2001 Isuzu Frr/chev Wt5500 on 2040-cars

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Cummins and Isuzu to collaborate on prototype electric truck

Cummins, the company known best for its diesel engines, just announced a partnership with Isuzu to “create a prototype medium-duty, battery electric truck” for North America. Exploration of electric powertrains isnÂ’t totally new for Cummins, as itÂ’s talked about a transition to electric since 2017. In fact, Cummins even revealed a battery-powered truck back then, too. This electric truck with Isuzu is new, though, and itÂ’s going to put the Cummins PowerDrive6000 powertrain into IsuzuÂ’s F-Series truck that you can see in the photo above. Cummins does not detail specs for its PowerDrive6000, but weÂ’ve seen the drive unit used in a hybrid concept from Cummins previously. It provided 50 miles of electric range when the battery pack in that truck was full, but with this being a full battery electric vehicle, we suspect that Cummins and Isuzu are using a much larger battery pack for more range. We donÂ’t have any vital specs like range or power, but we suspect those will come at a later date. This year will see Isuzu and Cummins put the truck through a pilot and demonstration phase in North American fleets. After thatÂ’s been completed — assuming it is successful — the partnership could see Isuzu and Cummins collaborate on building battery electric trucks for commercial use here in North America. “We are excited to be working with Isuzu to accelerate decarbonization within the partnership,” said Amy Davis, Vice President and President of New Power at Cummins. “ItÂ’s through our joint commitment in innovation that we provide our customers with safe, reliable zero-emissions solutions.” Related video:

Wienermobile gets burned by hotdogging catalytic converter thieves

Catalytic converter theft has been on the rise, but few could have predicted its latest victim. Turns out, not even the Wienermobile is immune to the emissions device bandits. Low-lifes purloined the exhaust cleaner off of Oscar Mayer's 27-foot-long wheeled hot dog as the vehicle made an overnight stop in Las Vegas. As Fox 5 Las Vegas reports, the thieves made off with the catalytic converter in front of the Sonesta Suites motel in Sin City. The Wienermobile, one of six such vehicles circulating across the country, had been scheduled to make an appearance at a shopping center in town on Friday, but was forced to make a pit stop at a local Penske trucks shop for repairs.  According to Road & Track the Wienermobile is built on an Isuzu NPR HD chassis, so it makes sense that a truck shop would be able to service it. Unfortunately, vehicles with a lot of ground clearance like SUVs and pickups are often the targets of catalytic converter pirates, as the parts are more easily accessed from beneath.  In 2019, reported thefts of catalytic converters nationwide totaled only 3,389, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. The number of reports climbed to 14,433 in 2020. In 2021, that swelled to 65,398, a 353% increase over the previous year. The rate continued apace in 2022, with State Farm alone reporting 44,500 thefts from their customers through June of that year. The emissions-scrubbing devices contain valuable metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium. The National Insurance Crime Bureau says those metals are valued at $1,128, $2,938 and $20,000 per ounce, respectively, as of March 2022. Last year, California passed new legislation to make it harder to sell stolen catalytic converters, while the Department of Justice busted a ring of catalytic converter thieves with assets totaling $550 million. Joseph Rodriguez, a Penske maintenance coordinator, told Fox 5 that the repair was only temporary, as they did not have the correct part to install. However, it was enough to send the Wienermobile on its merry way.  Cars such as the Toyota Prius, Honda Accord, and Ford F-150 routinely top lists of cars targeted by catalytic converter thieves. That's partially due to the fact that those are common cars sold in large number, but the lesson here is that no vehicle is safe. If scofflaws are brazen enough to steal from a bright yellow truck shaped like a frankfurter, nothing is safe. Humor Weird Car News Isuzu catalytic converter wienermobile

Junkyard Gem: 1994 Isuzu Rodeo 4WD

After a decade in which Isuzu-built Chevrolet LUV pickups, Isuzu-engined Chevrolet Chevettes and Isuzu Geminis with confusing "Opel by Isuzu" or "Buick/Opel Isuzu" badges, Isuzu finally began selling Americans its vehicles with Isuzu badging in the early 1980s. There were Isuzu cars, sure, but the P'up pickup and (starting in 1984) the Trooper SUV showed that Isuzu was likely to rake in the most yen by selling trucks on this side of the Pacific. The three-door convertible Amigo appeared here in 1989, but it was a little too small and silly to sell much among the suburban-commuter set. For the 1991 model year, a five-door Amigo sibling showed up: the Rodeo. The early Rodeo is getting quite rare today, but I was able to find this fairly clean '94 in a Denver-area self-service yard a few months back. These trucks, which were based on the same chassis as the P'up (known as the Isuzu Pickup after 1987) sold well in Colorado. You could get the first-generation Rodeo with rear-wheel-drive, but the four-wheel-drive version made more sense if you wanted to slog through snow and mud in the Rockies (or just feel safe when crossing a parking lot dusted with the white stuff). This truck has true four-wheel-drive, not what eventually became known as all-wheel-drive, but at least the higher trim levels had automatic locking hubs instead of the manual sort that forced you to stop and kneel in the mud to switch. Americans loved automatic transmissions nearly as much in 1994 as we do today, but they cost a lot more relative to manuals back then. This truck has a five-speed manual. The MSRP on this truck was $19,249, or about $39,075 in 2022 dollars. If you wanted it with an automatic transmission, the price went up to $20,349 ($41,310 today). The air conditioning in this one cost an additional 850 bucks (1,725 bucks now). The engine is an Isuzu 3.2-liter V6, rated at 175 horsepower. This truck was built at Subaru-Isuzu Automotive in Indiana; Subaru eventually bought out Isuzu's share of the joint venture and now only Subaru models are built there. Just to add another manufacturer to the mix, Honda sold rebadged Rodeos with Passport badges (and rebadged Troopers as Acura SLXs). This one was well-cared-for, looking clean for a machine with close to 200,000 miles on the clock. We can assume that some costly mechanical ailment finally sent it to this, its final parking place.