Alternative Fuels & Propulsion RANDOM

[Robert Hall]

1 hour ago, David said:

That just has all kinds of Stupid written all over it as there is no reason to stay that dated other than just plain laziness IMHO. Crazy how govs will waste money on archaic stuff.

That was my one-and-only gig at a government/municipal client..eye opening.  The whole office just felt shabby, from the ancient Bunn coffee maker (which had a 25-cent charge per cup), to the carpet to the creaky elevator to go to the 7th floor offices...which overlooked the fancy relatively new city office building across the street...

[balthazar]

Green Car Reports has... reported that General Motors has admitted they don't have an actual, working Hummer EV.

Apparently the release video was largely CGI.

[A Horse With No Name]

8 hours ago, balthazar said:

Green Car Reports has... reported that General Motors has admitted they don't have an actual, working Hummer EV.

Apparently the release video was largely CGI.

Rivian has a bunch of actual working trucks though. 

More on the Jeep truck idea we were talking about earlier. 

[Robert Hall]

8 hours ago, balthazar said:

Green Car Reports has... reported that General Motors has admitted they don't have an actual, working Hummer EV.

Apparently the release video was largely CGI.

It was good enough to convince a bunch of suckers to put down deposits, though.  First year sold out supposedly, though has GM revealed how many units that actually is?  

[balthazar]

Edition 1 supposedly was 1000 units.

[A Horse With No Name]

11 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Edition 1 supposedly was 1000 units.

No way they are not loosing their ass on such a low volume bespoke vehicle. Loosing their ass. 

Meanwhile in the ICE world...

 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Let's not loose sight on all of the fun things one can do with a truck, electric or gas or deisel...or powered by unicorn farts...

Would love to make this road trip in my Ranger. 

 

 

More cool adventure, this time in a Hilux in the Darien area of Panama, which I am currently infatuated with. 

 

...and music about being out in the country...although given my desire to see new things, this might as well be "out of the country"

 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Obligatory ICE in the elctric thread...I love this..

[A Horse With No Name]

More ICE goodness...

This just screams get in and drive me...as does the Hummer EV....have a good day, gentlemen. 

[riviera74]

That looks a lot like an early 80s Cadillac (Seville or Deville?) interior.  Maybe 1982. . . . ?  Reminds me of my former 1984 Olds Cutlass Supreme, except the steering wheel is all wrong.  Mine was velour not leather.

[balthazar]

I think that interior came out with the '77 generation- looks like what I remember my grandfather's '78 Sedan deVille was like. But the hood looks to be the flatter profile of '80 and up.

[Robert Hall]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

I think that interior came out with the '77 generation- looks like what I remember my grandfather's '78 Sedan deVille was like. But the hood looks to be the flatter profile of '80 and up.

Looks like an '80s de Ville...the steering wheel is the style they used from '79 onward...Fleetwood Brougham used it up to '92.  '77-78 had a two-bar wheel with a rectangular center pad.   The '77-78 style wheel was also used in the Seville of that era (Seville--gray interior below). The dash of the Seville kind of resembled a scaled down version of the '74-76 de Ville dash...

Edited October 24, 2020 by Robert Hall

[balthazar]

On 10/22/2020 at 11:44 PM, balthazar said:

Green Car Reports has... reported that General Motors has admitted they don't have an actual, working Hummer EV.

Apparently the release video was largely CGI.

Now I see this, moving under it's own power. Is the 1000HP set-up the part that's not "actually" there yet? :

 

Can someone explain how a 14-yr old insufferable noob even has access to a C8 Corvette, nevermind the stones to put down $100 deposit / talk like he's actually going to buy a Hummer???

[ocnblu]

Insufferable is ACCURATE.

 

Pretty sure a couple of D cells could power the Hmmmmr with the functions featured in this lily-livered video.

[David]

7 hours ago, balthazar said:

Now I see this, moving under it's own power. Is the 1000HP set-up the part that's not "actually" there yet? :

 

Can someone explain how a 14-yr old insufferable noob even has access to a C8 Corvette, nevermind the stones to put down $100 deposit / talk like he's actually going to buy a Hummer???

Seems this 20 year old comes from money that daddy supplies.

[Robert Hall]

13 hours ago, David said:

Seems this 20 year old comes from money that daddy supplies.

There are others like that on Youtube... 'JR Garage' is one, a couple creepy-looking rich kid teenagers that buy, fix up, and sell broken exotics..

