2006 Dodge Ram 3500 Laramie 6 Speed Cummins Turbo Diesel 4x4 Dually Pickup Truck on 2040-cars

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Stellantis launching at least 25 EVs for America by 2030

Stellantis has announced a wide-ranging plan for the company through 2030 covering everything from product to financials. The product plans are what really caught our attention, particularly for the surprise reveal of the first electric Jeep, as well as new teasers of the electric Ram 1500. But the company also provided more broad details on what we'll be seeing in the future including both electric cars and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. All of the plans are in service of the Stellantis goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2038. On that way, it plans for all European vehicle sales and half of all American sales to be electric by 2030. It will launch 75 new electric vehicles by that year, and at least 25 of them will be coming to the U.S. The first of those electric cars will be the aforementioned Jeep in 2023, but many Stellantis models will follow close behind. The electric Ram ProMaster will launch in 2023 as well. In 2024, we'll see the electric Ram (and its plug-in hybrid counterpart), two more Jeeps (an off-road model and a family-oriented model) and the Dodge electric muscle car. We'll get a preview of the Dodge with a concept this year. Then in 2025, Chrysler will launch its electric car, likely based on the Airflow concept. Stellantis has previously announced Chrysler will be fully electric by 2028, and it further announced that Alfa Romeo and Maserati will be fully electric by 2030. Stellantis is also working on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, mainly for commercial use. For the U.S., it plans on offering a large, ProMaster-size hydrogen van in 2025. That year or a little later, it also has plans for a hydrogen heavy-duty pickup truck, presumably Ram 2500 and 3500. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares noted that among the benefits of hydrogen for large and commercial vehicles is being able to avoid compromising payload capacity, since hydrogen powertrains are lighter than giant batteries. Hydrogen filling times are quick relative to charging, too. The company will continue working on and offering advanced driver aids. This year it will offer hands-free cruise control like GM's Super Cruise and Ford's BlueCruise. In 2024, the company intends to introduce a system that is hands-free and won't require the driver to be watching it the entire time. The technology is being developed alongside BMW. These are, of course, broad plans, and they could change as time goes on. Expect more details as we get closer to individual product releases.

Big rig gets blown over on Wyoming freeway, flattens police cruiser

A big rig navigating a stretch of windy Wyoming highway last week was blown over by high winds and landed on a Wyoming Highway Patrol cruiser. According to CBS News, three Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers responded to an accident along Interstate 80 near Elk Mountain on February 7. While the troopers were out of their cars assisting the crash victims, a white Volvo semi-truck lumbered up I-80 toward them. Wind gusts in that part of Wyoming were clocked in at up to 90 miles per hour on Tuesday, and one of them caught the semi as it neared the parked cruisers. Video from one of the cruiser's onboard cameras showed the big rig drift to the right as a big gust hit the trailer. Slowly, the whole rig tipped over and flattened one of the parked cruisers. The truck then slid a few feet on its side and came to a stop just aft of the cruiser. None of the troopers were injured in the incident, and two people in the truck came out of it unhurt as well. Patrol Lieutenant David Wagener told KGWN that that stretch of I-80 was closed on Tuesday to lightweight, high-profile vehicles. The truck driver was cited for the incident. High winds are no joke, and vehicles getting blown around or even clean off the road is a pretty common phenomenon. Way back in 2011, a truck got blown over in Utah. Then there was a train that got blown off a bridge in Louisiana in 2015. Related Video: News Source: CBS News, KGWN Auto News Dodge Volvo Driving Safety Truck Commercial Vehicles Police/Emergency Sedan semi truck rollover wyoming

Junkyard Gem: 1992 Dodge Shadow America

A quarter-century ago, most Americans looking for a cheap transportation appliance went for cars like the miserably-stripped-down-but-bulletproof Toyota Tercel or the feature-laden-but-reliability-challenged Hyundai Excel. Chrysler, having just discontinued the elderly "Omnirizon" platform, took the Dodge Shadow and its Plymouth sibling, the Sundance and offered a car that was bigger, more powerful, and better-equipped than just about anything else for the price: the America! These cars depreciated hard and nearly all were crushed a decade ago, so sightings are extremely rare today. Here's one that I found in a Northern California self-service yard. This one still had windshield paperwork indicating that it was an insurance-company auction car (probably totaled in a fender-bender that caused $200 worth of damage) and that it was a runner at the time it got junked. Such is the fate of 24-year-old economy cars in rough shape. The Shadow was a member of the many-branched K-Car family tree, and the Shadow America came with the same 2.2-liter straight-4 engine that powered millions of Caravans, Daytonas, New Yorkers, and Lasers. You got more torque than the competition, plus a driver's-side airbag instead of the maddening automatic seat belts found in other low-priced cars of 1992. Of course, the paint tended to peel off within a few years and the build quality of the Shadow was hit-or-miss, but these cars were way nicer to drive than, say, a Tercel EZ or Subaru Justy. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The perfect cars for an imperfect world! Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 1992 Dodge Shadow America View 17 Photos Auto News Dodge Automotive History