Daily News: Wednesday 8/8/17

Jeep Details Pricing on New Trackhawk Grand Cherokee As soon as the public found out about the existence of the Hellcat’s 707hp supercharged 6.2L HEMI V8, people started thinking of vehicles that needed the engine. Near the top of the fans list of demands was an obvious choice: A Hellcat-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee. As a SRT version already existed, this was not out of the realm of possibility, and over the past few months, FCA has slowly confirmed the production of just such a vehicle. Today, Jeep has confirmed both pricing and dates of availability for their new Hellcat-creation, dubbed Trackhawk.

Starting at $85,900 excluding a $1,095 destination fee, the Trackhawk is the most expensive entry into the Hellcat world, although more than simply space is added to the Jeep compared to other Hellcat stable-mates. The normal brake, wheel, and transmission upgrades are all included to reliably handle the extra power of the HEMI, while the Jeep is appropriately the first Hellcat with four-driven wheels. The system is Jeeps Quadra-Trac on-demand four-wheel-drive system, which includes an electronic limited-slip rear differential and a single-speed active transfer case. This also enables the ‘usable’ Hellcat to tow up to 7,200lbs. On top of the tow rating, the Jeep accelerates to 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds, and completes the quarter mile in 11.6 seconds.

If you need to take your family and everything you own to accelerative realms like that, then Jeep dealers are taking orders starting August 10^th, with deliveries by the end of the year.

Mazda Wants to Save the WorldAnd it is actively working towards that goal, with their newly announced “Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030” acting as a roadmap for the company’s future decade. The main goal of the plan is to increase Mazda’s sustainability and decrease their impact on the planet Earth. Center to this plan is the introduction of a new engine technology, also revealed in production form with the plan. The engine, Dubbed SKYACTIVE-X, is the worlds first commercial-ready gasoline engine to use a compression-based ignition system, rather than a spark-controlled ignition system. From Mazda;

“A proprietary combustion method called Spark Controlled Compression Ignition overcomes two issues that had impeded commercialization of compression ignition gasoline engines: maximizing the zone in which compression ignition is possible and achieving a seamless transition between compression ignition and spark ignition”.

Such a system will enable the gasoline engine to achieve diesel-like fuel economy figures, while the torque raises 10-30 percent when a supercharger is added—as is planned for production.

No timeline has been laid out for the debut of the new engine technology, beyond the 2030 date in the program title.

Nissan to Sell Electric Battery Business to GSR CapitalNissan has recently been expanding its stake in the EV market, releasing an electric version of their NV work van, as well as a soon-to-be-unveiled new Leaf EV. Despite this, the company has confirmed rumors that they are divesting themselves of their battery production business, Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC). The sale will be to the private investment fund GSR Capital (GSR), who is obtaining the entire EV battery production line of Nissan throughout the world. Facilities and employees will be unchanged, as GSR is merely an investment firm, and not a management firm.

Hiroto Saikawa, president and chief executive officer of Nissan, said: “This is a win-win for AESC and Nissan. It enables AESC to utilize GSR’s wide networks and proactive investment to expand its customer base and further increase its competitiveness. In turn, this will further enhance Nissan’s EV competitiveness. AESC will remain a very important partner for Nissan as we deepen our focus on designing and producing market-leading electric vehicles”. This shows that Nissan was perhaps just looking for an influx of cash and a reduction of responsibility, a move this achieves.

Financial terms have not been disclosed.