G. David Felt

Quality over Quantity is a thing some people do not get when they cling to hard to a static past as being the best life could ever offer. It is also why various society's have perished.

So true and it made the Auto Shows more relevant as you actually would go to see the new releases and check them out. Now it is just a single stop sales athon mess. I will say having the autos on hand to test drive is much better than in the past. One thing I have never gotten is those that refuse to even go to a dealership to test drive and check out the auto, do 100% online even the purchase and wait for the dealership to come to them to drop off the auto and then they bitch about the auto when they could have saved buyers remorse by getting off their ass and into the dealership. I DO NOT feel sorry for such lazy people.

Thank goodness for the Internet, you can now save all that time looking online, download any PDF file you want on a specific product line all from the comfort of your bed. Decide what is of interest to go look at, then get up, shower, get styling and go check out the ones of interest. So much more efficient in the 21st century.

We so need a FART Emoji for a comment like that!

Lovely looking standard cab pickup at the gas station. So rare to see them like this.

Seems we have reached a trade deal with Japan but NO CHANGE in how they treat auto's going into Japan or what they ship to the US. So much for Trade negotiations to give US auto companies better access to foreign markets. https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Japan-and-US-reach-trade-deal-by-putting-off-auto-tariffs ?

Lets talk about why BOLT does not sell well. A number of valid bullets to take into consideration: It is not a Tesla Public hate for all things GM Lack of proper marketing Lack of training of Chevrolet Sales people on how to sell an EV. Lack of public knowledge on how to fuel up on the road. Lack of EV brand perception. Hatred created by killing the original EV1 by GM. Cost especially with cheap fuel and cheaper trucks / cuv / suv Washington DC Versus GM Politics. Global demand is up, but limited production due to battery pack production is holding back increased sales - Read the Fool.com Investment Analysis which covers the global demand for the BOLT. To quote the electric power research institute in Palo Alto CA: Mark Duvall, director of energy utilization for the Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto, told the San Jose Mercury News, “It takes a long time to change someone’s inherent perceptions about new technology…especially with one of the two biggest purchases people make.” https://www.plugincars.com/why-238-mile-chevy-bolt-not-selling-hotcakes-132776.html https://www.torquenews.com/5477/2019-chevy-bolt-hasn-t-been-selling-very-well-and-it-isn-t-car-s-fault https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/07/05/is-this-why-sales-of-general-motors-chevrolet-bolt.aspx End result is that the BOLT and all other Electrics are held back by battery production, limited supplies, higher costs till economy of scale kicks in and Limited options. Final part is IGNORANCE with a BIG DOSE of a lack to learn and understand changing technology.

Since random news on all forms of auto news I reported in Random was stated as not the proper place to be, I have started this Alternative Random. http://www.chevyjoltev.com Love the site built to try and get more excitement for this lovely 2 door EV. This story is Wicked Cool about a 427 Cobra Replica made as an EV with a Tesla Powertrain and Kia EV Battery pack. https://electrek.co/2017/01/17/classic-427-shelby-cobra-tesla-electric-motor-kia-soul-ev-battery-pack/#more-35518 Mitsubishi 3000 converted to EV using Tesla Motors and VOLT battery packs. 1000HP using two Tesla Ludicrous mode motors. Very cool car. https://electrek.co/2016/07/21/tesla-hacker-1000hp-electric-car-tesla-drivetrain-chevy-volt-batteries/ Love that they are now hosting an EV Conversion page that covers all auto's and even a EV converted boat. https://electrek.co/guides/ev-conversion/ EV Rocks!

Sorry, I do not like boy toys, wrong plumbing for me. Ya know you love electrics, but I understand, hard to change tune! ?

Why you posting about electrics in a music channel thread? ?

