G. David Felt

Let's not forget that Tesla pulled their LiDAR and Radar as they feel they can do full remote door-to-door with cameras only. They have already made a mistake by making the system cheaper in components while increasing the cost. Many coworkers who do have Tesla have bitched about the price increase, the technology weakening of the safety ability and that there is no longer the ability to get certain features in a lower cost package, if you want self-parking or the safety sensor reading while driving or backing up, you have to buy the full self-driving package. Overall, I would trust GM package of camera, Radar and LiDAR over Tesla any day.

Interesting review from one of the first owners to take delivery of their R1t and I have to say I am really liking the interior. More of his videos can be seen here: TEDActuallyTalks - YouTube Have to say these owner reviews are better than the media reviews, I think. Like the way he built his truck in color and features.

Seems the latest testing shows that Tesla move to the AMD Ryzen processors consume more power reducing battery range. AMD Ryzen Affects The Range Of New Tesla Cars (insideevs.com)

Interesting news release, 2021 was a year where Diesel autos lost out to the larger selling BEVs in Europe. Seems the flip is on to cleaner emission autos for personal use. Battery electric car sales finally overtook the diesel institution in Europe (greencarreports.com) Pretty cool read on the all-new Volvo Electric Semi truck that has confirmed it delivers on range and performance for the Class 8 truck industry. Like the looks of this truck. Charged EVs | Volvo’s FH Electric heavy-duty truck proves range and energy efficiency in independent testing - Charged EVs

According to GM's self driving division I see they have been testing the Snapdragon Ride platform in the bolt driver free taxies in San Francisco. Will be interesting for sure and I have to believe their will be a driver override. That just makes common sense.

That noise is a deal breaker for me, Lucid pass as I would not want that noise on the inside. My escalade is more quiet than that 6 figure luxury auto.

Lucky quality has gone up and with it ATP that GM is profitable and pushing the future of Auto tech. Very excited by the Snapdragon Ride Platform. Let the lemmings have the Toyota crap, happy to be at an American Auto company.

