G. David Felt

I think you need a hug!

So, 90's and Yet so Today! I also agree, it also has that aero back that Cadillac and Audi have done on their EVs. I like it, very different than other EVs today especially what Mercedes has done. This has a nice style IMHO.

Cool Car, not sure about the fake exhaust sound, but cool car and I am happy Dodge is doing it.

To quote the folks that built it, they started with the Corvette powertrain and built an SUV around it. It is a Corvett DNA based SUV. Yes BOF, but still it started with the idea of using the Corvette Powertrain. The Trailbazer SS was built yearly from 2004 to 2009 in limited numbers, badged as such and the corvette heritage is clearly on the engine covers and made aware on the auto. This is what started all the rumors that Corvette was going to add a badged Corvette SUV and 4 door car. This continues now as the rumors out of GM is that the Electric Corvette will be in the traditional 2 door version but could be joined by a 4 door and SUV version.

Very cool story on the Alaska drag strip and the picture of the folks with their old race cars. The Only Drag Strip in Alaska Is One of the Most Beautiful on Earth (thedrive.com)

Cool write up on the 800V Banshee system. Here's How Dodge's 800-Volt Banshee EV System Could Be Faster Than a Hellcat (thedrive.com) They point out a valid point that I do not think many are aware of and why a higher Voltage system is preferred over lower. Higher voltage system provides faster charging and less heat creation but this does not automatically make an EV faster as they also point out depending on the kW rating of the motors, that is where you get crazy fast speed. So this Concept could easily be faster than a Hellcat if the kW rating of the electric motor they are using is super high. An example of this is in the highest output Hemi at 807 Horsepower, that is equal to 602 kW motor. So they should easily be able to build a 1,000 kW electric motor or since this is AWD, have two 500 kW motors.

Yet they have style and stand out compared to the Jelly Bean Blah ugly nature of Mercedes EQ series. I have low expectations for the EQE when they show it off in a few months. Another Jelly Bean Ugly SUV

This is no different than for the M series from BMW or the AMG series from your beloved Mercedes. All have many hand-built parts that take time. A friend of mine and an executive at Dell Jason has both and the last time his M3 had to go in for repairs, the parts took almost 6 months. Good thing he had his AMG to drive then, but once he got the BMW back, his AMG blew a transmission and that is still 4 months now in the dealership awaiting parts. Do not say this is a Dodge thing when every auto company out there especially when it comes to performance parts, especially when they are hand-built take time. In 2010, the transmission in my SS blew and with it, took out the cooling system as well. Due to the Trailblazer SS being a Corvette with a SUV body, the hand-built transmission took 2 months to get along with all the rest of the parts. GM put me in a new Tahoe for the two months which was nice but no SS. Since then, no major issues at all with my SS, but still the hand-built parts took time and especially when they have to come to the US from Germany, expect long delays!

R.I.P. Boeing 747 Love the Dreamliner. 787 Dreamliner interior Nice transition space between 1st class and business class or premium class before coach. 747-8 interior As one can see, the Dreamliner is a much nicer upgrade over the 747. I will say that the one time I was flown 1st class when at Microsoft and was upstairs, it was a very cool thing to walk up these stairs and enjoy the isolated first-class seating area and lounge.

Not sure if Lucid will be around in 10 years, but I have to say the Saphire is an awesome looking car and has a dynamite motor system. Introducing Sapphire | Lucid Motors

