G. David Felt

This so called Tesla Insurance button alone even if I could fit into a Tesla would keep me from ever buying it. Talk about slow boat to hell control, why drive let alone own an auto if you want the company to control everything for you and you do not want to drive with responsibility. Slow Teslas everywhere: 24 hours into ‘the FSD button’, what is your Safety Score (Beta)? (electrek.co)

Volvo has stated that two-thirds of consumers now consider a brand's environmental policies as a critical factor when purchasing luxury products according to a recent study (Source: Vogue Business Index, Winter 2020). This same percentage of buyers has indicated that they would like to see carbon labelling on products as a way to provide greater transparency of the companies impact on products and materials (Source: The Carbon Trust, 2020 YouGov Survey) This means that a company needs to take into account actively sourcing high-quality, sustainable and responsibly-sourced materials as they strive to build luxury products. This coincides with Volvo launch of the C40 Recharge as the first luxury model fully devoid of Leather. 285932_Animal_Welfare_Leather-free_interior.mp4 The conclusions and insights in these reports will help shape Volvo electric Auto's portfolio as they launch model after model moving to a pure electric portfolio by 2030. To quote Robin Page, head of design at Volvo, "We have a vision of where we need to go in the future, with the first step to ensure we harness sustainable, natural and recycled materials." By 2025, Volvo is aiming for 25% of materials in New Volvo auto's to consist of recycled and bio-based content, as part of its ambition to be a fully circular business by 2040. This means that materials whether it be from auto's or other products re-enter the circular economy and become part of new products or go back into the earth where they can be used be it composting, etc. Now one would say that Leather is natural and so why not have leather in their auto. To quote their press release: The company’s move towards leather-free interiors is also driven by a concern about the negative environmental impacts of cattle farming, including deforestation. Livestock is estimated to be responsible for around 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions from human activity, with the majority coming from cattle farming. Instead of leather interior options, Volvo Cars will offer its customers alternatives such as high-quality sustainable materials made from bio-based and recycled sources. Further in giving customers who care about animal welfare and recycling, Volvo had this to say in their press release: For example, Nordico, a new interior material created by Volvo Cars will consist of textiles made from recycled material such as PET bottles, bio-attributed material from sustainable forests in Sweden and Finland, and corks recycled from the wine industry – setting a new standard for premium interior design. This material will make its debut in the next generation of Volvo models. Volvo Cars will also continue to offer wool blend options from suppliers that are certified to source responsibly, as the company looks to ensure full traceability and animal welfare in its wool supply chain. For those that wonder how this is being driven, you can read the report Volvo is using in this focus change: For the full version of The rise of conscious design: a report about tomorrow’s materials, click HERE. Volvo believes this move to go leather-free as a step in the right direction in taking a strong and ethical position to do what it can to help stop animal harm which comes from reducing the demand for materials that contain animal products. You decide for yourself, is this interior of the C40 a luxury interior? Volvo wants to invite you to join them in helping the world be a SUSTAINABLE world where Sustainability is a requirement rather than an option. The C40 will start in the US well equipped at $58,750 before tax credits. These BEVs will come with 250 kWh of complimentary high speed charging at Electrify America's network and a 4yr or 40,000 mile warranty. To quote their press release: The New C40 Recharge will be available in the Ultimate specification level and includes every available feature such as Android Operating System with Google imbedded, oversized fixed Panoramic Moonroof, Pixel LED lighting, Pilot Assist, Harman Kardon Premium Sound, 360° Surround View Camera and Unique 20” wheels. Customers can choose the Fjord Blue Carpet for no additional charge and it may be combined with 4 of the 7 exterior paint colors. 2022 C40 SUV by VOLVO Welcome to the 21st Century of Sustainability! Volvo Cars to go leather-free in all pure electric cars as part of animal welfare ambitions - Volvo Car USA Newsroom Volvo Cars and The Future Laboratory explore the future of sustainable luxury materials in new report - Volvo Car USA Newsroom Volvo C40 Recharge Enters U.S. Well Equipped at $58,750 Before Tax Credit; Expanded Fast Charging Now Available - Volvo Car USA Newsroom (volvocars.com) View full article

