Alternative Fuels & Propulsion RANDOM

[A Horse With No Name]

4 hours ago, David said:

@ocnblu Found the perfect EV for you. 6 wheel EV Duck from the Movie Batman Returns, ButDuck of the Pinguin. Asking only $16,000, seats 4, very spacious and can go anywhere.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/movieprops/permalink/3666263460080223/

I cry fowl...or foul....or something...

On 10/7/2020 at 1:32 AM, balthazar said:

AN EV work truck presents an interesting sub-category; EV passenger vehicles only expend their energy operating the vehicle / driving. Here, with the electrical outlets to power a hundred different power draws creates a true unknown WRT remaining vehicle range.

IE; drive your model 3 to work, you have a possibility of charging it while you're in your cube.

Drive an EV pickup to a site where there's commonly no charger, plug in a bunch of tools, work all day.... how much is left to drive back home is something that's going to be of concern.

Depends, our 2014 Ford Transit van we use on Campus ahas ten thousand miles on it. A lot of work vehicles see short disatances and few miles. electrics would be ideal here. 

On 10/7/2020 at 12:23 PM, ccap41 said:

I would assume they would use something just like this on the "full" EV model as well and your concern is justified, imo. 

Yes, one tool will not have a huge draw but maybe a few people are working off the boss' truck.. it adds up. 

But if you don't have to drag a seperate generator around, a huge win for everyone. 

On 10/2/2020 at 1:57 PM, David said:

Interesting 1yr review of a Tesla Police car versus the Dodge Charger.

Appears to be a large saving that pays for itself.

https://insideevs.com/news/446583/tesla-model-3-police-savings-1-year/

 

 

Maybe we could have a clunker program for ICE police vehicles and replace them with electrics. 

[USA-1]

8 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

 

 

 

 

Improved battery technology and much lower costs to build EV's are definitely the driving force here.

GM has the cash and engineers to move fast when they want to and Tesla top execs know that, and I don't think Tesla has even made a real profit yet. Used to be that they lost $2.5k-5k per vehicle sold depending on the the model and trim. The interior of their $50k-$100k cars and EUV's are so drab with a lot of cheap hard plastic, for that much it should be all leather, real wood and carbon fiber or aluminum trim everywhere like the new Cadillac's that are around $100k-$110k, Escalade and CT6 come to mind, but even the $75k-$85k ELR fit and finish and gorgeous interior blew away the interior of the Model S in 2014, wasn't even close. Hopefully Tesla gets their QC Dept. together as strong leadership and competition are key to building quality vehicles, like most of us on here know. The Tesla Cybertruck is a joke compared to the GMC Hummer EV truck that's coming out.  

 

[USA-1]

On 10/13/2020 at 9:29 PM, USA-1 said:

 Reveal a week away Oct. 20th...

 

 

https://www-motor1-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.motor1.com/news/448780/gmc-hummer-reservations-choose-trim/amp/?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA%3D#aoh=16026423006594&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.motor1.com%2Fnews%2F448780%2Fgmc-hummer-reservations-choose-trim%2F

Crab Walk mode displayed. Pretty cool. GMC Quadrasteer or similar to it is back!

https://www.gmc.com/electric-truck/hummer-ev

 

Edited October 16, 2020 by USA-1

[balthazar]

a very balanced review of the F-150 EV truck versus the Tesla

No- that's not 'balanced' at all. Tesla truck cyber-images of interior don't come remotely close to an F-150 Platinum interior; it's more akin to the entry-level Ford at $30-someK.

[USA-1]

13 hours ago, David said:

Want a good laugh, watch this Cyber Truck review as this guy is a hard core Tesla lover. At 10:03 you can see a bit of the side to see how TERRIBLE the design is as the back seats are a good 6 inches below the front seats. As such, the people in the back will never see out the front as they will be sitting in a hole. Terrible truck design. The guy does nail one thing right, stop thinking of this as a truck and think of it as a new category of auto. What that is I have no Idea, but after seeing and listening to this guy, I AM NOT SOLD on the Cyber Truck.

 

 

One word...Deranged. 

 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2020 by USA-1

[David]

GM Announced today their Electric Vehicle-only 'Factory Zero' to produce the GMC Hummer EV pickup.

Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center will be converted to a EV only production facility. GM will invest $2.2 Billion into Factory Zero for retooling and upgrades of the assembly line allowing GM to build at scale luxury Trucks and SUV EVs. Upon full operational, the plant will produce 2,200 jobs and more as demand grows.

