July 29th Throttle 🏎️

What’s up Throttle Heads 😎 It is Monday which means it is time for some exciting car news.

Stellantis May Kill Unprofitable Brands In The US

There is no need to fear ‼️ Unless you are a fan of Maserati or Fiat and live in the United States. Otherwise, the only way you will be able to buy some of your favorite cars will be to make the hop across the pond to Europe. Maserati was a practically bad apple with reported losses in the eight figures in the first quarter of the year. Other than Maserati, Stellantis does not report figures for individual brands making it hard to know which others are struggling. With Stellantis having recently emerged for a large merger and recent financial woes, CEO Carlos Tavares has decried “unprofitable” brands will be unacceptable.

Tavares has reassured worried investors that he will be working with the North American Team closely during the summer months to help mitigate these issues and turn brands around. Stelantis plans to release twenty new models across its brands to help mitigate profitability issues. Fiat and Maserati, two low-volume brands in the US, are likely to be at risk and could be placed on the chopping block at any moment if they do not meet sales expectations.

George Russell DQed from Belgium Grand Prix After Placing 1st

What a Formula One Season we have been having so far ‼️Unlike last year, with say Max Verstappen and Red Bull dominating race after race, this year there have been seven different race winners so far. Adding to the drama, Mclaren is closing in on Red Bull to take first in the constructor’s championship and Goerge Russell of Mercedes was disqualified from the Belgium Grand Prix this weekend.

Russel had an impressive race this weekend coming in 1st after making his tires extremely well on a one-stop strategy. However, during the post-race weight checks, it was found his chart was 1.5 kilos underweight. Unfortunately, this resulted in him being disqualified, forfeiting his 1st place position to his teammate Lewis Hamilton. This was especially disappointing for Mercedes who had defied all expectations to be consistently fighting for and taking home wins this year after disastrous seasons in 2022 and 2023.

Chinese Companies To Bypass Tariffs By Building EVs In Europe

Chinese Electric Vehicle manufacturers have begun to set their sights on Europe for growth. However, there is one main obstacle standing in their way: 48% tariffs imposed on vehicles produced in China to protect homegrown European manufacturers and the jobs that rely on them. Therefore, Chinese companies have dreamed up a rather innovative and simple solution: produce their cars in Europe. Without this solution, Chinese EVs would be thousands of Euros more expensive than their competition.

One Chinese company trailblazing these efforts is Chery which plans to begin production of its E5 SUV at a former Nissain Faciltly in Barcelona. Meanwhile, BYD, one of the largest Chinese EV manufacturers, plans to open a factory in Hungary with plans to build a second in Hungary. Chery plans to partner with Spain EV-Ebro Motors to make production possible in the European Union. EU regulators are currently weighing how these joint partnerships will apply to tariffs and if there is anything the EU can do to limit their growth. With the advent of cheap Chinese EVs, European manufacturers will be faced with a choice to create partnerships or potentially risk losing market share in a more competitive environment.

Rivian R3X Production Confirmed By CEO

It is all coming together‼️Rivian’s CEO RJ Scaringe confirmed on a podcast episode the R3X crossover will make it to production and will be produced before the R3. The R3X is the performance version of the crossover which features some sick steelie-inspired wheels and a fire interior.

Rivian aims to go more mainstream three years after the release of the R1T Truck and R1S SUV with the debut of three new models: the R2, R3 and the R3X. The R2 is a mid-sized SUV aiming to take on the BMW X3 and Tesla Model Y set to debut in 2026. Scaringe wants to get R3 into production as soon as possible which will presumably put its release date around 2027.

Solar-Powered Vehicle Sets A New Cannonball Record

The Cannonball Run is the most iconic and revered street race in existence which involves a cross-country race from New York to Los Angeles to set the fastest time. Most of the time, it involves an M5 attempting to make the trip in as little as 24 hours. In this case, four engineering students (Will Jones, Kyle Samluk, Brett Cesar, and Danny Ezzo) from the University of Michigan made the trip with an EV built out of solar panels and bicycle wheels.

Dubbed the Sun Strider, the car made it across the US in 13 days, 15 hours, and 19 minutes. Although this is far from the shortest time of 25 hours and 39 minutes, it did beat the previous solar EV record of 58 days. This was an especially great bonus for the time as their goal was to complete the challenge without charging or using external generators. The team journey across the US helps to prove the validity of Electric Vehicles as being sustainable ways to provide transportation as well as a testbed for new technologies.

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