2023 promises to be an exciting year at the global auto companies are lining up many new EV releases. Audi since August 2021 has been introducing concept autos to the sphere family. The activesphere concept will be the fourth model in this sphere family of premium mobility. Audi activesphere concept is focused on the active lifestyle person allowing them maximum variability for both on and off pavement. Full details about the activesphere will be given at the reveal at the begining of 2023. Audi showed off the sphere family during the Monterey Car Week in California on August 18th to 21st, 2022, showing the first three concepts, Audi Skyphere, Audi grandsphere and Audi urbansphere. Sphere family - Audi brings vision of future mobility to Monterey Car Week - Audi Newsroom (audiusa.com) Audi skysphere - Audi skysphere concept (2021) | Audi MediaCenter (audi-mediacenter.com) Electric Drive system 465 kW or 624 HP with 750 Nm or 552 lb ft of torque in RWD allowing 0 to 65 mph in 4 seconds with a 500 km (310 miles) battery pack. More details at the link above. Audi grandsphere - Audi grandsphere concept (2021) | Audi MediaCenter (audi-mediacenter.com) Electric Drive system 530 kW or 711 HP with 960 Nm or 708 lb ft of torque in AWD allowing 0 to 65 mph in 4 seconds with a 750 km (466 miles) battery pack. More details at the link above. Audi urbansphere - Space travel in the heart of the megacity | Audi MediaCenter (audi-mediacenter.com) Electric Drive system 295 kW or 396 HP with 690 Nm or 507 lb ft of torque in AWD with a 750 km (466 miles) battery pack, designed for ultimate comfort in urban dense cities. More details at the link above. In four door configurations, Audi seems to have embraced the suicide door style for their EV products. Full details on the all-electric Sphere family can be found on Audi Global Media Site. Audi.com – the international Audi website | audi.com Audi Concept Cars | progress.audi One consistency that is seen here in the Audi Sphere family is the fast back rear that we have seen on the Cadillac family of EVs. View full article

Seems October 16th, 2022, Mercedes will finally reveal the 2024 EQE electric SUV. First glimpse of the interior of the new EQE SUV - Mercedes-Benz Group Media So, it would seem that the EQE will get the same MUUX Hyperscreen for the top-level dash and then the other lower tier dashes identical to the EQS. So other than size and car versus SUV, why is the EQS so much more special than an EQE?

Seems Ford is ready to go step in step with California for all auto's be EVs by 2035 as a national standard. Ford Statement on Proposed Advanced Clean Cars II Regulations in California | Ford Media Center

Latest finds, the old roadster was in my neighborhood and the ghostbusters wanna bee auto was at the local Fred Meyers.

Now back to the topic at hand, 2023 Dodge Hornet PHEV and others are getting more pictures and info of it out and testing in Europe. SPOTTED: 2023 Dodge Hornet C-SUV Prototype! (moparinsiders.com) Now this story Alfa Romeo CEO Promises the Tonale Will Bury Its Bad Reputation Regarding Reliability - autoevolution is something of what I think many of us have in mind and why the wait and see attitude of a Dodge based on an Alfa. To quote the story, it takes owning two Alfa's to end up with one good Alfa. ? While the CEO of Alfa says the Tonale is what they believe will change people's perceptions, this also is part of the bigger overall problem where the current Alfa's have been nothing but buggy money pits and as such, I would not expect any difference with the Tonale and since the Dodge Hornet 2023 is based on this same auto, I expect it to be up in the air in regard to reliability until proven.

I will laugh in regard to the cheap to maintain and reliable as most Corolla's are manual everything. This is where the myth of reliable comes from, Toyota sells a ton of manual everything auto's, Manual Windows, Manual Door locks, manual, manual, manual and they just work and last. Yet take a look at more automated electronic stuff and Toyota like everyone else is just average and in some cases worse. My neighbor talks about how great his 2002 Toyota pickup is as it has not had any major issues, everything still works, and he calls it bullet proof. I then pointed out, his is a base model truck, manual transmission, manual windows, manual door locks, no AC, basic AM/FM radio, manual seats. This truck is garage kept, driven less than 7K miles a year. Course nothing has broken or worn out, like me he works from home and barely drives. As you move up to Toyota Auto's in the last 10 years, lots of recalls and broken stuff as the manual stuff is no longer selling when the buyers are wanting everything automated and electronic. Just as GM was King, Toyota took the crown, but the future is not promised or guaranteed and as we move into the EV world, Toyota will probably be kicked off the as King of the Hill. Toyota offering to buy back bZ4X electric SUVs with wheels that might fall off - CNN This does not bode well for Toyota who is having to play catch up to the rest of the industry.

