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Eric's Autos: 2024 Fiat 500e
A lot has changed in the five years since you could last buy a brand-new Fiat 500 -- the cute little minicar from Italy.
When it was last available -- back in 2019 -- it had a base price just over $16,000, came standard with a manual transmission and could take you nearly 300 miles - in city driving -- on about 10 gallons of gasoline. ...Read more
Rivian misstep triggered parts shortage hobbling its EV output
When Rivian Automotive Inc.’s shares sunk nearly 9% on Friday, analysts were puzzled as to why the electric-vehicle maker had to so drastically cut its 2024 production targets over yet another supply chain hiccup.
The answer lies in a miscommunication earlier this year between Rivian and its supplier, Atlanta-based Essex Furukawa, which has ...Read more
Stellantis files more lawsuits against UAW, prompting meeting
Stellantis NV said Monday it filed nine federal lawsuits against the United Auto Workers and two dozen union locals late last week as it tries to prevent the union from calling a mid-contract strike over its delays reopening an Illinois assembly plant.
The company said the series of lawsuits prompted a Saturday meeting with the UAW, where the ...Read more
Motormouth: Tire talk
Q: We have a 2019 Honda Accord Sport with a stick and it has 25,000 miles. We just had new Michelin all-weather tires put on the car. My wife said, "These tires are nice. The car drives much smoother now." I have heard people say that their new tires are much better than the old ones. Does the car drive smoother because of the new tires or ...Read more
Hyundai's Georgia $7.6 billion EV factory is up and running
Hyundai has begun electric vehicle manufacturing at its new factory near Savannah, Georgia, a major milestone in Georgia’s emergence as an EV hub.
Full production began earlier this week, and the South Korean automaker held a private opening celebration with its 1,400-plus employees on Thursday at the plant located along I-16 in Ellabell in ...Read more
Stellantis files federal lawsuit against UAW after local strike vote, with more planned
Members of a United Auto Workers local in southern California were the first to authorize a strike against Stellantis NV on Thursday night — a move that swiftly prompted a federal lawsuit from the automaker alleging the union has breached its collective bargaining agreement.
A supermajority of UAW Local 230 members at Stellantis' Los Angeles ...Read more
Rivian seeking federal loan to restart construction of $5B Georgia plant
New documents show Rivian has applied for a federal loan to help finance the $5 billion electric vehicle factory it plans to build an hour east of Atlanta, the most significant sign the company is making moves to resume construction of the stalled project.
Details about the loan application with the U.S. Department of Energy are limited, but ...Read more
Rivian cuts production forecast, citing supply chain issue; its stock dips
Electric vehicle maker Rivian saw its shares dip Friday after the Irvine-based company cut its production targets amid ongoing supply issues.
Citing a shortage of a component used to build its electric pickups, sport utility vehicles and vans, Rivian said production could drop as much as 18% this year at its lone U.S. assembly plant.
Rivian ...Read more
Auto review: 2025 GMC Hummer SUV is electrifyingly large and in charge
There’s an irony in the Hummer nameplate being brought back as a battery-electric sub-brand of the GMC family. Given its extreme bulk, there’s a sense of GM executives paying penance for the brand’s previous gas-guzzling ways.
And despite what GMC has said since Hummer returned from purgatory, this is NOT GMC’s “first ever” EV. Not ...Read more
How future cars could power homes in California
Electric vehicles provide energy storage, on wheels. But until now, this has been an untapped resource, unable to help shore up the power grid and back up homes and businesses during outages.
Last weekend, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law that will help harness that energy. SB 59, proposed by State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, ...Read more
How Honda is going hybrid in racing and production
NASHVILLE — Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.
Honda’s first hybrid IndyCar won big at the season finale here at the Big Michigan Music City Grand Prix Sept. 15 as Colton Herta took the checkered flag first — and Alex Palou clinched the overall driver's championship. And for customers who want a hybrid Honda of their own for the street, 2025 ...Read more
Auto review: 2024 Subaru BRZ is entry level fun
As Subaru has been absent from Grasso’s Garage, we have witnessed a slew of convertibles which are ready to enjoy fun in the sun. But today, we see a different kind of fun, and that is without the sun. I give you the 2024 Subaru BRZ-tS, Subaru’s rear wheel drive, two-door coupe.
Powered with a 2.4-liter horizontal-opposed DOHC engine with a...Read more
Cadillac Vistiq to be built at Tennessee plant, more news coming 'later this year'
General Motors Co. will build its coming all-electric three-row Cadillac SUV, the Vistiq, at its Spring Hill, Tennessee, plant where the smaller Cadillac Lyriq electric SUV is already produced, the automaker said this week.
The luxury brand has two new EVs coming soon with production of the 2025 Optiq SUV starting later this fall at the Ramos ...Read more
Stellantis CEO mulls exiting after contract ends in 2026
In his first public comments since Stellantis NV confirmed it had started searching for his successor, Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares signaled he’s open to leaving the automaker just over a year from now.
Leaving when his contract expires in early 2026 is “one option,” Tavares told reporters Thursday at a press conference in ...Read more
The future of EV Charging looks a lot like an airport lounge
Charging an electric vehicle in the future increasingly looks like an experience somewhere between a truck stop and an airport lounge.
Most public chargers sit in parking lots, often three or four machines along the side of a hotel or grocery store. Drivers are exposed to the elements and — unless they need to go shopping — are basically ...Read more
Stellantis sales declined in the third quarter. This is how much
Stellantis NV's U.S. sales fell 20% in the third quarter compared to the same period last year with all of its major brands — Jeep, Ram, Chrysler and Dodge — dropping.
The transatlantic automaker sold 305,294 vehicles in the United States in July, August and September, compared to 380,563 in the same period a year ago.
The decline comes as...Read more
Ford ekes out Q3 sales growth, but falls behind GM in EV sales
Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. sales grew less than 1% year-over-year in the third quarter, and General Motors Co. overtook it in electric vehicle sales.
Ford sold 504,039 vehicles in the July-through-September quarter, up 0.7%, compared to last year's 500,504 vehicles. Hybrid sales grew by 38%, and EVs were up 12%, while gas- and diesel-fueled vehicles...Read more
History casts doubt on Donald Trump's auto industry promises
Former President Donald Trump has been promising Michigan voters this fall that he can revive the state's auto industry and return it to "greatness," but the Republican nominee failed to fully deliver on similar guarantees, made eight years ago, before his first term in the White House.
On Friday night, Trump told a crowd at Macomb Community ...Read more
Game on: Automakers expand video entertainment options in vehicles
TROY, Michigan — The automotive industry is flipping on its head a long tradition of car racing video games by bringing the gaming experience into the vehicles.
Collect virtual coins with an augmented-reality car projected onto the live camera feed from the vehicle, play Uno through the infotainment screen or connect a Bluetooth controller ...Read more
Ford cuts pricing on BlueCruise subscriptions, adds one-time payment option
Ford Motor Co. has slashed the cost of its BlueCruise hands-free highway driving subscription and added a new one-time purchase option.
The Dearborn, Michigan, automaker has been increasing the availability of BlueCruise in its lineup — technology it says can reduce driver fatigue and offer the company recurring revenue and contact with ...Read more