G. David Felt

This is so true and I do expect Ford and GM to take major market share from Tesla. https://moneyandmarkets-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/moneyandmarkets.com/tesla-gm-ford-electric-vehicle-competition/amp/

Seems Nissan is planning to be BEV only by 2030 as they expand their common platform used by Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi. Renault, Nissan & Mitsubishi Motors announce common roadmap (nissannews.com) This also seems to point to what some sites are saying is the first Japanese auto company to stop development on ICE platforms. Other than maintenance on the current portfolio for the US, the rest of the world will get BEVs only where Nissan sees a mix of BEV/ICE in the U.S. past 2030. Nissan to end most development of new gasoline engines - Nikkei Asia

Seems GM has admitted they cannot be all things yet in the various markets for BEVs as such, they have started to sign Specialty Coach Builders to build Class 3 to 6 of medium duty vehicles as BEVs. Lightning eMotors Joins with General Motors to Electrify Medium Duty Trucks - Lightning eMotors Seems in addition to this that GM is moving forward with using Michelin Airless Tires on new auto's starting in 2024. Michelin, GM Take the Air Out of Tires for Passenger Vehicles :: Michelin North America, Inc. (michelinmedia.com) Michelin, GM Present Airless Tire Technology | General Motors

WOW, Lots of patent filings show us what the First BEV Ferrari will be like. Yes you can google / Bing to your hearts content on reading various stories from other sites. Yes they have some pictures too. Here I have no time to write about this but here is the full listing, click on the blue title of each patent to see the details and dig into the pictures. Patents Assigned to Ferrari S.p.A. - Justia Patents Search The link to the filing most stories are about: US Patent for Electric or hybrid sport car Patent (Patent # 11,220,169 issued January 11, 2022) - Justia Patents Search Seems during Fords Q4 end of year earnings call the CEO says the days of Yearly or mid cycle refreshes will go the way Tesla has done and improvements for Ford BEVs will happen quarterly. CEO: Ford plans to "reengineer" Mustang Mach-E incrementally, won't save improvements for mid-cycle refresh (greencarreports.com)

Wish him all the best, Divorce sucks and is hard. Glad to hear your doing fine.

WOW, first ever 2022 GMC Denali Ultimate edition. Sierra (gm.com) Hope this is not affecting you. It is never an easy thing for anyone involved.

Sunny cold weather, so took time off from skiing to do yard work and trim trees.

Too funny Seems Mid size GM pickups with Diesel will end with final orders accepted June 9th. Q3 will end all production the the baby Duramax diesel. https://gmauthority.com/blog/2022/02/gmc-canyon-chevy-colorado-diesel-production-to-end-in-q3-2022/

Seems in all the news about Ford hireing a former Tesla and Apple Executive to assist with the transformation to an all EV portfolio by 2030, that the new Battery Park, Advanced Manufacturing and Ford ION Park. This is a solid-state battery R&D site that will bring Ford EVs into Solid-State battery packs starting in 2026. Investment in Solid Power Battery as mentioned above from both Ford and BMW has both auto companies going solid-state batteries in their BEVs starting 2026. Appears the Solid-State battery packs will replace traditional battery packs fast. Tesla Electric Vehicle Connection Buries Ford's Solid State Battery News (cleantechnica.com) One positive about this is getting better batteries for your current ICE auto's. As such, here are some review links to use to find better Lithium-ion batteries. 7 Best Lithium Car Battery 2021 – Review & Buying Guide (antiqueautobattery.com) Have to say, when you see batteries that have 2 to 4 times the service life of traditional lead acid batteries, very cool way to go especially when you need a deep power battery for cold weather or out where you might just want to chill listening to music without the auto running and still have more than enough power to start the auto later. 10 Best Lithium Ion Car Battery of 2022 (plumbaroakland.com) I will attest that in my Escalade, the Optima battery has been way better than any former Lead Acid battery. Highly recommend them as well worth the cost. Best car battery for 2022 - Roadshow (cnet.com)

