2014 Fiat 500 Pop on 2040-cars

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Recharge Wrap-up: EV torque secrets, UC Davis maps future of biofuels

A UC Davis white paper maps out "Three Routes Forward for Biofuels," balancing investment risk with carbon benefits. The first option is "incremental," in which we tinker with the existing biofuel manufacturing infrastructure for small improvements over time. The "transitional" plan suggests integrating cellulosic production and other innovations with existing operations. The third route, called "leapfrogging," would mean building refineries based on new technology such as cellulosic and algae-based biofuels. The paper suggests ways the US could use these three routes together in different areas, and predicts the payoffs in terms of carbon emissions could be significant if the right people are willing to risk the capital. After all, financial advisers are always telling investors to diversify their portfolios to manage risk and rewards in the same way. Read more over at the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies. The Formula E Long Beach ePrix will offer free admission. The seventh round of the inaugural all-electric race season, which was moved from Los Angeles to the streets of Long Beach, will offer fans free grandstand and general admission. The race, which takes place on April 5, 2015, will use a 1.6-mile portion of IndyCar's Grand Prix of Long Beach. Read more at LA Times. Polaris is now offering its 2015 GEM electric vehicles, including the new street-legal eM1400 LSV. The passenger and utility vehicles come in two- to six-passenger configurations, many of which are street legal on roads with posted speed limits of up to 35 miles per hour. The eM1400 LSV utility vehicle seats two, offers 1,250 pounds of payload, 1,250 pounds of towing capacity, a top speed of 25 mph and a range of up to 45 miles. Its on-board charger plugs into any standard 110-volt outlet. Read more at Hybrid Cars and check out all the different configurations yourself at the Polaris website. In EVs, more torque does not always equal faster. Green Car Reports found this out when driving the Fiat 500e (with 147 pound-feet) against the similarly weighted Chevrolet Spark EV (with 400 pound-feet). The secret is, at least in part, in the gearing. The Fiat has a 9.6:1 reduction gear, making it quicker at lower speeds despite having far less available torque, while the Chevy uses a 3:1 ratio. The trade-off though, is in top speed. Furthermore, Chevy electronically limits the torque delivery at low speeds, as 400 pound-feet is a lot of launch for the little Spark EV to handle.

FCA profits surge in second quarter

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles gave the cash register a beating in the second quarter, improving its net profit to 333 million euros ($364M US), which is a 263-percent jump over its reported Q1 profit of 92 million euros ($108M US). At the same time, FCA improved its global profit margin to 7.7 percent. Compared year-over-year, in Q2 2014 FCA reported net profit of 197 million euros making this year's Q2 a 69-percent increase, and profit margins a year ago were 4.9 percent. The two big factors for this increase are strong NAFTA sales and Jeep. In the US alone, Jeep sold 222,940 units in Q2 this year, a jump of almost 20 percent over the same period last year. Revenue in the NAFTA region totaled $18.8 billion, adjusted earnings before interest and taxes were $1.45 billion, both of those numbers more than doubling compared to 2014. The vastly better numbers come on marginally more global sales, 1,181,000 units sold in Q2 2014, 1,193,000 units sold in the same span this year. In the US, FCA began charging dealers one-percent more for vehicles to up the margins, a move that helped boost its US margin from 4.1 percent a year ago to 5.8 percent the first half of this year. The company is holding steady on its guidance of global deliveries at 4.8 million and its net profit guidance at $1.1 to $1.3 billion. It has increased its adjusted outlook for the year to $120.5 billion in revenue, and EBIT to "over $4.93 billion." News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio Earnings/Financials Chrysler Fiat Jeep FCA

Fiat Titano revealed as rugged, body-on-frame pickup for global markets

Fiat has never sold a truck in the United States, but its name has appeared on a diverse selection of pickups in global markets. The brand's latest entry into the segment is named like a Nissan, shaped like a Peugeot, and due out on at least two continents in the coming months. Product planners opened a book about Greek mythology when the time came to name the truck. Nissan has already claimed the "Titan" nameplate, so Fiat picked the Italian spelling: Titano. The pickup's ties to Greece and Italy end there. It's a badge-engineered version of the Peugeot Landtrek, which was developed jointly with China-based Chang'an and has been on sale in a handful of countries since 2020. Like the Landtrek, the Titano stretches 212.2 inches long in double-cab configuration, 75.6 inches wide, and 71.6 inches tall. These figures make it about an inch longer, almost exactly as wide, and around three inches lower than the latest version of the Ford Ranger. Buyers in some markets, like Algeria, will also have a 209.8-inch long single-cab version to choose from. The line-up also includes several trim levels ranging from basic variants with black bumpers and steel wheels to more upmarket-looking versions with alloy wheels and a touchscreen. On the Algerian market, power for the Titano comes from a 1.9-liter turbodiesel four-cylinder engine rated at 147 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. Rear-wheel-drive and a six-speed manual transmission come standard, and four-wheel-drive is optional. The truck offers a 2,500-pound payload, though its towing capacity hasn't been published, and it features old-school rear leaf springs in the name of simplicity. Fiat singled out Algeria and Brazil as the Titano's main markets, though the model could later land in other countries. On the Brazilian market, it will join a pair of unibody models called Strada and Toro, respectively. Don't expect to see it in the United States, however.