G. David Felt

G. David Felt - Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.cheersandgears.com $100 Million IPO and New Auto Price for Elio Motors! According to Autoblog, Elio Motors is planning to raise $100 million dollars in an IPO that would allow them to finally start construction and delivery of Elio Motors three-wheeled bikes. Elio Motors made a big splash when they first initially showed off their concept with a purchase price of $6,800. Since that time a few years back, the price has crept up to $7,450 as of the SEC filing. Original depositors will still get their promised bike as the stated price but new depositors will have to pay the higher price. Considering how this is priced in comparison to other forms of transportation, it is still a deal yet the big question is, will people buy the stock and can Elio finally deliver to the market?

G. David Felt - Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.cheersandgears.com Self Driving Auto's Hacked, Results Can be Deadly! Thanks to the researchers at University of Washington, University of Michigan, Stony Brook University, and UC Berkeley we now have proof that self driving autos can be easily hacked and the results deadly. The researchers have released a paper Robust Physical-World Attacks on Machine Learning Models in which they have shown 4 different ways that disrupt the way machines read and classify signs using a camera and color printer. To quote the original story, "The most troubling part about these experiments is that they all appear very subtle to the human eye, camouflaged as graffiti, art, or incorporated into the sign's imagery." All it took was 4 stickers printed out and placed on a stop sign to turn the sign from a stop sign to a MPH sign that can cause deadly results. Clearly this is going to cause many to re-think self driving and auto companies to have to test to insure the signs are read properly. The four ways that autonomous auto's are fooled is by of course fully printed signs to cover the existing sign, Stickers placed on the stop sign, graffiti on the stop sign and grey stickers covering up portions of a turn sign giving the impression to the computer that it was an MPH sign. Either way, all four hacks could have deadly results. Be interesting to see what the response if from the auto industry.

They should have also put the VOLT powertrain into multiple auto's including CUV's. With version 2.0, that is when the VOLT powertrain should have been spread across product family offerings.

The coworkers who have reservations have told me that when their number comes up, then they get access to the ordering site and can finalize their configuration of their car. At this time, they are mid level and premium level auto's as has been stated, so those that only want the base car will have to wait till the end of 2018 to be able to order their auto and then take delivery in 2019 some time. Interesting is what I say!

No an EV SUV with motors at each wheel is NOT Tesla Model X. They have a motor in the differential center of front and back driving each set of wheels. I have posted many times about a company in Detroit that build In Wheel Hub motors and has converted an F150 and Brabus E-Class to AWD using these in wheel hub motors. http://www.proteanelectric.com/ BRABUS EV based on the Mercedes-Benz E-Class All new EV system developed to demonstrate a peak combined 320 kW (430 hp) and 3,200 Nm (2,350 lb-ft) torque Debuted on the Brabus stand at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show All electric power using four direct-drive Protean Electric motors, one in each wheel Ford F-150 EV (2008) Four Protean Drive® motors One motor at each wheel AWD battery EV Electric truck with over 7,000 lb GVW IC engine removed This is where the Corvette mid-engine tech can come into play for tuning an auto. There is nothing to say a mid-engine cuv or suv would not be a decent performance handling machine. Course, an AWD in-wheel hub motor suv would be best. Better is for Corvette to have this as a performance version.

Brings up the excellent idea of what if we move the engine from the front to a mid place in a Truck or SUV? Can the internal space given up be recovered by having a frunk and adjusting the rear seating? Be an interesting engineering exercise to see how the higher center of gravity is affected in a mid-engined Suv/Cuv auto.

Leaving the debate of if an SUV can hold it's own against BMW 3 series auto's and the skill it takes to have a difference of mear partial seconds between cuv/suv and a car I go back to on topic: On Topic: You always find this the most common statement of a mid or rear engine auto. "Handling improves with a better 50/50 weight split front/rear wheels and generally the reduced inertial moment of the vehicle by having the engine lower and closer to the center of gravity." With that said, it is amazing to read what everyone is saying about Mid-engine versus front engine design. Many will talk about all the advances made in Front engine performance auto's while keeping functionality of a car, cuv, or SUV with little sacrifice. Mid-Engine is the performance focus where one gives up functionality all for the added partial seconds of performance. Interesting read: http://www.whyhighend.com/front-vs-mid-engine.html This one goes into even more detail about the advantages and disadvantages and includes a video: http://aermech.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-mid-engine-cars-rwd-vs-awd/

WHO CARES! Only YOU! We cannot take our SUV's there to run them so it really is about American ROADS with American Versus German auto's here in America not Germany. Here, the proof is in the pudding as they say and many of us that drive full size trucks and SUV's have no problem trouncing on the German auto's. End Result, BMW and MB build quality cars to their roads but that does NOT mean they truly cannot be put down by American Products and This I know for a Fact. Eat my American Exhaust!

