Patent Application Shows Mazda Still Working On the Rotary Engine

There was no money in it and except for Tesla, there's still no money in it. Even the Chinese EV manufacturers are being propped up by their government or by income from other lines of business (BYD is a huge leader in heavy trucks, buses, and construction equipment).  And I'm having serious doubts about Tesla now too. Tesla is alive on hype alone.  Less then 10 years prior all three of the domestics were facing annihilation unless the government stepped in. It was, and still is, cheaper to just pay for clean energy credits from somewhere else than it is to spin up an entire EV platform.  Even a gasoline platform can take a billion dollars to start, that's how much Sergio spent on the Giorgio Platform to get two Alfas, two Jeeps, and the Maserati Grecale.  That's what Benz spends on the S-Class platform. In the era after 2008, none of them were willing to take chances on unprofitable product.  GM and Hyundai should really get a lot more credit for what they've done with their EVs.  GM's EVs don't make the headlines as much as everyone else's but the flexibility of their platform is unmatched by even Tesla.  Ford should get a lot more credit with the Lightning and Mach-E.  The Lightning may not have been the absolute best solution, but it was a fantastic result for the incredibly short development time it had.  People look at the Lighning as a failure today, but look how fast Ford got that to market and, aside from some product mix mishaps, it's a perfectly capable truck for family duty.

The things is, there was not a single thing stopping the legacies from jumping into the EV world head-on also. They knew they were funding Tesla and they could have stopped the bleeding early on with investing into BEVs. They had the ability to offset their own efficiencies, but chose not to. Right? Or was there something in writing that wouldn't allow that?

Ahead of the New York International Auto Show next week, Nissan dropped the details on the refreshed 2027 Z set to debut there, and there are some genuinely good updates in here for enthusiasts. The prime headline: The Z NISMO is finally getting a six-speed manual. Nissan didn't just bolt in an existing unit, either. The transmission was specifically engineered for the NISMO grade with an upgraded clutch and a shorter shift stroke for quicker, more satisfying gear changes. The twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 got manual-specific tuning for throttle and ignition timing too, so it should feel properly dialed in rather than like an afterthought. The NISMO also gets GT-R-derived two-piece iron-aluminum front brake rotors that Nissan says reduce brake pad temps significantly during track use while also shedding 19 pounds off the nose. The suspension was retuned to account for that weight loss, and there are steering rack revisions that reportedly cut internal friction by 20% for a cleaner, more natural steering feel. Sport and Performance grades get a front-end refresh with a new bumper and grille design inspired by classic Nissan sports cars, plus a "Z" badge on the nose instead of the Nissan logo. Performance adds new forged 19-inch wheels and a tan interior option. All models get an improved fuel tank design to keep fuel delivery consistent during high-G cornering, and Performance gets larger-diameter monotube shocks for better ride quality and handling predictability. See all photos in the 2027 Nissan Z NISMO photo gallery. There's also a new color: Shinkai Green Pearl Metallic, paired with a Super Black roof. It's a modern take on the green from the classic S30 Z, and it looks sharp. We'll get you pictures live from the show next week. The 2027 Z hits dealerships this summer. Pricing hasn't been announced yet. View full article

Sorta true sorta not.  It implies that Tesla had some sort of magic but what it really was was funding from the legacies. For many of the early years of Tesla, the only way they made money was buy selling clean energy credits to the legacy makers. Big gas trucks literally funded Tesla's growth. The legacies didn't get tax dollars for EVs until later. The Bolt was developed with GM knowing it would lose money on it because GM would never be able to sell the clean energy credits like Tesla did.  The big tax incentives same later after 2020 during the Biden administration and it was the only way the legacies didn't lose their shirt on EVs. But if you think about it. Ford, GM, Chrysler, Nissan, Volkswagen, and Subaru can't even make a profitable mid-size sedan right now, much less make money on EVs.

The auto industry also has the ability to just "do the right thing" on their own, right? i get that the president is a POS and he makes bad decision after bad decision, but this also needs to be put onto the auto manufacturers. They had 15 years to get to the point of building affordable BEVs with adequate range, but they sat on their hands until like 2019 or so, while getting our tax dollars. Now that they aren't getting our extra tax dollars they just decide to cancel them? That sounds exactly like the "corporate greed" that all of us regular people are sick and tired of.  The fact that it is something oh so earily broken. They're unnecessarily funky to operate. Oh, and we get ice here in the Midwest and I can guarantee they are, at the very least, finicky when it's 0 degrees F and there's ice on the vehicle.  The fact that there's even discussions on a door handle and how it operates, means it's been over-thought. These stupid flush door handles very likely would not stop me from buying something with them, but that doesn't mean I have to like that function.