The Lincoln Corsair hybrid vehicle is an ultra smooth, uber sharp-looking SUV with just the right amount of luxury touch points, at a competitive price, a bridge for those not ready to make a full leap to the world of electric vehicles.
Related: The five fastest electric cars out there right now
A big component of the Left and the activist class wants us all driving Teslas by next Thursday. Reality though inconveniently gets in the way. Ever try charging your EV when it’s 15 below in the middle of February, or you can’t find a charging station? But here’s the thing – the market is sorting this all out, not a lecture from a pundit on MSNBC. Yes, only around five per cent of cars on the road are electric vehicles. However, according to Statista, Canada’s auto dealers sold 66,000 electric vehicles in 2021, up 42.5 per cent compared to 2020. And charging stations are becoming more prevalent to answer the demand.
There are soaring gas prices (average gas price in Ontario May 1 was $1.84/L), and a vulnerability in oil supply, compounded by government policy in Canada and U.S. that restricts the extraction and sale of oil and gas. There are government rebates for buying EVs. That’s forced people to take second look at their gas-powered cars.
Again, the reality is it’s not going to be Thursday. It’s going to take a generation to fully leap from the old world to the new.
Lincoln Corsair: Best of both worlds
A recent KPMG study said almost a third of those polled (30 per cent) said they regretted not having bought an EV already. Three in five said that it was time to buy an EV and more than half said they would never buy a gas-powered car ever again. The federal government wants half of all new cars sold in the country to be zero-emission vehicles by 2030 (and all new cars by 2035).
And that brings us to the Lincoln Corsair. At the end of 2020 Lincoln stopped making Continentals and MKZs. They announced they would be going all SUV. A full lineup of electric SUVs is in their crosshairs for 2026.
The price point is the big differentiator
Compared to the Aviator, Nautilus and Navigator, the Corsair is more on the compact side. Total MSRP for the media fleet vehicle, including all the options, was $70,400. And that’s where the real impact was felt by us – the price, measured against the long list of features you get for that. We liked the size of the Corsair (4,587 mm in length) because of the restrictions of driving downtown Toronto – tight condo parking spaces, pinpoint parallel street parking, deft of movement in city traffic.
The paired electric and gas powertrain engines (2.5L Grand Touring hybrid engine; combined 266 HP; all electric range of 45 km) gives the city driver the best of both worlds. Plan your day accordingly and you can wave off those corner gas stations. Noted as well – smooth acceleration and great performance with the Lincoln-first electric all-wheel drive.
With the exterior, those 20-inch bright machined aluminum wheels were one of the main statement makers, worth the $1200 optional charge. That standard chrome mesh grille lets people know you are driving a Lincoln. And the Panoramic Vista Roof makes summer time driving in particular that much more impactful.
Safety features
The interior was more than comfortable, quite elegant actually, and offered up all typical menu options for a luxury ride. Too many to mention, but that air filtration system, rain-sensing wipers, leather-wrapped steering wheel, and of course those 24-way leather seats (massage functions as well) for people with back challenges stood out during our drive. All controls are easily accessible via buttons on the console. Three adults fit comfortably in the back row seating.
The Lincoln Corsair has your back with safety features as well, including blind spot detection with cross-traffic warning, pre-crash assistance with automatic emergency braking. On the highways, there’s lane tracking system, plus there’s rearview camera and headlights with automatic high beams, and more.
Lincoln Corsair: Our recommendation
That interior cabin was also whisper quiet, and that, with the lightness of our wallet with the SUV in electric mode for city driving, was what we took away. But is a Lincoln luxury SUV like this one provide enough features to place it in the same sentence as established luxury brands like BMW (with the X3) and Audi (Q5), at similar base prices? Lincoln has work to do there, to further build up a reputation as a luxury automaker when measured up against the Germans, and others.
Still, we’ve driven the others, and we more than recommend the Lincoln Corsair.
Photos: Mark Keast
I am a 50-something Torontonian who loves everything about my city. It’s been my home, my playground, for my entire life. I went to school here. I met my wife here. I own real estate here. I love writing about the transformation of my city on the world stage, which hasn’t been anything short of dramatic. That continues on, as I write this. I write on the real estate scene. I write on travel and fashion. I like following the world of luxury watches.
But I love writing about cars – check that, luxury cars, a level of superior, engineering sophistication, high performance and style, that transports you not just from one destination to another but also out of whatever you are going through on a particular day, whatever mood you are in, all to another head space. It’s complete and total exhilaration, head to toe.
Check out my stories, and email me direct at mkeast@regardingluxury.com
