putting everyone in an ev Putting Everybody in an EV by Mary Barra, GM Chairman and CEO

[David]

This is the link to the 51 minute video where Mary covers how GM is planning the change over to an all EV future and moving everyone into an EV. 

I encourage folks to watch it with an open mind and then debate the pros and cons of her plan.

https://players.brightcove.net/1050888044001/bNJ5EPvlNA_default/index.html?videoId=6222187724001

Thank you,

[balthazar]

One con is GM will be dictating what people will drive rather than offering them a choice. 

There are others, of course.

[daves87rs]

5 hours ago, balthazar said:

One con is GM will be dictating what people will drive rather than offering them a choice. 

There are others, of course.

This is where I agree...people have to want to be part of that future, not forced or demanded to do that. You only have to look at current politics to see where that will go...

I’m a person who is ready for the future, but still embraces the past. ICE will never completely go away...unless it is forced.

While I feel EV will slowly work its way into the mainstream- EV and ICE still need to work in perfect harmony together....

[ocnblu]

 

 

Let Barra's manifesto serve as a warning.

[balthazar]

Automakers load the dinner plate, but the diner may just push the vegetables off to one edge.

Was talking on another board, and one 'future embracer' was claiming that the 'GM of old' always dictated what buyers got, but NOW, with BE's, people get what THEY want; that GM has changed. But it's the exact same scenario even worse, since so few people actually buy BE's currently.

What dave87rs posted above is the more logical, the most encompassing; find a way to offer both and let the buyer decide. Look at the fractured catalogs of OEMs now- I read in passing that Mercedes has 100 models- that's crazy. Model counts will have to radically decline, but both powertrains can co-exist.

Edited January 30, 2021 by balthazar

[ocnblu]

Open the pod bay doors, HAL.

I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave.

[oldshurst442]

I havent listen to the video. No need.  I knew this was coming a couple of years ago. It was just a matter of time.  GM really has no other choice.  

This was a decision that the majority of the world leaders took.  All car manufacturers have to comply. For better or worse, BEVs are the way forward.

Technology will catch up (and surpass) to where we are with the internal combustion engine...

Choices?

I really didnt have a choice when GM went all in with FWD and shytty 4 cylinder Iron Dukes, buzzy Quad 4s and  6 cylinder engines to replace ageing, emissions controlled, choked up V8s.  

Nor did I have a choice when right after that, GM took away  its 6 cylinders  to give me turbo 4s and turbo 3s and cancel sedans for CUVs...   

Besides, Quebec produces hydro-electric power, so when I charge my next car, instead of pissing my money away on foreign fuels, Ill be pissing my money and it will go directly into my home economy.  

All is good on all accounts. 

Hoping EVs lose some weight along with torque vectoring across those 4 wheels and happy times will be here again...for performance oriented vehicles.  Because as we have it now...FWD, top heavy, turbo3 and turbo 4 cylinder CUVs just dont cut it for me... If I want to buy a Chevy or just American without breaking the bank...for a performance vehicle...

 

 

 

[balthazar]

2 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

without breaking the bank

🤔

[ocnblu]

8 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

I havent listen to the video. No need.

With fingers stuck firmly in his ears, he toes the line, he takes his medication, and he collectively loses consciousness.  This is what Mary Barra wants for all her children/lambs to slaughter.

The rhetoric from gm is brittle, it is "my way or the highway" and it is nothing but repellent.

Edited January 31, 2021 by ocnblu

[smk4565]

GM wants electric cars because that is what investors like.  Tesla is worth $800 billion and GM is worth $70 billion.  GM (and every car company) wants investor money and want to look like a tech company like Apple or Google.  

I think EV's will replace V12, V10, V8 most quickly because high power vehicles are expensive, probably V6 gets phased out in like 10 years.  But if you look at what they are proposing and with what EV's cost, I don't see a a small-mid size EV crossover with say 250 hp, 250 mile range going on sale for $25,000 any time soon.  And those $300k Camry's and 400k Rav4 sales in the $25k range aren't going to be replaced by $50k electric SUVs with $1,000 monthly payments.

[balthazar]

14 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

Tesla is worth $800 billion and Daimler is worth $70 billion.

True.

[ocnblu]

23 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

300k Camry's and 400k Rav4 sales in the $25k range aren't going to be replaced by $50k electric SUVs with $1,000 monthly payments.

It is hard to argue with Toyota resale value, and while it seems almost as bubble-like as Tesla's market value, it has endured in the minds of Americans for a much longer period of time.  Toyota is a smart buy if only for general resale.

[balthazar]

Perhaps, but you have to suffer thru daily life in a toyoter in the meanwhile.

[Drew Dowdell]

1 hour ago, smk4565 said:

 And those $300k Camry's and 400k Rav4 sales in the $25k range aren't going to be replaced by $50k electric SUVs with $1,000 monthly payments.

That is why all auto makers are looking to reduce BEV costs everywhere. 

[oldshurst442]

18 hours ago, balthazar said:

🤔

Sure...

gas up here in Queeebeck is expensive as heck.

Dodge Hellcats are close to 100 000 Canadian dollars.  Same as a Tesla Model S P100D (I dont know what the 2020-2021 Model S equivalent is.)   

Yeah...breaking the bank.

However...a Tesla Model 3 AWD Dual Motor is about 65 000 CDN. A Mustang GT is 50-55 000. The Model 3 spanks it in  speed and in family hauling duties.  Fuel consumption for the Mustang is kinda prohibitive as like I stated earlier, gas prices are crazy high up here. Electric bills tend to be on the opposing spectrum of quite being quite low...

65 000 for a smallish car seems like a lot of money, and it is, but... 50-55 thousand for a pony car is ALSO a lot money...

So yeah...although you would seem to think that EVs are expensive, and they are, V8 powered cars in Quebec are expensive (and those on mainstream brands that Ive mentioned, forget about the luxo brands...) plus the fuel to feed them is quite prohibitive when daily driven.  And if one has a heavy foot, which I do, tends to be even MORE prohibitive.

 

   

Edited January 31, 2021 by oldshurst442