True, but then I have done many customizations from the suspension that is tight and has zero body roll in clover leave on and off ramps at 80+mph to the 350 V8 I bored out to 402 and now produces 505 hp, 551ft-lbs. 425 posi lock diff, custom 4 speed tranny. My 1994 Suburban will hold it's own against a BMW 3 series car. Put it and a number of other german brand cars to shame plus their SUV's. This was before I had done more than replace the coils and leaf springs. But even then this held it's own.

Heck guess I do not need to put up my custom 1994 Suburban that does beat BMW 3 series products as I forgot about Chevy offering RST Editions of Tahoe & Suburbans. These rock. RST will be available on Tahoe and Suburban models in the fall of 2017. Inspired by aftermarket trends, virtually all chrome trim has been eliminated for a street performance appearance. Changes include body-color grille surround and door handles; gloss-black grille and mirror caps; black roof rails, window trim, badging and Chevy bowties. RST also includes exclusive 22-inch wheels wrapped in Bridgestone P285/45R 22 tires.Available upgrades for Tahoe and Suburban RST include a Borla performance exhaust system that offers a 28 percent improvement in exhaust flow, for a 7-10-horsepower gain at the rear wheels. An available brake package features massive front red Brembo six-piston, fixed aluminum calipers with brake pads clamping on larger-than-stock 410 x 32mm (16.1 inch x 1.3 inch) Duralife rotors coupled with a 84 percent increase in brake pad area and a 42 percent increase in rotor area to increase system thermal capacity. Duralife™ rotors feature a hardened surface to reduce corrosion and provide quieter braking with less vibration.The Tahoe RST will also be offered with an exclusive Performance Package that includes Magnetic Ride Control with performance calibration, 6.2L V-8 and the new 10L80 10-speed automatic transmission.This is the first time Tahoe will offer the 6.2L V-8, which delivers an estimated 420 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque. The engine features three state-of-the-art technologies — direct injection, Active Fuel Management and continuously variable valve timing — to make the most of power, torque and efficiency across a broad range of operating conditions.The 6.2L V-8 will be paired with an all-new 10-speed automatic transmission. With smaller steps between each ratio, the transmission maximizes engine power under acceleration. With a wide 7.39 overall gear ratio spread and lower numerical top gear ratio, the transmission also improves efficiency by reducing engine revolutions at highway speeds.

It did, 2014 many mags said the ATS beat the BMW even the web site BMWBLOG says ATS beats BMW 328i. http://www.bmwblog.com/2014/10/10/test-drive-cadillac-ats-2-0t-vs-bmw-328i I put my GMC Suburban SLE up against and will beat the 335i/340i.

WTF, This is just mind boggling: It is also the realization of our desire to never let cars become commodities,” said Toyota President Akio Toyoda in a statement. Clearly this President is clueless in regards to their products as they are bland commodities and are anything but bleeding edge individualistic designs.

Why do I see Toyota using their profits to eventually buy Mazda in the next few years.

Chevy WOULD benefit by Spinning Corvette out as it's own brand inside Chevy Dealerships with using the underpinnings as halo auto's at Cadillac. Go Slum at a GMC dealership and take a Yukon or slum even lower at a Chevy Dealership and test drive a Tahoe. These SUV's handle really well especially compared to the 300 series of BMW. The only exception is of course the M line and Cmicasa did not compare it to the M series but the normal i series. BMW is falling more and more behind the US auto makers.

Latest news that I have read is showing that the german brands and a few asian brands along with Volvo are planning to roll out production version during the 2017-2018 auto shows with production and on sale in late 2018 at 2019 models. Even MB your superior brand has updated their news that their first EV will launch at dealerships in late Q3 or early Q4 of 2018 which means we will see it announced at one of the major shows during the 2017-2018 show time frame. End result is that Tesla is going to find it very hard very soon as other auto companies offer EV CUV's that people want and many will pass on waiting years to get a Tesla compared to buying MB, BMW, Audi, Volvo, Jaguar, GM, Ford, etc.

