G. David Felt

Intimacies 

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

? Do we call this Mad Max Asia? ?

I am willing to bet we see many of the auto shows die this year to never come back next year. The change by EV auto companies to online reveals and sales is going to change the way consumers think about shopping.

Amazon has already changed shopping for many resulting in the death of shopping malls as well as brick and mortar stores that did not change to online presence. 

53 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

I don't know if it is garbage, Peugeot and Citroen are outselling Opel this year, and GM was sourcing their Buicks from Opel.  And on styling and interiors the Peugeot's look better than the Opels.  So if Peugeot beat Opel in Europe (before buying out Opel) then I don't see why they can't beat Buick in the USA, much less Chevy or Hyundai or whatever other brand they want to compete with.

Based on your logic, then you should be scared, very scared as they will come here and destroy what little Mercedes-Benz sells and force them to retreat to Germany.

2 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

They have a bunch of small to midsize crossovers that could probably sell here, though....similar to the generic stuff GM, Ford, Hyundai, Nissan, etc churn out en masse.   But what brand would it sell under? 

I saw the mid size stuff, with the Durango, why bother with that stuff?

Dodge already has the JD Power #1 mid size CUV. Would be better to take some of the Jeep full and compact size stuff and put Dodge inspired sheet metal on it.

I honestly just do not see the P & C line selling here. Especially as we move towards EV's, we seem as a country to be saying Mid size and full size is what we want, not FWD Compact, Sub Compact or mini appliances. 

Life

Actor

^ Totally agree with @balthazar states above. In looking at the Peugeot and Citroen product line, there is nothing there that can be badge engineered and will sell under Dodge or Chrysler. They DO NOT have the product line for America and the history is like an Elephant memory, that Garbage will not sell here.

1 hour ago, Robert Hall said:

Yeah, like running afoul of goombas out of the Sopranos and they vandalize your car...

Never heard that term before, but then I never have watched the Sopranos either.

I am assuming we are not talking about the Mario Games but the definition of a Goomba?

The name Goomba is derived from " Goombah " (from Sicilian cumpà which translates in "mate") which refers to a member of a usually Italian American secretive criminal organization. Also, in Hungarian gomba means "mushroom". In Japan, Goombas are called "Kuribō", which loosely translates as "chestnut person".

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

There are no production solid state battery vehicles.
I guarantee you they'll be priced at a premium to 'regular' EV vehicles, at least initially. This places them even further out of 'Maria's' reach than a 10-yr old Leaf.

IC bans CANNOT be enacted until the tech is readily able to filter down to the low income tier of consumers.

I would disagree with you as we have to look at the bigger picture. Do we allow old Smoke belching Oil dripping breaking down ICE auto's on the streets that contaminate and harm the lungs of everyone versus letting a single person drive it causing more damage as they cannot afford to fix it?

The good of the Many out weight the good of the one or couple.

Bing

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

Those would suffice and they'll need to expand like none other if you're going to have thousands of people unable to charge from home, like everybody strongly advocating the move to EVs. 

The super fast charging is what degrades batteries the quickest. They should only really be used when absolutely needed. 

Most new Solid State Battery design takes into account quick charge and does not have the degrade that Li Ion batteries have.

Fred Meyers here in the PNW have quick chargers and you can do with them like you can with gas. Discount charging, but in this case with the discount you get charging for free. Makes a solid reason to do your home / grocery shopping at Fred Meyers. Tesla Charging stations are also installed in the lots. So they all shop there while their auto gets charged. Always busy.

3 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Here's an example I think @balthazar is talking about. This is a neighborhood south of STL. It isn't super low income but it isn't filled with people making great money either. It's all street parking.

Where are they going to charge? Where will these wireless chargers come from? Does the township plan to bury chargers all along the streets? 

Just like these cities have decided to build bike lanes, the city is going to have to make decisions about how they support the next era of auto's.

Both you and @balthazar bring up a valid point that for low middle income neighborhoods where politicians have made poor choices about building homes for tax dollars with no parking, they are going to have to decide how they continue to support the tax base of Low Middle Income to poor.

