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G. David Felt

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Everything posted by G. David Felt

  1. G. David Felt
    Hyper, I usually see most thing you post in the same manner as how I would interpret them. With that said my friend, this is a first where I totally disagree with you. Head Room is NOT something that most people can live with and having less is an acceptable compromise is a failure. I hear from people all the time about how the coupe looks causes the rear passengers to hit their head, be bent forward, etc. It might be a styling darling right now for sales, but in the real world, more and more people are learning the hard way that the couple design is a failure for a 4 door car or even a 2 door with rear seating. Another reason that CUV\SUVs are exploding in sales, people are tired of not having room in a sedan due to the stupid Coupe design. A coupe design 4 door is a hinderance and auto companies need to stop following each other and look at some of the excellent designs that have been done around giving plenty of headroom without all the shortcomings of a coupe design.
  2. G. David Felt
    This should be interesting to see how they attack MB, if they use traditional gas powered power trains or if they do it only as Hybrid / EV's? This continues to prove that we live in interesting times.
  3. G. David Felt
    G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com Bloomberg Predicts another OIL Crash with NO Recovery, Maybe Many of us are excited with the big drop in oil prices and finally gas prices retreating to below $2 a gallon in many places around the US. Some here on Cheers and Gears even feel that alternative energy auto's are a waste of time or should not even be bothered with. So it was with interest when I saw this story on Bloombergs web site. Another Oil Crash Is Coming, and There May Be No RecoveryThe focus on this is that with Tesla in 2017 and Chevy later this year, 2016 beginning to sell 200 Mile, $30,000 auto's, other Auto OEMs spending Billions to also field electric auto's with long battery pack range that the days of Dino powered auto's are limited. Bloomberg clearly states that OPEC and even ExxonMobil have reported that they only see EV auto's making up 1% at most by 2040 on the planet. What no one saw was the Huge growth in US oil fields in 2014 and a global glut of 2 million barrels of oil a day sitting on the market. Bloomberg reviewed world wide data to see that EV Auto's grew by 60% in 2015, show no signs of slowing down among governments push to reduce smog in cities around the world. Based on buying trends and who fast things can change, Bloomberg is predicting that by 2023 we will see another 2 million barrels of Oil being unused on the market leading to this prediction of another crash and the power of the Oil Companies being reduced. The video they have on their story is also very interesting to watch and listen too. Review the original story, watch the video and sound off on what you think of the OIL Industry and where we are headed with auto's! Bloomberg Oil Crash Story
  4. G. David Felt
    This is lovely and how I hope Rolls Royce will head towards when they finally bring out their new model in 2018.
  5. G. David Felt
    Tesla just might finally make a profit with these little auto's. I can see this being a big hit come this Xmas 2016.
  6. G. David Felt
    Good Riddance, these have been some of the uglies auto ever made. It will be interesting to see if they actually bring back the rich heritage of luxury these auto's used to have or what. Will be waiting to see what they decide to do. Wonder what the dealers will do as they will have no 2017 models to sell. Hmmmmmmm
  7. G. David Felt
    U'mmmmm OK, no real big deal here except to either Audi fans or Lambo fans,
  8. G. David Felt
    Good Question, DNK but nothing to say that you could not install a charger 1 year and take $4K, then do the other side of the garage the next year and get another $4K. Would be worth looking into.
  9. G. David Felt
    I think GM will hit the sweet spot with the BOLT. Here in washington state, all new Homes have to have a 220V 30amp charger in the garage now. Also all apartments have to offer the option for a renter to have access to a charger. It is very easy to go and find charging spots all over. The west coast has made huge strides in building out an electric highway system. I did a whole story on the Electric Highway West Coast Style. http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/84688-electric-highway-west-coast-style/ You can see the maps and check out the updated info. It is expanding all over the US. I truly think it will grow much faster than it took to build gas stations all over. Too bad there isn't an infrastructure like that around here. From my house to work(granted I rarely drive but if I had to) is 35 miles and there is no chargers at the parking garage, or a school(that I know of) and there are none other than my house where I live. There is none really on my side of the Mississippi to make it all that practical. It would basically be home or nowhere, for the most part. Check the STL area on a EV charging station map..and then look about an hour east and see how little there is in between there and STL. I would definitely have 2 of the larger 220V chargers in my garage(one on each side - 2 car garage) installed. Not because I exactly plan on owning two electric cars but if I plan on living in the home for 20-30 years then..there will be a lot more electric cars or plug-ins by that time so best to be prepared to save money down the road. So then check this out, Here is the site that shows the incentives to install home or business chargers. http://www.pluginamerica.org/incentives Nissan has incentives on top of the federal for installing a home charger. It is amazing but you can pretty much get a home charger for free in many states. http://www.nissanusa.com/electric-cars/leaf/owner-questions/ev-incentives Check out the Spark EV, Mini-e, Fiat 500e, Focus E, seems many of the EV auto's have rebates / incentives on top of the federal ones.
