2008 Chrysler Pacifica Touring on 2040-cars

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Stellantis launching at least 25 EVs for America by 2030

Stellantis has announced a wide-ranging plan for the company through 2030 covering everything from product to financials. The product plans are what really caught our attention, particularly for the surprise reveal of the first electric Jeep, as well as new teasers of the electric Ram 1500. But the company also provided more broad details on what we'll be seeing in the future including both electric cars and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. All of the plans are in service of the Stellantis goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2038. On that way, it plans for all European vehicle sales and half of all American sales to be electric by 2030. It will launch 75 new electric vehicles by that year, and at least 25 of them will be coming to the U.S. The first of those electric cars will be the aforementioned Jeep in 2023, but many Stellantis models will follow close behind. The electric Ram ProMaster will launch in 2023 as well. In 2024, we'll see the electric Ram (and its plug-in hybrid counterpart), two more Jeeps (an off-road model and a family-oriented model) and the Dodge electric muscle car. We'll get a preview of the Dodge with a concept this year. Then in 2025, Chrysler will launch its electric car, likely based on the Airflow concept. Stellantis has previously announced Chrysler will be fully electric by 2028, and it further announced that Alfa Romeo and Maserati will be fully electric by 2030. Stellantis is also working on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, mainly for commercial use. For the U.S., it plans on offering a large, ProMaster-size hydrogen van in 2025. That year or a little later, it also has plans for a hydrogen heavy-duty pickup truck, presumably Ram 2500 and 3500. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares noted that among the benefits of hydrogen for large and commercial vehicles is being able to avoid compromising payload capacity, since hydrogen powertrains are lighter than giant batteries. Hydrogen filling times are quick relative to charging, too. The company will continue working on and offering advanced driver aids. This year it will offer hands-free cruise control like GM's Super Cruise and Ford's BlueCruise. In 2024, the company intends to introduce a system that is hands-free and won't require the driver to be watching it the entire time. The technology is being developed alongside BMW. These are, of course, broad plans, and they could change as time goes on. Expect more details as we get closer to individual product releases.

2013 Ram HD and Chassis Cab pickups are ready for work [UPDATE]

Auto enthusiasts often point to the pony car wars as the last bastion of one-upsmanship among Detroit's automakers, but the truth is, the pickup wars are every bit as competitive - if not more so. Auburn Hills keeps a ready eye on what their rivals in Dearborn and Detroit are doing, and vice-versa. Today, that battle is renewed with the introduction of Ram's 2013 Heavy Duty and Chassis Cab lines at the State Fair of Texas. Why a state fair? The Banner State is the perfect battleground for pickup supremacy, as Texas accounts for one of every five pickups sold in the U.S.
Towing and hauling metrics are poised for a substantial improvement. "... and not just by a little bit."
On the HD front, Chrysler is boasting that its brand-new heavies will bring best-in-class towing, torque, payload and Gross Combined Weight Rating, but thus far, it's declining to cite what those figures are. For the moment, though, Fred Diaz, President and CEO of Ram told us at an Auburn Hills background event earlier this month that key towing and hauling metrics are poised for a substantial improvement. "And not just by a little bit. I think we're going to shock the world," said Diaz.

Pair of 1970 Plymouth Superbird barn finds hits eBay

Here are a couple noteworthy barn finds for sale right now on eBay: a pair of 1970 Plymouth Superbird muscle cars, found with their giant rear wings, retractable headlights and 440 Super Commando V8s apparently perfectly intact after being stored for decades in a garage in Maine, with their condition reportedly "very good for 40 years of dry storage." In his lengthy writeup, the seller notes the short-lived, modified Road Runner is "One of the most collectible muscle cars with one of the most incredible automotive Aerodynamic (sic) designs in automotive history." The Superbird, which saw only one production year, is approaching its 50th anniversary, with their values expected to soar, he notes. The seller explains that he learned about the Superbirds after he purchased his own blue Superbird from the Owls Head Transportation Museum auction in Maine in August for $187,000. "Just after I won the blue 1970 Super Bird with white bucket seat interior a man approached me and sat down next to me and stated he has 2 Super Birds in storage that he has owned for the last 40 years," he wrote on his listing. "He told me he purchased them from the original owners." One was B5 blue with white bucket seats, just like the one he'd just purchased. The other was Alpine White with black bucket seats. According to the back story, both cars were originally sold off the lot in 1970 at Blouin Chrysler Plymouth Dodge in Augusta, Maine, and the man who'd been keeping them in his garage said he knew both of the original owners, having purchased both cars from them around 1978. The man, who is reportedly a Mopar expert, kept them both registered until 1985 and 1987, with the registration stickers still intact on the windshields, then prepared both for storage, putting straight antifreeze in the motors and filling the cylinders with lubricating oil. Both cars are currently being stored in a garage in Massachusetts. The Alpine White Superbird has 42,497 miles on it. The highest of 84 bids as of this writing was $135,000. The blue version has just 27,416 miles on the odometer, with the highest of 93 bids at $151,100. Both were updated with Pioneer cassette decks that the seller says "are classics in themselves." The seller also notes he hasn't tried to get either car started but that both motors turn freely and that the head and taillights all work. Bidding ends Sept. 27.