Alternative Fuels & Propulsion RANDOM

[G. David Felt]

Lordstown motors released this video of testing of their Endurance Truck with in-wheel hub motors.

Based on the following story, Lordstown motors still believes it can get it's truck into production in 2020 with delivery's starting shortly after that. I do wonder as they are going to be releasing at a time when Rivian, Ford and GM also release full size electric trucks. It will be interesting to see if they can assemble a truck that will pull buyers from the others.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1127689_lordstown-endurance-electric-pickup-prototype-in-wheel-motor-goes-off-road

Once Ford and GM have EV trucks, it will become harder for Tesla and Rivian to build and sell. At this point, Tesla will be their Rabid fan base and Rivian will sell to fans who currently have orders in and OEM to Amazon and Ford which will help them move towards profitability.

I have to question if Lordstown motors can survive as the CEO is the same CEO who ran Workhorse and could not get their truck to market and now attempt 2 under a different name.

Interesting times.

Went out to their You Tube channel and now I have to say that this company will FAIL.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCelaIxnWV99SrYtRRpW7-ZQ

Their best video watched is the one above and it only has 8,220 views. All 4 videos posted have a combined viewing of less than 15,000 views.

This one has less than 400.

This one has less than 3,400 views.

Their press event of the company is less than 1,400 views.

 

[ykX]

Tesla Model Y Deep Dive Reveals A Much Better Engineered Car Than The Model 3

Jalopnik

Pretty cool summary with pictures.  It seems Tesla learned their lesson from previous criticism of Model 3 and made some improvement. 

[balthazar]

On 4/1/2020 at 4:02 PM, dfelt said:

Just before shutting down all Rivian facilities they made this video to give an update on the whole business. They are still focused on production starting this fall.

Seems Rivian pushed production back into 2021:
 https://autos.yahoo.com/rivian-production-launch-pushed-back-191200000.html
Very cool.

[ocnblu]

7 hours ago, balthazar said:

Seems

 

7 hours ago, balthazar said:

Very cool.

I see what you did there. 

[G. David Felt]

Tesla Y tear down much like was done on the Tesla 3 shows Tesla is learning and chaning to enhance long distance driving. The change from an electric AC unit to a Heat pump is one such example of making the auto better and finding a way to increase the long range driving of the auto. Good informative video about the heat pump and benefits. 

Interesting to learn in this story that the Tesla 3 wheel well is 9 individual pieces compared to the Chevrolet Bolt wheel well which is a single piece.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1127747_here-s-the-heat-pump-that-will-likely-boost-tesla-model-y-range-on-long-drives

 

Good Details on the new modular EV platform from Mercedes-Benz that will allow the EQS, EQE and Electric G-Wagon to share and use the same parts as well as have performance greater than ICE versions.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1127722_mercedes-amg-eqs-electric-fastback-could-challenge-tesla-model-s-plaid-porsche-taycan

[G. David Felt]

Out standing read about the Myths that Formula E racing shatters:

1. First Myth is that EVs have higher lifecycle carbon emissions than gas or diesel. False, EVs are 95% cleaner than ICE over their life.
2. Second Myth, EVs are slow. Considering the amount of EVs that go from 0 to 60 in under 3 seconds and Formula E nocking on the 2 second mark, ICE is much harder to match this.
3. Third Myth is cost. While EVs currently carry a premium cost upfront even with Government incentives, the cost of Maintenance over the auto lifetime is much lower than ICE. VW has posted a comparison of the Golf Hatch to the ID.3 EV and the cost of ownership as with lifetime maintenance is expected to be significantly lower.
4. Fourth Myth is lack of range and charging infastructure. Most auto's have on average 200 mile range in EVs today, as such, this is more than adequite for daily use especially since the bulk of owners charge at home so they start every day with a full battery pack.
5. Fifth and final Myth, batteries won't last long enough. Tesla and VW have now stated they expect the battery pack to last the life of the auto and back this up with 10yrs and 150,000 miles now. That is far longer than most people hold onto an auto. As such, the battery packs once they do diminish holding capacity are then move to being used in stationary power storage such as Tesla The Wall or other kinds of home solar storage system.

