All Revved Up: Automotive News and Perspective for the Week of June 9, 2021

Here's what Todd Bianco is talking about this hour:

The 2022 Ford Maverick – all the info Ford gave us. Tesla removes radar from its 3/Y vehicles as well as disabling certain safety features leading to a downgrade from consumer rating websites. Tesla also cancelled the 2022 Model S Plaid+ - According to Elon, the Model S Plaid (which will start deliveries this week) is almost as good in every measure and rarely does anyone driver more than 400 miles without stopping. The Plaid+ was said to have a range of 520 miles, while the Long Range Model S has a range of 412 miles. The Nissan Ariya will be delayed to the US market until Q1 2022, more semiconductor factory shutdowns, does the Porsche have an electrical problem with the Taycan? Ford is going to make an electric Explorer and Aviator and maybe an electric Maverick. In Europe, Ford will build its version of the VW ID.4 on VW’s MEB electric car platform. Ford is building a joint venture battery factory with SK Innovations called BlueOvalSK. You still can’t buy a Tesla directly in Texas. Stellantis is recalling 450,000 heavy duty trucks for a mistake in its owner’s manual that cites the incorrect lug nut torque instructions. The CARB is considering a new rule to objectively measure the degradation of EV batteries, limiting them to 80% over 15 years or 150,000 miles.