Years of collaboration between GM and Qualcomm has brought many robust industry leading features to GM's autos globally. Now GM and Qualcomm have moved forward again in showing their collaboration of the first dedicated Snapdragon system-on-chips with robust data processing for the next generation of Ultra Cruise advanced driver assistance system. GM will be the first auto company to use the Qualcomm Technologies Snapdragon Ride Platform for advanced driver assistance technology. This features an industry-leading 5-nanometer Snapdragon SA8540P SoC and SA9000P artificial intelligence accelerator. This is not the first time that engineering from the U.S., Israel, Canada and Ireland have worked on a global version of Ultra Cruise. In the upcoming 2023 Cadillac LYRIQ we get the first generation of Ultra Cruise with Snapdragon. A very solid Level 3 hands free driving on the highway. Yet GM is pushing itself to become an Auto industry leader of technology and with its Collaboration with Qualcomm and the in-house engineering resources the next generation of Ultra Cruise will be on the all-New Snapdragon Ride Platform which is about the size of two laptops stacked together and will debut on the 2023 Cadillac CELESTIQ. The Ultra Cruise computer is a high performance sensor interface with memory bandwidth running the Ultra Cruise software stack that will be the key in helping Ultra Cruise achieve an unmatched combination of capability, reliability, predictability and robust door-to-door hands-free driving in 95 percent of all driving scenarios. Ken Morris, GM vice president of Electric, Autonomous and Fuel Cell Vehicle Programs has stated: “Despite its relatively small size, Ultra Cruise’s compute will have the processing capability of several hundred personal computers,” “It will take qualities that have distinguished GM’s advanced driver assist systems since 2017 to the next level with door-to-door hands-free driving.” Ultra Cruise compute platform The newest Ultra Cruise software has been integrated into an optimal hardware design that starts with the Snapdragon Ride Platform and goes on to use a combination of overlaying cameras, radar and LiDAR. This low-level, sensor fusion, which provides excellent detection and classification of data, and the Ultra Cruise's software stack are a proprietary package not available to the automotive aftermarket and surpasses any hands-free system offered by any other auto company here in the US, Europe or Asia. The Ultra Cruise Computer system is comprised of two Snapdragon SA8540P SoCs and one SA9000P AI accelerators to deliver key low-latency control functions on 16-core CPUs and high-performance AI compute of more than 300 Tera Operations Per Second for Camera, radar and lidar processing. The Snapdragon SoCs are designed with 5 nm process technology, enabling superior performance and power efficiency. The Snapdragon SA8540P SoCs will provide the necessary bandwidth for Ultra Cruise's sensing, perception, planning, localization, mapping and driver monitoring. GM and Qualcomm are very proud of their global multi-Cultural collaboration in the first uses of the Snapdragon SoCs platform for automated driving. To quote the press release: “Ultra Cruise powered by Snapdragon Ride on Cadillac vehicles will be an experiential and technological leap forward for the industry.” Less people look to the past of new technology problems, the Ultra Cruise compute on the Snapdragon Ride SoCs have been designed to meet automotive system safety standards with multiple individual redundancies built in. The compute platform includes an Infineon Aurix TC397 processor for system safety integrity. The Aurix TC397 is categorized ASIL-D the highest Automotive Safety Integrity Level. To minimized complexity, the Ultra Cruise Snapdragon Ride Platform has been designed with air-cooled instead of liquid-cooled system to avoid heavy and inefficient thermal cooling lines throughout the auto. This has been made possible by the Snapdragon Ride's high-performance, high-efficiency design. Less people feel this will be a limiting system of updates, GM choose to incorporate the Ultra Cruise's computer with the ability to evolve over time by leveraging the Snapdragon Ride's SoCs performance and high-speed interfaces for future expansion, including over-the-air updates that can include new feature/functions enabled through the Ultifi software platform and GM's Vehicle Intelligence Platform electrical architecture working with the Ultium platform to bring you the industry best auto's. Qualcomm had the following additional technical information in their press release to expand on what GM has released about the Snapdragon Ride Platform. QUOTE: The Snapdragon Digital Chassis is comprised of a set of open and scalable cloud-connected platforms that utilize a unified architecture to support enhanced safety and immersive digital experiences that are updateable throughout the lifetime of next-generation vehicles. Automakers have the option to adopt any or all of these platforms across their line-up to offer highly customizable experiences with features that are continually upgradable via the cloud. Snapdragon Ride™ Platform – an open and programmable platform that addresses the full-spectrum of driver assistance and automated driving (AD) needs from New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) to L2+/L3; offering a scalable portfolio of system-on-chip (SoC) processors and accelerators for vision, central compute and high-performance AD needs; a turnkey Arriver™ based vision stack, a full set of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS)/AD features and a flexible architecture that allows automakers and Tier-1 suppliers to bring their own Drive Policy, parking or driver monitoring stack, advanced navigation that can be integrated with Arriver Drive Policy elements. The platform also includes a full support for features, functional safety/SOTIF and system architecture competencies. Snapdragon® Cockpit Platform – provides automakers an opportunity to transform the in-car experience to create new services through highly customizable always-connected SoC and virtualized software solutions that create a multi-display, multi-camera, premium audio, video and multimedia experience with mixed criticality environments that support consumer and safety ecosystems concurrently and safely Snapdragon® Auto Connectivity Platform – allows automakers to meet the increasing demands of safer and more immersive driving experiences powered by LTE, 5G connected services, cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and precise positioning, all of which are designed to securely connect vehicles to the cloud, each other and the surrounding environment Snapdragon® Car-to-Cloud Services - provides automakers the ability to offer flexibility of features, performance upgrades and introduction of new functionality through pre-integrated software and services platforms designed for new monetization models “Qualcomm Technologies understands automakers’ needs for uniqueness and differentiation as well as the tremendous opportunity to redefine the automotive and transportation business model. Through the Snapdragon Digital Chassis, we offer an array of open platforms to rapidly enable connected and intelligent experiences with enhanced safety features,” said Nakul Duggal, senior vice president and GM, automotive, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “The Snapdragon Digital Chassis allows platforms to stay continually up-to-date with new capabilities after vehicle purchase, while allowing the automaker to create new features and services for enhanced customer engagement and services-based business models. We look forward to working with the automotive industry as well as our many partners to provide truly transformative innovations that are scalable, extensible and software-defined.” Interesting bit is that as you read through all the press releases about this new tech, while GM is the first to have it and will be out in the global market first, Volvo, BMW, Hyundai, Mahindra & Mahindra, WM Motors of China, SAIC Motors and JiDU automotive have all signed on to use the Snapdragon Ride Platform in their upcoming EVs with the first use in BEVs due out in 2024 models. GM is the launch customer and will be first out in 2022 in 2023 models. GM believes the Snapdragon Ride Platform will bring a full suite of Automotive Solutions to GM's Next-Generation Digital Cockpit and Telematics Systems as well as Advanced driver Assistance Systems. GM Brings Powerful New Compute Architecture to Ultra Cruise to Help Enable Door-to-Door Hands-Free Driving Automotive Redefined: Technology Showcase 2021 | Virtual Event | Qualcomm General Motors and Qualcomm Extend Long-Standing Relationship to Transform Next Generation Vehicles | Qualcomm Qualcomm Builds Momentum Around Snapdragon Digital Chassis to Define the Future of Automotive | Qualcomm Autonomous Driving | Snapdragon Ride ADAS Tech for Smart Cars | Qualcomm Cadillac rolls into Snapdragon Tech Summit 2021 [video] (qualcomm.com) View full article

