Author: EVAI

Chrysler issued a recall for about 24,000 Pacifica plug-in hybrid minivans A battery-cell abnormality is the root cause of the issue, which could lead to a fire Until the fix is implemented, which is a software update initially, owners are asked to park outside and not charge their minvians Stellantis on Thursday recalled about 24,000 Chrysler…

• Rivian is turning an old gas station into a charging hub
• Yosemite Outpost will also serve as a charging education point
• Station will have solar and be net zero, Rivian says

Rivian has set up a so-called Yosemite Outpost for EV charging that will serve not only as a logistical stop for adventurers headed into or out of the national park but also as a place for EV education. 

The location is a new life for a building and location that had been a blacksmith shop, then a repair shop, and eventually a gas station, last called Vern’s Groveland Gas, that closed many years ago. Now Rivian has converted it to a hub for EV charging—at one of our most-visited national parks.

Rivian says the site, which hasn’t opened yet, will offer up education on EV charging as well as amenities. And it will become a collection point for recyclables. 

Rivian Yosemite Outpost EV charging station (rendering)

And with contributions from US Solar, the site will be net zero according to Rivian, meaning it generates as much as it will consume—a feat for any charging station. 

Rivian earlier this year announced that its in-vehicle route planner will plan routes around the reliability grades of DC fast chargers, favoring chargers that have a better record of reliably charging its vehicles. its Adventure Network chargers have shown an uptime of more than 98%, it says.

Rivian started billing for Adventure Network chargers last year and intends to soon make them open to other EVs accommodating the CCS charge port. It’s also confirmed that it will be adopting the Tesla-based NACS charge port in future EVs including the upcoming $45,000 Rivian R2.

• Ford’s adding Super Duty heavy-duty pickup truck production to its Canadian factory
• Ford originally said it would use that factory to build EVs
• The move might signal an electrified Ford Super Duty HD pickup is coming

Ford will build Super Duty heavy-duty pickup trucks at a factory previously slated to build EVs.

The automaker on Thursday announced that it will add Super Duty production at its Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario, Canada, starting in 2026. The move will increase production capacity by 100,000 units, according to Ford, which also plans to add jobs and/or overtime at an Ontario engine plant and three U.S. components plants to support this. The two plants currently producing the Super Duty made 200,000 of the trucks in the first half of 2024, Ford said.

Ford Oakville assembly plant

The Oakville plant previously assembled the Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus crossovers, but was slated to shift to EV production starting this year. Ford in 2020 said it would allocate five electric models to the plant, with the last rolling out in 2028, as part of a new deal with the local union after the automaker opted not to continue production of the Edge and Nautilus in Oakville.

But Ford has been pulling back on EV plans lately. In April Ford announced that it would delay its next-generation electric truck, known as T3, by a year, and that a previously-announced electric three-row SUV would arrive two years later than planned. Ford said at the time that it was refocusing on hybrids, with plans to add a hybrid powertrain to every model.

2024 Ford Super Duty F-250

Around the same time, Ford released financial results showing significant losses on EVs, or at least the ones attributed to the automaker’s Model E business unit. Model E handles electric passenger cars, but EVs are also sold by other Ford units, including the Fleet-minded Ford Pro. Ford at the time promised more-affordable EVs that could sell in larger numbers, but these will likely take some time to arrive.

Meanwhile, Ford has been spied testing what appears to be an electric pickup with in-wheel motors and the eight-lug wheels normally used by heavy-duty trucks like the Super Duty. But remains to be seen whether this technology will reach production.

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In-wheel motors became a reality in a production electric pickup for the blink of an eye—in the Lordstown Endurance. But the technology, also known as wheel-hub motors, hasn’t yet been confirmed as production-bound for any other U.S. passenger vehicle or personal-use truck.

That could change in the future. Based on some pictures recently published, Ford appears to be testing a pickup truck with in-wheel electric motors, possibly for an electric version of its Super Duty heavy-duty pickups.

Spy photos published Thursday by Autoblog show a camouflaged truck that appears to be a modified Ford F-150 Lightning. It’s hard to say for sure, but the circular shape behind the wheel seen in one photo looks like a hub motor. It’s certainly suspicious that the vehicle lacks visible brake calipers, as Ford no longer offers drum brakes on its big pickups, Autoblog notes.

The truck also has eight-lug wheels, which are used on Ford Super Duty pickups but not on the production Lightning or gasoline F-150. An electric Super Duty would also make more sense as an application for in-wheel motors as Ford already nixed them for the Lightning.

2024 Ford Super Duty F-250

Ford’s global EV product development director, Darren Palmer, told Green Car Reports in 2021 that Ford considered in-wheel motors for the F-150 Lighting and confirmed that Ford continued to test them, but he emphasized that it decided they didn’t make the cut then for a number of reasons. The unspring mass, making the ride and handling difficult to tune and tame, was part of it. But the dealbreaker sounded to be hub motors’ seals, potentially letting contaminants in from off-roading.

Lordstown Motors opted for hub motors licensed from Slovenian firm Elaphe for the ill-fated Endurance. Versus millions of Lightning development miles, Lordstown said in 2021 that it had put about 20,000 development miles on its electric pickup before its release and about 200,000 development miles on the motors. Only a handful of Endurance trucks were completed before the company declared bankruptcy.

2024 Ford Super Duty F-250

That said, in 2023, Ford filed a patent for a system that uses a combination of in-wheel motors and solid axles. Perhaps that system is now being put to the test.

Meanwhile, Ferrari, McLaren, and others are reportedly considering in-wheel motors for future performance EVs. Several aftermarket conversions have shown off the packaging strengths that they allow as well. But it’s yet to be revealed whether the technology has evolved enough for Ford (and perhaps others) to see them as a viable solution—or whether they’ll remain at the testing stage for many years to come.

With high interest rates and inflation hitting household budgets, the spike in seizures provides a window into the average consumer’s financial health at a key time for policymakers.

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