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Love that photo...under a bridge somewhere..

I watched the Autoline After Hours when Sandy Munro was a guest and he went over the tear down of the Model 3. Yes the build quality as far as panel gaps and things is not up to par for what it should be, but he said the electronics in the Tesla are light years ahead of what any other car has. He said how no other automaker is even close on the electronics/software/hardware/batteries, so that has to count for something.

Tesla has an ecosystem approach. That’s something all the others lagged behind. Honestly, if Tesla can just get to their damn $40,000 car...not even $35,000 they’ll have made it. I think they can reasonably get to 500k cars by 2021. Holy smokes.... were I to say this, maybe 2 years ago....pls I would have loved to be lynched by a mob, even I would have believed I deserved it by saying that!

Gotta love the New Instagram marketing.

Absolutely one of the coolest cars available anywhere at any price.

Took my Family out for lunch and our daughters best friend and her husband who is a police officer and drives a 4x4 F350 Dually came to lunch. He is a hard core Diesel driver, but has had the options of being able to drive their single Tesla X police CUV around the rich city he works for and has come to the decision that for most people EVs make sense especially with a full tank every day at the start and so little maintenance compared to ICE auto's. He then said for himself, until they have a decent 4x4 as he lives out in the woods and drives 50 miles every day, 100 round trip he would not give up his truck. I then showed him the Atlis Pickup with 5.5, 6.5 or 8 foot bed option. He read the web page from the company and said when it gets into production, he would consider it as the 400 mile battery pack even with reduced range in the cold would work for him. This was a die hard Diesel fan who would be willing to consider it. He has to drive 18 miles to get to the closest gas station, so being able to plug in at his house every night would be no big deal to have a full tank of go juice in the morning.

Ill take this far. Uncertain future? Its safe to say that you are not a Native American. Even if you were, your ancestors did have to travel to get to North America anyway. But, I think that your ancestors came from Merry Ole England. They had to travel the Atlantic Ocean back when they thought the world was flat. It was proven otherwise by some chap named Christopher Columbo. Be as it may, there must have been some folk that doubted that and disputed that fact vehemently. Yet, for whatever reason, your ancestors decided to leave Merry Ole England, Or Ireland, or Scotland, because their future on that God forsaken island was...uncertain...to come to a new place to start fresh and take a chance on a perhaps better uncertain future. In America, like I said, their future was also uncertain. If I know my American History (which New France history coincides with American History...and I do live in Quebec and we actually do learn about American History do to the fact that the French fought Les Anglais...) and between the French and their Native American Indigenous peoples alliance versus YOUR British roots and their Native American Indigenous peoples alliances...well, all of our futures were uncertain. Famine, wars, cold winters... And if all that is still not enough, when the 13 colonies were established and New France was kept at bay, at the Natives tamed, that STILL was not enough, your ancestors decided to complicate their future slightly more and create more uncertainty by deciding to declare independence from Merry Ole England. And STILL that wasnt enough as some of your countrymen decided to trot further west into the wild where the Natives seemed to be more savage and the weather even more savage-ier. Uncertain future you say? To put it mildly...YES!!! And then as a young nation, you went all out on a new technology called the railway train... You know Blu, its fun talking to you...but if you havent noticed...if YOUR ancestors were truly afraid of an uncertain future, like you seem to be, then your ancestors would have never left that rainy, foggy island. If your ancestors were truly afraid to embrace new technologies, they would have never learned about what MY ancestors brought to the table... and perfect it and utilize it to colonize half the planet with it and rule the world with it later on, and then start a new nation with it and then police the whole world with it... all with uncertain futures attached it...to the history of...well human kind really... Here is another angle... Man always dreamed about flying...and ALWAYS failed trying. A couple of thousand of years later after this story was told... And the flight of that bird...well, it was shorter than the length of a Boeing 747. Even though flight failed a million times before 1903 and thousands of times after 1903... Because after that disaster, the future of flight was...uncertain... We still kept at it...and if we stopped and just held unto the same ole same ole safety zones...well... That would have never have happened... Phoque man...let it go, bro!!!

Throwing stones from your glass Fiat, I see...

