Blake Noble

I'm afraid to say that it's all part of a much larger and grotesquely hideous picture. Let me be concise on my stance here without precise and in depth specifics. There absolutely needs to be a comprehensive national infastructure for electric cars. Regardless if you like or loathe the thought of them being around, cars with electric powertrains will be widely available as an option to buyers who want an alternative to fueling up with gasoline. Personally, that's more than okay with me because the more choice we have in regards to choosing what we decide to fuel up with, the better. Electric-powered cars are and will be to gasoline-powered cars what diesel-powered cars are to gasoline-powered cars. Any other viewpoint here is, honestly, erroneous and blighted. However, this should not be government sponsored, and it certainly should not come from our backpockets. Ideally, this should be a privatized industry, it's development spurred on and invested by true American entrepreneurs, similar to how an individual can buy and install, for example, a pinball machine in a barber shop and have a sort of buisness that way. The government taking control here should be the last thing we want and if you think that federal intervention will be the only way to have it, you need to really sit down and reconsider your priorities. If you want the United States to have a better national infastructure for charging electric cars, you need to take charge and do something about it yourself, be courageous and take a risk for once in your life. Take out a small personal loan and set one up outside of a healthy local buisness that will allow you to install a charging station for a nominal fee. It's common sense and, hey, in the process you'll have the opportunity to become that much better off and even create jobs. I'll quietly bow out now.

Yay! I'm using a politican as a puppet! I know what it's like to be part of the 1 percent now! I can die happy.

Sorry. Had to vent.

I was going to embed a video here as a response, but YouTube sucks because they had to just go and resh!tty up their website and get rid of the old embed codes in the process. Thanks, Google. I hope you all rot in hell. P.S. Android SUCKS.

No big deal. It's very possible to bolt in the dual fuel setup out of a CNG Silverado into, at the very least, a classic GM car. For classic car enthusiasts, like myself, that actually like the resto-mod approach where you bolt in a newer powertrain into an older car, it isn't that big of a deal. I also expect the classic car aftermarket to offer up some very interesting solutions with regards to converting classic cars over to a new fuel source. Personally, I think if it's possible for us to make synthetic motor oil, it's possible to make a true synthetic replacement for gasoline that doesn't require any modification to an exsisting powertrain whatsoever.

You're missing the point entirely. That's okay. I expected that.

I think $59,000 grand is too damn expensive, but I've learned by now that no one cares what I think. Anyhow, on a serious and less curmudgeonly note, I don't think it's exactly fair to single Tesla out on the fact that you can option up a $59,000 dollar Model S to almost double its base MSRP (in other words, buy one for the cost of two). Porsche is far more guilty of this. Go load up a V6-powered Panamera sedan as much as you possibly can on their online builder and tell me who deserves to be crucified here. Options are the easiest and quickest way for automakers to make money. I shouldn't have to say that. It's a huge factor in how Porsche is happily humming along building expensive aspirational cars in a market that, in reality, doesn't support them. For a small automaker like Tesla that needs all of the money it can get to grow larger, this route is a no brainer. Personally, I hope that we see more cars like the Model S that correctly marry the concept of performance and electric propulsion with a price tag that doesn't just appeal to the "one percent" (as expensive as it already is, it isn't totally unobtainable to those upper middle class citizens capable of paying a monthly installment on a new BMW 5er, etc.). If someone builds that cheap plug-in $20k rear-drive coupe that I mentioned earlier, I'll get on the electric car bandwagon quietly and happily. It is just not Telsa, I discovered you can take a CTS Coupe V and with all options and adding in the performance upgrades from GM Performance have a $100,000 coupe. Yeah, options are alive and certainly well in the 21st century (although I'll conceed the fact that they don't really let you "build" your own car like in the 'olden days). Whatever money-grubbing executive that thought of option groups, packages, or whatever term they're using this week was a pretty smart and greedy, greedy dude. "Want that nice Sat-Nav unit in your new car? Well, I'm afraid now you'll have to order power windows and door locks, heated leather seats, and these other features and packages to get it. Don't worry, though. It'll only be a small premium on the month to afford it." I will say I've still managed to run into some oddly optioned cars in my time, though. When my dad was looking to buy a new truck, I did run into a very basic '08 Ram SXT that managed to have Sat-Nav without any other luxury features whatsoever. That really confused the living hell out of me.

