G. David Felt

Not everyone can wear a mask. I have realized that for my wife who has claustrophobia, that the mask adds heat to her face and does make it a bit harder to wear and she starts to as I say freak out a little bit. I have seen some people fully freak out and rip the mask off. So not everyone can use them especially asthma folks as the heated air is harder to breath than cooler air. It is going to be interesting to see how mask use goes over the next few years. I agree, that I can see as costs come down people having 1 of each. a ICE for longer road trips, hauling trailers, etc. EV for inner city / inner suburban driving with the ease of recharging at home every night.

Winter

Stop making fun of your brother, or is that a cousin? Inbreeding makes things so hard to tell.

Yes, I posted that in the random thread with a bunch of other news. Ford is focusing on their F-150 EV pickup and the Mach-e.

First off, in those videos that you attack that are PROOF is that the 2019 AMG could NOT hold their own against the 2019 Corvette ZR1! Enough said, MERCEDES LOST! Two, The bulk of society does not buy nor care about the overpriced auto's you mention here nor would you race a Bently, Brabus, Phantom or even an Escalade against a Corvette ZR1! Final Point, is this thread is about the C8 Corvette. The fact that you have to throw auto's priced 4 time or more against the corvette in your attempt to prove that America cannot build a true performance race car shows that you would rather be an Ostrich with your head in the sand than one to appreciate true engineering power. Maybe you should spend a little time at this site to fully understand the C8 Better! https://www.chevrolet.com/performance/corvette I also am sure once the Carbon Fiber rims are made available much like what the Ford Mustang has that we will see further weight reductions as they move forward with other areas that can be changed reducing weight. I would not be surprised to see them point out the weight savings on the 2021 ZR1

Ye they all are hurting, good to see this time at least Ford and GM both have lines of credit they can draw from to ride out the pandemic.

Seems Ford is going to GO BIG with SCREENS when the 2021 version of their F-150 pickups come out according to the leaked pics at The Drive :https://www.thedrive.com/news/32948/the-new-2021-ford-f-150s-interior-goes-big-on-screens

FORD is BLEEDING MONEY to the Tune of $5 Billion dollar loss this quarter and it is due to the Covid-19 virus. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ford-motor-results-idUSKCN22A1CX And this bring in the first project killed / delayed at this time which is the Lincoln Luxury SUV EV is now off for the immediate future in being built as a joint venture with Rivian. https://www.thedrive.com/news/33211/lincolns-ev-project-with-startup-rivian-falls-victim-to-coronavirus While GM is going full speed ahead with their EV plans and have scaled back their ICE R&D. Ford is committed to their F-150 EV and the Mach-e. As such it makes sense that even as Rivian said the bulk of the work was done and it was a release schedule time line now for the Lincoln EV, they are focusing on the F-150 and Mach-e. Stated is that the Lincoln could show up later once things pick up or feature / functions show up in other EVs for ford. Who knows at this time with the global economy in a depression. For the ICE Fans, Ford Ranger Rally which is a real auto sold in the world just not here and comes with a big Turbo Diesel and manual trans had a heart transplant as an African company is making them now with the Ford Raptor Twin Turbo V6 engine giving plenty of power even though it is not a V8. https://www.thedrive.com/news/33199/ford-ranger-rally-raid-truck-has-a-twin-turbo-raptor-engine-and-sequential-manual

American Pedestrians are dying in greater numbers since the current administrations instructed the NHTSA to ignore their 2015 mandate to gather citizen input on making trucks pedestrian friendly in accidents. 2015 and 2016 was data gathering years and the proof is that the bigger taller trucks and SUVs are more deadly than ever to those that are out and about walking. With trucks now taller than most people, being hit in a crosswalk or just about any other place is now killing more pedestrians per year with an average death rate of 3.4% per year increase. Bicyclists are the only higher death rate from being hit by trucks/SUVs at 6.3% increase per year. 72% of auto's sold last year were Trucks which include SUVs. This is a 57% increase over the last 5 years for auto sales. In 2008 the US signed onto the rules and regulations to test for pedestrian crash safety. Europe and Japan have the lowest death of pedestrians in the world. The US never implemented them and as such leads the world in Pedestrian death by Auto. https://jalopnik.com/nhtsa-isnt-doing-enough-to-protect-us-from-giant-trucks-1843129168

