G. David Felt

True, but I still do not think it is right or fair to jack up prices, I just shop elsewhere than deal with dealers like that. Very cool as the SAE j2954 wireless charging standard has been released and it includes V2G or Vehicle to Grid reverse charging which means you can have your EV plugged in and if you lose power at the house, the auto can supply power to the house. As a water proof charging pad, this makes EVs even easier as you just come home park over the pad and let it re-charge overnight. https://insideevs.com/news/450548/sae-j2954-wireless-charging-standard/ This is the actual standard site, but very techy, the story above is a nicely laid out clear explanation of the code. https://www.sae.org/standards/content/j2954_201904/#:~:text=The Recommended Practice SAE J2954 establishes an industry-wide,charging of light-duty electric and plug-in electric vehicles.

This is one of the most cool stories I have seen and read about how Michelin tests their tires. It has since been retired to their Museum. The special built car also had dual 23 gallon fuel tanks. This car would travel at 111 miles per hour and powered by duel Corvette C3 5.7L V8 engines. Car is 23ft long. Good read of all the details at the link below. https://www.thedrive.com/news/37188/michelin-built-this-freakish-10-wheeled-citroen-to-test-truck-tires-at-110-mph

My bad, I made an assumption here and should have clarified, battery packs that get usually attached between the wheels under the auto are sealed but use a cooling system to optimize the performance during hot or cold weather. As such, attached with the Electric Motor is an Electric Heat Pump that is used to both heat or cool the cabin plus regulate the battery pack. I disagree with you as your Buick project is a cool project but your modding various things to make them work just as you did with your truck. Same is to be said for any auto project whether you use an ICE or EV power train. Changes have to be made to allow a modern power train to work with an old auto.

Ford CEO Jim Farley in an interview said FORD will be moving forward with Making EV's affordable to the masses. As such, expect to see sooner rather than later Ford Electric Commercial vehicles as well as mass appeal affordable EVs. Ford on their Q3 results call said to not expect Ford to come out with a $100,000 plus off roader as they have that covered for now. Ford plans to make an even bigger impact with our EV strategy by ensuring our Ford Electric Transit Van family and F-150 work truck appeal to everyone from Businesses to retail users. Their Mach -E SUV went into full production last week and will ship by the end of the year to customers. Farley went on to state that Ford does not want to be just another auto company that transitions to EV's but wants to lead and right now to lead and support our commitment to the Paris Climate accord and in standing with California on CARB requirements, Ford will be moving to ensure everyone can afford an EV. Farley says this is not a propulsion story but an investment in the digitization of our business. Ford has stated to use a baseball analogy, that Ford is NOT in the first inning of electric transformation due to the cost challenges as they prepare to support the needs of affordable EV's with battery pack production as they are building in Canada. The second inning is where Ford will be seen as they expand the offerings in the commercial sector with di-directional charging, job site charging, connected servies, supporting roles for EV's that will help to lower ownership costs of EVs. Farley did not get into any other details of their business plan but did state that expect Hybrids across all product lines to come out next year and the future of SUVs is electric which will start with assembly at the Ford's Oakville, Ontario Plant. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1130166_ford-is-betting-on-commercial-electric-vehicles-affordable-evs-says-ceo

Volvo has finally opened their dedicated EV Motor design lab in Shanghai and Gothenburg Sweden. Moving forward the company will use their own designed and built electric motors. which will make even the motors in the PoleStar auto's even more efficient and powerful. At this time, the existing motors they are using are about 50% efficient when compared to Tesla. The new global platform SPA2 platform will go with their new Recharge PowerTrain family and motors/platform will start with the all new EV XC90 SUV that will come out in 2023 as a 2024 model. The next EV will be their luxury top of the line XC100 Recharge also out in late 2023 or early 2024. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1130165_volvo-is-developing-its-own-electric-motors-for-evs-in-sweden-and-china

I would disagree with you as there are clear religious groups that have the presidents ear and are manipulating it to achieve their own agendas in regards to Woman Bodies/reproduction rights as well as groups such as @Robert Hall points out that is attempting to get government to change to a certain way. I agree with you that at this time our constitution has protected all well be you one to follow religion or not. But we are in interesting times with fanatical groups and individuals attempting to change the country. This is no different than how we debate and discuss EV's versus ICE auto's here. Change is inevitable, some will embrace it while others will fight to keep any change from happening.