Over all a good read here:https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1127784_formula-e-electric-car-racing-busts-5-persisting-ev-myths

Plus the following video is a good watch:

 

Another very cool tech story is a an auto cover that can be brought out while the auto sits and retracks back into it's storage system using flexible solar cells to recharge the EV.

Very cool way to gain miles on your EV each day as it sit's at work or home outside in the daylight.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1127787_retractable-car-cover-claimed-to-gain-miles-of-ev-range-each-day

[G. David Felt]

DeepGreen mining seems to have found that polymetallic nodules on the ocean floor  have enough nickel, cobalt and manganese in just the area between Mexico and Hawaii to build enough batteries to convert the global autos to EV with no child labor, no tallings and the need for settlement ponds. There are two videos that are very cool to watch and see how this could remove the need for the child labor markets in Africa for the rare earth metals when we have trillions of tons laying on the sea bed.

https://chargedevs.com/newswire/critical-battery-metals-could-be-mined-from-polymetallic-nodules-found-on-the-ocean-floor/

More info can be found here at Deep.Green web site: https://deep.green/

[G. David Felt]

News today, GM has officially filed the Hummer by GMC new logo with the Trademark office.

https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88784232&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=documentSearch

The old logo was a bulky very much expected logo, the new logo would not be wrong on an auto found in the game Halo on a futuristic world.

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2020/04/general-motors-trademarks-new-logo-for-gmc-hummer-ev-as-expected/

Nice update to the old fat logo:

Course if your wanting to remember why GM killed Hummer the first time, here is a recap story on that. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/13/gm-killed-the-hummer-then-suv-sales-surged.html

Never knew there was a Hummer bike that sold so well that it was counterfeited. The bike is still a high demand heavy duty off road bike and the counterfeits are still made.

https://www.montaguebikes.com/folding-bikes-blog/2014/09/montague-bikes-how-to-spot-a-counterfeit

Interesting read on how the GM Ultima battery beats Tesla Battery. This should be a good battle of auto companies. https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/04/business/gm-electric-car-battery-400-miles-of-range/index.html

Detroit free press did an update on the upcoming 11 EVs from GM.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2020/03/04/gm-unveils-10-future-evs-new-batteries-and-its-plan-beat-tesla/4905906002/

 

[balthazar]

RE the ‘5 myths’ above:

1. Would like to see specified data.

2. That’s not an actual myth.

3. VW’s announced ID.3 MSRP is the exception. The vast majority of ‘like’ EVs to ICs have significant initial price differences, and if we’re going to ise the same metric as myth 5 [average time of new car ownership], that myth is almost always TRUE.

4. Range & charging infrastructure still pales in comparison to fuel stations and many car’s ranges. ‘Average daily miles’ is a strange forced metric.

5. Battery pack life -again for the forced metric of initial buyer- may well be fine, bit the vehicle assumedly is going to pass to 1 or 5 more owners. What then? 

Edited April 14, 2020 by balthazar

[oldshurst442]

 

1. When this Chinese Covid19  thing comes to an end and life starts to behave normally again...how will humans view travelling?

a) Will it be  solely to go from point A to Point B?

b) will humans joy ride ever again?

2. If that ever happens that joy rides will be part of our future, how will we be doing that?

a) with gasoline powered vehicles?

b) with BEVs?

c) surely we must have all noticed that Mother Nature has slowly recaptured territory lost to humans and Mother Nature has started healing herself in just a short time

d) with that being said...which way will we sway?  Because its apparent that human activity has impacted Mother Nature in not a very good way

e) Well...gasoline is dirt cheap again.  Batteries are not....   Tough decisions going forward as not all industries will be going full steam ahead so the "R" word (recession) will be a very painful one this time around. 

3. All that does not matter,  I wanna know if RIDE SHARING would still be a thing?   Somehow ride sharing is tied down with EVs...and all kinds of ride sharing, autonomous self driving pods are supposed to be our future going forward.  But are we now gonna design social distancing autonomos driven pods? 

a) are we just gonna ignore how we pollute this planet?

b) how close do we really wanna get with our fellow man after this Chinese Covid19 thing comes to an end?

c) What kind of automobile future are we looking at after this Chinese Covid19 thing? 

