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I think in terms of the end of Next Gen / DS9 timeline. My Toronado is an old Constitution class Refit My Avalanche is a Galaxy class. Big. Previous generation of design. Versatile. Powerful, but not the fastest or most maneuverable, but definitely not something you want to pick a fight with. My Chrysler 300C is an Excelsior class. An old design that just keeps getting upgraded with the newest tech. Known for speed.

Very good Mach E review

It's not size, it's 'tech' that equals weight. That's not going to go away. But more to my point- it's BATTERIES that are bringing massive weight increases in. That's the next frontier for EV makers to innovate- reducing battery WEIGHT. Imagine a Model S weighing 4000 lbs (900 lbs lighter).

I was looking around the web at cars, car ratings, and car reviews. Then, if one needs help to break a tie between a Dodge Charger and a Chrysler 300, they should look at this (courtesy of Motor Trend): In basic and base MSRP, the Charger and the 300 are a mere $ 45 apart. Same platform, chassis, and powertrain. Completely different roofline, greenhouse, beltline, and front end affect. You decide. This made it easy (at least for me). Oh yeah, as for the Avalon (#1), LOL.

Yes, definitely slower. I’ve noticed messages on the USPS website when tracking packages about significant delays due to the Holiday package increase and COVID 19 affecting staffing. The message on the USPS website: ALERT: USPS IS EXPERIENCING UNPRECEDENTED VOLUME INCREASES AND LIMITED EMPLOYEE AVAILABILITY DUE TO THE IMPACTS OF COVID-19. WE APPRECIATE YOUR PATIENCE AND REMAIN COMMITTED TO DELIVERING THE HOLIDAYS TO YOU.

After reading this earlier today, I saw a dude on the freeway in a black Chrysler 300. It definitely owns its niche. I can see your position. However, it would have to be just the way I'd want it ordered. I reviewed one here once - I had one for $49 for that day. For $15 more, I finally got to drive a 300! Surprisingly, the driving experience, smoothness, and noise suppression were no different (to me) than in Chargers I had driven up to then. In defense of the more recent 300, cloth seats are now standard again and they've gotten rid of the dashboard applique, favoring a simpler black trim (which you notice around the "chronometer") and now have a simple leather wrapped steering wheel (like the one in the Charger) as opposed to the annoying segmented hard metal/plastic one they had in my rental car. I'm sure the 300 features better visibility because it's more upright. The one thing that bothers me is how the grille looks so exposed, while the current Charger grille has a very defined bumper section that is body colored. As for colors, I only like both of these cars in white and in the enamel dark gray color they're currently offering.

What is the frickin' deal? Sure, I've read about the funding issues and bottlenecks at the USPS. However, I've been waiting for very ordinary pieces of mail with bar codes to get to certain places and they haven't. Any of you noticing slower mail transit time with the USPS?

I like both models, could see myself in either. I esp. like dark color choices..I like the 300 in dark blue and dark red, the Charger in F8 green or that dark purplish red in particular...

I wonder how much the Ford F150 EV will weigh... 7500 lbs?

I would rather have the Chrysler 300 personally. The Charger screams "Race ME". I prefer a little more elegance and stealth.

@Joan KisslerWrangler has rear spare tire and I saw some of them have bike racks on that spare tire, not sure how well they work. Roof rack will be hard to put bikes on. The best IMO is to use hitch platform bike rack. I have Yakima hitch rack but it is regular hanging bike rack. It is for 4 bikes and when i put 1 or 2 on it it is fine but when I put four bikes for the whole family it is a nightmare, they don't fit that well and they scratch each other. I plan to sell it and to get hitch platform bike rack. They are heavier but it is much easier to put bikes on them and bikes are not touching each other. Here is ine inexpensive for 2 bikes https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Bike-Racks/Swagman/S64650.html