We have had lots of talk about the various BEVs or battery electric vehicles coming and occasionally a few posts on battery tech. Some have been in depth while others have been a 60,000-foot skim on new battery technology that looked and sounds cool. I thought it was about time we took a closer look on what all is going on in the auto battery world. First let's have a visual understanding on conventional Lithium-ion battery versus solid-state battery. A few key benefits are not only safer batteries, but smaller, slimer batteries that are more energy dense in nature due to a liquid electrolyte being replaced by some form of solid electrolyte. Current battery packs that are used in current electric vehicles use some form of Lithium-ion with a liquid electrolyte that does a very impressive job. Yet even these current battery packs have been known to catch fire usually due to damage from an accident. The dream battery is a safer, non-flammable, all-solid-state battery cell that is energy dense, faster recharge and more flexible in packaging. Batteries that have solid electrodes and a solid electrolyte are known as solid state batteries and are poised to take over and replace traditional lithium-ion batteries in various areas of applications, especially electric vehicles. Solid-state battery technology is pivotal to the advancement and development of many technologies. Solid-state batteries are among the brightest solution for extracting maximum range, reducing charging time and enhanced battery-related safety concerns. Currently from an investment standpoint, the following companies are getting attention for various reasons due to the possible solid state battery technology they are bringing to market. SK innovation (SK innovation) Solid electrolyte with excellent ionic conductivity and elasticity, which secures both performance and safety SK Innovation accelerates the all-solid-state batteries for replacement of traditional lithium-ion cells Research done by Professor Lee Seung-woo of Georgia Tech University Rubber-type high polymer solid electrolyte allowing for ionic conductivity to be boosted by 100 times. Rubber-like elasticity while operating at room temperature This technology is expected to take a traditional 500km BEV and enhance the range by 800km on a single charge Using their own Z-Folding stacking method of stacking between the zigzag separator, which intersects the anode and the cathode. This z-folding technique minimizes cell stress and uniformly laminates the anodes and cathode, essentially blocking the possibility of contact between electrodes Ceramic coating separator (CCS) reinforced with a mixed weapon layer on one or both sides of the existing lithium-ion battery separator increase heat resistance directly related to the stability of the battery and improves the movement speed of lithium ions. Bipolar Material Technology - High-nickel anode materials maximize energy density while ensuring excellence in capacity, thermal stability and cycle performance compared to conventional batteries. Since 2014 when the world's first supply of NCM622 batteries to electric vehicles, nvm811 and NCM9 are new industry standards and aim to achieve energy densities of more than 1,000Wh\L. Wh\L = Energy Density, the nominal battery energy per unit volume, referred to as the volumetric energy density. Specific energy is a characteristic of the battery chemistry and packaging. Along with the energy consumption of the vehicle, it determines the battery size required to achieve a given electric range. SK Innovation is accelerating production in house and outside of the company by partnering with Solid Power, USA (Home - Solid Power (solidpowerbattery.com)) Located in Seoul, Korea Solid Power (Home - Solid Power (solidpowerbattery.com)) All-Solid-State rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, 50% denser than current Lithium-ion rechargeable batteries Contain NO volatile or flammable liquid components Longer Life resulting in performance across temperature ranges with a cost savings of 15 to 35% over traditional batteries Currently producing 20 Ah multi-layered Solid-State lithium batteries in prototype form for auto company evaluation 3 types of cells available for purchase Silicon EV cell High-Content Silicon anode - High Charge rates & lower temperature capabilities Sulfide Solid Electrolyte - Powered by Solid Power's proprietary sulfide-based solid electrolytes NMC Cathode - Industry-standard