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Lithium Ion is likely not going to be the predominant chemistry of batteries in 10+ years. There are far too many promising alternative candidates that at least one of them is bound to take off. So even then, the lithium question will eventually go away too.

Tesla FSD is PR poison right now. GM's SuperCruise is more likely to be licensed, first by Honda most likely. Yes, Tesla will make money on charging stations, but as soon as it becomes profitable, others (who aren't under court order) will jump in as well.

In the case of the T-1, there's a century-old feud between the US and the UK. The UK currently holds the record for the world's fastest steam locomotive, set by the Mallard in 1938. However, the T-1 above was regularly clocked at higher speeds, just not in an official test. The Mallard broke down after the test and had to go in for a severe overhaul. And just looking at the specs of the T-1 v. A4 Mallard (4-cylinder v. 3-cylinder, 300psi boiler v. 250 psi boiler, 6,500hp v, 2,400 hp) with the same size drive wheels, it's pretty easy to figure out the T-1 was a more capable machine. In regular service, they ran 8,000 miles a month, with a lot of that time at 110mph. Mallard also hit its 125mph record on a slight downhill. The T-1s could reach their speeds at level and even a slight upgrade. It will be interesting to see if one of the railroads allows a speed record-breaking attempt for the T-1. An interesting footnote is that prior to the T-1, there was an S-1 built that was even bigger and more powerful. Designed to produce 7,500 hp, it was intended to haul a 1,200 ton train at 100 - 120mph with a theoretical top speed of 152mph. The only problem was that it was so big, there was almost nowhere east of Pittsburgh it could run and, in fact, couldn't make the bend through Pittsburgh station, which was the key route between Philadelphia and Chicago. In the flat, straight terrain of Ohio and west, it shined. It was hauling 24-car passenger trains (huge by passenger train standards) over 110 mph, with multiple reports of it exceeding 140 mph to make up for delays. But its size was its Achilles heal. It was too big for the turning facilities at either end of its run and had to be turned on a wye instead of a table, and this caused several low-speed derailments. Only the prototype was built, but it served for 5 1/2 years before diesels took over (at lower speeds). It remains the most powerful steam passenger locomotive ever built. The T-1 was made as a much more manageable design that could run from Philly/DC to Chicago without causing the track maintenance crews headaches. Footnote 2: Do you think traction control is modern? The Pennsylvania RR had automatic traction control installed on its Q-2 freight steam locomotives in 1944. Everything old is new again.

You'd be 100% wrong based on the crowds that the Western Maryland brings in, it is mostly families with young kids. In the past three years, there have been three steam engines returned to service within a few hour's drive of me. Another four went online out west. I know of at least two more under restoration for operation, and there is even a non-profit building a brand-new steam engine from the original plans with modern upgrades. They have the boiler done and are now working on the frame. The T-1 Trust However you are right about one thing: most no longer burn coal, though the engine in this video does. Most have been converted to oil for cleanliness and fire safety issues.

You're almost making my point for me. Toyota has twice as much equity as they have debt, and they're net positive in the $100b range with $72b cash on hand. Though they have low debt, Tesla is relatively cash-poor with most of their equity tied up in non-cash items. Net shareholder equity is only $50b.... so a market cap of $797b on net incomes of $12b is way into the speculator zone. There is zero way to add up to a $797b valuation with those numbers.

I have being saying this for a couple of years now. Yeah. 2 years. That EVs have almost achieved price parity with their ICE counterparts. Obviously 2 yeaers ago it wasnt that obvious, but as the years go by, and more and more EV models come to market from different manufacturers, the more choices and price brackets open up. Economies of scale being acheived. Slowly but surely. That does not mean that battery mining is getting cheaper. But the cost of battery manufacturing is inching downward slowly slowly. The holy grail of that 30 000 dollar EV is just about to be offered. But...price of ICE-Vs are going up in price too. So...maybe a 30 000 dollar EV might not be that holy grail price point that manufacturers NEED... Whether ICE-Vs are going up artificially or not, is not the argument. The point is, EVs are offered at the SAME price points as their ICE counterparts and are optioned out the same or better. And these EVs are not small EVs either. They are as functional for folk as ICE-Vs are.

Stock market valuation has little to do with the actual balance sheet these days. Tesla was losing billions for years and they had crazy high valuations. Furthermore, ever since Reagan allowed companies to buy back stock, all of the companies have been manipulating their stock value. When it comes to Assets minus Liabilities, do you really think VinFast or Tesla are above Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen? Weather reports are far more accurate than stock valuations.

Those are some pretty compelling ranges for an EV that size and price. Bigger than a Model-X, more traditional SUV shape, $15k cheaper than a base Model-X with only a 48-mile difference in range. Plus access to all of the superchargers soon. Food for thought: At $65k for the AWD model, it's exactly the same price as a Tahoe LT 4x4 with no options.

