G. David Felt

Sports Drink

Icey Blue

@Drew Dowdell Seems the default theme is erroring out on me. I changed to Caffeine theme, everything is running slow as a slug.

Consumer reports has tested in depth and stated that Tesla AutoPilot is a DISTANT second place to GM's Super Cruise. Even European testing has put Tesla in 6th place out of 10 systems that were tested. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-selfdriving-safety/tesla-autopilot-a-distant-second-to-gms-super-cruise-in-hands-free-test-consumer-reports-idUSKBN27D1B7 https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/28/gms-super-cruise-tops-teslas-autopilot-in-consumer-reports-testing.html https://www.autonews.com/regulation-safety/gms-super-cruise-rated-ahead-tesla-autopilot-consumer-reports

? What do you think of rubberization or leather cover over it? I have seen friends who also did not want to pay big money so they decided to have the interior parts either rubber coated or leather. I have seen kits you can buy for applying leather over plastic or foam dash parts.

Captain Crunch with Crunch Berries

YOUR Ignoring my clear pointed typing of SPECIAL HAULING LOADS. Most Kenworth's, Peterbilt's, MAC, WHITE can all haul over 80k lbs. Special permits are needed as is special plans and road closures to haul over sized loads. That happens all the time with the regular Diesel Class 8 trucks. So then NO DIESEL Maker if we take your point above should build anything to handle over 80k lbs. Triton EV is clearly stating they can handle the daily freight hauling and can also handle the special hauling loads. The story says the trucks will cost like normal diesel depending on features and sleeping cab from $150,000 to $250,000 a truck. This is very competitive with current class 8 hauling trucks of equal feature functions.

? Not sure what you read, but the linked story clearly states that this truck meets Class 8 with Torque and is capable of hauling up to 220,000 pounds so it can handle the normal 65ft trailers at 80k lbs plus the special hauling loads up to 220,000 pounds as I stated above. On top of this, 300 miles of pure EV run plus the Hydrogen generator that allows plenty of miles past that. Yes if stopped for the night, recharge the battery pack overnight, but otherwise fast fill Hydrogen and keep on trucking.

True Brick on Wheels. Take an old Hummer H3 over this.

Count Chocula

Seems Motor Trend is suggesting that the thread bare dodge line up to use their words should take the Fiat Tipo Cross and rebadge it as a Dodge to fight the Subaru CrossTrek. https://www.motortrend.com/news/fiat-tipo-cross-first-look-review/

KIA is getting a relaunch in 2021 with new auto's and a new sleek look according to this story. According to the CEO of KIA, the Telluride, K5, Seltos and restyled Sorento is the start of the Plan S with the full plan being rolled out early 2021 globally. The CEO says KIA will become a more Dynamic, Stylish and inventive auto maker unlike the current blah auto lines everyone has out currently. Backed by a $25 billion dollar investment, Kia will roll out 11 EVs to go along with the current ICE lineup by 2025. KIA's EV lineup will be built on their Global Module E-GMP platform. Globally Kia expects 20% of sales to be from EVs in 2025. Imagine by KIA https://www.motor1.com/news/450918/kia-relaunching-brand-new-logo/ Seems November 6th is here early as the Ford Eco Sport Active relaunch with new skin is here thanks to who ever made a mistake of posting the images online. Have to say I am not impressed with the look of this auto. https://www.motor1.com/news/450998/2021-ford-ecosport-active/

Seems European regulators have blessed the PSA / FCA merger. Completion of the merger for Stellantis is Q1 of 2021. They will then immediately enact the 40% cost cutting needed by both companies to survive. Especially after a hard money loosing year due to the Pandemic. They say another 40% saving will come through merging of operations and a estimated 20% reduction in costs of marketing / sales costs due to this merger also. More details of the jobs reduction, plant changes, etc. will happen in 2021 once the deal is done. Stellantis will be the worlds 4th largest auto company once this merger is done. https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2020/10/european-regulators-finally-approve-psa-fca-becoming-stellantis/ An interesting side read is why PSA wanted FCA. Jeep Pure and Simple. One of the most world wide known off road name plates and Jeep is exploding in growth in China with their PHEV and Japan with their Renegade 4xe pure EV. Markets are exploding in wanting jeeps while it also is the 6th most popular name plate in the US. https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2020/10/jeep-easing-electrification-into-japanese-market-world-to-follow/

Crazy the weight of all that steel. Course MPG is not what they are worried about. Interesting home job of iron plating, looks to be 1/2 inch thick. Crazy. Thanks for posting.