On top of this, California is using Voter approved funds to replace a big bulk of the diesel buses with clean EV school buses to reduce student exposure to air pollution and help the state reach voter approved clean air standards sooner. https://ngtnews.com/california-funds-hundreds-of-diesel-to-electric-school-bus-replacements

First just to make it clear, please call me DAVID. I am not Dave. Second, I did not miss the School bus thing but wanted to get all my info so you guys @ccap41 can see the difference here. There are multiple companies that are taking old Blue Bird diesel school buses and converting them to electric with 100 mile range for much less of a cost than a new Blue Bird School bus yet needing 15yrs of use to equal the 12yr Diesel school bus use. Multiple reports based on 2018 technology says that EV School buses will equal cost of Diesel school buses by 2030. http://www.orkas.com/ev-school-buses-take-two/ At this same time, Blue Bird School buses just announced a new EV School bus with Bus to Grid feature. These new buses have a 150kW battery pack with a dedicated 100 mile range making them perfect for a days use of morning and afternoon routes. Recharge over night and back at it the next day. Better yet, if for some reason power issues hit, the buses can be plugged back in and the power used from the buses by the buildings. https://electrek.co/2017/07/14/all-electric-school-buses-blue-bird/ Now with that, the EPA also has reports that show that with Solid State batteries, this will be the game changer that should allow more types of Bus / Commercial fleet use to make cost parity come way down on an EV version over Diesel. Just search the EPA site link I posted earlier and you can find the reports on it.

Unable to snap a pic, but lovely white Buick Electra 225 convertible. Very cool, would love that big sedan!

@ccap41 @balthazar Funny you guys are discussing this as Columbia University just released an indepth long term cost annalysis of EV Bus versus Diesel bus and for the 12yr life of the buses even with the EV bus for mass transit costing with charging equipment about $300,000 more than Diesel, the EV bus saves $39,000 a year compared to Diesel and this is taking into account paying for the Driver and everything. http://www.columbia.edu/~ja3041/Electric Bus Analysis for NYC Transit by J Aber Columbia University - May 2016.pdf This was a report done in 2016 for NY. The end result of this study then was that the lifetime cost of operating an electric bus was $1.18 million compared to $1.35 million for diesel buses over the 12 year life. More than I care to dig through due to work, but you can search for electric versus diesel or ev versus diesel and you will find tons of reports that show the cost of electricity and maintenance on EV buses versus Diesel buses have Electric coming up the winner. Matching Diesel in cost but cleaner air and quieter operation is LNG/CNG buses. https://www.transit.dot.gov On top of this is Proterra which has 400, 500 and 600 mile range electric buses for sale for mass transit are guaranteeing a lower cost of operation compared to Diesels. Proterra is also offering a leasing program to help departments write off the cost of the buses better. https://www.proterra.com/press-release/proterra-and-mitsui-co-ltd-create-200-million-credit-facility-to-scale-proterra-battery-leasing-program/

Love this, the whine of the power train accelerating and deccelerating. Will take this over the ear blasting noise of a Harley bike that is not needed. Tuned pipe is one thing like the Corvette, Mustang or Camaro, but over all, would rather have less sound and this ev was a blast to watch run.

Tesla is driving a Diesel free fall in Norway with some models dropping 95% as EV/BEVs take off. https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-drives-norway-diesel-freefall/ Is this what could happen as more EV/BEV/Hybrids options come to market? Good Review

Seems South Korea has decided to hit VW hard for Diesel gate and ban 80 auto's from sale in South Korea. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/03/business/international/south-korea-volkswagen-emissions.html https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/audi-porsche-vw-emissions-south-korea/ As such, Audi, Porsche and VW are being hit hard for the Emissions cheating. These stories come from a release from the Korean Herald. http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20190820000719#cb Seems Tesla Giga Factory 3 is in debug phase for entering full production soon this coming fall. https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-gigafactory-3-model-3-production-debugging-phase-video/

The Drive is saying that Lexus has confirmed they will not build a car to compete with Tesla but instead go the route of a small Urban Hatchback for inner city owners / drivers. I get a total Smart Car vibe on this 2 door 2 person auto and think it will be a FAIL for them. https://www.thedrive.com/news/29522/lexus-to-build-small-urban-hatchback-instead-of-tesla-fighter-for-its-first-ev-report Want a station wagon but cannot afford the RS6 or E63 latest MB wagon, go CPO, E63 low miles over 500HP can be had for around 40K, big bargains in the CPO for E63 auto's. https://jalopnik.com/a-reminder-that-you-can-get-another-german-wagon-with-o-1837474912 BMW is following MB with LED backlit grills now. https://jalopnik.com/were-really-doing-this-arent-we-1837473276 France spent 5.2 million euros to build a 1K solar road for testing and it was a complete failure. https://jalopnik.com/turns-out-a-road-made-of-solar-panels-was-in-fact-a-b-1837472544 Lots of interesting stuff today in the auto industry.

