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G. David Felt

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Everything posted by G. David Felt

  1. G. David Felt
    G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Volt, the best selling Hybrid? Chevy Volt, Vauxhall Ampera, Opel Ampera, Holden Volt: four names yet one car sold worldwide. EV.com claims the GM quadruplet to be the best selling hybrid vehicles in the world (follow the link for more details). Based on GM’s data, an average Volt owner drives 900 miles between filling up the gas tank. This compares to many Prius web sites as well as Toyota’s data that shows the Toyota Prius owners driving an average of 450 miles between filling up the gas tank. The Volt has an MSRP of $34,185, after the federal tax credit ($7500) you end up with a selling price of $26,685 plus tax and license. This could be lower if your state offers additional incentives. The Volt has garnered the following Awards: 2014: J.D. Power: Highest Ranked Vehicle Appeal Among Compact Cars, Three Years in a Row 2014: Sierra Club’s: Leader in Strategic Vision’s 2013 Total Quality Award 2012 European Car of the Year 2011 North American Car of the Year 2011 World Green Car 2011 Green Car of the Year, 2009 Green Car Vision Award I was unable to find exact sales numbers for each model nor was I able to find a worldwide figure for the Prius. The Prius has been considered the best selling Hybrid by many web sites and magazines. How subjective is this I believe is based on who does the reporting and without firm worldwide numbers from the auto companies it will continue to be subjective. US News own review of the 22 best Hybrid cars Rankings (follow link for more details) show just how off they are compared to their readers who ranked the same cars. So is the Volt the world’s bestselling Hybrid? Would it be better if the generator ran off CNG or Diesel? What are your thoughts?
  2. G. David Felt
    Mini large loss in sales shows that this body style is well past pull date on the shelf. I understand a 4 door, but they should evolve the body style and focus on quality small auto's rather than moving upsize in the market. I think BMW poor handling of trying to have a model in every market segment will kill them.
  3. G. David Felt
    Awesome Rock on GM! Love to have that engine in an Escalade ESV V edition!
  4. G. David Felt
    I totally agree with you that Delphi needs to go through the same process, hold those still around accountable for their actions and contribute to the fund. This will show good corporate responsibility and good will towards raising their brand identity. More companies need to understand and support how their brand identity is perceived out in the market place.
  5. G. David Felt
    I believe the 300 competes with the Genesis, but not the charger.
  6. G. David Felt
    5025 Expeditions sold last month, an almost 2000 units increase over the same month a year ago. Yes Ford Expeditions still sell. Socialist Europe has chosen to hurt everyone with their idiot tax structure and heavy death by Unions that is going on. I am willing to bet there are far more people there that would rather drive a comfy sit up high SUV than the garbage compact auto's that most are forced to deal with.
  7. G. David Felt
    Are these the most boring cars you can own? G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy www.CheersandGears.com MSN posted a story today about the most boring cars money can buy and one common point was the lack of driving excitement and what you got for the price. Interesting is that many of these autos are also considered to be rental fleet dumps. The other clear point being made is that they are not haters of hybrids, but of the CVT transmission that makes the driving a bore. Their list starts off with number one; Mitsubishi Mirage Toyota Prius Volkswagen Jetta Mitsubishi Lancer Honda Civic Hybrid Nissan Altima Chevrolet Tahoe Acura ILX Buick LaCrosse Nissan LEAF Lexus ES 300h Chrysler Town & Country Minivan BMW 535i Gran Turismo Nissan Rogue Select I do have to have a good laugh at the MSN editors own comments on #13, is it boring or just plain offensive? So do you think these are Boring cars to buy or do you have a better list than MSN has put together?
  8. G. David Felt
    Now that would be a smart idea for Mini, use this new 5 door but build it as a new mini pickup. That would address the needs of many city dweller as well as suburban folks that do not want a full size or mid size truck to drive to Home Depot to get flowers.
  9. G. David Felt
    G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Oregon has officially sent out notice to the world that their first public large scale fueling station is open and the official opening is June 11th. This allows drivers to get from Canada to Baja California on pure CNG only now. Not only does this reduce oil consumption, but since this is also a Redeem station, it is using recaptured methan from biowaste and trash.
  10. G. David Felt
    Awesome Read, nice job. This is great to hear and as I have stated in another thread, I think Mary is the best CEO ever for GM, they will truly move in directions that people will be happy with and earn long term customers with quality products.
  11. G. David Felt
    Dodge forum has a very nice write up with pictures of what they see as the to be released in Dec 2016 AWD Dodge Dart SRT and why they believe it will kill the WRX STI from Subaru. Interesting read, some valid points. http://dodgeforum.com/articles/2017-dodge-dart-srt-need-take-subaru-wrx-sti/ What do you think? Can dodge really build a car that would unseat the Subaru King?
  12. G. David Felt
    G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Syracuse Utah found itself in the news today about a auto chase through Founders Park. A 14yr old took his grandfathers Hyundai Veloster out for a joyride. Bryson Rowley, concerned for his and others children's safety used his Diesel Ram to keep the Juvenal from causing anymore harm by ramming head on into the car. luckily no one was hurt by the fast driven auto nor in the head on collision that took place. The following video was posted online for people to see of the chase and hit. You can watch the police raw footage and extended video coverage at Fox's web site. This information was attained via local Fox13 news.
