G. David Felt

@A Horse With No Name Sorry my friend, but for those of us that have never lived in the midwest, what is FFA? ? Maybe this is a farm thing so those of us that never grew up on a large farm would not know this. FFA = ????

@A Horse With No Name Just read this and it is good as I am sure we all could use a good rub on getting the scratches out of our paint jobs. Rain is supposed to go away this afternoon, going to clean the SS on Saturday and then probably Monday the Escalade. Best car scratch removers in 2021 - Roadshow (cnet.com)

Jeep has a big choice ahead. Honor the Indian tribes and stop using their names on auto's or ignor them drawing rath from the tribes and people around the country and world. In reading this story, I like the suggestion given to Jeep. Rename the auto line after national parks. So with the parks theme, you would have it like this: Jeep Yellowstone Jeep Yosemite Jeep Denali Jeep Badlands Jeep Biscayne Jeep Glacier Jeep Olympic Jeep Redwood Jeep Zion Thoughts on how Jeep should reboot their names, especially the Cherokee lineup? What Should The Jeep Cherokee’s New Name Be? (jalopnik.com) List of national parks of the United States - Wikipedia

Muntz Anyone? Stellantis layoffs have begun as of Feb 20th 2021 150 people were indefinitely laid off at the Belvidere Illinois plant. Stellantis Laying off 150 Jeep Employees in Illinois - The Truth About Cars

One has to have a subscription to read the latest IHS Markit study, but it shows that EVs were 1.8% of new-vehicle registrations in 2020 with a rise to 2.8% in December 2020. The study says it should hit 3.5% in 2021 and double plus that by 2025 as new models come on the market for sale hitting as high as 10% of sales. The report stated that the West Coast is at 4.8% of new-vehicle registrations compared to Midwest at .8%, Southeast at .9% and the Northeast at 1.6% in region comparisons. By city San Francisco leads the nation with an 11% ev registration. EVs will be 10% of the US market by 2025—but San Francisco is already past that (greencarreports.com)

Street Play

Sand Play

Sensual

Seems the Ioniq 5 was caught out winter testing in black. 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 spied on the road after reveal | Autoblog

@oldshurst442 Thinking on Lordstown Motors in-wheel hub motors, I wonder if they have a non-disclosure signed with Protean Electric as there is many similarities with their in-wheel hub motors. Homepage - Protean : Protean (proteanelectric.com) I noticed in their news they have concept work going on with Lexus and Nissan. The CEO in a short video seems to think a luxury car or commercial auto will be the first large scale commercial use of their in-wheel hub motors. I can see Lordstown Motors being that commercial auto. ProteanInsights Episode 6: Where will we see in-wheel motors in volume first? - Protean : Protean (proteanelectric.com) For the cars, I think we now know due to these news announcements by Protean Electric. In-Wheel Motor Case Study: Punchy performance from in-wheel propulsion - Nissan BladeGlider - Protean : Protean (proteanelectric.com) 3 person concept auto Lexus LF-30 Concept - Which I also doubt will see production due to people wanting normal looking autos, not something out of a sci-fi movie. In-Wheel Motor Case Study: Visionary EV concept powered by in-wheel motors, previews the future for Lexus - Protean : Protean (proteanelectric.com)

Agree, while some say that in-wheel hub motors affect the suspension, I think proper engineering can address that and it would seem based on Lordstown Motors own videos that they have addressed that. I think these will be very spacious trucks and reliable due to the much simpler design of the skateboard. Very cool explanation by the VP of engineering about Lordstown powertrain system.