and commercially mature 390 Wh/kg 930 Wh\L 1,000 + cycle life Less than 15 min charge SolidPower_Cells_HighSilicon_v01-vp9-chrome.webm Lithium Metal EV Cell Lithium Metal Anode - High Energy Sulfide Solid Electrolyte - Powered by Solid Power's proprietary sulfide based solid electrolytes NMC Cathode - Industry-standard and commercially mature 440 Wh/kg 930 Wh\L 1,000 + cycle life Less than 20 min charge SolidPower_Cells_LithiumMetal_Animation_v03-vp9-chrome.webm Conversion Reaction Cell Lithium Metal Anode - High Energy Sulfide Solid Electrolyte - Powered by Solid Power's proprietary sulfide based solid electrolytes Conversion-Type Cathode - Ultra-low cost & high specific energy 560 Wh/kg 785 Wh\L 1,000 + cycle life Less than 30 min charge SolidPower_Cells_NextGen_v01-vp9-chrome.webm Batteries expected to be on the market in BEVs by 2026 Located in Louisville, Colorado QuantumScape (Building the Best Battery — QuantumScape) High energy density and high specific energy Backed by Bill Gates, Volkswagen, Continental AG, George Soros and other prominent investors Traded on the NYSE: QS Currently the most advanced solid-state battery and industry's first anode-less cell design Battery packs can charge to 80% capacity in 15 minuets, best in class currently QuantumScape has overcome the dendrites problem that forms when fast charging Lower costs by eliminating anode host material and manufacturing costs Located in San Jose, California Ampcera (Ampcera – Solid State Electrolytes) Niche player in high-performance solid-state electrolyte materials Focus use is electric vehicles and grid storage Battery cost of less than $75 per kilowatt hour is expected by 2025 Less than 10-minute ultra-fast charge Solid-state electrolyte materials include sulfides, NASICON-type phosphates and garnet-structure oxides HQ is in Silicon Valley, California with R&D in Tucson Tech Park, Arizona BrightVolt (Solid-State Li-Ion batteries utilizing proprietary polymer matrix electrolyte (PME) technology (brightvolt.com)) Solid-State battery supplier for IoT devices Proprietary polymer matrix electrolyte used in their Lithium-ion batteries High energy density due to the matrix bonding directly to the electrodes, eliminating deadweight and having a total cell electrode thickness of less than .45 mm compared to a conventional lithium-ion cell electrodes that typically have a thickness greater than .7 mm. ProLigium Technology (ProLogium Technology Co., Ltd) Uses lithium-ceramic (oxide solid) electrolytes in their mass produced all-solid-state batteries Has two battery production plants, first one is a 40MWh plant and used more for their proof-of-concept batteries, second plant is a 2 GWh large scale production plant Their solid-state batteries are focused on consumer electronics and wearable products such as watches, clothes, etc. New agreements in place at the end of 2021 has them entering the auto market with building battery packs for NIO, AIWAYS of China and Mercedes-Benz of Germany and China markets for BEVs 100% fundamentally Safe 2X Longer Range 12 min Fast Charging Depending on application, the BiPolar+ 3D Structure Solid-State EV Battery Pack has a 29% to 56% higher energy density than conventional lithium-ion batteries Located in Taiwan Ilika Plc (Home | Ilika) Solid-state battery company building battery cells for use in MedTech, IoT, BEVs and Consumer Electronics Solid-State batteries that can be customizable to miniaturized mm-scale for powering next-generation Active Implanted Medical Devices (AIMD) or Industrial IoT sensors. Company was founded in 2004 and in 2014 as a spin-out from the School of Chemistry at the University of Southampton started to build the Stereax family of Solid-state batteries Two battery families now Stereax - Micro Solid-state batteries Goliath-Wh-level solid-state cells for BEVs and Consumer electronics Located in Romsey, UK Cymbet (Home of the World's Smallest Solid-State Batteries - Cymbet) Biocompatible thin film rechargeable solid-state smart batteries (SSB) Focus on embedded power capabilities for electronic system designers in microelectronic systems Supporting new concepts in energy storage applications for ICs, Medical, Sensor, RFID, Industrial control, communications and portable electronic devices Located in New Brighton, Minnesota Before anyone might ask, another benefit of the all-solid-state batteries is the ability to recycle them easer and faster keeping it a green cycle. here is a