Rivian EVs Base Prices Stay the Same, But With Fewer Motors and Smaller Battery

This is The American Dream, the world's longest limo, at least according to the Guinness World Records organization. At 100 feet and 1.5 inches, we can't imagine it has too many challengers to its throne. But as impressive as this 25,000-odd pound, helipad-equipped, massive Cadillac is, what's even more impressive is that its restoration was completed at all. This limo was in terrible shape, a rotted hulk that would take a gargantuan effort to bring back to life.Abandoned in New York, it was first hauled to the Autoseum for an ill-fated restoration attempt. Then, with some difficulty (and a hood that flew off en route, never to be seen again), it was trucked down to the Dezerland Park car museum for another go—in several pieces—for another effort at revival. Here's what it looked like in 2013:Well, that effort has succeeded, as you can see. Michael Dezer—a prominent real estate developer in New York and Florida—and Michael Manning of Autoseum worked together to make it happen. Along the way, three Cadillacs were cannibalized, and untold amount of rust was removed, yards of leather and vinyl and carpet were employed, and the engine(s) were replaced. The subframe looks more like a bridge truss than anything you'd find in a vehicle, and in fact Manning admits rebuilding it was more of a civil engineering project than an automotive restoration.No fewer than six Eldorados were conjoined during the original construction of this 24-wheeled monster, conceived by Jay Ohrberg of Burbank, Calif.—the guy behind a few cars you may have heard of, like KITT from Knight Rider and the DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future. Originally, the vehicle had a swivel function, in order to attempt to navigate corners with more grace. It's not clear if that feature was retained in the restoration. Its tail housed a helipad, whose surface could be used as a putting green whenever the chopper wasn't around. In its original iteration, it also had two engines, dozens of windows, TVs, telephones, a lounge, a waterbed, a jacuzzi, and a swimming pool with a diving board. The American Dream is now functional, to the extent that it can be. With this length and an attendant cruise-ship-like turning radius, you can't simply drive this thing around. You need to carefully plan a route to make sure it has room to maneuver. Get it stuck and it'll take some creative towing to remove it. That said, whether stationary or on the go, Manning says there's room inside for 75, plus there's a pool on the back. The interior is mostly bare at the moment—in the video, Manning hints it could be built out to fit a customer—and it's so long the other end is barely visible from inside.There's no getting around it: The American Dream is excessive to the point of impracticality. But it's still the world record holder, taking the crown from itself with a 1.5-inch stretch. It's hilarious that a distance that small has any significance for a vehicle this large, but there it is. What happens to it next is anybody's guess, but we salute you, Floridians, for reviving The American Dream in all its excess.

Muscle car aficionados take heart: the future of electric cars from Dodge is mean, menacing, and loud. Proof: The Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept which teases the production electric muscle car coming in 2024 amid promises it will beat all the performance metrics Dodge has laid down to date.Yes, the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT is powered by batteries and electric motors, but air still swooshes through chambers and pipes for a rumble very similar to the roar of a Hemi Hellcat V-8 in today's Dodge Chargers and Challengers. It is only when the electric Charger is being turned off that the final whirr reminds you it is a battery-electric car. And no melted jellybean shape here—the car is sleek, powerful, and true to Dodge muscle car DNA.The Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept has been imbued with the looks and sounds that should appeal to the muscle car brotherhood customer base. The concept is Dodge's vision of its replacement for the internal combustion engine muscle cars that will soon go out of production. The last Dodge Chargers and Dodge Challengers will roll off the line at the Brampton, Ontario, plant in December 2023. Here's what it sounds like, from the live reveal on YouTube:Dodge brand CEO Tim Kuniskis says Dodge needed its own unique pathway to the EV age; the small brand would get lost if it tried to do things the same way as bigger players. To stand out and hold its own, Dodge needed to show electrification can still shock people.The Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept is designed to impress and appease its loyal customer base, many of whom are fundamentally opposed to EVs and all they stand for. So, Dodge created an e-muscle car that looks mean and roars as loud as the Hellcats with supercharged Hemi V-8s that it will replace. "We believe we need the sound and experience," says Kuniskis. That is why the car has a multispeed transmission and an exhaust note, so the driver can feel and hear the crack of the exhaust while shifting.Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept is a True CoupeThe Dodge Charger Daytona SRT is a large car, and yes, this Charger is a true coupe with only two doors but with a hatch for greater utility. The concept, in Greys of Thunder dark glossy paint, has a clean design right down to the flush door handles and absence of a rear spoiler. It is muscle without being a caricature, bold yet subtle. Head of Dodge Exterior Design Scott Krugger says his team started by designing a muscle car, not an EV, with a signature face, swept profile, and turbine-style 21-inch wheels.It is also pure EV without a melted front for aerodynamics. Instead, true to the Daytona name, it has a nose cone built into it, a patented R-Wing which allows air to pass through the front of the hood and enhance downforce while keeping a blunt Dodge profile that all but hides the headlights. There are carbon fiber intakes on both sides of the front and rear fascias for an air curtain to further improve aerodynamics. The front end is patented, as is the sound, which means these are intended for production."We found a way to make a muscle car slippery," Kuniskis says.What about the Fratzog logo Dodge has been teasing us with? The triangular badge adorned Dodge muscle cars from 1962-1976 and stood for nothing in particular. It now has a purpose as the new symbol for Dodge electrification—and there are Fratzog badges all over the concept. It glows white in the center of the cross-car light bar across the front grille, red in the rear taillight, and on the center locks of the wheels.Sounds Like a Hellcat?Back to the sound. This is the industry's first exhaust system for an electric vehicle, producing a similar 126-decibel sound as the one coming from the today's Hellcat engine. Dodge calls it "Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust." When the Daytona converts electricity to power, air flows through the exhaust system and the sound produced goes through an amplifier and tuning chamber at the rear of the vehicle. You can see and feel the pressure from the exhaust coming out the back.Dodge Charger Daytona SRT's Electric BitsDodge is not revealing full specs and details yet, but we do know the high-performance SRT trim will be powered by a new 800-volt Banshee propulsion system. Lower trim models will have a 400-volt system. The screaming Banshee badge is on both sides of the car where Dodge previously put Hellcat and Demon logos on its internal combustion-powered vehicles. The Banshee name and badge will be used only for the top-performing EVs. Kuniskis refers to the concept as the Daytona Banshee.The concept has standard all-wheel drive so we know there are at least two motors, one up front and one in the back. AWD is also key to making the Daytona SRT quicker than the Hellcats that precede it, Dodge executives say.The Daytona Banshee has a multi-speed transmission with electro-mechanical shifting. Dubbed eRupt, the transmission does not deliver more power, but allows the driver to feel each shift point, Kuniskis says. The brand chief won't reveal the number of gears or provide any performance figures yet. What we do know is there will be three power levels available and customers can go to Direct Connection authorized dealers who will offer six more levels, all covered under factory warranty. All nine power levels were designed in advance, with the hardware in place for additional upgrades at the time of purchase or later.Do a PowerShotAnd all nine levels come with a new adrenaline boost: the PowerShot push-to-pass feature. Push a button on the steering wheel for an instantaneous discharge of power, delivering an extra 25 horsepower on demand, for a few seconds, enough time to blow by the car in front of you.Drivers can choose Auto, Sport, Track, and Drag drive modes which change the driving dynamics and corresponding displays, sound, and interior lighting.Dodge officials are not yet providing range figures, but Kuniskis argues Hellcat buyers don't care about fuel economy. He says both the 400- and 800-volt models will provide the range needed to be competitive. The car will use the new STLA Large platform developed by Stellantis which is capable of up to 500 miles of range, but Kuniskis says the muscle cars will not hit that figure because of the elements that have been added to it, despite the use of carbon fiber and other efforts to reduce weight. Battery sizes for vehicles using STLA Large are expected to range from 101-118 kilowatt hours.Step Inside If Your DareThe dark sinister theme continues inside the vehicle, says Jeff Gale, Dodge's chief interior designer.The most striking feature is the multicolored lighting that stretches across the dash and through the doors, which have raised gray slats that strake diagonally for a unique look, which is not easy to do. In red, the light glows like lava flowing through troughs. There are circuit-like graphics on the carbon fiber floor that work their way up the vehicle, surrounding the passengers, flowing under the seats and up to the center console and slim instrument panel.The three-spoke performance steering wheel with flat top and bottom is also illuminated with a red SRT logo in the center, paddle shifters, and the PowerShot button on one side and drive mode controls on the other. The Daytona has a pistol-grip shifter and glowing red start button hidden under a jet-fighter-inspired cap that you flip up to engage.The driver-centric cockpit has another Fratzog as the background to the 16-inch curved screen driver display. The 12.3-inch center screen is large by Dodge standards.The concept has four slim, lightweight, race-inspired bolstered seats with a perforated Fratzog pattern. Between the seats is a floating, open flow-through storage area, all lit up. The console runs to the back to serve all four passengers.The Daytona has a panoramic liftgate-style hatch and the seats fold flat to give the car more utility—you can stuff a snowboard in this muscle car.Dodge promised it would be true to its muscle car roots when it embraced the electric car age, starting in 2024. The Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept, which looks production ready and has patents on its key features, appears to keep that promise.