If Poor Quality was the only reason, then why are the Germans having to change their plans for their EVs after reverse engineering the Tesla 3. https://insideevs.com/porsche-audi-tesla-model-3-teardown/ The story above is only one of a couple where all the German brands have bought a Tesla 3 and while the interiors and fit n finish leave something to be desired, their power train and tech surpasses what the Germans can do or have planned to do. More Great Reading as to why the Germans are scared. https://www.wiwo.de/technologie/mobilitaet/elektroauto-zerlegt-tesla-model-3-kann-gewinn-abwerfen/22625806.html https://www.quattrodaily.com/audi-and-porsche-worried-for-ppe-platform-after-tear-down-of-tesla-model-3/ https://cleantechnica.com/2018/09/25/tesla-an-uncomfortable-wake-up-call-for-germany-all-hands-on-deck/

The Tesla haters that can only crap on them for range are just afraid or jealous that Tesla makes a better car than many of the gas options. Every car has some sort of compromise, I don't hear people saying the Corvette or 911 sucks due to not enough trunk space or back seat room. Or F150 owners complaining that it gets 17 mpg, or people bashing the Prius because it is slow. All these vehicles have a flaw. The Model 3 has range limitation yes, it has a plain interior, but it also has positive attributes too, like technology and performance. You have to compare what you get in a Model 3 vs an ATS, Q60, C-class or other similar priced car.

This article from last November says no plans.. https://electrek.co/2018/11/12/electric-pickup-truck-gm/ But this one implies they may build something to compete w/ the Tesla pickup https://electrek.co/2019/01/18/gm-electric-tesla-pickup-truck/ Lead, follow, or get out of the way, right?

GM really doesn't have to do anything serious to the Chassis in transitioning it to the CT5 to make it better than what BMW, Lexus, Benz, or Audi have going. I'd say that I'm betting good money that they have utilized techniques from the Omega platform to lighten AlphaII a bit and incorporate AWD this time around for the V. Let me me be clear.. my RWD 16 CTS-V is not only leaps better than my two previous '05, '09 and 12 Sigma STS and CTS-Vs, but they genuinely are better in performance and versatility than everyone of my friends or colleagues Ms, AMGs, or RSs. The only one that I feel has a leg up on the CTS-V currently is the Panamara Turbo, and that has a lot to do with the AWD and Dual Clutch. The price wasn't worth it to me.. and I the extra $50K I used towards trading my Corvette Z51 in for a Z06

It's absolutely a very long term thing. Rivian starts at $70K (website says "$61,500 after federal tax credit" but that's highly disingenuous)- that's a huge pill to swallow. Everybody can consider everything, but guess what one of the 3 legs of the Consideration Stool is? Cost. A Lambo Hurricane would work for me as a local errand / estimate vehicle, but guess what.

I remember there were a lot of reality paradoxes at the time of the downsizing...like the carryover '77 midsize GM A-bodies were actually slightly longer than some of the downsized for '77 B-bodies. Or the downsized '78 A-bodies were the about the size of the compact X-bodies. Or the downsized '85-86 GM full sizers that were barely larger than the downsize A-body midsizers. Or with Chrysler, their full size mid 80s M-body was really a compact mid 70s F-body underneath.

Every day when I walk between buildings and cross streets at the university I work at I see eV's passing me on the road. I do not consider either you or your debate opponent, the esteem-able Mr "Blu reliable witnesses on electric cars. You say everything electric very short term, he says never...I see it as a long term thing.

The late 70s downsizing wave and the mid 80s downsizing wave reset the parameters for what a 'full size' car is. My parents had full size Mercurys and Lincolns when I was growing up, and remember the downsizing from the 79 Continental to the 80s Town Car. The dimensions of what is a full size car today is smaller than it was 40 years ago.

True about the marketing when U think about it.. but that was for the time.. some 70-40 years ago. People were more loyal.. and ironically that loyalty kept them fed. Same thing goes for America.. the other English colony. Its why they scrutinize the smallest thing from Cadillac.. but see a BMW not starting as no big deal.. CUE=Bad Engineering. S#!tty Engines needing to be replaced=German Excellence.