This is no different than your current auto project. For those that choose to go this way, you have the bulk of the parts and working components. Unlike keeping an old auto, to that old spec and trying to hunt and find ways to make it work, this comes with a long list of already working parts including the cooling system which is already mounted on the motor that goes in the existing engine bay. One of the benefits of connect and cruise is that it does limit how much you have to hunt down or create yourself as in regards to mounting brackets. Like the ICE connect and cruise packages you can buy, the EV connect and cruise will as with all auto projects have some modifications and custom making brackets, etc. if you go that route and do not do which lots of folks have in regards to using existing mounting holes. That extra cost is all up to the individual and if your doing this yourself, at least GM has already covered how to make the motor, controllers, wiring, cooling and battery pack connect and work together. How professional looking is up to you. Since these EV packages will connect to existing transmissions, there is no change in drive train components or brakes That is the benefit of a Connect and Cruise is a working powertrain that will take minimal effort for the auto enthusiast to install and make functional. One could take an existing auto, pull the engine and install the EV crate power train following their directions or one can go the complete way you are doing with your cool Buick and redo everything paying attention to details and taking years. Your right it is all about the money you want to spend, but this is no different than buying an ICE GM Performance Powertrain. ICE is just as expensive or even more so depending on the performance you want. Currently on sale, but normally $30,000 roughly for the Motor, Transmission, Wire harness, controllers, o2 sensors, etc. and if this is going into anything but a corvette, you have the same mod costs so this could if say you were putting it into a 1986 Monte Carlo SS, you still have plenty of modifications to do including hooking up the cooling, AC, etc. that you mention. One interesting observation is the Connect and Cruise Engines with Manual Transmission are anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands more over the engine with Automatic transmission. Example: https://www.gmperformancemotor.com/parts/CPSLT4DT56.html

Ford CEO Jim Farley is not shying away from stating that the Ford Mach e will be a true competitor to the Tesla Y long range AWD auto. I have to agree with the CEO that this being built from the ground up as an EV and not an ICE converted to EV auto gives them a good chance to compete and with Tesla no longer having the federal discount, Ford will have an advantage in the short term. I hope the dealerships do not attempt to put on the idiot stupid local deal markup pricing that adds crazy thousands to the price. The story at the link below had some interesting comparisons. https://electrek.co/2020/11/02/ford-ceo-mach-e-tesla-true-competitor/#more-153559 Tesla is either now or already has changed over their battery assembly line to support the new Panasonic cells that hold 5% more power but will have 20% more total by 2025 and a much faster recharge time according to Panasonic and Tesla's ex head of their battery department. Panasonic also is spending an additional $100 million to speed up production increasing output of battery cells by 10% by the end of this year. The real game changer is that the new battery cell's are expected to be able to rapid charge at 250 kW for 50% of the battery storage before it starts to slow down in charging the cells. While this is great news, I do have to wonder why when the Mach e and Hummer EV have 350 kW charging from the start that Tesla has not improved to match? https://electrek.co/2020/11/03/tesla-tsla-new-battery-cells-panasonic-faster-charging-capacity/#more-153642

Hot weather testing, very impressive. Anyone else watch Long Way Up? Have to say this makes both the Trucks and Motorcycles very impressive.

Do not forget the spin that Religion also plays in attempts for power and control. I wonder how many here ( The WHOLE US ) have really read our constitution and understand the rights we have as people.

Very cool, in Russia, air brushing one's auto for custom look is exploding. Have to say, some pretty cool art work. https://jalopnik.com/russias-airbrushed-car-scene-is-out-of-control-1843107995

Sadly, there are those in society that are much like a Horse with Blinders on and fail to see the benefits of a Multi-Cultural Society. Multi-Tech Society, etc. Sadly many countries will remember how terrible the US was to them far longer than how good we were and the bump of ignorance that hit for what I hope is only a 4yr road bump. We need to lead by example and by working with the world, not by fighting everyone as a bully on a school yard does. Old thinking, being complacent and wanting for the most part to have everything Stagnant is how society dies. Look at companies that have continued to grow and you find them global multi-cultural companies that are embracing working with everyone. Road Trips is what makes this forum so much fun as we see how various types of auto's make it out there and how they either work with society and mother nature or hurt it. I for one am very excited for both Hummer and Rivian and after watching the Rivian TV show on their trip from South America up through Central America and back to North America am looking forward to seeing how I fit in one and if the wife likes it. Could be that either the Hummer or Rivian is my first EV.

missing

Very excited that Connect and Cruise will use the Ultium battery and motors to offer various conversion kits with the controllers and wires. https://media.gm.com/media/us/en/chevrolet/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2020/oct/1029-sema360.html First Kit out next year: The 60-kWh Electric Connect and Cruise package, expected to be available in the second half of 2021, includes: 60-kWh battery pack 200-horsepower electric motor / 266 lb-ft of Torque DC-to-AC power inverter to drive the electric motor DC-to-DC power converter to power low-voltage systems Wiring harnesses, controllers and water pumps for battery heating and cooling This kit alone is more power than many 70's or 80's auto's had. GM will not confirm or deny, but someone let slip that this first conversion kit would be about $14,000. Not bad when you think of the motor, battery pack, controllers, wires, etc. Much cheaper to have an auto you want to drive that is EV than to buy new. As the media press release states, GM will continue to offer Connect and Cruise solutions from the LSX V-8s to eCrate conversion kits. Imagine putting in the 1000HP / 11,500 lb-ft torque motors and battery pack from the Hummer into my 1994 Suburban. AWD Awesome Power Performance!!! with the best part being fueling from home over night.