So amazing how some sea life consumes food. Talk about getting flushed! Gluttony

Maybe, Maybe not, but they do make a solid argument. Press release on the race truck, 600HP, seems to have plenty of power. Lordstown Motors To Race Endurance Electric Pickup Truck Skateboard in I like the setup They gave a business update on January 28th 2021 as they have stamped their 57 beta builds for mule testing in the real world. They are also a publicly traded company now so flush with $675 million in cash from the stock sale and another $250 million from investment firm. At least they will get to production and delivery for their 40,000 pre-orders they say they have with state, county and city governments across the country. Lordstown Motors Releases Business Updates; Prepares Ohio Factory to B Lordstown Motors becomes publicly traded, before delivering its electric trucks (greencarreports.com) Seems gm is hedging their bet by investing in Lordstown motors as they invested $75 million in August 2020 according to the story below, but I do not find any news release on this on the gm corp site. Lordstown Motors shares pop in volatile Nasdaq trading debut (cnbc.com)

Gorging

Rain

Which ones and what did you do to them?

ICE

U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Unions across the US and State Elected officials have asked Congress to take speedy action on boosting spending on the National Infrastructure of Roads, Electrical, Water and parks. The ask is for $2 Trillion to replace functionally obsolete bridges and roads as just one example. Latest studies show that more than half of the roads and bridges in America are poor or mediocre condition at best. Texas power outage is a perfect example of what NOT TO DO, as such, we need to invest in rebuilding the US for the 21st century. Governor Whitmer of Michigan says 43% of the major roads in her state are in poor condition especially the bridges. Congress has said that the Fuel tax revenue which has not changed in decades is an obsolete way to pay for infrastructure repairs / rebuilding. President Biden met with Union representatives from across the country that informed him they are read to get millions of people back to work in a safe way to rebuild America. U.S. business group, officials push for swift action on infrastructure | Reuters

Daimler has picked the banks to help it divest of it's truck, bus and van business as it focuses on becoming a luxury EV auto company. Luxury car business is what Daimler wants to focus on and as such Goldman Sachs, Citi and BNP Paribas will help Daimler with the spin-off prep of that business as JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Citi and BNP will work on the debt restructuring side. Daimler picks banks to help with listing of trucks unit - sources | Reuters Interesting how Daimler seems to have followed the same path as old GM when it was in every nook and cranny of the auto, truck, bus, RV business.

Interesting comparison of luxury level auto's and what is considered a good inexpensive equal. Luxury For Less: 5 Budget-Friendly Alternatives to Luxury Cars (motortrend.com)

Lordstown is wanting to prove their truck is Commercial grade and so much more. As such, Lordstown is going to build a racer version that will run in the 290 mile off road race 2021 SCORE International San Felipe 250 which will help prove their truck is superior to all other trucks. AWD independent in-wheel hub motors. Quote: The 2021 SCORE International San Felipe 250 takes place on April 17, 2021, and starts and finishes in San Felipe, Baja California. Lordstown's grit will be revealed during this race of endurance. This will show just how their truck handles the following question posted in the story: Will the electric platform withstand dust, silt, rocks, water, debris, and heavy abuse? The Lordstown Endurance EV Pickup Is Going Baja Racing … Sort Of (motortrend.com)

These images on Instagram from GM are so cool. https://www.instagram.com/p/CLuwC3rpmut

Seems Lion C of Canada, one of the largest and oldest electric bus companies has won a major contract to start the change over for the LA school district to an all electric bus fleet. Lion C will deliver the first 10 electric buses in January 2021 to the LA school district. The busses have 335hp and 1,800 lb-ft of torque and a range of 155 miles per bus. Depending on remaining power in the battery pack, the buses can recharge to full in 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours from a 50 kW level II charger. Lion Electric to bring zero-emission school buses to California's largest district - Electrek Ford CEO has called on American tech companies to bring production home to the USA now that the chip shortage is showing how dependent the auto industry will be on Asian countries that product the chips they need. He also is saying America needs to build battery production sites now and learn from the chip shortage so that they are not reliant on out of country suppliers now that all auto companies are moving to EVs. Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda: Ford CEO Calls for U.S. Battery Production (thetruthaboutcars.com) GM building a local battery plant with LG to supply North America batteries is a positive sign gm is ahead of the competition.

Interesting coverage of this and the search for a new one. Posted end of 2020.

Very cool build!