2024 Ram 3500 Tradesman on 2040-cars

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Ram takes out frustrations on Camry

No, not a Ram pickup truck. This is an actual ram, as in a male sheep, headbutting the hell out of a Toyota Camry that made the unfortunate decision to interrupt its battle with a rival member of the flock. Now, before you say, "How dare that Camry harm that cuddly sheep," we'd like to point out just how viciously the two males were fighting before the Toyota butted in. And after smashing the driver's side front fascia, the ram goes right back to attempting to beat down its opponent. All things considered then, we'd call this Ram: 1, Camry: 0.

Ram 1500 to get V6 diesel engine later this year

Happy Valentine's Day, diesel lovers! Chrysler announced today that the Ram 1500 will offer a light-duty diesel engine when it goes into production this fall. Using the same turbocharged 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V6 recently introduced in the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Ram 1500 is expected to get even better fuel economy than the current 2013 model's best-in-class 25 miles per gallon on the highway.
Power output has not been released for the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, but in the Grand Cherokee, this engine produces 240 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque, and it will be paired with Chrysler's eight-speed automatic transmission. This has definitely been a busy and exciting year for the Ram division, bringing home major awards such as the 2013 North American Truck of the Year, 2013 Motor Trend Truck of the Year and 2013 Truck of Texas not to mention the recent announcement that the Ram HD models will offer a best-in-class towing capacity of 30,000 pounds - all of which is pointed out in the press release, below.

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.