Slt Hemi Mp3 Sirius Radio Uconnect Alloy Wheels Cruise Control on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ram trucks lead 2021 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study

For the first time ever, Ram leads in J.D. Power's annual Initial Quality Study with a score of 128 PP100, or problems experienced per 100 vehicles in the first 90 days of ownership. Ram was in third place in last year's rankings. Coming in second place is Dodge (139 PP100), a sister division to Ram under the Stellantis umbrella, followed by Lexus (144 PP100), this year's highest-ranked premium automaker, in third. These findings reinforce an overall trend over the last few decades where mass-market brands have outperformed premium brands that tend to introduce bleeding-edge technologies that can confuse owners or fail to work entirely. Genesis (148 PP100) is the only other premium automaker to perform better than average. At the bottom of the official rankings is Chrysler (251 PP100), which seems to make little sense considering most of its technologies are shared with Dodge and many with Ram until you consider that Chrysler only offers two platforms and one of them is the Pacifica/Voyager minivan twins that are unique to the brand. The next worst are Audi (240 PP100) and Volkswagen (213 PP100). Tesla would fall in between VW and Audi with its score of 231PP100, but because the electric car manufacturer doesn't provide access to J.D. Power in every state, it's not officially included. Interestingly, J.D. Power said on a followup call that the problems that Tesla owners report most often are more traditional issues, such as panel fitment, interior noises or paint problems instead of problems with the car's electronics. According to J.D. Power, the industry averaged a score of 162 PP100. That is four points higher than the overall score in 2020, and 20 of 32 brands improved their quality scores over the last year. That's a two percent increase in quality in 2021, which is good but slightly lower than the average rate of improvement over the last decade. On a car-by-car basis, the Nissan Maxima leads the overall field with a score of 85 PP100. Issues with infotainment systems — and in particular problems pairing smartphones with in-car technologies — continue to be the top-reported problems. Headaches connecting Apple CarPlay and Android Auto dominate the complaints. "Owners want wireless connectivity, and the industry has responded," according to Dave Sargent, vice president of automotive quality at J.D. Power. "However, this has created a bigger technical challenge for both automakers and tech companies.

Stellantis and LG launch joint venture for North American battery plant

Stellantis has struck a preliminary deal with battery maker LG Energy Solution (LGES) to produce battery cells and modules for North America, as the world's No. 4 automaker rolls out its 30 billion euro ($35 billion) electrification plan. Global automakers are investing billions of euros to accelerate a transition to low-emission mobility and prepare for a progressive phase-out of internal combustion engines. Stellantis and LGES's joint venture will produce battery cells and modules at a new facility with an annual capacity of 40 gigawatt hours (GWh), the two firms said on Monday. No financial details of the deal were provided. The plant is scheduled to start production by the first quarter of 2024, with groundbreaking expected in the second quarter of 2022, the companies said in their statement. Its location is under review and will be announced later. Stellantis, formed in January from the merger of Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA, has said it wants to secure more than 130 GWh of global battery capacity by 2025 and more than 260 GWh by 2030. The batteries produced under the deal will supply Stellantis' U.S., Canadian and Mexican assembly plants for installation in hybrid and fully electric vehicles, supporting its goal of e-vehicles making up more than 40% of its U.S. sales by 2030. The company, whose brands include Peugeot, Fiat, Opel and U.S. best-sellers Jeep and Ram, earlier this year announced it would invest more than 30 billion euros through 2025 on electrifying its vehicle lineup. Stellantis has said it would build three battery plants in Europe and two in North America, including at least one in the United States. Intesa Sanpaolo analyst Monica Bosio said the deal was positive, and a further step ahead in Stellantis' electrification process. It comes weeks after Stellantis and its partner TotalEnergies agreed to open up their battery cell joint venture ACC to Daimler, to expand their European sourcing of battery cells. Stellantis is also targeting more than 70% of sales in Europe to be of low-emission vehicles by 2030, and aims to make the total cost of owning an EV equal to that of a gasoline-powered model by 2026. Related video: Green Plants/Manufacturing Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Ferrari Fiat Jeep Maserati RAM Citroen Lancia Opel Peugeot Vauxhall Electric Hybrid EV batteries LG

2020 Ram 1500's new EcoDiesel horsepower and torque revealed

Following on the reveals of Ford and GM's light-duty diesel full-size pickup truck engines, Ram has finally revealed its second-generation EcoDiesel V6 for the 2020 Ram 1500 and 2019 Ram 1500 Classic. The engine is once again a 3.0-liter V6, but it now makes 260 horsepower and 480 pound-feet of torque. That's an increase of 20 horsepower and 60 pound-feet of torque over the previous engine. Ram notes a number of changes were made to achieve these numbers, including adding a water-cooled variable geometry turbo, reducing compression ratio from 16.5:1 to 16:1, adding lighter pistons, revising the intake ports, and using a new fuel injection system and exhaust gas recirculation system. Those numbers also put the new Ram diesel at the top of its class for torque. Just behind it is the 3.0-liter inline-six in the 2020 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra that makes a bit more power at 277 horsepower but less torque at 460 pound-feet. Then there's the 2019 Ford F-150's 3.0-liter V6 that makes 250 horsepower and 440 pound-feet of torque. The Ram engine also hits peak torque at 1,600 rpm, which is sooner than the Ford engine at 1,750 rpm. The Chevy engine's torque arrives even earlier than both at 1,500 rpm. The Ram's maximum towing capacity of 12,560 pounds also tops the F-150 diesel's 11,400 pounds. There are still a number of unknowns regarding the new EcoDiesel engine, though. Ram hasn't announced payload capacity, pricing or fuel economy for the engine. We expect fuel economy will be slightly improved over its predecessor's 20 mpg in the city and 27 on the highway. But we don't know if it will match or surpass the F-150 diesel's 22 mpg in the city and 30 on the highway. All these numbers should be announced closer to the engine's release window of fourth quarter of 2019. The engine will also be available in every single trim and configuration of the 2020 Ram 1500 including the Rebel, which used to be a gas-only trim. The engine will even be available on the 2019 Ram 1500 Classic. This should also be the engine that will soon appear in the Jeep Gladiator and Wrangler.