G. David Felt

Wow, love the green 💚 color, love the wagon format, now they just need to make it in EV powertrain.

Genesis Might Actually Put the G90 Wingback into Production https://share.google/rQ5oMORyJGX6jfo2d

WOW, This just blows my mind on this stupid woman that Dumb Dirty Donald put in charge of education.

Full list of degrees not classed as ‘professional’ by Trump admin

These degrees are no longer considered professional or valid.

List of Degrees Not Classed as ‘Professional’ by Trump Admin
Nursing
Physician assistants
Physical therapists
Audiologists
Architects
Accountants
Educators
Social workers

How does one think that any of these that take considerable training are not professional degrees!

So much going on, Idiot47 calling for the execution of people that disagree with how he is doing things, this is all so pathetic.

As we enter our Thanksgiving week, I am very humble for the friends that I have here at C&G and yes that even includes the ones I disagree with on various topics and debate with be you in the U.S. or out of the U.S. 

I wish you all a relaxing, enjoyable time with family and friends for your Thanksgiving Day.

I have one wish and that is for the following as we go into the end of the year and Xmas season.

I hope that we can get past sooner rather than later Dumb Dirty Donald and Flamboyant Hollywood Gavin and get a "We the People" President that understands that regardless of your conservative or liberal leanings, we are one country of multi-cultural people and like everyone other than the 1% crowd, we have to live within a balanced budget. Bring the house and senate together to work as they are supposed to represent the people and not the 1%. Balance tariffs for those things that truly are being made under the cost of the current industry still producing manufactured goods in the U.S. and drop all the rest for things that are no longer made or available here. Support the medical insurance for all, stop borrowing against Social Security. Focus on supporting job growth in new industries and not destroying billion-dollar investments trying to live in the past.

May you all have a wonderful holiday week or relaxing week if out of the U.S.

4 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

Europeans have for a long time, used concrete to build their homes. Not just the foundations that we do here in North America, but the whole house.  Dare I say for thousands of years?  

But even in modern times, Europe (Greece as the next sentences is anecdotal) has used concrete for their foundations and walls as long as I remember going back to the late 1970s.   The concrete is bare inside and out as I recall. Maybe today they paint?  And these concrete homes are not mansions for rich peoples, but homes for everyday peoples.

I dont mind concrete for the whole house.  If I was living in Europe that is.  Here in North America I prefer my wood framed and drywall  homes. 

In a modern mansion?  Concrete?  Id say maybe.  Depending on how the home is styled I guess.  But I dont like big mansions either though.  I find huge homes useless and lifeless.  I would have a huuuuuuuuge garage though.  And the garage would be fully concrete. So there is that.

I grew up with a mother that hated colour in her home. White walls. White appliances. White dishes. But flower patterned sofas and chairs. French Provincial style  on top of that.  And flowers everywhere. The colour in our home came from real plants.   I hate white walls.  I hate flowers in the house and I LOATHE French Provincial anything and everything... 

I hate grey on anything. Especially cars.  But my basement walls where my TV resides, the colour of the walls are dark grey where the TV is and the other three sides are a lighter shade of grey. 

I hate grey rainy weather.  

Grey is such a depressing colour.

Black on walls?  Ill pass.  But as an accent somewhere I wouldnt mind.  

Take a look at these Cement homes, I find many to be very nice and am hoping that one day to build one as a retirement home in the Rambler format. There are some lovely home for Cement that most people would not realize are cement. There are 35 different two story and ramblers with some of the ramblers having basements, but these 4 I have included on top of the 7z file are my favorite for Cement homes.

Cement Home Plans.7zgreensboro.pdforchard.pdfsan-simeon.pdfsterling.pdf

4 hours ago, Farmer said:

I am trying to find out Pontiac dealer 627 in zone 14.  Nebraska and Iowa. 

@balthazar was the one who dealt with this and has not been seen in a while, I am unsure he would answer you.

