G. David Felt

LOL, some of us are just more REALIST than others Skippy!

You are right that they have the records on the cost of maintenance for a bus in a fleet. Yet NO WHERE do they show adding this to the Purchase price of a Diesel Bus when they compare it to the EV Bus which has always pointed out the reduced maintenance cost. If they did that, I think even on a 12 year comparison they would come out much closer. Started to search around and found a few reports. Many are done outside of the US, India and China where they have already flipped over to more EV than Diesel so I ignored those. Pointes stated in the reports: 528 EV buses with 1yr maintenance records used to compare to diesel buses Diesel bus costs $500,000 versus $750,000 EV bus for Transit. School diesel costs $110,000 versus $230,000 EV bus New Flyer buses for Transit and Schools allowed access to this report of their maintenance costs for both buses. EV Buses save $400,000 in fuel expense and $125,000 in maintenance cost averted over the 12 year life of the bus. Seneca South Carolina shared their records, shows EV Buses are 16.5 mpg equivalent fuel efficiency compared to 3.8 MPG for Diesel. Fuel Per Mile costs was $0.28 for Electric, $0.59 for diesel with maintenance costs of $0.55 permile for EV buses compared to $1.53 per mile for Diesel. Report also states that for those school districts and Cities that used Solar Power Charging where the surplus was sold back to the local grid, this further reduced costs. Another point made was the reductions in EPA certificates and disposal of toxic waste related to gas/diesel buses. Here are US based reports: https://www.publicpower.org/periodical/article/electric-buses-mass-transit-seen-cost-effective https://uspirg.org/feature/usp/electric-buses-america https://www.govtech.com/workforce/Electric-Buses-Are-Not-Only-Clean-But-Less-Costly-to-Run.html

? Fighting, Stay positive and start shopping your resume. Better to be active while having a job than not at all. Some companies like where I work has frozen hiring, raises, bonuses and the executive staff have given up their pay to insure that the global workforce is not laid off. I appreciate what they are doing for us, but I know other companies that are more service focused, sales focused are starting to belt tighten as people hold off on spending money. Stay positive, stay focused, You will come through this OK, I believe! Based on statistics, we are already in contraction. While the freeways are busy here in the Seattle area, the lay offs by Boeing, Kenworth, Weyerhaeuser, are being felt. Depending on how big their employment rolls are, it will be minimal in many places to heavily noticed in others. One gauge as we learned in statistic class is tax revenue. Clearly when you look at that figure, you see every state has taken a huge hit. Then look at the Fed tax revenue and it also took a huge hit. Contraction in everything even though many states have opened up and then closed back down but trying to keep employment going, I still believe there is worse to come sadly. I hope everyone here is not hit as hard by this depression based on the current pandemic.

Agree the Diesel fuel, various oils, gaskets, etc. there is much that does not get factored into the purchase price of a Diesel bus other than the fuel that would move the price higher. Electrics are higher priced right now, will come down over time, but they have a longer life on the road than ICE. I truly think if they figured in all the rebuilds, repairs on the ICE buses along with the amount of costs for holding tanks, disposal of toxic liquid, etc. the price of a diesel bus would go up considerably.

? Just found out the 710HP Hellcat Durango certified by NHRA is a One Hit Wonder of a 6 month run. 2000 total will be built. The more I look at that it is one HELL OF A SWEET RIDE! Love the Looks. https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/2021-dodge-durango-srt-hellcat-debut/ Interesting read on the Hertz Bankruptcy and their 500,000 auto fleet that is left to deal with. https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/hertz-bankruptcy-used-car-fleet-court/

Seems the first fuel cell plane test flight was a success making it net zero equal for a plane. https://chargedevs.com/newswire/zeroavia-completes-test-flight-of-fuel-cell-airplane/ A video of the plane is a bum as I was wanting to hear how it sounded and the put a music track on it that keeps us from hearing. Cool Motor Finally found their post of it and WOW is that nice and Quiet. Chili just bought 150 electric buses from China to expand their bus fleet to 455 Electric buses, 2nd largest in the world behind China. https://electrek.co/2020/07/02/egeb-chile-orders-150-e-buses-santiago-france-nuclear-nevada-ev/

Seems that the war is on for who can slip through the Air the best. Lucid says they have the best numbers for aerodynamic efficiency of a luxury car. Seems Mercedes-Benz is going to have to work hard to catch up. lol https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1128703_lucid-air-claimed-to-be-the-most-aerodynamically-efficient-luxury-car

I expect a big drop in employment in the manufacture segment especially on the assembly line as I am hearing from coworkers who were planning to buy new auto's this summer delaying big ticket purchases. Global depression for sure.

