G. David Felt

Interesting story on the NHTSA write ups on Tesla and their poor fit n finish. The pictures are amazing as while Tesla has been known for their power trains and battery tech, their suspension along with everything else is very poor quality based on the images and complaints. These Repair Bulletins for Tesla's Quality Problems Are Downright Embarrassing—and Serious (thedrive.com)

Fake News! What Fake news source did you pull this from? Where is the hard GM link on this? I have posted before the GM released news from their site saying the BOLT EUV was to be on the new BEV3 platform and then BOLT would be updated to it also.

Peppercorn Pasta, Yummy ? Three-Pepper Cacio e Pepe Recipe - Liz Mervosh | Food & Wine (foodandwine.com)

Thanks @William Maley Great to hear from you, what you been doing and that you are doing your best like the rest of us to survive this crazy pandemic. Wishing you and your family all the best.

Now that I have gone to work from home full time, I honestly cannot see giving up my 2hrs a day to go into an office when everything I do can be done remotely. Like you, I do like sleeping in till 5am rather than 4am when I would get up and get going to catch the bus into Seattle for my early concalls with Cork Ireland. I honestly see no value to having people go into an office versus Zoom and working at home. Cheaper for the companies and better work / Life balance for Employees. I think many companies will see the value in not having to provide commercial office space. Higher profits, lower costs for the company.

Down Voted as you went political here.

Wrong, GM has stated that the upcoming BOLT EUV will be on their new Ultium platform as the refresh of the BOLT will also move to that platform. Current 2020/2021 BOLTs are on the current platform. The EUV is NOT in production yet. GM clearly stated it will be on the new Ultium platform. Originally this new platform was to start being used on the BOLT/BOLT EUV in 2020 as a 2021 model but was delayed due to the pandemic. Current BOLTs on the lots are on the old platform. With that we also have the first look of the all new Headlights that will be on the 2022 BOLT EUV. GM Reveals New Ultium Batteries and a Flexible Global Platform to Rapidly Grow its EV Portfolio 2022-Bolt-EUV-Signature-Lighting-First-Look.mp4 Chevrolet Shares First Look at 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV Signature Lighting (gm.com)

You Nailed it my friend. I think what Robert is thinking of as I am also is Chevrolet and Ford that have both said they need EVs for the masses and GM at least has stated that the new EV platform that the BOLT, BOLT EUV will come on will help deliver the lower price points. Rumors have it that the BOLT EUV will take over current BOLT pricing and the update BOLT will drop in price, but again that is a Rumor and one we will have to wait on. I totally agree with you that we need EVs starting from $19,995 and on up for the masses.

VW EV News Due to sell out demand of the VW ID.4 1st Edition SUV for the US market, management has decided to add another batch of this auto for sale. This is VW first Global EV built on their all new MEB platform. ID.4 Electric SUV will start at $39,995 which will be available starting at the end of 2021 while the 1st edition ID.4 is now shipping to dealers for delivery to the early buyers who had reservations. 1st Edition started at $43,995. VW also has the ID.5 to 7 comping over the next 18 months. VW makes new batch of ID.4 1st Edition electric SUVs for the US - Electrek VW roadmap: Expect an electric Kombi in 2022, followed by electric mini cars (thedriven.io) As they say, Common Sense is NOT SO COMMON as I see in your own posts.

