G. David Felt

This just cracks me up about Toyota and the BS their executives are spewing. Certification Irregularities at Toyota Industries | Corporate | Global Newsroom | Toyota Motor Corporation Official Global Website

This is very interesting for Rivian. Rivian's latest hire should make fans of Apple products rejoice (msn.com)

I have seen in the purchasing management area that many talk about having to lock in contracts and as such, while many even GM in their Q4 presentation today stated that the normalization of production plants makes them see having to reduce prices this year to continue sales. So big rebates???? The price increase is taking into account the long-term contracts they signed to build the auto based on quoting of prices at that time and with most of this being negotiable during last summer, I suspect these prices have that inflation built in and will have to be adjusted as things cool off later this year. The U.S. economy is very robust ignoring the liars that say it is not as it is better now than the past president's economy. Yet with that said, either salary will have to go up or companies are going to have to reduce prices as costs go down to keep sales going as I see buyer fatigue as a major issue with buying major purchases.

Have to say it is very sharp looking, but will have to wait and see how their new EV actually works out as I am curious about the powertrain details and the battery pack details.

This I think will be successful for them, sadly tall people will hit their head as I see the interior picture from the driver's side showing the open passenger side door shows that continuation of the Komodo Dragon racked windshield design that big people hit their head on much like Tesla. Little upper head room to get in as I do not know many who get in with a perfectly straight back into the chair. Be interesting to see in person and try once they are on the lots.

Sharp looking SUV, very much an upscale move by Hyundai.

This is awesome and will drive Honda Loyalty as that cost is cheap in comparison to a new head unit. Smart of Honda to do this. I hope more OEMs offer this type of upgrade.

Interesting your thoughts on the interior as that has received many positive comments by auto reviewers so far. I do agree with you that the circular vents do not impress me as I thought they looked cheap in Mercedes which uses them everywhere and still look cheap also. Exterior will always be a personal style as lots of folks like it, meh to me, but a nice look overall. I am still on the sideline about the styling trend of these SUVs, really a cuv.

Banshee

I think the LLV's are ready for recycle, they are so old and well used beyond normal.

@Robert Hall Thinking on it, the OskKosh mail delivery vehicle reminds me of the animation movie Cars. I can see two big eyes on that windshield. ?

The OshKosh has that large window as during the early prototype phase, USPS had a requirement for easy 180 degree viewing. That has since been dropped for purchasing other auto companies products, but OshKosh is still under contract to deliver those ugly large windshield mail delivery autos.

Agree, we all know they do not have decades like Tesla to sort out battery building, software, controllers and more. They need to get this right with all the releases they have planned over the next 18 months. I have posted in other places here and at my work social-car channel and on LinkedIn that GM needs to think ahead to the experience and not nickel and dime everyone. Putting slower charging controllers in a Chevrolet versus a Cadillac is not going to win them sales when fueling a ICE auto is pretty much the same no matter which division it is in GM.

Yea, GM is going to have some huge issues if they continue down the Android Qualcomm rabbit hole of ignoring the Android Auto and Apple Carplay needs of end users. Especially with Apple Carplay 2.0 coming out this year.