Add to this the certain group of folks that pound the drum about buy Made in America and yet they themselves buy Asian or European. Interesting that in this time of that drum pounding, key high visible individuals are double standards.

Ford has Pro Power Onboard which came out in their Hybrid F150 and will be on the F150 Lighting EV. GM has PowerBase to compete with Ford based on the news story here: GM PowerBase trademark hints at Silverado EV's onboard outlets (autoblog.com)

Seems your data is a failure as Lincoln has surpassed sales in the US in China. Lincoln is alive and well and even Ford products that you have bashed here are selling like crazy in China. Lincoln China Sales Figures (carsalesbase.com) Lincoln Now Sells More Product in China Than U.S. - The Truth About Cars Lincoln's China sales top U.S. for 1st time | Automotive News (autonews.com) Ford China Year-to-Date Sales Grow 11%, Driven by Record Lincoln Sales | China | English | Ford Media Center Seems Chinese love the Current Lincoln Styling compared to many European styling.

Tesla seems to be fighting back as they have applied for Grants in Texas for their SuperCharging stations that will have them install the chargers with a CCS and a CHAdeMO port according to the site requirements for their application. DCFCH 22 Applications Received | PDF | Companies Of The United States | Companies (scribd.com) Also, Electrek is reporting that Musk wants to have his stations as common as gas stations across Texas and this also comes with the requirement that they support the CCS/CHAdeMO ports. Tesla applies to install Supercharger stations in Texas with CCS connectors - Electrek Electrek believes this will be for Tesla to open their charging stations to other OEM BEVs and as such will push the CCS port over actually having the CHAdeMO port which is a dead standard at this point. Will they have longer charging cables to support ports in different locations? Interesting turn of events since we have seen the CCS2 port on Tesla Auto's to meet the European standard and now this for the US.

Then based on your statement here Mercedes-Benz will FAIL since they are producing way too expensive BEVs.

Yes Tucker was ahead of his time and built a lovely, strong safe auto. Sadly, way to many others this cannot be said for.

