Orange County unveils streetcar for area's ‘first modern' system
The debut of the blue and orange colored vehicle, which will be the county's 'first modern, electric streetcar,' was held at its base in Santa Ana on Wednesday, the Orange County Transportation Authority stated.
'The arrival of the first OC Streetcar vehicle is an exciting moment for Orange County and a clear sign of the strong progress we're making toward getting the system running,' said OCTA Chair Doug Chaffee.
The Siemens S700 streetcar is 90 feet long and designed to carry up to 211 passengers, including 62 seated and 149 standing.
'The OC Streetcar will run on electricity from an overhead catenary system, producing zero emissions as it runs along the track,' according to the OCTA.
The cars will run a 4-mile route between the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center and Harbor Boulevard in Garden Grove, serving some of the most densely populated neighborhoods and connecting with Metrolink rail service.
Testing on the new system is expected to begin this summer, with service slated to begin in spring 2026.
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Hamilton Spectator
19-07-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
For real off-roading or navigating potholed Canadian streets, this SUV brings it. It really can go anywhere
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Hypebeast
02-07-2025
- Hypebeast
Land Rover Defender OCTA Is the World Conquerer We've Been Waiting For
There's been a trend as of late, where sports car makers create an off-road version that's lifted, beefed up, widened and built to conquer Earth's challenges. But what if the automaker is known for off-roading already; where do you go from there? That's exactly what theLand Rover Defender OCTAis. We were given an exclusive invite to Colorado toTest Drivethe all newLand RoverDefender OCTA very early in its arrival. Built upon the Defender 110 V8 edition, the OCTA is the Defender to end all Defenders. Wider body, biggest engine possible, with exclusive lifted suspension and strengthened chassis reinforcement; Land Rover is marketing the OCTA to buyers who need the upper echelon of driving needs. But from what we encountered, it might be overkill for its main objective, at a price point ($152,000 USD) that's quite hard to swallow. Then what would be the reasons you buy the Defender OCTA? Are you shopping it for the looks, or ultimate challenges, or for high speed expeditions? 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During our trip to Grand Junction, Colorado and on our journey to Moab, Utah, we encountered a plethora of terrain challenges, the majority of which included off-road trails. One major expedition involved rock crawling, switchbacks, and eventually conquering The Beehive State's mountainous red rocks and even some river crossing. This gave the Land Rover Defender OCTA a real opportunity to shine, however it might have backfired a bit for us. On our adventure, we were of course accompanied by multiple Defender OCTA as well as standard 110s. The rough surfaces, sharp rocks and fairly-huge boulders in our way posed no threat to the OCTA's lifted, protected and air ride suspension-fitted vehicle, but to our realization they weren't much of a problem for the 110s either. 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The conundrum however was literally in front of our eyes though, as we followed a standard 110 almost the entire time. Where ever we went, the 110 was already there just a few feet ahead of us. While we didn't have any crew present in the standard Defenders, we imagined they didn't break a sweat either which reinforced the thinking of 'why spring for an OCTA if the 110 is good enough?' It's like the athletic older brother, with all the equipment and training, being outpaced by their younger sibling the entire 400m. Therefore if you're dishing out the cash for the OCTA, the price – which is more than $40,000 USD above the 110 V8 – is more for the confidence and piece of mind that it can conquer all trails, instead of the trails themselves. Ironically, we found the on-road performance for the OCTA a bit more fitting of the price than the off-road. With the new OCTA mode and the numbers game with the engine, the flagship trim is seriously fun in this department. The Defender OCTA utilizes a BMW-sourced 4.4L twin-turbo V8, executed as a mild hybrid with a performance-assisting electric motor. Land Rover claims the power equates to 626 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque at most, depending on the mode selected. While in Dynamic mode even, the OCTA gives full power to the driver, but maintains driver aids to keep that power down. OCTA mode, however, is one step above and thus separates it from a run-of-a-mill 110. Our first task in Colorado was to explore the best scenario for OCTA Mode and Land Rover didn't beat around the bush to showcase exactly what this would be: a baja-style, off-road circuit that mixed fast corners and hairpins with slaloms, banks and even a few jumps. Our Land Rover pro driver gave us a passenger ride-along for a sighting lap before handing over the wheel and right away we knew – or felt – that the OCTA could master this one-mile course with ease. All 626 hp – somehow – found its way onto the loose dirt and gravel in the best way possible while allowing for a fine balance of slip and grip. The engine worked in unison with the lifted suspension and 22' off-road wheel and tire package and gave us confidence to really gun it on the rough surface. During our turn, and with our inexperience, we mustered the courage to go 55 mph, but perhaps it wasn't enough – our trained pro driver took the wheel back and really, really exerted what the OCTA can do. And for a hot second, we saw he hit 78 mph. So if you're the proud owner of the Defender OCTA, what environment would benefit you the most? In our opinion, it's built for the fairly affluent semi-urban landscape – think an hour or two outside of Chicago or Indianapolis – who has access to both highways, twisties, canyons and trails. We'd configure our Defender OCTA less on the rugged side to highlight the aggressive widebody and bulging curves, and maybe skip the matte PPF offered from factory, or the 20' wheels with extra chunky tires. Why? Because if we had to rank our use for it, we'd bring our OCTA to road trips that might include a bit of faster off-road courses, more so than truly off-road mountains and deserts. Out of the three aspects listed here, design and on-road capability take the cake for us, but that doesn't mean we'd not appreciate the off-road capability – we just felt the OCTA was overkill for even the advanced trails we were on. We've seen this formula before with other automakers like Porsche and Lamborghini, but we're actually proud that Land Rover prioritized the off-road angle more so for their example. Whether or not you utilize your OCTA for everything to its potential is one thing, but we're confident it could tackle anything and everything you throw at it, and that means the $152,000 USD is justified.