Factory Zero is being rebuilt with sustainability in mind as everything will be repurposed, recycled and with the change to the plant for EV production, 16.5 acre wildlife habitat will become a home for monarchs, foxes, turkeys and more.

Two videos in the story that cover todays announcement and relabeling of the plant.

https://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/home.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2020/oct/1016-event.html

[David]

Good info on GM's future of an All-Electric Reality.

https://www.gm.com/masthead-story/ultium-battery-electric-future.html

[David]

EV News of the day:

Foxconn, the maker of iPhone has released their EV chassis system for those wanting to build their own EV's. Foxconn says they plan to have 10% of the global market by 2025. Foxconn also announced they will move from traditional battery packs available now to solid state in 2024. Foxconn is currently a battery supplier to Tesla in China.

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/10/16/foxconn-ev-plans/

BMW/Mini is recalling ALL 2020 PHEV models. To quote the story the following is the recall list, a voluntary recall which is weird when it is a fire risk. BMW is not clarifying what in the assembly by BMW of the battery pack is causing the fires, but they expect to begin repairs on the 26,700 PHEV's  they manufactured between January 20th and September 28th 2020

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/10/16/bmi-mini-phev-recall-fire-risk/

QUOTE: The list of cars affected by this voluntary recall includes 2020 and 2021 examples of the 530e, the X3 xDrive30e, and the Mini Countryman SE, coupe and convertible variants of the 2020 i8, as well as the 330e (pictured), the 745Le xDrive, and the X5 xDrive45e from the 2021 model year. All are equipped with a lithium-ion battery pack whose cells might have been contaminated by debris during the manufacturing process, according to a recall notice issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

 

[David]

Magna International has purchased a stake of up to 6% or $3 Billion in Fisker and will be the official builder of the Fisker EV SUV.

Magna of Canada is the first known contract manufacturing of an EV and will build the Ocean SUV for the European market in their Graz Austria plant.

The Ocean Fiskar SUV will start at $37,499 and have a 3rd row seating option.

Production will begin in November 2022 for a 2023 availability. Video showing the running concept suv in the story link below.

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/10/15/fisker-magna-financial-stake-will-build-ocean-suv/#slide-2213067

[A Horse With No Name]

An old video, but cool. 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

One more...

 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

One more...

 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Obligatory ICE in the Ev random thread....

 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Neat conversion here...

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Interesting...

 

[David]

Very cool improvement that Cadillac will get first with their EV Lyriq.

https://electrek.co/2020/10/19/gm-cadillac-lyriq-electric-suv-crazy-head-up-display/

[balthazar]

I realize it's a 'full bells & whistles' from the vendor, but that's nightmarish as shown.

[daves87rs]

Might have to go down to the old Dham plant and get some pictures.....

[David]

Porsche has restored their first in-wheel hub motor EV auto they built.

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Hyrids and plugs ins becoming more mainstream. 

 

 

Anti electricity cartoon from 1900....some ideas about electricity are 120 years out of date...

[A Horse With No Name]

If you actually watch the RAV 4 prime video, they really like it. Methinks people test driving Hybrid and electric vehicles will like them much better, accelerating their acceptance. 

[David]

33 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

If you actually watch the RAV 4 prime video, they really like it. Methinks people test driving Hybrid and electric vehicles will like them much better, accelerating their acceptance. 

Totally agree, as more people drive them and experience the Torque they will change to liking Hybrids / EVs.

[A Horse With No Name]

2 hours ago, David said:

Totally agree, as more people drive them and experience the Torque they will change to liking Hybrids / EVs.

It's already a major want for their first real car with most of the students I deal with on Campus, even the more politically conservative ones. ICE has already lost, it just doesn't know it yet. 

More of Hybrids becoming more mianstream...again...conventional ICE has already lost the battle. 

 

 

ICE in the thread though....this is badass....

 

[David]

13 hours ago, balthazar said:

I realize it's a 'full bells & whistles' from the vendor, but that's nightmarish as shown.

Check out their real world version of their AR HUD rather than that crazy everything in the sky version that was in the story. Have to say it looks good when you look at what they are more realistic about.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/features/envisics-ar-windshield-technology/

https://envisics.com/

Envisics has investment from Hyundai, GM, SAIC and Van Tuyl all of who have committed to using their Retina Grade AR HUD system in their EVs.