I've seen three new Darts versus one of those abominable tin trash cans. It's good to know I live somewhere somewhat sane.

I think $59,000 grand is too damn expensive, but I've learned by now that no one cares what I think. Anyhow, on a serious and less curmudgeonly note, I don't think it's exactly fair to single Tesla out on the fact that you can option up a $59,000 dollar Model S to almost double its base MSRP (in other words, buy one for the cost of two). Porsche is far more guilty of this. Go load up a V6-powered Panamera sedan as much as you possibly can on their online builder and tell me who deserves to be crucified here. Options are the easiest and quickest way for automakers to make money. I shouldn't have to say that. It's a huge factor in how Porsche is happily humming along building expensive aspirational cars in a market that, in reality, doesn't support them. For a small automaker like Tesla that needs all of the money it can get to grow larger, this route is a no brainer. Personally, I hope that we see more cars like the Model S that correctly marry the concept of performance and electric propulsion with a price tag that doesn't just appeal to the "one percent" (as expensive as it already is, it isn't totally unobtainable to those upper middle class citizens capable of paying a monthly installment on a new BMW 5er, etc.). If someone builds that cheap plug-in $20k rear-drive coupe that I mentioned earlier, I'll get on the electric car bandwagon quietly and happily.

If everything works out, you'll know soon enough.

I drove the '02 Formula tonight. It seems to be solid and completely in order. We'll see what happens this week.

Yep. It's the same reason why Ram Trucks was "split" off from Dodge. It's a division within a division, so to speak.

I don't get how putting a big subwoofer in your car somehow instantly equates to a "bad taste in automotive design," but alright. Say, how do I buy a ticket to get off of this whole "Gen Y has no taste in auto design" stereotype bandwagon? Because, not to sound conceded or anything, I think I do in fact have decent taste as far as automotive design goes. I never said that all Gen Y has bad auto taste, but the Gen Y does seem more concerned about their connection in life to facebook and twitter than in are and auto design. Well, as always the trench we're walking through is a deep one. It's even deeper than I realized earlier in the year when I wrote my op-ed piece on the subject. In rural areas, like where I live, over three-quarters of my graduating senior class had access to their own car and the few people I keep in contact with still have a car and kept it going through college. Some even own two cars, albeit they're both little more than cheap beaters or drivable project cars. Hell, even I've managed to own two cars at any given time over the last twelve months despite all that I've put up with. But I realize that we are all in the minority here. When I worked in Lexington, one of the biggest cities in my state, I remember working with quite a few folks who didn't have a car and either took the bus or hitched a ride in. Since I've been back in class, I've only noticed more and more of the same. I don't know if I have a complete grasp on the issue here, but I'll give it another much shorter crack at it, anyway. Sadly, I think we ultimately see a car as a luxury. And that is what good, decent and reliable cars have become, anyway. Paying for one is out of the question because the financial means to do so just isn't there for a good portion of us, even after we graduate from college. Student debt has grown so bloated and unreasonable, it's near impossible to pay it off, and you have to find a job and start paying for it as soon as you leave class. That means you better get yourself the cheapest downtown apartment you can find as close to work as you possibly can and start slaving. More than likely, you're having a tough time finding a job with your degree. The cheap new cars that are out there are still costly and none of them are interesting or good enough to be anything beyond some form of an appliance, a necessary evil. The cheap used cars that we can scrape the money together for aren't necessarily durable or reliable, and the excessive cost of maintenance – even if we learn to do the work ourselves – becomes a big burden to bear when you have to pay your way through college and then subsequently start paying off debt, like many of us have to do to some degree or another. The hassle just isn't worth it for many of us and it isn't even in the picture for most of us, so we tune out and focus on other, more obtainable things. Or, to put it bluntly, we're all just too poor to even covet and aspire to own a car.

