G. David Felt

Excited for Nikola Semi's to hit the road and push Kenworth, Peterbuilt, Mac and others into a much cleaner phase of Trucking. Time to remove the smell and particle dirt from the roads and cities.

While I think it sucks that they are truly penalizing the EV over gas. I think the best thing is to go to a mileage tax to be fair to everyone. Even with this $150 a year charge, I still think EV owners will have much lower costs compared to gas. Washington state has the same yearly registration fee for all auto's. Base is $80 and goes up depending on weight of the auto. Example is an HD F650 pickup is $384 a year to register here. So Chevy Bolt is $80 yearly to register, then at $24 a month to charge, your looking at $288 a year for 14,400 miles driven. Year cost to drive the BOLT = $368 My Trailblazer is $165 a year to register, $400 a month average for gas. $80 twice a year for synthetic oil changes. Yearly cost $5,125 Love my TB and will keep it, but excited about owning a BOLT!

Cool, I can see this product line being Hybrid and EV only in the near future. Torque of the electric motor will greatly help to move that weight around.

Very cool to see the details of where the green house gas comes from here in North America. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions Better yet is that the EPA has in place emission standards for trans along with exhaust treatment system much like the Diesel trucks do with the Urea system according to this site. https://www.dieselnet.com/standards/us/loco.php Had no Idea the Locomotives had changed so much in the last 17 years or so. Gotten very clean with Diesel treated generators producing the electricity for the electric motors that push all the freight around this country. The EPA one seems to point to Long Haul trucking / all Commercial Trucking and Shipping as the last big area to pull into cleaner emissions.

That is a sweet looking car, decent price for such low miles.

In Washington State $24 dollars buys you equal to 1200 miles in the Chevy Bolt.

This is why tax by mile is fair for everyone. The more you drive the more you pay. With the Semi's having GPS, they can have them pay their fair share too for long haul trucking.

We already know that CARB has discovered that Audi Gas auto's have cheat code. So this is going to be interesting to see what all comes out of this.

^ +1 Totally agree that FCA cheating will really hurt Diesel future here in America. I question if GM will bother to keep diesels in their lineup much past a few years out other than the full size trucks. I bet a Hybrid truck could give you the same performance as a diesel if done with that focus in mind.

Sergio is hoping trump will kill the EPA and he can get away unlike VW with Polluting and hurting humans as he steals the profits for his own pocket. FCA needs to be broken up and killed. Time for Fiat / Alfa to die for good. Course this would also cause pain for Ram, Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler. Wonder how Frump would deal with it. Break it up and sell it off, consolidate and allow it to be taken as one piece? 2017, the year of business taking money and change at the expense of the consumer. H'mmmmmmmmmm

Yup, Auto check is carfax for free. They want to show they have integrity and sell the auto for quick turn over, this is a good thing for you and them. I know the dealerships I have bought from all have had the auto check aka carfax always listed. Glad I could help you find what you are looking for.

Most Dealers now offer the Carfax right on their own web site. Check and see if the auto you want is also covered with carfax on their web site.

Nope, I figure if a dealership is honorable and wants my money, then they will pay for Carfax on each and every one of the auto's on their lot. Price of doing business or to earn my business.

Yea these were cool cars, lifted and 4x4. Would love to have a clean one like this one. Any color would do really I think.

Probably as a re-badge POS Alfa. Course I actually liked this auto as it was an American version of a Subaru 4x4. Way before it's time or the public knowing they wanted awd cuv's.

Never understood the whole RHD thing, only a few places actually are like that, so why not just change over so one consistent driving world wide. Course then Japan, Aussie Aussie Aussie and UK would not be different then. I am happy Cadillac is not trying to just blitz the world with product but slowing rolling out better product with proper roll out plans for each market. Tired of people saying you can go into the back of an Opel Store if you want a Cadillac. Not funny or good for the brand!

Come on you love to tickle the pucker!

Mazda needs that for their camera, the CX-9 is terrible and so easy to get covered in dirt to be useless. Do they have a squirter on it or what?

Makes Sense

Yawn, Sergio be LOCO, Believe it when you see it. The guy has ZERO Credibility!

I think this is a normal change due to how millennials buy products. The old shows of yesteryear are coming to a close and controlled media role outs and CES will be the new battle grounds as the Auto industry battles to capture the pocket books of young who are more interested in the latest smartphone and game or app.

Ouch, the start of draining their bank account. Wonder how the US will spend this money? Social overkill waste or actually paying some debt? No matter what, VW will be hurting for a long time.