I personally think EVs are gonna be more popular than ever. But it will take MORE time for THAT to happen as not too many folk will be buying new cars anytime soon.  And the other incentive for ICE that is also AGAINST EVs is that gasoline is dirt cheap again.

However, I think this ride sharing thing is DEAD.  From phobias of being too close to a stranger in the same pod to disinfecting manias and phobias that will linger  waaaay past our victory of this new plague that hit us.  I dont think social distancing @ 6 feet is gonna be our new norm for our species, but I think we will be very wary of each other. And I think we will all become germaphobes.  And THAT is the death knell for ride sharing pods.  Just a thought that I just got.   

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2020 by oldshurst442

[G. David Felt]

@oldshurst442 @balthazar Seems Birmingham has started Covid-19 ride sharing. ?

Seems some companies are already looking at ways to isolate in pods in ride share auto's. Wonder if some people will get sick from the spin motion. ?

[riviera74]

I never got the appeal of Uber and Lyft at all.  What, taxis are too expensive?  Ride sharing is overrated and overhyped.  If that dies, good riddance.  That would be one of the few things that Covid-19 has forced a very necessary end.

[G. David Felt]

18 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

I never got the appeal of Uber and Lyft at all.  What, taxis are too expensive?  Ride sharing is overrated and overhyped.  If that dies, good riddance.  That would be one of the few things that Covid-19 has forced a very necessary end.

Disagree, while I DO NOT and NEVER HAVE Ride shared with strangers, Uber and Lyft give a variety of auto choices compared to the nasty smelly yellow cabs that can die for all I care. The only time I ever need one is when I go to attend Dell Technology World or what we call DTW. Sadly Covid-19 has delayed this to a virtual trade show in October.

Hopefully a benefit of Covid-19 will be to shutdown businesses that were barely staying afloat check by check and we end up with a cleaner transit system.

Nice as to how clean the grocery stores have become with sterilized carts.

[Robert Hall]

I used Uber fairly frequently..was better than a grubby taxi.  And being able to call one from my phone and pay/track from my phone as needed was great...I used Uber to get to/from the airport, out to dinner and concerts downtown, etc when I didn't want to deal w/ parking, etc.   Back when the world was normal. 

Edited April 15, 2020 by Robert Hall

[G. David Felt]

Seems not all companies in China shut down during the Covid-19 pandemic there. Byton auto company resumed after sterilizing the plant and putting in place social distancing to allow work to continue as they started pre-production models of the M-Byte EV CUV. The company confirmed they are on track to begin sales in China this fall and US sales early next year.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1127812_byton-m-byte-ramping-up-at-china-plant-still-on-track-for-2021-us-arrival

[G. David Felt]

New era in fueling stations is growing in Europe by CaCharge EVSE large-scale charging. Allows fast charging of 6 autos at a time.

https://chargedevs.com/newswire/cacharges-evse-solution-is-optimized-for-large-scale-charging/

Founded in 2015 in Sweden and pushed into Norway in 2019 as the largest fueling company of EVs, they are now starting expanding across all of Europe. The system is designed to handle load management in evening out peaks and user management with payment solutions simplifying the experience of recharging your EV on the go. 

 

[G. David Felt]

GM is offering a Covid-19 purchase package on the Chevrolet BOLT.

This puts the Premiere loaded BOLT at $36,000 and the LT at $29,000 with the no payments for 4 months.

Seems everything else is getting 0% for 84 months and no payment for 4 months. I did find the following additional cash discounts:

• Blazer has an additional $3,250 cash allowance
• Traverse $2,500 cash allowance
• Tahoe $3,750 cash allowance
• Suburban $3,750 cash allowance
• Trucks have the financing, but have to pick a local dealer based on zip code to get additional deal info.
• Spark has $1,000 cash allowance
• Sonic $1,000 cash allowance
• Impala has $2,000 on 2019 models, $1,500 on 2020 models cash allowance
• Camaro $1,500 cash allowance
• Corvette Stingray 2019 models $3,250 customer cash
• All other corvettes are regional deals based on zipcode
• 2020 Chevrolet Express Passenger $3,500 Customer Cash
• 2020 Express Cargo van $3,500 customer cash

[G. David Felt]

Ford has started their Dealer training for the Mach E auto and the surprise which was posted to the Mach-E forum is that the certified power / torque rating is higher than stated at the reveal in Nov 2019.

