Stellantis, which includes FCA US, the former Chrysler, has decided to build its electric drive modules (EDM) at Kokomo, Indiana-area plants. The EDM is an all-in-one solution for electric vehicles; making them in Indiana will keep 265 jobs intact at three plants (Indiana Transmission, Kokomo Transmission, and Kokomo Casting).
The gearbox cover will be cast at Kokomo Casting and machined at Kokomo Transmission, with gear machining and assembly at Indiana Transmission. Production is to start in late 2024, likely supporting electric Ram 1500s, Jeep Wagoneer S (whatever the production name will be), and possibly electric Chargers along with other vehicles.
Overall, the company has invested nearly $3.3 billion in Indiana since 2020, including a battery joint venture with Samsung SDI. The investment supports plans for electric Rams (likely ProMasters) by the end of this year and the first fully electric Jeep in 2024, along with the gradual shift of Chrysler (the marque) to all-electrics by 2030.
Around half of all FCA US vehicles will still be at least partly gasoline-powered or diesel-powered in 2030, according to past plan announcements.
I know no one at stellantis will actually answer this question for me but I really do have a question here. How affordable will these new EVs really be to own when it comes to the fact of when something breaks? While sometimes the “all in one” concept makes for a neater, cleaner presentation, when things break, it makes them a bit more expensive to repair, if they even can be repaired and not just simply replaced. I think about labor times at dealerships since these really cant be worked on by the DIY guys anymore so that definitely takes away a bit of the appeal for us regular working class people. As gung ho as I am about performance and all of that kind of stuff. A lot of this new stuff still does take the fun out of owning certain cars. I get the need for electrification but I hope that there will still be something out there for the enthusiasts
Good to see that you’re coming around, VBJr.
Lol.
For me, I just want performance to live on. Honestly, I would truly have loved for the V8 powered muscle cars to have lived on. I’m hoping that the Hurricane powertrains will carry on the ICE performance in a way that will be satisfactory, but it’s also why I made suggestions about EV vehicles having “supercoolers”, CVT transmissions and other things that can be done with them. I’ve said before the love of the Mopar brand isn’t just about the factory performance, it’s about the connection between the owner and the vehicle, it’s about the modifications, its about the personalization & passion. My hope is that in some way hot rodding and car modifications, and the car culture in general can live on with whatever the brand is going to do and also be affordable. I’d be happy for the brand to return to the GLH and SRT4 type cars if it would keep ICE performance around. a Cross-plane Crank 4-cylinder has an amazing sound and with turbo/hybrid performance it could reset the SRT4 movement in a big way. No they wouldn’t be muscle cars, but the Dodge brand has so many names that it could revise and redo that would work to expand the brand back to a full lineup. Neon, Dart, Avenger, Stealth, Journey, Nitro, Omni, Viper, Dakota, Spirit and Prowler. For their time the GLH and other Shelby tuned 4-cylinder Mopars were very potent performers. There was even a Turbo Caravan with a 5-speed and one point in time back then. The point I’m making is that Dodge could continue offering ICE & ICE/Hybrid performance under these names, if they want to move the muscle cars to EV at least give the rest of us cars to enjoy that fit into an affordable 4 & 6 cylinder performance bracket. And also if Dodge is going to get into the EV market, at least make EVs that can still be tinkered with to fit the “muscle” market that they’re trying to make. They could even bring back an Intrepid R/T to compete with the Acura TLX Type-S. Of course I can go on with “what could be done” ideas for days but my whole thing is I hope that they continue to make cars that are affordable can be enjoyed even after the V8 cars are gone. ICE or not.
Personally I hope that they go down the tank. According to L.T: No price increases for ‘23 Challengers and Chargers. All Scat Packs: $3,800.00 for Heated Seats and Steering Wheel. All Hellcats: $995.00 Mandatory Jailbreak Charge (Gives you nothing). All Redeyes, $995.00 (See above) +$2,995.00 8 Speed Automatic (Gee whiz, wasn’t that standard?). Give me a break, L.T; you should be sweeping floors and cleaning toilets at JLR. Have a blessed day everyone.
Correction on Challenger Scat Pack info: Heated seats and steering wheel NOT AVAILABLE. Also Charger Scat Pack info: Heated seats and steering wheel STANDARD. Additionally B-5 Blue, Destroyer Grey and Plum Crazy NOT AVAILABLE.
Comrade Koval ships additional High-Spec Rams (Laramie and Rebel G.T.’s) to Russia last week to supplement the hundreds already on storage lots near Moscow. His broker of choice is offering them to wealthy Russian citizens for $170,000.00+. You’re a true American patriot Mikey and an asset to the industrialized world. Source: NBC News