Drew Dowdell

Ford has that as an option on the 250 line at least, I'm not sure about the 150.

Eh… I wouldn’t go that far. They are rebadging existing ChargePoint hardware with their own three-point star logo and building a posh charging station. There’s no point in building a network due to be finished in 5 years with technology that is already behind. They’ll move to 800V eventually but even their 400V cars charge at an acceptable pace. When the first ones go up, it makes a nice place for Benz owners to justify their purchase to themselves, feel nice, and take lots of Instagram selfies.

The next cycle of the technology is Plug to Charge. You still need to pre-register with the charge network, but if you get ElectrifyAmerica and ChargePoint set up, you’ve got a good start. But the way it works is the charging network can remember your car and as soon as you plug it in, links to your account and starts charging. No app or credit card needed. Speaking of - Costco’s credit card has offered 4% cash back on all gas purchases for years now. But recently they added 4% cash back on most public charging station purchases as well. They’re the only major card I’m aware of that offers that.

SuperCruise you only have to watch the road for liability reasons. Cadillac has stated a while ago that they have the technological capability for Level 3, but they have concerns regarding liability. The requirement that you pay attention is why you don’t hear about Cadillacs plowing into a semi-truck because the driver was watching Lord of the Rings like you do with Tesla. This is one area where being first isn’t necessarily the best thing. I don’t mind GM taking it slow. BTW, GM Cruise has been on the road for over a year now, so your assertion that Benz did it first is false. Furthermore, calling Benz’s system Level 3, but only up to 37 mph means it’s not really Level 3. UltraCruise isn’t considered Level 3 because the driver has to take over in situations like a roundabout… so how can Benz be Level 3 if it can’t go over 37 mph? As long as there are no roundabouts on your trip, UltraCruise is door to door at all legal speeds. That’s far more useful than what the S-Class does.

Quote from the MB press release on this: "DRIVE PILOT can offer to take over the driving, initially up to the legally permitted speed of 60 km/h" That's 37.2823 mph for those of us in the states. There are suburban roads around here that you'll get run over doing that speed... and that's with the slow-ass Pittsburgh drivers. SuperCruise can run at 80 mph+. GM's UltraCruise can run at 80 mph+ but also: Provide users with information based on their experience with the system through an all-new dynamic display React to permanent traffic control devices Follow internal navigation routes Maintain headway; follow speed limits Support automatic and on-demand lane change Support left and right-hand turns Support close object avoidance Support parking in residential driveways The first vehicles getting will be higher end Cadillacs and the top trims of the big SUVs.

2024 is when we'll see the production version... if it is actually in production by then I'd be surprised... but if we see the production version get unveiled at 2024 CES (exactly a year from now), then rolling into dealerships in September 2024 as a '25 model is plausible. The Silverado EV is supposed to be rolling out in the Fall of this year and I put my reservation on one about a year ago... so it is similar timing. Because of my place on the list, I don't expect to see mine until 2025. BUT... if this RAM keeps some of the useful features of the concept, I could see putting down another reservation deposit on this as well.

I didn't think turning rotors was still a thing.

At the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show, Markus Schäfer, Chief Technology Officer for Mercedes-Benz announced the company’s plans to build a North American charging network and an ambitious schedule to complete in 2027. The plan includes more than 400 charging hubs with over 2,500 high-power chargers spaced out over the continent.  The hubs will be located at regular intervals close to highways, major intersections, and metropolitan areas. The charging hubs will be open to all brands, however, Mercedes owners will get extra benefits such as the ability to reserve an outlet in advance.  Depending on the location, hubs will typically have four to twelve charging stations, with some high-traffic locations having up to thirty. The stations will be equipped with 350 kW charging stations with distributed intelligent charge-load management allowing each vehicle to charge at its maximum capacity to minimize charge times.  The hubs will be built with food and restroom facilities nearby. Mercedes is partnering with charging network ChargePoint for its U.S. buildout. Mercedes-Benz plans to launch its network in Europe and China at a future time, eventually expanding to 10,000 chargers worldwide. View full article

Nor will it be. Ford might put a Lincoln on there to try and earn some ROI on it, but Ford is already moving on to version 2.0 of that platform, but the differences are so large that it might as well be a whole new platform. I think Rivian and Ford backed away from each other on vehicle development. They might share some motor or battery tech in the Lightning, but their cooperation on development has mostly ended. Elon woke a sleeping dragon by taunting GM. VW is doing it because they got the pants sued off them, but they are equally as methodical and their MEB platform looks very solid.

It's a concept, so it has the entire set of Star Trek brave-new-worlds inside.

IT HAS A MIDGATE!!!!

At the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show, RAM showed their Ram 1500 Revolution battery-electric truck concept. The concept is built on the new Stellantis STLA Frame platform for full-size vehicles. The platform sandwiches the batteries between the frame rails and in this concept features a dual-motor design for all-wheel drive. The concept features four-wheel steering, a powered midgate with powered glass, and a passthrough, even into the frunk, that allows objects up to 18-feet long. The RAM 1500 Revolution is capable of 800-volt DC fast charging to add up to 100 miles of range in 10 minute. RAM describes the concept as “brutiful” – brutal yet beautiful, and features their “tuning fork” front grille design with fully animated LED logo. The tuning fork theme follows into the interior. The interior, while clearly in concept form, shows the direction RAM is heading with their interiors, with more luxury and more sustainable materials. RAM says the interior is significantly more spacious (RAM is already at the top of the class for interior room) than their ICE model and in the concept, has flexible seating configurations, including a third row, with seats that can fold flat, have an extended recline, and even have a conference mode. The production version of this concept is expected to be introduced as the RAM 1500 BEV in 2024. View full article