G. David Felt

Gorging

Rain

Which ones and what did you do to them?

ICE

U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Unions across the US and State Elected officials have asked Congress to take speedy action on boosting spending on the National Infrastructure of Roads, Electrical, Water and parks. The ask is for $2 Trillion to replace functionally obsolete bridges and roads as just one example. Latest studies show that more than half of the roads and bridges in America are poor or mediocre condition at best. Texas power outage is a perfect example of what NOT TO DO, as such, we need to invest in rebuilding the US for the 21st century. Governor Whitmer of Michigan says 43% of the major roads in her state are in poor condition especially the bridges. Congress has said that the Fuel tax revenue which has not changed in decades is an obsolete way to pay for infrastructure repairs / rebuilding. President Biden met with Union representatives from across the country that informed him they are read to get millions of people back to work in a safe way to rebuild America. U.S. business group, officials push for swift action on infrastructure | Reuters

Daimler has picked the banks to help it divest of it's truck, bus and van business as it focuses on becoming a luxury EV auto company. Luxury car business is what Daimler wants to focus on and as such Goldman Sachs, Citi and BNP Paribas will help Daimler with the spin-off prep of that business as JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Citi and BNP will work on the debt restructuring side. Daimler picks banks to help with listing of trucks unit - sources | Reuters Interesting how Daimler seems to have followed the same path as old GM when it was in every nook and cranny of the auto, truck, bus, RV business.

Interesting comparison of luxury level auto's and what is considered a good inexpensive equal. Luxury For Less: 5 Budget-Friendly Alternatives to Luxury Cars (motortrend.com)

Lordstown is wanting to prove their truck is Commercial grade and so much more. As such, Lordstown is going to build a racer version that will run in the 290 mile off road race 2021 SCORE International San Felipe 250 which will help prove their truck is superior to all other trucks. AWD independent in-wheel hub motors. Quote: The 2021 SCORE International San Felipe 250 takes place on April 17, 2021, and starts and finishes in San Felipe, Baja California. Lordstown's grit will be revealed during this race of endurance. This will show just how their truck handles the following question posted in the story: Will the electric platform withstand dust, silt, rocks, water, debris, and heavy abuse? The Lordstown Endurance EV Pickup Is Going Baja Racing … Sort Of (motortrend.com)

These images on Instagram from GM are so cool. https://www.instagram.com/p/CLuwC3rpmut

Seems Lion C of Canada, one of the largest and oldest electric bus companies has won a major contract to start the change over for the LA school district to an all electric bus fleet. Lion C will deliver the first 10 electric buses in January 2021 to the LA school district. The busses have 335hp and 1,800 lb-ft of torque and a range of 155 miles per bus. Depending on remaining power in the battery pack, the buses can recharge to full in 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours from a 50 kW level II charger. Lion Electric to bring zero-emission school buses to California's largest district - Electrek Ford CEO has called on American tech companies to bring production home to the USA now that the chip shortage is showing how dependent the auto industry will be on Asian countries that product the chips they need. He also is saying America needs to build battery production sites now and learn from the chip shortage so that they are not reliant on out of country suppliers now that all auto companies are moving to EVs. Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda: Ford CEO Calls for U.S. Battery Production (thetruthaboutcars.com) GM building a local battery plant with LG to supply North America batteries is a positive sign gm is ahead of the competition.

Interesting coverage of this and the search for a new one. Posted end of 2020.

Very cool build!

Yes that is what they say, what they provided was an ICE only.

Interesting video on the comparison of the Ioniq 5 to the Tesla Y.

Tesla has halted Model 3 production in California according to Reuters. Tesla temporarily halts production at Model 3 line in California: Bloomberg News | Reuters No reason given other than from February 22nd to March 7th the line would not run. This is believed due to the Samsung factory in Texas that had to shut down as it is the source of the self-driving chips and other chips used by Tesla.

I understand they could have done nothing. I also do agree with you that this might have more protection over the pod design. Honestly, I think many of the other designs were better looking than this version of pure Oshkosh. I honestly like the Ford/Oshkosh design they originally submitted. Ford/Oshkosh - Hybrid Oshkosh alone solution - ice Grumman Version - Hybrid Mahindra working concept - Diesel Workhorse concept - awd ev AM General - ice Is interesting that when they got down to the final 3 companies, this was a 7 year contract worth 6.3 billion and ford/oshkosh was a working group still and now it is just Oshkosh with a 10 year contract and 8 plus billion. Continues to balloon up. Will be interesting to see the final auto and what the actual cost will end up being. Ford van used was the best looking at the time, I just do not get why they have to be so freakin ugly!

