G. David Felt

Some very cool auto news stories came out today. This was done by Ford earlier in the year but now written up about the major retooling that took 11,000 people and 30 days to gut their oldest assembly plant and install over 600 robots, 500 new machines plus upgrade cafeteria, etc. in preparation for building the new Ford Explorer and Aviator. https://www.autonews.com/manufacturing/ford-explorer-launch-required-major-redo-aging-plant Here is the latest update in regards to which Auto Companies are going to feel it more at the bottom line from the Trade war with China. https://www.autonews.com/automakers-suppliers/bmw-mercedes-ford-most-risk-new-tariffs Ford, BMW and Mercedes will be hurt the most by the newest increase in Tariffs. OUCH! BMW Leads with 12% of their sales in China coming from the US. This is the X3, X5 and X6 plus a few other crossovers and cars that from from the Charleston S.C. assembly plant. BMW and Daimler corporation, Mercedes Benz has 57% of the auto's they sell in China coming from the US assembly plants. VW is now exploring buying ownership in China suppliers with a focus on buying up as much battery suppliers as they can along with other material suppliers such as Carbon Fiber and Aluminum. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-23/vw-is-said-to-explore-buying-stakes-in-chinese-auto-suppliers

9 States have signed on to follow California with a ZEV Mandate. Full story can be read here: https://autoalliance.org/energy-environment/state-electric-vehicle-mandate/ The main point is as follows from this screen grab: Here is where those states line up in regards to their state, county and city gov agencies buying ZEV auto's.

Very cool tool to see what your state top auto's are: https://autoalliance.org/economy/consumer-choice/ You can pick the state you want to look at, default is the whole state or you can select the district you are in and default is light trucks, but then you just have to click on any of the other choices below light trucks and see where you align compared to the rest of the country. Washington state is #1 in the country for Hybrid auto sales and #2 behind California for EVs. Amazing was that Vermont is #1 in the country for the youngest average age of auto's in the state at 9.7 years compared to Montana which has the oldest average age of 16.3 years old. Guess if you want a project auto, look to Montana to find some old Iron.

Got It! ? The Hudson Minimalist building design versus the Maximalist overkill design of the Mattress business. Yea, also does not help that the Mattress business clearly has not taken car of the outside as the ugly colors plus the falling down awning covers, your right, it looks very trashy.

Not sure what your really meaning, Hudson went out of business, the owner of the property got a different business to go in to keep making money. Every business has different needs for the property, so how did the present fuck up what the past offered? ?

It is amazing how many sale people are just plain dumb about the auto as they have only focused on the basic sales process: Greet the customer Qualify the customer Trial close the customer Overcome objections from the customer Take them to the bank. The basic 5 step how to sell pitch and that seems to be where most sales people's brains stop functioning. I am always shaking my head when they throw stuff out that is so wrong about the auto one is looking at be it the wrong engine, wrong features, wrong color options, wrong way of how a certain technology works. Most of the time, I just have to bite my tongue when I go to a dealership at the large amount of wrong information. This is a key piece as to why the BOLT does not sell better, the lack of knowledge and understanding of an EV along with the benefits. At 259 mile range, the battery range should not be an anxiety issue for the commuter person. So True as being lazy to learn a manual is on par with the lack of learning the auto's they sell. Amazing the ignorance of so many sales people.

Amazing to see the pictures of America before the EPA was formed and regulated trash/ dumping. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/35-vintage-photos-taken-by-the-epa-reveal-what-american-cities-looked-like-before-pollution-was-regulated/ss-AAFNWId?li=BBnb7Kz#image=1

Nope, just life. appreciate you posting our history so we can observe, learn and make the future better. Thank you,

Gotta love cooking and yummy food. This I can attest is an AWESOME BBQ appetizer to do! https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/prosciutto-wrapped-grilled-brie-with-pineapple-5230068

Working and have this lovely back ground piano jazz on. Saw Keiko last night at Jazz Alley in Seattle. Was amazing. https://www.jazzalley.com/www-home/artist.jsp?shownum=5080

Disagree as the point is that that was then and now we have better moving forward and pointing to the past without pointing out the better in the current and how we will get even better in the future is what the end point is about.

WOW, Pulling an SMK of moving the goal post and pointing at a total different auto class rather than talking the one brought up. The mid size sale of Diesel trucks is a loss from a business stand point, the cost and increase in fuel price, maintenance, etc. the public has decided is not wanted compared to full size diesel trucks and one that I am pretty sure is in the Redneck non college educated crowd. I agree with @surreal1272 GM needs to either market it and point out the benefits of the auto, or build it as a true wanted AWD CUV/SUV.

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!