Kia EV day covered the EV 3 and EV4 concepts but according to other news outlets, the CEO has stated that Kia will have an EV2 out globally that will also be in the U.S. for far less than $30,000 2023 Kia EV Day | The revolution begins KIA EV Day to be Held on October 12th - Korean Car Blog (thekoreancarblog.com)

Do not forget that she was close friends with the late Micheal Jackson. Elizabeth Taylor was to me far more lovely than Marlyn Manroe, but again that is person preference for brunettes over blondes, I guess. Course @oldshurst442 knows what I was really meaning by my comment. I find her very lovely and a nice watch to boot!

What I was really going to post - - - - - current watch: Timex Expedition - black face, blue illumination capability, leather watchband - bought in 2011 for about $40 - Timex: "takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin' " past tense watch: Seiko I used to have - (similar, but not "Presage" and regular gold ... not rose gold) left on a hotel nightstand while hastily packing for an early morning flight from Italy back to the U.S. - the hotel wasn't of the genre that would admit to finding it and send it back to you - consider what happened to Gandolfini's (RIP) Rolex when he was in the hospital ... I do plan to get another similar Seiko sooner than later. I still look at my wrist for the time more so than at my phone.

I'm with you on this. I don't care much about watches except that they be classic and appealing enough, reliable, and a good value. If money were no object, I might pay more attention. Just like I keep cars for as long as I can, I do the same with watches. I've had my current Timex Expedition where the dial goes blue if it's dusk and you push in where you wind it/set it since 2011. Mine has a leather band and I keep replacing it. A person doesn't even need much arm hair for it to pinch. It goes looking for it. I have more of an issue keeping travel money in my pocket, but am always looking for a deal there, too. I think I'm dreaming! That Bulgari is not that appealing, as you say. I do like analog clocks in vehicles. I really liked the one set toward the right edge of the instrument panel in the last Buick Envision, and even the way it was incorporated into the dash. With the new IP in the more recent Envision, that cool analog clock went away. I never noticed the gargoyles in the tower on the Parliament House in Ottawa ... until now. Small, but yet an icon for the city and the port that not everyone knows about. The Plage de l'Horologe with the blue umbrellas is "fairly" recent and shows the more unbridled sense of humor and irony that is more Gallic than Anglo. Bravo, Montreal. If someone were to look up "high maintenance" in the dictionary, Elizabeth Taylor's name should be next to it. It seemed like she needed a lot of props for her self-esteem. She had at least 7 or 8 husbands and that didn't seem to keep her happy, either. She started out as a peaches and cream "English rose" and, evidently, L.A. and "the industry" took that away from her.

I'll go with your second sentence here. Rentals are what helped me decide on my current (ICE) car and sample others I have considered buying in the past. For EVs, this is going to be a gradual process rather than a fast shove. I agree with this, but more so about basic operation than recharging them, which is also an issue. Look at how I went to a general charger, figured I'd be up until past midnight (since it's now October, I could have turned into a pumpkin if it had been this month), and had to go back to the drawing board to find the supercharger type that would charge the vehicle in 20 minutes. For recharging during a rental, the way to get around that would be planning out the charging stops, which is a lot more difficult than purchasing fuel. You can bet that the interaction was negative. First, I couldn't shut the EV off with ease. I thought that repeating what I had done with the key fob vis a vis the slot near the console top to turn it on would then shut it off. That wasn't the case. Second, I didn't know where to obtain the mileage at return/exchange. I didn't feel so bad when the rental agent came to the vehicle, sat in it, and fumbled around for about 30 seconds before locating the odometer reading. Once seated, it should take no longer than 3 seconds for anyone to do that. Yet all of this happened in less than half a day. Yes, "overdone" is a good word. I'm sure it has to do with the brand and how "normal" they choose to make these vehicles. If they decide to keep EVs in rental fleets, they should hand out a basic info sheet or let you scan something with your phone that would give you info on the most basic 10 functions you will encounter, if not 20 of them. It's not Barnes and Noble, so I'm not expecting 'EVs for Dummies' or be handed a book. However, something to help the customer rather than shove them out the door to tend to the next customer (or the end of their shift) would be helpful.

30 '90s TV Show Opening Themes

It is different but CVTs have been around for a long time now and that no-shift-feeling is what people like about them. There's just no engine noise to accompany the acceleration. And, I know there are differences and people should test out EVERY vehicle before purchasing. But that isn't unique to EVs. Test drive for awhile at a dealership. I'm not saying to not have EVs in rental fleets. I just don't think it is ideal for the majority of people who don't give a crap about their transportation.

And how much will Tesla make off charging stations that millions of cars in the future will use? What if Tesla licenses FSD to other car companies for $12,000 per car? If they sell just 1 million FSD software packages, which is virtually all profit, to Toyota or Ford that is $12 billion in profit for Tesla. The money isn’t really in the cars, it is in the software and services. That is why Tesla is with 10-20 times more than these other car companies that are loaded with legacy costs and aren’t growing. Many car companies revenues now are worse now than they were in 2013 if you adjust for inflation.