G. David Felt

Mechanical

Yeti's Rock, Yes pricey, but OMG, they are the best. Amazing stuff, have various products from them and nothing else seems to match Yeti's ability to keep things hot or cold and give long life to stuff you have in it compared to the Garbage stuff Coleman makes as well as others. Worth every dollar.

Interesting EV news this evening. First up is Lordstown motors which bought the 6.2 million square-feet Ohio Factory from GM last year. In the latest interview, CEO Steve Burns says they can produce 600,000 EV's a year out of the plant and are planning to fill it up fast with not just their AWD EV Truck but also an SUV when production starts later this year and deliveries scheduled for January 2021. Starting in 2022, an SUV and other auto's will come on line and Lordstown is planning to employ as many as 5,000 people by then in production of EVs. They believe they can outsell GM which does not expect to sell 1 million EVs a year till 2025. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1128301_will-lordstown-motors-outsell-electric-trucks-from-gm-ford-and-rivian Next up is the posted interview with Mark Kaufman, Global Director of Electrification for Ford. Mark revealed 5 geeky details that shows or proves to some that Ford is committed to EVs long term and eventually replacing ICE auto's all together. There is two battery tunes depending on if you buy RWD or AWD. This will satisfy the high performance crowd and still serve the long range distant crowd. Rapid-prototyping prodigy is what the Mach-E has been for Ford. This has allowed them to get feedback and quickly build various versions to allow quick testing with customers. Example is that even on an EV with everything digital, customers still want a physical volume knob to use when driving and not have to look at a big screen and hunt for the touch point. The Revolutionary new Sync 4A system that will debut with the Mach-E is a clean sheet infotainment system that is built on HTML5. Allows for superior system customization and layout. Owners can customize the interface to work the way they want it and not stuck in a Ford only mode. This also allows for future upgrades that can completely change the look and feel. Over the air updates is being taken very seriously as they have an in-house cybersecurity team ensuring that the auto will be encrypted and comply with all privacy laws globally. To quote him: We take our customer trust very seriously. The first update for the Mach-E that will be over the air 6 months after release will be Ford pushing out their Fords Autopilot feature for the EV. Kaufman did not state it would rival GM's supercruise or Tesla Autopilot, but enough comments from him leads the media and writers at Green Car Reports to believe so. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1128304_ford-mustang-mach-e-electric-suv-5-geeky-details-show-ford-s-commitment-to-evs

1960's

2021 Chevrolet Z71 Suburban leaked? According to The Drive that got the info from The New Tahoe Yukon Forum says the Chevrolet Z71 Suburban is on the configurator at the Chevrolet web site. I could not find it when I went just now, but these are the pics they had from the Forum. Thoughts? https://www.thedrive.com/news/33732/first-2021-chevrolet-suburban-z71-photos-slip-out-in-online-configurator ? Girlfriend from hell upset about not being able to park in Garage, Scraps Impala project car while boyfriend is on business trip. Good read if your interested, I agree with him in having her booted out and bringing in the police. You DO NOT touch my auto's! ? https://www.thedrive.com/news/33723/girlfriend-from-hell-sends-mans-1967-chevy-impala-project-to-junkyard-while-hes-traveling

1970's and 1980's era Mercedes-Benz are best used for what? Electrification according to a Belgium company that restores them to like new off the assembly line with an electric power train. From $179,000 to $200,000 depending on model, you can have your dearly loved 70's or 80's MB restored to factory fresh with a high output EV system. https://www.thedrive.com/news/33731/electric-conversions-dont-get-much-better-than-70s-and-80s-mercedes-benz-classics

The news today was covering that the Pandemic has caused a much bigger than usual up tick in Divorce Lawyer inquiries. Maybe those that have not done their homework, have the communication skills and are willing to have skin in the game are realizing it is over their head to be married. Crazy times, Crazy News. I agree the Covid thing sucks, I have to say, My yard is looking amazing since that is my sanctum of isolation. Been busy with building a better garden area. My own Pandemic project was to build a 2nd raised bed. Ended up being bigger and cheaper than the Costco plastic thing I bought last year. So a 5ft x 10ft x 2.5ft tall pine raised bed. Have it planted and then finished building my in ground garden area and the potted veggie plant area. Got my Walla Walla sweet onions in the ground yesterday, will do leeks today.

NISSAN NEWS of the DAY! WOW, Had no Idea that the Frontier Pickup from Nissan was 15 years old with very little updates over that time. 2021 will bring a new Frontier Pickup per this story from The Drive. https://www.thedrive.com/news/33728/the-first-real-look-at-the-2021-nissan-frontier-midsize-pickup-truck This video shows it cloaked like the picture above next to the Armada. Seems to have grown in size they say at the story above. Continuing on the cools Nissan front, seems someone decided the Frontier Pickup needed AWD and More Power so in goes a 1,000 HP GT-R motor into a pickup with AWD for a pickup that Nissan should build now. https://www.thedrive.com/news/33714/dropping-a-1000-hp-gt-r-engine-in-a-nissan-pickup-truck-can-only-lead-to-good-things

Portugal is on my bucket list as I want to try the various Port Wine's they have there. Wife and daughter have been to Spain and around Europe as have I. Europe has cool stuff, but I think I would like to explore South America which I have never been too and more of the Asian rim.