EV Charging News EVBox Group has announced that even with the Pandemic, they doubled their EV charging stations from 100,000 at the end of 2019 to 200,000 at the end of 2020 and planted 100,000 trees. In Q1 of 2021 EVBox will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. They have a focus and are on track to have 1 million charge ports up and operational by 2023. EVBox Group 2020 highlights EVBox Group platform, Everon, launched its new EV Charge App—a white label mobile app packed with useful features to help businesses attract EV drivers EVBox entered into new agreements with delighted customers and partners, such as Scania, Carrefour, The Mobility House, Solar, Severn Trent, Unilever, PSA Group, Flashparking, Momentum Groups and many more EVBox presented its new generation of DC fast charging solutions EVBox announced a new American manufacturing site in Libertyville EVBox delivered the first 20 DC fast chargers to customers in the state California The EVBox Lab Space officially opened, dedicated to flexible vehicle testing EVBox Group HQ moved to a new office space in Amsterdam EVBox optimized its supply chain to prepare for future growth Continuous investment in EVBox Group’s R&D department EVBox announced plans to become a public company via a business combination with TPG Pace Beneficial Finance and initial investors BlackRock, Inclusive Capital Partners, Neuberger Berman Funds, and Wellington Management EVBox Group consolidates its global leadership by reaching the milestone of 200,000 installed charge ports worldwide | EVBox Newsroom Rivian News Rivian had in 2019 raised $1.3 billion from Ford, Amazon and Cox Automotive group in funding. In 2020 they raised another $2.5 billion from existing investors and T. Rowe Price. Now in 2021, Rivian according to Bloomberg is planning on expanding way beyond their current single factory as they look to be a global player in personal and commercial auto's. What the exact amount is they are looking for is unknown at this time, but the early talks has Rivian valued at $25 Billion dollars. Ford by comparison currently is valued at $33 Billion. Going to be an interesting year. Rivian is closing in on more financing at massive $25 billion valuation - Electrek

EV Controller News Already we have seen talk of the Volvo EV's having bi-directional chargers and concepts from Japan and Korea as well as here in the US talking about the ability to have EVs give back to the grid if power was needed. Yet at the end of 2020 we still had single direction Power Controllers. January 5th 2020 Bel Power Solutions announced their new Bi-Directional on-board charger that will allow auto's hooked up to reverse the flow of power from the battery pack to what ever source is needed. This opens up a wide range of uses for the EVs battery power pack. Charged EVs | Bel Power Solutions announces bi-directional on-board charger - Charged EVs

EV news for the State of NY. NY is starting with $2.5 million to buy EV school buses and $16.4 million to buy EV public buses and charging infrastructure. This money is coming from the settlement that VW paid to NY under the Diesel gate scandal. Charged EVs | State of New York announces transit and school bus electrification initiatives - Charged EVs MOSFETs have been used in auto's, specifically ICE auto's for decades, but they have never had to deal with the power requirements of EVs. Nexperia has now tested and will take to production MOSFETs that can support 1 Billion cycles of high energy use. This will benefit for longer term life both existing ICE auto's but more importantly support the move to EVs where charging cycles and power across a wide range of voltage and temperatures will be needed. Charged EVs | Nexperia's new AEC-Q101 MOSFETs tested to 1 billion cycles - Charged EVs

More EV News: European Truck makers have pledged to Phase out internal combustion vehicles by 2040. Diesel / gas will be dead in new auto purchases. CEO's of Daimler, Scania, MAN, Volvo, DAF, IVECO and FORD have all signed the Pledge to phase out all combustion engines from new auto purchases by 2040. The focus moving forward will be all R&D dollars spent on Hydrogen, battery tech and clean fuels such as CNG. Charged EVs | European truck-makers pledge to phase out internal combustion vehicles by 2040 - Charged EVs I will have to totally agree with the following statement: QUOTE: The industry leaders seem to believe that different use scenarios will require different propulsion technologies: battery-electric for inner-city delivery vans, hydrogen for long-distance haulage, and biofuels for short-term reduction of emissions. “There is no silver bullet,” said Henriksson. “It won’t be that one technology will rule everything, there will be parallel technologies over time. They will come [at] different paces, but if we sit and wait for the perfect technology to emerge, we will burn the planet.”

In EV News, some exciting stuff going on: FISKER Yes FISKER is planning to go into production with a full size EV Truck in 2023. We already have the Fisker Ocean EV SUV going into production with a 300 mile range battery pack as base for a starting price of $37,499. Fisker CEO Henrik Fisker says currently everyone is taking on the Luxury level in features and price. Fisker wants to give access to EVs to the average person as to why the Fisker Ocean SUV will be priced for the middle income level buyers. Fisker electric pickup: Super-efficient "radical" truck coming in late 2023? (greencarreports.com) Yes the Mach-E does have a Frunk. Plenty of pictures showing you can Tail Gate out of the Frunk. Something ICE cannot do in this way. Usable Frunk at that since it can hold a full size ICE Chest.