Point proven on my side. Adapting is a very human trait. Humans ALWAYS adapt to their environment. THAT is why humans have become the apex creature it has become. Hell, humans have this crazy idea of colonizing Mars and beyond. EVs with a 40% range loss because of cold is a mere nuisance in the grand scheme of things. Bratt Pitt said it best. (For 40% range loss at the shortest level and if you like...for the grand scheme of things...Mars colonization, moving from England to the new world, and then leaving the East to go West and getting killed by the savages and tornados we may encounter, changing from ICE to EVs, going from Coke to diet Coke to Coke Zero back to Coke) You know, my partner owns a Model S. In the 4 years he has owned it, he NEVER once complained about range loss...he has mentioned it to me, but never complained about it. And, it was NEVER an issue with him either. Keep in mind that I DO live in Montreal and not in warm Los Angeles where this may or may not be a thing... This whole thing about cold weather range loss that just popped up everywhere the last month is probably hate propaganda from anybody that has an invested interest in oil and gasoline... I repeat. The low end Model 3 has a range of 220 miles. The story was just entertainment value. 50% of 220 is 110. Same as my story line. Yes it had a purpose. Yes I did the 220 thing on purpose to prove a point. 110 mile range. Each and every day when someone starts their day. In the morning. At an extreme level of trying to prove a point. If your employer has a charge system set-up for their employees to charge up...moot point. that would be another 110 mile range. One could stop and shop and joy ride. Even if the commute to work IS 60 miles. Like 3.3 million Americans do everyday. The average commute is 16 miles. Common man! Theoretically, one could charge his 220 mile range, after losses 110 mile range EV after the 2nd day with out any panic... Even if the battery loss is compounded... 110 becomes 60, which becomes 30. This is getting a little tiring, talking about non-existent range anxiety. This is not an issue anymore. Move on from it!

310 miles for a Model 3. You start your day at 310, because you plugged it in the night before. 310 miles minus the 40% drop gives you? Hell, Ill go with 220 miles starting your day because you left work at 5:00. Called your wife saying that your boss needs you to stay because you need to file files that havent been filed for 5 years. Went to happy hour instead, saw a buxom blonde. You bought her a wine spritzer. From a wine spritzer it became a Long Island Iced Tea. From there it became mutual belly shots and then...well, you went home at 3:00 in the morning and your wife was none the wiser. You plugged it your Model 3, but 7:00 AM came fast (and so did you coincidentally) and your Model 3 only has got 220 mile range. We will reduce that range by not the 40% they say, but by a whopping 50%. So now you got 110 miles top go to your work that is 40 miles , 50....hell 60 miles away. You go to work every phoquing day 60 miles away from where you live. 60 motherphoquing miles. SHYTE! 60 goddamned miles. You got enough to get there, but how do you get back home? You could ask that buxom blonde from the night before to pick you up and drive you back home. You could entice her by asking her for a quickie in the backseat of her soccer mom SUV that is gasoline powered... Anyway...back to the 60 mile problem...because now you only have a 50 mile range and you got to travel 60 miles... 1. Maybe your employer has installed charger stations? 2. What the phoque are you complaining about the 40-50% ? You are travelling 60 miles to work everyday. I think you got a bigger problem than 40% range loss because of cold weather in your EV, find yourself travelling and losing time doing it every phoquing day... If that scenario was real...120 miles to go to work every day will bankrupt you in gasoline if you had a joe schmo job and you drove even a V6 automobile let alone a V8. Also, the wear and tear on that V6. 4 cylinder you say? WEAR AND TEAR I SAY. So...as you see, even in extreme scenarios, 40% is a lot of range loss. But man!!! YOU ALWAYS START THE PHOQUING DAY WITH A "FULL TANK OF GAS" SINCE YOU COULD AND MOSTLY LIKELY YOU DO PLUG IN YOUR CAR EVERYDAY AFTER COMING HOME... ON A 1st GENERATION LEAF THAT HAD 30 MILE RANGE, YOU MAY HAVE A BIIIIIG PROBLEM, YES! BUT ON ANY TESLA, CHEVROLET BOLT, EVEN THIS GENERATION NISSAN LEAF, AN AVERAGE COMMUTE FOR THE AVERAGE AMERICAN TO GO TO AND FROM WORK IS ABOUT 16 MILES. THERE ARE SOME THAT TRAVEL 50 MILES,YES, BUT A 40% RANGE LOSS IS MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. EV HATERZ FIND THE JOY, BUT EV OWNERS JUST ADAPT AND THEY MAKE SURE THEY PLUG IN AND IN THE MORNING, A FULL TANK OF GAS AWAITS THEM... BATTERIES ARE GETTING BETTER. BETTER INSULATED TOO...SO THIS WILL EVENTUALLY BECOME A MOOT POINT TOO!!! https://itstillruns.com/far-americans-drive-work-average-7446397.html But even with my very extreme examples, those 3.3 million Americans could STILL get home with juice to spare...