https://electrek.co/2020/04/14/ford-mustang-mach-e-power-bump-closer-production/

Here are all the updated power specs of the Ford Mustang Mach-E:

• RWD Standard Range Mach-E:
  • 266 hp / 317 lb-ft / 198 kW
  • (+11 hp, +11 lb-ft, +8 kW from original specs)
• RWD Extended Range Mach-E:
  • 290 hp / 317 lb-ft / 216 kW
  • (+8 hp, +11 lb-ft, +6 kW from original specs)
• AWD Standard Range Mach-E:
  • 266 hp / 428 lb-ft / 198 kW
  • (+11 hp, +11 lb-ft, +8 kW from original specs)
• AWD Extended Range Mach-E:
  • 346 hp / 428 lb-ft / 258 kW
  • (+14 hp, +11 lb-ft, +10 kW from original specs)

[G. David Felt]

Check out the all new Lotus EV supercar. Have to say it is a very interesting style, but does follow pretty much the rest of all the super cars for being butt on the floor.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/lotus-evija-electric-supercar-configurator-colors-features/

To me very weird rectangle steering wheel, but the video showing all the built in areo dynamic affects are cool to watch.

 

[riviera74]

3 hours ago, dfelt said:

Seems not all companies in China shut down during the Covid-19 pandemic there. Byton auto company resumed after sterilizing the plant and putting in place social distancing to allow work to continue as they started pre-production models of the M-Byte EV CUV. The company confirmed they are on track to begin sales in China this fall and US sales early next year.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1127812_byton-m-byte-ramping-up-at-china-plant-still-on-track-for-2021-us-arrival

Maybe these should replace our current taxi fleet.

[ocnblu]

3 hours ago, dfelt said:

Seems not all companies in China shut down during the Covid-19 pandemic there. Byton auto company resumed after sterilizing the plant and putting in place social distancing to allow work to continue as they started pre-production models of the M-Byte EV CUV. The company confirmed they are on track to begin sales in China this fall and US sales early next year.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1127812_byton-m-byte-ramping-up-at-china-plant-still-on-track-for-2021-us-arrival

You can bet your bottom dollar there won't be one red cent of my money going to help China if I can help it.  Very offensive post right here.

[balthazar]

^ It starts at $45,000, and it's a totally unknown chinese brand.

Good luck!!!

[Robert Hall]

Probably will be better than the last electric Chinese car sold in the US...  the incredible Zap Xebra

 

Edited April 15, 2020 by Robert Hall

[ocnblu]

Not only a blissful post about China, but then a downvote for calling it out.  Despicable at this moment in time.  The pits!

[Robert Hall]

Problem is, you can't avoid products or components of products made in China or Asia...with multinational companies and the supply chain, most any consumer product that is electronic or plastic is likely manufactured partially or fully somewhere in Asia, likely in China...that is the reality of the truth and isn't changing anytime soon, as companies always look for the lowest cost source of components...40+ years of globalization isn't changing anytime soon.

As much as some people pine for the world to be like 1699 or 1950 or 1960 again or whenever their idealized era is, it isn't happening... 

Edited April 16, 2020 by Robert Hall

[balthazar]

^ I think that in some industries, you're going to see some surprising shifts moving forward.

[surreal1272]

33 minutes ago, balthazar said:

^ I think that in some industries, you're going to see some surprising shifts moving forward.

Those “shifts” will just go to other Asian countries. With very rare exceptions, they sure as hell are not coming here. 

[balthazar]

I’m thinking a number very well may in the medical field.

[surreal1272]

5 hours ago, balthazar said:

I’m thinking a number very well may in the medical field.

See above reply. 

[balthazar]

If a long economic turn down is in the cards (and it is if we leave "long" undefined, because; we don't know), then it's already happening. Manufacturers already seeing considerable slowdowns have embraced vastly different product lines because they have the manufacturing capability and the need to try & maintain revenue streams. Alcohol Co's making sanitizer, clothes Co's making gowns, car Co's making PPE & med devices. If those enterprises keep people employed and maybe even make a few bucks, until capacity is peaking for those businesses, I don't see why they wouldn't continue to take business away from importers. Definitely for now, we'll see for how long.