United States Postal Service (USPS) has taken an interesting road to updating their fleet of mail delivery vehicles. Lets start with March 24th, 2022 the USPS signs a contract with OshKosh Defense to the tune of $2.98 billion dollars for 50,000 mail trucks and 10,019 are to be EV. These new trucks are to replace the very aged fleet that is currently running on empty and lack many modern conveniences. The LLV or Long-Life Delivery Vehicles lacked many things from AC to a wide variety of safety items and on top were not very efficient for actually delivering mail on top of the fact that the 190,000-vehicle fleet has an average age of 30 years. In comparison, the NGDV or Next Generation Delivery Vehicle will feature air conditioning, improved ergonomics, and some of the most advanced vehicle and safety technology — including 360-degree cameras, advanced braking and traction control, air bags, a front-and rear-collision avoidance system that includes visual, audio warning, and automatic braking. The vehicles will also have increased cargo capacity to maximize efficiency and better accommodate higher mail and package volumes. The NGDV were supposed to be built and on the streets starting the end of 2023 but have since been pushed back to a June 30th, 2024. The electric version will follow some time in 2025. USPS on December 20th, 2022, updated the NGDV to be a contract of 60,000 mail delivery vehicles with a minimum requirement of 45,000 to be EV and the rest to be ICE (internal combustion engine) or gas powered for rural routes. At this same time, USPS indicated that they are now focused on replacing not only the 190,000 mail delivery trucks but will also replace their large parcel delivery vans also bringing the total to 220,000 vehicles as congress had approved an additional $3 billion dollars to make the fleet green provided as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. With delivery to 163 million addresses six days per week, the fleet of mail and packages delivery autos are now costing far more money to run than replacing them with modern autos. The bulk of these delivery autos on average only cover 10 to 15 miles a day. March 1st, 2023, USPS selected Ford Motor Company's E-Transit vans to replace aging parcel vans. Ford will deliver 9,250 electric vans starting in 2024. Ford will build the needed infrastructure at their Kansas City Assembly Plant to build by their UAW workforce these vans. We move forward to January 22nd, 2024, and USPS with Ford announce the first delivery of E-Transit vans for use in their Atlanta Sorting and delivery center with the prototype OshKosh NGDV. This Atlanta center also has the first large scale charging network and is the first of 400 sorting and delivery centers across the U.S. that will be converted to support a majority EV focused auto fleet. This charging station was manufactured by Siemens and is the start of a 14,000-charging network to be installed in 2024. Siemens, Rexel/ChargePoint and Blink will be the suppliers of choice by contract to install these charging stations across the U.S. through 2028. Now lets move forward by two days, January 24th, 2024, and the USPS signs a contract with Canoo a maker of their Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle for six of their delivery vans to test against the Ford E-transit for possible inclusion in future EV auto purchases. Canoo will deliver these six EVs called the LDV 190 in Q1 2024 or by the end of March. The USPS has dedicated $40 billion dollars to the modernization of their whole fleet from the residential mail delivery vehicles to parcel delivery vans and mid to class 8 semi trucks to reduce their carbon footprint. These six vans will be used in 2024 to allow USPS to consider Canoo as a potential supplier of modern EV delivery vehicles. Per Canoo press release: “The multi-purpose platform with steer-by-wire technology and a unique low-profile suspension system allows for a readily configurable right-hand drive system while maintaining desired roll and ride stability,” said Tony Aquila, Investor, Executive Chairman, and CEO of Canoo. This is part of a committed USPS 10-year Modernization plan expected to be complete by 2034. USPS has stated that Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) will now play a critical role in helping modernize the 220,000-delivery vehicle fleet of which OshKosh will make up 60,000 plus potentially more. View full article

@Drew Dowdell @Robert Hall Very cool here as Porsche retrofits older cars with Carplay. Porsche brings CarPlay to older models with new upgrades | AppleInsider Seems Carplay 2.0 is coming to Porsche and Aston Martin this year. Apple CarPlay 2.0 confirmed for 2024 as iOS 17.4 reveals a ton of features — here's everything it can do | Tom's Guide (tomsguide.com)

Have to say that this story is spot on. Where am I going to charge my EV? The answer can be frustrating. (usatoday.com)

Very interesting, style wise it is nice, but the engine is just not my cup of tea. I wonder when Buick will get their first EV.

Lets not forget the Truck recalls they did January 3rd. Ford F-150 recall: 112,965 pickup trucks recalled for roll away risk | CNN Business Ford is not helping themselves with leading the recalls.

I thought of that, but Europe has stricter emissions than us now so I have to question that. It really would be interesting to hear from VW why the difference.

? This makes no sense to me as to why the European version gets the extra horsepower and not the US where you find far more higher horsepower autos than in Europe. I just do not understand VWs logic on this.

Doubt it as GM has made it very clear that the resources $$$ would have to be pulled away from their existing EV buildup of battery plants, power trains and the Ultium Platform or from other ICE projects to build Hybrids. I see GM selling ICE till the transition is complete with EVs and nothing in between other than the Hybrid Corvette.

It will be interesting to see how this little auto lasts with a weight of 3,428 lbs. or 1555kg, I feel it is a bit fat for the little 1.5 turbo engine. Maybe this also explains the low trailering specifications. At least they did drop a little weight as the 2024 model was 3,465 lbs. with the same engine. Interesting is that at the start of the Equinox in 2005 you had two V6 engine options with a maximum trailering of 3,500 lbs. and even in the outgoing 2024 model with the optional 2.0 turbo engine you still had a 3,500 lb. trailering capability and now we have only 1,500 lbs. and a single engine choice, no options. I wonder if this is GMs way of pushing people into bigger higher-level autos to get the same trailering capabilities. Interesting that the Blazer EV has a 3,500 lb. trailering capacity in RWD models but drops to 1,500 lbs. in the AWD models.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon Android Auto system has a basic software switch that allows the OEM to enable or disable Android Auto and Apple Carplay. This is an easy change that can be done by an OTA update. This is how Honda on the same system is supporting the two-cell phone connectivity versus GM not supporting it. Back in 2022 more details were released along with updated SDK for the system. Connected Car and the Snapdragon Digital Chassis - Qualcomm Developer Network This does make me wonder how long before a company like Jet Chips for custom ICE chip replacements gets into an SDK Break package that unlocks everything the OEM thinks the end user does not need. Yes, this would be aimed at the more technical type folks, much like a cell phone that is broke open for use anywhere. Interesting times we live in for sure.