14 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

It's already a major want for their first real car with most of the students I deal with on Campus, even the more politically conservative ones. ICE has already lost, it just doesn't know it yet. 

More of Hybrids becoming more mianstream...again...conventional ICE has already lost the battle. 

 

 

ICE in the thread though....this is badass....

 

ICE is already lost, 

ICE Racing is still cool, I think as we get solid state batteries that can handle Rapid 800V or higher recharging, we will see EV racing take off more too.

Course she is very attractive too!  

[A Horse With No Name]

Does not hurt that she is hot!

 

Formula E...electric racing is already here and is badass. 

 

 

More ICE love in this thread

 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Good article...curious about what you all think...

https://www.trucks.com/2020/10/20/tesla-digital-sales-advantage/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=popup&utm_content=ram

One more from the same site...

https://www.trucks.com/2018/04/06/tesla-model-x-snow/

This will catch on with an urban demographic in big cities. I can see companies like Taxi companies and uber drivers really loving this. 

[David]

27 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Good article...curious about what you all think...

https://www.trucks.com/2020/10/20/tesla-digital-sales-advantage/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=popup&utm_content=ram

One more from the same site...

https://www.trucks.com/2018/04/06/tesla-model-x-snow/

This will catch on with an urban demographic in big cities. I can see companies like Taxi companies and uber drivers really loving this. 

The Primes will be great for Uber/Lyft if they survive the Pandemic. The Rav4 Prime makes more sense than this tight car IMHO.

[David]

GM has announced another $2 Billion in investment in their US assembly line plants and that a total of three plants will now be dedicated to building EV's.

Investment is as follows:

GM said the investment in the six U.S. facilities will total more than $2 billion. Here is how it breaks out:

• GM will invest $2 billion in Spring Hill Manufacturing to build fully electric vehicles including the Cadillac Lyriq. Spring Hill’s paint and body shops will undergo expansions and the general assembly will be upgraded with new machines, conveyors, controls and tooling. The renovation begins immediately.
• Production of the next-generation GMC Acadia will move to Lansing Delta Township Assembly, an investment of more than $100 million.
• GM will invest $32 million at Flint Assembly for future production of heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.
• GM will invest $17 million in the Romulus, Michigan, propulsion plant to enhance automation and increase capacity of GM’s 10-speed truck transmission, used in full-size pickups and full-size SUVs.
• GM will invest $3.5 million at Orion Assembly and invest $750,000 at GM’s site in Brownstown Township. Both investments are related to additional production of the Cruise self-driving test vehicle at Orion Assembly.

The three plants that are dedicated EV plants are as follows:

• Former Detroit Hamtramck assembly center now known as Factory ZERO - Production of Hummer by GMC to start there for EV Trucks / SUV full size.
• Orion Assembly plant will continue to build the Chevrolet Bolt EV, Next generation version as well as a new Chevrolet EV and the Extended length Bolt EV.
• Spring Hill Tennessee assembly plant, home of the XT5 & 6 plus Acadia. Will move forward with building the Lyriq upon renovations and continue the XT5 & 6 till EV replacements are ready. Then the plant will be full time Cadillac EV's only.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2020/10/20/gm-invest-billions-michigan-plants-converts-another-plant-ev/5983749002/

[A Horse With No Name]

42 minutes ago, David said:

The Primes will be great for Uber/Lyft if they survive the Pandemic. The Rav4 Prime makes more sense than this tight car IMHO.

RAV 4 prime has interesting tech, is hugely ugly. I kind of like the new Escape, nice and simple...even if ti does resemble a bar of soap left out in the rain a bit too long. 

13 minutes ago, David said:

GM has announced another $2 Billion in investment in their US assembly line plants and that a total of three plants will now be dedicated to building EV's.

Investment is as follows:

GM said the investment in the six U.S. facilities will total more than $2 billion. Here is how it breaks out:

• GM will invest $2 billion in Spring Hill Manufacturing to build fully electric vehicles including the Cadillac Lyriq. Spring Hill’s paint and body shops will undergo expansions and the general assembly will be upgraded with new machines, conveyors, controls and tooling. The renovation begins immediately.
• Production of the next-generation GMC Acadia will move to Lansing Delta Township Assembly, an investment of more than $100 million.
• GM will invest $32 million at Flint Assembly for future production of heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.
• GM will invest $17 million in the Romulus, Michigan, propulsion plant to enhance automation and increase capacity of GM’s 10-speed truck transmission, used in full-size pickups and full-size SUVs.
• GM will invest $3.5 million at Orion Assembly and invest $750,000 at GM’s site in Brownstown Township. Both investments are related to additional production of the Cruise self-driving test vehicle at Orion Assembly.