1 hour ago, trinacriabob said:

Here's how I roll on this:

Parchment colored (warm color palette) wall paint, white raised panel doors and white baseboard, white ceiling, wood flooring or tan colored deep pile carpeting depending on the room, and mill work in kitchens, bathrooms, and niches, if you have any, in a medium shade like maple or thereabouts.

I like a warm color palette and wood stains throughout a dwelling to make it feel homey.

Eternal and safe - may not be the trendiest, but won't jump out as out of style, either.

While both my kids are into this black / industrial grey color palette, they grew up in a very warm home as all our furniture is natural dark oak, tan colored carpets and I even let them choose the paint color for their rooms kind of, which my son went with industrial grey for an accent wall, but the rest I painted warm white. Daughter went with a gold accent wall. So, the whole black / grey thing was never a big part of their life, so must be a younger person's rebellion thing maybe.

Over all, the trend to have all fake wood floors which I find very cold is also not me, plush carpet and a proper quality rubber matt below the carpet as we sit on the ground Asian style allot. So warm and comfy.

Idiot47 is so stupid as he taxes us to be more expensive than Canada which used to always be more expensive on cars than the U.S. 

Now you want the hottest, latest all new Honda Hybrid, pay $7,000 more than those in Canada.

Honda Prelude’s Canadian Price Will Leave US Buyers Feeling Duped | Carscoops

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

• 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. 

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

2 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

 

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.  
 

Yes all but the full size are true 400V and according to their Ultium website they are 800V designed but purposefully throttled at 400V due to the current infrastructure not being ready for 800V. The full size is GMs hybrid version that supposedly could be turned on to 800V but a choice was made to go parallel for charging speed due to the larger than normal battery packs.

I honestly do not expect GM to actually push out a software update on the full size now that 800V DC fast charging is pretty common all over, more so on the west and east coast than the Midwest. 

GM and Fords failure is to not accept that the technology would transform so much faster which is why the Koreans are winning the EV tech battle especially being competitive with the Chinese. Ford CEO even admits that it was a mistake to not go 800V and GM while stating that generation 2 of their EV platform will be 800V across everything and could be higher makes me wonder if they really will push forward with better tech or lumber along rather than lead the industry.

While rare, we are already seeing 500V and above chargers coming out installed rather than additional 350V DC chargers. ChargePoint showed off their 500V chargers which I posted the press release about a while back and starting in January they will start updating all the oldest DC ChargePoint chargers with this new speedy unit that also has cut proof cables. Pretty much I feel the industry needs to move to 1000V EV powertrain systems at least if not 1,200V ensuring performance, charging speed, etc. IMHO.

3 hours ago, ccap41 said:

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. 

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/

Very informational review and I agree with the one thing which has to do with the auto dealer you choose.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/autos-suvs/i-lived-with-a-kia-ev9-for-a-year-there-s-only-one-thing-i-would-change/ar-AA1Q1aEh?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=691c8081e40b459d9571cf455c286261&ei=186

While cool options, sadly the high amount of recalls and low reliability makes Ford / Lincoln products a no go along with the fact that NO EV's are available for me. Was excited to see a competitor to the EscaladeIQ that supports AA/CP but that is now history as Ford turns their back on the future to live in the past.
https://carbuzz.com/lincoln-interior-themed-after-northern-lights/

1 hour ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Good question. 

I am hoping that we see various debute of concepts and new production models at the LA Autoshow.

This seems to tell me that Hyundai will offer a Hybrid Colorado size Truck for the market since they have a contract with GM to produce 5 new auto's for the U.S. market using their Hybrid tech on both GM name and Hyundai/Kia/Genesis name autos and one of the auto's will be a Mid-Size Truck.

https://carbuzz.com/new-hyundai-patent-clues-pickup-truck/

https://carbuzz.com/hyundai-thinks-new-truck-mind-blowing/

I believe this is how GM will get to market Hybrid auto's faster than creating their own based on updating old VOLT tech.

https://carbuzz.com/video/hyundai-gm-vehicle-partnership/

22 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Ford's aluminum supplier burnt down.  They don't have enough aluminum to build the gas F-150 at current demand.  They make more profit on the gas model than the EV model. Additionally, it is getting left behind in tech by GM and Tesla (though both with their own baggage). It charges slower and has a lower range than either of those.  It is a FANTASTIC EV, but buyers need to be able to live with those limitations, and that's a hard sell when the Chevy dealer next door has a truck with the same size bed that goes twice as far and charges twice as fast.

