G. David Felt

WOW, Idiot47 is so terrible.

Canadians strike back on Trump as breakup plot emerges

AI Collapse is going to be interesting as people avoid AI.

Microsoft’s $440 billion wipeout, and investors angry about OpenAI’s debt, explained

Spot on how far EVs have come and why fear of winter on the battery pack is so over blown for well made EVs.

Modern EVs do what was nearly impossible a decade ago

Gotta love these tests that prove the folks saying EVs are expensive fails wrong.

Four-year torture test on a VW EV just rewrote what high-mileage battery means

4 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

I don't know why anybody would want to buy a Chinese automobile.

You have the Ford CEO stating how superior their software and driving dynamics are compared to their own EVs. Clearly the rest of the world is happy with driving them even if China is spying on them via the auto.

Hard to deny he feelings / thoughts on the Chinese EV.

Ford CEO Farley Praises His Chinese EV, Says 'I Don't Want To Give It Up'

7 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

I could justify it for under 30k. I'm sure it's still a "good" vehicle, just nothing worthy of full MSRP in the 60-70k range. But, even at 29k, I still wouldn't be too thrilled about 230 miles of range, because in the winter it'll be nearly cut in half. 

Yes, VW EVs do not have a well-regulated battery pack. I feel they rushed it and did not do the R&D to test the build a proper battery pack that would have minimal degradation.

On 1/20/2026 at 6:13 PM, oldshurst442 said:

Chinese EVs now entering the Canadian market will heat things up with all manufacturers. Competition will be fierce. And the Chinese EV makers now have both the north and south sandwiching and squeezing the detroit makers.  And we know this because of how the Chinese EV makers have made the competition in Europe fierce. While BMW is currently doing good with their EV sales in Europe, they cant slip up and lose any battles.   VAG is also holding on quite well with EVs, but they too cant slip up.  Mercedes and Stellantis are not doing well EV wise.  

The way things are playing out in the usa though, if gm, ford and chrysler continue to allow the trump administration to d!c-k  around and sink EV policies to non-existence and they in turn allow themselves to delay EV development and to delay to offer compelling EVs  all three detroit area manufacturers will sink to oblivion. And that includes gm regardless if the 2nd generation of ultium would be of equal technology to the Chinese. Ultium 2.0 will not be of equal relevance...    And PRICE is a HUGE component when talking about technology development  and relevance...   

South Americans where Chinese EVs are sold have already forgotten about american car makers and the same will happen to the Canadian market. Especially the way trump continues to antagonize Canada...  Canadians are already hating on americans and boycotting american products.   

European car makers with their EVs in the usa market will have to adjust.  But European car makers sell expensive  EVs and americans are going down a path to where they will be waiting in line for bread like the way Russians were doing up until the 1980s and ronald reagan was poking fun at them when Gorbachev was dictator. 

This will be a nail in the American Auto industry Coffin with China willing to build EVs in Canada.

Chinese EVs in Canada will force Detroit automakers to change course

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2026/01/25/chinese-evs-canada-detroit-automakers/88283781007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=false&gca-epti=z114033p118050n00----c00----u003033d00----v114033&gca-ft=72&gca-ds=sophi

Canada wants to be 1st in North America to build EV with Chinese knowledge: senior official

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-electric-car-china-tariffs-trump-united-states-9.7049950

China Is Ready To Start Building Cars In Canada

https://www.carscoops.com/2026/01/canada-chinese-ev-deal-tariffs/#:~:text=Despite those concerns%2C Chinese Ambassador,Youtube/ Whitehouse

End result is that America will lose market share and lose another country that heavily supported the U.S. due to Incompetence by American Business.

7 hours ago, ccap41 said:

This thing was a bust before any tariffs. It has abysmal range, not enough real storage that minivan buyers want, it tried to be too much of a throwback without adding true minivan capabilities, and it was priced far too high for what it offered. 230 miles of range for something like this is ridiculous. I wanted one once they first showed them, but I wouldn't consider something with that kind of range for 60-70k. Name one reason to buy the VW ID.Buzz over your EV6. Looks..? That's about all it has going for it. 

