G. David Felt

Thank you, yes, 27th of November is my birthday, same day as my mom's birthday. So, it is a special day and has been great so far. Thanksgiving was very special this year as my son and his new fiancé announced they were engaged. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and relaxing long weekend.

It started with legacy OEMs trying to build and sell electric automobiles over the last 100 plus years. It took Tesla to actually grab the attention of the public and now with Rivian, GM, Ford, Kia, Hyundia, VW and so many others, we now see almost every day EVs driving all around the world. There is no doubt the future will be electric, yet the state of electric fast charging is for some a hinderance to buying an EV as vehicle purchases are one of the largest decisions households make other than buying a home. The federal government has started to release funds for installation of a nationwide network of Fast charging stations. We currently have Tesla's Supercharger network and Electrify America charging stations with more opening up monthly across the U.S. Both networks cover major national highways and state routes, yet the current state of access leaves the country in a nation of disconnected charging access in regard to road-trips. Let's start with first understanding the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, enacted in November 2021 which approved $7.5 Billion dedicated to EV Charging. This is split into two funding pools: $5 Billion for National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program $2.5 Billion for a discretionary grant program to tackle rural charging and underserved and/or disadvantaged communities $5 Billion NEVI program Two prong approach is that these funds will be used in the deployment of approved state-proposed EV charging infrastructure and the formation of an interconnected network to facilitate data collection, access and reliability. The first part is split over five years, the first part being a $615 million disbursement for 2022 and an estimated $885 million for 2023. This program required each state to submit plans to the federal government, laying out where the EV charging stations would be, these are a minimum of four 150-kW DC fast-charging units, every 50 miles. Today, all states have submitted plans and are approved. In the past months leading up to approval by the federal government, states had to create a very detailed plan that included working with the federal government to fine-tune each state's plan that covered charging routes that are also designed Alternative Fuel Corridors. Those that would like to see the plan for their state can do so at this joint state/federal website. State Plans for Electric Vehicle Charging · Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (driveelectric.gov) In total, 75,820 miles of interstate/Federal highways have been designated Alternative Fuel Corridors as of July 2022. Thanksgiving is upon us, and the Energy Department's Alternative Fueling Station Locator map has been updated to now cover Ready and Pending EV Corridors. You can check the actual stations by clicking on the Station Location check box. FUEL CORRIDORS The Map allows you to zoom in and out to get better details of corridors near you. Alternative Fuels Data Center Map is as of November 2022. You can clearly see dark green for ready and lite green for pending corridors. Most useful is the pending corridors so one can make choices about road-trip routes. Looking at specific state plans will give you an understanding of how soon each corridor will be built out. The bulk of the identified corridors will all be built out by mid-decade. It is understandable that significant gaps will still exist. These could be covered by private businesses and or will fall under the rural planning. The benefit is that this is a glance into the future for those needing fast-charging stations for road-trips. Tools The alternative Fuels Data Center has a large selection of helpful tools that cover calculators, interactive maps, data searches, fuel providers and more to assist with making a wide range of decisions. Alternative Fuels Data Center: Tools (energy.gov) Here are just a few of the tools afdc provides for us to include in the websites for ease of use. Alternative Fuels Data Center: Alternative Fueling Station Locator (energy.gov) NEVI - Environment - FHWA (dot.gov) Alternative Fuels Data Center: National Alternative Fuels Corridors (energy.gov) Alternative Fuels Data Center: Station Data for Alternative Fuel Corridors (energy.gov) View full article

Interesting, Cadillac is filling in the spaces between the XT Family with a GT family. Upcoming Cadillac GT4 Crossover Fully Leaked In China (gmauthority.com) Dear Cadillac, Please Send Us Your New GT4 (motorbiscuit.com)

Joke of a HYBRID Tire, per their own web site: The Pirelli SCORPION™ ATR is a versatile hybrid on / off road tire for use on a wide range of highway and off-road applications, designed to provide confident braking and handling. ... Download the brochure and learn more SCORPION™ ATR tire warranty. ... SCORPION™ STR SCORPION™ WEATHERACTIVE™ So lets look at a review that I found to be consistent across tire reviews and for which @ccap41 clearly pointed out. This tire is really just a street tire that they also are trying to say is off-road all terrain and it FAILS. Pirelli Scorpion ATR Tire Review | CarShtuff QUOTE: How Does the Scorpion ATR Perform on Ice and Snow? When it comes to ice-covered or snow-covered roads, the Scorpion ATR doesn’t perform to the level you would expect. As much as it may deliver some usable traction in ice and snow, you will have to drive extremely slowly in these conditions. If you drive fast, the vehicle may swerve off the road, due to the tire’s poor traction. Simply put, it lacks the level of traction needed to deliver safe driving in snowy and icy conditions. So, if you live in an area that experiences heavy winters, then the Scorpion ATR is not the right choice for your vehicle. Instead, you should choose a dedicated winter or snow tire. It’s important to note that the Scorpion ATR is not specifically engineered for serious off-road conditions. It lacks some key features and technologies that you would find on a dedicated off-road tire. So, if you consider yourself a rugged off-roader, then the Scorpion ATR may not be the best choice for your driving needs.