Consumer reports has had individual reports in the past on various specific models of electric vehicles, but they now publish the following report on the current state of EVs and the reliability of what is out there. Consumer-Reports-Insights-for-More-Reliable-Electric-Vehicles-Jan-2022.pdf Per the attached report above, we start looking at the latest overview they have put together: Per an Executive Order from President Biden, by 2030, half of all new vehicles sold should be zero-emissions vehicles, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, or fuel cell electric vehicles. While EV sales are trending up, they currently make up only 4% of 2021 new vehicle sales. (Source: Wards Intelligence) CR’s 2021 Auto Reliability and Satisfaction survey results reveal that current EV owners are highly satisfied. In fact, survey respondents with EVs report the highest owner satisfaction (76%) of all vehicles (model years 2019 and higher). However, respondents also report significant reliability issues with EVs. Electric SUVs were the least reliable car category. Consumer Reports then had the following key insights and takeaways for auto manufactures: The reliability of EVs has significant room for improvement in order to appeal to the majority of new-car buyers who are looking for reliable vehicles. Reliability is “extremely important” (top box) to 71% of new-car buyers, according to CR’s most recent National Car Buying Survey. Despite the high satisfaction rates of current EV owners, who may have been early to adopt EVs for specific reasons such as environmental concerns or interest in new technologies, the mainstream car buyer prioritizes reliability. By providing additional data on EV reliability problem areas, CR hopes to influence future manufacturing decisions that make EVs more reliable, and in turn, more appealing to the majority of new-car buyers. There are lessons to be learned from CR’s Auto Reliability data to improve EV reliability: Compact Hybrids and Plug-in Hybrids are the most reliable. While “simple” electric drive systems can and do have electrical failures and battery pack problems, most of these vehicles are built on proven systems. Electric SUVs are the least reliable. The highest problem areas in EVs often have no connection to the drivetrain. Issues are most commonly found in other components: In-car Electronics, Noises & Leaks, Power Equipment, Climate System, Body Hardware, Drive System, and Paint & Trim. Automakers should focus on building an electric platform and establishing the EV itself as a mainstream vehicle with the same systems and technology that have already proven reliable in their current lineups. If components other than the drivetrain have proven to be reliable, including them may increase the likelihood that the vehicle will have fewer issues. Next step in the Deep Dive of Consumer Reports was the EV Reliability Data which shows that for the 2021 Auto Reliability analysis, compact hybrid/plug-ins were the most reliable auto and electric SUVs were the least reliable per auto catagory. Consumer reports then shows that for 2019 to 2021 models, electric vehicles had higher problem rates than internal combustion engine vehicles. The sample showed the following: The EV reliability problem rates and top problem areas show that the following issues from electronics to noise and even paint and trim were considerable. These rates were from the optional survey questions that people filled out. While CR stated it was just an example of EV reliability problem areas, this does seem to show that one manufacture has more problems than others and begs the question of how legacy OEMs will do as they start to produce BEVs. In-car Electronics o Audi e-Tron MY 2019 In-car Electronics problem rate is 11 compared to the model year average of 3.4. Problems reported by CR members include the display screen going blank. Noises & Leaks o Tesla Model X MY 2020 Noises & Leaks problem rate is 9.6 compared to the model year average of 1.3. Problems reported by CR members include seals and weather stripping, air and water leaks, wind noise, and squeaks and rattles. Power Equipment o Audi e-Tron MY 2019 Power Equipment problem rate is 5.1 compared to the model year average of 1.5. Problems reported by CR members include exterior lights. Climate System o Tesla Model S MY 2020 Climate System problem rate is 6.9, 6.1 points above the model year average. Problems reported by CR members include automatic climate control and temperature sensors failing. Body Hardware o Tesla Model X MY 2020 problem rate of 5.8 is 5.1 points above the model year average. Problems reported by CR members include issues with gull wing doors not closing properly. Drive System o Chevrolet Bolt MY 2019 Drive System problem rate is 4.0, 3.3 points above the model year average. Problems reported by CR members include electrical failure, drive unit replacement, and other faulty components. Paint & Trim o Tesla Model Y MY 2020 Paint & Trim problem rate is 7.2, 6.5 points above the model year average. Problems reported by CR members include trim coming loose, and blotchy/mismatched paint on body panels. This report makes one wonder if GM and Ford are paying close attention and how will Rivian fare when this report comes out in January 2023 for the 2022 year. Will we still see Tesla as the leader of EV reliability issues, or will some other auto company take its place? Insights for More Reliable Electric Vehicles - Consumer Reports Data Intelligence Insights and Impact - Consumer Reports Data Intelligence View full article

