The 2025 Ram 1500 recently arrived as the first Dodge/Ram pickup in decades to have no V8 engine. Some on social media claimed these were the first of their kind to have no V8 option, which is true for Ram but not for Dodge. Dodge Brothers, after all, were all four-cylinders when the brothers were … Read more
Last week, I traveled to Austin, Texas, to drive the 2025 Ram 1500 lineup. The most controversial aspect of the 2025 Ram 1500 is the loss of the beloved Hemi V8 engines, replaced by a pair of “Hurricane” twin turbocharged inline-6 engines dubbed SST (Straight Six Turbo).The removal of the Hemi engines was not a … Read more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is, according to the Washington Post, thinking about reducing its emissions rules for cars and trucks. The EPA had been pushing for 50% of new-car sales to be BEVs with the 2030 model-year, but slower growth in EV sales and battery production are making that seem impractical.Changes to the rule … Read more
While truck stops continue to install hydrogen facilities for future fuel-cell and adapted-Cummins-diesel big rigs, regular hydrogen cars in the US were dealt a heavy blow as Shell stopped selling the gas in its California stations. Only seven stations were affected, but these are seven out of a mere 59 stations in the entire country.Ram … Read more
For three decades—since the Viper—Dodge has increasingly conjured images of fire-breathing Hellcats, tire-shredding Demons, and rumbling Hemi V8s that could soundtrack an earthquake. It’s a brand built on brawn—on excess, not dependability (a word Dodge invented), safety, value, or efficiency. Yet, data shows time after time that dependability, safety, value, and efficiency are the biggest … Read more
Recently, another site came out with criticism that the 2025 Ram 1500’s high output Hurricane six will require premium fuel. This was their second headline; originally they didn’t mention that it was only the high output engine requiring premium. This was followed by predictable comments from readers of gloom, doom, and the inferiority of new engines.There … Read more
Stellantis was the final member of the former Big Three to announce its use of the SAE J3400 connector for high-speed charging. This connector essentially uses the physical form of Tesla’s design with the protocols of the Combined Charging System (CCS). Drivers will presumably be able to use Tesla chargers as well as those from other makers, including Ionna, the new charging network announced by six major global automakers. Ionna, whose name and chief executive were just released last week, plans to have 30,000 high-rate charging points in North America by 2030.
While some secondary indicators and a good deal of complaining suggest that Americans aren’t buying into EVs at the rate automakers and regulators would prefer, Europeans seem to be transitioning over relatively quickly. EV sales went from 14% in 2022 to 18% in 2023, passing diesel’s share, according to the European automakers’ association. [Article continues with discussion of events in Europe and contrasts in North America, and things buyers need to watch for.]
FCA US’ Andrew Morris and Craig DeYoung created a system to reduce the compression ratio while you’re starting your car, to cut back on the starter’s workload. The system uses the engine’s cam phaser system to increase valve lift to the point that compression falls to 5:1-6:1 from the usual roughly-10:1.
Lately, the performance of EVs in extreme cold has been popping up in social media. Studies do show that, like gasoline-powered cars, BEVs have poor efficiency in the cold, but once warmed up, they do much better. Numerous short trips will drain the BEV’s battery relatively quickly—as they will a gas tank.Four FCA US employees … Read more
Hydrogen power continues to attract investments by companies around the world; the latest announcement comes from Stellantis, which is able to make hydrogen fuel cell and electric vans with the same basic bodies. The new announcement comes in 2024, as Stellantis has predicted.Stellantis has started industrial scale production of hydrogen fuel cell vans for its … Read more
Last week, Ram finally unveiled the 2025 Ram ProMaster EV, complete with a new front-end appearance. This update does not just refresh the commercial van; it also continues the long road to making Fiat’s original van design more palatable to discerning palates.
Here are five key things to know about the ProMaster EV:
Every sales figure, product release, and rumor from Dodge and Ram seem to bring forth disparaging remarks from people who insist that the company is “digging its own graves by making nothing but BEVs.” Yet, even before the first battery-electric Dodge has been put up for sale, before the Hemi V8 stopped being optional, people … Read more
Earlier today, Stellantis issued a press release on the STLA Large vehicle platform that is to underpin the Dodge Charger Daytona, Jeep Wagoneer S, and other vehicles. Their objective was to highlight the versatility of this platform, which handles both gasoline and battery electric vehicles (BEV), but what caught our attention was a performance figure … Read more
2023 was the “Last Call” for the Hemi-powered Dodge Challenger and Charger. Just this week, Dodge launched the first Last Call Hemi-powered 2024 Durango. Based on information posted on JLWranglerForums.com, 2024 will also be the final model year for the 392 Hemi-powered Jeep Wrangler Rubicon.A user named 7.62×392 shared a screenshot of the “Jeep January … Read more
When Volkswagen, followed by pretty much every other European automaker, was found to have been faking emissions gear, American diesel pioneer Cummins stood apart from the rest. Cummins had even, years ago, met future diesel standards years before they needed to.
