G. David Felt

For those that want a truly beefy off road SUV, but green, then the Ineos Grenadier 4x4 is for you and yes it only comes with black steel rims and is powered by Hydrogen. This comes due to a tie up between Hyundai Nexo technology and Ineos who is building this 4x4 for the UK and European market. The producer of Hydrogen is the Ineos Chemical Company that produces 300,000 tons of Hydrogen per year as a byproduct of chemical manufacturing operations and has a large amount of experience in storing and transporting Hydrogen. They have recently started a new division tasked with building out a Hydrogen station business across the UK and Europe. Hyundai, Ineos join forces to produce hydrogen | Autoblog

First review of the all new XC40 Recharge, have to say it is looking good. Preview drive: 2021 Volvo XC40 Recharge electric SUV doesn’t complicate the future (greencarreports.com) Frunks are the new standard for EVs now. Very cool, I can only imagine on a Suburban how big the Frunk would be. Crazy to watch, an auto dash cam caught the roof coming off a Tesla Model S in China. Tesla blames the 3rd party company that is authorized for replacement glass roofs. I say just cheap quality work. Tesla Model S roof seen flying off in dashcam video, Tesla blames third-party shop - Electrek

But that FACE!, Only a mother could love that Ugly Face!

I do find it interesting that the 2yr development cycle is what GM now believes they can do for all EVs and will speed up new models faster and more reliable than ICE. GMC Hummer Electric Truck | General Motors Gonna be interesting times for sure on how fast GM can bring in as they have now committed to having affordable EVs for all at all price points over the next 5 years. 2022-Hummer-EV---Meet-the-Team.mp4

After a life time of power lifting and body building, I stick to what Arnold Schwarzenegger always said, pain tells ya your alive and as long as it is tolerable, you know your not 6ft under. I figure, life is pain, pain is life, as long as I have loved ones around, a job I enjoy and can ski, life is good for me. Back on topic of the new ZETA group, I suspect FORD F-150 EV will destroy the other truck sales as FORD is planning to offer all the same bed and cab configurations. At that point with more Torque and hauling than an ICE, more traditional truck buyers will move over to the EV. I also see this happening with GM and their Chevrolet Silverado EV truck line.

I have never been a fan of steel or aluminum steel rims. To me it just looks cheap and as if they forgot to finish the look of the auto. Hard Pass on steel rims.

I am interested in hearing how the Hybrids they are starting to produce handle the trails, mud and water of the wilds.

So configure up what you like and show us PLEASE!

Car options in a year will be reduced by one less option. VW has decided to kill the Passat as it is being replaced by the ID.4 EV CUV. Seems VW believes the market is dying for cars as everyone wants trucks or SUV/CUVs. Volkswagen Passat Receives Date of Execution; VW Shifts Production Power Away From Lame Sedan (thetruthaboutcars.com) Poor BMW ICE, getting sat on by a Porsche EV. Porsche Taycan Driveway Crash Is Everything Wrong With High-Power Electric Cars (jalopnik.com)

Talk about a Face only a Mother Could Love. The first review of the all new 2021 BMW M440i coupe and the car is just UGLY IMHO. No Style, Nothing exciting to look at, almost makes one want to puke. 2021 BMW M440i is one long-faced coupe - Roadshow (cnet.com) If ya love Baja racing, then the Bronco R model that raced and finished, but still after two years did not win is cool. Truly pushing the boundaries of racing rigs. Ford Bronco R redeems itself, finishes the 2020 Baja 1000 - Roadshow (cnet.com)

Update from Lordstown Motors as they have secured Good Year Tires as the official tire of Lordstown Endurance Pickup Truck. Video of them testing at their E&D site.

Mustang Worlds Fair is a cool read and pictures on the Ford company web site. Mustang World's Fair (ford.com)

Seems new EV auto companies are popping up like daisy's. Latest is a EV startup that began in 2018 and has not shown anything other than their web site. Hercules Electric Vehicles Home - Hercules Electric Vehicles (herculesev.com) Hercules Alpha pickup seems to be taking tech spec's from both GM and Rivian. Their current web site states: Bold designs, luxurious materials, elegant displays, and unsurpassed features with exemplary attention to detail provide a truly luxurious in-cab experience. 1000 HP 4-motor drive system 300+ miles EV range 0-60 MPH in 4 seconds Top Speed 120 MPH Advanced torque-vectoring AWD Superior Handling DC Fast Charge Standard Zero radius turning 12,500 Trailering Weight 2,500 lb. Payload 10,400 lb. GVWR So you have a tank turn like Rivian, horsepower and torque like Hummer by GMC. They are taking reservations at $500 a pop for their Hercules Founders edition, but no info on what that is due to it being password protected. Why bring this vaporware up you might ask? That would be due to the supposedly leaked talks Nissan is in with them to use their tech to offer a full size EV pickup. According to the story on Green Car Report, the Hercules truck that looks like a Nissan Titan would be using parts from Nissan to speed up development and manufacturing of their EV truck and in turn supply Nissan with a full size EV Titan. We are living in interesting times for sure. Report: Nissan and Detroit startup Hercules could pair up for electric truck (greencarreports.com)

Anatomy

Must be market differences as my GMC dealership by me has the 1500 Sierra all around 70K. Yes Denalis, trying to find anything below a Denali package seems to not exist here where I live, did find a couple lower end models in the high 50K's north in the rural areas. I still think Rivian pricing is competitive for what you get and the tech. Lower cost units will come after the launch edition along with higher priced models. I like it, you have the vertical headlights and then the day time running strip across the front. Very visible and safe I would say.