Also, until science solidifies whether or not this may be a mass cyclical thing, these are potential hedge bets against the next round.

Edited April 16, 2020 by balthazar

[surreal1272]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

If a long economic turn down is in the cards (and it is if we leave "long" undefined, because; we don't know), then it's already happening. Manufacturers already seeing considerable slowdowns have embraced vastly different product lines because they have the manufacturing capability and the need to try & maintain revenue streams. Alcohol Co's making sanitizer, clothes Co's making gowns, car Co's making PPE & med devices. If those enterprises keep people employed and maybe even make a few bucks, until capacity is peaking for those businesses, I don't see why they wouldn't continue to take business away from importers. Definitely for now, we'll see for how long.

Also, until science solidifies whether or not this may be a mass cyclical thing, these are potential hedge bets against the next round.

I get what you are saying but there hasn’t been any real proof of that just yet and it pretty much qualifies as the “exception to the rule” that I mentioned above. 

[G. David Felt]

Amazing the BS Junk coming out of Germany. Guess they truly cannot compete in EVs so they are falling back on making their whole product lines Hybrids and that comes with Worse MPG and pathetic electric range at that. Why bother other than to continue the last 40 years of Lying marketing BS about their quality of auto since they cannot seem to engineer anything else.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1127832_2021-bmw-330e-plug-in-hybrid-23-electric-miles-but-worse-mpg-than-non-hybrid

How do you bring out a new Hybrid with worse MPG on top of only a pathetic 23 miles of range. The Chevrolet Volt did better than this on pure electric and everything else. What a joke.

Mercedes-benz is in the same boat, cannot deliver a quality true EV, so making the whole product line Hybrid by the end of 2020. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1127830_mercedes-benz-pushes-plug-in-hybrid-tech-will-have-20-phevs-by-end-of-2020

MB latest Hybrid is rated at 43 mpg on their European test which no one ever really gets due to the loopholes and lack of real world testing which is why our EPA results are so much more accurate. So MB Hybrids really only get about 20 mpg pure electric range.

Wanna understand the difference between European testing of range and the EPA testing check out this writeup.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1091877_why-european-gas-mileage-ratings-are-so-high--and-often-wrong

[G. David Felt]

With really low oil and gas prices, the EV industry is going to be in for a rough couple of years according to this review / analyst. https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/now-what-electric-vehicles-coronavirus-colin-mckerracher-bloomberg/

[riviera74]

21 minutes ago, dfelt said:

With really low oil and gas prices, the EV industry is going to be in for a rough couple of years according to this review / analyst. https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/now-what-electric-vehicles-coronavirus-colin-mckerracher-bloomberg/

Yup.  Hybrids and small cars looked great when gas was $4+ a gallon back in 2008-09.  Same thing here in reverse, only it feels like 2002, if not 1998.

[G. David Felt]

7 hours ago, riviera74 said:

Yup.  Hybrids and small cars looked great when gas was $4+ a gallon back in 2008-09.  Same thing here in reverse, only it feels like 2002, if not 1998.

Hoping that the new breakthroughs in Solid State batteries can get into production to keep EVs on schedule for coming out and lower prices.

[balthazar]

Everything is off-schedule.
With such ultra low take rates for EVs, they're likely to be delayed even more; vehicles and new batteries. They have always been propped up by IC profits.

[ocnblu]

1 minute ago, balthazar said:

always been propped up by IC profits.

because they're LOSERS 

[balthazar]

This COVID-19 mess literally could not have come at a worse time for EVs.

[surreal1272]

1 hour ago, ocnblu said:

because they're LOSERS 

We are talking about EVs here, not diesel cars. 

[riviera74]

3 hours ago, balthazar said:

This COVID-19 mess literally could not have come at a worse time for EVs.

It is very poor timing.  Then again, it should buy some time for better technologies and especially better batteries to come into the marketplace.  I personally did not expect BEVs to be anywhere close to mainstream until at least 2030 (and by mainstream, I do mean at least five percent of new cars sold).  Sorry Tesla, expensive and rare is simply NOT good enough.

[balthazar]

My opinion is EVs have to be least least 25% of the market to be called 'mainstream', and I don't see that until 2050.
5% is nothing.