Seems since the US is up in the air for EVs due to the craziness of our political current administration, Nissan has moved forward with Europe showing off many Test Mules that are new Production ready to drum up excitement for 2021 sales. Currently other than the Concept auto they showed off, no test mules have been built that would meet US auto requirements. Nissan is saying at the earliest, 2022 will be when they might have working prototypes testing in the US. Sad that the Ignorance of DC is holding back awesome technology that is good for the planet and people. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1130151_nissan-teases-potential-of-ariya-electric-crossover-for-europe-as-us-election-nears

The more research I have done, the more excited I am by an EV Crate package as this is the most complete system to date that would allow a much easier conversion. I could see doing this to my 1994 GMC SLE suburban. With the Pandemic, I have not done anything other then have it on blocks. This package of a electric motor, connector to the transmission, controllers, wiring, etc. would make a great package for converting and enjoying locally my Suburban. Fuel at home and never have to deal with the gas station again for it. I am thinking that I could see them use their Ultium motor family to offer various power versions of the electric motors with various battery packs depending on what a person wants to spend. To Quote GM: this is only the beginning. “Chevrolet Performance is also evaluating additional eCrate packages with higher-performance options and new battery configurations to fit a wider range of aftermarket applications.” Chevrolet mentioned transitioning to the modular Ultium battery system in the future. In addition to powering the new Hummer EV, Ultium batteries are interesting because they’re more flexible in their arrangement and placement, which would be perfect for restomod project. Just read a couple more auto news stories that seem to confirm a 6.8 L supercharged V8 for a GT500 and all new Ford Raptor. It seems the Raptor with TT V6 are sitting on the lots as people who are spending that kind of money are not interested in a Turbo V6, they want V8. The deal also will create an additional 300 jobs as Ford will have their battery production for EVs built here being close to Canada's Cobalt mine. https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/breaking-unifor-and-ford-reach-tentative-agreement

Interesting body company DeKalb

It has been found that you can put together a standard set of photo's with basic instructions and even a person with no experience ever taking a picture can take a better picture than one that has taken just basic family photo's. If mgmt. really wanted to improve, a good mgr. would and could put together a basic 411 info packet for the person responsible on how and from what angles to take the pictures. Having some basic picture taking standards would drastically improve the quality and consistency of the images and over all online experience for those looking to buy a used or new auto. Perfect reason as to why Big Oil should not fear EV's.

Detailed

Saw a FWD Monte Carlo Pace car labeled car while leaving Home Depot, looked very clean until the person stepped on the gas and the blue/white smoke came out the tail pipe today.

As one with a photo degree, I have wondered many times about that and in thinking, it is about the bottom line of having an employee take pictures cost hourly wages and honestly, I think many dealerships are still stuck in the 70's on how to sell auto's. That is why Tesla, Rivian, etc. scare the dealerships. They are ignorant about changing with the 21st century. Your right, a little time to make a basic template of how to take photo's and which ones to show off the auto you could easily reduce it to 10 to 20 photo's at most of high quality that would show off the auto and then post it to the web. I expect over the next decade a number of dealerships to disappear as shopping via Costco, online or direct from manufacture to you with quality pictures will change the way people shop and what they expect. Waste time just staying old school of attacking and pressuring every person who comes on the lot will fail for those dealerships. With the Pandemic, many are shopping online and only when truly ready to look at the auto in person will they go shop. I talked with my sales rep at the Cadillac dealership via Zoom to see how he was doing. He said over all sales are down about 1/3rd of what they normally have been at this time of year. He also said far less looky loos and as such greatly reduced test drives of people just looking which has made the average auto sale of the purchased auto be under 15 miles when sold on the odometer. Interesting.

Tide (deadly bloom of toxic red dinoflagellates)

Minority Report had some very cool EV's that could be driven or used in autonomous mode for those that did not care about driving.

R.I.P. Sir Sean Connery who passed in his sleep overnight at age 90. The best James Bond 007 we ever had. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-54761824

kill