[David]

Tesla is installing a 40 MWh battery system in Santa Barbra to increase GRID Resilience for the area which will reduce brown outs and outages as there is only a single supply route. The focus of California is to build in clean energy as a backup of renewable energy. Pictures of the install is on the link at the bottom.

To quote:

It is going to reinforce a weak point in the region’s electricity transmission system known as the Goleta Load Pocket (GLP).

Coastal View reports:

“The entire region, from Point Conception to Lake Casitas, is currently dependent on one point of interconnection to the transmission system at the Goleta Substation, located at the top of Glenn Annie Road. With a 40-mile-long transmission path that begins in Ventura and traverses the heart of extreme fire, mudslide and earthquake risk zones on the backside of the Santa Ynez mountains, the GLP is extremely vulnerable to a transmission outage. Moreover, after reaching the Goleta Substation, electricity must then travel back down to Carpinteria via a web of distribution lines. Additionally, SCE has reported that the grid will go down at some point, and when it does, it could be out for days or even weeks in Carpinteria.”

Clean Coalition, who has been backing the project and pushing it through approval, says that the VESR project is going to be a first step in creating a microgrid to protect the region from such outages.

They wrote:

The Clean Coalition has determined that to achieve indefinite renewables-driven backup power that provides 100% protection to the GLP against a complete transmission outage, 200 megawatts (MW) of solar and 400 megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy storage needs to be sited within the GLP. By itself, VESR represents a full 10% of the energy storage needed to achieve this goal. The Goleta Load Pocket Community Microgrid (GLPCM), which is being staged with this 100% resilience goal in mind, will bring the area unparalleled economic, environmental, and resilience benefits.

They decided to go with Tesla’s latest utility-scale battery technology: the Tesla Megapack.

VESR will consist of 15 Tesla Megapacks and the first 5 batteries are currently being deployed at the site.

https://electrek.co/2020/10/26/tesla-megapacks-deployed-increase-grid-resilience-santa-barbara-county/

 

Very interesting read as the web site iseecars reviewed the start of widely available hybrids and what the longest owned versions where. No surprise to see Toyota at the top with #1,2 &3 spots covered by Toyota Highlander Hybrid 38%, Avalon Hybrid 36.5% and Camry Hybrid 34.6%. Toyota's Lexus ES 300h sedan and Prius were in the top 10 of the longest owned auto's.

Low cost of ownership with reduced maintenance costs seems to make these auto's push the 10 year plus ownership.

This I can see increasing the number of older auto's on the road as people upgrade less often.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1130070_why-do-owners-of-toyota-hybrids-keep-their-vehicles-so-long

[David]

WOW, the first of the Chinese auto companies are now exporting EVs to Norway. First 100 are on board heading to the country that leads the world in EV adoption.

Xpeng has their sites set on also selling their EVs in the America's region, but for now is focusing on delivering quality auto's to Europe as well as China.

https://chargedevs.com/newswire/xpengs-g3-electric-suv-is-on-its-way-to-norway/

[David]

Seems Lordstown motors has completed and is now trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol RIDE.

Lordstown motors is also on track to begin full production of their pickup truck that is initially aimed at Government agencies, businesses and school systems that need truck handling.

https://chargedevs.com/newswire/lordstown-finalizes-spac-deal-starts-trading-on-nasdaq/

[David]

Very interesting write up on comparing the electric pickups coming out versus the Ford Raptor.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/gmc-hummer-ev-tesla-cybertruck-rivian-bollinger-electric-truck-comparison/

[David]

This is so Funny!

Watch the video in the story at the link below, the guy usually takes auto's apart and tells ya how much it will cost to manufacture. He is able to check out a Changli which is the cheapest EV in the world. Very funny video to watch.

https://jalopnik.com/we-took-the-worlds-cheapest-ev-to-a-car-manufacturing-e-1845484056

[balthazar]

1 hour ago, David said:

...comparing the electric pickups coming out versus the Ford Raptor.

They forgot MSRPs.

[ocnblu]

3 hours ago, balthazar said:

They forgot MSRPs.

Probably not a memory lapse though.  It was to whitewash basic facts.

[ccap41]

On 10/25/2020 at 11:25 AM, balthazar said:

Can someone explain how a 14-yr old insufferable noob even has access to a C8 Corvette, nevermind the stones to put down $100 deposit / talk like he's actually going to buy a Hummer???

They're making bank off of a social media following, most likely. 