Why did the spider eat fireflies every evening? He wanted a "light" snack after dinner! _________________________________________________ What tea do footballers drink? Penaltea ________________________________________________ What is the biggest ant in the world? An Elephant

Reviews are starting to come out and to say that the Rivian kicks the Raptors and TRX butts is to be expected by me, but seems to be a big surprise to the writers. Driving Rivian R1T Off Road: Ram TRX & F-150 Raptor Are No Match (insideevs.com) Shocker: 2022 Rivian R1T Proves Electricity Is Better Than Gasoline for Off-Roading (motortrend.com)

Excellent read and I have to say one of the better balanced reviews. Ford Bronco Sport vs. Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport vs. Subaru Outback Wilderness vs. Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road: Got Chops? (motortrend.com) Bronco for the clear Home Run Hit Win! This just seems to be the perfect camper for some here and I am thinking of @A Horse With No Name who wants to drive central america and sleep all over. Bruder EXP-8 Is the Ultimate Off-Road Camper Trailer for Overlanding (motortrend.com)

I love working at home, easy commute, have my office so when I go in, all business. Leave it and my time. I do admit, the wife went crazy at first when my company in Feb 2020 went 100% work from home, but now that the whole company is 90% work from home, the other 10% are those that have to be on site and for the most part works best as it makes it much easier to get my work done, take time off when I need to for appointments, errands, etc. I honestly could not ever see myself going back to an office. I do miss the social interaction, but I do get plenty of that online via Zoom meetings, Slack Huddles and rarely unless I am forced to use terrible Microsoft Teams. I will say this, I have a coworker who always wanted a trailer to go camping who finally bought one, set it up to be his remote office away from the house, but uses the house WiFi in 256 bit encryption mode and loves it. No wife, kids, animals to distract and he says it truly feels like going to the office since he has to physically leave his house and walk the 15 steps to the side slab where his new trailer is parked.

Very Cool find parked on a street. Ultra-Rare 1930s GM Futurliner Seen Street Parked in Random Small Town—and We’ve Got Answers (thedrive.com) Another Great read We Found Ford's Incredible Turbine-Powered Semi-Truck 'Big Red' That's Been Lost for Decades (thedrive.com)

Hoarder

So Functional!

Thinking on this, your right, the current style is just BLAH compared to this fake grill on the front end that at least gives it a style weather you like it or not. I think that is why I like the e-Tron sedan more than Tesla

I love my commute, all 32 steps from the kitchen with breakfast to my office. Such a harsh commute now.

Good Idea to see that comparison. 1918 Pandemic (H1N1 virus) | Pandemic Influenza (Flu) | CDC So 1918-1919 Pandemic, 675,000 died in the us out of a population of 103,000,000 or .66% Based on 9-23-2021 data Home - Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center (jhu.edu) So then 2020-2021 Pandemic, 684,226 deaths out of 330,000,000 US Population is .21%, so we need to have 2,178,000 deaths on this pandemic to equal the death percentage of the 1918-1919 pandemic. I follow the GM Design Studio Instagram account and that was todays archive pic. They never say what it was, but I am wondering corvette or Camaro?

Seems Wabtec has found their launch customer. A mining company in Australia has placed an order for the First of the GM Ultium battery backed freight trains. First is that Wabtec upgraded from 2.5 MWh of battery / power to 7 MWh of battery / power. The australian mining company found in testing that an Electric engine in with the traditional Diesels actually gave better performance in getting the 1.6 mile long ore cars moving and stopping. As such, they have ordered an undisclosed amount of new engines to be mixed into their diesel mix. Current testing has shown double digits of diesel and time saving due to having these torque monsters in the mix for getting the trains moving under full heavy load. First electric Ultium Locomotives will be delivered in 2023. Wabtec launches e-locomotive with first order - electrive.com

Seems in an update from Cadillac, the Lyriq is it for this year of news for 2021, the President of Cadillac says we will have to wait till 2022 to learn more about the Cadillac Electric Vehicle lineup. While not from the Cadillac press room, the web site electrek is reporting that after loosing 1/5th of their dealers who took buy outs as not wanting to convert to an EV dealership, Cadillac is gaining new dealers who want to be an electric dealer. After losing dealers over its electric move, Cadillac is now gaining new ones - Electrek “Cadillac is entering new luxury markets and reestablishing itself in crucial areas it had ceded to rivals — including Beverly Hills, Calif., where it hadn’t been since the 1980s, and its former home base of Manhattan, N.Y., where its only store closed last year. Some established Cadillac dealers are scooping up additional stores, while a few dealers are getting involved with the brand for the first time.”