Seems Nikola and especially Tesla might have some serious competition. Triton Solar has decided to get into the EV Truck business for commercial Class 8 trucks, Triton EV. In 35 days they built a working prototype that can haul 220,000 lbs with a driving range of 300 miles. They choose to go pure EV with an option for a Hydrogen generator due to the scientific facts that a Class 8 Semi that Hyundai and Mercedes Benz are working on for the market have one big draw back. Hydrogen is only have as dense at power than Diesel and to replace Diesel, you need equal to it or better. Answer is EV Class 8 Trucks where you can have equal and in many cases better torque / hauling capacity. While todays batteries can allow up to 300 miles of range and yes Tesla has stated they will also have a 500 mile pack, recharging is a limitation due to how long it takes. The answer to that is using Hydrogen as a perfect generator of electrical recharge use while being very clean and good for the environment. This also allows for long haul use then with the only challenge being the need to build more Hydrogen fueling stations. Triton was able to build this Class 8 semi in such a short time as rather than building from scratch which Nikoa and Tesla have done, they choose to source out the parts and material needed from existing Class 8 suppliers and built the truck. Currently Triton EV is looking to partner with existing Truck builders to get this into production sooner than other announced Class 8 EV trucks. https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/triton-ev-electric-semi-truck/

Seems the DOE is going to spend $1.95 million on research by the following places as they look to use COAL for critical rare earth elements. Seems rather than burning and polluting the air, COAL has the ability of being crushed and then separating out the rare earth elements that could be used for sustainable green energy and EVs. The DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory will manage the projects, which will be carried out by the following recipients: Battelle Memorial Institute (Columbus, OH) BioCarbon Technologies (Missoula, MT) Concurrent Technologies (Johnstown, PA) Energy Fuels Resources (Lakewood, CO) MATERIA USA (Inwood, NY) MP Mine Operations (Mountain Pass, CA) Tetra Tech (Pittsburgh, PA) Project 1 Texas Mineral Resources (Sierra Blanca, TX) University of North Dakota (Grand Forks, ND) UPSHOTS (Forsyth, GA) West Virginia University Research (Morgantown, WV) Winner Water Services (Sharon, PA) https://chargedevs.com/newswire/doe-looks-to-coal-as-a-source-of-critical-minerals-and-rare-earth-elements/

It would appear that New Jersey is the next state to propose an ICE ban. According to the state which did pass an emissions reduction of 80% by 2050, the state DEP has stated that starting with this year through 2025 New Jersey will need to put a 110,000 EVs on the state roads each year and stop all sales of New ICE auto's by 2035. The plan also includes having ALL Utility regulators, state agencies, county, city, etc. transitioning away from ICE auto's to EV's. The New Jersey state legislature is entertaining ways to move forward with clean energy initiatives and clean air initiatives. New Jersey has been talking with the west coast states and others that follow the CARB plans seeing the Federal EPA being ineffective at protecting the people. Question then is could New Jersey be the next state to agree to CARB and propose a ban on ICE sales as they embrace EV's and the infrastructure to support the move? https://chargedevs.com/newswire/will-new-jersey-be-the-next-state-to-propose-an-ice-vehicle-ban/ https://chargedevs.com/newswire/california-governor-issues-order-to-ban-the-sale-of-new-fossil-fuel-vehicles-by-2035/

Seems GM and Ford in the 60's was aware of Climate change and looking at ways to combat it before flipping to trying to figure out how to undermine the climate change science in the late 80's and 90's before GM released the 1996 EV1 to the California market. GM and Ford was studying how their leaded fuel auto's affected climate change as they were building cars like the GTO Judge. GM hired scientist presented to the CEO, Chairman and other high level executives their findings. The story at the link below was unable to confirm if Ford Executives ever also got presented to by their climate scientists. The findings did push GM to find ways to clean up the tail pipe emissions and led to the support of California CARB with the EV1. Ford eventually did launch their 1998 EV Ford Ranger Pickup for the California Market only but also ended up shipping it to other states that also purchased the truck for fleet use. The research shows that in the early 2000's under Bill Ford Jr. that Ford started the move away from big engines with high emissions to smaller engines and is in support of CARB as they bring out their Mach e and F-150 EV Truck. GM on the other hand sided with the Trump administration and has since then found themselves hurting in the perception of the public for working for cleaner climate change. One does have to wonder if the siding with the current administration is what drove GM to move aggressively forward with the Hummer EV line which was not on the earlier EV road map for GM. GM is now working aggressively in the last few years to lead the change to EV as they are also doing in China now. Interesting Times we live in. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1130089_report-50-years-ago-gm-and-ford-understood-climate-change-was-an-issue

Seems Toyota is moving their complete product lineup to hybrid as the 2021 Toyota Sienna Minivan is now a hybrid only with 36 mpg and a far more flashy style. Almost SUV looking. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1130094_2021-toyota-sienna-first-drive-36-mpg-and-design-flair-make-the-minivan-relevant-again Got my invitation from Lucid Air to reserve my car and they are highlighting the 34" glass cockpit floating display much like the new Escalade. $300 for a reservation.

Counting Married 30 years and counting.

Love ranch for covering the taste of veggies, but I just do not get the Guacamole. The taste and texture of that fruit is just blah to me. Glad you love it, we all gotta love our dressings some how. My mom loves that too, says it lets the veggies speak for themselves. I will stick with covering them up with regular Ranch.

I can totally respect that comfy look. Checking work email and then gonna eat breakfast. Will do a mid morning workout.

Band Camp

This is so Funny! Watch the video in the story at the link below, the guy usually takes auto's apart and tells ya how much it will cost to manufacture. He is able to check out a Changli which is the cheapest EV in the world. Very funny video to watch. https://jalopnik.com/we-took-the-worlds-cheapest-ev-to-a-car-manufacturing-e-1845484056

Very interesting write up on comparing the electric pickups coming out versus the Ford Raptor. https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/gmc-hummer-ev-tesla-cybertruck-rivian-bollinger-electric-truck-comparison/