basic look visually at this life cycle. The final interesting tech piece for this writeup is about a company called Navitas Semiconductor. This company came about by using a waste product from the manufacture of Aluminum. Gallium is a chemical element on the periodic table and a natural by-product create in refining metals, especially aluminum. For decades, there was no known use for this material according to the CEO of Navitas. Navitas then combined gallium with nitrogen to create gallium nitride (GaN), it is useful for the semiconductors that go into charging units for consumer electronics devices. A GaN semiconductor operates up to 20X faster than silicon, making it possible in delivering 3X more power and 3X faster charging in half the size and weight while only being 10% to 20% more expensive. Scale will bring down costs according to the Navistar and as such this is where the company takes their high-speed charging technology and now is applying it to the BEV industry. The one catch is that to use GaN, one must totally redesign their charging system. Manufactures such as Vivo, Dell and Xiaomi have all changed their charging systems to GaN due to the extreme speed it supports for getting electronics recharged in a fraction of the time and back in use. Navitas believes once the Auto industry sees the benefits of GaN, they will change their charging setup to use their GaN chip and redesign the whole power system around the chip. Navistar has so far raised $100 million in funding to bring their ultra-fast charging solutions to the auto industry. Navistar believes more than just charging can benefit from their GaN products. So, what is the selling point of Gan semiconductors by Navitas | Creator of GaNFast (navitassemi.com)? Simply Navitas believes they can make a major impact on BEVs. Navistar says that 30% of energy is lost when traveling from the battery to the wheels in transmission. GaN does not have this energy lose like Silicon semiconductors have. Using a GaN superconductors in that transmission, you can avoid the 30% power loss which would allow the BEV OEM to either go 30% longer on the current battery or reduce the battery pack by 30% while maintaining the same current range. Check out this interview with the CEO of Navistar https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/11/10/navitas-ceo-says-his-companys-chip-technology-is-faster-cooler-and-more-efficient.html No single company can supply it all nor can any single automotive company build and supply their own parts. GM has chosen to hedge their bets much like most companies and the GM Ventures arm of GM Corporation has invested in the North Carolina Battery Company Soelect. Soelect has drawn investments from the following auto companies on top of GM. Hyundai, Kia, Geely, SAIC and LG and SK have all invested in SolidEnergy Systems. Investor Relations | General Motors Company (gm.com) generalmotorsgeneratione.mp4 We also have Ford which according to Teslarati web site about their investors call, Ford is taking a page from Tesla and Stock piling battery cells to insure as they build their battery plants that over the next two years, they can deliver on producing 200,000 Mach-e's a year by 2023, 100,000 Mach-e's by the end of 2022 and a 150,000 F150 Lightings by the end of 2022. For those that might find the various acronym's here challenging, I have the following post to help explain them: MIT Guide to Understanding Battery Specifications 7 Top Solid-state Battery Companies 2022 – Advanced Investing for Beginners (ai4beginners.com) Technology < About < SK On (sk-on.com) SK innovation All-Solid-State Batteries - Solid Power (solidpowerbattery.com) Technology - QuantumScape Ampcera – Solid State Electrolytes Our Technology - BrightVolt Solid State Batteries ProLogium Technology Co., Ltd ProLogium and Mercedes-Benz entered into a technology cooperation agreement to develop solid-state battery cells for electric vehicles - ProLogium Technology Co., Ltd Home | Ilika Stereax - Micro Solid State Batteries | Ilika Goliath Solid State Batteries Powering Electric Vehicles | Ilika GM Ventures invests in EV advanced battery startup Soelect | Reuters Home of the World's Smallest Solid-State Batteries - Cymbet Navitas | Creator of GaNFast (navitassemi.com) GM Ventures invests in EV advanced battery startup Soelect | Reuters Ford says it is stockpiling batteries for Farley's electric vehicle scaling operation (teslarati.com) View full article

