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G. David Felt

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Everything posted by G. David Felt

  1. G. David Felt
    Old Toyota that was very popular in Japan when I went to college then in the 80's. Very much a 1967 Toyota Corona Delux I believe.
  2. G. David Felt
    The ELR is a lovely auto and the inside is night and days ahead of the VOLT. Sadly, Cadillac needed to do I think a CUV version of this power train. That would have sold more than the ELR. Plus the crazy high price did not help it since the tech came from the VOLT.
  3. G. David Felt
    Hopefully they can get rid of the Blah design language and bring back the Mojo of the R33/R34 version. That was a true Skyline.
  4. G. David Felt
    This Jelly Bean is just that, blah looking with a Big Mouth Billy Bass front end. It will sell to few, but enough to keep it going long term and make a profit? I doubt it. Will be a short lived product I think.
  5. G. David Felt
    ^ +1
  6. G. David Felt
    Cadillac proved they could sell a luxury truck done RIGHT! This is one area I have always disagreed with GM on when they killed off the avalanche / Escalade EXT. Those trucks are rare to find on the used market and people who have them love them. Mercedes could do a luxury truck, but it has to be done right. Half ass will fail and if you do it the way Lincoln did the useless blackwood it will fail. Either you sell it the way Chevy, Ford and Ram does or you do it the way Cadillac did the EXT. No half ass attempts to cover it all like the idiot Nissan full size diesel truck.
  7. G. David Felt
    Who ever gets a solid Volt Like Powertrain luxury lineup will kick ass in the market place. I hope Cadillac expands faster and keeps the pressure on for the luxury lineup. I can see using the large space between the 4 wheels and having an electric motor between both wheels so you have pure EV AWD. You could then also still put a small generator in the engine bay to power everything else.
  8. G. David Felt
    I do agree with the AutoNation CEO that sees selling a luxury truck against the established big 3 as not being successful. Plus in looking around, I get the feeling that the dealerships are starting to wake up to the fact that MB is becoming like Chevy or Toyota and losing that LUXURY image. What Cadillac did to itself in the 80's is now coming to haunt MB as people are questioning if MB is a luxury brand or just another big box brand for everyone.
  9. G. David Felt
    These are NOT a pure EV Semi Solution, but a hybrid. Clearly if you knew EV technology you would never say this would not gain traction. Unlike petrol engines and the multitude of transmission shifts especially on grade where they take forever to gain speed, EV is 100% Torque from zero, much easier to get up to speed. As proven in the train industry, electric motors on the wheels with a generator is superior to the current diesel motor powertrains. This solution is a fast fill LNG or Liquid Natural Gas so you are not having to charge long term these trucks, plus they do a fast charge so the battery pack is capable of being fully charged in the regulated down time that the driver must sleep. Yet with the LNG generator, these new Hybrid trucks have 1200 mile range so they are more than able to cover the 16hr days a truck drive puts in before regulated sleep time / down time. Future is HYBRID for Semis and unlike stuck on a turnpike during a storm, accident whatever, they can easily not spew any emissions at all. Eventually this is a logical step in the direction of pure EV semis which is a ways off. By full EV, I meant a vehicle that has only a battery and electric drive motor. And not gaining traction meant the market with respect to a vehicle that has only a battery and electric drive motor. It was rushed (crap) writing on my part. The semi that is the subject of this thread is excellent: An on-board CNG turbine generator is clean, efficient means of producing power As you pointed out, full electric drive has ample torque The battery recovers deceleration energy to improve the overall efficiency of the system Any added capital cost, if it still exists, vs using diesel driving a mechanical transmission is made up for by reduced fuel cost and, IMO, less maintenance. Less emissions keeps the air cleaner . My argument against a semi that has only a battery and electric drive motor is based on the added capital cost and weight to provide range. However, technological developments surely could change that. For example, cost per kwh of storage capacity is reaching $100 far faster than predicted in 2010. And batteries, due to their inherent modular construction, can be fabricated to allow for quick R&R at a rest stop. The rests stop can charge up the removed, depleted unit and have it ready for the next truck to come along. Paccar, owner of Kenworth and Peterbuilt is building LNG trucks for use around the world and clearly some trucking companies like UPS, Walmart and others are helping to build the few LNG stations needed at central hubs to refill these trucks. I suspect we will see a change over much faster due to the lower cost of fuel but increase in torque these motors produce due to the higher octane of the fuel. Figure in like what started this thread hybrid semis and you have a very efficient freight hauling solution with less pollution to the air. A logical smart step towards the day of pure EV semis only.
