G. David Felt
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Posts posted by G. David Felt
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1 hour ago, ccap41 said:
Yeah, I don't plan on keeping a vehicle for only 2-3 years. You kind of lose the fuel savings over ICE if you're continuing to spend more and more on a new vehicle.
Have to compare your Fuel costs to electrical costs to see as 2-3 years here is huge difference still making leasing a good deal.
Washington for home charging is 10 cents per kW of power compared to for me with the SS, $5.45 per gallon premium that the SS uses or for average regular unleaded fuel $4.659 per gallon. With the cheap EV leases and very cheap electrical, the $500 a month I am spending on Premium fuel for the SS is easily covered by an EV with home charging.
UPDATE: EV9 that is one of the two EVs my wife is considering has a 99.8 kW battery pack. Cost to charge it 100% which you really do not do is $9.98 per charge up at home on a level 2 charger. Figuring my wife fuels up the SS 5 times per month at least and usually more as she tends to fuel every 4 to 5 days currently, $500 on average for Premium fuel versus same 5 charge ups is less than $50.
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13 hours ago, trinacriabob said:
I am somewhat interested in visiting Dubai someday. It looks sort of like a beachside Las Vegas in a rich Middle Eastern locale.
Just be very careful as they have some crazy laws that western folks who do not become aware of can easily break and end up in their crazy legal system and have one less hand, foot, leg, arm as they seem to like to cut off body parts as punishment.
I have never been there myself, but a couple of my coworkers have been for work related and were forewarned by our team members about certain ways to behave, what to watch what you say, etc.
It is definitely not a western country, but a Muslim one that is trying to project for tourist dollars a western way, but still very strict.
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3 hours ago, ccap41 said:
Just for the record, those are not dots in the grille. Those are the "tristar" Mercedes logo of different sizes.
it still looks like @ss. I do believe Mercedes has come out and said they'll eventually make the EQS a more conventional 3 box sedan, but I think that's when the ICE S-Class goes away.
Jeez, 50% of the most depreciated list are EVs. Doesn't seem like a great time to buy into those yet.
Leasing is best with guaranteed trade in in 2 or 3 years for updated tech.
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I have to say that Mercedes has FAILED in giving the EQS a better look, changing from dots on the 2024 front end to lines does not change the ugly nature of this dated tech EV. Nor does the going from a flat emblem to a traditional stand up version make any difference.
EV Price Shock: Mercedes EQS Loses Almost Half Its Value In A Year | Carscoops
2025 model is top, 2024 model is bottom.
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Loving this and hope it comes true.
Kia’s EV9 Pickup: A Miserable Design or a Future Success? (kangnamtimes.com)
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2 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:
Cool. Resale also plays a part. at least here in Ohio, Toyotas hold their value way better than Kias.
You will be surprised as the Kia Sportage and Rav4 are pretty much neck to neck in retaining resale value.
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Interesting that the EQS looses 50% of its value in the first year.
EV Price Shock: Mercedes EQS Loses Almost Half Its Value In A Year | CarscoopsInteresting review of luxury versus mid level.
How Does The Genesis GV60 Compare To A High-Spec Hyundai Ioniq 5? | CarscoopsIt is interesting and makes one wonder if you could take the Genesis software and update the Ioniq 5 to have the same HP/Torque.
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1 hour ago, A Horse With No Name said:
Everything is up. I thought about buying a new Ranger since my Ranger is at 86k. Keeping my Ranger.
New Ranger starts mid thirties rather than mid twenties.
Religion continues to go the way of the DODO bird...
Interesting take on things.
Totally agree with these videos which is so true to me.
1 minute ago, A Horse With No Name said:Although I like Kia products I find myself really not wanting to own one. Not sure why.
I would suggest test driving one as well as the RAV4 on the same day to compare. One of my daughters friends has a Rav4 and has had a few little things that warranty took care of, but other wise solid. Yet after driving Amy's Sportage, she wishes she had checked out others. Mi actually likes the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid better and while her Rav4 is a 2023 model, she uses it for work and so it tends to get high miles, after two years she is knocking on 50K miles now and so is thinking of trading it in on a 2025 Tuscon Hybrid.
