G. David Felt

Consumable appliances

@surreal1272 That is awesome, Congratulations for getting the updated system and phone capability. Life is way better this way.

Betting with building the Ford / Lincoln models the prices come down even more. Gut tells me that Ford will want to get the price lower asap.

Yes, another reason I like Rivian is truly US backed start up with no Chinese influence yet. One does have to wonder about Tesla and the affects China has had with him to push the building of cars there.

Rivian had originally stated much higher starting prices that were in the high $70,000's, but at the San Fransico Road Show this last weekend RJ stated this: Company founder RJ Scaringe told Reuters in a chat that the electric R1T truck and its R1S SUV counterpart would cost less than originally announced. He didn't provide full pricing, but he indicated that a mid-range R1T with 300 miles of range and an electrochromic glass roof would sell for $69,000, while a comparable R1S would sell for $72,000. The automaker had pegged the starting prices for the R1T and R1S at $61,500 and $65,000 respectively. https://www.engadget.com/2020/01/26/rivian-ev-prices-lower-than-first-announced/

Pretty much all the Hydro dams in my state, Washington have had their turbines running since installation. You are right that these old mega dams were built to last compared to newer stuff. I understand that oils, grease and petrochemicals go into building solar / wind generation equipment. If built right it should last a long time, but I also get that companies have looked for the cheapest way to build things. At least they do not require petro on going long term like a gas / coal power generation plant and motor along with no emissions once in production of electricity. Nothing is perfect, but some are better than others long term when you look at what it does. I have not looked but I suspect that emissions of a wind turbine other than when in production of the motor is significantly less than a Coal or Natural gas electric production system. Regardless of where the power comes from, we are in a new era of how auto's are looked at and powered and I honestly think we are back in that time of a major change that happened in the 1920's as plenty of auto companies came and went and we are there now again with the Hybrid / EV auto's. Sadly this also means billions spent and lost as many of these companies will get bought up or go bankrupt. What we have in the end will be interesting to see. One thing I know, we will never loose our trucks, after all regardless of sci-fi movies like A.I. where you saw all these electric auto's that were 1, 2 or 4 person, you never saw a truck. Yet we know we will always need trucks as constructions to basic hobbies will always require hauling and people will always have a need for the usefulness of a truck.

I understand your point, I also believe as many do that the 80yr old truck was over engineered as we really did build things back then to truly last compared to many auto's in the last 40 years that I believe would never go the distance in lasting that long on mechanical linkage. I also agree that some of the electronics are built cheaply to wear out and generate repair revenue for the dealerships. There is plenty of evidence that TBW can be built to military grade spec and last way longer than people would think even in a war zone. Depends on if you want to pay or not.

Gonna Say some states might be toxic using Coal, but BS on the inefficient, costly toxic renewable energy. That is NOT TRUE!

Wonder if Toyota got their inspiration to go with the center dash from Nash? ? Or where there other auto's before Nash that tried the center dash approach? Very cool and the woman gave the auto goosebumps!

My dad always said have the right tool for the right job. Chevrolet Tahoe or GMC Yukon? ? Love them both, but will stay with my Escalade for now!

One Positive benefit that a Skateboard platform brings to Auto's is the ease of reconfiguration for local markets. Being drive by wire compared to past manual linkage of an auto, this should make configurations a much faster process.

Excellent question when we have this proof that it is anything but.

Acura Legend today and an Oldsmobile Aurora which was a surprise.

Seems really weird that no major big news outlet has the story about Daimler denying the battery shortage and their own press site does not say anything either. https://news.teamymz.com/daimler-denies-battery-supply-problems-plans-to-build-50000-eqcs-this-year/ This says they will build 50,000 this year, but even then that is short of the original stated goal on Daimlers web site of 60,000 and with only 7,000 built last year of a proposed 25,000 of their compact CUV, I have to question the lack of interest you state versus parts available and LG actual statement that demand is outstriping supply. When they build the auto the buyers really want in the right size they will sell big time and Ford F150 EV, GM EV Trucks / SUVs full size, Rivian, etc. will prove that out.

Lynnwood Mall updated their chargers. Free charging of quick charges.

Never smelled the ozone of the electric motors, but how quiet they are is sure nice.

I will say once your on a quiet EV public bus, you never want to go back onto a Diesel, propane or CNG bus again. I love the EV buses running around the streets of Seattle, hate it when you hear a noisy diesel bus from across county lines pull into a stop. The noise, smell just is terrible.

@surreal1272 That is really cool, thank you for updating us. I am excited to see that you moved forward to do this. I honestly think you like myself and others that made the move will love the ability to have your phone tied into the auto system.

Very cool tech, GM's eBrake for Trailering allows GM full size trucks with trailer to brake to a stop 40 sooner than on average. https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/autos-trucks/gms-latest-trailers-that-brake-as-well-as-trucks/ar-BBZeuOj

They also do not take into account various state discounts for owning an EV. California give more discounts too plus free install of a 220V Level 2 charger at home. Course you also have in some states like Washington, no sales take on EVs and free home charging level 2 so those can all add up to making the auto on par with ICE. Plus unlike California, 6 cents per kWh for power is dirt cheap compared to $3 plus dollars per gallon of gas.

Thanks for posting, this is a good read on a even comparison of the Electric Kona to the Turbo Gas version and how both ended up liking the electric over the ICE. Not planning for charging, I can understand the stupid increase in cost, but so much more to like about the EV. Great Read!

Agree that it will make an interesting study on costs. The Proterra buses have come from the $250K that we discussed a year ago down to $175, but still about double the diesel. I am wondering if they are looking at it in the same 10 year cycle of charging costs compared to maintenance cost of the diesel to justify the cost?

That is very cool read, excited to see the Luxury SUV that Rivian is building for Lincoln. That they have not stated, usually they say how much but the cost over the next five years to replace the complete diesel fleet is not stated nor on the state web site either. We be in the dark on this. This is a cool read on what a potential Electric Hummer might look like. https://www.motortrend.com/news/hummer-ev-rendering-photos-details/

Virginia is on a 5yr plan to replace all their school buses with EV buses. https://chargedevs.com/newswire/dominion-energy-selects-thomas-built-jouley-for-electric-school-bus-initiative/ Dominion Energy is going to buy Thomas Built Buses that use Proterra technology so that the buses will have a 220 kWh battery pack for a range of 134 miles. They will be adding 200 buses a year to replace all diesel buses over the next 5 years. Health of the children is the principle focus removing the toxic waste exhaust that the kids currently are exposed to on the buses.

Oops, Seems Jeep and Suzuki have been caught with cheating on their Diesel auto's in Europe too now. https://www.autoblog.com/2020/01/23/jeep-grand-cherokee-suzuki-vitara-diesel-emissions-europe/ Jeep says they have a fix that will go out to all jeeps immediately while Suzuki does not have a solution yet.