David

Was driving so I could not snap a picture, but the local Kia dealership is clearly getting a ton of new EVs as two trucks went by, one with EV9's and the other with EV6's.

Congratulations, nice looking SUV, Hope all goes well for you with this as I can understand not wanting to have her get stuck with your kid in the car.

Life Happens, I was always planning to convert my 1994 Suburban to electric and drive it. Grandkids came last year via my son's marriage, great kids and now I have a new Grandson. As such, time to simplify my life. Sold my suburban and said goodbye over the weekend. Some one else can enjoy the custom 402 V8 making 505hp/551 lb-ft of torque. Newest Grandson Farwell pictures of my suburban. Remember when Ashtrays were common in autos?

Very cool info on expanding our power gride and connecting up green energy projects faster. The 2035 Report: Reconductoring With Advanced Conductors Can Accelerate The Rapid Transmission Expansion Required For A Clean Grid - Energy Innovation: Policy and Technology Very cool press release of Samsung enhancing Tesla Wall chargers. Weird that I missed this till now. Samsung Announces Collaboration With Tesla at CES 2024 for SmartThings Energy – Samsung Global Newsroom

Life happens, about two months behind on doing some pruning, but decided to buy an ego pole saw for dealing with some big branches over the drive way. Love that I do not have to wear hearing protection. EGO rocks!

I have to say that Hyundai is Banging hot for style. Not a fan of Black SUVs but this is striking.

If your into battery technology, this is an interesting read and clearly GAC of China is beating Toyota of Japan in the Solid state race of EV batteries. GAC beating Toyota to solid-state battery EV with 600-mile range thanks to large-capacity cell breakthrough - NotebookCheck.net News

Saw my first Cyber Truck today in the wild, WOW, What an Ugly Turd of a so called truck. Blind Spots bigger than California. Pretty much a true love or hate of the Tesla truck for sure. Funny thing is it had a California license plate. Made me wonder, did they move up here or a PTO trip to the PNW. Either way, yes it grabs heads as people look.

Did I miss something that the 3.6L V6 is less reliable than the Newer Turbo 4?

I understand that the auto high beam feature is in traditional and these bumper headlights. Not really sold on the benefits of the auto on high beam headlights feature, but the styling trend seems to be to use the space of traditional headlights for style with daytime running lights/markers and then lower the headlights into the bumper. It would be interesting to see the studies / facts behind this change to bumper headlights and auto high beam lights on to understand the facts behind them.

Have to compare your Fuel costs to electrical costs to see as 2-3 years here is huge difference still making leasing a good deal. Washington for home charging is 10 cents per kW of power compared to for me with the SS, $5.45 per gallon premium that the SS uses or for average regular unleaded fuel $4.659 per gallon. With the cheap EV leases and very cheap electrical, the $500 a month I am spending on Premium fuel for the SS is easily covered by an EV with home charging. UPDATE: EV9 that is one of the two EVs my wife is considering has a 99.8 kW battery pack. Cost to charge it 100% which you really do not do is $9.98 per charge up at home on a level 2 charger. Figuring my wife fuels up the SS 5 times per month at least and usually more as she tends to fuel every 4 to 5 days currently, $500 on average for Premium fuel versus same 5 charge ups is less than $50.

Just be very careful as they have some crazy laws that western folks who do not become aware of can easily break and end up in their crazy legal system and have one less hand, foot, leg, arm as they seem to like to cut off body parts as punishment. I have never been there myself, but a couple of my coworkers have been for work related and were forewarned by our team members about certain ways to behave, what to watch what you say, etc. It is definitely not a western country, but a Muslim one that is trying to project for tourist dollars a western way, but still very strict.

Leasing is best with guaranteed trade in in 2 or 3 years for updated tech.

I have to say that Mercedes has FAILED in giving the EQS a better look, changing from dots on the 2024 front end to lines does not change the ugly nature of this dated tech EV. Nor does the going from a flat emblem to a traditional stand up version make any difference. EV Price Shock: Mercedes EQS Loses Almost Half Its Value In A Year | Carscoops 2025 model is top, 2024 model is bottom.

Loving this and hope it comes true. Kia’s EV9 Pickup: A Miserable Design or a Future Success? (kangnamtimes.com)

You will be surprised as the Kia Sportage and Rav4 are pretty much neck to neck in retaining resale value.