G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com Indiana Slaps new fee on EV's. According to a post today by Green Car Reports, the state of Indiana has rolled out new fees for owning an Electric car being the second state behind Michigan with fees that cost more to drive an EV than a petro model. Indiana EV owners will have to pay a $15 increase over standard registration fees when buying the EV. Plus a year $150 fee. Indiana has also moved to increase their gas tax from .10 cents per gallon one of the lowest in the country to .28 cents per gallon an .18 cent increase. The State legislation says that based on an average of 12,000 miles a year, 25 mpg, the average Indiana state resident will pay about $134.40 per year in gas tax. A Toyota Prius owner would pay about $67.20 based on their 50 mpg rating. This means that the EV driver will pay more than either hypothetical driver the House Republicans have stated who sponsored the bill. These folks believe this EV bill will add $2 million a year in revenue to the general fund. The representatives stated this was needed to help cover the cost of highway projects and lost gas tax revenue.

G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com Samsung, The Next LG Battery Competitor? Samsung has decided to be the next major Li cell supplier to the auto industry and has decided to one up LG in their quest to be the top supplier of super high density Li cells. Back in September 2016 Green Car Report stated that in an interview with Samsung, that they wanted to be equal to if not replace LG as one of the largest Li cell suppliers to the auto industry. They currently supply the cells for the BMW i line of EV auto's. In this story Samsung announced a $400 million investment in a new battery plant in Hungary which would allow them to support the growth of BMW's EV auto plans into the next century. Samsung pointed to LG's leadership in supplying batteries to 25 top tier auto companies around the world which includes GM's latest darling the Chevrolet BOLT. In this story, it is stated that both LG and Samsung will supply Audi with cells for their Audi EV SUV that is slated to be out in 2018 as a 2019 model. It also states that Samsung has bought a 4% stake or $449 million dollar investment in Chinese auto maker BYD which to quote the story; " BYD produced more electric cars and plug-in hybrids than any other company last year, although only a small fraction were sold outside China. " Clearly Samsung is wanting to be at the leadership position of the EV revolution and is willing to invest in making sure they get the sales. Fast Forward 4 months to an updated story by Green Car Report which is based on a story only days earlier by techcrunch.com that Samsung has a new battery cell design that allows near full recharge in 20 minutes. This is not some lowly 50 to 70 miles, but based on their new cell design and the battery pack they have built which is equal to 372 miles, this battery pack would give you 310 miles as a quick charge in 20 minutes. The story states that Samsung's new battery design is 10% less cells and weight versus current battery production from SDI. Now Samsung does not state if this quick charge is based on existing DC charging or what the industry is calling the new XFS charging system. XFS stands for Extreme Fast Charge and is designed to handle a minimum of 350kWh charging or more. Energy.gov web site has stated that they are working with the auto makers and their own researchers to make a standardized system that can handle the heavy power safely for the public so that the energy load is balanced, reduces cost as well as mitigate time to charge issues on top of cybersecurity concerns about paying for the use of these XFS Charging systems. XFS Charging Station concept by Electrek End result to quote the Energy.gov web site post: " Extreme fast charging is poised to accelerate mass market EV adoption as DOE and industry stakeholders work to overcome technical, cost, and safety barriers. Implementing an XFC system capable of up to 350-kW charging has the potential to increase EV utility, which in-turn would provide Americans with greater freedom of mobility and energy security. "

G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com UK Law Firm files Lawsuit against VW UK VW Owners Lawsuit A downtown law firm has filed a group class action lawsuit against VW on behalf of a potential 1.2 million TDI owners. To date according the Euro Autonews web site 10,000 have signed on to be represented. VW has taken a very different approach to Europe and with that, more and more countries are demanding compensation equal to what VW is doing in the US. Last year according to the story, a Spanish court found in favor of the owners that the local dealer was also responsible and judged in favor of the TDI owners that the dealerships owed them compensation. As such the Dealers have been told to pay each buyer $5000 Euro's in compensation. This is in addition to what ever they will get from VW as the country negotiates a similar deal like the US. The UK now seems to want to go down this same road also with VW but from the law firm side of things as UK citizens have accused British authorities of being slow to respond and the European Union is taking action against Germany, UK, and five other member states for failure to police emissions testing by the auto industry. Course VW states it will defend itself robustly in the case and that VW owners will not loose out due to the scandal. Course local resell of the auto's is showing a huge hit as is VW sales which are down 7.5% for 2016 at a time when the over all auto sales rose 2% over 2015. At the rate that countries have decided to go after American type settlements with VW. The current 7 countries could potentially bankrupt VW if each country gets similar agreements. After all, the US has only about 1/3 the TDI's that UK has and if VW settles for 14 Billion here, why would it not be a 42 billion settlement in the UK and more elsewhere? The next year to year and half is going to be very interesting for VW.