Free Republic

July 6 (Reuters) - A federal judge said Rivian Automotive (RIVN.O) must face a lawsuit claiming it defrauded shareholders during and after its blockbuster 2021 initial public offering by concealing that had underpriced its electric vehicles, leading to unpopular price hikes. U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton in Los Angeles said shareholders could try to prove that Rivian, which is not profitable, knew it would have to raise prices on its R1S SUV and R1T pickup truck because of higher materials costs, to avoid even bigger losses. Rivian's share price slid 39% over 10 days after the Irvine, California-based company on...

Ford Motor Company has announced an unspecified potential battery issue has led the company to stop producing and shipping its electric F-150 truck model, according to reports. Motor Authority reported Thursday that the company had placed a “stop-build and an in-transit stop-ship order” on the truck. The automaker discovered the issue during its “pre-delivery quality inspections,” the outlet’s Joel Feder noted, citing Ford representative Emma Bergg. “The team is diligently working on the root cause analysis,” CNBC quoted Bergg as saying. It is not clear when Ford will begin producing and shipping the model again. “It depends on how long...

Ram has entered the auto industry’s battle for electric truck dominance, unveiling its version of the electric pickup truck. The Ram 1500 Revolution caused a stir of hype as it debuted at CES 2023 Thursday. Auto critics have called it “sleek, futuristic, and unlike trucks today.” The Ram 1500 Revolution electric battery-powered pickup truck is displayed onstage during the Stellantis keynote at the CES tech show Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) Despite being late to the game of developing an electric truck, as Ford, Rivian, and GMC are already on the road with their versions,...

Congratulations. You’ve just purchased one of the most expensive high-performance electric trucks on the market. You’ve gone green and you’ve done it in style with the GMC Hummer, starting at $86,645. That’s right — the Hummer’s now a green vehicle! What was once the biggest villain in the left’s war on fossil fuels is now the poster child for responsible off-roading.... The video begins with standard 120V charging — or Level 1 charging, to use official jargon. This is the standard current your home already offers. “Right now it’s about 6 p.m. on Tuesday,” the man says. “And it says...

When President Joe Biden took Ford’s electric F-150 Lightning pickup for a test drive in Dearborn, Mich., in May, the event was more than a White House photo op. It marked a new phase in an accelerating shift from gas-powered cars and trucks to electric vehicles, or EVs. In recent months, global auto manufacturers have released plans to electrify their vehicle fleets by 2030 or 2035, setting up a race to see who can most quickly shift entirely away from producing vehicles powered by gasoline. , I see this moment as pivotal because unlike EVs from manufacturers such as Toyota...

Lordstown Motors, the startup electric truck maker, warned Tuesday it is close to running out of cash and may be forced out of business in the next year. The news, which sent Lordstown shares down about 20% in midday trading Wednesday, is a blow to not only the company but also to the gritty industrial town from which it gets its name. For 53 years, Lordstown, Ohio, was home to a massive General Motors plant, which GM closed in 2019. The car giant sold the 6.2 million square foot factory, nearly twice the size of the Pentagon, later that year...

A British investment company has thrown in the towel on an electric delivery truck manufacturer that it once wholly owned, saw fail, then spun off in the United States at the height of President Obama’s green energy stimulus subsidy mania. U.K.-based Tanfield Group announced at the end of June that it wrote down the value of the last 5.76 percent ownership stake it held in Smith Electric Vehicles, which received $32 million in U.S. taxpayer funds as a formerly British entity that reconstituted and relocated in Kansas City in 2009. The move by Tanfield followed Smith’s legal action filed against...

Last week Frito-Lay, the $12 billion snack foods division of PepsiCo, boasted it would add 10 all-electric delivery trucks in Orlando, Fla. , as part of its plan to deploy 176 such vehicles in the U.S. and Canada by the end of year. As is custom with corporate announcements that proclaim their eco-accomplishments, so as to pacify persistent climate alarmists , Frito-Lay said the vehicles would emit “zero” pollutants from tailpipes and release 75 percent fewer greenhouse gases than diesel. The ETs (electric trucks) can allegedly run 100 miles on a single charge, and Frito-Lay says the groundbreaking new...