2014 Ram 1500 Tradesman/express on 2040-cars

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Dongfeng and PSA extend Chinese joint venture

BEIJING/PARIS — China's Dongfeng and Peugeot maker PSA are extending their business cooperation, despite the Chinese company reducing its stake in PSA to help smooth the French carmaker's merger with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). Dongfeng said on Thursday it had agreed with PSA to extend the duration of their joint venture Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobiles (DPCA). Under the deal, the venture could get the rights to PSA's new brands in China and will benefit from new technologies and intellectual properties, the Chinese company said. PSA was not immediately available for comment. The announcement comes a day after the companies said Dongfeng would reduce its 12.2% stake in PSA by selling 30.7 million shares to the French company. Analysts said the move could smooth U.S. regulatory approval for PSA's roughly $50 billion (GBP38.97 billion) merger with Italian-American carmaker FCA. The sale of Dongfeng's shares in PSA, worth around 680 million euros ($757 million), will leave the Chinese group holding around 4.5% of the merged PSA-FCA, which is set to become the world's fourth-biggest carmaker by sales volumes. "As the cooperation between Dongfeng and PSA deepens, we expect the joint venture to continue making good progress in China," a Dongfeng representative said. On a conference call, Dongfeng said DPCA would have exclusive rights to PSA's Opel cars should the partners agree to bring the brand to China, and enjoy lower prices on car parts imported from PSA. Earlier this year, a document seen by Reuters showed Dongfeng and PSA plan to cut jobs at Wuhan-based DPCA and reduce its number of car plants to try to make the venture more profitable. Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM Citroen Peugeot China FCA PSA Dongfeng

Stellantis aims to eliminate separate inverter, charger to improve EV efficiency

Stellantis has announced that, in collaboration with French battery company Saft and French National Center for Scientific Research, has made significant progress in eliminating two major components of an electric vehicle powertrain: the on-board charger and the power inverter for the motor. The company claims that doing this will allow for better space use in vehicles, as well as improvements in efficiency, cost and reliability of components. As a quick primer, also explained in the below video, the on-board charger and power inverter are sort of translators to get the right current to different parts of the electric powertrain. The on-board charger takes AC power from the grid and converts it to DC to charge the batteries. Then when power goes from the batteries to the electric motor, the power inverter converts that DC power back to AC. These components aren't exactly small. Frequently you'll find them packaged somewhere under the hood. What Stellantis and its cohorts have developed, and have been using on a test vehicle since last summer, are small power inverter boards that can be mounted very closely to the battery packs. They can handle both conversion needs, for charging and discharging, instead of needing two separate devices. The most obvious perk to this is that you can do away with those traditional components and free up more space, either for making smaller vehicles without losing interior volume, or adding space to a vehicle that wouldn't have had it otherwise. There's the additional benefit of reduced weight, something that EVs struggle with. Stellantis also claims improvements in efficiency, reliability, and cost, however, it didn't go into detail as to how this setup would do that exactly. We'll try to get in touch with representatives from Stellantis in order to get more information. We're still a ways out from seeing this technology in production Stellantis vehicles. The company said it aims to apply it to vehicles by the end of the decade. Saft is also looking at using it on stationary battery systems as well. So maybe we'll see it on a 2029 Ram 1500 REV, but for now, we'll be living with traditional chargers and inverters. Related Video: Green Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Fiat RAM Technology Electric

Ram 3500 Heavy Duty recaptures the torque and maximum towing crowns

Correction: A previous version of this story mistakenly reported the horsepower of the high-output Cummins engine as 400. It actually produces 420 horsepower. The text has been updated to reflect this. Just as supercar builders are in never-ending battles for horsepower and track times, the pickup truck builders pursue torque and towing capacity, two things that the 2021 Ram Heavy Duty has improved enough to earn the coveted "best in class" designation, if only by a bit. The titles go to the Ram 3500 with the high-output version of the turbocharged 6.7-liter Cummins straight-six. Horsepower is seemingly unchanged, but torque is up by 75 pound-feet to 1,075. This increase comes from additional boost from the turbo and additional fuel flow from the fuel injection system. The added torque also bests the Ford Super Duty's 6.7-liter Power Stroke V8 diesel by 25 pound-feet, and the Chevy Silverado HD's 6.6L Duramax V8 by 165. But both V8s beat the Cummins' 420 horsepower; the Ford by 55 and the Chevy by 25. As for towing, the Ram 3500's maximum fifth-wheel towing capacity has increased from 35,100 pounds to 37,100 thanks to a redesigned gooseneck hitch. The new number just tops the Ford F-450 Super Duty's previous record by 100 pounds. It also bests the Silverado 3500HD's best by 1,100 pounds. Ford keeps the conventional tow rating crown (towing from a rear-mounted hitch) at 24,200 pounds with the F-450 compared to the Ram 3500's 23,000 and the Chevy Silverado 3500HD's 20,000. One final update to the 2021 Ram Heavy Duty line is inside the truck. It's now available with a digital rear-view mirror, switchable to a normal mirror. It should be handy for owners who regularly carry loads that obscure the rear window and, in turn, the rear-view mirror. The new Ram Heavy Duty models will be available at dealers this month. Related Video: