It’s hard to overestimate the importance of the Tesla Model 3 (although the media has been doing its best). There’s no question that it’s a momentous motorcar on (at least) three levels. First, Model 3’s success is widely assumed to be an existential issue for the company – if it fails to deliver on its… Read more »
Commercial vehicle upfitter XL Hybrids has announced that it will begin production of its XL3 Hybrid Electric Drive System for Ford F-250 pickups in the first quarter of 2018. The XL3 system will be offered as a ship-through upfit on 2018 F-250 pickups, and is compatible with a range of wheelbases, cab and bed configurations… Read more »
When it comes to EVs, every pound matters. There is a direct relationship between a vehicle’s weight and the requirements of its expensive battery back, so automotive engineers will explore every possible measure to reduce vehicle mass. However, one of the ways that engineers have traditionally achieved desirable properties in the domain of Noise, Vibration,… Read more »
We all acknowledge the absurdity of ignoring an elephant, when one is present in the very room in which important matters are being discussed, but what about a hulking, jacked-up, V8-powered monster truck? Tesla permanently changed the conversation about EVs when it electrified a sporty two-seater, a luxury sedan and a crossover SUV, but few… Read more »
Ford has replaced CEO Mark Fields with Jim Hackett, the head of the company’s Smart Mobility division. The company also appointed a new executive in charge of “strategy and business model development for electrified vehicles and autonomous vehicles.” The buzz in the media is that the new regime will put more emphasis on electric and… Read more »
The world car has been a reality for many years now. Automakers source parts and expertise from around the world, and they build vehicles in different regions to be closer to markets or to take advantage of cheaper labor. Buying American is a worthy cause, but it isn’t as simple as buying an American brand…. Read more »
Two Michigan companies, New Eagle and Inventev, have teamed up to convert full-size commercial vans to electric drive. They are demonstrating a fully electric Ford Transit van at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Production and sale of the vehicles is scheduled to begin in early 2018. New Eagle will provide the core… Read more »
December plug-in sales blew away last year’s figure, a cheery finale to a year that saw a huge increase. 159,139 EVs and PHEVs changed hands in 2016, a 37% increase over 2015’s 116,099. A new breeze seems to be blowing through boardrooms around the industry, from Toyota to Chrysler to Ford. As usual, Tesla heads… Read more »
Startup companies often evolve as they grow, and sometimes they stumble on a new application for a prosaic product that leads to a new way of doing things, with the huge opportunities that implies. For Mitchell Yow, the CEO of Torque Trends, the journey started with a gearbox, and has led to a complete electrification… Read more »
Aluminum seems to be in the ascendant these days – Ford will use aluminum for the body of its 2015 F-150 pickup truck, and a recent report from the Aluminum Association predicts that by 2025, three out of four pickups will have all-aluminum bodies. Not so fast, says the industry information service World Steel Dynamics…. Read more »