Had a coworker who just bought one as the VW dealership had the fully loaded ID.Buzz with MSRP of $72,595 marked down to $29K with a butt load of VW discounts and the dealer wanted to get rid of it. He said the same thing you did, but at the price, he thinks it will be an awesome local use auto for the family and kids.

Totally agree that my EV9 is a far better purchase than this for the original prices.

Continued death spiral of America due to incompetence in DC by Idiot47 and his lemmings.
Carney rolls his eyes at US Treasury secretary, telling Trump he meant what he said at Davos

Every American needs to get ready as this is our future under Idiot47 and his love of Tariffs.
Vintage photos show American life under Trump's tariff hero, William McKinley
 

Idiot47 is going to bankrupt this country the way he has already done it 7 times since he is so stupid.
Trump vows 'big retaliation' as 'sell America' list grows

This is sad as GM will not recover like they think they will nor will Ford. American Auto Industry is set to expire.

GM to end Chevy Bolt EV production next year, move China-made Buick to US factory

Anyone who doubts the U.S. is about to crash does not understand how the Russian Agent Idiot47 has increased debt to give the 1% class everything before this country implodes.

‘Some form of crisis is almost inevitable’: The $38 trillion national debt will soon be growing faster than the US economy itself, watchdog warns

17 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

why are you surprised by this?

Havent you been listening to trump's threats towards Canada?

And no...those words that he used a YEAR ago were not jokes...

And for CONTINUALLY threatening Canada's sovereignty and economic well being for 12 months STRAIGHT...

Common man!!!

Not surprised by this as much as just sadden that we have fallen down to be such trailer trash bottom of the garbage bin due to an Idiot that almost 51% of idiot illiterate Americans put in office. Sadly with only a 7th grade level of reading, it was only time before a Russian agent / Pedo / Criminal would get put into the highest office in the land by idiot Americans.

As a well-educated individual, I just never thought I would see the day that a friendly neighbor would have to plan for war against us.

Safety experts and tech critics have long condemned the Ring devices for security risks and privacy violations, not to mention their role in building the largest civilian surveillance network in US history. Last summer, the Electronic Frontier Foundation warned that Ring was actively eroding civil liberties in the US for profit.

Amazon subsidiary Ring, the company behind those AI doorbell cameras that have exploded in popularity over the last few years. Back in October, Ring announced that its devices would soon be looped into a network of Flock AI surveillance cameras. That network, an investigation by 404 Media found, has been available to local and federal police and enforcement agencies like ICE — leaving many worried that their Ring doorbell cams are now feeding into a government panopticon.

Fury as Amazon Ring Cameras Are Hooked Up to ICE System

If you have RING, time to rethink who you use for video surveillance.

WOW, I never thought I would ever see this kind of thing!
Canada 'preparing for US invasion'

Further proof that Idiot47 and the lemming brigade have no idea how to live within means and now Moron47 wants to pay over 700 billion that the US does not have to buy Greenland.  

Trump added $2.25 trillion to the national debt in his first year back in charge, watchdog says

Interesting read.

A Reagan-appointed judge just shot a warning flare up into the night

Disgust

7 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

Fair enough.  And very true. 

But the "experts" here in Canada, the business experts and automotive analysts are saying as soon as the news dropped about the trade deals and dropping of tariffs, that Chinese EVs will be here sooner than we think. They do not give a timeline however, but they all agree that these EVs will hit Canadian shores ready for sale in 2026 sometime. 

Now, I agree with you, dealerships are not only necessary for the sales aspects, but for after-sales support and assistance and repair requirements.

Also...and I just thought of this, crash and safety requirements are quite different for the Asian and European markets than it is for our North American market.  What Chinese EVs are really North American market ready???  As I dont think the majority, if not all of the native Chinese EVs have been North American approved...

I would think since they built them to the Euro spec and in some ways, it is more stringent than the US that they could come into Canada with minimal changes needed.

17 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Windows 11 ...