sure. Like Duesenberg, Bentley, Packard, Rolls-Royce, Alfa Romeo, Benz, Cadillac, Buick, Mercedes, Peerless, Pierce-Arrow. (all car companies that were pioneers and at the forefront of automobile making and most of those companies bore the name of their founders and/or engineers) Tesla, Lucid, Rivian all fall inti that category above. These latest, modern companies that happen to produce EVs just fall into that same path that their ICE counterparts did over 100 years ago. Tesla, Lucid, Rivian never once said they'd be producin' EVs for the Average Joe to afford. What IS missing in the EV manufacturing arena IS an EV company like a FoMoCo where the INTIAL business case IS to build for the average Joe. However...how many companies did Ford have to go through to actually achieve this? One of his former companies that he founded actually became a premier luxury company that is still producing luxury vehicles... The 1st Model T was sold in 1908. Duesenberg was founded in 1913. I dont think the Duesenberg brothers cared that much for that part of the market. Ditto for Mr. Rolls and Mr. Royce. Who happened to found their company in 1906. The Dodge Brothers who worked for Henry Ford went on their own way in 1914 wanted to produce cars for the Average Joe. But yeah...Lucid, Tesla, Rivian is for the people who have dough. Lots of it. GMC-HUMMER, Cadillac EVs are for people who have lots of do-re-mi as well. Audi. M-B. But that is a gimme as their ICE counterparts are meant for folks who have money to burn. Chevrolet, VW, Toyota, Ford...those are the manufacturers that are to produce EVs that you and I could afford. But these are not out yet. And how much will these at Chevrolet, VW, Toyota, Ford will cost? Well...we dont know, but the Mustang Mach E from Ford starts at 43 000 and ends at 60 000. So around 52 000 would be the norm I guess. Is that affordable? I dont know...but considering that the F-150 pick-up starts at 30 000 and ends at 75 000 and the Mustang ICE coupe...starts at 23 000 and ends at 53 000, Id say the Mach E's price is right in the middle of Ford's bread and butter model and just above Ford's iconic sports coupe... Not quite in the footsteps of a Model T...but not that far off of a mid 1960s Personal Coupe Thunderbird either...

I am a Star Trek fan as well, but I prefer to think of my cars as women, like in Gone in 60 seconds ?

I used to... now it just hangs in my basement.

Id take THE Challenger from the Dodge Brothers catalog hands down. Honestly, at this point, the ONLY one Id buy IS the Challenger between the three. Id probably want the Challenger the way it is even AFTER a new gen is out. Its a classic that even if a new generation is made, Id still want this generation in my stable of cars. But as for the 4 door version, I wished Mopar would have updated the 300 the way they updated the Charger. Then Id want a 300 as well.

Listened to the Wheel Bearings podcast today, they had a discussion about the Mach E and an interview w/ the Ford exec that oversaw it...sounds like it has the potential to be a very good product...one thing they stressed is they can't afford a botched launch and quality gaffes like the Explorer has had...

The Mustang Mach E does exactly what it should be doing. 1. Its creates a buzz by being called a Mustang. This way its NOT just another crossover SUV that looks like 90% of every single crossover sold. Love or hate the name...true Mustang or not...it gets people talking about it. 2. And it doesnt disappoint. Well...like the video suggests, if you get hung up on names, you will have a hard time living...but if you see this EV like you should be seeing it, its a great vehicle not only as a real first attempt from the ground up EV from Ford, but a great EV PERIOD! And that is comparing it DIRECTLY with the best of the best of EVs: TESLA EVs! What I dont get from GM and FoMoCo How is it that when they want to bring out a great vehicle, engineer it top notch and produce it flawlessly they do (Corvette C8, Ford GT, Ford F150, Cadillac Escalade) but they also CONSTANTLY phone in things and half ass them... Why cant they just ALWAYS DO Corvette C8s and Mustang Mach Es? (not the vehicles themselves, but the QUALITY of work behind these machines)

According to various sources from Edmunds to Teslarati they all seem to be in the same range of one to two pounds. Teslarati actually has a very detailed breakdown of the Tesla S RWD. Total Weight is 4,647.3 lbs. Go to AWD and the second motors with controller adds another 350lbs. so Tesla S AWD would be 4,997.3lbs. If you add the larger batteries it also gains weight so the Tesla S AWD with Ludacris mode which includes the largest battery they have tips at over 5,000lbs. Ford Mach E that is arriving at dealerships has the following weight for base RWD 4,394lbs to AWD with the largest batter at 4,890lbs. I say Ford is beating Tesla in the weight department.

^ 3 of the above 4 vehicles are actual, real vehicles. - - - - - Mach-E review gives hope that it's a hit for Ford.

I got out a bunch this past summer. Not much else to do.

Brand new Sierra Denali 3500HD Duramax 6.6L/ Allison 10-spd on the left. Sticker was $83K. That’s my desired Pacific Blue Elevation on the right, except it was a 2.7L Double cab. Purty in person tho.

I will stick by the Cahrger in all of this. One of the aldies that I went to high school with was always into muscle cars. She ahd an orange one at our last reunion, amazing car. It won't be light. Add increased tire replacement itnervals to your maintenance costs.

Interesting video. Agree completely. I do have high hopes for Rivain though.

It certainly would be nice if pickup trucks and SUVs basically went on a diet. Like about 800-1000 each. Then again, in the Good Old USA, nobody really wants to buy smaller unless they have to. Also, similar performance with less weight tends to cost MORE than the last generation for some reason. I do believe that all vehicles (regardless of segment) could stand to lose a few LBs, but who is going to pay for that?