Review the Hybrid list above, test drive to compare and go with what you feel is right for you. -
2 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:
Ford needs an Electric Ranger. However, they are selling every Bronco they can build and the Bronco and Ranger shar an assembly line. Ergo, they build very few Rangers. Zero incentive to do an electric one in quantity. Good luck with your choice.
Musk and his antics would keep me from ever considering one of their products. Which is sad, because from a need and affordability standpoint we are looking Hybrid/EV for the next car.
Kia has some of the best styling right now. Odd, but true.
I am highly jealous. I have thought about moving into town and onto the bus line.
As is everyone else. I have never owned an SUV (other than a junker 69 Bronco) and am considering one. Everyone can flame me, but if I buy one it will be a RAV 4. Probably a hybrid.
Very bizzar is that the Ford Bronco and Ranger are pilling up here on Dealership lots. I see tons of them and the amount on the road seems to have dropped off. This could be a PNW oddity as many have moved onto EVs with Tesla leading of course, but Hyundai/Kia/Genesis nipping at their heels along with Ford Mach-e and Lighting. I see tons of these EVs everywhere.
Musk needs to go and get a real CEO in there to run the company, even the loyal are realizing his time is over.
Agree, Kia has some banging style, so much better than other companies especially Buick.
City life will never appeal to me, but I do get it that if you have mass transit that is solid and reliable that being close where you no longer need an auto makes sense. The Seattle greater lite rail system has taken this into account as each lite rail stop has around 10,000 apartments that have been built for folks that need to get into Seattle or the airports and get around without the use of an auto. Crazy dense living.
In regards to the RAV4 comment, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND you Test drive the Kia Sportage Hybrid, Far SUPERIOR over RAV4 IMHO. Daughter owns one and plenty of coworkers. the 2024 Sportage Hybrid Rocks.
RAV4 is far from the reliable SUV Hybrid they have marketed it as. Yes the last few years seem to have worked out the bugs for the most part, but it does have a weirdness that they are either right from the start or a lemon from the start. Seems to be the two types they have come in as they use some of the oldest tech now and are not class leading IMHO.
https://www.caranddriver.com/kia/sportage-hybrid
https://www.edmunds.com/kia/sportage-hybrid/
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/rankings/hybrid-suvs
A little more luxury is the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid as an option.
Consumer Reviews to look at:
https://www.edmunds.com/kia/sportage-hybrid/2024/consumer-reviews/
https://www.edmunds.com/kia/sportage-hybrid/2025/
2 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:It will sell big time. Starting to see them around.
As a huge Tesla market, it has been interesting that not a single cybertruck has been seen here. They are like Unicorns I think.
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55 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:
We have someone with the handle "Los Angeles" having a birthday today.
That said, I had to look up the city of Los Angeles's birthday - it's April 4, 1850. As a native, I should have known that. So, a birthday of April 10 (today) isn't too far off.
Admission Day for California is September 9, 1850 .... actually AFTER that of the city of Los Angeles ... and both 1 year after the most likely year for the Gold Rush - 1849. Depending on where you went to school and/or worked, Admission Day could be a day off.
So then we owe a Happy Birthday @LosAngeles
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1 hour ago, smk4565 said:
Not a fan of the new look of Buick with the big grilles, but I wasn't a fan of old Buick styling either.
Also, STOP putting headlights in bumpers! The 2015 Cherokee did it, then no the car in history ever should have done it.
It is weird when your used to having defined headlights, but it seems to be the trend to give options for styling with day time running lights and move the headlights into the bumper area with the auto highbeam off feature.
Not the best styling IMHO, but then this current Buick seems to have gone Big Mouth Billey Bass with that huge ugly black grill.
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14 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:
What I was really going to say ... I was doing some surfing last night and was reading some biographical stuff and landed here.
Ok, she's fine where she is with the deep pockets she has access to.
However, had she not accessed those, she could have been quite successful if cast as a recurring foreign villainess in the 007 franchise.
One very evil and unattractive woman.
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This is very cool watching this EV transform into a Shooting Brake style of auto. English sub-titles.
