G. David Felt

I am a hybrid type of person, some things are just easier to do to stay connected through out the day that text msg just works better for than a couple of seconds call. If it is family or a special event like birthday, anniversary, etc. I totally agree that a phone call is required. Considering the Toyota Frame failures and now axel failures, I agree sad if anyone gets hurt, but way to funny that peeps think Toyota is this perfect company. The Beverly Hills Cop series is still great to watch even today. Yup some politically incorrect moments in the films, but they were part of that generation.

Yup the Badge engineering has come around to be terrible again.

OUCH Major recall as Toyota axel can separate from the auto causing a crash. Toyota Announces New Recall: Over 683,000 Vehicles Affected In A Week (msn.com)

Buicks new tag line, "Exceptional by Design" The Next Era of Buick is ‘Exceptional by design’

That is a cool to know feature, sadly I doubt it will make much of a difference. At least Honda had the brains to know that customers still want Android Auto and Apple Carplay. That is a smart move for them.

WOW, a total compliance auto with underwhelming power and range in a market where hydrogen fueling stations are closing and at a cost that makes it hundreds of dollars to fuel a tank full. I guess write it off against profits as Like the Toyota garbage, they will have to give these away for near free. Toyota is already giving stupid $40,000 discounts to just sell the few that they do make and offer you to borrow an ICE auto when you need it to drive longer road trips. Toyota Offers $40,000 Off a $67,000 Car - Kelley Blue Book (kbb.com) Looking at the images, guess you have to be a honda fan as the interior is just hideous to me and the exterior mirrors the rest of their product line but is just blah. FWD Appliance.

I have to say that when they announced the Escalade IQ I was excited for moving from my current Escalade to this. Now that GM has truly moved away from supporting Android Auto and Apple Carplay and with the whole Coupe style to EVs. After having seen the photo's here in this story, I am disappointed. 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ In Flare Metallic Paint: On The Road Photos (cadillacsociety.com) I am loving the images of the interior, but the back end is leaving me disappointed.

Very cool research. South Korea is leading the way in Organic batteries that are now holding 91% charge after 1,000 plus charge cycles. Diluents Effect on Inhibiting Dissolution of Organic Electrode for Highly Reversible Li‐Ion Batteries - Lee - 2024 - Advanced Energy Materials - Wiley Online Library This could lead to very cheap batteries as well as a much cleaner storage medium.

Very interesting read. China's crackdown on American businesses leaves investors in the U.S. wary (msn.com) OUCH and the Recall Hits keep coming. Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen among 2.3 million vehicles recalled: Check car recalls here (msn.com) Seems Ford is having to do a recall after dealerships cut corners and did not replace airbags.

Very interesting. I do wonder while the images tend to go more airstream sloped, SUVs tend to be the calling card. I have seen writeups with some indicating the Pacifica could take a more SUV look. Be interesting to see what does actually come. Figure late this year or early next year we should see it revealed before going into production.

This is why GM will FAIL in not providing Android Auto and Apple Carplay. As they update and make changes faster than GM has ever been able to do. Apple's grand plans for CarPlay start with an exciting upgrade inside iOS 17.4 (msn.com) This is not boding well for the U.S. economy this year. The Bond Market Is Doing Something Not Seen in Decades. It Could Signal Trouble in the Stock Market. (msn.com)

Sharp Looking Ride!!!

Interesting another one bites the dust. Mercedes that had in 2021 said it would be an EV only company by 2030 has in their Q4 call stated they will not put an end date on ICE, and they are now aiming to have 50% of global sales as EV. Mercedes Benz ditches plan to sell only EVs by 2030 (msn.com) Mercedes-Benz Group 2023 results*: Cash generation at work | Mercedes-Benz Media

I will stand corrected as I see Ford CEO in Dec 15 2023 confirmed that they were moving forward with Google on the Qualcomm Android system in supporting the use of Android Auto and Apple Carplay system. I lumped Ford in with GM as a year earlier with the Qualcomm Announcement they said they would protect the data by not using the cell phone connectivity. I guess customers have spoken and Ford has changed back to replacing Sync in all their ICE and EV autos with the use of Android Auto and Apple Carplay. That I am very happy about. I tried to find the story I wrote about the Qualcomm Android Auto system where GM and Ford along with a few others had stated in moving to this system they would protect customers data by not allowing Android Auto / Apple Carplay and would use the software API SDK to create their own software interface. I did a quick search across the news stories but could not find that story. Yet THANK YOU, having found the news stories on Ford CEO in December 2023 stating they will stick with the ability to use it is GREAT and I am very happy for that as I think GM is making a BIG BIG BIG mistake. Yet it is a switch that they can flip back on. Hopefully Mary and team will get their act together and turn on the support for Android Auto and Apple Carplay.