[David]

Seems Toyota is moving their complete product lineup to hybrid as the 2021 Toyota Sienna Minivan is now a hybrid only with 36 mpg and a far more flashy style. Almost SUV looking.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1130094_2021-toyota-sienna-first-drive-36-mpg-and-design-flair-make-the-minivan-relevant-again

Got my invitation from Lucid Air to reserve my car and they are highlighting the 34" glass cockpit floating display much like the new Escalade. $300 for a reservation.

 

[David]

Seems GM and Ford in the 60's was aware of Climate change and looking at ways to combat it before flipping to trying to figure out how to undermine the climate change science in the late 80's and 90's before GM released the 1996 EV1 to the California market.

GM and Ford was studying how their leaded fuel auto's affected climate change as they were building cars like the GTO Judge.

GM hired scientist presented to the CEO, Chairman and other high level executives their findings. The story at the link below was unable to confirm if Ford Executives ever also got presented to by their climate scientists.

The findings did push GM to find ways to clean up the tail pipe emissions and led to the support of California CARB with the EV1. Ford eventually did launch their 1998 EV Ford Ranger Pickup for the California Market only but also ended up shipping it to other states that also purchased the truck for fleet use.

The research shows that in the early 2000's under Bill Ford Jr. that Ford started the move away from big engines with high emissions to smaller engines and is in support of CARB as they bring out their Mach e and F-150 EV Truck. GM on the other hand sided with the Trump administration and has since then found themselves hurting in the perception of the public for working for cleaner climate change.

One does have to wonder if the siding with the current administration is what drove GM to move aggressively forward with the Hummer EV line which was not on the earlier EV road map for GM. GM is now working aggressively in the last few years to lead the change to EV as they are also doing in China now.

Interesting Times we live in.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1130089_report-50-years-ago-gm-and-ford-understood-climate-change-was-an-issue

[David]

It would appear that New Jersey is the next state to propose an ICE ban. According to the state which did pass an emissions reduction of 80% by 2050, the state DEP has stated that starting with this year through 2025 New Jersey will need to put a 110,000 EVs on the state roads each year and stop all sales of New ICE auto's by 2035. The plan also includes having ALL Utility regulators, state agencies, county, city, etc. transitioning away from ICE auto's to EV's.

The New Jersey state legislature is entertaining ways to move forward with clean energy initiatives and clean air initiatives.

New Jersey has been talking with the west coast states and others that follow the CARB plans seeing the Federal EPA being ineffective at protecting the people.

Question then is could New Jersey be the next state to agree to CARB and propose a ban on ICE sales as they embrace EV's and the infrastructure to support the move?

https://chargedevs.com/newswire/will-new-jersey-be-the-next-state-to-propose-an-ice-vehicle-ban/

https://chargedevs.com/newswire/california-governor-issues-order-to-ban-the-sale-of-new-fossil-fuel-vehicles-by-2035/

[David]

Seems the DOE is going to spend $1.95 million on research by the following places as they look to use COAL for critical rare earth elements. Seems rather than burning and polluting the air, COAL has the ability of being crushed and then separating out the rare earth elements that could be used for sustainable green energy and EVs.

The DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory will manage the projects, which will be carried out by the following recipients:

• Battelle Memorial Institute (Columbus, OH)
• BioCarbon Technologies (Missoula, MT)
• Concurrent Technologies (Johnstown, PA)
• Energy Fuels Resources (Lakewood, CO)
• MATERIA USA (Inwood, NY)
• MP Mine Operations (Mountain Pass, CA)
• Tetra Tech (Pittsburgh, PA) Project 1
• Texas Mineral Resources (Sierra Blanca, TX)
• University of North Dakota (Grand Forks, ND)
• UPSHOTS (Forsyth, GA)
• West Virginia University Research (Morgantown, WV)
• Winner Water Services (Sharon, PA)

https://chargedevs.com/newswire/doe-looks-to-coal-as-a-source-of-critical-minerals-and-rare-earth-elements/

[A Horse With No Name]

5 hours ago, ccap41 said:

They're making bank off of a social media following, most likely. 

Same as that Whistlin diesel dude. 

2 hours ago, David said:

Seems the DOE is going to spend $1.95 million on research by the following places as they look to use COAL for critical rare earth elements. Seems rather than burning and polluting the air, COAL has the ability of being crushed and then separating out the rare earth elements that could be used for sustainable green energy and EVs.

The DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory will manage the projects, which will be carried out by the following recipients:

• Battelle Memorial Institute (Columbus, OH)
• BioCarbon Technologies (Missoula, MT)
• Concurrent Technologies (Johnstown, PA)
• Energy Fuels Resources (Lakewood, CO)
• MATERIA USA (Inwood, NY)
• MP Mine Operations (Mountain Pass, CA)
• Tetra Tech (Pittsburgh, PA) Project 1
• Texas Mineral Resources (Sierra Blanca, TX)
• University of North Dakota (Grand Forks, ND)
• UPSHOTS (Forsyth, GA)
• West Virginia University Research (Morgantown, WV)
• Winner Water Services (Sharon, PA)

https://chargedevs.com/newswire/doe-looks-to-coal-as-a-source-of-critical-minerals-and-rare-earth-elements/

One of my woodworkiing friends works for Battelle and does a lot of IT and computer work for them, he might well be on this project. 

[ccap41]

13 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Same as that Whistlin diesel dude.

Absolutely.

That guy is annoying as fck but I do really enjoy his builds. I'm following his Cummins swapped S550 Mustang. 

[David]

Seems Nikola and especially Tesla might have some serious competition.

Triton Solar has decided to get into the EV Truck business for commercial Class 8 trucks, Triton EV. In 35 days they built a working prototype that can haul 220,000 lbs with a driving range of 300 miles. They choose to go pure EV with an option for a Hydrogen generator due to the scientific facts that a Class 8 Semi that Hyundai and Mercedes Benz are working on for the market have one big draw back. Hydrogen is only have as dense at power than Diesel and to replace Diesel, you need equal to it or better. 

Answer is EV Class 8 Trucks where you can have equal and in many cases better torque / hauling capacity. While todays batteries can allow up to 300 miles of range and yes Tesla has stated they will also have a 500 mile pack, recharging is a limitation due to how long it takes. 

The answer to that is using Hydrogen as a perfect generator of electrical recharge use while being very clean and good for the environment. This also allows for long haul use then with the only challenge being the need to build more Hydrogen fueling stations.

Triton was able to build this Class 8 semi in such a short time as rather than building from scratch which Nikoa and Tesla have done, they choose to source out the parts and material needed from existing Class 8 suppliers and built the truck.

Currently Triton EV is looking to partner with existing Truck builders to get this into production sooner than other announced Class 8 EV trucks.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/triton-ev-electric-semi-truck/

[balthazar]

Seems I’ve lived in NJ my whole life, highest population density in the US, relatively low percentage of EVs vs other states. Air quality is very good - excellent, and I am ‘protected’.

[balthazar]

1 hour ago, David said:

Triton Solar... working prototype that can haul 220,000 lbs with a driving range of 300 miles...
Hydrogen is only have as dense at power than Diesel and to replace Diesel, you need equal to it or better. 

Answer is EV Class 8 Trucks where you can have equal and in many cases better torque / hauling capacity.

Torque is not an issue in semi’s, as diesels have boatloads. Range at 300 miles is far short, but I see it was coupled with an absurdly high total weight (many/most states limit semi’s to 80K... so that range number may edge upwards. But to sell to hardcore diesel loyalists, you need to talk to them on their own terms, not at a weight tier 3x what they run.
 

Of course, and as usual; MSRP is ignored/unspecified. Owner operators face towering purchase costs with TDs; you can’t compete until you compete on the bottom line.

[ocnblu]

2 hours ago, balthazar said:

Seems

 

[David]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

Torque is not an issue in semi’s, as diesels have boatloads. Range at 300 miles is far short, but I see it was coupled with an absurdly high total weight (many/most states limit semi’s to 80K... so that range number may edge upwards. But to sell to hardcore diesel loyalists, you need to talk to them on their own terms, not at a weight tier 3x what they run.
 

Of course, and as usual; MSRP is ignored/unspecified. Owner operators face towering purchase costs with TDs; you can’t compete until you compete on the bottom line.

🤔 Not sure what you read, but the linked story clearly states that this truck meets Class 8 with Torque and is capable of hauling up to 220,000 pounds so it can handle the normal 65ft trailers at 80k lbs plus the special hauling loads up to 220,000 pounds as I stated above. 

On top of this, 300 miles of pure EV run plus the Hydrogen generator that allows plenty of miles past that. Yes if stopped for the night, recharge the battery pack overnight, but otherwise fast fill Hydrogen and keep on trucking.

