2008 Chrysler Town And Country Limited Luxury 4.0 Silver Mini Van on 2040-cars

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Towing with the 2016 Ram lineup [w/video]

I do not tow things. Ever. Yet I recently found myself at the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles proving grounds in Chelsea, MI, where I'd be testing the hauling capabilities of Ram's current product range. This experience was not only a perfect education for a towing novice like me, but allowed me to tow far more weight than I'd ever consider hauling the real world, and all within the safe confines of the Chelsea Proving Grounds. There was an extremely diverse array of vehicles at my disposal, including Ram's gasoline- and diesel-powered offerings with trucks ranging from the 1500 on up through the 5500 Chassis Cab, as well ProMaster vans. Beyond that, FCA brought out a number of vintage Dodge pickups for me to play with, while also working with Case IH to provide a track-loader I could test. I put together a range of videos covering everything from the classics to the production trucks to the construction equipment. And despite some technical difficulties – you'll notice a distinct lack of in-car videos, with blame going to a corrupted micro SD card – I've assembled ten videos that give an up-close look at Ram's offerings. 2015 Ram ProMaster City Let's start small. The ProMaster City only has a towing capacity of 2,000 pounds. That's a reasonably impressive figure for a van that uses the same powertrain as a Chrysler 200. The 2.4-liter four-cylinder and nine-speed automatic weren't really bothered with the extra weight added by the trailer. Even when accelerating at freeway speeds, the ProMaster City didn't feel out of breath or hampered by its load. That said, the rear of the van was unloaded, which probably wouldn't be the case for most consumers. It's unclear how the City would feel if its driver were taking advantage of the max payload (1,883 pounds) and towing. 2015 Ram ProMaster 1500 To be polite, the Ram ProMaster is a difficult vehicle to like. Its awkward seating position is bus-like and lacks the visibility enjoyed by the Ford Transit or the utter driving comfort of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. Its 3.0-liter, four-cylinder turbodiesel engine, meanwhile, is something of an anomaly. While it's potent for a four-cylinder diesel, producing 295 pound-feet of torque and 174 horsepower, those numbers don't feel all that impressive when loaded down. The model I tested was barely using half of its 5,100-pound maximum towing weight and was loaded down with just 500 of its 3,620-pound payload. Yet it lacked the pluckiness of the smaller City.

Amazon is showcasing its big push into cars and transportation at CES

From making cars talk using Alexa's voice to managing data from factories full of robots, Amazon wants a big piece of the action in transportation, and next week at CES will unveil more about its strategy to achieve that goal than ever before. The Seattle retail and cloud services powerhouse plans to use the annual technology show in Las Vegas to unveil its plan to be a major player in self-driving vehicle technology, connected cars, electric vehicles and management of the torrents of data generated by automakers and drivers, company executives told Reuters. Amazon Web Services, which provides large-scale cloud computing and data management services, is central to Amazon's strategy. "We really are extending ourselves more and more out in the ecosystem from manufacturing to connected car," Jon Allen, head of professional services in Amazon Web Services' automotive practice, said in a telephone interview. "The takeaway message on this is if you go to CES this year we really are taking it as a 'One Amazon' view." Until now, Amazon has shown its transportation strategy to investors — and rivals — one piece at a time. Amazon has invested in self-driving software startup Aurora. It also has signed deals with automakers to deliver packages to vehicle trunks, help develop electric vehicle charging networks and use AWS to network their factories. The Seattle company will share the CES stage with partners such as virtual reality firm ZeroLight, electric vehicle startup Rivian, Canada's BlackBerry Ltd and video game software development company Unity Technologies. "It's our attempt to weave everything together in a single experience for our customers," Dean Phillips, AWS' automotive technical leader, told Reuters. "Customers don't distinguish AWS from Alexa from Amazon.com. It's Amazon."   Related: As GM readies Alexa convenience for vehicles, we ponder its dark side   At CES, ZeroLight and GM's Cadillac will demonstrate how they are partnering to develop an online vehicle configuration experience that will allow high-fidelity images of vehicles that consumers build online to be taken with them on visits to dealers, Phillips said. The process can open the door to dealers better meeting customer needs by knowing what users focused on when building their dream car. It has already boosted profit per vehicle at Volkswagen's Audi brand by an estimated 1,200 euros ($1,340), he said.

Chrysler Airflow EV crossover concept headed to production in 2024

At the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the Airflow Vision Concept took the starring role on the Chrysler stand. More than a year later, Stellantis used its EV Day to show what looked like a running, rolling evolution of the Airflow Vision Concept, but the automaker didn't reference any names for the product. Finally, at one point during the company's Software Day this week, the company brought the production-looking battery-electric crossover out once again, only this time it has a name: Chrysler Airflow. The Stellantis roadmap contains blank spots in the 2022 and 2023 new reveal columns for the Chrysler brand. Car and Driver believes the Airflow could be one of Chrysler's new debuts in 2024. The automaker hasn't offered any details, so the most that can be done with the Airflow is to examine the pieces that Stellantis had already spoken of and see which ones fit. The OEM filed a trademark application for the Airflow name in 2019 and 2021. C/D thinks the five-seat production vehicle will ride on STLA Medium platform and be about the size of the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Volkswagen ID.4. The STLA Medium architecture will serve premium offerings for the C and D segments, will fit battery backs between 87 kWh and 104 kWh and two sizes of e-motors — a smaller motor producing from 168 to 242 horsepower, and a bigger motor putting out anywhere from 201 to 443 hp. Maximum range could be as much as 440 miles, depending on battery and motor combination. The platform slots between the STLA Small and STLA Large, a fourth STLA Frame platform serving trucks and vans.  Just before a four-minute video segment that showed Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares driving the Airflow, the automaker's head of software said, "It's closer than you think and more than a pure concept." The video shows a range of screens lining the instrument panel, plus a couple more in the back, as well as what look like plush materials and the obligatory panoramic sunroof. With the company aiming to hit 20 billion euros ($22.7B U.S.) in revenue from software by 2030, it said, "The Chrysler Airflow Concept shown in the Stellantis Software Day presentation represents the future of connected vehicles." The first we'll see of that could be the three new software platforms planned to roll out in 2024, all of them powered by AI. CES 2022 isn't far off, and Stellantis has told us there's a big announcement for 2022.