Maybe...EVs OUTSIDE of Teslas, Cadillacs, Audis, Lucid quite possibly Ferraris and Porsches (if they ever decide to get on that train...because they might not have a choice either...but that is for another discussion...) maybe all other EV makers should focus on performance figs that are battery and range and charge times oriented rather than speed? Especially biggly, hugely EV trucks and EV SUVs... I mean, I know Dodge and Chevrolet and Ford in the 1920s and 1930s all had horsepower wars with each other, but Duesenbergs were still kicking their ass. I mean... Dodge, Chevrolet and Ford during those times , were also concentrating on comfort and suspensions and the like... I mean...they tried to offer the creature comfort stuff that Cadillacs and Buicks were known for... I mean, there are other, more critical stuff to an EV's success other than speed performance. Speed is sexy. And THAT is why Teslas sell. But Teslas also got state of the art electric motors, electronics and software. But biggly hugely EV trucks and SUVs need not go that fast...

^^^ Thanx. I re-read my post and the posting style on it sounds...condescending to me. I didnt mean it to be condescending. I wanted the post to come off as a slight debate, while at the same time agreeing with you. Im glad you read it as the way I wanted it to be. Yes...all those luxury brands I mentioned, at least the American ones, co-existed with car companies that wanted to sell higher volumes for the Average Joe. In Europe, the tendency for automobile manufactures was to cater to the rich. One of the Mercedes-Daimler-Benz trio wanted to produce a vehicle for the masses. I forget which one. All three men had their (and Maybach making it 4 men) all had their own company and they all merged together at different times. Very confusing history this company... It was Hitler who had ultimately decided though that Germany needed a people's car. And 'twas Porsche who delivered it for Germany...albeit after the war...as the Bug was made into a Wehrmacht personnel carrier... I do believe Porsche worked at Mercedes in the 1930s... In Italy, Fiat produced cars for the Average Joe. But Alpha Romeo was for the rich. In any case, Europe would never reach the levels of automotive construction and affordability as of that of America in that time. It took Europe up until the 1990s for Average Joe Europeans to afford vehicles the way Americans and Canadians did and continue to do so. I also agree, EVs...for the Average Joe to buy them, and for them to ACTUALLY BECOME mainstream, the prices HAVE to be in the area you mentioned. I do not know if Tesla could ever become a mainstream EV brand, because of what they now have as brand recognition as a top EV brand, or because they wont be enjoying the economies of scale the way General Motors does, but it will take an ICE manufacturer of the likes of GM or VW or Toyota to BE that mainstream EV maker and offer EVs in that lower price bracket as they could offer higher priced EVs with their luxury makes to offset the still expensive batteries and EV tech.

We’ve all read pointed commentary about how many huge trucks are out there, all that road-destroying weight, and the consequences in accidents. Now were going to add a literal ton of MORE weight and make them go 0-60 in 3 seconds. I’m really curious what discussions the insurance industry is having right now

Lucid : yet another luxury plaything.

On Topic of Alternative Energy Auto's, Lucid has completed their manufacturing plant and posted a video about it. Very cool as we have another EV auto company in production. I will also say that the plant looks more like the original OEM's of Detroit than the mess at Tesla.

And out of those four redundant articles, name on state legislator or politician that actually sponsored a bill for secession like Texas did. Also, consider the fact that a dozen red states already beat California to the punch in 2008 and 2012. 2020, for reference, https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/529926-texas-gop-chair-appears-to-suggest-secession-after-scotus-rejects 2012 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/states-petition-to-secede-from-union/ https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2012/11/13/white-house-flooded-with-secession-petitions-after-obama-re-election Plenty of others like that but, unlike yourself, I'll save you the redundancy. Point being, two things. One, if you're going to criticize California like that, then you have to include all those red states and especially that hellhole known as Texas which leads to point two which is clearly that the red states were producing snowflakes (or "whiny brats", if you will) eight years before California, all because a black democrat was in office. Pot, meet kettle. SHALL I GO ON?

8500lbs carrying capacity, not towing capacity. That rate has steadily gone down in the last fifty years for the top one percent. Baffling you don't seem to see the issue there. By your logic, where do you put the pin at the bottom?

