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Stellantis invests more than $100 million in California lithium project

Stellantis said it would invest more than $100 million in California's Controlled Thermal Resources, its latest bet on the direct lithium extraction (DLE) sector amid the global hunt for new sources of the electric vehicle battery metal. The investment by the Chrysler and Jeep parent announced on Thursday comes as the green energy transition and U.S. Inflation Reduction Act have fueled concerns that supplies of lithium and other materials may fall short of strong demand forecasts. DLE technologies vary, but each aims to mechanically filter lithium from salty brine deposits and thus avoid the need for open pit mines or large evaporation ponds, the two most common but environmentally challenging ways to extract the battery metal. Stellantis, which has said half of its fleet will be electric by 2030, also agreed to nearly triple the amount of lithium it will buy from Controlled Thermal, boosting a previous order to 65,000 metric tons annually for at least 10 years, starting in 2027. "This is a significant investment and goes a long way toward developing this key project," Controlled Thermal CEO Rod Colwell said in an interview. The company plans to spend more than $1 billion to separate lithium from superhot geothermal brines extracted from beneath California's Salton Sea after flashing steam off those brines to spin turbines that will produce electricity starting next year. That renewable power is expected to cut the amount of carbon emitted during lithium production. Rival Berkshire Hathaway has struggled to produce lithium from the same area given large concentrations of silica in the brine that can form glass when cooled, clogging pipes. Colwell said a $65 million facility recently installed by Controlled Thermal can remove that silica and other unwanted metals. DLE equipment licensed from Koch Industries would then remove the lithium. "We're very happy with the equipment," he said. "We're going to deliver. There's just no doubt about it." Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares called the Controlled Thermal partnership "an important step in our care for our customers and our planet as we work to provide clean, safe and affordable mobility." Both companies declined to provide the specific investment amount. Controlled Thermal aims to obtain final permits by October and start construction of a commercial lithium plant soon thereafter, Colwell said. Goldman Sachs is leading the search for additional debt and equity financing, he added.

Junkyard Gem: 1987 Dodge Ram 50

Chrysler began selling Dodge-badged Mitsubishis way back in the 1971 model year, when the Mitsubishi Colt Galant became known here as the Dodge Colt. Later in the decade, a Plymouth Arrow-badged version of the Mitsubishi Triton small pickup appeared here, along with a Dodge version known as the D-50 and — a few years later — the Ram 50. Once Mitsubishi began selling the same trucks here as Mighty Maxes, starting in the 1983 model year, the Ram 50 didn't seem quite so specialÂ… and then the Dakota made its debut for the 1987 model year. Still, when the Triton went to its second generation that same year, Chrysler continued selling it as the Ram 50. Here's one of those second-generation trucks, found in a Denver-area self-service yard last month. At this point, GM had long since stopped selling Isuzu Fasters with Chevrolet LUV emblems, as had Ford with the Courier-badged Mazda Proceed (after developing the all-American S-10 and Ranger, respectively). The decision-makers at Chrysler, however, calculated that the Ram 50 could grab some sales from Dodge truck shoppers who felt that the Dakota was too big for their needs; as a result, the Ram 50 stayed on sale here through 1994. The last Mighty Maxes rolled out of American Mitsubishi showrooms in 1996. The 6G72 V6 engine became available in four-wheel-drive Ram 50s a few years after this truck was built, but in 1987 all Ram 50s came with either the 2.0-liter 4G63 Sirius or 2.6-liter Astron four-banger. This truck has the base Sirius, rated at 92 horsepower. Remember when new trucks came with double-digit horsepower ratings? Most American-market small pickups still had manual transmissions during the middle 1980s, though that would change in a hurry with the dawn of the 1990s and the drop in slushbox prices. This one has the base five-speed. Just barely 100,000 miles on the clock, very unusual for a junkyard pickup of this age (especially one with a thick coat of brush-applied white house paint on the tailgate). Maybe the speedometer cable broke 25 years ago. You don't see many rear-wheel-drive pickups with roll bars. You'll find one in every car. You'll see. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Dodge Ram 50 Commercial 1987 Those other Japanese imports hallucinated the Ram 50 in alarming ways. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

2019 Dodge Charger SRT revealed in spy shots before reveal

Last month, Dodge teased the updated 2019 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat and its new grille with air intakes. Now we get to see it before its full debut thanks to these spy shots. We can see that the grille is one of the few things that has changed for the 2019 model year. It also appears to have a new hood that has extractor vents farther back than on the current model. We can also see that this new grille is on an SRT 392 Scat Pack model, not the Hellcat teased a month ago. This seems to imply the grille will be applied to all Charger SRT models, or at least offered as an option. Aside from the grille and the hood, the rest of this new Charger looks like the outgoing version. The bumpers, spoiler, side skirts and lights all seem to be carryover. As such, we're not expecting anything else to change radically under the hood or chassis. There's a possibility one or two engines pick up a few horsepower, but we don't expect much more than that. If anything else changes to the 2019 Charger, it will probably consist of colors, options and maybe even another trim level. We'll know more about it when it makes its official debut this summer. An updated version of the Challenger will be revealed at the same time. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Featured Gallery 2019 Dodge Charger SRT Scat Pack View 9 Photos Image Credit: SpiedBilde Spy Photos Dodge Performance Sedan dodge charger srt hellcat scat pack