AD #3439 – Ram Delays Electric Pickup Debut; UAW Attempting to Organize GM & LG Battery Plant; Dodge Details EV Performance Upgrades

This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.

RAM DELAYS ELECTRIC PICKUP DEBUT
If you were anxiously awaiting the debut of the Ram 1500 electric pickup, you’ll have to wait a bit longer. The automaker planned to unveil the Ram Revolution BEV Concept at the LA Auto Show this month but now Ram will take the wraps off the truck at CES in January. The company says the delay doesn’t mean its behind schedule, rather it wants to reveal it at the tech show because it claims the electric truck is equipped with technology that “the world has never seen.” So it felt CES would be the better venue to unveil that advanced tech. The only real details it’s providing at this time is that the production version will debut in 2024 and that Ram will offer electrified solutions in the majority of its segments by 2025.

 

UAW ATTEMPTING TO ORGANIZE GM & LG BATTERY PLANT
There’s an interesting development with General Motors and that battery plant it’s building with LG in Lordstown, Ohio. The UAW demanded that the joint venture, called Ultium, should automatically accept the union to represent the workers in the plant. They declined to do so. Then the union held a card check, where workers sign a card saying they want the union to represent them. A majority of the 900 workers at the plant signed cards and the union demanded that the companies accept that to organize the plant. But the companies refused that as well. Critics don’t like card checks because it eliminates the secret ballot where workers can vote freely without someone looking over their shoulder. So now the union filed with the National Labor Relations Board to hold a vote using a secret ballot. Ultium says it fully supports the workers right to decide whether they want the union or not. Here’s our Autoline Insight. It sure looks like GM and LG are waiting to see if workers will really vote for the union, or turn it down. We’re also probably going to go through the same thing with Ford and SK at their joint venture battery plants. And these could be two of the most important labor votes in recent times.

NIKOLA GETS PARTNER FOR HYDROGEN SUPPLY
Makers of big commercial trucks keep making investments into hydrogen technology. Nikola is partnering with KeyState on a clean hydrogen production facility in Pennsylvania. Nikola says this will be key to its hydrogen supply and help provide insight for an intended network of refueling stations. The new facility is expected to be up and running by 2026 and KeyState will supply Nikola with up to 100 metric tons of hydrogen a day. It says that’s enough to power up to 2,500 Nikola fuel cell trucks a year and displace up to 51 million gallons of diesel fuel.

 

ALL-NEW HURRICANE ENGINE OFFERED AS CRATE ENGINE
Whether you’re a fan of ICE or electric, Stellantis is sharing some exciting news. Let’s start with those that like to burn dead dinosaurs. Dodge is expanding its crate engine lineup. You may remember the 1,000 horsepower supercharged Hellephant crate engine that was announced 4 years ago. Yeah, well, now it’s going to have three more variants. Available in either cast iron or aluminum block, the series of engines feature upgraded hardware and fuel systems and put out between 900 and 1,100 horsepower. It will also offer a crate engine version of its all-new Hurricane engine, which is a 3.0L twin-turbo V6, that it aptly named the HurriCrate. It currently comes in two power outputs; either 420 or 550 horsepower. A racing version is also under development.

 

DODGE DETAILS EV PERFORMANCE UPGRADES
And now on to some Stellantis news for our EV enthusiasts. As Tim Kuniskis, head of the Dodge brand, recently said on our Autoline After Hours program, stay tuned for SEMA when it comes to the all-electric Charger Daytona Concept. And, boy, he wasn’t joking. Not only do we get to see it wear a new Stryker Red paint finish, it features concept carbon fiber wheels wrapped in large drag slicks. SEMA show attendees will also get to scroll through the 9 different color and wheel options on a video display screen. And they can provide their feedback on how Dodge’s BEVs will sound. But more importantly, it showed how its stair-step approach to power upgrades is going to look. With its 400 volt system there will be two base levels and each of those base levels will have two sublevels of upgrades. For example, there’s a 340 kW or 455 horsepower system. Customers can then upgrade to one of two levels; 370 kW or 495 horsepower and 400 kW or 535 horsepower. The other base system is 440 kW or 590 horsepower. From there customers can go to 470 kW or 630 horsepower or up to 500 kW or 670 horsepower. Dodge will also offer the same stair-step approach to its 800 volt system, but it’s not going to release those specs until sometime in the future.

GMC SAYS HUMMER EV “SOLD OUT”
If you were hoping to get a new Hummer EV, you’re going to have to wait awhile. The head of GMC, Duncan Aldred, says the Hummer EV pickup and SUV are “sold out for two years or more.” GMC says it has 90,000 reservations and it stopped taking new ones about a month ago. Through the first nine months of the year, 2,750 Hummer EVs have been built and in September GM increased production to 700 a month, but those are still low totals. But customers seem like they’re willing to wait, 95% of reservation holders are converting to paid orders.

RIVIAN DELAYS BIG BATTERY TRUCK
But Hummer customers aren’t the only ones that will have to wait to get their new EV. Rivian is delaying deliveries until 2024 of the R1T pickup equipped with its largest battery pack. The quad-motor Max Pack option boosts the range of the truck from 314 miles to more than 400 miles, but it hasn’t revealed the exact range just yet. Rivian also hasn’t revealed the capacity of the large battery. But if customers don’t want to wait, they can either change their reservation to the dual-motor version or opt for a smaller battery.

XPENG TESTS NEXT-GEN FLYING CAR
Chinese automaker Xpeng not only makes EVs, its also heavily involved in VTOLs or vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. And the company just completed the maiden voyage of its latest model. As you can see, it’s literally a flying car and has been designed for both flight and road driving. It now features a multi-rotor system compared to the dual-rotor of the previous version. When driving, the rotors fold-away into a canopy system that sits above the car, like a roof-top storage box. This allows the car to fit on the road with other traffic. And when you’re flying, you use the steering wheel and the gear lever to pilot the vehicle. It’s pretty cool but Xpeng hasn’t revealed if it plans to put this into production.

But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll be right back here again tomorrow.