  10. G. David Felt
    While you might want to test drive a car, todays Millennials for the most part buy online and go from there. This is part of a growing trend as shown in the reduced sales from retail over the last 5 years and increase in online driving. Many Millennials that I work with trust the reviews and buy. I for one am like you, I want to test drive and check it out all over to make sure it is what I want. Yet there is a place for a virtual showroom. Tesla has shown that this can be done with their purchase
  11. G. David Felt
    I think GM will hit the sweet spot with the BOLT. Here in washington state, all new Homes have to have a 220V 30amp charger in the garage now. Also all apartments have to offer the option for a renter to have access to a charger. It is very easy to go and find charging spots all over. The west coast has made huge strides in building out an electric highway system. I did a whole story on the Electric Highway West Coast Style. http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/84688-electric-highway-west-coast-style/ You can see the maps and check out the updated info. It is expanding all over the US. I truly think it will grow much faster than it took to build gas stations all over.
  12. G. David Felt
    Interesting, this makes me think of a hybrid approach to how Tesla has been selling. For major towns, I would say no this does not need to be done even if they do sell only 50 a year, this could be optional for a dealer. They could stay with having the inventory on hand or go virtual. For small towns where you might only find a FORD, Dodge/RAM and Chevy Dealership, I can see this being an option for the few people that want a luxury auto. It does make one wonder if OEMs are not trying to find a way to get rid of dealers that are not financially self supporting. So could we end up with a Cadillac Kiosk at our local small town strip mall then? Possible that a person could go into business as a sellar of Cadillac from their Kiosk and never have to deal with inventory or repairs as they would direct the buyer to their local GM dealer. Some interesting ideas around this. Would the next logical step then be to allow orders via the Cadillac web site and you pick up your auto at the closest GM dealer unless you pay to have it delivered to your house. The dealer who makes money is the one that does the prep work for delivery and then any repairs afterwards. This will be interesting to watch.
  13. G. David Felt
    Found a Level 2 charger from Lilypad EV for $650 for home use. Yes this is a commercial unit but would be a plus to have it at home so you recharge much faster than level 1 chargers. http://www.lilypadev.com/shop/milbank-charging-station-wall-mount-single-port-208v240vj1772-commercial/
  14. G. David Felt
    220V is the same outlet that is used by electric stoves or an electric dryer in your laundry room. This is a single line from your breaker box to where ever you want this outlet. Running the line and electrical plug is pretty cheap usually a $300-$500 and then you can use the auto 220V power cord to charge your auto. Course you have a wide range of options. You can start with just using the basic 110 outlet to do a slow charge and then look at dedicated with built in conditioner and filter 220V or 440V fast charger for your garage. Most of the fast chargers will run you from $500 to $3000 installed, certified and ready to go. Long term they pay for themselves. Some places to check out for seeing the variety: http://www.evsolutions.com/ If your willing to hire your own electrician, then Amazon has some great deals. http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=ev+charger&tag=mh0b-20&index=aps&hvadid=3485810303&hvqmt=b&hvbmt=bb&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_3dhnnxnw4_b Here is a good Read on using Solar charging to recharge your EV. http://www.homepower.com/solar-charging-ev The ChargePoint web site is awesome as it covers North America, give info on how to get charging at businesses or homes, products, etc. http://www.chargepoint.com/ Best part is if you click the ChargePoint Home, it gives a great assortment of info on install, Tips for Electricians, datasheets, etc. Enjoy the info.