Brings up a yuge question regarding EV lovers' sanity, right?

The chrome...it’s blinding!!! ?

So I guess your not a fan of modern AC/DC technology!

I saw that episode too. That is why I downvoted Blu... When folk have predisposed ideas in their heads and spew #fakenews...

*yawn*

Cadillac needs to spend their efforts on the interior, both in materials and technology such as a voice command assistant and autonomous tech. All wheel drive should fix the traction and handling issue, although they might want to look into a mild hybrid system or some sort of electrification for the 2020s.

As I continue to list/document Pontiac dealers, I've come across a number of this sort of arrangement, which is utterly alien to us now. Multiple 'automotive-PLUS' dealerships :

I agree with you, yet the point I am making is a die hard diesel fan can see the value of of a truck that meets his needs in switching to an EV. Considering he just replaced his 10yr old 1ton Ram pickup with the CPO Ford F350. I do not expect him to change until 10 years from now and who knows where we will be now that Ford and GM have committed to having a 1/2 ton EV pickup. In 10 years we could also have 3/4 and 1 ton EV pickups. The thing is that the future has allot of exciting change so as we all enjoy our ICE auto's now, there will be alternative considerations down the road that just might entice you to change power train types.

This is winning me back to American cars. Lexus has not upgraded the Is since the mid 2000's in a substantial way...this is impressively fresh by comparison.

There are advantages to full size cars.

Personally I see you as more of a 50's rust and patina kind of a guy but you could rock the Lambo look....

I miss the old 70's full size cars. My Grandfather always drove Olds 98's...now that was a car! Downsizing was the beginning of the end of the American auto industry as I knew it as a kid.

Using the name of a local company was a master stroke by Gm. For 70 years Holden was able to sell it's cars as an "Australian Car for Australian Conditions", one that could take the punishment of the terrible Australian roads. Great marketing. Cultural cringe has played a big part in killing off Holden, Australians don't believe anything made in their country could be as good as something made in Europe or Japan.

Whoa whoa WHOA there, skeeterbite! Settle down a bit! Nobody wants an uncertain future. Stick with ICE and you'll be juuuuuust fine.

^ That's cool, I realize GM has put dieting on the short list, and that's good. It's also spurred a number of other OEMs to follow suit. Generally speaking as I was tho, vehicles have gotten extremely porky vs. their size.

2016 Malibu is noted at 3,159 pounds in Car and Driver's road test of the 2016 model. Car and Driver's road test of a 2014 with the 2.5 Ecotec is listed at 3,571 pounds. The 2016 (new) Cruze they have noted as 2,944 pounds, and the LTZ of the old 2011 Cruze is listed at 3,206 pounds in one of their articles. The AWD 2018 Buick Regal GS (platform shared) is listed as 3,820 pounds. The 2014 Regal GS AWD that C/D tested was listed at 4,022 pounds.

Progressively wider, 'all season' tires have pushed cars into AWD powertrains for winter traction. It's not weight-driven, as cars now are heaver relative to their footprint than ever before.

I'm loving it in the flesh.. or metal.. lol.. I don't know why GM puts out CGI visuals when the real thing is always better.. And this one.. the Custom has my heart ?

