AD #2500 – Volvo Announces Electric Semi for U.S., Kroger Delivers Groceries in AV Pods, Ford Ranger Impressions

On today’s show… Chinese startup Nio unveils its third electric vehicle… Volvo Trucks will start selling electric semis in the U.S. in 2020… and we’ll share our driving impressions of the new Ford Ranger pickup. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily the voice of the automotive industry.

ANOTHER GOOD MONTH FOR BIG TRUCKS
While light vehicle sales in the U.S. are starting to slow, sales of medium and heavy duty vehicles continue to soar. WardsAuto reports that big truck sales were up 12% in November. That increase was thanks to a 21% gain in the heavy-duty Class 8 segment. The medium-duty Class 4 through 7 vehicles, were up about 3% last month. But it’s going to be a great year for big trucks, through November sales are up nearly 20% compared to a year ago.

VOLVO ANNOUNCES ELECTRIC SEMI FOR U.S.
And in other big truck news, Volvo Trucks announced it will begin selling an electric Class 8 semi in North America starting in 2020. Before they go on sale, the company will test its VNR Electric trucks in California next year. And they’ll use the same propulsion system that’s currently featured in Volvo’s FE Electric truck.

MAINTENANCE SERVICE FOR MOBILITY COMPANIES
Ride-hailing vehicles rack up a lot of miles, which means they need to be maintained much more frequently. So in order to help keep vehicles in a safe, working condition, Toyota has created a new maintenance service for ride-hailing companies. Called Total-care Service, it uses onboard telematics data to optimize maintenance schedules for vehicles in the fleet. It’s first being launched in Singapore and will be used by the mobility company Grab. As part of the partnership, Grab will increase the number of Toyota vehicles in its fleet 25% by 2020 and it will look to implement Toyota’s Production System in its business to help improve inefficiencies.

Still to come… Kroger begins delivering groceries with autonomous vehicles.

KROGER DELIVERS GROCERIES IN AUTONOMOUS PODS
Kroger recently finished up a pilot program that tested the use of autonomous pods as grocery delivery vehicles and now customers in Scottsdale, Arizona will be able to use the service. The pods, which are built by Silicon Valley startup Nuro use public roads, have no driver and only transport goods. There’s no minimum order requirement, you can place the order for same day or next day delivery and it costs $5.95 to use. What do you say? Would you use the service?

NIO UNVEILS NEW ELECTRIC VEHICLE
Chinese EV startup NIO has revealed its third vehicle, an electric SUV, called the es6. It’s a good looking utility with styling similar to its es8. Two electric motors combine for about 540-horsepower, which helps propel the es6 from 0 to 100 kilometers an hour in 4.7-seconds. It will launch with a 84 kWh battery pack that provides 510 kilometers or 317 miles of range. But we should note that is on the somewhat outdated NEDC test cycle. The first examples will start showing up in the second quarter of 2019 with more variants to follow through the fourth quarter.

MERCEDES REVEALS PRICING FOR AMG GT 4-DOOR
Mercedes announced that the all-new AMG GT 4-Door will start at $137,495, including destination charges in the U.S. That gets you a 577-horsepower turbo V8 engine, mated to a 9-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. The more powerful 630-horsepower S version will set someone back about $160,000. Both model arrive at U.S. dealers in the first half of next year.

We just the chance to get behind the wheel of the all-new Ford Ranger and we’ll share our impressions, right after this.

2019 FORD RANGER
Ford is late arriving to the mid-size pickup segment in the U.S. market. But it’s showing up with a pretty good truck. Even though other entrants offer several engine choices in their trucks, Ford will only offer one, the 2.3 liter Ecoboost. But it cranks out a hefty 270 horsepower and 310 pound feet of torque. And it’s mated to a 10-speed automatic which helps deliver best-in-class fuel economy of 23 mpg, combined for the 4X2 and 22 mpg for the 4X4. Better still, the engine sounds great when you step into the throttle. It sure doesn’t sound like a four. And that 10-speed shifted smoothly in every situation we drove it, from off-roading to on-highway.

The four-wheel-drive version offers four different terrain controls which you can select on the center console as well as four-high and four-low. It also has off-road cruise control, which Ford calls Trail Control, and can be used at speeds up to 20 miles an hour. Not only is it quite a capable off-roader, the Ranger is rated at 7,500 pounds for towing and has a 1,860 pound payload.

In everyday driving situations the steering and brakes are very linear and predictable. The steering has lower efforts at lower speeds and is direct and responsive in any quick maneuver. And not surprisingly, the two-wheel-drive version rides smoother and responds more quickly to any throttle inputs.

Inside, the Ranger has a bit too much hard plastic, such as on the door trim, lower instrument panel and the center console. That may be acceptable on a base truck with a $25,000 price tag. But even fully loaded versions that can easily top $40,000 are not any more luxurious.

Even so, Ford is coming to the market with a very capable truck, in a segment it really understands, and with a nameplate that many customers have been patiently waiting for. Either the mid-size pickup segment is going to grow, or Ford is going to steal market share from the other players.

But that brings us to the end of today’s report, thanks for watching and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow.