Cheers & Gears

Next up: Reichstag fire. The US Capital will be destroyed this time.

9. The platform will allow many kinds of body styles including crossovers, sedans, and sport cars. The debut vehicle will arrive in 2027 as a mid-size truck.

8. There was an audible gasp from someone in the crowd of assembly workers at the press event when the presenter said "You will never need to put a dash cluster through a door opening ever again".

6. Ford claims lower total cost to own than buying a 3-year old Model-Y. (I'd like to read the fine print on this one)
7. The way the components are assembled is now significantly more ergonomic, less twisting and bending for assembly workers.

There's so much to digest with this:
3. Lower weight will mean more range with less battery.
4. LFP cells that are built in the US without cobalt or nickle.
5. Faster production, while overall production time will drop 15%, the assembly process will drop 40%..

There's so much to digest with this:
1. This is a new way of assembling vehicles. The new production line is now a production tree with three branches that converge into one.
2. Ford has cut a lot of weight out of the platform. 4,000 fewer feet of wiring harness, 25% less fastener.

Ford Unviels its new Universal Vehicle Platform Ford's new Universal Vehicle Platform brings a new level of affordability to electric vehicles.

#Ford revolutionizes the production line into a production tree for its new Universal Vehicle Platform. This represents a major investment in the U.S. economy. New modular platform with U.S.-made LFP batteries that are more sustainable and built faster and lighter. Read more below.

Quick Spin: 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo - A Lone Wolf Ford engineers raided the global corporate parts bin to assemble a modern street truck, and it works.

#Ford took their entry level Maverick and turned it into a sport-truck the style we haven't seen in decades.... and it really really works. #review #impaspringbreak

Chevy Silverado EV Adds Off-Road Oriented Trail Boss trim; RST to End First available on the Colorado and gas-model Silverado, the Silverado EV will get the popular Trail Boss trim this summer.

Chevy is adding the Trail Boss but deleting the RST from the Silverado EV lineup. Most interesting is that the EV range doesn't change (410 miles / 478 miles) even with a 2-inch lift. #electricvehicle

2026 Toyota RAV-4 Released as Hybrid Only Not only is the Plug-In version fast, in some models, it is fast charging.

#Toyota redesigns the best-selling RAV-4 for 2026, now only available in hybrid powertrains, the plug-in model gets up to 320 horsepower and certain trims can even DC fast charge. Check the link below for more.

#Pennsylvania peeps and any other states having primaries today, remember to go vote! And remember, you can check on ballotpedia to see which of your judicial candidates are cross-filed with Republicans so you can avoid them. #votenow #VoteBlue

Jaguar Land Rover Gets Lifeline in the form of a UK Tariff Exemption Trump and the U.K. reach a deal on auto import tariffs.

#Jaguar and #LandRover are the obvious benefactors of the US-UK trade deal, but #Nissan could stand to benefit as well.

Sorry! False alarm on the #WhiteSmoke that was me starting up my Toronado for the first time in a year.

IONNA Aims for Doubles Getting to 30,000 charging bays by end of 2030 is a big task that needs big growth.

Eight automobile manufacturers banded together in 2024 to build an #electricvehicle charging network to rival #Tesla . IONNA has a long way to go, but they've doubled their footprint in April and have double that under active construction.

Chevy Updates the Corvette Interior for 2026 The Wall-Of-Buttons in the Corvette is GONE!

The #chevrolet #corvette gets a big interior update for 2026. Gone is the wall of buttons between driver and passenger and gains bigger screens, including an all-new one to the left of the driver. #chevroletcorvette

Next Generation Jeep Compass Unvieled in Italy Jeep's new Compass gets electrified

The #Trump #tariffs are already beginning to limit consumer choice in the automotive market. The 3rd Gen #Jeep #Compass just debuted in Italy, but its release in the US is on hold because Stellantis planned to build it in Canada. #EV #electricvehicles #hybrid

House Republicans Propose Electric Vehicle Fees to Fund Transportation Programs House Republicans, lead by Sam Graves, Republican for Montana and head of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee are proposing a $250 annual charge for electric vehicles as part of an e...

House #Republicans are trying to pass an #electricvehicle annual tax that is equivalent to someone driving 15,000 miles a year in an 11 mile per gallon vehicle.

Tariff Tuesday - Big Trouble in Little Crossovers Trump's tariffs may hit the small crossover market especially hard.

But outside of Buick, the entire little crossover segment is in trouble.

Tariff Tuesday - Buick's Tough Spot While historically a quintessential American brand, the case for Buick in the U.S. gets weaker and weaker under Trump's tariff plans.

Same. #Buick is killing it in China, but risks getting killed in the US.

Tariff Tuesday - Big Trouble in Little Crossovers Trump's tariffs may hit the small crossover market especially hard.

Big Trouble in Little Crossovers - How the #tariffs threaten to upend an entire automotive segment.

@cwolfe8891.bsky.social

Jeep Unsure of Direction on Compass Stellantis has paused all work at its Brampton Assembly Plant while it decides the fate of the next generation Jeep Compass. Production of pilot models of the next generation Compass was originally to...

Jeep is unsure of the direction on Compass as production of the next generation gets pushed back again. #electricvehicles #jeep

EV Batteries Lasting Longer Than Expected, Stanford says All the worry about how long an electric vehicle battery might last might be for nothing.

It turns out that #electricvehicle batteries should last a lot longer than previously expected according to Standford University research.

Tesla Supercharger access now open for Hummer EV drivers After being delayed in May, SuperCharger access for Hummer EVs is now open.

It appears that #GMC might have let the cat out of the bag a little early. As of this morning, the copy about #Tesla Supercharger access was scrubbed from their website. #electricvehicles

Forbidden Fruit: The 2024 Ford Capri In Europe, Ford takes the name of a legendary two-door pony car and puts it on a four-door electric crossover. Sound familiar?

Imagine a car company taking the name of a legendary two-door pony car and putting it on a four-door electric crossover. That would never happen, right? </s> Ford of Europe has shipped the #Mustang Mach-E script to Germany. Take a look at the #ford Capri #electricvehicle

Amtrak Virginia sets another ridership record in April - VPRA NEWS RELEASE - May 25, 2023 Growth of the state-supported service expected to continue through the summer RICHMOND — Ridership on the Commonwealth’s Amtrak Virginia service set another record in April...

When Amtrak extended the North East Corridor from NYP/DC to Richmond from 2 trips a day to 10, ridership exploded. vapassengerrailauthority.org/amtrak-virgi...

The key here is that it adds additional daily service to a route that only had one train a day each way. As airlines know, frequency begets ridership. Everywhere Amtrak has increased frequency, ridership has gone up more than expected. (cont.)

Toyota joins IONNA charging network IONNA is a cooperation of seven, now eight, vehicle manufacturers set to build 30,000 charge ports in North America by 2030

#toyota joins IONNA, a joint venture of seven (now eight) manufacturers created out of frustration with the state of charging networks not named #tesla. Their goal? To build a network of 30,000 chargers by 2030 to rival Tesla.

Fisker recalls over 11,000 vehicles amid bankruptcy More problems for the ailing Fisker

The ailing #electricvehicle automaker, Fisker, issues a water pump recall for every Fisker Ocean it has built.

Ford Charges Up Financing Incentives on Ford Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning EV Competition pushing Ford to ramp up the incentives on their EVs.

Ford is pushing hard on incentives for its #ElectricVehicles. Both the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning are now available with 0% interest rates and the Mach-E has some nice lease incentives too. Read more to find out -