December 2021 possible customers and existing customers noticed that the production date for the Cybertruck had dropped off the reservation page at Tesla.com. The CEO later sent out on social media that he would have an update in the near future. Seems Reuters.com got the 411 on this info as now per a person familiar with the matter informed Reuters yesterday that production is pushed back to the end of 2022 with initial deliveries to be done at the end of the first quarter of 2023. Tesla as an electric car and suv builder has talked about electric semi-trucks and in 2019 revealed the Tesla Cybertruck to a much-flawed introduction, but a very successful reservation of the truck. Production was originally to begin in 2021 with deliveries by the end of the year. Due to the pandemic, Tesla delayed the truck as well as the semi to 2022. Now we learn that the removal of production dates means at the earliest 2023 with some insider revealing that production is supposed to begin at the end of 2022 with deliveries by the end of the first quarter of 2023 or end of March 2023. Yet, no test mules have been seen, the Texas assembly plant that is to be used for the Tesla Y and Cybertruck is still under construction. Latest picture from 1-11-2022, and as folks know, having the walls up is one thing, installing a production line, testing it and starting production has not been a smooth thing for Tesla. Rivian has started to in small numbers build the R1T truck and R1S SUV in limited numbers as they look to avoid the quality flaws that Tesla is still dealing with. Ford Motor company is on track to start deliveries of production trucks this spring as they fine tune things with the vast number of F150 Lighting pickup mules they have out. GM has started production of their Hummer pickup mules with production to start fall 2022 with deliveries planned before xmas 2022. Chevrolet and GMC will then have their F150 competitor out in 2023 around the same time as Tesla. This begs many questions that could be asked as Ford has seen their company stock for the first time ever breach the $100 billion market value surpassing GM at a time that GM is also reaching to break this major company milestone. CEO Elon Musk has now stated that a detailed product road map will be presented Jan 26th, 2022, at the earning call. Musk has blamed much of the FAILURE TO LAUNCH on the supply chain nightmare as he tweeted in late November 2021. Musk has also stated that Model Y production will begin at the Texas assembly plant in early 2022, yet as Tesla has proven, that could mean June 30th which would still be early 2022 as it falls in the first half of the year based on how Tesla tends to stretch things out. Exclusive: Tesla delays initial production of Cybertruck to early 2023 - source | Reuters View full article

Seems Bollinger is out of the retail EV game and focusing only on Commercial now.

Not really, in a country with socialized healthcare where everyone pays into the system, those that refuse vaccination and are putting the biggest burden on the system should pay more. Kind of how health care insurance here in the US if you smoke or chew tobacco have higher premiums than those that do not. Why not have those that ignore the science to stay healthy pay to cover their health needs? Makes sense to me. This is what I find confusing is that mRNA tech has been around for 40 years, being used to treat cancer and we have given such a better quality of life to Cancer survivors of which both my wife and I are survivors and yet people think this is to make you part of the BORG. The science is very solid and well tested. Crazy IMHO

Yup Roll Over protection since the autos from 20 to 30 years ago and older did terrible when an auto rolled over. Pancake flat.

True the 100K is over 3 years but with options for more and that is where the 500K has come in if they elect to activate all options from Rivian. Meanwhile Amazon is buying EVs from everyone for all over the world. They just placed a 10,000 EV van with a new EV startup in India to get converted over there. Indian EV startup EVage raises $28 million, will build electric vans for Amazon (hindustantimes.com) Amazon has stated they want the bulk of their last mile delivery fleet worldwide to be mostly EVs by 2030 unlike UPS or FedEx that has stated 2035 and 2040. Would seem Amazon is planning to compete big time with emission free delivery autos. Rivian has also started to take orders for other countries like Canada and Europe, Asia comes online sometime in 2022. For now as they scout for locations, UK is the latest site they are in talks about, but until they have plants elsewhere for production, Normal will be the site as well as Georgia. Yes, Rivian CEO has 6 other EVs planned to come out over the next 3 to 5 years that include cars too. Be interesting to see how this works out and how fast they do end up ramping up.

Happy Belated Birthday @balthazar Ya do not look a day over your 59 Buick!

Nissan has a great tech with CHAdeDo, they failed as they tried to do what Sony did with Beta, charge for others to use their spec. In 2020 they released the 500V CHAmoDo and stated it could easily do 1000V once they had finished testing. CHAdeMO 3.0 released: the first publication of ChaoJi, the new plug harmonised with China’s GB/T – Chademo Association Sadly, they realized no one was going to pay them and they should have taken the road like Panasonic did with VHS and pretty much let everyone just copy it for free to make it the standard. As such the CCS became the world standard. The site is still up for CHAdeMO Chademo Association – EV Fast Charging Organisation They even returned to trade shows in Dec 2021. Not sure how it will survive with the rest of the world going CCS/CCS2