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Stellantis is open to putting a gas engine in its EVs to meet demand

With the EV segment caught in a tug-of-war between market demand and government regulations, carmakers are having to adapt to avoid losing both money and sales. Stellantis is keeping every option on the table, including putting a gasoline engine in its electric models. Natalie Knight, the chief financial officer for Stellantis, made the announcement while presenting the carmaker's first-quarter shipment and revenues results. She cited the Jeep Wagoneer S as an example: Unveiled in January 2024, it will go on sale with an electric powertrain, but the brand hasn't ruled out expanding the lineup with a gasoline-powered model later on, according to Wards Auto. It could be a hybrid, or it might not get any type of electrification. The call will depend on whether there is "a clear demand for that in the market," the executive said. Compare that with comments from new Jeep CEO Antonio Filosa, who has said hybridizing the Wagoneer S isn't in the cards — but making a PHEV version of the all-electric upcoming Recon, however, might be. "I don't want to ignore the fact that we want to stay close to the consumer, and if we see there's an opportunity with those models that we introduced as BEVs first, we'll look into that," Knight said. Stellantis plans to launch 25 new models globally in 2024, and 18 of those will go on sale with electric power. However, that doesn't necessarily mean they'll remain electric-only throughout their production run. The brands that live under the Stellantis umbrella can build a gasoline-powered version of an EV with relative ease because many of the cars in the group's portfolio ride on a multi-energy platform. For example, the new Dodge Charger (pictured) will go on sale with an electric drivetrain later in 2024, but the range will grow with the addition of a 3.0-liter straight-six in 2025. Across the pond, the Jeep Avenger (a small, hatchback-like crossover not designed with our market in mind) was hyped as an all-electric model when it made its debut in 2023, but it quietly gained a gasoline-electric hybrid drivetrain in early 2024. The city-friendly Peugeot 208 is offered with piston or battery power, too. One of the next electric recipients of a gasoline engine might be the new-to-us Fiat 500e. The retro-styled hatchback has exclusively been available as an EV since it went on sale in Europe in 2020, but executives are reportedly looking at turning it into a hybrid due to slow sales.

Aficionauto drives Vin Diesel's fast and furious 1970 Dodge Charger

The Aficionauto host Christopher Rutkowski has a real passion for original and replica cars from movies and television, whether they are from James Bond, Jurassic Park, or incredibly obscure Japanese shows. However, he might have outdone himself this time because he hopped into one of the biggest automotive stars of contemporary cinema. This 1970 Dodge Charger appeared in Fast & Furious and came back in Fast Five, where Paul Walker actually drove it. The menacing, black muscle car will make its return to the franchise in the seventh film, too.
The Fast and Furious Charger is a real beast no matter how you look at it. The interior is nothing more than two seats and a roll cage, and as the video shows, this thing vibrates constantly like a coiled mass of muscle ready to strike. The camera can barely stay in place most of the time. Also, Dom's Dodge is more than happy to do a smoky burnout and leave the driver partially deaf afterward from its wonderful, ear-splitting engine roar.
The Aficionauto also interviews the man who controls the keys to this beast. Bob Hartwig was once an F-15 pilot, but he also loved Hollywood vehicles. Now, he's a partner at Picture Car Warehouse, a company with about 850 cars that supplies vehicles to film studios. This Charger definitely seems to be Hartwig's favorite in the collection, as it should be.

What does Jeep have cooking with this stretched Cherokee?

Chrysler has been spotted testing what appears to be a stretched Jeep Cherokee prototype. Which seems odd, considering that Jeep already makes a Grand Cherokee, and that's an entirely different model. The question then is just what the company has in the works here. We don't know for sure – but we do have some ideas. We're anticipating a new Grand Wagoneer to serve as the brand's flagship model, but stretching the Cherokee's wheelbase to leapfrog the Grand Cherokee's would take more than eight inches – and stretching a "compact" platform to get there wouldn't seem to make a lot of sense. Alternatively Jeep could be looking to wedge a new model into its lineup in between the Cherokee and Grand Cherokee, potentially offering a third row of seats and wearing the Wagoneer name - sans the "Grand" - as part of a new range of seven-seaters. Just what the point would be, however, when the Dodge Durango already offers three rows based on the same platform as the Grand Cherokee, is a bit of a mystery. Another possibility is that it's not a Jeep at all, but rather a Dodge. The brand is in need of a replacement for the current Journey, and we're also waiting to see what FCA does to replace the Grand Cherokee since it unveiled the Chrysler Pacifica to replace the Town and Country. More of a crossover approach could take the Cherokee's Compact US Wide (CUSW) platform as its starting point, but stretched like this prototype to offer more space. Whatever it is, we're sure this won't be the last we'll have seen of it, so watch this space. Related Video: