Plus, check out the rejected Ontario vanity plates from 2022
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Welcome to our roundup of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam.
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Here’s what you missed while you were away.
Ram unveils electric Ram 1500 Concept, expected in 2024
The Ram 1500 Revolution BEV Concept was one of the stars at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Details are scant, despite a robust press release some 3,500 words long, leaving us to guess at range, power, battery size and more. But we do know one of its main party tricks, which Ram managed to summarize in a concise manner: “The Ram 1500 Revolution BEV Concept can add up to 100 miles of range in approximately 10 minutes with 800-volt DC fast-charging at up to 350 kW.” That’s twice the voltage and charging speed as the Ford F-150 Lighting’s 400-volt architecture with charging limited to 150 kilowatts. That power would be revolutionary if it were to be available today, but may be the new standard when the truck eventually arrives in 2024.
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The Revolution rides on Stellantis’ BEV STLA body-on-frame chassis, and boasts an interior fit for a concept, with clamshell doors, four bucket seats, a large futuristic infotainment screen, and orange accent lighting. Another cool feature is what Ram calls Shadow Mode, which uses autonomous tech and sensors to follow the driver as they walk in front of the vehicle.
Canada’s ‘moonshot’ Project Arrow electric SUV debuts at CES
Marking a milestone for the nation’s EV and battery production industry, the electric, Level 3 autonomous, one-off Project Arrow SUV was shown as a complete project for the first time ever at CES. The made-in-Canada vehicle is the result of a collaborative effort between dozens of tech and parts suppliers, and houses no less than 25 all-new technologies.
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Project Arrow draws from a 82.5 kWh lithium-ion battery pack to drive its dual-motor, all-wheel drive system, and is expected to sprint to 100 km/h from standstill in around 3.5 seconds.
Flavio Volpe, president of Canada’s Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, says the vehicle makes a clear two-part statement about the Canadian BEV system. “Anybody who is considering Canada for electric vehicle assembly, number one we have all the components here, and Project Arrow shows it to you without giving you theoretical BS,” he said. “Number two, it says we have all the technical know-how and people required to do this successfully.”
Rally icon and Gymkhana founder Ken Block dies in snowmobile accident
The motorsport world is mourning the loss of professional rally driver Ken Block, who was killed in a snowmobile accident on Monday, Jan 2, at age 55.
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“Ken was a visionary, a pioneer and an icon. And most importantly, a father and husband. He will be incredibly missed,” wrote Block’s Hoonigan Racing team in an Instagram statement. According to the Sheriff’s Office of Wasatch County in Utah, Block was navigating a steep slope when his snowmobile flipped on top of him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Block burst onto the rally scene in 2005, earning Rookie of the Year in the Rally America Championship and going on to win multiple rallycross medals at the X Games. He was also the founder of DC Shoes and the Head Hoonigan in Charge of the Hoonigan Racing team, which produced the popular Gymkhana video series. RIP, legend.
Shoppers are asking a lot of electrified questions this year
The conversation about how, why, and when and where to buy a new car has changed drastically in the last few years. You can thank the continued march toward complete electrification, but the majority of questions from prospective buyers involve hybrid and PHEV technology.
Buyers want to know things like whether they should buy an EV or a hybrid, how EV battery replacement works in general, how Canadian winter weather impacts EV performance, and why they should bother with the e-hype when gas power continues to serve them just fine. All good questions — Lorraine Sommerfeld breaks down the answers in her latest Lorraine Explains column.
VW teases the ID.7, coming to Canada next year
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Volkswagen used some fancy camouflage paint to cover up the ID.7 that it revealed just before the start of CES this month. The electric sedan concept was displayed with neat electroluminescent paint that lit up different parts of the car to the beat of a DJ track. Cool, but not commercial.
Exactly what tricks the actual car will have when it arrives next year remains mostly unknown as VW’s first-look presentation was rather light on details. Riding on the MEB platform shared with the ID.4, the sedan will be built in Germany starting later this year, and will feature a cabin with augmented-reality head-up display, a 38-cm screen, illuminated touch sliders, and digitally controlled air vents as part of a ‘smart’ climate system that accepts voice commands. Pricing has not been announced.
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Ontario’s rejected vanity plates of 2022
Personalized license plates are a simple, affordable, and effective way to express your personality on the outside of your ride, but there are limits. The government does its part to protect the public from the obscene, rude, or otherwise offensive messages some drivers try to have adhered to the tip and tail of their cars. In 2022, the list of rejected vanity plates included “DAAAAMN,” “BYEBXTCH,” “FOXSAKES,” “WADDAFAK,” and “HECKIN,” — all cut for their obscene connotations.
Offended yet? Doesn’t really matter, because the plate previewers at Ontario’s Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery were, and they’re the ones who make the call. The Ministry’s pros also deny plates that evoke violence, like “DOGFIGHT,” and “ISELLGUN,” those that make political statements like “GRETAWHO” and “VVPUTIN,” and even some they found too hard to read, such as “LE4F5,” “JU5TSOLD,” and “SORRRRRY.” Scope more of 2022’s rejected vanity plates here.
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