Interesting part of this is that in 2014, China was producing as much coal as the rest of the world combined just about and using almost equal to the world combined. https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=16271 A year later in 2015, China takes on an aggressive clean up effort. 66% of China power in 2013 was from coal, 2014 it actually dropped to 64% and down to 62% for 2015 leading to the coal price slump that caused in 2016 for all coal companies in the US to declare Bankruptcy. Production from Coal has already dropped to 53.7% now and will continue to drop as China pushes to go below 50% by 2020 and to reduce ICE auto's to 50% by 2030. http://www.reuters.com/article/china-coal-idUSL3N0WL32720150326 Here is an updated story that was published in March 2016 showing China dropped another 3.7% in coal use and they are shutting down and cleaning up open pit mines in the country. The drive to improve health of their people and their country is a primary push as they move to alternative green forms of power production and consumption. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/03/world/asia/china-coal-consumption-down.html Over all, at least what is reported tends to show China aggressively changing how they do things. Nuclear, Wind and Solar for them is growing much faster, so I would say they are following the history of what the US has done. Based on this news: http://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/china-nuclear-power.aspx China has 37 Nuclear reactors producing power, 20 under construction and even more about to start construction. This covers the current state of Solar: http://www.powermag.com/growth-of-solar-power-in-china-offers-lessons-for-u-s-study-says/ China produces 71% of the solar modules worldwide in comparison to 1.3% produced in the US. in 2010 China only had 800 MW (Mega Watts) of solar production and now at the end of 2015 43,500 MW of power production. 50 times increase. Under China's 5 yr plan, they will triple solar power production by 2020. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601093/china-is-on-an-epic-solar-power-binge/ In regards to Wind this info is based on the Global Wind Energy Council: http://www.gwec.net/chinas-wind-power-see-steady-growth/ China had 18 Gigawatts of wind power production in 2009. The capacity they are adding will have them at 300 gigawatts by 2020 and their long term goal is 400 Gigawatts by 2030. This info was current as of 2012. Now this report is an update as of April 2017: http://www.ratingsalerts.com/2017/04/26/growth-of-wind-power-in-china/ China is leading the world in wind power energy production and surpassed the earlier info by 65%. China had at the end of 2016 487 Gigawatts of Wind power production. They have stated in their 5 year plan that the country will produce 800 GW of power by 2021. China is working to close in on the largest producer of power via wind India. Over all, these green alternative forms of power production will help China reduce and possibly surpass the US in being green and clean by 2030. The US needs to WAKE up to the Green production movement and companies like Ferrari needs to look at Hybrid and EV CUV's. V12 powered ICE auto's are NOT needed when we have proof of how powerful a Tesla X is. Ferrari hopefully will focus on beating Tesla with a superior Luxury CUV!

China is turning off the ICE / Diesel spigit to clean up their air. All about the EV baby!

Yes, a way to keep money for those fleeing the extra long wait for a Tesla 3 and really wanting a CUV. With all the other OEM's bringing out CUV's over the next 12 months, I think Tesla's cake is going to be eaten! Exactly, OEM's over the next 12 months will have various new CUV EV's. Tesla missed this boat big time as the Tesla 3 CUV should have been first not the car. Plus other options without long waits will have people going back to their favorite auto dealer. Only way to keep the cash flow going to prop up the company.

Agreed, since the Tesla S & X sold 46,000 last year, If they can double that number to 46,000 Tesla S & X and 46,000 Tesla 3 for 2018 they will be doing good I think. Since they have clarified that they will be adding a Tesla Y CUV on the Tesla 3 platform, I think they really are pushing just how many auto's they can build.

That looks almost just like the updated mule. LOL

Doubt it, but maybe, Musk says 1800 people a day are making reservations. that is only 32 days away or 57,600 and if the number is true then you have 455,000 + 57,600 = 512,600 but then minus those cancellations which is 63,000 from Jan 1st to July 31st. So take 63,000 divided by 212 days = 297.169 cancelations per day. 32 days times 297.169 = 9,509.4339 cancelations. 512,600 - 9,509 = 503,091 so you may be right, but also I really doubt Musk is getting 1,800 reservations a day. I still expect the reservations to be below 400,000 by the end of the year and only about 20 to 30,000 model 3's actually delivered. Would it not be 63,000 / 455,000 = 13.8%

I doubt PSA will return to North America as a car dealer. I can see a ride sharing app along with their TravelCar ride service. I would think they are having to use US based auto's.

During the earnings call Musk answered the question about reservations and cancellations. http://www.thedrive.com/tech/13163/63000-people-have-cancelled-their-tesla-model-3-reservations-so-far They had 518,000 reservations at the start of the year and have now had 63,000 cancellations so far leaving them with 455,000 reservations. If this stays steady, then expect another 63,000 cancellations leaving them with 392,000. Yes I am sure they might get a few more reservations but now that people see the production auto and see the limited options, I kinda doubt they will get much more and expect them to close out the year under 400K reservations. Clearly the difference between 480,000 and 455,000 is a big one. Where did you get this number?

Wish you all the best for a speedy recovery and look forward to your post.

So true, if I had extra money, the two 4 door American Sedans I would love to own are the Ford Marauder and SS Impala. 2008 Ford Marauder in Maroon 1996 Chevrolet SS Impala in Maroon My 2 door sedan choice would be the 1986 MonteCarlo SS Areo in Maroon.