Lets correct one thing! HONDA DID NOT install their own hardware / software!!! They are using the same Android Auto Controller system that I have posted about here in other stories as GM. The difference is they took the full Android Software with Android Auto and Apple Carplay and customized the look to look like Honda, but just like Hyundai/Kia/Genesis which is using the same Snapdragon QUALCOMM Controller/Software stack, they took the safe route of making it Look Honda but a solid established auto system. GM FAILED here in that they want to control the Dollars, so they turned off the Android Auto / Apple Carplay and stores and created their own using the API SDK for the same hardware set. This is where they failed to test and truly deliver an experience on par to the Android Auto / Apple Carplay system that we all love. Ford and GM will fall behind as I feel those auto companies that bring out their auto system supporting what the public is used too and share the money with Google will win over trying to keep the 100% to themselves when they are so far behind in the software development system. GM is going to have a hard time keeping up with Google and the updates they do to the Android Auto system that supports both cell phone formats. Google and Apple are too far ahead I fear for GM or Ford to catch up. IMHO Honda is also failing in their conservative approach as people do not want to wait and the slower charge speed is not a good way to introduce your customers to EVs. GM on the other hand is also failing as they give maximum charging speed to Cadillac and much slower across their other product lines. Since charging speed at home and on the road are real valid concerns, GM can win sales by having the best charging speed available on ALL MODELS from ALL BRANDS.

Just saw a car carrier that was all Acura. 2 cars & 6 suvs. All white, black & blue. Terrible style imho

True, but it is not the terrible Tesla or Mercedes jelly bean look.

I thought that was a corvette concept? Is that really a Pontiac? Corvette

This car I really like, have to say that the style is striking for me. 'Apple of China' starts new venture with bold aspirations to take down Tesla: 'Starting late has its advantages' (thecooldown.com)

Kia has been hitting on all cylinders to use the ICE term from Style to content and quality. This I can see as a big hit for them and one that will get folks that have looked at the Tesla to look at the Kia. As one that has been following reliability, Kia is doing a great job in comparison to others.

I see this crewcab as their full size T10 & T7 pickup. This I could see as a future T5 compact pickup.

The long wheel base does rock. I can see it really taking off with solid-state batteries for a much longer range. Very cool

Front end looks like all the other Rivians, but they have R2 on the website and a 33 second video with the front end sneak peak before the big reveal. Rivian - R2 Today SuperCruise has been expanded to 750,000 miles from the original 400,000 miles. GM Expands Super Cruise Network to 750,000 Hands-Free Miles, Largest in North America

The year was 2015, the Santa Cruz concept pickup was shown off at the LA auto show sporting a turbo diesel with 190 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque. Excitement was strong for Hyundai to bring a mid-size pickup to market. Yet folks' excitement started to wane when no truck came out in the preceding few years. It took Hyundai till 2021 to finally bring out an all-new Santa Cruz pickup. Now there are rumors of Hyundai bringing out an electric pickup. This has been confirmed based on two independent trademark filings. First was a filing for IONIQ T10 on December 27th, 2023 and confirmed by the governments trademark office on February 1st, 2024. Now we have discovered an additional filing that was also done on December 27th, 2023 for an IONIQ T7 that was confirmed on February 9th 2024. In looking at these details, it appears that these have been filed as follows: Automobiles; electric cars; parts and accessories for automobiles; hybrid cars; dump cars; buses; passenger cars; passenger cars for more than seven passengers; trucks; lorries; sports utility vehicles; motors for land vehicles; motorcycles Hyundai has an all-new e-LCV or Light Commercial Vehicle electric platform that they just recently signed an agreement with European based IVECO Group for building 1/2 ton to one-ton electric delivery vans. Hyundai has stated that the e-LCV platform could also be used for a large assortment of EVs including trucks. Hyundai went on a registration spree in summer of 2020 for IONIQ 1 to IONIQ 10 registering these 10 numbers and having it all confirmed as registered names by August 2021. The filings for two T-numbered IONIQ would tend to imply that a mid-size and full-size pickup truck could be headed to the North American Market. Recently Hyundai also registered these same two trademark names in Australia, we would also not be surprised if they were also registered in the European Union. So then could this be the future Hyundai Family of Trucks? Based on Hyundai's current EV motors, having a RWD truck with 300 to 500 horsepower or AWD with 600 to 1,000 horsepower is not too farfetched. What do you the reader think? Is Hyundai capable of entering the pickup truck market in both mid-size and full-size electrified trucks? View full article