Electric pickups are expected to be the next big thing, and newcomer Rivian stole a march on everyone—Ford’s F-150 Lightning is in pre-production, but deliveries aren’t to start until spring of 2022. Tesla’s Cybertruck is delayed until who-knows-when. GM may be struggling to catch up, but it’s moving forward. The latest news is that Chevrolet’s… Read more »
Here at Charged, we don’t usually repeat superlative claims—“the first, the biggest, the fastest”—we leave those to the Guinness Book of Records. In this case, however, we’ll make an exception. Ford says its plan to build two new manufacturing complexes in Tennessee and Kentucky represents “the largest ever manufacturing investment at one time by any… Read more »
Rivian isn’t the only company that has visions of electric off-roading (or off-road EVing?). Following the launch of the 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid, Jeep has announced a partnership with Electrify America to create the Jeep 4xe Charging Network. The new network will consist of Jeep-branded EV charging stations at or near the trailheads… Read more »
General Motors CEO Mary Barra said Thursday the company is accelerating its electric-vehicle efforts, pulling forward the schedule on many future launches, and expanding the number of EV models it sells globally to 30 by the end of 2025—a larger number than the dozen future EVs shown to journalists in a no-cameras presentation in March…. Read more »
EV fans tend to be divided into two groups: Greenies and Car Guys, and reaction to GM’s upcoming Hummer EV has, unsurprisingly, been divided along those lines. Hummer good Most of the media is ecstatic over the new machine. Many are praising its “bad-ass” looks (GM says it wanted to make it look “less military”… Read more »
Amazon made a splash in the EV world last September when it ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans from EV startup Rivian. Now the company says it will buy an additional 1,800 electric vans from Mercedes-Benz. The order includes 1,200 large eSprinter electric vans and 600 medium-size eVito electric vans. It represents Mercedes-Benz Vans’ largest order… Read more »
Love it or hate it, the electric Hummer is coming. GM recently released some more information about the battery-powered behemoth, including photos of the prototype vehicle being assembled, along with its battery pack. The Hummer EV will use GM’s new Ultium modular battery architecture, which is to be manufactured in a joint venture with Korean… Read more »
Ford COO Jim Farley has announced that electric versions of the F-150 pickup and Ford Transit van will make it to market by mid-2022. He offered no further information about the vehicles. “We are No. 1 in the pickup and the van market in Western Europe and the US, and this is our chance,” Farley… Read more »
EVs may experience minor hiccups, but they shouldn’t suffer much more than the rest of the auto industry. It’s the question everyone has to ask: How will the Covid-19 pandemic affect my business? For those in the electric-car world, the question is more pointed: Will the pandemic hurt the growth of electric vehicles over the… Read more »
Over the first 10 years of their existence, most modern battery-electric cars have been compact hatchbacks or Teslas. While a few are marketed as crossover utility vehicles, none have been the full-size pickup trucks that make up a huge and very profitable segment of US vehicle sales. That’s about to change. What follows is a… Read more »