Correct, my apologies, I do not disagree with you liking it, I disagree with you that it is a good looking auto. We each have a right to what we find attractive and not attractive. I understand the volt did well for what it was, and it was not a beauty same with the Porsche 911. I do have that right and I posted that I question how Oshkosh won the contract in comparison to the others as well as the interesting connection politically. I feel they failed to deliver a working green 21st century solution as they delivered an ICE auto and said they can do hybrid and ev. The others delivered a better working version IMHO. We agree to disagree on the auto.

Yes agreeing with the weird styling that I do not like. UPS is better looking IMHO even though it is an ugly pod design, it still looks more 21st century than 19th century of Oshkosh. Understand the Volt, but for this the USPS potential vendors were to supply a near ready concept, not one that needs two years of work till they decide on the final design. The push on this by Oshkosh has been heavy over the last 4 years. The current head of USPS was put in there by Potus45 and that is the point that it is an interesting observation that two companies that did not support Potus45 did not get the contract compared to the one that does support Potus45 and the head he assigned to the USPS. That is all I am pointing out, not making this political, just pointing out an interesting observation of true green companies offering what I believe is a better design compared to a military connected company with ties to Potus45 and the USPS leader who is a Potus45 supporter. The question has to be asked how much politically is this driven versus the other two companies were ready to go into production with their offerings, but we have to wait 2 years and half a billion dollars paid by the tax payers for them to actually engineer a final working version. This raises big red flags for me as to the real valid ability of Oshkosh offering. I believe the other companies have a valid reason to see the details of why Oshkosh was chosen.

Totally agree and this beats hands down the look of the Tesla Y IMHO.

Have to disagree with you as the Oshkosh looks old, cheap and does not reflect where the USPS needs to go with efficiency and future. UPS is far better even as an ugly pod over the Oshkosh. I have to also wonder due to the USPS Head being a Lackey from POTUS45 and Oshkosh being a Potus45 supporter how much under the table money exchanged hands to get this contract for the Billions and then as you state, 2 years before the final actual truck comes out. If this is not the actual truck which is what is implied and they showed off an ICE, no hybrid or EV version compared to the others, how did they win this contract then if not for paying off certain individuals. I think the other vendors had a far better design and all included the ability for the postal worker to stand up in the back and carry larger packages. They also proved they had Hybrid / EV working concepts. We do not need the ICE versions, Hybrid for very rural long distance and EV for the cities and suburbans is what should be built. Reminds me of a Mad Max world of Postal delivery.

Have to say that the news covering this new Ugly Duckling is too funny as are the posts on Twitter. The new USPS trucks are delivering strong reactions — here are some first-class responses (msn.com)

Course NONE of that would have been required if not for the Profits over Human life and greedy electrical ERCOT of Texas that went cheap and did not pay to have proper winterizing of both the 24.8% of power production by Wind Turbines but more importantly the 51% produced by Natural gas as the pipes froze blocking the gas flow. Coal 13.4%, Nuclear 4.9%, Solar 3.8% and Biomass fired units 1.9% still worked. Texas energy: How much power comes from wind turbines, natural gas? (statesman.com) Freeze off is the official problem due to no Winterization of pipes and so ice formed blocking natural gas delivery to power generation plants as well as to businesses and homes that did not have winterized piping or proper depth of pipe being buried. Texas’ natural gas production just froze under pressure (msn.com) Amazing until the Governor banned exports, making money over power online to protect human life was more important. Texas Governor Bans Natural Gas Exports | OilPrice.com

Here is Ford official announcement of going pure EV for the European market starting with their Cologne Germany plant. Ford Europe Goes All-In On EVs On Road To Sustainable Profitability; Cologne Site Begins $1 Billion Transformation | Ford Media Center

Yes, a big hit here too, but still see the occasional one on the flatbed or along the side of the road. Thinking on this, it might also be more common for me to see them on Flatbeds since the repair shop for this area is just down the road off of 220th and I5 in Mountlake Terrace, WA.

@ykX @oldshurst442 I am thinking being the west coast and especially the Seattle area, you see a ton of Tesla every day and as such, the more you see the more you see the occasional break down of one along the side of the road. I would agree with ya both that it is probably no more than ICE auto's. It is weird that Tesla does not take this more serious with other OEMS coming into the market with EVs. Ford and Hyundai as well as gm and especially Rivian is going to put a big squeeze on Tesla sales as people leave for other options.