Compilation of the 2019 Corvette ZR1 against the 2019 AMG GT. https://www.asburyauto.com/compare/2019-chevrolet-corvette-vs-2019-mercedes-amg-gt/172003 To quote the write up since this is comparing all reviews and speaks VOLUMES: Recommendations © 1999 - 2020 Advanta-STAR Automotive Research. All rights reserved. This vehicle comparison and all of the content in it are provided only by license from Advanta-STAR Automotive Research Corporation of America. If you are not a legally licensed user of this vehicle comparison, it is against federal law to access it, copy it, forward it or use it in any manner whatsoever. Any unauthorized use of this vehicle comparison is a violation of U.S. and international law and is punishable criminally and civilly. 6IUEX-0KENZ 45.55.47.189 2020/04/28 J.D. Power and Associates rated the Corvette second among midsize premium sporty cars in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The Mercedes AMG GT isn’t in the top three. The Corvette was chosen as one of Car and Driver’s “Top Ten” for 15 of the last 22 years. The Mercedes AMG GT has never been a Car and Driver “Top Ten” pick. The Corvette was selected by Automobile Magazine as their 2014 Car of the Year. The Mercedes AMG GT has never been chosen. A group of representative automotive journalists from North America selected the Corvette as the 2014 North American Car of the Year. The Mercedes AMG GT has never been chosen. The Chevrolet Corvette outsold the Mercedes AMG GT by over 12 to one during 2018. © 1991-2018 Advanta-STAR Automotive Research. All rights reserved.

AMG One is a Vapor Auto and I doubt will see the light of day plus it is considered a Hyper Car exotic if it ever truly gets built. On top of the point that it does not compare to the Corvette or 911 in their class. Except the fact that America builds a better sports car at a lower price and discuss this rather than changing the story to attempt to always try and show off the AMG / MB as product you believe to be better, but is marketing only. Even the SLS AMG cannot beat the ZR1. Part 2 ZR1 versus AMG C63 Double Losses by the overrated AMG.

Thanks for posting, interesting how they state the Porsche is faster than the Corvette. Yes in the lower speeds it is and yet like all small engine sports cars, it runs out of power at 100 mph and from there the corvette continues to pull and speed away from 110 up to the top end where it is 4 seconds faster than the Porsche. This just proves that American OEM can and does build auto's that are faster than the Europeans just like in Ford vs Ferrari.

Be interesting to see this chart once 2020 is over and see how the pecking order changes.

Morning

The flip side of this is even if there is a commercial real estate crash, even with rezoning you might not get the people as NY stands out as a perfect example of how super dense cities spread viruses faster than the suburbs or rural area and as such could scare many to want to live away from the dense city for the immediate future. The current pandemic and leading doctors are saying this is far from over and could be worse next year much like the Flu of 1918 that got worse in 1919 but history only talks about the year the pandemic started. I could see us with millions more infected next year and hundreds of thousands dying and making people want to get away from the dense cities.

Tequila

How you call Kia/Hyundai is Ford and Dodge dealers here. Hustling dealers to move an auto while ignoring the customer and quality. Though reports say Kia / Hyundai have the best value and the cheap interiors are not a thing of the past. Fords biggest problem is sticking to their tried and true process of everything hard plastic at a high price. Ford Trucks are notorious for their hard plastic interiors at crazy prices.

I could easily see investment groups buy up commercial building to turn them into apartments / condos. While I am not one of them suburbs is as close to the city I want to be, I know many love to live in dense cities. That could drive a change in the makeup of cities with more shopping or at least delivery to home as people move into commercial buildings changed to apartments. Change is inevitable. I would say we should expect a 10 to 15% contraction in companies commercial space used as they figure out how to have workers work from home.