Went to the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum at the Cleveland History Center today...they have a nice eclectic collection, incl. a group of brass era cars, some of which are brands that were built in Cleveland like Peerless, Jordan, Chandler, Baker. A little bit of everything, incl. airplanes, a Goodyear Blimp gondola, a couple small boats, etc. They had a Hemi Satellite and a '65 GTO: Some 40s-50s cars:59 Chevy, Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special, 57 T-Bird & Mercedes 300SL Some pre-war cars:Airflow, '39 Lincoln-Zephyr, Auburn and a Cadillac A couple stainless steel Ford one-offs:36 Ford & '66 Continental Some concept cars:AMX, Dodge Avenger, and Jeep Compass An 80s-90s exhibit... And a couple early Baker electrics and an EV-1.

I am surprised that GM has not shuttered Holden at all. GM is largely selling in Australia what is made here. Holden no longer has a unique selling point, so there is no point in having Holden survive.

I kinda think the Bolt is "cute". - - - - - These trucks are 'Relay's, built in Wabash Indiana from '27-33. They had an interesting 6x4 model with dual inline 8s and dual transmissions that each drove one of the 2 rear axles. Did a quickie google image search for 'Relay truck' and nothing came up- wonder how many survived.

Alas, the opportunity for that is all in the past now, with the demise of the RWD OZ models....the Holden brand no longer has anything special, just rebadged GM FWD appliances now...

Yeah...they should do a BEV Blazer, like yesterday. This is where I do NOT understand the product planners. We saw a couple of years ago how many people forked over deposit monies for the Tesla Model 3 without ever seeing the car and how it looks on the inside and the outside. The crossover trend has been on the rise since the mid-1990s. Like...no-one at GM (or any other company for that matter) could marry the two together? Is it THAT hard to come up with a BEV that meets the masses expectations? CUVs sell. EVs DO sell. Yes its only Tesla that has a run-a-way success rate. But man...dont CEOs see what I, and many other folk like you guys see that the Nissan Leaf just plain SUCKS visually. The BOLT SUCKS visually. The Leaf and the Bolt are NOT the right package. The Model 3 is at the most minimum of car length and size. No one at these companies that get paid quite well, I might add, they cant figure that out? The Model X may not sell quite as high as the Model S...but it does sell. This is where I do NOT buy the argument that only Tesla EVs have the capacity to sell. 1. The Model S and Model 3 sell in a CUV/SUV dominated world. 2. They are attractive, normal looking cars 3. They are NOT that affordable yet swathes of people are flocking to them 4. Both the Model 3 and Model S are quite capable in cargo hauling duties and are quite comfortable in daily driving their owners and their families from point A to point B without being CUVs. 5. If Chevrolet has a tough time selling sedans, but they do not have a tough time selling Equinoxes, maybe a cool factor BEV for them CAN be a BEV midsized, sporty CUV...like the Blazer... If you cant beat Tesla and their Model 3 because Chevy does not have a BMWesque little sedan to do battle head on with the Model 3, because the Bolt and the Model 3 are THAT different from one another, then Chevrolet could STILL play in that game by offering something COMPLETELY different yet just as cool as the Model 3 yet sticking it to Tesla by making a BEV Blazer and giving the fight to the Model X... Undercutting the Model X in price. The Blazer as is, is a SEXIER SUV than the Model X (in all honestly, the Model X is ugly AF!!!) Its easy as that... There is NO risk. CUVs sell. They sell a lot. There IS a market for EVs. GM and Chevy are NOT tapping into the right segment. Chevy has ITS strengths and they COULD do CUVs BETTER than Tesla. I said that the Model 3 is eons ahead of the Bolt. Well, a BEV Blazer could be eons ahead of the Model X. Sure the Model X has cool rear doors. Make a Blazer a more practical and capable BEV CUV and Chevy might be able to peddle at least 200 000 BEV Blazers...at least... You cannot tell me America is not ready for EVs when Tesla sells a ton. You cannot use the Bolt and Leaf as proof because the Leaf and Bolt are crap as compared to the Model 3. You cannot use the iPace as Jaguar does NOT have the charging network that Tesla has. The Jag asks Model S and Model X prices but Jag does NOT have the charging network behind it. You cannot use the Leaf and Bolt as "affordable" BEVs when in actual fact, they are about the same price as the Model 3...Tesla has a charging network behind it. The other EVs are based on same model cars that are considerably more expensive than their ICE model counterparts. The Volt 2nd gen included over the Cruze but it still did well enough. A BEV Blazer, although GM does not have the charging network of Telsa, will have a huuuuge price advantage OVER the Model X. Maybe EV folk will overlook that. Its not as if the Blazer comes cheap either. But a 60 000 BEV Blazer, (what?) I think the ICE Blazer is 50 000, still undercuts the Model X considerably at 60 thousand... They wont make money off a BEV Blazer? Well...didnt GM just say they will go full out on EVs anyway...so moot point!!!

