2013 Fiat Pop on 2040-cars

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Strike looms for FCA workers as soon as Wednesday night

A strike is on the very near horizon for at least some United Auto Workers members at FCA US. On October 6, the union sent a letter to the automaker that officially announced the termination of its agreements with the company as of 11:59 PM on Wednesday, October 7. Assuming that a deal or extension hasn't happened by that time, workers could hit the picket line. While neither side is talking much publicly, it does appear that negotiations are still underway. In a very brief statement, the automaker simply says: "FCA US confirms that it has received strike notification from the UAW. The Company continues to work with the UAW in a constructive manner to reach a new agreement." The UAW seems equally receptive, and it says in a post on Facebook: "Negotiations with FCA continue. Your bargaining team is hard at work and we will continue to post updates when there is more to report." If a strike happens, it could put a serious financial burden on FCA US. Economist Sean McAlinden from the Center for Automotive Research estimates the cost at as much as $40 million per week, according to Reuters. The union hasn't clarified at this time whether all of its workers with the automaker would stop working or if the picket lines would only be at specific plants. The first tentative agreement posted to UAW members working with FCA US utterly failed in voting. Raises and a healthcare co-op would have been among the new benefits. However, the employees were upset that the proposed deal retained a two-tier wage structure, and they also didn't like the lack of details about rumors of major production changes.

Stellantis' ACC JV plans to start operations at Italian gigafactory in 2026

MILAN - ACC, a joint venture of Stellantis, Mercedes and TotalEnergies, said on Friday its planned Italian battery making plant was expected to start operations in 2026. The plan will involve an overall investment worth over 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in Italy, including public funds, ACC said in a statement after meeting unions in Rome. Carmaker Stellantis has plans to develop three 'gigafactories' in Europe to serve its increased production of battery electric vehicles. They will be built in France, Germany and Italy, through ACC, with a capacity of 40 gigawatt hours (GWh) each by 2030. The Italian project will be set up in the southern city of Termoli, through the conversion of an existing Stellantis engine and gearbox plant, currently employing around 2,000 workers. It should start operations at the beginning of 2026, while it should reach full capacity in 2030 with at least 1,800 employees, ACC said in the statement. ($1 = 0.9377 euros)   Green Plants/Manufacturing Fiat Electric Future Vehicles

Hybrid, electric campers take center stage at Germany's motorhome trade show

Car companies from all over the automotive spectrum will make international headlines next week by presenting hybrid and electric cars at the biennial Frankfurt auto show. Camper van and motorhome manufacturers got a head start on the rest of the industry by presenting their green solutions at the Dusseldorf Caravan Salon. The show confirms electrification is present in the leisure segment, too. German camper experts Dethleffs introduced a plug-in hybrid, pop-top camper based on the full-size Ford Transit van. Called Globevan e.Hybrid, it relies on a 126-horsepower drivetrain built around a turbocharged, 1.0-liter EcoBoost three-cylinder engine. The system can power the camper on electricity alone for up to 31 miles. Adventurers who leave with a full tank and a full charge enjoy 310 miles of driving range, which is an impressive figure for the camper van segment. Charging the battery pack takes 5.5 hours when using a regular household outlet, according to the manufacturer, or three hours when hooking it up to a quick-charging station. Globevan production is tentatively scheduled to begin in 2020, and pricing starts at 75,000 euros, a sum that represents approximately $83,000. EFA-S took electrification a step further. Starting with a Fiat Ducato, a van known as the Ram Promaster in the United States, it yanked out the turbodiesel engine and replaced it with a 140-kilowatt electric motor fed by an 86-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack. The company pegs the camper's driving range at up to 186 miles, a relatively low figure which hardly reflects how most vacationers use their van. The pack takes four hours to charge, Auto Motor und Sport learned. While sustainable, zero-emissions tourism is difficult to argue against, the Ducato-based camper suffers from two serious setbacks. First, the battery pack makes it so heavy that it can't be driven with a regular license. It's considered a heavy commercial vehicle. Second, its 160,000-euro (about $177,000) price tag makes it twice as expensive as a diesel-burning model, and puts it in the same price range as much bigger, more powerful, and more luxurious models. EFA-S will nonetheless move forward with production in 2020, though it plans to build no more than 30 units. The caravan Salon is not only about hybrids and electric cars, however.