More Cool News, As many have stated here about EV's, variety of assortment styles is what is holding back EV adoption and AAA latest survey of their members show 20% will go pure EV on their next vehicle purchase to reduce maintenance and increase ease of fueling by fueling at home. Now with that said a much larger survey of people across the US has brought up the following reasons that people have not moved to EV yet. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1124659_survey-range-cost-infrastructure-sum-up-why-shoppers-avoid-evs Have to say that the VW ID Buggy would be a blast to have in sunny states and places with off road parks especially sand dunes. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1124600_first-drive-review-vw-id-buggy-electric-car-meb-platform EV Fun!

Next wave of cool AUTO News: Ford is going down 3 paths of EV strategy one of which is with Rivian for an Electrified F150. This is all part of the committed push to have 40 EVs on the market Globally by 2022 at a committed cost of $11.5 Billion dollars invested with their own EV strategy for Americas for cars and CUVs. EV platform with VW for European markets and the Pickups / Full size SUVs cobuilt with Rivian. VW MEB platform for Fords small FWD EVs for Europe with a goal of 600,000 EVs over 6 years starting in 2023. Ford Developed body for F150 and Full Size SUV, built by Rivian at their Illinois factory for global market. Fords own EV platform for cars / cuvs for Americas market and export. https://chargedevs.com/newswire/fords-collaboration-with-rivian-is-just-one-of-three-paths-to-electrification/ Madrid Spain has put in place a permanent BAN on all private auto's and requirement to use carbon free mass transit. So do not expect to find auto's for rent or running around Madrid Spain any more. Mass transit is your friend on their electrified transit system. https://chargedevs.com/newswire/madrid-private-car-ban-is-here-to-stay/ In 2018 BMW stareted a Wireless charging option in Germany. Now in 2020, BMW will bring their wireless charging system for EVs to America. https://chargedevs.com/newswire/bmw-to-bring-wireless-charging-pilot-program-to-us/ Are you Battery Surge ready? EVs are expected to be as much as 1/3rd cheaper than ICE auto's within the next 3 years due to massive online coming battery production and solid state. Batteries make up 1/3rd of the cost of an EV, but with this massive push for battery production, costs are expected to drop massively. https://chargedevs.com/newswire/ev-battery-production-are-you-ready-for-the-surge/ Battery pack with thermal management that is 40% smaller than todays battery packs. Yup, not only is cost going to go down, but seems size as well by as much as 40% due to efficiency in packaging as well as battery design / building. https://chargedevs.com/newswire/mahles-new-battery-housing-delivers-same-power-from-40-smaller-batteries/ Get Ready for the Next Auto Revolution and it will be a massive charged one!

Some interesting news in the auto world today: Ford Mustang inspired Mach E is caught in public. https://www.autoblog.com/2019/08/21/ford-mach-e-electric-crossover-mustang-inspired-spied/#slide-2163283 Looks like it will be coupe inspired CUV. Heavy cover, but be interesting. Chevrolet BOLT will have a 259 mile battery pack for the 2020 model year along with new colors and hi-def cameras. Here is hoping that the colors also apply to the inside and that black and white dash. https://www.autoblog.com/2019/08/22/2020-chevy-bolt-ev-range-increase/ The other is a first review of the Lincoln Aviator Hybrid. Seems to be a focus on performance over efficiency with the power it has. 494HP / 630 lb-ft of torque. Crazy cool. https://www.autoblog.com/2019/08/22/2020-lincoln-aviator-hybrid-grand-touring-first-drive/

#1 complaint about the Bolt is the interior. People point to the dash color and the interior seat / over all color choices. Clearly it sells as one of the best EV's, but GM is NOT listening to the buyers who would buy if there were better colors available.

Buick could with China as well as Cadillac. Bigger question is will GM invest the needed updates / quality of materials to achieve it?

Will say that until I got my new head unit in the SS and backup camera, I never really thought of needing a backup camera, but since having it, I have used it in places where I know I would not be in as tight as I can now with it. Love the backup camera for garage parking in the city.

Awesome, will help bring the change that much faster to an EV road.