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Some very cool reads:
Seems Hyundai wants the most reliable SUV title:
Hyundai Spied Benchmarking Grand Highlander - Korean Car Blog (thekoreancarblog.com)US-Spec IONIQ 9 Spied in California - Korean Car Blog (thekoreancarblog.com)
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OUCH this is not looking good for Tesla Sales of EVs.
These Graphs Show How Much Tesla Is Struggling To Sell Cars Right Now (insideevs.com)
This is very cool for Tesla Supercharging Stations. Clearly the guy leading this division knows how to get things done. -
16 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:
Most destination chargers will remain at 11.5. And the V4 chargers are all magic dock capable.
But remember, the Cybertruck is the only Tesla that goes over 250kW. You can plug a Tesla Model Y LR into a 350kW charger, but it is still only going to charge at 250kW.
I remain convinced that over 250kW charging is only needed for the extra big battery packs like in a Hummer or Escalade IQ. Even 150kW was fine on my recent trip in a Model-3 SR
Hopefully as EVs become more common and more people see the fear mongering of certain groups is overblown that they also come to realize the future of EVs and charging.
I still believe the future is very bright for the EV future. I see very few reasons for a person to buy a Hybrid over an EV today. Yes there are valid use cases such as a medical product rep who will drive hundreds of miles in a day visiting medical facilities, but more than anything, I believe that EVs will take care of the bulk of people now.
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30 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:
They did not say what the new DC-Fast charge speed was, but we can infer. They are probably making this move to have better compatibility with Tesla charging stations. Charging a Model-3 Long Range at a 250kW charger instead of a 150kW charge decreases charging time by about 9 minutes for the 10%-80% charge. So my guess is that the 2024 Mach-E has 250kW charging, but it could also be in the 175kW-200kW range. There is also the rule that non-Tesla cars can only use the 250kW V3 Superchargers, which furthers my suspicion that 250kW is the new rate.
Interesting that Tesla has also announced so many new mega size Charging stations that are all supposed to be V4 generation, so keep the competition at a slower speed and show off the higher speed on new Tesla model upgrades.
Yet anything in the 10 to 20 min range for 80% charge is really good compared to only a year ago.
Makes one wonder if pretty much everyone else will not move to 250 kW charging for the Tesla Stations this year and be interesting to see how the kW controllers play out for L2 charging based on installations at destination locations.
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That interior looks tight. My sister in-law has two of these and they both are in constantly for water leaks and electrical issues. Yet they still love them. Talk about selling old stagnant auto's imho.
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34 minutes ago, Paolino said:
Thumbs up interior (except the steering wheel). Thumbs down exterior.
And the new badge/font have not grown on me at all...
I like that the steering wheel gives a big clean view of the dash for ease and safety of seeing everything. Agree on the exterior.
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Interesting to see how this new motor holds up. One of the things that was very clear in the Mach e tear down was that the EV motors were very beefy in their build and should last a good long time.
@Drew Dowdell So increasing charge speed would indicate an improvement in the charging controller. Current Mache e controller was rated at 150 kW top DC charging and 19.2 kW for home charging. Did they state what the new figures were?
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Thinking on that 30" dash screen which reminds me of the current Escalade. I wonder if all of GM auto's will go to having a version of this big screen to lower cost for both ICE and EVs.
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I see Buick going the BMW route as if the bigger the front grill the better for some stupid reason. Must be a German / Chinese thing as I noticed all the Chinese brands have huge grills. Just terrible 🤢
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Take this for a spin on creating your favorite auto as an EV.
https://perchance.org/ai-photo-generator -
32 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:
Reminds me of when I test drove a 1990 Miata when they first came out...my late older brother was a Mazda/VW salesman then, we were around the same size and it was a tight fit w both of us in w/ the top up...
The fun crazy stuff we do when we are Shreck Size!!!
Me in small cars!
Buick News: Next Generation 2025 Buick Enclave Finishes Out Buick's Refreshed Lineup
in Buick
Posted
I understand that the auto high beam feature is in traditional and these bumper headlights. Not really sold on the benefits of the auto on high beam headlights feature, but the styling trend seems to be to use the space of traditional headlights for style with daytime running lights/markers and then lower the headlights into the bumper. It would be interesting to see the studies / facts behind this change to bumper headlights and auto high beam lights on to understand the facts behind them.