2021 WAPA Rally: Rolling Deep Down at the Beach

Down on the Beach

This year\’s gathering featured 2022 models from Ford, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota, Genesis, Maserati and more. The gathering point was the same as it was in 2019: Herrington on the Bay up in North Beach.

Over the course of a single day, I took as many of the cars available between the gathering point and Downtown North Beach as I could.

Among them are five of my favorites from this year\’s rally.

Mazda MX-30

The future of the industry is electrification, and no longer are Tesla (especially Tesla) and Nissan the only players in the game. Mazda is among the newest to place its bet on the table with its first EV, the MX-30. It\’s also the first EV I\’ve ever driven.

Going around the loop I took the entire day, the MX-30 reminded me of the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Limited I brought to the rally as far as sound was concerned. Both use electric power when moving down the road, though the Mazda\’s single electric motor is always on, compared to the Hyundai\’s low-speed EV mode.

Alas, the EV version of the MX-30 will only be available in California for the time being. A PHEV version – using a rotary-powered generator for increased range – is expected in 2022.

Polestar 2

Right after driving the MX-30, I hopped into this gem of an EV, the Polestar 2. Built upon Volvo\’s Compact Modular Architecture (the same platform underpinning the Volvo XC40), the Polestar 2 can be had in either single-motor, front-drive or dual-motor, all-wheel drive (like this one here).

The Polestar 2 also has an infotainment system built upon Android, a departure from most infotainment systems built upon software from Microsoft, Research In Motion et al. It was as close as I would get to using my phone that day, to say the least.

For a good part of the morning, an Elliot power crew was working on a power line along the route I was using for the test drives. On my way back through the one lane of travel, one of the sign holders said they loved the looks of the Polestar 2. I do, too.