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Random thought: I cannot stand kitchen or bathroom millwork painted in battleship gray or "distressed" nautical blue

Give the tech time, it will come. As I said, very hard to be an enthusiast, GM is building some vehicles I find cool. But the days of thinking of a Cobalt SS SC for autocross are over, and the days of cheap cool vehicles are over. I REALLY like the current Hummer, Cadillac, and Truck (Silverado EV!) offerings from GM, but want to spend money retiring and spending time in the woods hiking, not paying off an eighty thousand dollar vehicle. We agree completely. I am more able to separate my rage from my posting lately, but what this acceptance of political leaders who do sexually horrible things to women does to survivors is vile, vile, and vile. And a huge number of women have ben victims of sexual violence or crazy non consensual stuff. Preferring the Hockey posts, although I agree with the sentiment. Getting rid of the Chicken tax would probably doom legacy auto makers in the USA, they are really not set to operate in a free market. Why do you think they no longer offer many passenger cars?

You have convinced me to look at Ford products with an open mind, will def. Test drive whatever they dream up. Right now enjoying the freedom of two paid for vehicles. If nothing else, the Ranger is really awesome at hauling lumber and Bicycles, and has oddly enough become one of my favorite ever vehicles. How times change, eh? Regards, Chris Still major issues with all three, CVT transmissions seem to be a grenade in waiting, Honda has been having a number of mechanical issues, and have been unimpressed with Toyota as of late. Would love a Subaru for the AWD system, but the CVT thing scares me. I think the E-CVT in things like the Corrolla Hybrid and Maverick might be the best option. It's incredibly difficult to be an enthusiast with the modern offerings on SO MANY levels, why I have switched to music (stereo), hiking, woodworking, cycling, etc. Considering that every time I am in NYC or other major cities with Taxi's they all seem to have switched to Prius and they all seem to have half a million trouble free miles....yes...modern batteries seem to do well.

https://www.howtogeek.com/kia-toyota-honda-reliability-comparison/ Seems Kia has stepped up where they are on par with Toyota and Honda who are seen resting on their Legacy.

Ouch, another recall of 400,000 autos by Honda for wheels falling off while driving. https://www.masslive.com/news/2025/11/honda-recalls-400k-vehicles-for-risk-of-wheel-falling-off-while-driving.html

How Long Do Electric Car Batteries Last In 2025? - Coltura https://share.google/FTGgsi2XlYf0SmIg4 https://share.google/aimode/J9W5zgcy2aqrJYNZr Recent research confirms that modern electric vehicle (EV) batteries have exceptionally low failure rates and are engineered to last the lifespan of the vehicle itself. For EVs from model years 2016 onward, battery replacement rates due to failure are well under 1%, excluding major recalls. Key findings from studies by research firms like Recurrent and Geotab, the U.S. EPA, and the Department of Energy include: Low Failure Rate Outside of major, specific recalls for manufacturing defects (which are covered by manufacturers), the overall battery replacement rate for modern EVs (model year 2022 and later) is around 0.3%. Long Lifespan Most new EV batteries are expected to last 15 to 20 years or 200,000 miles before any significant decline in performance would necessitate a replacement, which is longer than the average car lifespan in the U.S.. Minimal Degradation Batteries degrade slowly over time, with an average rate of just 1.8% per year under moderate conditions. This means a 300-mile range EV could still offer about 250 miles of range after a decade. Comprehensive Warranties Federal law requires manufacturers to provide a warranty for at least eight years or 100,000 miles, guaranteeing the battery will maintain a certain percentage (usually 70%) of its original capacity. Many automakers offer even longer coverage. These findings challenge previous myths about EV battery durability and highlight the significant advancements in battery technology, thermal management systems, and smart software that optimize battery life. Honda Accord Hybrid has a software glitch that can cause the vehicle to lose power and potentially crash. https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/honda-recalls-256k-cars-nationwide-over-potentially-dangerous-software-glitch

Going back to the Ultium platform. I said that the batteries on the trucks are stacked up on each other and amongst other things that make it an 800V system. While true that the batteries on the Escalade, Hummers and Chevy EV pick up truck ARE stacked on top of each other, that does NOT make the system an 800V system. The fact that the two battery packs are connected IN SERIES makes them an 800V system. And that was what I was inferring to when I said "amongst other things". I read somewheres that GM knew to make the Ultium platform an 800V system at launch but figured the EV charging system was not capable of charging at those 800V fast charging speeds then so a 400V system was good enough. Again, I do not know if this is misinformation. GM went to dual 400V systems on two battery packs connected in series to emulate an 800V system on the trucks in that GM knew that range and charging speeds and all that where GM has an advantage to other truckish EVs were going to be a factor. The EV range on these truck EVs are amongst the best EV ranges in the world. Never you mind that there are two huge battery packs with a shyte ton of KW/H to them making at least one of the three trucks, the Hummer EVs, a very piss poor efficient EV. (The Hummer SUV and the Hummer pick-up are blended into one product in my rants) Some folk talk about how bad the efficiency is. But most applaud the range of these EV trucks. Also, these two huge battery packs make for extremely heavy EVs. I would assume the most heavy of ANY civilian EVs on sale to date.

Democrat, republican or independent; jail them and let them starve to death.

In other news. The usa still sucks shyte!!! If its a Democrat problem, then arrest all democrats on raping women, sex trafficking and sex with under age girls. Yeah about that.... Trump is also on that list so... Lets get this right. The main idea on this is that trump is on that list... And it would be your president. Shameful, disgraceful and disgusting. Unlawful, unruly and ungodly. Not trustworthy, not ethical, not honourable and quite frankly, quite phoquing scary that americans are capable of accepting this shyte as their representative of their country and people. ALL americans...

GM's Ultium formerly known as, is actually a 400V system. The Chevy EV pick-up truck, the Hummer EV and the Escalade are dual 400V set-ups working in tandem to emulate a 800V set-up. I guess the way the battery packs are set-up in that truck platform. The batteries stacked up one on top of the other. Amongst other things, I suppose. The other Ultium platformed EVs with the single battery pack is just a 400V set-up. But I also read somewhere that GM has an 800V successor platform ready to go on sale in China right now. But is stalling due to reasons. Stalling here and there... Rumours and/or disinformation it could be though.

The sad part was the Auto Industry had agreed on the 800V standard before Ford went forward with the F150 Lighting and your right Porsche Taycan took the standard and brought it to market first. Ford like so many other auto companies had bought the tear down on the Tesla and knew what Tesla was, why then only build to their 400V equal when the spec was agreed upon to 800V. GM did this and was not that far behind Ford in bringing their 800V EVs to market, so I feel Ford took short cuts to be second when they could have built better accepting that Rivian was already out at 400V and they could have hit the market with 800V on par with GM at the time. Will be interesting to see what happens as the Koreans have stated to have mid-size and possible full size 800V EV pickups as well as Hybrid pickups coming out soon. Interesting times for sure.

Sadly Canada and Mexico get this bit we do not due to incompetence in D.C. https://electrek.co/2025/11/18/kia-delaying-another-ev-indefinitely/

I would have to imagine gen2 would be on its own bespoke platform, like the GM counterparts. I'd also REALLY hope they're smart enough to give it the best technology available with at least an 800v system. In all fairness, I don't believe there was an 800v EV out when the Lightning first debuted back in 2021. Before even submitting the comment I had to look up the first 800v EV and it was the Taycan in 2018. I know for sure it wasn't common back then.