Sarcasm still has not improved I see! Seems you started the Year with Flashing your cache memory as you Forget how many times @Drew Dowdell has posted the basics of EV ownership change and how adaptable it can be. Clearly Apartment living Tesla Owners are not having a problem planning to use their Tesla Supercharging stations to refill their battery packs. Nor are apartment Nissan Leaf Owners having a problem with finding work or public charging stations. Plenty of people are taking advantage of local electrical rebates and subsidies to install a 220V charger at home or just use the slower 110 recharge option. If you really want to drive an EV, you will find ways to ensure your auto is charged up. You will embrace change, you will embrace learning 21st century new habits. I accept that you would rather huff COAL and live in the dark than joining the light of the 21st century. I am very Thankful that you tested Negative for Covid-19 and hope you do not have to deal with being sick this year as I am really hoping 2021 is better for everyone over 2020. Wrong again buddy boy!, EVs do not have all the mechanical large stuff taking up space like an ICE auto has. Clearly some differences in the power train that does affect the shape.

While normally I would agree with you as Ford did not include a spare tire, they have the air compressor there, charging cord and other accessories, so the space is used differently. Both have the dual floor height and the same adjustable covers, etc. Just the EV has what seems to be a better laid out storage area IMHO. @ykX @Robert Hall In the picture comparison above, you can see that the Escape opening is noticeably smaller than the Mach-E opening. Sides of the storage area are also straight on the Mach-E compared to the Escape all leading to the Mach-E seeming to hold the luggage more efficiently I think.

Funny you mention that as this review from Autoblog of a 2021 Ford Mach-E Luggage test shows the benefits of interior space in the Mach-E over an Escape since they are on the same size wheel base. While the Escape is stated to have 3 cubic feet more space, clearly the design that went into the Mach-E gave it more usable space even though it is rated 3 cubic feet less space than the Escape. They also compare the Audi E-Tron and others showing how EVs have more usable interior space. Interesting read. 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E Cargo Capacity Tested | Autoblog Ford Mach-E Luggage fit Ford Escape Luggage fit True, but then no competition till this year. I expect the competition to end up pushing Tesla into much faster updates of style and hardware. The faster changes will come in software feature changes that allow you to do more. Tesla has been very fast in changing all software changes in over air updates. Something you cannot say about ICE. The ability to improve battery pack performance, controllers and the EV power train via software updates is huge.

Nio will have two sedans, one that does compete with the Tesla 3 and one that is to be a high end Tesla S or BMW 7-series. NIO Day is next week, here's what you need to know - Money Midnight Nio To Launch Two Back-To-Back Sedans In A Challenge To Tesla Model 3 (msn.com) I think having two sedans in a global auto sales market that hit low and high should work for them.

Yet TECHNOLOGY is also why it can and in some countries will succeed. We make technology obsolete every 90 days. Course due to the cost of an Auto, that is not possible, due to the long loans. Yet Technology in EV's does allow updates to happen much faster than in an ICE. As such, improving EV's will happen at a much faster break neck pace than ICE has done. 2030 will be a challenge, 2035 a bit less, 2040 very doable for many, especially smaller countries, 2045 I would expect a majority of 1st and 2nd world countries to have moved to full on EV mode. Just IMHO.

Dig Dug

Yes, I am looking forward to vaccination of the world so we all can get back to enjoying life with family, friends and travel. Road Trips Big Time!!! I miss my bi-yearly visit to Fairmount Hot Springs in Canada and exploring Banff National Park. Fairmont Hot Springs Resort Fairmont Hot Springs, British Columbia, CA - Reservations.com Banff Travel Guide - Canadian Rockies Activities - Banff National Park Banff National Park (pc.gc.ca) YES, Ski season has just started. We need MORE SNOW, MORE COLD. But for those that like warmth, enjoy the south.

Man this burger looks awesome! ? https://www.instagram.com/p/CJpb4rao2rt/?igshid=1wlmmaabvc74r

We need the ? drool emoji in the instant ones. That looks Da Bomb man. YUMMY!!!

Nope no love for this ugly over chromed auto.

This is AWESOME, a little EV cheer to start the new year off in 2021 in the Random thread. Walk down memory lane for this funny movie.