Seems Penske and Roush are teaming up to build Ford F650 Delivery Trucks. They will have a capacity of 8,500 pounds and a range of 100 miles. Focused on the inner city delivery business. Racing Rivals Penske and Roush Are Teaming Up on Electric Ford F-650 Work Truck (thedrive.com)

Report in from Nikkei Asia that Toyota is going to unveil their first global EV with a Solid State Battery pack and a 10 min recharge to full time for an average 310 miles of range battery pack. Toyota says their superior solid state battery tech allows them to cut off 2/3rds of the normal recharge time. Also Toyota will be backed by a substantial investment by the Japanese government as they convert the country to Supercharged charging stations and be part of a much larger group as Japan looks to jump ahead of China in the battery race by moving directly to Solid State cells. The Japanese government will be investing $19.2 Billion dollars in 2021 to help Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic and Toyota which has over 1,000 world wide patents for solid state batteries production. According to the news story, VW has already started to move away from traditional Lithium Ion cell EVs to have Solid State Rapid Recharge battery packs in their EVs starting in 2025 with a unidentified U.S. startup. Nissan has announced that their EV's will start having Solid State battery packs in 2028. China is only now looking to start R&D on solid State batteries with QingTao energy development spending $153 million over 3 years starting in 2021. Toyota's game-changing solid-state battery en route for 2021 debut - Nikkei Asia Seems Test Mules of Amazons new EV Delivery Vans are out and about in Irvine California. Rivian’s Amazon delivery van prototype spotted in Irvine, Calif. (electrek.co)

You understand that doesn’t change my point at all right? Just skip over the fact that fifty years ago, that same 1% paid even more (without so many of the current loopholes) and many folks claim that’s when this country was so “great”. Point being that the top 1% rarely ever actually pay their “fair share” these days so we can just drop the semantics quite honestly.

Tax avoidance is legal but a lot of it shouldn’t be. It doesn’t count as shortfalls

I’m really liking the Omni heat ones from Columbia, and NF lighter coats....both are toasty!

Municipalities that waive property taxes to lure businesses in are engaging in (legal) bribery. Which should be illegal. It only shifts tax burdens onto private citizens in exchange for a couple of jobs. But municipalities crave new revenue streams and fattened tax coffers like a meth addict, so they allow themselves this misappropriation of law (and it starts in D.C.). Then they pay themselves exorbitant salaries with basically no oversight or accountability. ’Evil corporations’ at least engage in commerce and supply consumerism. Gov’t only engages in fees, fines & taxation and galactic-level waste.

Uh.. I don't know. I haven't had to configure that app in so long. I'll check. Yup, there was a 10 item max I changed it to unlimited. You should be able to add stuff now.

Except in extreme cases, Individual taxes matter a lot less than corporate taxes. Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world, but his W2 salary has stayed the same ~$81k for 20 years. His personal wealth is 90% paper based on the share price of the companies he owns. But when he does sell stocks, his tax rate is generally only 15% because he only pays Capital Gains. On the flip side, the actual corporation of Amazon pays very little of their income to taxes. This is where the bulk of the cheating is. Walmart is not only just as bad with the cheating, they are actively predatory. They'll hunt down some financially struggling town and promise to build a store there if they get a property tax exemption for the next 10 years. The town, being short-term greedy, accepts. Walmart builds the store and starts placing a burden on the local infrastructure. After the 10 years are up, Walmart threatens to close the store if they don't get an extension on their tax exemption. They'll cook the books to make the store look like it is barely profitable or even losing money. They'll claim "they want to keep the store open because they care about the community". If they get the extension, they continue to be a burden on the local infrastructure without paying towards its upkeep. If they don't get the extension, they close the store and move 10 miles down the road to the next gullible town and repeat the process all over again. The store they close they "Sadly, wanted to keep it open for the good of the community, but it just wasn't a good business decision." All the while they are doing this, they are having their workforce subsidized by Federal Tax dollars by compensating their employees so poorly that they need to go on Food Stamps (redeemable at Walmart), Section 8, and Medicare. Then they funnel a huge amount of their profits back through the Walton fund as charitable tax write offs and pay the family huge sums of money to sit on the board. And it's all legal.

^ So does everyone else.

Damn those Audi EVs and their electrical problems (which has been said for the last forty years or so but sure, let’s just think it’s an “EV” problem).

I take it that you prefer the belles of Tennessee over them yellow roses.

We could say the same thing about your state or any state. California is not perfect, but has led the nation in looking for better ways to insure people have a healthy life. Nothing wrong with working to ensure healthy air, drinking water, etc. One only has to look at how choked the skys of LA were in the 70's with leaded gas compared to now with seeing the mountain ranges. 70's compared to today.

Good on him. California can frig off.

So Musk has confirmed he has moved to Texas and is planning to move the Tesla HQ to Texas as well. He was not willing to answer if he will eventually move the Tesla factory from California. Elon Musk confirms he's moved to Texas after a months-long fight with California (msn.com) Sadly, he has forgotten that California is what allowed him to survive and grow to where he is today as without the CA Carb mandates and the money the state put into allowing people to buy his auto's with discounts both federally and state that gave thousands of people up to $15,000 discounts on buying a Tesla. Arrogant prick. I hope Rivian and GM put them in their place in the market place. Yes Tesla has pushed to new levels the EV power Train. Other than that, his autos suck.

Excellent review, I agree largely with what you said.