G. David Felt

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Yup, should be suit only, but I loved playing the games. I see they brought it to XBOX 360. History for the Young Pups here who might not know the game series. "Leisure Suit Larry is an adult-themed video game series created by Al Lowe. It was published by Sierra from 1987 to 2009, then by Codemasters starting in 2009. The first six Leisure Suit Larry titles, along with Magna Cum Laude and Love for Sail Mobile, were distributed by Vivendi Games, while Box Office Bust and Reloaded were distributed by Codemasters. Currently the games are being published and distributed by Assemble Entertainment." REBOOT

If this iX has 500HP and the EV power Train is to be used across the family of products, I do wonder how much more they can get from it. It also makes me wonder how long, not IF but when someone will crack the access code and be able to flash less powerful Controllers to allow more power in lower end versions. Interesting times for EV power Trains is coming.

Will be interesting to see how this auto does as the Power Train seems overly complex to me.

Leisure Suite Larry

I disagree with you as the 2-series has NO SOUL, They lost the soul of a driving machine decades ago. X7 is a decent butt Ugly SUV, not a tarnish, just a sad excuse for external styling. Keep the Gov Talk about of the channel please. Lets not end up having it locked as last time. @oldshurst442 Focus on the Auto only and do not give any place for others to run into politics. EV haters will have their day and go the way of past extinct animals.

Pente

I would take this ugly BMW over the monstrous waste of design time Chevrolet calls their full size pickup trucks. That WHIMSICAL and FAILING MISERABLY! The HD series is even worse than this BMW.

I can totally agree with that. I know in the early days Tesla had some mall locations but I thought they had given them all up for independent locations that had charging and demo models. At least here in the PNW that is all they have.

The Tesla stores I have been in have all had demo drive units and never heard or seen a place that did not. Seems weird that they would not have them for when a person asks to take one for a test drive. Thanks for letting us know. Rivian is not opening up Boutique stores yet focusing on manufacturing, then they are supposed to open in limited locations stores. Gonna be interesting.

It is weird as the same money in my wallet from January of this year is still there as I only use plastic now for the once a week shopping trip to Costco. Tesla and Lucid Boutique stores have functional demo models. I expect the Rivian stores to also have demo models you can take for a test drive.

Seems GM has announced they are hiring 1,100 people for their battery plant in Northeast Ohio. https://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/home.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2020/nov/1105-ultium.html Those interested in the various jobs can apply at their web site. Ultium Cells LLC Website

I take it as the Flagship of their BEV Product line till a newer one comes along to replace it and it then becomes the old Hen in the portfolio of BEV.

Visit the Boutique store to try out the demo models I would guess. I agree as for me I have to sit in it and test it out before I will order an EV.

Nissan while bleeding money did have a reduced loss in their quarterly report due to the aggressive restructuring that saw it shed 14,000 jobs rather than the indicated 12,500 by the end of the fiscal year. March 31st 2021 by getting the layoffs done early and reducing annual operating losses by 28%. Nissan is now estimating an annual loss of $3.2 Billion rather than the $4.5 Billion it stated in March 2020. A year ago for this same period Nissan had a $285 Million dollar profit and reported a $45.6 million loss. Nissan expects to return to profitability some time in 2021 calendar year. Nissan is planning to leave Europe and focus on China and the US markets where sales have been improving. Nissan is also looking at embracing and rolling out a global online sales model as they convert to an EV company. Nissan is keen in what they believe the over all industry is wanting which is to get out of having dealerships and moving to an online sales model with haggle free pricing. This would mean more of a Boutique type shopping for test drives and help ordering up the auto you want and then coming back to pick up the auto at a time in the future if you do not place an order online. Nissan is at the start of a major refresh of their whole product line as they adjust prices to drive sales and reduce incentive spending. https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2020/11/nissan-posts-predictable-quarterly-loss-says-annual-losses-wont-be-too-bad/

Porsche News An interesting story came out today by Porsche about 15 concepts that they never showed off after building them. The one that is getting chatter online is their Electric Mini Van they built in 2018. You can also check out the Porsche 919 street car, Porsche Vision Spyder and more at the links below. Update, seems if your looking at the various pictures, Porsche accidentally showed off the clay model of their 3rd EV the Porsche Macan SUV. While Porsche has pulled the image from their sites, the internet has already captured the image for life according to the pictures here at this link. https://www.thedrive.com/tech/37603/alleged-porsche-macan-ev-concept-model-accidentally-shown-in-now-retracted-photo https://press.porsche.com/prod/presse_pag/PressResources.nsf/Content?ReadForm&languageversionid=1155872 https://www.porsche.com/australia/aboutporsche/pressreleases/pca/?id=617521&pool=international-de&lang=none https://newsroom.porsche.com/en_US/products/porsche-unseen-design-studies-car-visions-22865.html

