This week on Chasing Cars: Ram 1500 launched, Lamborghini goes electric and EV prices set to dive

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I’ve always thought the idea of swapping out or pairing together large displacement engines with electric powertrains as a bit of a daft but this week I think I’ve started to change my mind.

It started with Bentley’s CEO earlier this week who frankly conveyed he had no issue converting their lineup from W12s and V8s to electric power because they share similar torque-heavy characteristics – and it’s a point that’s hard to argue with.

This hypothesis was confirmed further with Lamborignhi announcing this week it would start making hybrids and EVs – while the new Ram 1500 has now arrived in Australia with a mild-hybrid system mated to its hardly environmentally-focused 5.7L Hemi V8 engine.

It feels like an odd pairing but it’s one I’m willing to embrace if it means we can all be a bit more responsible while still enjoying the final roar of the combustion engine a little bit longer. 

Anyway, let’s crack on with it shall we?

Ram 1500 launched in Australia:

After driving the bloody things 30,000km across outback Australia to try and break them, the mad engineers at Walkinshaw in charge of the left to right-hand-drive conversion have finally given up and put the new Ram 1500 on sale.

What you’re looking at is the new fifth-generation ‘DT’ model, which will be sold alongside the fourth-generation ‘DS’ Ram 1500 as a more plush alternative.

The new DT model gets a 48-volt hybrid system attached to its hulking 5.7L Hemi V8 engine and new interior luxuries such as a larger 12-inch touchscreen and heated seats throughout the cabin.

At almost six metres long the Ram 1500 thankfully uses its space well with 150 litres of storage in the cabin, a huge bed and enough legroom to fit an NBA player on stilts. 

EVs to be cheaper than combustion cars by 2027

New research from BloombergNEF was released this week predicting that electric cars will be cheaper than petrol and diesel cars by 2027.

This is largley thanks to the rapidly dropping price of battery technology and manufacturers setting up dedicated factories for their EVs that made them immensely more efficient. 

Large EVs including SUVs and sedans are expected to cross the threshold by 2026, with all other vehicles to follow a year later.

Lamborghini moves to hybrid and EV powertrains

It had to happen at some point and this week the hyper-performance arm of the Volkswagen Group followed its siblings in outlining a path towards electrification.

Lamborghini said it will embrace an entirely hybrid lineup by 2024 and promised to launch an EV at some point before 2030, which will be a permanent fourth addition to the lineup rather than replacing the Aventador, Huracan or Urus. 

In the meantime, it plans to celebrate the petrol engine with two more V12 models set to be announced before the end of this year.

Other car and SUV news that mattered this week:

• Hyundai set a world record this week with the hydrogen-powered Nexo that drove 887.5km on one tank on a trip from Melbourne to the outback, far surpassing its 666km WLTP claim.

• We also caught up with Bentley’s CEO who explained why he believed the sudden transition from the world’s largest manufacturer of W12 engines to an all-EV outlet by 2030 wouldn’t phase his customers.

• As part of this transition, Bentley will bring its first hybrid to Australia with the Flying Spur plug-in hybrid which will touch down in the second quarter of 2022.

• Switching gears somewhat, Haval announced the Jolion small SUV will go on sale in Australia with a healthy list of features and marked with a starting price of just $25,490 driveaway.

• Genesis announced the GV70 will hugely undercut its rivals when it launches in July with a starting price of $66,400 before on-road costs and a big list of standard features.

• After a long campaign to increase the poor quality of Australia’s fuel the Federal Government announced it would spend $302 million to upgrade our existing refineries as part of a larger $2.3 billion fuel security package.

• Mercedes-AMG announced just 15 units of the GT Night Edition would be coming to Australia and while a price tag of $294,200 before on-road costs may not be cheap it’s almost $50,000 off the cost of the regular model –  with all the go-fast bits still in place.

• In more AMG news, the folks in Affalterbach gave us a teasing look at the underpinnings of the new SL that will be globally unveiled later this year and revealed some interesting performance numbers.

• Mitsubishi will release the Pajero Final Edition in Australia after 16 years on sale, with the still very capable 4×4 getting a few cosmetic accessories and dealers are said to be offering some sweet pricing deals on them too.

• Hate selling cars to idiots on the internet? So do we – and so do Porsche apparently. Who has launched an app so you can sell your old Porsche directly back to a dealer without any fuss.