Awesome Surreal, thank you for posting the latest EV sales. Even I did not know how many EVs Hyundai Motors is selling, but clearly way more than Mercedes. Heck BMW outsells Mercedes. Stellantis is surprisingly strong in EV sales. VW is expected as they lead in Chinese sales for OEMs out of China selling in China. Interestingly enough, I do not really consider Tesla an American company anymore. Why you ask! Simple, the amount of Chinese ownership in Tesla is controlling. The top two investment companies that control Tesla are while setup via as LLC here in the US have majority owned by Chinese Nationals. Susquehanna Securities Capital World Investors Top Tesla Shareholders: How Much Does Elon Own? (investopedia.com) Both companies are focused on growing investor wealth globally, yet while they have international investors from all over, they are heavily and controlling invested percentage from Chinese billionaires. Plus, interesting that all other Legacy Auto companies have to have a Chinese partner in a 50/50 relationship, but Tesla was approved by the communist government to not have to do this. HOW AND WHY if not for Chinese owned. Now put Mercedes EV Sales in comparison to the much larger GM/Wuling/Baojun EV Sales and Mercedes is falling even further behind. Interesting world of change for everyone. Maybe it is time to retire all those 70 plus year old's trying to run Mercedes and Bring in some younger woman and men to run it.

Happy thanksgiving to all, have a relaxing long weekend.

Genesis wins as they have actual working Prototype EV Concepts. Where is Mercedes?

Totally missing the point, but since you are moving the goal post and now went to sales to justify yourself, let's look at those sales. 2021 (Full Year) USA: Mercedes-Benz Car Sales by Model - Car Sales Statistics (best-selling-cars.com) Considering the negatives, I would not be so fast to say that coupe/convertible sales are on fire at Mercedes. Seems the Best or Nothing might as well be NOTHING with these sales numbers. Maybe GENESIS has a better looking, better designed Coupe/Convertible. It is Far superior looking than the EQ product line as Blahness. In this regards, Genesis wins.

@Robert Hall @ccap41 @oldshurst442 @surreal1272 Check out the new Hotwheels New Hot Wheels Set of Five Cars Will Make You Feel Like a Kid Again, Zoinks! - autoevolution

Some very cool reading. The US's largest solar provider reveals its fleet of Ford F-150 Lightnings (electrek.co) The recommendations here seem to be pretty common sense to me, but I guess they have to tell F150 Lighting owners this to cover their butts. How you can maximize your Ford F-150 Lightning range this winter (electrek.co) Be interesting to see how the F150 gets through winter across the U.S.

Yet Mercedes also competes in the same segement as the cars and CUVs that Cadillac, Lincoln, Genesis, Acura, Infiniti, Lexus, etc. play in. Auto reviewers consistently praise everyone more than Mercedes. Seems the Luster has worn off the Best or Nothing. In regard to GENESIS as this thread was all about, Mercedes has NOTHING in Concepts to compete with this X Concept Trilogy. END OF LINE!

@NINETY EIGHT REGENCY I will keep my eyes open for you. Yes, as the years progress it does get harder and harder to find what one is looking for. In regard to your 98 daily driver, I love green, and I could see it in that color. Wishing you the best in determining the color and fixes you choose to do.

Not going to get into the he said, he said debate. The only thing is that I agree with @surreal1272 that be it respectable sites that cover true hardcore offroad 4x4 or silly sites that cover AWD CUVs with 4x4s and still also list that the G-Wagon is not the best. There is a consistent thread here that pretty much all the sites no matter being hardcore, general or silly list siting mixes of autos do not see the G-Wagon as a benchmark for 4x4s. Clearly when you see the number of Jeeps, Fords, GMs, Toyota and Hyundai to name a few all the time off-roading and yet finding a G-Wagon slumming with the wranglers, broncos, trailblazers, etc. that speaks volumes.

WOW, it is amazing all the mid 80's Oldsmobiles Toronado Brougham for sale across the USA, but nothing else except this 1990 Very clean looking from the pictures. Used 1990 Oldsmobile Toronado for sale in Canton, GA 30115: Coupe Details - 645497988 - Autotrader

This speaks volumes about who the top auto companies are. China car sales analysis 2019 - brands - carsalesbase.com Yea, sucks that Mercedes / Daimler cannot compete with Volkswagen/Audi/Porsche. Clearly, they still do not know how to truly compete.