Edited April 18, 2020 by balthazar

[G. David Felt]

A Quiet Revolution is coming!

Hummer by GMC

 

[G. David Felt]

News Alert News Alert News Alert

FORD has Built the all new Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 EV - 1,400HP, 1,100 lb-ft of Torque and an 8 second Quarter mile at more than 170 mph.

https://electrek.co/2020/04/23/ford-mustang-cobra-jet-1400-electric/

To Quote the Story:

The project serves as a testbed and demonstration of Ford’s latest work with electric vehicles.

Dave Pericak, Global Director of Ford Icons, said:

“Ford has always used motorsport to demonstrate innovation. Electric powertrains give us a completely new kind of performance and the all-electric Cobra Jet 1400 is one example of pushing new technology to the absolute limit. We’re excited to showcase what’s possible in an exciting year when we also have the all-electric Mustang Mach-E joining the Mustang family.”

Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Performance Motorsports, added:

“This project was a challenge for all of us at Ford Performance, but a challenge we loved jumping into. We saw the Cobra Jet 1400 project as an opportunity to start developing electric powertrains in a race car package that we already had a lot of experience with, so we had performance benchmarks we wanted to match and beat right now. This has been a fantastic project to work on, and we hope the first of many coming from our team at Ford Performance Motorsports.”

[G. David Felt]

Juiced HyperScorpion Moped bike is finally shipping. Top speed of 30 mph, range of 75 miles. Sales Price is $2,899

Pretty cool quiet clean transportation.

https://electrek.co/2020/04/23/juiced-hyperscorpion-30-mph-performance-electric-moped/

Volvo is cutting their R&D budget for ICE auto's but leaving R&D in tact for EVs.

https://electrek.co/2020/04/22/volvo-cuts-rd-and-design-tweaks-but-will-leave-ev-budget-intact/

[G. David Felt]

Happy Post Earth Day. Have to say that the benefits of the pandemic with making more people work from home has been awesome. Cleaner air, less noise, more life/work balance. I truly do not see any reason for things to go back to the old way of doing work for many. Less congested cities too. Course a surplus in office space could happen.  I have to agree with the bullet points made about diversity, time and people that working remotely allows.

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/04/22/earth-day-working-from-home-commuting-coronavirus/

This story has a picture of crossing the Evergreen Floating Bridge and how clear it is and the Olympic mountains showing. Amazing as it is usually packed and now so open.

[G. David Felt]

Seems with the current Coronavirus pandemic, GM has decided to shutdown the Maven division. No more ride sharing / auto sharing now.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1127900_gm-uses-social-distancing-to-shut-down-maven-car-sharing-unit

Shell has joined BP in announcing that as a global company they will plan to be carbon neutral by 2050 as Shell moves to offer more Rapid charging and other carbon neutral services over oil. Oil will still be a large part of Shell much like BP has stated but will shift the focus to other products that need oil over Auto's.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1127847_energy-giant-shell-joins-bp-in-aim-to-be-net-zero-emissions-by-2050

Daimler has joined Volvo in moving to produce Hydrogen Fuel Cell Semi Class 8 trucks first over EV Semi's. The market for long haul semi's trucks will continue to remain strong and shows the need to deliver the longer range that Hydrogen Fuel Cell Semi's can offer over current battery technology Semi trucks.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1127897_daimler-and-volvo-trucks-will-jointly-make-hydrogen-fuel-cells-for-commercial-vehicles

[G. David Felt]

As mentioned in another thread about how Toyota should just make the Hybrid their top of the line auto. Seems that with the Geneva auto show being shutdown due to the current pandemic, we are only now seeing this happen as the Toyota Yaris CUV Crossover is now their top of the line version in that model and you get Hybrid power with AWD if you want.

https://www.motor1.com/news/414278/2021-toyota-yaris-cross-revealed/

https://motorsport.tv/4e1e2a22-e22c-4e00-9074-a6747408a9f7 

[oldshurst442]

16 hours ago, dfelt said:

A Quiet Revolution is coming!

Hummer by GMC

 

Quiet revolution?

GM should pay royalty fees to Quebec for that tagline.  

Anyway...I prefer the more rambunctious style of revolutions.  No honestly.  

