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Recharge Wrap-up: Child Tesla driver hits baby in Chinese mall, Ram adds new CNG offering

A five-year-old child in a China shopping mall started a Tesla Model S at a display and hit a baby in a stroller. The baby fell out of the stroller and was unhurt, according to the report. A reporter from a local newspaper arrived at the scene to find the other Model S on display still powered on, this one with another child in the driver's seat. The cars had wooden blocks under the brake pedals and stickers warning the public not to touch the touchscreen. Police have opened an investigation into the incident. Read more and see all the photos at Car News China. Ram will add a new compressed natural gas pickup truck to its lineup. The new offering, which is smaller and less expensive than the current CNG pickup (pictured), will be available as a regular cab two-door with two-wheel drive and a long bed. Ram has sold 1,000 of the current 2500 CNG four-door 4x4 offering since going on sale in 2012. Ram believes the new offering will expand sales to fleet operators looking for a less-expensive truck. Read more at Automotive News. New methods of harvesting energy are being explored for automobiles. By now we're all familiar with regenerative braking, but thermoelectric harvesting from the motor, range extender or possibly even the exhaust could come to cars soon. Energy harvesting shock absorbers and exhaust turbines are also viable. Wind turbines could generate electricity while the car is parked, and piezoelectric energy harvesting could run minor electrical systems while the car is in motion. Enough energy harvesting could allow cars to use much smaller engines, and could extend the range of electric vehicles. Read more at Energy Harvesting Journal.

Ram to go on a Rampage with new small pickup?

When people look back at today's automotive industry, what do you think they'll remember us for? The emergence of hybrids? Ever more expensive and exotic supercars? The dawn of the self-driving car? All likely scenarios, but so is the blurring of lines between one bodystyle and another, giving rise to hardtop convertible coupes and crossovers of every shape and size. But one bodystyle the North American auto industry has stayed largely away from in the past couple of decades is a car nose and chassis with a pickup bed.
It's a bodystyle immortalized by the Chevrolet El Camino, but with few exceptions, we haven't seen too many of these automotive platypuses in recent years on our turf. Subaru tried with the Baja and the low-volume Honda Ridgeline soldiers along largely unchanged, but the genre's biggest adherents are still Down Under, where ute versions of the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon live. With a few other examples scattered to the four corners of the earth, that's really about it. But if these spy shots are anything to go by, it looks like Fiat Chrysler Automobiles could be working to bring it back.
Spied undergoing testing in Michigan, what we appear to be looking at is a heavily disguised Fiat Strada being prepared - like the Fiat Ducato-based Ram ProMaster and the smaller Doblo-based ProMaster City - for Stateside duty as a Ram product. The Strada, for those unfamiliar, is a product of Fiat Automóveis in Brazil and is based on the Palio economy car. The nameplate has been around South America since 1996 and was originally designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro (long before Volkswagen monopolized his talents), and takes a more rugged approach in the form of the Strada Adventure.

Ram 1500 Motor Trend's first back-to-back Truck Of The Year

For the first time ever, Motor Trend has named a back-to-back winner of its Truck of the Year competition, handing the crown to last year's winner, the Ram 1500. Ram's entry to the pickup battle bested a range of new or heavily improved models, including its big brothers, the Ram Heavy Duty and Ram ProMaster van.
Other contenders included the twins from General Motors, the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, the Toyota Tundra, the Ford Transit Connect, the Nissan NV200 and the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. Just how did a truck that technically hit the market in 2012 best a range of vehicles from 2013? With new technology.
MT wasn't testing the same Ram it tested in last year's competition - it was driving the new EcoDiesel V6, complete with an eight-speed automatic transmission. When ran through the battery of testing, the torquey diesel Ram proved to be the victor for its ample torque and excellent fuel economy, while the team at Motor Trend also highlighted its air suspension and overall sense of style and luxury.