For someone like my mom who doesn't do road trips and could plug in every night, the F-150 EV would be the perfect replacement for her old old King Ranch.

Found multiple stories on this, but seems Gen 2 of the F150 Lighting is in the works, but due to the supplier issues, is looking at a 2027 debute. Currently Ford has confirmed that due to the Fire, the manufacturing line will be offline till at least mid 2026 before starting back up which would make sense for a gen 2 truck then, so will be interesting to see what they do. Does it go 800V, new platform rather than using the old ICE platform of the F150? Going to be interesting.
https://carbuzz.com/ford-lightning-second-generation/

2 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

They only make the EValanche, nothing Colorado size yet.

Ford is going to make something Ranger/Maverick sized in electric with their new platform.

With all the test mules running around LA I wonder what the status is for the EV9 Pickup truck?

5 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

 

Like he said, a LifeStyle bike for those that want to be seen with a Bronco bike on the street and not a really useful mountain bike. Ford FAILURE AGAIN!

Maybe they should focus these funds on making their autos have less recalls and the EVs 800V superior products rather than followers. What a waste of money.

1 minute ago, Drew Dowdell said:

He’s on 10. I don’t think they pushed the copilot features to that.  With the Ram upgrade I could squeeze another 6 months out of it maybe if I really stripped it down, but there’s no more security updates for it, so it’s only a matter of time before it’s a liability.

I was responding to your link for the Costco $499 laptop that has AI/CoPilot enabled on it.

Agree, his current laptop will not have that. Pretty much end of life as you pointed out.

20 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

For your purposes, this would be more than enough.  BUT it won't play most games because it's an ARM processor instead of an x86.  That said, for all of your regular "office" type work, it will be snappier than anything else at this price point. And it has the 10-key.

Don't get me wrong, it's a cheap laptop, but it will be a great performing cheap laptop.

https://www.costco.com/p/-/lenovo-ideapad-slim-3x-153-touchscreen-copilot-pc-laptop-qualcomm-snapdragon-x-wuxga-1920x1200-windows-11-home-16gb-ram-1tb-ssd/4000379412?langId=-1

You can also increase the battery life and performance by turning off the AI/Copilot feature that constantly runs. This continues as Drew stated a great performing cheap laptop.

20 hours ago, surreal1272 said:

Over the last six years or so, I have slowly grown my Vinyl collection. This project was an effort to preserve my vinyl playing ways after the original 50 year amp gave out and I could not find a replacement anywhere on earth lol. 

 

Here's some other pics of the progress over the last week or so...

After gutting it, I installed some wood slats. For the record, nothing was cut away from the cabinet itself. I steed away all the original components in case I ever come across another OEM amp for it. The only change to the cabinet itself was the paint and stain job.

After that, I set did a little "switcharoo" with some old school Sony floor speakers that were put into storage due to a pair of blown passive woofers (top speakers in them were active woofers with the bottom being the passive woofers). I combined the working woofers into a single cabinet and cut out two holes on one end to install the mid and tweeter from "gutted" floor speaker cabinet.

 

 

 

 

 

Then that was installed through the back of the console and it barely fit lol.

 

 

Here's the rest of the work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome job, well done.

Many folks have chosen buying, over leasing an auto over the last few decades. Be it for company write off or due to wanting to just be in the latest technology every three years, leasing was for a smaller select group of people as most folks buying an internal combustion or hybrid auto looked to maximize the purchase by owning the auto long-term.

Let's first take a look at the average life of an auto in the U.S., depending on your resource the average life of an auto in the U.S. is 16.58 years for the average auto, but some are done after only 12 years and some last 20 years. The full list of the 75 longest lasting models in the USA is here.

