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Stellantis aims to eliminate separate inverter, charger to improve EV efficiency

Stellantis has announced that, in collaboration with French battery company Saft and French National Center for Scientific Research, has made significant progress in eliminating two major components of an electric vehicle powertrain: the on-board charger and the power inverter for the motor. The company claims that doing this will allow for better space use in vehicles, as well as improvements in efficiency, cost and reliability of components. As a quick primer, also explained in the below video, the on-board charger and power inverter are sort of translators to get the right current to different parts of the electric powertrain. The on-board charger takes AC power from the grid and converts it to DC to charge the batteries. Then when power goes from the batteries to the electric motor, the power inverter converts that DC power back to AC. These components aren't exactly small. Frequently you'll find them packaged somewhere under the hood. What Stellantis and its cohorts have developed, and have been using on a test vehicle since last summer, are small power inverter boards that can be mounted very closely to the battery packs. They can handle both conversion needs, for charging and discharging, instead of needing two separate devices. The most obvious perk to this is that you can do away with those traditional components and free up more space, either for making smaller vehicles without losing interior volume, or adding space to a vehicle that wouldn't have had it otherwise. There's the additional benefit of reduced weight, something that EVs struggle with. Stellantis also claims improvements in efficiency, reliability, and cost, however, it didn't go into detail as to how this setup would do that exactly. We'll try to get in touch with representatives from Stellantis in order to get more information. We're still a ways out from seeing this technology in production Stellantis vehicles. The company said it aims to apply it to vehicles by the end of the decade. Saft is also looking at using it on stationary battery systems as well. So maybe we'll see it on a 2029 Ram 1500 REV, but for now, we'll be living with traditional chargers and inverters. Related Video: Green Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Fiat RAM Technology Electric

Fiat Chrysler target 850k sales in China by 2018

Behind the vanguard of numerous Jeep models, two Chryslers, a smattering of Fiats and Alfa Romeos and local production through a joint venture with Guangzhou Automotive Group (GAG), Fiat Chrysler wants to increase sales in China more than six-fold by 2018. The group sold 130,000 cars in China in 2013, the aim for 2018 being 850,000 cars.
Ultimately it's expected that the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Cherokee, Wrangler, Renegade, the coming Grand Wagoneer and a sub-Renegade-sized crossover will either be built in or exported to the People's Republic. The Chrysler Town & Country and 300 will join the export list in 2016 and 2018 respectively, according to a report in Automotive News.
With a number of those vehicles not in production or perhaps even envisaged yet, and others not due on the local market until 2018, it will be interesting to see how Fiat Chrysler plans to achieve the target in the specified timeframe. The joint venture with GAG builds two products now, the Dodge Dart-based Fiat Viaggio launched two years ago - supposedly designed just for China - and the just-launched Fiat Ottimo, a hatchback version of the Viaggio. Fiat projected 300,000 Viagio sales in its first two years, that number has been adjusted downward to 94,000 and there doesn't appear to be an analyst alive that sees a good future for Fiat in China's overrun mainstream market. Still, last year's 130,000 group sales in China is a huge jump from 2012 sales of 66,000 units, but less than half the 300,000 units it projected.

2021 Alfa Romeo Giulia Review | Still the driver's choice

Nearly every luxury sport sedan similar in size to the 2021 Alfa Romeo Giulia is a great driving car, but none can topple Alfa from its throne as the best. Its quintessential sport sedan combination of agile handling, superior driver communication and powerful engines is the best in the business. Unfortunately, the highs are high, and the lows are low when it comes to the Giulia.  The interior is better now than it was at the beginning, but it’s still less than the Germans in both luxury and technology. A frustrating and laggy touchscreen infotainment system is hardly an improvement over the non-touch interface of before. A palatial back seat has never been a sport sedan trademark, but the Giulia's competitors nevertheless out do it in that regard too (should you care). And of course, thereÂ’s the question of long-term reliability. We hope that Alfa Romeo has worked out the GiuliaÂ’s reported issues over the years, but reliability is worth considering with the carÂ’s troubled history. Many of these flaws might be worth looking past if you want the ultimate driverÂ’s sport sedan, especially if youÂ’re thinking about the dynamite Quadrifoglio and its brilliant Ferrari-derived engine. What's new for 2021? After the heavy 2020 updates, not much changed for 2021. The trim options are streamlined to just four now: Sprint (new base trim name), Ti, Ti Sport and Quadrifoglio. AlfaÂ’s dual-pane sunroof is made standard on Ti, and the limited-slip differential is now standard on Ti Sport. A number of new colors are available: Ocra GT Junior, Rosso GTA, Rosso Villa d'Este and Verde Montreal. Nothing changes for the Quadrifoglio. What's the GiuliaÂ’s interior and in-car technology like? AlfaÂ’s upgrades for 2020 focused on improving the GiuliaÂ’s cabin, and itÂ’s much better for it. Materials on the steering wheel, dash and center console are more in touch with luxury expectations, and the control interfaces are sturdy, quality parts. The overall result still doesn't match most competitors, but it's no longer objectionable, and the materials generally feel nice to the touch. The design itself is attractive and minimalist. It lacks the Swedish flair of a Volvo S60 or the drama of some of the offerings available from Lexus and Mercedes, but Alfa was sure to pack in just enough Italian flair (red leather helps) to keep things interesting.