The third-generation Ford Everest has made its global debut. If you've never heard of this three-row SUV—and you are scratching your head trying to figure out what it is—that's because it has never been offered in the United States, and it never will be. The Everest is sold in places like Australia, South Africa, the Philippines, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Lament as you may from the highest mountaintops, but we won't be getting this mighty handsome, muscularly modern seven-seater. Add it to the list of forbidden fruit, alongside the Toyota Land Cruiser—the key difference being that the Land Cruiser was offered here, until recently.The third-generation 2023 Ford Everest is basically a global-market midsize 2023 Ranger pickup clad in SUV skin. Ever wonder what an SUV Ranger would look like? Look at the Everest. Ranger in the front, with a closed-in body (not bed) in the back. Recall that the Ranger's redesign for 2023 gives it a totally different look than the current Ranger, and the Everest adopts these same blocky new design cues. In addition to sharing the upgraded Ford T-6 platform, the Fords share a lot when it comes to the front fascia, including the C-clamp headlights and grille design.The next-gen Ford Everest will be offered with a trio of turbodiesel engines or a gasoline-fed 2.3-liter EcoBoost I-4, with availability depending on the market. The diesel engines include the 3.0-liter Power Stroke V-6 (a variant of what was offered in the F-150), a single-turbo 2.0-liter I-4, and a bi-turbo 2.0-liter I-4. These engines will be mated to six- or ten-speed automatic transmissions. Max towing is an impressive 7,716 pounds. At launch, it'll be available in Sport, Titanium+, and Platinum trims.Ford likens the improved interior of the Ford Everest to a "sanctuary," a quiet place where occupants from all rows can talk to each other without yelling. If that's what the new Ranger is like inside, great, because this Everest seems to share much with that pickup's interior. Like the Ranger, the Everest gets a portrait-oriented 10.1- or 12.0-inch vertical center stack touchscreen equipped with SYNC 4A. This screen displays a 360-degree camera view with a split-view display, making parking or negotiating tight spaces easier. Behind the steering wheel resides an 8.0- or 12.4-inch digital instrument panel, replacing analogue clusters.When it comes to off-road capability, the Everest is exploration ready. Its wider track, longer wheelbase, and tweaks to the damper settings help keep the SUV planted. Although some markets will have an available two-wheel drive offering, the Everest will mostly get one of two four-wheel drive systems (part-time and permanent). The Everest can ford through over 2.5 feet of water, just a few inches less than the Bronco. It has underbody protection, selectable off-road drive modes, a rear locking differential, two front tow hooks, engine bay space for a second battery, and upfitter accessory switches. There's an off-road screen display that shows pertinent vehicle information, a front camera view, predictive overlay guidelines, and more. Owners trying to set up camp in the dark can control the new exterior zone lighting system via the FordPass App.Is it selfish to lust after unobtainable factory vehicles like the Ford Everest and wish their presence in our stateside lineup? No. It would be awesome to have here. So why don't we get the Ford Everest? Because we get the Ford Bronco, which may be considered too similar and (probably) more popular. The Bronco and Everest would be in the same midsize SUV category, creating too much overlap. The Bronco is basically our Ranger-based SUV, meaning the Everest would be...another Ranger-based SUV. However, the Bronco is a beast of its own and is so fundamentally different than the Ranger—different suspension, different body—that one could argue there is room for the Everest, an actual Ranger-looking Ranger-based SUV.Going a step further, there would be utmost demand for an Everest Raptor in the U.S. After all, there is a Ranger Raptor that's already paved the way, and there's a Bronco Raptor. We're happy for the parts of the world that will get the the new SUV, but the real mountaintop high would be news of an Everest to call our own.