No one here knows what the future will hold, but we can look at history to know that technology will continue to move forward and change is inevitable. 

Welcome to the 21st century of change.

48 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

My previous next-door neighbors had bought a wrecked red FR-S/86 for their teenage son a couple years ago...was missing most of the front end..they rebuilt it in their driveway and one point had it in the backyard up on ramps, I think they took the engine out w/ a block and tackle attached to a tree branch...Ukrainian shade tree mechanics.   It was zooming around the neighborhood the last year going BrrraWWWWWppppp...

Fart Can Mechanics!  

Grill

9 hours ago, balthazar said:

I'm not sure we're having the same conversation; you're simply stating city planner talking points.

What are these people (and untold millions of others like them) going to do? Tone-deaf politicians are going to take away their affordable transportation with 'bans'.

Cities have MASS TRANSIT. As such, Driving has ALWAYS been a Privilege EARNED, NOT A Right! Poor / Low income people like anyone else has to make decisions and if they are living and working in the cities, then Mass transit is a better way to go especially with City subsidized passes than owning an old auto money pit.

We all have choices to make and an auto much like a cell phone is not a right that everyone gets. There is no equality social system for all. As such, in your example of a low income / poor mother with kids, giving up her auto and taking the bus to work is a better way on an income subsidized buss pass in the city than owning an auto with those added costs of insurance, gas, oil, coolant, wipers, bulbs, repairs, etc.

Piper

17 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

I think he has a better chance with Peugeot than Opel or Citroen, and Chrysler and Fiat are dead weight that are only kept around out of nostalgia of the owners of Fiat-Chrysler, but FCA as a company is gone and Carlos has no nostalgia for them.   If you read up on Tavares, he has a no private jets rule, he personally travels economy class on planes and trains, this guy is a cost cutter extraordinaire, and he doesn't care about volume, only cares about profitability and making money.  GM could never make money on Opel, he made money on it in 18 months.   This guy will be aggressive, slash through the dead weight and push Peugeot and DS where he makes margin.  

First off Carlos is GONE and in hiding in a 3rd world country if he did not get blown up by the port explosion that killed so many innocent people.

As far as name brands, you have way too much faith in people thinking positive here of Peugeot and DS. Yes they make some interesting products and have had positive reviews in Europe. 

That is Europe and they DO NOT have any marketing power here in the US like your Badge mobile Mercedes-Benz has. As such, Chrysler has more marketing creds with the van and 300 than trying to start from scratch and looking up the history of Peugeot and seeing how crappy they did.

I would bet on Chrysler with rebadged Peugeot and DS auto's and an existing dealership than trying to close them down and rebuild new dealerships on P and DS.

12 minutes ago, USA-1 said:

Ya ??er   I think it's automotive art on wheels

Ya should be nicer when you talk about yourself!  

Did mommy not hug you enough growing up in Oregon around all those ?

I give ya a Hug, after all ? are cute and deserve love too!

?

5 minutes ago, USA-1 said:

Even more sinister looking is this Coupe version with new LED headlights that add a scowling kind of glare look to the front, 2021 Alfa GTV. ??

https://www.caranddriver.com/alfa-romeo/gtv

This auto is just  Ugly to me. different in a bad sort of way.

1 hour ago, smk4565 said:

Peugeot is the #1 selling brand worldwide for Stellantis and the guy that runs the company is from the Carlos Ghosn school of cost cutting.  He has zero emotional connection to Dodge or Chrysler or Fiat, he is going to push what makes money and my guess is he sees money to be made with Peugeot's crossovers being sort of his GMC/Buick competitor as something a little more stylish and upscale than Chevy/Toyota mainstream offerings.

RIGHT........................................

You must have forgotten that America has a terrible impression of Peugeot. If you think he can make bank selling that label here in the US, I have Beach Front Property in Arizona to sell you next to the Grand Canyon!  

@balthazar That woman you speak of, maybe a sister, or niece, could very well be in an auto powered by an NDB Battery and will never have to worry about recharging in her life time.

Per my quote on page 50

Yet with this is others that believe NDB Battery tech is the future. This would be a safe recycled nuclear waste into a self charging battery pack. This would end up with a true lifetime battery pack that would outlast any other.