That commercial SUCKS!!!   To see a giant basketball player warrior tear down and demolish  the net while slam dunking that mothathphoquing ball while flying through the air knocking down his opponents and not having the aural cues that go with it and promoting THAT as a quiet revolution is just...ASININE and STUPID!  

This rant has NOTHING to do with EVs being silent versus loud V8 rumbling sounds.  This rant has everything to do about the commercial itself.

I get that GM wants to promote the silent nature of an electric motor and wants to show that power and torque need not be obnoxiously loud...

BUT...

• actual live horse horses galloping is NOT obnoxious.
• sports sounds are NOT obnoxious

  In fact, these sounds are what makes us HUMAN and a PART of NATURE.  Nature itself has beautiful sounds and THAT would include 1000 horses galloping. 

In war...1000 horses galloping coming straight towards you must be a terrifying sight AND must be a terrifying sound.  But THAT is what makes that awesome. It plays with our humanity and our fears and our strengths as some of us overcome that and become HEROES for the side we are on and win the war...

In sports...its the same thing.

The crack of a bat when a homerun is hit.

The smack of a baseball against the leather of a baseball glove. 

The sound of a bodycheck in football or hockey.

The sound a puck makes it hits a goal post or when a slapshot is made.

A slamdunk and the shattering of the glass when the net breaks.

These are all sounds that I do NOT want eliminated from my humanity...and to sell me a vehicle nullifying these sounds do NOT make me want to buy an EV...

And now...just imagine a dude, that loves his V8...and loves sports...and loves  nature...even if he loves nature and wants to save the planet so to speak...but he still wants his V8...and he tolerates EVs...does that make him wanna buy an EV Hummer.

I know when that commercial muted my beloved horses and muted the sports sounds...I was left...numb. I felt like my humanity in nature was stripped away from me.  Its bad that we now have this social distancing thing going on and that too gnaws away from our humanity....but to have my hearing taken away from me too!

PHOQUE THAT!

Like I said....my rant is not about quiet EVs and how souless they are.  And I get that this commercial was done before social distancing realities came to be....

But its STUPID and ASININE to equate a quiet revolution that are EVs to SOUNDS of nature that exude power and to just mute them.

Horses have ALWAYS been a symbol of power.  Athletes have ALWAYS represented what humans are capable with their bodies and both those things produce NATURAL noises. To mute them in a commercial to show a new force of power is to equate that to show that EVs are...UN-NATURAL.  CONTRADICTORY in my opinion. 

I didnt see that angle in the 1st commercial aired during the Superbowl...but the 2nd commercial definitely accentuates what I ranted about. And I dont like it and I dont...feel it.  (Pun intended as a human not only hears  1000 horses galloping and basketball players tearing down nets but always FEELS those powerful forces...and its only human to hear and feel) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[oldshurst442]

This is how a REAL revolution 'FEELS' like. 

Again...not talking about the roar of the V8 versus the soulless EVs...

But...how loud the music is and MUFFLED are the sounds that make war war.  The soldier running and talking to his general that the Americans are coming.  The General telling the troops to get ready. The drum and the muskets. All muffled but NOT muted.   Then the ROAR of the V8 of the Americans are LOUD.  The retreat of the British, the sounds, are muffled. 

Muffled but NOT muted. 

The commercial takes AWAY the IMPORTANCE and the STRENGTH of the BRITISH by this muting and ACCENTUATES the ROAR of the MUSCLE CAR and the IMPORTANCE and POWER of the REVOLUTION by the AMERICANS but the muffling does NOT take away the humanity of it all.  Au contraire...you FEEL the humanity with the muffled sounds because you HEAR it...

 

This is how one evokes a human emotion with a commercial...by ACCENTUATING human senses and emotions....not stripping them away...  

[frogger]

3 hours ago, dfelt said:

As mentioned in another thread about how Toyota should just make the Hybrid their top of the line auto. Seems that with the Geneva auto show being shutdown due to the current pandemic, we are only now seeing this happen as the Toyota Yaris CUV Crossover is now their top of the line version in that model and you get Hybrid power with AWD if you want.

https://www.motor1.com/news/414278/2021-toyota-yaris-cross-revealed/

https://motorsport.tv/4e1e2a22-e22c-4e00-9074-a6747408a9f7 

Looks like a much better effort than the CHR.