This Post has me thinking, if MB really was going to be the Best or Nothing of a Company, then they would be the leaders in all continent auto sales segments. Yet they are not. Other than Europe where thanks to the E-Series of Taxis that allows them to lead, many other companies are superior in sales and lead such as VW. For the biggest market in the world China, MB is in Decline globally and that has been happening for the last two decades. Market shares automobile manufacturers (quest-trendmagazine.com) To Quote: In 2000 only two companies belonged to the group of automakers with market share of 5% to below 10%, namely VOLKSWAGEN and Daimler Chrysler with market shares of 8.7% resp. 8.0%. Seventeen years later this group comprises half of the ten largest automakers. These are the manufacturers Hyundai, GM, Ford, Nissan and Honda. Daimler was already relegated from the group of the ten largest automakers. These companies have surpassed MB Interesting is that Mercedes has lost pretty much all leadership around the world except for just Germany and even then, they are only in second place, behind VW who sells far more autos than they do. Car Sales by Country | Global Car Sales Data | 1. China 2. US (factorywarrantylist.com)

And yet if you're not an MB fan, most people would find these pictures of autos to be butt ugly and not impressive. Maybe one should start with spelling and grammar as it is always interesting to see the mistakes one puts in their posts. Honestly good for MB at hitting those segments that are important to them, sadly, I think their time is up as the quality of their autos is lacking, design is lacking, they had to cheat on diesels which makes one question what else they cheated on including the autos posted here. I do not see them continuing to lead in the EV generation as their current EVs are showing that.

WOW, talk about HELL NO. I hate that much of the software industry has become pay to play rather than buy a version and use it for a long time before moving to a newer version. This is just sucking your pocketbook dry and no, you should not have to pay again to gain that power. 12 months for a 23 -24% increase in power output from the motors and better battery management. That is BS. I have no problem with any company even GM selling a software upgrade that improves HP, Torque and battery management or even increased battery range if they found a better way to manage your auto to improve it. An upgrade fee that puts your EV on par with the newest version of that EV being sold that has more power, range, etc. is acceptable. The key part is that you buy it and have it for the life of the auto, not 12 months. Consumer reports, J.D. Power and others have all noticed the downward fall of Mercedes and their marketing of "The Best or Nothing" is making it easy to say NOTHING!

What you think of their Pizza is clearly not an issue for the millions they cook and deliver every year globally. I agree with you and @oldshurst442 that their pizza is not what I desire either. Yet according to my coworkers from South Korea and Japan, Domino's Pizza is very good there compared to here in the U.S. where they say it is overly heavy in fat compared to back home. I know when I went to college in Japan for the 3 1/2 years, I was there that American Food is far healthier and tastier than much of the fast food here in the U.S. Contribute it to the girth North Americans have eating a much higher fat diet.

I can still see Cadillac and others having all the CUVs for the masses who want a lifestyle EV to go and do what they want. I honestly can see with EVs the ability to have a small edition of cars made like what Genesis has done here for public reaction on desires of the cars. Just as CELESTIQ will be a limited yearly production of a very custom car, I could also see like what Genesis has done here a convertible and hardtop GT Cadillacs for those that want a road trip car for a couple, rather than a family SUV. ICE is overly complex, and the design of platforms has made profits hard on small quantity as well as small autos for U.S auto companies. EVs could very well bring back the limited production of cars like these to Cadillac and Lincoln.

Inbreeding? ?

@oldshurst442 I love all 3 and think they took what the early 800 series BMW coupe/convertible was and made it even better. Love the strong fender flares, and as they say athletic stance. If I could fit, I would want one of these for a weekend cruiser.

Very cool, GM raises 2022 Guidance and Expects EV Portfolio to be profitable in 2025. GM Raises 2022 Guidance and Expects North American EV Portfolio to be Profitable in 2025 as Annual Capacity Tops 1 Million QUOTE: In the next three years, GM plans to move very aggressively toward EV leadership as EV adoption is expected to approach 20% of U.S. industry sales in 2025: GM will have multiple entries in pickup, SUV and luxury segments that represent about 70% of EV industry volume, including the Chevrolet Silverado EV, Blazer EV and Equinox EV, the Cadillac LYRIQ and the GMC Sierra EV GM is launching a new digital retail platform with its U.S. dealer partners to enhance the shopping and purchase experience for EV customers and reduce costs to GM by an estimated $2,000 per vehicle Five GM assembly plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico will be building EVs BrightDrop — GM’s tech startup creating EVs, eCarts and software — is on track to reach $1 billion in revenue in 2023, as GM’s CAMI plant in Ontario launches full production of the BrightDrop Zevo 600 delivery van next year, and scaling to a projected 50,000 units annually by 2025 GM’s battery cell joint venture Ultium Cells will be operating plants in Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan by the end of 2024, making the company a leader in domestic cell production; a fourth U.S. cell plant is planned GM has secured binding commitments for all the battery raw material it needs to deliver its 2025 capacity target The company continues to secure its needs beyond 2025 with strategic supply agreements and direct investments in natural resource recovery, processing and recycling GM’s EV growth is supported by a highly profitable portfolio of internal combustion engine vehicles in North America, including market-leading pickups and SUVs, great quality, and consistently high scores for customer satisfaction with dealer sales and service