  15. G. David Felt
    Diesel passenger auto sales for January 2016 were only 225 as reported by automakers. This is in comparison to between 4800 to 9500 a month for the first 8 months of 2015. http://www.wsj.com/articles/diesel-car-sales-slow-significantly-1455825746 Worse yet is a US Law Firm has filed suit against Mercedes-Benz for having their Diesel emissions system turn off their emissions clean up during cold weather. MB denies this but does seem to make it appear that Passenger Diesels are going to be looked at much more closely than in the past. The story is also stating that low gas prices has dented the added cost of Diesel for many who are looking at buying a new auto. Great editorial on why VW should just buy back all the auto's and how it would allow them to move forward faster and rebuild their image. http://blogs.reuters.com/breakingviews/2016/02/23/vw-car-buyback-would-speed-emissions-scandal-exit/ Some very good reading on this. So the buy back would affect the 325,000 diesels that have NO emissions system and would be more expensive to fix than buy back and crush. This would still leave another 255,000 autos to either fix or to buy back that does have an emissions system.
  16. G. David Felt
    Wish they had a Nascar SUV race! I would love to see a bunch of suburbans, Expeditions, Armada, Land Cruiser race around a track.
  17. G. David Felt
    Be careful doing that, my boy. Carpal tunnel syndrome is no one's life goal. Neither is a Smoky Tail Pipe!
  18. G. David Felt
    Gm was pushed with the VOLT, VW will be pushed with EV and infrastructure. Others need to watch as they could end up in the same camp of paying to help flip the change over to a greener solution. I agree with you all that I also wish the gov would but out, but you do have strong groups pushing the gov to do this and California is leading the way no matter how Messed up that socialist cesspool of a state is.
  19. G. David Felt
    Sorry blu but I have to totally disagree with you, VW has a niche market of people who love the weird TDi. If it really was the all end ultimate auto then they would be selling hundreds of thousands in the US alone. They are not, it is a small group and right now they are in the dog house due to a World Wide Cheating Scandal. I know you hate EV's, Everyone know you do but in this case, VW needs to suck up spending a few million to make the political BS Morons in DC happy and build an EV or two to get going again. You can resist all you want but to quote the Borg, resistance is futile! The future is hybrid / EV. Enjoy your truck and find your peace with the fact that many will love the EVs and those like you will hate them. Over all I accept all as they all have a place, but I do know that the days are numbered for CNG and BioDiesel as well as traditional Diesel and Petrol cars as you know them.
  20. G. David Felt
    That custom built truck ROCKS! It is sad that we do not find many people building custom rides, but at the pass today when I was heading down to pack up and call it a day from Skiing I came across this little beauty of a 4x4!
  21. G. David Felt
    While cool looking, this is DOA. No headroom in the back, the whole 4 door coupe thing is so over killed that is needs to die. CUV/SUVs are where it is at right now with cheap oil and 200+ mile EV's. While lots to like about this, I have to agree that this would sell in very small numbers and cost more than it makes. Next!
  22. G. David Felt
    This would be good as it could really push the US to move to a complete EV auto industry. Be interesting if they would be fast DC chargers, 220 or 110 chargers? Looking forward to the EPA's plan for this.
  23. G. David Felt
    WOW, this is going to really hurt them long term.
  24. G. David Felt
    I hate when people confuse 'rebadge' with 'platform sharing'. This may share a platform with the new Alfa SUV, but it's not a rebadge--probably not a single exterior panel in common. Call it what you want but after seeing the pictures of the Alfa, when I saw this, I saw the alfa first with a different nose clip. Yes some subtle changes, but you can see they are on the same platform, not that much difference than you are stating. So you have seen the new Alfa Romeo SUV in person before anyone else? I'm highly doubting that. Nope just the pictures you guys posted but after seeing the Alfa first, then seeing this, I see the alfa with some small tweeks to the body and the front clip changed out. For a label like Maserati it should have been better I think.
  25. G. David Felt
    I take no offense my friend, I think what I did not expand on is what you hit on which is we both feel the money Sergio steals out of Jeep, RAM, Dodge, Chrysler should have been put back into those brands to continue to improve and build excellent auto's that could be sold globally. Fiat should be killed off, Alfa should never have had money spent on it, just a vapor ware way for them to steal money and Maserati either needs distinct true Luxury items that set it apart from the competition. Right now I sit in one and hate to say it but feel they are nothing more than an over priced Buick, Acura, Lincoln, Lexus, Infiniti competitor. FCA is FAILING as they should be building a Global Platform that all brands can use to improve their existing lines rather than trying to revive a History note on Automobiles.
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