Lard

crisper

For tech companies that do not own their commercial property, I can see this becoming a reality as leases come up and yes that means a crash in commercial property. I know the 7 story building I work in for Dell Tech our lease is up at the end of the year. I can see the bulk of the 1,200 tech employees working from home. I still expect a physical office presence due to customer meetings. My gut tells me that Dell will go from 7 to 3 floors in our building by the end of the year.

Zombie's

It would appear that much like GM's Pontiac G8, too little too late as they say, Kia is looking at the same thing in regards to the Kia Stinger. Under 14,000 were sold in 2019. The performance Hot 4 door sedan just never brought in the buyers they thought it would and now with Covid-19, sales have plummeted to the point that Kia is thinking of shelving the refresh and just killing off the Hot 4 door RWD sedan. One that you could get loaded for less than $40,000. https://www.thedrive.com/news/33178/the-kia-stinger-might-die-for-being-the-best-car-no-one-is-buying Have to say that the Jeep Gladiator is Cool. Whether or not it is $44,000 dollars cool I leave it to everyone else to decide. https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/33064/2020-jeep-gladiator-mojave-first-drive-review-the-jeep-that-jumps This is the Mojave by the numbers: Base Price: $43,875 Powertrain: 3.6-liter V6 | six-speed manual transmission (eight-speed automatic optional) | rear-wheel drive/four-wheel drive with low range Horsepower: 285 hp Torque: 260 lb-ft Ground Clearance: 11.6 inches Off-Road Angles: 44.7° approach | 20.9° breakover | 25.5° departure Max Towing Capacity: 6,000 pounds Max Payload Capacity: 1,200 pounds EPA Fuel Economy: 16/23/19 mpg city/highway/combined (manual transmission) | 17/22/19 mpg city/highway/combined (automatic transmission) The promise: Jeep’s answer to the F-150 Raptor The delivery: A desert runner that makes up for its lackluster powertrain with sheer capability

Toyota has a new Global Platform for EV's and ICE auto's and they first 3 EVs are going on sale this week in China as the start of Toyota delivering 10 new EVs by 2025. https://electrek.co/2020/04/27/all-electric-lexus-goes-on-sale-in-china-this-week-two-toyota-evs-to-follow/#more-131746 Lexus UX 300e Toyota CH-R EV Last model listed that is on sales but no picture is the Toyota Izoa. Toyota said EVs are for the future and the younger generation who is open to change. As such the next 3 models are focused on those born 1990 and newer. AKA the younger generations. As such, we have the Concept Rhombus EV from Toyota that is supposed to appeal to the youthful. Toyota Rhombus EV I get what you say and for the 26 million out of work, yes going back to the construction jobs, restaurants, fast food, service based industry is understandable. The point being is we have proven that millions can work from home removing them from the roads and wasting hours a day on commute. This also is a reduction on people on the road so those that have jobs like you where you work on site at various places also have a shorter commute.

Toshiba has achieved a major milestone with their latest generation of SCiB Lithium Ion battery getting Class NK certification. This allows the battery cells to be used in Marine applications. Hybrid Container ships and other forms of commercial hybrid power trains. https://chargedevs.com/newswire/toshibas-scib-battery-system-meets-classnk-guidelines-for-ships/ On another front, we are making big strides in solid state batteries that removes totally the fire issue that traditional Lithium Ion batteries have. This new Solid State Lithium Ion battery not only have much higher energy density, but also higher temperature capability 1200 degrees before degradation of power efficiency happens. https://chargedevs.com/newswire/researchers-make-ceramic-based-flexible-electrolyte-sheets-for-lithium-metal-batteries/ Final bit of news is that Renault has ended ICE auto sales in China and will move forward selling EVs only ahead of the 2030 mandate by the Chinese government. https://chargedevs.com/newswire/renault-to-sell-only-electric-cars-in-china/