G. David Felt

@oldshurst442 What is it about hockey that you find so exciting? I honestly like all the other professional sports I find boring to watch, so what do you find exciting about it to watch?

Usually you have trucks lined up to the freeway to come in for pickup and drop off and the yard is stacked 6 to 8 high everywhere, but the no lines and huge open spaces are a surprise to see.

I am thinking that with lower cost to manufacture, the added cost of shipping from the Asian rim heavy batteries to Germany will still make it more worthwhile to produce them locally. I also think this could be why LG is looking at Battery production sites in the US. Eventually tech economy of scale wins out and price goes down and a heavy item like a battery even with cheap labor will still cost more to ship than build locally I think.

My work in Seattle over looks the port and Wow is freight down big time since the trade war began.

China is the world's largest EV market with sales of electric auto's reaching 2.61 million up 70% in 2018 over 2017. This constitutes 4% of the total Chinese market today. China is requiring 10% of total sales to be EV in 2019 and raised to 12% for 2020. In comparison, the US saw EV sales jump 81% for 2018 to a total of 360,000 EVs sold out of a total of 17.2 million auto's sold. Yet the US has only 1 million EVs on the road and the auto industry is projected to spend a mind blowing $255 billion in R&D and Capital for electric models by 2023. Due to high-system cost and low volumes with intense competition EVs in the short run will be unprofitable as OEM's bring the 207 models offered to market. Automakers have hopefully factored these costs into their EV strategies. The most expensive part of an EV is the battery pack. Current technology held by Tesla has their packs at 250 watts per kilogram and the holy grail is 400 watts per kilogram which reduces the size of the battery by half. How is one to achieve this? To date, EV battery packs such as Tesla, Nissan or Chevrolet have relied on a production system that causes contamination of the battery surface inside due to auxiliary materials or lubricants that is used in manufacturing. Commercial production of high density low cost batteries has been hindered to date by the current wet process of battery production. Franhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS, have created a process for creation of EV battery packs that uses a dry film coating process rather than liquids. The process does not use toxic solvents and is less energy -intensive ending in a cheaper to produce battery pack as much higher density. Quoting Dr. Benjamin Schumm, project manager for IWS, "Our dry transfer coating process aims to noticeably reduce the process costs in electrode coating." Why would this matter one might ask, currently EV battery production is mostly in the asian rim where cheap labor and cheap electricity allows a corner on the market. Trying to manufacture EV batteries in Germany where labor and electricity is some of the highest prices around make EVs expensive. Having a much cheaper, environmentally safer production allows the battery production to be done closer to the assembly line and reduces component costs in transportation also. With so many breakthroughs in battery technology in the last few years, it would make one think that batteries would be cheaper by now and yet it is the most expensive component of all EVs. So how would this tech be any different as the floor is littered with breakthrough after breakthrough that never made it into commercial production. IWS has been teamed up with a Finnish battery company "BroadBit Batteries" where they have a production line setup using this dry electrode material instead of a wet paste to coat electrodes for battery production. Currently IWS with BroadBits has proven they can coat several meters per minute of battery electrode foil at consistent production speed. BroadBit is currently using this technology to create and sell new Sodium Ion batteries. Currently an expensive wet complex and toxic paste is applied to the Lithium Ion foil which then requires expensive high energy costs to dry the foil before it can move to the next stage of battery production. IWS dry electrode coating allows foil creation without the ecologically damaging and expensive drying process steps. The result is a much quicker way to create the 100 micrometer thick film onto the aluminum foil creating the battery electrode in a much denser design. Dr. Benjamin Schumm states that this process allows new battery generations where the classic wet process failed and will allow faster and easier development of solid state batteries which uses ion-conducting solids over flammable liquid electrolytes. This breakthrough in battery production is expected to allow European and Americas manufactures to break the asian strangle hold on battery production for not just EVs but all electronic devices. View full article

Agree that you could if you know the shop well, one could do this themselves to a certain point, yet having a GM backed 3yr / 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty on a beast like this is cool. Wish GM would see that they need to do this on a bigger scale and include the Typhoon.

Yup, the cost is a factor. The original Syclone in 1991 was $25,500 which is equal to $47,880.73 according to this inflation calculator. https://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=25500&year=1991 So having a $70K plus new Syclone is pricey, but I bet they will sell everyone they make.

Correct, only on the midsize Canyon. Though the web site does have a special performance package available for the Sierra which has two levels, an 825HP or 1000HP package for the Sierra / Silverado trucks.

Syclone package is a $39,990 package added to your choice of GMC Pickup truck. The truck in the color you choose then goes to SVE to have the package applied according to their web site. I do wonder if you could order a base V6 4WD pickup and get the Syclone package as that would make it very affordable.

Such a clean old bug!

I pretty much just wave at all SUV peeps or anyone that shows basic common sense of being nice on the road. No reason to not be polite. Love the Green that is on the Rivian R1S. That is lovely also, but then GM has that metallic Forest Green on the trucks that rocks!

This +1,000,000 Yup, @oldshurst442 ya got nothing to worry about, he was a douche bag in an awesome ride. I will say I can never see myself in a car again after driving a full size SUV. Started life driving a Chevy Luv Truck, went to cars and then Wrangler and then Suburban / Escalade and never anything smaller. They are just too comfy to go to small or midsize auto's.

I can totally respect and understand the feeling about the full size SUVs, yet once my wife was scared of them, but after driving one, she realized they turned and drove as easy as any mid size car. Now sitting up high and having all that space, she cannot see driving anything else. Have you ever taken one for a test drive? If not, you should it is a fun experience.

Yup and that is why I got the ESV over the regular.

Big disconnect my friend, guess I was not clear enough, build a new cruiser like what you see in the 70 yr old one but as an EV from the ground up. Modern, but with that style and flair using new tech. I am not the only one to see also as a project converting old cars to electric. https://www.motorbiscuit.com/autos/classic-american-cars-perfect-for-electric-supercar-conversion/

Very true, but just saying, if you are gonna haul people and stuff, then get the right tool for the right job.

Be interesting to know if that 3rd row actually eats up any of the small storage space. ? As an example lets say a 2 row 5 person version has 20 cubic feet and the configuration with 3 row has 16 cubic feet. big loss.

I totally agree with the 3rd row seat being a marketing gimmick and a reason why I drive an Escalade ESV Room to haul people and stuff TOGETHER!

Totally hit the nail on the head, on the West coast where you have large asian communities and badge snobs are a big thing, yet they are all around 5' to 5'4" tall, a 3 row cracker jack box like the GLB will sell well to them.

This David is not losing any auto perspective, just broadening it! I look to have a Multicultural love of all things. Check out the ATS-V Vector Blue Edition special for Japan market only. Price including all taxes is $102,700 http://gmauthority.com/blog/2018/02/cadillac-debuts-ats-v-vector-blue-edition-for-japan/ Course Washington has some prime Cadillac examples But then plenty of Iron in Japan especially their love affair of the Hummer! I will say there is some lovely Iron in Japan.

Yes, Road Trips, Grocery Shopping, Drive it anywhere and everywhere. As one who I agree with that the Auto Industry has lost its style. Why not bring some of these smooth flowing machines back as modern day EVs. Air should flow around this with minimal resistance. It's own unique sound with the constant torque pulling experience.

Is that the Rav4? ? That has some SWEET Skirts to go with that awesome smooth style. Would be awesome as an EV with that front being a huge frunk.

As per the video, you can see the cup holders are on the front of the center storage section between the seats.