'Blazer' could be a good name for an EV...use a little flame logo like an electrical fire..

Dear GM: We need an Equinox BEV stat. Bolt is still too small.

Yup. For me, its not about the price. Well, its not JUST the price tag, but how small it really is. I get that tech is expensive and the early adopters have to foot the bill for new tech, and usually Im NOT the first early adopters, but somewhere between, the second wave of early adopters to just before half of the population accepts the new tech. Its just that the Bolt is a sub-compact. I dont do sub-compact cars. And Im guessing many people are like me in that they too, dont do sub-compacts. This is where General Motors really needs a BEV slightly BIGGER than the Cruze/Volt. It could be slightly smaller than the Malibu, but ideally, for the masses for GM to really sell 200 000-400 000 BEVs per year, like Tesla's Model 3, is really doing a Chevy Trax, but more so an Equinox sized CUV BEV. If they truly are serious, which I think NOW they are, but when they did the Bolt and released the Bolt for sale, I think they just wanted to be the first to market. (with an "affordable" BEV to beat the Model 3.) But I feel that was a piss poor effort, in hindsight. It is NO secret now as it was NO secret then: 1. sub-compact hatchbacks do NOT sell well in the North American market. Like ever. 2. compact, but more mid-sized CUVs are the hot ticket items 5 years ago and even more so today. But the trends were showing themselves then. Piss poor attempt to capture the market with piss poor decisions or the product (the packaging) and piss poor marketing. Being the first to market, while it works if you got the perfect product, is NOT a good marketing strategy...and the Bolt is NOT the perfect product in its class. The Telsa Model 3 wipes the floor with it. And THAT is the reality. The Bolt is a very good BEV. The Model 3 is eons ahead of it. And then we have Tesla's (super)charging network. I will keep on stressing that part as Tesla's image is not only the cool factor with its cars, and the crazy, zany Musk pet projects like the loop tube and the space rocket thing, but Tesla's image is strong with the EV folk with their charging network.

Went yesterday to the Philly Auto Show, was pretty decent show, also midweek very few people, good opportunity to see all the cars. Few thoughts: Blazer - in person looks not as good as in pictures. Still a different take at mid size crossover. Looks inside and out different than most vanilla crossovers. I wish it would drive as sporty as it looks. G70 - looks great, interior looks very nice and very driver oriented. However, after I adjusted front seat for my height the back seat had about as much space as a Mustang. Even less than my G37, and I think they are very similar in size. Shame, I think it will hurt it. Just because of that I would got with Stinger even though it is not as nice inside. Miata RF - sat in it and asked the show girl close the roof. I fit well and I am 6'1". Fits like glove, really like it. GT500 - looks awesome, However, I think I prefer GT350. They had Bullitt there as well, and people could sit in it. Looks great, comfortable inside. I am torn between Mustang and Miata, I want them both Jeep Gladiator - actually looks very awkward to me. I didn't like it. Regular Wrangler is great. iPace - it is more of a wagon than a crossover. I was surprised how low is it. Interior is really nice. Looked at few other cars but no special impressions.

There was a HUGE pull-ahead in December Model 3 sales, undoubtedly due to the lowering of the tax credit. Tesla moved 25, 250 model 3s in Dec, but a mere 6500 in January. That's a 75% decline.