While I love to travel, I have to say, this video makes me think twice about visiting eastern European countries. Talk about using up a life or two of his 9 lives. A very Cool Restoration video.

GM attempted during bankruptcy to thin their low volume small Cadillac dealerships by offering $100,000 to walk away from being a dealership. No one really took them up on the offer. Today GM is offering 880 small / low volume dealerships anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000 to dealerships that are not willing to join them in moving the Cadillac brand to an all EV product line, service EVs and offer charging as well as remodel to the grand new vision that GM has for Cadillac. Since there is room to negotiate the amount paid, it would seem that many of these small dealerships that move a few Cadillacs a month might actually take GM up on their offer to pocket up to half a million dollars and stop being a Cadillac dealership. A solid way to step away from the EV plan for those wary of the future and investment it will require. Original story was here: EV-wary dealers offered upward of $500,000 to drop Cadillac (autonews.com) (SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED) Free read here: GM offers to pay dealers to drop Cadillac brand in switch to EVs | Autoblog Takata, the AIRBAG company that made faulty cheap airbags and keeps giving has ended up in another massive auto recall. GM will recall nearly 6 million 2007 to 2014 trucks to replace 100 million airbag inflators at an estimated cost of $1.2 Billion dollars. Full size Trucks and SUVs are being covered here. Unlike Honda, Ford and BMW that had deaths associated to the fatal hardware, GM has not had a single case to date, but the NHTSA is not taking any chance on additional American Deaths and issued this morning a mandatory recall to replace the parts. GM Recalling Nearly 6 Million Vehicles Over Eternal Takata Scandal (thetruthaboutcars.com)

Just configurated up my R1S. This color reminds me of the GM Teal on my Suburban but far more blue.

Just went through the Configurator. Love the Forest Green exterior color and the Forest Edge interior. Some nice interior color options.

Totally doable considering the millions of $50,000 to $100,000 trucks GM, Ford and Ram sell. 200,000 sold a year should be easy.

The Suburban tanks are out and about playing in the snow here in Washington.

This is awesome, always like it when they point out their own errors or false stuff that gearheads know would not be possible, but it does play for a good laugh.

Most people are not aware that Braking in your auto could change starting January 1st 2021 when a no copper law goes into effect for California and Washington state in regards to brake pads. As such a R&D storm has been going on to find a suitable replacement. Copper is toxic to both humans and animals and as such, the west coast had back in 2014 passed laws giving till 2021 to replace it to meet clean water quality standards. This was led by San Francisco that was failing their water quality tests due to the high copper concentrations from brake pad dust. I had forgotten about this till I came across this updated story here: How the New Copper Ban Is Affecting High-Performance Car Brakes (thedrive.com) Yes they focus on high performance auto's as Europe also pushes to ban copper in break pads, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Seems JLR is defending what it sees as a theft of intellectual property by the VW company. To quote the story: The vehicles in question include the Porsche Cayenne; Lamborghini Urus; Audi Q8, Q7, Q5, A6 Allroad and E-Tron; and VW’s Tiguan. Seems that VW tried to get this dismissed, but the US court system found sufficient evidence to allow the trial to move forward to the court room. JLR says that VW can remove the illegal AWD traction control option systems from their auto's to continue to sell them in the US. Who knew that the ability to select Snow, Mud, Rain, Sand, etc. modes in an SUV was patented to just one company. Jaguar Land Rover Sues to Ban VW Group's SUV Imports to America (thedrive.com)

Seems the first 6 months of production for Rivian which will cover the Launch Edition of the R1T truck has sold out with their reservation holders. This is from June 1st 2021 to Dec 31st 2021. I wonder how many this will be? Rivian has said they will ramp up to 100,000 models of each R1T and R1S per year and higher if needed. Be interesting to see how many they deliver by the end of the 2021 calendar year. I suspect the R1S will be even more successful.

Interesting that in the interview with Business Insider and a comparison to Tesla Cyber truck that a base 4x4 model of Lordstown EV truck starts at $52,500 and you can choose between a Standard Endurance 5.5 or Long Endurance 6.5 ft bed. https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/hereaposs-how-lordstown-motorsapos-new-endurance-electric-pickup-truck-compares-to-teslaaposs-cybertruck/slidelist/76798420.cms#slideid=76798498 I am willing to bet that Ford will offer a couple sizes in beds also as people like you and me want the 6.5ft bed over the shorter 5.5 bed. RJ, CEO of Rivian has stated that once the R1T and R1S are in full Production they are going to consider additional bed lengths for those that need a bigger bed. Current for the R1t is just 4.6 ft long which is fine for weekend haulers from Home Depot of most stuff, but fails for standard lumber. Options I think will come in the next few years for EV trucks with various bed lengths. Be interesting to see what Chevrolet offers since they have moved up the full size Silverado pickup to 2024 and are on record saying that buyers will have just as many options in configurations as traditional ICE trucks have had.