Totally agree it is very weird but then I see this now that we have surpassed the deaths of the 1918 Influenza as a culling of the idiots. I also saw in the news today that another Conservative radio host is telling conservatives to get vaccinated, that the liberals are using reverse phycology to kill them off and they are stupid if they do not get vaccinated. Was cracking up laughing when I saw that story pop up. Everyone has a reason pro or con about Covid-19, but until they get sick, then things change. I suspect we will never really see a change back to the way things were pre-pandemic due to the mutations of the virus. I see we have a new version they have listed on the John Hopkins and CDC web site that is a variant of interest due to the fact that it has less than 10,000 infections here in the U.S. but is the core version now in Central America and it is resistant to the current Vaccines. As such, I suspect we have a long way to go on Viruses. BACK ON AUTO TOPICS I am very excited as GM rumors are that they will have a ton of announcements at SEMA this year. Current news as I posted was the death of their 755 HP V8 crate motor, but rumors is a new version will come out due to the new top end Corvette that could be announced. Second rumor is that the new e-Crate motor choices will get announced now that GM has shown off their Ultium Motors. This is one I am excited about as I am looking to change my 1994 GMC Suburban to AWD Electric, would be cool to put the 1,000 HP trio motors with controllers that is going into the Hummer Pickup into my Suburban.

Archive GM Photo, anyone recognize the concept as I do not.

True, while the interior is a plastic jungle, it has held up even when not taken care of like in the photo I grabbed off the net. Mine looks even better compared to that, will have to on a non work day go out and take a pic on the inside.

I get what you say, but then while I love the open leg room, when compared to what GM had done with this same style in 93 as a 94 model year. Rivian has done a great job.

Column shift now with the ability to have electronic versions is a true waste of space as that center console is just so FAT! Talk about a waste of leg space and comfort. One thing I love about my 94 GMC Suburban is that the center stops with the seats and you still have a big open space, very roomy and comfortable at the legs. Not my Suburban, but my interior does look like this, but much cleaner. Love the leg space, love that Rivian has taken this approach in their R1T and R1S auto's.

Seems that Tesla is not honoring their 8yr power train warranty on first gen Tesla S for water intrusion into the motors from driving in the rain. Beware: Older Tesla Model S Motor Might Fail If Driven In Rain (insideevs.com) Forgot how ugly I found the first generation Tesla S Interesting story on the EQS matching the Tesla S in Range but cheaper than the Lucid Air which is the most expensive Luxury sedan now it would seem. Mercedes EQS Vs Tesla Model S Vs Lucid Air: Compared (insideevs.com) Great charts in the above story matching these 3 cars. EQS is 1/3rd more expensive than the Tesla but slower due to considerable less power, but has a nicer interior. EQS is less expensive by about 1/3rd compared to Lucid air and both have a Luxury interior, but EQS fails like it did against Tesla with a much weaker power train, performance and handling again. Looks being a personal choice among the three so they seemed to stay away from the style question.

The exterior still has not grown on me, ugliest of the GM trucks. Interior is a very much needed update that is nice.

Have to say that the latest release of interior pictures shows an attention to quality and luxury in the Rivian R1T truck.

True, it does have nothing to to with power motive either electrical or gas, but considering how GM used this shape for the electric cars used in the 90's movie Demolition Man with Silvester Stallone and Wesley Snips, and many electric concepts especially form Mercedes of late seem to use this over all form / style even Lucid, as you have pointed out, everyone seems to have gravitated to a consistent generic form, this car slips through the air and I remember my grandfather Brougham and how quiet it was. Yes gas can be silent when properly engineered as has been proven by Lexus, but having just watched last night with the wife the above old movie, this Cadillac Concept says electric to me as shortly after this the EV1 came out too. Demolition man movie cars used and yes GM had this as an electric car in the movie.

I understand and that Cadillac does have a Superior exterior style over the EQS. One could almost think it was an electric vehicle.