Interesting that the EQS looses 50% of its value in the first year. EV Price Shock: Mercedes EQS Loses Almost Half Its Value In A Year | Carscoops Interesting review of luxury versus mid level. How Does The Genesis GV60 Compare To A High-Spec Hyundai Ioniq 5? | Carscoops It is interesting and makes one wonder if you could take the Genesis software and update the Ioniq 5 to have the same HP/Torque.

Totally agree with these videos which is so true to me. I would suggest test driving one as well as the RAV4 on the same day to compare. One of my daughters friends has a Rav4 and has had a few little things that warranty took care of, but other wise solid. Yet after driving Amy's Sportage, she wishes she had checked out others. Mi actually likes the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid better and while her Rav4 is a 2023 model, she uses it for work and so it tends to get high miles, after two years she is knocking on 50K miles now and so is thinking of trading it in on a 2025 Tuscon Hybrid. Review the Hybrid list above, test drive to compare and go with what you feel is right for you.

Very bizzar is that the Ford Bronco and Ranger are pilling up here on Dealership lots. I see tons of them and the amount on the road seems to have dropped off. This could be a PNW oddity as many have moved onto EVs with Tesla leading of course, but Hyundai/Kia/Genesis nipping at their heels along with Ford Mach-e and Lighting. I see tons of these EVs everywhere. Musk needs to go and get a real CEO in there to run the company, even the loyal are realizing his time is over. Agree, Kia has some banging style, so much better than other companies especially Buick. City life will never appeal to me, but I do get it that if you have mass transit that is solid and reliable that being close where you no longer need an auto makes sense. The Seattle greater lite rail system has taken this into account as each lite rail stop has around 10,000 apartments that have been built for folks that need to get into Seattle or the airports and get around without the use of an auto. Crazy dense living. In regards to the RAV4 comment, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND you Test drive the Kia Sportage Hybrid, Far SUPERIOR over RAV4 IMHO. Daughter owns one and plenty of coworkers. the 2024 Sportage Hybrid Rocks. https://fourwheeltrends.com/toyota-rav4-most-common-problems-explained/#:~:text=Common Toyota RAV4 issues include oil consumption%2C transmission,suspension%2Fsteering issues%2C water pump failure%2C and electrical problems. https://www.vehiclehistory.com/articles/rav4-years-to-avoid-an-excellent-cuv-with-a-few-problem-years RAV4 is far from the reliable SUV Hybrid they have marketed it as. Yes the last few years seem to have worked out the bugs for the most part, but it does have a weirdness that they are either right from the start or a lemon from the start. Seems to be the two types they have come in as they use some of the oldest tech now and are not class leading IMHO. https://www.caranddriver.com/kia/sportage-hybrid https://www.edmunds.com/kia/sportage-hybrid/ https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/rankings/hybrid-suvs A little more luxury is the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid as an option. Consumer Reviews to look at: https://www.edmunds.com/kia/sportage-hybrid/2024/consumer-reviews/ https://www.edmunds.com/kia/sportage-hybrid/2025/ As a huge Tesla market, it has been interesting that not a single cybertruck has been seen here. They are like Unicorns I think.

So then we owe a Happy Birthday @LosAngeles

It is weird when your used to having defined headlights, but it seems to be the trend to give options for styling with day time running lights and move the headlights into the bumper area with the auto highbeam off feature. Not the best styling IMHO, but then this current Buick seems to have gone Big Mouth Billey Bass with that huge ugly black grill.

One very evil and unattractive woman.

This is very cool watching this EV transform into a Shooting Brake style of auto. English sub-titles.

Some very cool reads: Hyundai IONIQ 5 N to Compete for Production EV SUV/Crossover Record at Pikes Peak - Korean Car Blog (thekoreancarblog.com) Hyundai Ioniq 6 N Test Mule Spied: A Glimpse into the Future of EV Performance - Korean Car Blog (thekoreancarblog.com) Seems Hyundai wants the most reliable SUV title: Hyundai Spied Benchmarking Grand Highlander - Korean Car Blog (thekoreancarblog.com) US-Spec IONIQ 9 Spied in California - Korean Car Blog (thekoreancarblog.com)

OUCH this is not looking good for Tesla Sales of EVs. These Graphs Show How Much Tesla Is Struggling To Sell Cars Right Now (insideevs.com) This is very cool for Tesla Supercharging Stations. Clearly the guy leading this division knows how to get things done. Tesla’s Prefabricated Supercharger Units Can Go Online Four Days After Being Delivered (insideevs.com)