[balthazar]

44 minutes ago, David said:

🤔 Not sure what you read, but the linked story clearly states that this truck meets Class 8 with Torque and is capable of hauling up to 220,000 pounds...

Google is your friend : federal DOT site : https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/policy/rpt_congress/truck_sw_laws/app_b.htm

No state allows a GVW of 220K lbs. No state allows a GVW of 200K lbs. No state allows a GVW of 175K lbs. Highest is MI, with 164K lbs. 14 states have a max of between 80-95K lbs.

Marketing a truck capacity at 50%-250% over the allowable weight maximum makes no sense. Might as well market it at 500K lbs.

Pricing aspect still a monstrous unknown. Commercial price inequalities always eclipse private disparities.

Edited October 27, 2020 by balthazar

[David]

3 hours ago, balthazar said:

Google is your friend : federal DOT site : https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/policy/rpt_congress/truck_sw_laws/app_b.htm

No state allows a GVW of 220K lbs. No state allows a GVW of 200K lbs. No state allows a GVW of 175K lbs. Highest is MI, with 164K lbs. 14 states have a max of between 80-95K lbs.

Marketing a truck capacity at 50%-250% over the allowable weight maximum makes no sense. Might as well market it at 500K lbs.

Pricing aspect still a monstrous unknown. Commercial price inequalities always eclipse private disparities.

YOUR Ignoring my clear pointed typing of SPECIAL HAULING LOADS. Most Kenworth's, Peterbilt's, MAC, WHITE can all haul over 80k lbs. Special permits are needed as is special plans and road closures to haul over sized loads. That happens all the time with the regular Diesel Class 8 trucks.

So then NO DIESEL Maker if we take your point above should build anything to handle over 80k lbs.

Triton EV is clearly stating they can handle the daily freight hauling and can also handle the special hauling loads. 

The story says the trucks will cost like normal diesel depending on features and sleeping cab from $150,000 to $250,000 a truck. This is very competitive with current class 8 hauling trucks of equal feature functions.

[balthazar]

My point is about the MARKETING of the ev semi, not the capacity of either. Of you want to convince the diesel O/O to switch, and a major point of contention is range, you need to talk about operating at a median range. Special permitted loads are not the mainstream truck run, by far.

[ocnblu]

6 hours ago, David said:

YOUR

 

[ocnblu]

19 hours ago, David said:

MAC

 

[A Horse With No Name]

 

[balthazar]

Reading a review of the ‘21 Sierra 3.0L DuraMax, and it stated how crazy it was to start off with a full tank and have it read “600 miles” as a range. 
 

If it’s set up at all like the 6.6L DuraMax, GM has GALLONS of overage built in; my 6.6 has a 34 gal tank but aI’ve never filled it with more than 19+ gals. Actual 3.0L range might be 850 miles.

[A Horse With No Name]

42 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Reading a review of the ‘21 Sierra 3.0L DuraMax, and it stated how crazy it was to start off with a full tank and have it read “600 miles” as a range. 
 

If it’s set up at all like the 6.6L DuraMax, GM has GALLONS of overage built in; my 6.6 has a 34 gal tank but aI’ve never filled it with more than 19+ gals. Actual 3.0L range might be 850 miles.

It was crazy having 600 plus miles of range when I ahd my TDI jetta. 

 

GM crate package, they do up a vintage GM product with EV power here. 

 

[David]

Chevrolet is expanding with upcoming Cruise and Connect packages that will allow those that want to convert their ICE auto to an EV. As proof of this, they have built a test mule from a 1977 Chevrolet K5 Blazer EV. This Cruise and Connect package will be rated at 200 HP / 266 lb-ft of torque. Battery pack is the same as in the Bolt EV, 60-kWh, 400 Volt battery pack.

GM has confirmed a few things, first is that the electric motor will come with a new 4L75E auto transmission. The cool part is that this Cruise and Crate system is going to be based on what the BOLT EV gets from convenience to safety and that will include air conditioning since that is incorporated into the battery pack so the battery and AC will run off the same compressor. You also will have all the controllers that handle the motor, charging, cooling and impact protection.

GM confirmed that the team of engineers working on this managed to do the conversion in 30 days. This included changing from the 3.08:1 to a new 4.10:1 rear axel

Full details at the link below.

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/10/29/chevy-connect-cruise-ecrate-k5-blazer-details/#slide-2274106

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/10/29/chevy-k5-blazer-e-electric-crate-motor-package/#slide-2273971

2020 is a year of change, Europe has reported that for the first time EV's have overtaken diesel in auto registrations making regular petro the leading fuel, EV's second and Diesel a 3rd for auto registrations across Europe.

