive move. “I think this was a good middle ground that we can still talk about EVs,” said John Pitre, CEO of Motor City Auto Club in Bakersfield, to BakersfieldNow. “We can still develop them. We can still have future opportunities to explore different types of EVs. But it’s not at the detriment of people having a selection of gas or diesel-powered vehicles that they may really want.”
Ultimately, only time will tell whether or not California’s lawsuit will claw back its freedom to set its own standards. This will be the 21st lawsuit filed by the state attorney general against the Trump administration. “The federal government’s overreach is illogical,” Bonta said in a press conference in Sacramento. “It’s politically motivated, and it comes at the expense of Californians’ lives and livelihoods.”
Tesla is pushing hard on its updated Model Y lineup, trimming lease costs and setting an end date for a low-interest financing offer that’s been floating around for a while.
Let’s focus on the lease deal first because it’s the best we’ve seen so far. Earlier this month, Tesla tried to sweeten the deal on the Model Y by releasing the new and more afforable Long Range RWD version.
More: Tesla On FSD Suddenly Swerves And Crashes Into A Tree, Claims Driver
Tesla has reworked the lease terms (likely by reducing the Money Factor / interest rate) so the Long Range RWD can be had for $491 a month on a 36-month, 10,000-mile-per-year lease with zero down, before taxes and fees. That figure drops even more if your state throws in EV incentives. In Massachusetts, for example, a $3,500 state rebate brings the payment down to just $380 a month. Prefer a shorter lease? A 24-month term with the same mileage costs $525 per month before taxes and fees.
Step up to the dual-motor Long Range AWD version and the numbers have been lowered too. Tesla has knocked around $75 off the previous monthly lease rate, bringing it down to $530 per month for 36 months and 10,000 miles. Apply that same Massachusetts incentive and you’re looking at $421 a month. The 24-month lease for this trim is $560.
In terms of financing deals, the Model Y Long Range All-Wheel Drive is still available with an APR of just 1.99 percent. Notably, that deal is available for a minimum down payment of 15% plus applicable taxes and fees for up to 72 months. Those who do need to use the 84-month term are subject to a much less appealing 6.44 percent APR. That has been the case for a little while now, but Tesla is putting a deadline on it. It’ll end after June 16.
Finally, the Long Range RWD version isn’t available with 1.99 percent financing. The best rate available on it right now is 5.49 percent. Granted, the total price difference between the two versions is just $4,000 total so moving up to the AWD variant is probably what Tesla wants customers to do.
Tesla being Tesla, just because those better APRs expire on June 16 doesn’t mean they’re gone for good. All it takes is a little patience. If inventory doesn’t move fast enough, there’s a decent chance Tesla brings them back, or maybe even throws out a zero percent deal before the year’s over.
Electric cars aren’t exactly uncharted territory anymore, but that doesn’t mean every automaker has found its footing. After years of dominating the hybrid world, Toyota is finally getting serious about fully electric vehicles. Enter the next-generation C-HR, a compact SUV with a much sharper edge than the one you might remember. It’s not just a redesign – it’s practically a reboot, and yes, it’s fast enough to leave Toyota’s own GR86 sports car in the dust.
After easing into the EV market with the awkwardly named bZ4X, now rebranded simply as bZ, Toyota seems determined to make an impression. In developing the all-electric C-HR, the company says it benchmarked the SUV against both mainstream and premium rivals, and confidently claims it now belongs in the latter camp. A substantial 338 horsepower from dual electric motors certainly strengthens that argument.
Read: Toyota’s C-HR Returns To America But It’s Nothing Like You Remember
While recently speaking with Road & Track, the chief engineer for the Toyota bZ and C-HR, Daisuke Ido, acknowledged that adding power boosts the new model’s appeal.
In an interview with Road & Track, Daisuke Ido, chief engineer for Toyota’s bZ and C-HR programs, made it clear the brand is aiming higher. “During benchmarking, we brought some of the competitors into two groups — the normal, let’s say daily use cars, and the premium cars,” he said. “Now, we are in the premium group. The new numbers are more powerful. More power is more appealing.”
That message is echoed by Chad Moore, marketing manager for the bZ and C-HR lineup, who said Toyota is “positioning it as more sporty and fun to drive” compared to the outgoing model. Additionally, he pointed out that Toyota has made it “much more premium inside and outside, not just with the BEV powertrain and the acceleration.”
Toyota says the 338-hp C-HR can hit 60 mph (96 km/h) in a respectable 5 seconds. In Europe, it’ll also be sold in 165 hp and 221 hp configurations, but these models won’t be available in the United States.
Admittedly, the C-HR is far from an outright performance car, like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N or Kia EV6 GT. It’s more similar to the (larger) EV6 GT-Line AWD, which delivers 320 hp and can hit 60 mph in around the same 5 seconds. That should be more than enough for most shoppers, and there were times not too long ago when those figures were reserved for high-end sports cars.
There’s no shortage of over-the-top SUVs these days, but the Yangwang U8 manages to stand out in a sea of excess, and not just for its wild features. It recently even caught the attention of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who seemed suitably impressed.
Apparently, though, BYD’s high-end sub-brand decided the original U8 wasn’t quite lavish enough, because now there’s an even longer and more luxurious version named the Yangwang U8 L.
Read: Watch BYD’s Yangwang U9 Jump Road Spikes (And The Shark)
According to new details out of China, the U8 L rides on a massive 3,250 mm (127.9-inch) wheelbase, which is 200 mm (7.8 inches) longer than the base model. This extra length makes room for a custom 2+2+2 seating configuration, bringing a touch of private-jet layout to your daily school run or mountain retreat. Unfortunately, Yangwang hasn’t shared interior photos yet, so we’ll have to imagine how those second-row thrones might look once you slide in.
Longer, Flashier, Shinier
However, some obvious changes have been made to the exterior of the new flagship U8. For starters, the Yangwang badge on the front grille can be finished in 24-karat gold, as can the emblem at the rear. The automaker’s designers have also crafted new 23-inch forged wheels for the U8 L that have floating center caps, just like a Rolls-Royce. These new wheels are wrapped in wider rubber than the standard model.
Around back, Yangwang has cleaned up the design by removing the spare wheel carrier. The result is a sleeker, more upmarket profile that dials down the rugged SUV cues and turns up the executive limo vibe.
Same Power, Same Party Tricks
Underneath, the U8 L doesn’t mess with the formula. China’s Autohome reports that the U8 L shares the same drivetrain as the standard U8: four electric motors, a 2.0-liter turbocharged range-extender, and a 49.05 kWh battery pack. The numbers are hefty at 1,180 hp (880 kW) and 944 lb-ft (1,280 Nm) of torque, and the party tricks remain intact. That includes the ability to float in water and execute tank turns, thanks to each wheel getting its own motor.
Yangwang provided the world a glimpse at the U8 L at the recent Shanghai Auto Show, with production scheduled to kick off later this year. Prices could start at around 1.5 million yuan, or the equivalent of around $205,000 at current exchange rates. That’s a lot for a Chinese-built SUV, but it’s a relative bargain compared to a Rolls-Royce Cullinan that starts at over $400,000 in America.
That’s no small sum for Chinese-built SUV, but compared to a Rolls-Royce Cullinan, which starts at over $400,000 in the U.S., it almost feels like a deal, especially if your idea of a bargain includes gold trim and amphibious capabilities.
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