Listen to “AD #3409 – Dodge EV Muscle Cars Delayed; Tesla Cranks Shanghai Up to 1 Million+/Year; Will Ram EV Use Range Extender?” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 11:07
0:00 Will Ram EV Use Range Extender?
0:59 Ford Can’t Get Enough Parts
1:41 Tesla Cranks Shanghai Up to 1 Million+/Year
2:11 Tesla Adds 60,000 Customers to FSD Beta
2:41 Tesla EU Superchargers Cost 0.60/kWh
3:57 GM BrightDrop Targets Grocery Industry
4:53 Alpina Unveils BMW X7 SUV
6:02 Dodge EV Muscle Cars Delayed Until 2025
7:59 NIO Ships Battery Swapper to Germany
8:30 U.S. Traffic Deaths Fall
9:29 “Painting” Cars with Film
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WILL RAM EV USE RANGE EXTENDER?
Ram is going to be late to the party when it finally comes out with its electric pickup in 2024. But it keeps insisting that its electric truck will surpass all the others when it comes to towing and hauling. About a year ago there were rumors coming through the grapevine that Ram would use a range extender in its electric pickup. That could give it a 300 mile range, even when towing. But then those rumors dried up. So now we want to crowdsource the answer through the Autoline audience. Can anyone out there tell us how Ram is going to get long range towing with its electric pickup?
FORD CAN’T GET ENOUGH PARTS
Ford still can’t get enough parts to finish the cars and trucks rolling off its assembly lines. It’s going to end up this quarter with about 45,000 unfinished vehicles sitting around waiting for parts, and it won’t be able to sell them until next quarter. Moreover, Ford says it had to pay suppliers an extra billion dollars for parts this quarter due to inflation. Bloomberg reports all that is going to cut Ford’s EBIT profit in half for the third quarter. Even so, Ford says it still expects to post a profit of about $12 billion for the year.
TESLA CRANKS SHANGHAI UP TO +1 MILLION/YEAR
Tesla will soon start cranking out more vehicles at its plant in Shanghai. According to Chinese government officials, Tesla has completed upgrades to expand production and will test the updated lines between now and the end of November. Reuters reports that Tesla wants to produce 22,000 Model 3s and Ys a week at the plant, which works out to more than 1.1 million vehicles annually.
TESLA ADDS 60,000 CUSTOMERS TO FSD BETA
But that’s not the only thing Tesla is expanding. Elon Musk tweeted that it’s adding 60,000 more owners to its Full Self-Driving Beta program, bringing the total to more than 160,000 people. The FSD beta software is able to drive to a destination autonomously by entering the location in the vehicle’s navigation system. However, drivers must pay attention at all times and be ready to take control if needed.
TESLA EU SUPERCHARGERS COST .60/KWH
And in one last bit of Tesla news, the EV maker is hiking Supercharger prices in Europe. The rates vary across countries but Electrek reports most stations are now charging around €0.60 per kWh, which is up about €0.12 per kWh on average. Tesla blames the energy crisis in Europe for the price hike but it sure makes electricity pretty expensive. For a base Model 3 that’s like paying over $4.50 a gallon compared to a car that gets 30 miles to the gallon. That’s still cheaper than gasoline in Europe, but all we can say is yikes!
GM BRIGHTDROP TARGETS GROCERY INDUSTRY
No doubt if you’ve been to the grocery store lately you’ve seen those big carts being filled for people that made their purchase online. By 2025 the market of this business is expected to reach $240 billion. That’s one of the reasons BrightDrop, GM’s commercial delivery and logistics company, is expanding into making e-Grocery carts. Called the Trace Grocery, the electrified cart is temperature controlled and can hold up to 350 pounds. Since it can keep food safe for up to four hours and customers perform a quick verification to get access, there’s no need to have an employee waiting around for pickup, freeing them up to do something else. Kroger will be the first to start using Trace Grocery later this year, but full availability won’t be until 2024.
ALPINA UNVEILS BMW X7 SUV
Alpina made a name for itself building high-performance BMWs and most recently worked its magic on the X7 SUV, which will soon hit American shores. Under the hood is a reworked 4.4L twin-turbo V8 that now features a 48-volt mild-hybrid system, which helps boost output to 630 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque. Fed through an 8-speed automatic and BMW’s xDrive all-wheel drive system, that’s enough power to move this big SUV from 0-60 in 3.9 seconds. Bigger brakes with Brembo calipers in the front and performance tires are meant to help harness all that power, while air suspension, Alpina-specific struts, active anti roll bars and stiffer bushings help improve driving dynamics. Orders for the nearly $146,000 performance SUV just kicked off in the U.S. and deliveries are expected to start early next year.
DODGE EV MUSCLE CARS DELAYED TO 2025
Dodge is pushing back the start of production for the electric versions of the Charger and Challenger. According to Autoforecast Solutions, the vehicles, which are being built on the STLA Large platform, were originally supposed to go into production in August of 2024 in Windsor in Canada. But now those plans have been pushed back until February of 2025. The Charger and Challenger are currently built at Stellantis’ Brampton assembly plant in Ontario, Canada, so the move to Windsor will free up space for something else to be built there.
TIM KUNISKIS ON AAH
What do you think will happen with these cars? Will hard-core gearheads really go for electric muscle cars? We’ve got Tim Kuniskis, the head of Dodge coming on Autoline After Hours on Thursday, to talk all about the electric Dodge Charger and Challenger. What would you like to ask him? You can post your question in the comment section, or send an email to viewermail@autoline.tv
NIO SHIPS BATTERY SWAPPER TO GERMANY
Chinese EV maker Nio is trying to popularize EV battery swapping stations outside of China. It built its first battery swapping station in Hungary which will be installed in Germany. Nio plans to open 1,000 swapping stations outside of China by 2025. The facility in Hungary is Nio’s first overseas plant, which will not only produce battery swapping stations but also serve as its European R&D center.
U.S. TRAFFIC DEATHS FALL
When Covid hit, people in the US just seemed to start driving with reckless abandon. Traffic deaths reversed a decades-long trend and started going up again. But in the second quarter of this year they declined after seven consecutive quarters of increases. According to NHTSA, an estimated 10,590 people died between April and June. That’s 5% down from a year ago. The traffic death rate per 100 million miles driven also dipped from 1.34 in the second quarter of 2021 to 1.27 this year. But traffic deaths are still up a half a percent for the first half of the year. These are preliminary numbers so NHTSA doesn’t have specific reasons for the drop in deaths but hopefully it’s a sign that people are starting to get back to normal.
“PAINTING” CARS WITH FILM
Paint shops are the most complicated and expensive parts of any assembly plant. A large paint shop in a big plant can cost $300 million. They’re also a big source of V-O-C pollution, volatile organic compounds. But a company called Aero Sustainable Materials has a solution that is far cheaper and has zero emissions. No CO2, no PVC, no VOC, and it doesn’t use any water for installation. And no bake ovens. Instead of spraying on paint, Aero uses a film with four layers. It has an adhesive layer, a color coat, a clear coat and a self-healing urethane that is built right into the film. It’s lighter than paint, fully recyclable, and can even have electronics embedded into it. And it’s already in production. Land Rover uses it for the satin paint finishes on the Defender. Aero says the film is also perfect for aircraft and boats.
But that’s a wrap for today. Thanks for joining us.
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Seamus and Sean McElroy cover the latest news in the automotive industry for Autoline Daily.