WOW, this is crazy, $440,000 for a 1971 Cheverolet K5 Blazer. Yes nice looking ride, but wow. ? Wonder if it will be a garage beauty out only on perfect sunny days or if it will really get driven? ? 1971 Chevy Blazer Sells For Monster Money At Barrett-Jackson (gmauthority.com)

250 GTO One of the only Ferrari's I actually kinda like.

Yes, the Journey is the fun part of auto projects. But the realist in me sees that GTO above as a lost cause that is past the time of being a fun auto restoration even for a donut making car. I honestly doubt anyone here would really take on that GTO as a project car. The guy is looking for advertisement hits on his channel which is more important to him than the GTO.

“Gran Turismo Omologato”

Yup, I know you think it is worth it but it will not ever be an original goat, just a piece of metal to be recycled at this point. Probably 99.9% of that body will have to be replaced with aftermarket parts, I would even question the engine. Frame probably will have to be replaced due to the extreme rust. This is total lunacy to waste time and money on it. Should have been crushed. Yup, let the flames begin as I will never see this as a realistic restore auto in this condition. One for @balthazar

Interesting letter to shareholders from CEO Mary 2021 Full-Year and Q4 Letter to Shareholders (gm.com)

Very interesting engine technology. THE RACE TO ZERO IS OVER! – Power with a purpose. (astronaerospace.com) So according to this company you can stack these 35lb engines to increase performance. To quote their web site: Weight, Efficiency, and Environment What makes the Omega 1 so much more powerful, light, and efficient than a piston engine? First: There is a tremendous amount of friction, heat, parasitic, and pumping losses in a piston engine. Each time a piston moves up and down, the rings scrape against the piston walls and that causes friction. Nearly every moving part has contact with other moving parts and that causes more friction. The parasitic losses are not small, as they add up in the form of valve train losses, airflow restrictions, converting reciprocating piston energy into rotational crankshaft energy, and inertial losses due to spring function. There are also significant pumping losses due to the requirement to liquid cool the engine via moving lubricants throughout the engine. All of these losses reduce the power of an engine, and dealing with these losses increases the complexity and weight. Second: The Omega 1 engine has very few of these losses. It has dramatically reduced friction, almost no parasitic losses, and no moving parts besides the rotational elements. There are very few pumping losses because the engine is air cooled via airflow around and through the engine, and only the synchronization gears and bearings require lubrication. This gives an added benefit of no cross-contamination of oil into the combustion chamber, which equates to lowering emissions. A large improvement in combustion and overall efficiency comes from the forced air supercharged intake at between 200 and 300 psi. Normal superchargers boost the combustion pressure by only 6 to 35 psi. The Omega 1 supercharger is far superior and is an integral part of the combustion process. Third: The overall efficiency also improves because of our “skip fire” capability of the engine. For example, the engine can fire every rotation while a vehicle is accelerating, but once at cruising speed in an aircraft, on a highway etc., the engine will only fire when there is a need, (every 5,10,50 rotations or whatever is required), and can idle at a high speed with very little fuel consumption. Then when conditions change and power is required, the computer will increase firing rate for nearly instant power with very low amounts of throttle lag. This can be tuned for maximum efficiency, maximum power, or a combination depending on desired application. Fourth: The Omega 1 engine is the first engine with an active linear power transfer. As the Omega 1 engine rotates, all the power is transferred through the single rotating power shaft. There are no offset crankshafts, no reciprocating pistons, and no eccentric shaft (as in a Wankel rotary engine). The engine weighs much less than a comparable piston engine because of the simplicity of the design, and because it has so few moving parts.

Very Cool Video to watch and I like the idea of the truck over a Tesla Power Wall.