Quote the tech from their web site:

Diamond Nuclear Voltaic (DNV): NDB is one of the earliest adopters and developers of this technology backed up by recent publications. Typically, DNV as a device is a combination of a semiconductor , metal and ceramic which has two contact surfaces to facilitate charge collection. Several single units are attached together to create a stack arrangement, which is fabricated to create a positive and negative contact surface similar to a common battery system. Every layer of the DNV stack consists of a high energy output source. This kind of arrangement improves the overall efficiency of the system and provides a multi layer safety shield for the product.

Rapid conversion from radiation to electricity: All radioisotopes are known to produce high amounts of heat. The strategic placement of the source between the DNV units facilitates inelastic scattering originated due to the presence of single crystalline diamond (SCD) in the DNV unit. This design prevents self-absorption of heat by the radioisotope and enables rapid conversion to usable electricity.

Thin film structure: The thin-film profile exhibited by NDB allows radiation absorption in the single crystalline diamond with minimal self adsorption. Due to its flexible design structure, this technology can take any shape and form in accordance to the application. This makes NDB’s battery system market friendly.

Nuclear recycle process: Utilization of radioactive waste as otherwise is a subject not many have looked into. At NDB, we aim to  reuse the nuclear fuel by reprocessing and recycling to enable sustainability and promote a clean energy source in a safe and secure environment.

Safety

One of the key innovations of NDB is its highly sophisticated safety feature covering the three most important aspects of thermal, mechanical and radiation safety. The battery system uses several concepts to ensure maximum safety of the device:

Diamond encapsulator:  The DNV stacks along with the source are coated with a layer of poly-crystalline diamond, which is known for being the most thermally conductive material also has the ability to contain the radiation within the device and is the hardest material, twelve times tougher than stainless steel. This makes our product extremely tough and tamperproof.

Built in thermal vents: The high energy source present in the battery system produces heat during operation. This leads to thermal conduction in the system. Thermal vents in the system help conduct this process with respect to the outer surface of the diamond to keep the interiors at an optimum level.

Boron-doped SCD: Trying to utilise every aspect in the system, NDB in addition to alpha and beta also incorporates usage of neutron radiations by utilising a boron-10 doping. Doping helps to convert the extra neutron into alpha ray.

Lock-in System: Using a nuclear power source for a battery system brings up the question of nuclear proliferation due to production of fissionable isotopes such as Pu- 238 and U-232. To tackle this issue, NDB uses an ion implantation mechanism called “lock-in system” which prevents usage other than power generation. This increases the usability, by meeting consumer safety requirements

https://ndb.technology

Hell Boy

Sweet!

@oldshurst442 You got my curiosity and in looking, WOW, lots of concepts but also plenty of actual ELECTRIC TRACTORS for sale. Seems the push is to also clean up the air and reduce noise pollution and maintenance cost by going electric in the Tractor market too.

https://www.kubota.com/news/2020/20200115_2.html

https://www.deere.com/en/engines-and-drivetrain/vehicle-electrification/

https://www.farmshow.com/view_articles.php?a_id=139 John Deere shows off their electric Tractor for commercial use.

https://www.futurefarming.com/Machinery/Articles/2018/1/This-is-the-Fendt-e100-Vario-electric-tractor-4419WP/

https://www.solectrac.com/

@oldshurst442 Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, LA and San Diego are all looking at 2030 dates for banning ICE auto's from inner city use. 

This is for Noise as well as Health reasons.

On top of this, with 27 states now having signed onto the California CARB agreement. If California does this for inner city driving, I suspect it would get pushed out via the CARB agreement meaning 27 states would all follow that in banning ICE auto's from the inner city.

On top of the push by delivery companies to go EV to reduce maintenance costs and fuel costs, I think we will hit a tipping point in the next 3 to 5 years and will see the flip.

I also suspect that noisy motorcycles will get banned at one point too from the inner city. Already, multiple west coast cities including Seattle have banned the open header Harley Davidson bikes due to the noise they create bouncing off the city buildings.