Ok, the laptop was upgraded from Windows 10.   There were a couple of power offs and restarts.  Once I got onto the Microsoft Installation Assistant, it went smoothly. Interfaces and dialogue boxes are a little more user friendly.

Here's the deal.  I had about 45 GB free before I started the upgrade.  I understand that Windows 11 takes up about the same amount of space as 10.  I've seen posts where people complain that it has taken up a larger amount of disk space than they had before.  The answer comes back that the system drive is temporarily "borrowing" this surplus of space and we'll be giving it back over time.  Is this plausible?  Duplicate files?  How long to get the extra GBs freed up?

Thanks.

Yes, that is true that Windows upgrade uses the space to make all the changes, but it should release it fairly soon. You can go in and do some house cleaning:

Free Up Space on the Current Drive

Open File Explorer, right-click the 😄 drive, and select Properties.

Click Disk Cleanup and select files to delete, such as temporary files and old system updates. Click OK to proceed.

Open Command Prompt as an administrator and run powercfg.exe -h off to disable hibernation and free up space.

Move large files or folders (e.g., Documents, Downloads, Pictures) to another drive: Right-click the folder, select Properties, go to the Location tab, and click Move.

Uninstall unnecessary apps via Settings > Apps > Installed apps.

Also check out this as this covers what most other articles also state about cleaning up and freeing up space after a Win11 upgrade.

How to reclaim space after upgrading Windows 11 to newer version

1 hour ago, surreal1272 said:

Looks like it's time for another bot posting purge.

 

Yes seems annarath | Cheers & Gears is a Bot for sure.

@Drew Dowdell can you please remove them. Thank you

1 hour ago, oldshurst442 said:

East Coast. West Coast. Northern Border.  Yeah. All of it!!! Canada!!!  

East Coast: New York State + Vermont + Maine + New Hampshire + Massachusetts = Canada.   These were all French colonies at first anyway, minus Massachusetts and the lower part of New York.   

West Coast: Washington State + Oregon + California = Canada   Because why not???!!!  These states do not want to be part of the shythole country that has become the usa so...they might as well join Canada. 

Northern Border States:  Minnesota = Canada    Michigan shall be Canadian BECAUSE Detroit  was founded by a French guy by the name of Cadillac.  Reparations are owed...   

Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas were also founded by the French but they have become such shytehole areas, mainly the reason that america has become such a shytehole country.  america could keep that shyte all to themselves.  Canada will happily have California, Washington State, Oregon and Minnesota instead.  4 states versus 4 states. 

Anyway, those Canadian states I proposed to become Canadian, the people living in these states are normal people and they think alike as Canadians do.  Makes perfect sense that these states become Canadian.

Oh...we could give you Alberta and Saskatchewan in exchange for New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Illinois,  Delaware and Maryland. 

New York and New Jersey go hand in hand which also includes Rhode Island. 

Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts go hand in hand with Connecticut. 

Delaware and Maryland go hand in hand and since District of Columbia will be under Canadian rule when Canada burns down the White House again...   The new usa could have a new capital city somewheres in the shytehole areas of the usa. 

Maga Florida would become the new crappy Capital of Crappy USA Idiots.  

BMW has a rich history of building the drivers auto such as the legendary models of the 1800, BMW M1, BMW 3 series, BMW X5 and the electrified i8. With this rich history, it only makes sense that the next evolution is the iX3 with an all-electric range of 805 kilometers or 500 miles on a single charge for the BMW iX3 50 xDrive model. Across the whole model lineup, the iX3 has a range of 678 Kilometers / 421 miles to 805 kilometers / 500 miles on a single charge.

The BMW iX3 according to Chairman Oliver Zipse is the most important all new vehicle for BMW in the last half-century and will lead BMW into the next decade and beyond globally. The iX3 is a quantum leap forward in technology, design and driving dynamics. Chairman Zipse calls it "Neue Klasse", a historic term used to signify a Quantum Leap for BMW.