Per reporting by state news agencies like King 5, a bill is being discussed today, Thursday February 3rd, 2022. This bill which has been done via Pilot Programs starting back in 2017 would eventually replace Gas Tax with a Road Tax. House Bill 2026 in Washington State would mandate the Department of Licensing to establish an early adoption program that would require registered owners of electric vehicles to pay a fee of 2.5 cents per mile beginning July 1st, 2025. Participant would be mandatory for all new electric vehicles and voluntary for older current electric vehicles on the road. Hybrids would be allowed to voluntarily participate in the program on July 1st 1 year later. Most other vehicles would be allowed to participate in the program beginning 1 year after hybrids. The proceeds would go into the Road Usage Charge Account that solely funds transportation projects. This bill would also require that the Joint Transportation Committee to evaluate the program to figure out how to fully implement it across all auto's in the state by January 1st, 2029. What is still not clear is the reporting as during the pilot program that had 2,000 drivers who were refunded their gas tax as they paid their mileage tax, there were various groups. The ways that each group reported was a reporting every three months by the following: First group did an odometer reading reported quarterly by the Emissions inspection sites. Second group used a plug-in device that they had to get read at designated locations to report their miles Third group used a plug-in device with GPS that auto reported their miles Fourth group us a Milemapper smartphone app for iPhone users At 2.5 cents per mile this breaks down to the following road tax fee per auto: 6,000 miles a year = $150 8,000 miles a year = $200 10,000 miles a year = $250 12,000 miles a year = $300 15,000 miles a year = $375 Not including the Federal tax, Washington state gas tax is 49.4 cents per gallon. Plan by the state is to increase it by 10 cents this year, another 8 cents in 2023. Washington's pay-per-mile tax bill gets first legislative hearing | king5.com

Ford Once Again Caught Benchmarking The New Cadillac Escalade (fordauthority.com) Guess the competition is going to be strong which means it will be great for us Large SUV loving guys. Interesting thought, as Lincoln and Cadillac go at it and up each other each year, this will make it very hard for the Germans to match as this is the U.S. big boys place to play Luxury SUV.

Back in May 2021, we covered the details that KIA released around their first BEV for the U.S. marketplace. At that time KIA did not release pricing. Now we have actual pricing that shows the KIA EV6 will start at $33,400 factoring in the available federal tax credit of $7,500. KIA also stated the following: EV6 eligible for sale in all 50 states Available in Light, Wind and Sporty GT-Line trim configurations State-of-the-art 77.4kWh high-density lithium-ion battery allows up to a 310-mile range Innovative Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) function turns EV6 into a mobile power source for the world around it Excluding the $1,215 dollar destination charge, the EV6 has the following trim levels: EV6 Light RWD - $40,900 EV6 Wind RWD - $47,000 EV6 Wind Dual Motor e-AWD - $50,900 EV6 GT-Line RWD - $51,200 EV6 GT-Line Dual Motor e-AWD - $55,900 Depending on model you get one of two battery packs58.0kWh or 77.4kWh battery pack and performance up to 320 horsepower with an EPA rated all-electric range up to 310 miles depending on configuration. The battery pack to trim level is as follows: RWD - 58.0kWh battery with a 168kW rear motor yields 167 horsepower and an AER (all-electric range) of 232-miles (Light RWD) RWD - 77.4kWh battery with 168kW rear motor yields 225 horsepower and an AER of 310-miles (Wind RWD, GT-Line RWD) Dual Motor e-AWD - 77.4kWh battery with a 74kW front motor and a 165kW rear motor yields 320 horsepower and AER of 274-miles (Wind AWD, GT-Line AWD) The EV6 might also qualify for various state incentives, including single rider carpool lane access in California, check your state for any addition incentives such as an example in Washington state where no sales tax is paid on the sales price up to $45,000. EV6 is expected to start arriving at KIA dealerships in various trim levels in the upcoming weeks of February 2022. Kia Global Media Center : Kia America announces 2022 EV6 pricing (kianewscenter.com) View full article

I find this funny in a weird sort of way! Stellantis looking for their Chief Donut Maker!

Cool post by an employee of GM with the Hummer and Silverado EV side by side. Looks good. https://www.instagram.com/p/CZLHbzvLTvP/