  13. G. David Felt
    G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Wednesday 4th of June, NAFA (National Association of Fleet Administrators) had a Green Lunch Buffet to cover the upcoming changes to the pacific northwest. They covered the newest public CNG stations opening this year including a major station that will serve the public and truckers in Oregon on I5 as well as 3 new stations for Seattle. These stations will offer both LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) and CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) to the public. Washington State who has the largest ferry fleet in the nation is building 4 new ferries which will run on LNG with the goal over the next 5 years to convert the whole fleet to LNG. We were told that in Diesel form, these 4 ferry's would consume 600,000 gallons of diesel in a 24hr period. On LNG they are expecting to only consume 510,000 gallons of LNG every 24hrs. The state also said they expect to see a reduction in cost due to how clean the engines run, longer run times between maintenance and less cost to clean up environmental spills from diesel / oil. Peterbilt / Kenworth / Paccar presented showing the growing fleet of pure CNG powered trucks from medium duty to heavy duty with 7L, 9L, 10L and an upcoming 12L LNG/CNG engine options. Fleets were shown the growing list of OEM CNG auto's from Detroit big 3 and how checking the box for the $200 option for a Hardened Engine was a wise move for down the road when they must convert all auto's to CNG, BioFuel or move to Electric. Washington state has pushed back their mandate from 2015 to 2018 to give a bit more time for the Cities, Counties and state to move all public autos to CNG, Biodiesel or electric. Clean Energy announced the purchase of multiple rights to harvest the methane from landfills, animal waste, etc. around the US, scrub it clean and put it into the natural gas supply so that stations can be Redeem certified as a renewable gas source. WorldCNG presented their updated list of 2014 CNG converted auto's. They informed the audience of the new choice for businesses to public entities of having an AWD Terrain or Equinox CUV on CNG. They also brought for people to look at and check out their first converted 2014 3500 CNG Ram Promaster. There was much interest and excitement by the services and city delivery companies as well as local government agencies. While exciting to see this van in person, my personal impression is that this will sell well but not be a long lasting van. To start with, the dash is hard plastic and feels very flimsy. I honestly did not feel it was solid. Fit and finish has a long ways to go as I found many flaws and much unfinished edges in the finished area of the cab as well as at the doors. Inside of the van was aimed for refitters with many places to bolt in various shelf, draws, bins, etc. for custom configuration. Style is truly a personal choice as while I do not think it is a very good looking van, the fleet people that attended seemed to be split down the center 50/50 on love it or hate it for the style. They all loved the CNG option. Interesting note is that to reduce drag on the underside of the van the ProMasters have a very smooth finished if one can call it that to reduce drag. The flip side of this coin is that you reduce drag and get better mpg but you have no place to mount or add on options. This causes the CNG tanks to be stored in a vertical rack behind the cab in a 3 or 4 tank configuration. Have questions? Ask away!
  14. G. David Felt
    Ford will think they updated their touch system but I am hoping GM on the next generation actually makes a revolutionary move for the Mylink system.
  15. G. David Felt
    Just found on the Autoweek web site the following: The increase in dimensions has added 132 pounds to the curb weight, with the 5-door tipping the scales at 2,690 pounds. Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140605/CARNEWS/140609950 They have a nice selection of photo's but I have to say I am underwhelmed with this auto. The whole product line looks dated. Been there done that, when will Mini actually evolve their style?
  16. G. David Felt
    Yet they are using the same engines in a bigger heavier auto, so less performance even in their S version. Any one know how much weight was gained in going to a 4 door config? Autoguide is saying that the new mini line will also have a 3 and 4 cylinder Diesel option. 4 cylinder diesel only available in the 4 door model. Interesting, but nothing on over all weight.
  17. G. David Felt
    Hopefully then their awesome CNG Adam AWD will come across the pond to the US Market.
  18. G. David Felt
    Very dated ride and it shows. Nice write up, I agree as you hit all the important issues. Nissan needs to have a new updated version now if they really want to take on GM, Ford in this space.
  19. G. David Felt
    VW needs to start by firing their team that thinks it understands the US market, Clean house on Marketing, Style, Engineering, etc. They are clueless on the US market and it will only change if they clean house and start over. Their bland none inspirational products leave the bulk of the market looking to some other vendor. What ever they think works in Europe is not working here or anywhere else.
  20. G. David Felt
    You want to talk about bland look at your beloved BMW and MB, other than their performance lines, those auto's are all bland and where I can at least sit in the ATS without my knees hitting the dash. The 3 series from BMW and MB C class I hit the dash. Yes at 6'6" tall I am cramped in all 3 versions but Cadillac has marketing issues more than being bland and cramped inside. Before you say GM will kill of Cadillac, you need to think about the stupid moves BMW and MB have made over the years and the diluted garbage they are selling around the world. Quality is some of the worst on both BMW and MB products. Mini's are a joke except to those that love the cuteness of the car as they do not fit most people, lousy product lines and based on their own numbers ship with 1 defect per car and in some cases 2. The Smart Car is another joke of an auto. Right now they might have the money in the bank, but the unions are starting to drag both companies down. They have over capacity, less than reliable products and there are far better choices out there if you are not a badge snob.
  21. G. David Felt
    What version of browsers are you using? The PDF shows just fine with IE 11, Firefox 29.0.1 and Chrome 35.0.1916
  22. G. David Felt
    Those numbers are pretty ugly. Start with Firing who ever is asleep at the style wheel. Then move onto the marketing department.
  23. G. David Felt
    Jeep is truly moving some steel. 20K wranglers, 18K grand Cherokees and 16K cherokees is pretty awesome. Even the older Compass and Patriot are not bad selling numbers. Way to go Jeep.
  24. G. David Felt
    The police auto, SUV and Heavy duty trucks sure made an impact on their sales, surprising the ones that had large double digit drops in sales and as Drew points out, where is there luxury division?
  25. G. David Felt
    At times I see an Audio and go wow nice looking but most times just to bland. I figure it must be the performance line of cars that catches my attention as the rest of the line is a sleeper. Surprised they sold this many but as Drew points out, badge snobs.
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