BMW will start deliveries of the iX3 in Spring 2026 to Europe, Summer 2026 to Americas and Asian pacific areas. Starting price of $60,000

BMW realized the competition for one's attention and as such has brought to market the following with the iX3:

• Panoramic iDrive consisting of four elements
  • Panoramic Vision - a cleanup of the interior allowing for the information at the right line of sight, at the right point in time and at the right location. This being the lower edge of the windshield.
  • Central Display - All-new user interface for easier management with voice control of your auto.
  • Multi-function steering wheel - The 20% of most common used features that cover 80% of what a driver does in the auto plus working with the voice control.
  • Optional 3D head-up display - Driver customizable 3D HUD that gives you the info you want, when you want it, on the windshield minimizing the need to look down or to the right for information while driving.

BMW called the iX3 their sixth-generation EV architecture which consists of the following:

• 800-volt electrical system that allows 30% faster charging and 40% greater efficiency allowing 231 miles of range in just 10 minutes at a DC charging station. 10% to 80% in 21 minutes.
• AC Controller enhancements for faster home charging
  • Standard 11 kW controller
  • Optional 22 kW controller

To take full advantage of home charging capabilities, BMW iX3 owners will want a quality Level 2 home EV charger. Popular options include the ChargePoint Home Flex NACS or Grizzl-E 48A Ultimate Level 2, which can handle the standard 11 kW charging speeds and are compatible with most home electrical systems. NACS compatible 22 kW home charger options are still limited.  When traveling, you'll need a CCS to NACS adapter to take advantage of all charging options out there, the Lectron CCS to NACS Adapter is one of the highest rated on Amazon.

• Electronic control system - This system went from dozens of individual control modules to run the last generation of EVs to four control computers with 2000 less feet of wiring reducing weight by 30% over the previous system, reducing reaction times (latency) within each area. The four modules handle the following, driving dynamics, automated driving, infotainment and basic control and comfort functions. 10 times faster response times in each module.
• xDrive Powertrain - 345 kW or 469 hp for the all-wheel drive system.
  • 0 to 100 km\h or 62 mph in 4.9 seconds
  • Top speed of 210 km\h or 130 mph
  • 10% less weight
  • 20% lower cost
  • 40% more energy efficient
• iX3 interior space and progressive lifestyle are the focus point in the sizing of the iX3
  • 4,782 millimeters or 188 inches long
  • 1,895 millimeters or 74.6 inches wide
  • 1,635 millimeters or 64.3 inches tall
  • Aerodynamics drag coefficient of .24
• Load Carrying capacity
  • Interior Cargo capacity of 1,750 liters or 62 cubic feet with the back seats folded down. Find deals on Cargo Organizers.
  • FRUNK capacity of 58 liters or 2 cubic feet
  • Towing of 2,000 kilograms or 4,409 pounds
• Next generation battery
  • 108.7 kWh battery size
  • 20% higher energy density
  • 30% faster charging
• Bi-directional charging
  • V2L or Vehicle-to-Load standard
  • V2H or Vehicle-to-Home standard
  • V2G or Vehicle-to-Grid standard

BMW has gone back to their 1960's era of kidneys and twin headlights. This is complimented by their all-new light signature system that assumes the role of chrome in giving an aura of quality and sophistication. Flush smooth surfaces are found throughout the exterior from glass surfaces to door handles. Keeping robust nature of luxury and sophistication, you will find color matched wheel arches, subtle rectangular contours to defining taillights and more on the iX3.

BMW continues their offering of choice to the consumer as they have a standard 20 inch wheel with optional 20, 21, and 22 inch wheel choices available. Interior choices are offered with personalization of the cabin the choices of Essential, Contemporary, M Sport and a BMW fully customized design options.

From heated seats and electronically adjustable as standard to heated / cooled and multifunctional seats as options is just the beginning of how one can order up their iX3. Standard, Sport and M Sport steering wheels compliment the many other interior choices from two to three zone climate control, adaptive headlights, Harmon Kardon HiFi systems, steering wheel heating, panoramic sunroof and more allow each iX3 to be customized to the end users choice of what they want.