The three plants that are dedicated EV plants are as follows:

• Former Detroit Hamtramck assembly center now known as Factory ZERO - Production of Hummer by GMC to start there for EV Trucks / SUV full size.
• Orion Assembly plant will continue to build the Chevrolet Bolt EV, Next generation version as well as a new Chevrolet EV and the Extended length Bolt EV.
• Spring Hill Tennessee assembly plant, home of the XT5 & 6 plus Acadia. Will move forward with building the Lyriq upon renovations and continue the XT5 & 6 till EV replacements are ready. Then the plant will be full time Cadillac EV's only.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2020/10/20/gm-invest-billions-michigan-plants-converts-another-plant-ev/5983749002/

This is fantastic news. 

[David]

Seems GM is willing to let software companies battle for their right to build the ultimate auto interface versus current GM interface that is across all four brands. As such, GM has NOT currently stated who will build the next generation interface / HUD for Buick or Chevrolet, but they have committed to two companies.

• Cadillac will have their all new interface, Retina Quality based AR interface with HUD from Envisics
  • https://envisics.com/
  • https://www.digitaltrends.com/features/envisics-ar-windshield-technology/
  • https://electrek.co/2020/10/19/gm-cadillac-lyriq-electric-suv-crazy-head-up-display/
• GMC will have their new auto interface / HUD built by Epic Games using the unreal engine.
  • https://fossbytes.com/epic-games-to-develop-ui-ux-of-electric-hummer-using-unreal-engine/
  • https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/gmc-hummer-ev-will-use-fortnites-gaming-platform-epics-unreal-engine/
  • https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/20/gms-official-run-for-tesla-starts-with-its-electric-hummer-debut-tuesday-night-.html
  • https://www.bgr.in/gaming/hummer-ev-to-run-on-fortnites-unreal-engine-reveals-epic-games-918745/
  • https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/gmc-hummer-ev-will-use-fortnites-gaming-platform-epics-unreal-engine/

[David]

For those that want to see the Reveal of the Hummer EV SUT by GMC you can watch it here:

 

[David]

30 Minutes till the GMC Hummer EV reveal!  

[balthazar]

It’s pretty cool; GMC put a lot of engineering into it... but the 3 motor version will be priced for the millionaire class, not everyday truck owners. 

[David]

Have to say I am excited by the GMC Hummer EV. The reveal was what I would call a 6min commercial. I will say that they at least made sure to have a Hummer version of the GMC Multi-Function tailgate. Starting price for the AWD Hummer Edition 1 is $112,595

Reservation fee of $100.00

 

More details are all available on the GMC Web site here:

https://www.gmc.com/electric-truck/hummer-ev

https://media.gmc.com/media/us/en/gmc/hummer-ev.html

On 10/20/2020 at 5:29 PM, balthazar said:

It’s pretty cool; GMC put a lot of engineering into it... but the 3 motor version will be priced for the millionaire class, not everyday truck owners. 

3 Motor Edition 1 will start at $112,595.00 Yes not for those that are in the 30 to 40K range, but not crazy like Bollinger with less tech starting at $125,000 which is crazy.

[David]

I will say that GMC has done allot of awesome work on this EV Pickup truck compared to the Tesla Vapor ware Cyber truck.

[Robert Hall]

Saw the new pics of the Hummer EV.  Looks slick.  I like the T-top and targa top combo and the big frunk.

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/10/20/2022-gmc-hummer-ev-reveal/

Edited October 21, 2020 by Robert Hall

[balthazar]

$116 GRAND?!?!? Utterly preposterous.

Are we still overlooking the 80,000 lb gorilla of the bottom line vs. a comparable IC vehicle? Just shove the $1100 monthly payment aside and focus on 'no bi-annual oil changes / whoopee!' ??

That's like saying 'your hand doesn't hurt at all' while I'm smashing your foot with a hand sledge.

As more EV trucks get released, the average MSRP of the electric vehicle keeps rising & rising & rising.

[David]

Great detail review of the Hummer EV.

 

[David]

Hummer EV is a GMC answer to the Ford Raptor!