• Acura MDX on average last 19.1 years and 177,000 plus miles
• Buick Century on average last 23.9 years and 118,000 plus miles, but has one of the oldest age drivers
• Chrysler 300 on average last 17 years and 153,000 plus miles
• Ford F-150 on average last 20.9 years and 178,000 plus miles

As pointed out in the Popular Auto List, some of these models have lasted over a half-million miles and 20 plus years when well maintained. 

Yet with road conditions being very harsh in states that have hard winters, road salt takes its toll on an auto and can shorten an auto life, so this then brings up the life expectancy by state as another consideration. When you look at states that have the longest average auto life you find the following:

• Idaho - 19.7 years and 153,807 miles on average
• Montana - 19.5 years and 150,742 miles on average
• Wyoming - 19.5 years and 168,440 miles on average
• Oregon - 19.4 years and 172,925 miles on average
• Washington - 19.3 years and 167,855 miles on average

Key national averages from state, brand, model can be found here: 2024 list of long-life autos

So, at this point you might say why would I care about an EV lease when ICE lasts so long and it meets my needs?

Service and maintenance are two of the key factors in going EV over ICE. Lifetime maintenance costs of an electric vehicle are significantly lower as long as you aren't constantly burning the tires with all of that electric power.

The focus here is buying versus leasing an EV and with reputations at stake, most auto companies are building their EVs to last. So this brings up the next point, why lease? This would boil down to technology and the rapid change that is happening in the EV auto world. 

Software is one area that can incorporate upgrades and changes fast since an EV is a rolling computer in many cases, but there is still the speed of the computer network in the EV, braking, regenerating of power, performance, handling, etc. plenty of areas to show improvements in and in this regards, yearly we are seeing changes that could easily justify for many to lease an EV rather than buy an EV.

An example of this is the just released press release from BMW for their 2026 i4 line of EV Sedans.

BMW is rapidly upgrading their EV technology year to year and in their own press release they even point out the benefits of a 2026 over a 2025 I4 sedan by pointing out that the base i4 sedan now has over 300 miles of range no matter the rim size of wheels where range was penalized if you went with larger rims, now no more. The M60 which replaces the M50 for 2026 gains power. All this is thanks to new superior SIC inverters that have also been pushed out to all the other 2026 BMW EV models.

Then cost is another issue where many will say ICE costs less than EV. Here JD Powers and Associates posted the latest info on comparison pricing by brand and models and had this to say about the BMW 4 and i4 sedans.

The 2025 BMW 4 Series is priced between $63,925 and $84,622, while the 2025 BMW i4 is priced between $60,078 and $76,975. The BMW 4 Series has a higher resale value, losing 51.5% of its value over 5 years, compared to the i4, which loses 68.1% of its value. The i4 offers more interior volume and base engine power, making it a better choice for those prioritizing space and performance. Full details here

The 2026 i4 sedan in M60 trim produces 510 hp, up 41 hp over the M50 2025 model and in Sport mode produces 593 hp, up 57 hp over the M50 model. Also, for 2026, the base model now starts at $57,900 versus $60,078 for the 2025 model. If your are wondering what all the weight of an EV does to 0-60mph times, base i4 RWD is 5.5 seconds, move to AWD or xDrive and you're at 4.9 seconds and if you go with the M60 model your up to 60 in 3.6 seconds.

Currently the i4 sedan has leases starting at $399 a month for 10,000 miles a year at the time of this writing.

At this time, if you're a person into technology, wanting the best for the type of auto you wish to drive and you do not want to deal with all the maintenance that comes with an ICE auto, EVs offer many wonderful benefits and with improvements yearly, leasing is a solid way to go to stay in the current bleeding edge of automotive technology. With 95% of charging done at home based on having an L2 charger installed at home, one can also save considerably on the cost of fueling your auto.

Read our article about our experience with home charger installation.

View full article

Interesting Q3 sales numbers

The Auto Companies Electrifying Fastest in USA — EV Shares of Overall Sales - CleanTechnica