Some of the latest bleeding edge abilities with the iX3 were shown off at the Consumer Electronics Show 2026 in Las Vegas. Here BMW had on-hand the iX3 for people to experience.

List of Features found in the iX3:

• Alexa+ built into the BMW Personal Assistant
• ZOOM calls with video on the center screen
• Ability to use the center screen for video when the auto is stationary
  • Disney+
  • TiVo
• 85 apps worldwide from music and audio to Entertainment, Gaming, News, Travel, Local and more

BMW has delivered what they believe is the smoothest and fastest system that offers ultimate joy in driving a BMW on the iX3 from various levels of acceleration, braking and handling to superior industry energy recuperation and a true hand off driving up to 85 mph.

The water-cooled super brains of the control modules allow the iX3 to deliver world class driving experience for all ages and skill levels.

Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links. Purchasing through these links may earn Cheers and Gears a commission at no additional cost to you and helps support independent automotive journalism.

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12 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

 

Canada probably could take the whole west coast.  

Ouch 

Ford Says the Recall Is Over. Maverick Owners—and the NHTSA—Disagree

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/safety-and-recalls/articles/ford-says-recall-over-maverick-201559658.html

This will not go away no matter how much Ford says the issues do not exist!

Point on @bobo I greatly appreciate your review of the world for 2025 and look forward to your future reviews and hopefully longer stay and comments at C&G.

54 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

 

You forgot the two shootings last night in Portland Oregon. 3 shootings in 24 hours. ICE is a Terrorist Group!!!

2 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

They are buying more Airbus, and changing things around. I think more fleets worldwide will buy more and more Airbus, but Airbus is supply constrained. That's the only thing saving Boeing. 

With Boeing having signed a 20yr agreement with Canada and moving R&D and Manufacturing to Canada, I can easily see this flip back to Boeing as Canada is going to want to support business and jobs that are based in Canada. I would not say this is a done deal as the bulk of the order with Airbus is Options, which are easily canceled.

Boeing started with a $240 Million Investment in 2024 in Canada.

Boeing to Invest $240 Million CAD in Québec Aerospace Innovation

Then added $85 million more in early 2025.

Boeing Commits $85M To New Canadian Innovation Zone Espace Aéro

Then came the big bomb shell at the end of the year that had Idiot47 going off as $5.4 Billion will now be spent in Canada rather than the U.S.

In 2025, Boeing is significantly expanding its footprint in Canada. While it is not moving its entire operation, it is shifting more manufacturing and research capability there as part of a $5.4 billion investment obligation (ITB) linked to Canada’s purchase of P-8A Poseidon aircraft.
Where the Manufacturing is Moving/Expanding:
• Winnipeg, MB: In June 2025, Boeing opened a 12,000 sq. ft. expansion to its composite plant. This doubled its capacity to build parts for the 737 MAX and 787 Dreamliner.
• Montreal, QC: Boeing is investing $240 million into the "Espace Aéro" innovation zone. This includes manufacturing and R&D for next-gen landing gear (with Héroux-Devtek) and autonomous air taxis (Wisk Aero).
• Parksville, BC: A $13 million investment in COTA Aviation has funded new advanced manufacturing equipment and a training facility for aerospace production.
• Mount Pearl, NL: A $10.3 million investment in Solace Power is establishing a new electronics production facility for aerospace parts in Atlantic Canada.
• Alberta: A $2.7 million investment was made to create the Xpand™ Canada Commercialization Centre, focusing on manufacturing technologies for aerospace and energy security.

The stories are all small parts of what adds up to be billions as Boeing cancels expansion and updates for Washington State and North Carolina manufacturing and R&D.

Boeing Invests $110M In Espace Aéro - Canadian Manufacturing

So many little stories that make up the whole. This all started with the original big investment back in 2020. 

Boeing set to boost Canada's economy with $61bn investment | Manufacturing Digital

This kind of blocking of the truth and lack of transparency is hurting, not helping our democracy and tends to say that the Head of Homeland / ICE needs to be arrested and put in jail along with all the rest of the stool Pigeons.

Minnesota officials say FBI blocked their access to ICE shooting probe