Indeed, but the whole concept of "the United States becoming independent from foreign oil" opens the door to one hell of a deep rabbit hole to walk through, and even still the bigger picture in play is just another tree in the forest. I'll run the risk here of possibly looking radical to some of you and speak my mind a little more. Let's consider one simple fact for a moment: all petroleum is exclusively priced in US dollars and most transactions take place with US dollars. Arguably, it's a big factor in what allows our dollar to hold its status as the world's reserve currency. Since the eggs are all locked in one basket so to speak, who then has the most to lose if our demand for petroleum takes a huge nosedive in favor of alternative fuels and that spurs on a huge domino effect across the world? Ask yourself that and research it for yourself, and maybe you'll see where I'm coming from here, maybe you'll see why other abundant and/or renewable energy sources are so horribly crippled in our country. I see the point you are making but then also look at it from the stand point that those getting into Advance Superior Fuels like CNG will be the next so call Oil Barons, or in this case Gas Barons. The old money and old crowd will try to do all they can to control and hold onto their monoploy, but their time is coming to an end. The Future is Natural Gas. It isn't just Big Oil that stands to lose in this fight. Those who have their hand in the pot will probably maintain control here for quite a few years to come. Let me add this before I bow out on the subject: until we can reach a consensus on how to make currency simply a means of buying goods and services rather than a means of establishing and maintaining power and status, we will never see an end to the issues that are plaguing us today. Alternative fuels being one of those issues.

Indeed, but the whole concept of "the United States becoming independent from foreign oil" opens the door to one hell of a deep rabbit hole to walk through, and even still the bigger picture in play is just another tree in the forest. I'll run the risk here of possibly looking radical to some of you and speak my mind a little more. Let's consider one simple fact for a moment: all petroleum is exclusively priced in US dollars and most transactions take place with US dollars. Arguably, it's a big factor in what allows our dollar to hold its status as the world's reserve currency. Since the eggs are all locked in one basket so to speak, who then has the most to lose if our demand for petroleum takes a huge nosedive in favor of alternative fuels and that spurs on a huge domino effect across the world? Ask yourself that and research it for yourself, and maybe you'll see where I'm coming from here, maybe you'll see why other abundant and/or renewable energy sources are so horribly crippled in our country.

I don't get how putting a big subwoofer in your car somehow instantly equates to a "bad taste in automotive design," but alright. Say, how do I buy a ticket to get off of this whole "Gen Y has no taste in auto design" stereotype bandwagon? Because, not to sound conceded or anything, I think I do in fact have decent taste as far as automotive design goes.

That's the nail hit right on the head.

I just got off the phone with the Hyundai Genesis coupe. It wants its beltline and rear quarter glass back.

Yup. Give me more (and cheaper) Tesla Model S's and fewer Nissan Leafs (Leaves?) and I'll be a happy camper.

The recipe I posted could make for one hell of an autocross car. No, not at all. Especially if you're only offering that as an option. In fact, that's where GM needs to take this technology after they've wrapped up the work on the ELR. Tesla gets it. I mean c'mon ... <object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0sHA1jN3Fc?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0sHA1jN3Fc?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0sHA1jN3Fc?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object> Give me more electric cars that do that. I'll happily get on the bandwagon. Yeah, I'll miss the exhaust note of a V8 engine, but that's why I'll already have a car for that purpose. Not only that, but more electrified cars could spell the end for front-wheel drive being the preferred means of putting power down to the pavement.

I like the premise here, but the styling is grossly detestible. If it came from Kia (which it does look like it could've come from Kia), I wouldn't think much of it. But BMW? Oh hell no.

Headlights are to the new RLX what air vents were to the old Pontiac Bonneville. Someone, please, tell Honda to just hang it up on Acura. This thing is simply atrocious.

You know, if GM built a version of the Code130R with a Voltec powertrain it would certainly capture my attention.

It's about $1,000 too much considering it has almost 90,000 miles, but hey. I'll call tomorrow after class and see if they still have it and I may even lay some of the framework down to take it home (mainly insurance quotes and maybe financing). The only problem I see is this: before I buy this next car, I will have to insist that I can take it home for a day before I buy it to have it checked out by another former Pontiac dealer and a reputable body shop. That particular dealer is roughly 70 miles away. I certainly can see them giving me some grief here.