WOW, Jeff Bezo, the richest person in the world just expanded his wealth to $157 Billion. Crazy amount of money. Hi wife is now the 12th Richest person in the World and Richest woman at $57 Billion networth. Still single that makes her the ultimate Sugar Momma! https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/jeff-bezos-is-so-rich-he-just-set-a-new-record/ar-BB16fK5y?ocid=msedgntp

I just saw this story and wish Washington would get on board as I see very little benefit in having a front license plate other than making the job of the cops easier. Ohio has joined 19 other states in doing away with the front license plate. https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/ohio-removes-front-license-plate-requirement-joining-19-other-states/ar-BB16fXwL?ocid=msedgntp

Funny, I do one search to get the image of the TravelJohn for my response here and now in my browser, I get ads for it.

Based on the Skateboard platform, those that have been inside the R1T say it has way more space than a regular full size truck. This would lead me to think that even when the Mid Size trucks are in the same width / length as the R1t, interior is implied to be full size.

Seems Masters is the new Bachelors in education for our Interns. This is the umpteenth email announcement about the team interns and everyone this year, all 100 plus interns are working on their masters.

QUESTION for EVERYONE: With Covid-19 and Shelter in Place, have you come to better know your neighbors? I have read this morning in multiple stories in the news that one affect of our current pandemic and the return of knowing who your neighbors are. Something that was very common in the 50's and 60's of knowing who lives around you. One example was a cul-d-sac where the families has social distance, but gathered with their BBQ's and had a group dinner and talked at a distance. I honestly have seen my neighbors more, but do not really know them any more than I did the last 21yrs of living here in my house.

Geometry

Godzilla!

Very true, all the Buffet's here in Washington state are still closed and the note on the Chinese / Mongolian buffet by me in Lynnwood is they are closed permanently. Old Country Buffet's that were here are gone as the franchise owner went bankrupt due to Covid-19. Worst yet is Airbus has stated it needs to lay off 10's of thousands of workers and the unions are saying no. HELLO IDIOT UNIONS, No one is buying planes, no sales, no profits, no money to pay the workers. Boeing is handing out pink slips as it slows all production. I suspect the Auto Industry will have a heavy contraction this fall. I believe we could see a 25% reduction in work force. I am appreciating companies where the CEO and Board are foregoing their salaries this year, have stated no pay raises or bonuses and froze hiring as they have committed to not laying off any employees during this pandemic. Very happy I have a job right now. I feel for those here and everywhere that have lost jobs. I do believe we are at the start of a global contraction and change in education / job training that will change the way we work and move about.

First, no proof that the Covid-19 was laboratory made (conspiracy theory). There is plenty of evidence that it came from Bats and yet how did the bats get it. Scientists are still not sure. Agree, it does not make you sicker, but the stronger spikes do not break as easily as before so recovery will be harder as it sticks in the blood causing clots and in the lungs. Every day my friend we see more and more ways that Covid-19 hurts people. Yes it is hard on those with pre-existing conditions and strong in shape people should recover best, but we are also seeing a huge up tick in infections among the youth to 20's something crowd. Course does not help with idiot's having Covid-19 infection parties thinking herd immunity is the best way to deal with a virus that is changing to survive itself and Humans finding a way to react to it to stay alive also. Sweden has acknowledged that the herd immunity is not helping their country. End result was to just share the info with everyone and wish everyone to stay safe and healthy. No need to take unwarranted risks. Rip to the people we have lost: https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/02/us/california-thomas-macias-coronavirus/index.html Sad for the bride, life should never start this way. https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/02/asia/india-wedding-coronavirus-infections-scli-intl/index.html Glad this man recovered, but he almost did not. From your neck of the woods. https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/01/us/arizona-man-crowded-bar-covid-hospital/index.html

California has started to install fast chargers on the rural roads now. https://chargedevs.com/newswire/envisions-ev-arc-provides-solar-powered-dc-fast-charging-along-rural-california-corridor/

@trinacriabob Here is the first of them that I read on the Prime Plugin Hybrid. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1128706_2021-toyota-rav4-prime-first-drive-review-the-way-a-plug-in-hybrid-should-be Here is a second review on the Rav4 Prime. https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/reviews/2021-toyota-rav4-prime-preview/

Pie

Reviews say the hybrid and plug-in hybrid actually drive better than the lower end Rav4's. Better than the Lexus predator mouth grill.

Been reading the reviews as I have family members that want a Hybrid CUV and I have to say the Rav4 has earned it's leadership place. The latest reviews just starting to come out on the Rav4 Prime Plug-in Hybrid is it is even better. Wish they would get them into the rental lots for testing.

SmartPhone

Of course it is boring to you, Ya live in the Dino age. Plenty of warm green house gas just before they get wiped out.