Another good review of the new Hummer EV.

 

[balthazar]

Noooo; the Raptor starts at $53K.

[ocnblu]

The Ford F-150 Raptor also has 390.00 / 468.00 city/highway driving range on a single tank, AND (get this!) 100% of that driving range can be restored in about FIVE MINUTES.  Even if you do get wrapped up in your off-road adventure and run out of (dino) juice "out there", if you carry an extra can of gas, you can get home!  So... Ford is already ahead of GM in technology when it comes to "off road beasts", at less than half the price.  Added bonus... the only thing embarrassing about the Ford is the exhaust note from the 3.5L V6!

[Robert Hall]

8 hours ago, balthazar said:

$116 GRAND?!?!? Utterly preposterous.

Are we still overlooking the 80,000 lb gorilla of the bottom line vs. a comparable IC vehicle? Just shove the $1100 monthly payment aside and focus on 'no bi-annual oil changes / whoopee!' ?? 

Look at the prices Hummer H1 Alphas are going for, used w/ a garbage interior...this is likely superior to those old shitboxes...Hummer was never about cheap transportation...cheaply build interiors, maybe, but not prices..

Edited October 21, 2020 by Robert Hall

[A Horse With No Name]

9 hours ago, David said:

Great detail review of the Hummer EV.

 

This is one of my favorite Youtuibe channels. He always explains things with such clairity. 

2 hours ago, ocnblu said:

The Ford F-150 Raptor also has 390.00 / 468.00 city/highway driving range on a single tank, AND (get this!) 100% of that driving range can be restored in about FIVE MINUTES.  Even if you do get wrapped up in your off-road adventure and run out of (dino) juice "out there", if you carry an extra can of gas, you can get home!  So... Ford is already ahead of GM in technology when it comes to "off road beasts", at less than half the price.  Added bonus... the only thing embarrassing about the Ford is the exhaust note from the 3.5L V6!

Disagree on the 3.5 V6, I do not mind the exhaust note. And it is damn efficient....friend's F150 crew cab towing a loaded trailer to colorado got over 25 going out, over 27 coming back with trailer unlaoded. Small/midsize SUV mileage out of a capable full size is a huge win. 

Embarassing thing about the Raptor is it is too wide to fit through any of the local full service car washes I prefer, so i actually would take a Colorado ZR2 in the Gorgeous bespoke Sand Dune metallic....badass!

But I still like this as well. 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Three of my favorite youtube Wheelers weigh in on the Hummer EV

 

 

[ykX]

It is bigger than Raptor and priced at over $110k.

Just a toy for the very rich.  

[A Horse With No Name]

left here for discussion....as a resident of Ohio....at least Lordstown is being put to use.

 

 

[riviera74]

10 hours ago, balthazar said:

$116 GRAND?!?!? Utterly preposterous.

Are we still overlooking the 80,000 lb gorilla of the bottom line vs. a comparable IC vehicle? Just shove the $1100 monthly payment aside and focus on 'no bi-annual oil changes / whoopee!' ??

That's like saying 'your hand doesn't hurt at all' while I'm smashing your foot with a hand sledge.

As more EV trucks get released, the average MSRP of the electric vehicle keeps rising & rising & rising.

That's the original problem.  It seems every automaker wants to sell expensive EVs when the market needs cheap ones.  If you want to get ICE off the road, EVs must be cheap enough to displace the used car market period.  The first automaker that sells a quality EV for $15K brand new will own the market for a long time.  I actively wonder if it will be a Chinese automaker who will do just that. 

[ykX]

2 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

quality EV for $15K brand new

There is no quality ICE vehicle for $15k new

But I think having a good EV in the $25-35k range will do the trick.

[Robert Hall]

1 minute ago, ykX said:

There is no quality ICE vehicle for $15k new

But I think having a good EV in the $25-35k range will do the trick.

The cheap stuff will come from Chevy like the Bolt...

[balthazar]

2 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Look at the prices Hummer H1 Alphas are going for, used w/ a garbage interior...this is likely superior to those old shitboxes...Hummer was never about cheap transportation...cheaply build interiors, maybe, but not prices..

They only moved 11K H1s in 15 yrs, when it started @ $53K ($68K adjusted). This is significantly above that price tier; it’s not going to sell MORE. 
I thought the ‘goal’ was to expand EVs, not render them almost exclusively as rare niche vehicles you never see.

Edited October 21, 2020 by balthazar