I probably frequent off road trails in my Escalade more than most do in any luxury, Premium or Regular SUV. I love to watch movies, but I honestly do not recall one where I saw the Toyota Land Cruiser. Please point out a movie if it is common in it as I would love to know, but the action, sci/fi movies I watch I have never seen one. I see more GM products especially in the Korean Dramas I watch with my wife than Toyota Products. I would agree with you that 99.99999% of luxury, Premium and Regular based SUVs are never used anywhere else than on the local pavement. Quoting the G-Wagon is an Apples to Orange comparison since the G-Wagon is based first in the Military side of life and then a retail version was made to maximize profits for Mercedes. I am not aware that the Land Cruiser was ever built as a Military product first. I agree with you the Escalade is a BOF SUV that does it's job very well for those that have actually taken it off road for a luxury product that does not have as the Military Grade G-Wagon has of 3 lockers with those solid axels that have now been proven to not be any better than modern Coil Over suspension systems.

I really like it more and more as I see it. I think GM will have a major hit on their hands. Better looking than the Porsche competitor EV or anything Mercedes has. Audi EVs look good, but history of reliability keeps me from them. Japanese has nothing of interest in this category and Korea has not gotten their version out under the Genesis line yet. China I have no interest in buying from. This looks awkward and yet futuristic to me.

So far I have heard that the Land Cruiser is the Japanese equal to the Land Rover and everyone talks about how capable they are, yet while we have seen old and new Land Rovers off the basic dirt road in actual real hard environments, I have yet to see the Land Cruiser other than at the mall and basic US roads. I consider them overrated as I hear from folks all the time about how capable they are but have not really ever seen them marketed that way or shown in any news feed or even movies. While I have not searched YouTube and I am sure there are some videos of a Land Cruiser off road in heavy muck, I have not even seen them up at ski resorts, so when folks say they are capable awesome off road SUVs, I have to say overrated as I have not seen them in the woods, mountains, ocean shores, etc. I see them plenty around the PNW, but they all seem to be soccer mom mobiles, more of a status symbol than a true used off road auto. So that gets the overrated from me and now as Drew points out how few are produced and yet I see them all the time around here, I have to say that they are more of a status symbol and soccer mom than used for what one would think they are engineered for. To me, the Land Cruiser is much like the rest of Toyota, Overrated on Quality, long life, etc. when in reality, more of just another average auto. Now back on the subject of the Dodge Hornet and how it will be manufactured on the same line as the Alfa twin, I have to really question quality and reliability. My gut tells me Stellantis is tired of paying large sums to buy credits to offset the profits of Dodge and the emission nightmare of the Dodge V8 SRT variations they have.

Seems the first test mules are off the pre-production line. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mark-reuss_ev-activity-6967922445248839680-Jykq?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android

I would pass, being in the place of heavy road salt, bet it is heavily rusted/corroded. Seems the NE autos no matter who runs heavy rust/ corrosion. I do get the thought due to being the cult of Toyota Land Ceuisers is so true, they pay top dollar for an over rated SUV.

It will be interesting to see the packaging especially since it is built in Europe and shipped here. Limited sales, more like checking off a box for the company and reduce emissions.

I agree that performance details would be nice on the auto. We do know the charging speed as it is an 800V platform, so charging is fast just like Porsche, GM, Kia, Hyundai, etc. Anyone that supports 800V.

Interesting Jay Leno Garage videos, he is now a Walmart supplier. Seems they decided after this episode to build an Electric version of Sam Walton truck. Jay Leno recreated Sam Walton's 1979 Ford pickup with an electric F-150 Lightning | Fox News