Hyundai Product Blitz News Between today and December 31st 2021, Hyundai announced today a major product blitz of 12 new and significantly enhanced SUVs. The 12 new SUV products over less than 15 months includes refined gasoline as well as new Hybrid, Plug-in, BEV and N Performance Models. Tucson, Santa Fe, Kona, and Santa Cruz will be refreshed and or enhanced. A all new electrified SUV will also come out. Quote: Hyundai today announced a sustained and commanding product blitz of 12 new and enhanced SUVs continuing through the 2021 calendar year. The fresh pipeline of new SUV products will include new and refined internal combustion, hybrid, plug-in, BEV and N performance models. These models include the Tucson, Santa Fe, Kona, Santa Cruz and a new dedicated-platform, electrified Ioniq SUV, all of which feature new designs, eco powertrain availability and major platform options. https://www.hyundainews.com/en-us/releases/3192

Per the following link https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1130266_r1t-and-r1s-electric-trucks-rivian-confirms-more-about-pricing-range-specs-ahead-of-orders Seems Canada will now be able to order on November 23rd for deliveries starting in November 2021. R1T Launch Edition starts at $75,000, a mid level version with deliveries in June 2021 R1S Launch Edition starts at $77,500, a mid level version with deliveries in August 2021 Both will launch with a 135 kWH battery pack that will get 300 plus miles on a charge based on the EPA testing scale. Unlike GM Super Cruise or Ford's Active Drive Assist which is a package you have to pay for, Rivian is making their Driver+ a standard feature. QUOTE: Rivian notes that all of its vehicles will have a Driver+ feature described as “true hands-free driving assistance” that will be getting added functionality through over-the-air updates. With the redundancy of two computing platforms plus 12 ultrasonic sensors, 10 exterior cameras, and 5 radar units, it compares to most other systems but offers more sensing than Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite.

The third link posted is where they mention the 23% increase in gasoline efficiency. I followed their link and discovered more info which I updated the above post with the following: UPDATED INFO: Far more details at this Ford Dealership web site based on them talking to Ford. https://www.phillongford.com/new-ford-f-150-hybrid.htm Here based on the dealership talking to FORD and what Ford has released to them, they have far more detailed info about the Hybrid pickup and comparison to Diesel and they state the V6 Hybrid system is 23% more fuel efficient.

Did ya get LED so you never have to replace them again?

Just reporting what they say which is the gas engine / Hybrid system is a 23% increase in fuel efficiency putting it on par with the diesel. Or another way to say that is that GAS was 23% less efficient than diesel till Ford applied a Hybrid solution to the gas engine. As such they are now on par. You choose which way is understandable to you.

Seems reviewers are able to test drive the Ford F-150 Hybrid and it ties the F-150 Diesel for fuel efficiency. The F-150 has 430 HP and 570 lb-ft of Torque compared to the diesel with 250 HP and 440 lb-ft of torque. Fuel economy is as follows: Hybrid gets 24 mpg in city, highway and overall rating. Diesel gets 21 mpg city, 29 mpg highway for a 24 mpg average. Hybrid is available on all trim levels of four door SuperCrew cab. Costs are as follows: $4,495 on the XL $3,300 on the XLT $2,500 on the King Ranch & Platinum $1,900 on the Limited So then the big question is what are the Pro's and Con's for Diesel versus Hybrid? I would rather say lets just post the numbers and let ya decide for your self. Diesel : 3L Turbo V6, 250 HP, 440 lb-ft of torque Tow's up to 11,400 lbs. Payload of 2,020 lbs. Diesel is an energy dense fuel compared to regular gas, allowing more power from a smaller amount of fuel. Provides best savings when at constant speed. Less Maintenance than a gas engine. Provides low-end torque for heavy-duty towing and hauling Hybrid : Much smaller carbon footprint than Diesel or gas 23% increase in fuel efficiency Ford has not released final numbers for hauling or towing, but based on past comments, Ford is aiming for a towing of between 4,500 to 11,800 lbs. Ford has not stated anything about hauling in the bed other than to say it would be on par with their Ford Family of trucks. https://autos.yahoo.com/2021-ford-f-150-powerboost-223100571.html https://thatlifecars.wordpress.com/2020/11/11/2021-ford-f-150-powerboost-hybrid-ties-the-diesel-for-overall-fuel-economy/ https://www.motorbiscuit.com/ford-f-150-diesel-and-f-150-hybrid-pros-and-cons/ UPDATED INFO: Far more details at this Ford Dealership web site based on them talking to Ford. https://www.phillongford.com/new-ford-f-150-hybrid.htm

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Flagship is what BMW has in their press release. I suspect the 0 to 62 mph under 5 seconds is so they can continue to tweak the controllers and I would expect a final figure to be around 4 seconds with the M edition being under 3 seconds. I know BMW has always had their EV family on the i moniker but to me they could and should have just put it into the existing family as a X5e SUV which would have made more sense to me. Will be interesting to see final numbers once they release for actual sale.

Gonna insulate first? How about recycled wood to give it some age and character? Loving the man cave, stay safe from mother nature. seems to be a wet winter.