In 2012, diesel made 50% of all new auto registrations. Today, you have petrol at 47%, EV's at 25% and Diesel at 24.8% where as the remaining is a mix of PHEV / Hybrid.

2019 saw a 139% increase in EV registrations, 327,800 new EVs for the year.

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/10/29/electric-cars-surpass-diesel-europe/

[David]

One of the first Rivian R1T reviews come back with a very positive, this is the real deal in Off road power, capability and more. Good read for those interested in how this electric truck did off road the whole time.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/features/2021-rivian-r1t-electric-truck-first-drive-review/

[balthazar]

^ I’d wait for an actual production vehicle review (June 2021).

[balthazar]

From the Alternative Vehicle Control Department : 

 

EDITORIAL :: Use to be; race cars were manufacturer-built and had proprietary powertrains. That was deemed "unfair" and the cars were all homogenized to the point that toyoter built a pushrod V8 just to be able to run. We were told 'it's really about the race drivers, anyway'.

NOW... they're working on removing that aspect of the sport. I really don't get it. What are we (no me; I don't watch racing) supposed to root for, the GPS software?

I don't think there's any more blantantly sad example of 'technology for technology's sake'.

Edited October 31, 2020 by balthazar

[ocnblu]

Hold this up high as an example of an automotive future that is totally devoid of joy.  Simply an extension of the EV ethos... the extraction of the soul of the automobile, the disconnection at the very first step between man and machine... sad and blindingly stark.

[balthazar]

The next step will be... to save on the myriad of associated & tremendous costs; all motorsport vehicles will be 2-dimensional computer renders, broadcast on screens. But you'll be able to toggle thru different camera views, like the underside and cockpit, plus when the car you're viewing from crashes, your phone will vibrate.

Idiots will love it.

[A Horse With No Name]

2 hours ago, balthazar said:

The next step will be... to save on the myriad of associated & tremendous costs; all motorsport vehicles will be 2-dimensional computer renders, broadcast on screens. But you'll be able to toggle thru different camera views, like the underside and cockpit, plus when the car you're viewing from crashes, your phone will vibrate.

Idiots will love it.

They already do. Tons of younger people would rather play with cars in cyberspace than actual cars.

16 hours ago, David said:

Chevrolet is expanding with upcoming Cruise and Connect packages that will allow those that want to convert their ICE auto to an EV. As proof of this, they have built a test mule from a 1977 Chevrolet K5 Blazer EV. This Cruise and Connect package will be rated at 200 HP / 266 lb-ft of torque. Battery pack is the same as in the Bolt EV, 60-kWh, 400 Volt battery pack.

GM has confirmed a few things, first is that the electric motor will come with a new 4L75E auto transmission. The cool part is that this Cruise and Crate system is going to be based on what the BOLT EV gets from convenience to safety and that will include air conditioning since that is incorporated into the battery pack so the battery and AC will run off the same compressor. You also will have all the controllers that handle the motor, charging, cooling and impact protection.

GM confirmed that the team of engineers working on this managed to do the conversion in 30 days. This included changing from the 3.08:1 to a new 4.10:1 rear axel

Full details at the link below.

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/10/29/chevy-connect-cruise-ecrate-k5-blazer-details/#slide-2274106

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/10/29/chevy-k5-blazer-e-electric-crate-motor-package/#slide-2273971

2020 is a year of change, Europe has reported that for the first time EV's have overtaken diesel in auto registrations making regular petro the leading fuel, EV's second and Diesel a 3rd for auto registrations across Europe.

In 2012, diesel made 50% of all new auto registrations. Today, you have petrol at 47%, EV's at 25% and Diesel at 24.8% where as the remaining is a mix of PHEV / Hybrid.

2019 saw a 139% increase in EV registrations, 327,800 new EVs for the year.

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/10/29/electric-cars-surpass-diesel-europe/

Like I said.  I will be happy when European countries start retiring ICE cars en mass and recycling them.

5 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Hold this up high as an example of an automotive future that is totally devoid of joy.  Simply an extension of the EV ethos... the extraction of the soul of the automobile, the disconnection at the very first step between man and machine... sad and blindingly stark.

Did you play Eeyore the Donkey in the middle school play? I think you might have filled the role well.

You might consider industrial strength antidepressants if this is your outlook on life. Seriously.