  10. G. David Felt
    A lot of technology trickles out of DOD research. For example, when I had radar on my docket, magnetorheological materials were being used in the phase shifting elements of an array to allow for quick beam steering or creating nulls to defeat jamming. Now, we see it used to allow suspensions to quickly change state. We are in exciting times and Hyper has hit one issue that many people are LAZY about charging, filling up their auto, etc. yet there are just as many who are excited by EVs and willing to plug in at night or find the parking spot with a plug in to recharge. Exciting more is the 6 projects under way at DOE. They are focused on reducing cost while increasing charge density. http://energy.gov/eere/vehicles/vehicle-technologies-office-batteries What really surprised me is that DOE started in 2015 with $500 per kwh and they expect by 2022 to have it down to $125 kwh on average which means it could be even lower for larger manufacturers like GM or Tesla and that is also while increasing density of the battery pack. 2015 started with the average battery pack being 100 Wh/kg to 400Wh/kg and have then at 2000W/kg. Some very cool research going on right now. http://science.energy.gov/bes/research/doe-energy-innovation-hubs/ Here is what they are doing for a smart grid. http://energy.gov/oe/services/technology-development/smart-grid
  11. G. David Felt
    Future is electric and I appreciate Musk for destroying the old image of what EV could or would be. Over all electric is fun and the future. I do like this video!
  12. G. David Felt
    wow, that just leaves me speechless to come up with the right word to describe the car!
  13. G. David Felt
    Yea the stupid french always want to buck the trend, but then who am I to really say when the stupid americans still want to hold onto the standard system when Metric is so superior and everything for the most part has already changed over. Just image how much easier it would be for everyone if everyone did metric and they taught metric worldwide. This just makes so much more sense.
  14. G. David Felt
    Just realized, Toyota's Performance line is a turd. Wow, no wonder they want a new performance line.
  15. G. David Felt
    +1 So True!
  16. G. David Felt
    Big truck payments, $335 That is a small auto payment compared to what we see advertised out there. I see coworkers who bitch about their truck payments in the mid 500 to 600 range. There is also the jones jones competitors who drive luxury auto's with $1K a month auto payment. Now if you are only making 35-45K a year, then I agree, that is a large chunk of your monthly take home and the gas mileage is not great if you have to drive a long distance. Hope you find the right solution Ocnblu as I know you love your truck. Wishing you all the best.
  17. G. David Felt
    These are NOT a pure EV Semi Solution, but a hybrid. Clearly if you knew EV technology you would never say this would not gain traction. Unlike petrol engines and the multitude of transmission shifts especially on grade where they take forever to gain speed, EV is 100% Torque from zero, much easier to get up to speed. As proven in the train industry, electric motors on the wheels with a generator is superior to the current diesel motor powertrains. This solution is a fast fill LNG or Liquid Natural Gas so you are not having to charge long term these trucks, plus they do a fast charge so the battery pack is capable of being fully charged in the regulated down time that the driver must sleep. Yet with the LNG generator, these new Hybrid trucks have 1200 mile range so they are more than able to cover the 16hr days a truck drive puts in before regulated sleep time / down time. Future is HYBRID for Semis and unlike stuck on a turnpike during a storm, accident whatever, they can easily not spew any emissions at all. Eventually this is a logical step in the direction of pure EV semis which is a ways off.
  18. G. David Felt
    While I would not say 60,000 is a low volume production, when looked at the 6 Billion humans, then yes low production. Be interesting to see what they come up with.
  19. G. David Felt
    This should be expected that all of Nissan platforms will end up rebadged as Mitsu's. Greatly reduce cost across the board for both companies.
  20. G. David Felt
    Very cool looking. Thanks,
  21. G. David Felt
    I totally agree, I still think there is consolidation needed in the auto market and Chrysler has had a good run, but I believe it can quietly go into the history books.
  22. G. David Felt
    Frisky, I love the refinement you did to this posting. So I come in at $54,060 for my awd XT5 with the plum interior!
  23. G. David Felt
    Nice going on where they could have stole the styling from!
  24. G. David Felt
    I am VERY happy that we have TESLA. Do I believe it will stay independant? No, but if it was not for Tesla, then we would not have the BOLT, Leaf, etc. Someone had to finally kick the bully's, aka the biggest auto companies in the nuts to finally move off petro. BOLT, Tesla 3 I say YES!
  25. G. David Felt
    I see allot of complimentary coping to older Fords from the plastic looks cheap interior to the exterior nose. Over all not bad, but not a home run. I expect some based on heavy discounts to buy it, but over all a failuer out of the gate. Nissan just needs to forget the full size truck market. Not their game ever or now.
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