Indiana Jones Series of Movies

Aboriginal

Studebaker is BACK, BIGGER AND BADDER than Ever! I did not know that in 2003 a man actually tried to revive this auto name plate and ended up much like Delorean in prison for a Ponzi scam. Interesting Read and more pics on this SUV here: https://www.thedrive.com/news/33717/the-2003-studebaker-xuv-attempted-to-revive-a-classic-name-with-an-illegal-hummer-clone

Music for the Masses Saw this concert in Japan. Was amazing.

I loved this station wagon, one of the last true full size made form the 90's.

Depeche Mode

Yet I think GM gets this with doing a Hummer by GMC EV Truck and SUV full size. I could care less and if they went away and into the history books, I still could care less about Porsche cars. Their CUVs are cool. Hummer by GMC EV's are even Cooler.

Seems Ford has a Solution for killing 99.9% of Covid-19 in Police Explorers. There is a new setting that will boost the interior temperature to 133 degrees for 15 min to kill 99.9$ of all virus / bacteria in the auto. https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2020/05/here-comes-the-heat/ In additional auto news, seems Acura has decided to ditch as the story says the McPherson Struts. Quote: We’re of course talking about double wishbones, which Acura confirmed will be found up front in the 2021 TLX. If you were worried the TLX would end up as a flashy retread of your basic Honda Accord or the like, breathe easy — the new car rides atop a dedicated platform, with the eradication of the current-generation model’s MacPherson strut setup lending credence to Acura’s promise of the “quickest, best-handling, and most well-appointed sport sedan in Acura history.” https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2020/05/back-to-the-future-acura-tlx-ditches-the-macphersons/#more-1722464

Seems Renault and Nissan have ruled out a merger of the companies but have decided to close plants and build both Companies auto's in the same plant in regions where it makes sense to save money and become more efficient. Renault and Nissan are going with a global EV platform that both companies will use to build and sell global EVs to be more efficient at lower costs than the competition. Interesting read on their direction and future. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-nissan-renault-alliance-costs/renault-and-nissan-rule-out-merger-as-they-unveil-survival-plan-idUSKBN2330T6 23 states have sued the Potus45 administration over the rollback of efficiency standards for auto's. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-autos-emissions/u-s-states-sue-trump-administration-over-fuel-efficiency-rollback-idUSKBN2332UT To quote the story: Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel called the rule a “gift to the fossil fuel industry” that would harm the state, home to Detroit’s Big Three automakers, because it would reduce automotive-related employment by 4%. She said automakers were afraid of a “mean tweet” from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Tesla Y AWD as no RWD or FWD version available starts at $48,690.

Interesting editorial on the Pandemic and how it will kill the Sports car. https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/33474/will-the-pandemic-kill-the-sports-car-as-we-know-it Yup, they predict the death of the Mustang and Camaro as we know it with manual transmission being history. Very interesting read. This one is also interesting as FCA has shared access to the potential Dodge version of the 1993 Grand Cherokee. https://www.thedrive.com/news/33690/rare-photo-shows-never-made-dodge-version-of-the-1993-jeep-grand-cherokee Final bit for those that love off road auto's is this Semi Truck custom ride with 1,100 HP. https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/33699/this-1100-hp-off-road-semi-truck-is-perfect-for-minor-errands

Satisfaction

Cadillac is going to get killed on this by auto reviewers and by @smk4565. The first review I have read of the 2020 CT4-V and while the reviewer likes the auto, he clearly points out it is not the ATS-V, but that is OK as a Blackwing is on it's way. Yet he then points out that this is using a Turbo 4 from the Chevrolet Silverado 1500. Honestly, I understand why Cadillac is doing this, but they are going to get hit for it in the press until the Blackwing arrives and it better kill the old ATS-V. https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/reviews/2020-cadillac-ct4-4dr-sdn-v-series-preview/ Diesel Gate is alive and well as the German Courts have ruled VW MUST BUY BACK 60,000 Diesel auto's in Germany giving current value of the auto based on Mileage and then crush them. This will add on billions more the the $33 billion VW has paid out worldwide to date. Diesel is dead. https://www.autoblog.com/2020/05/26/vw-diesel-buy-back-germany/

Retailer

Once a focused Aerospace powertrain company, IRP Systems has totally during this Pandemic changed into a EV powertrain provider company. Clearly there is money in the business as they raised $17 million in Series B funding to support their change from an Aerospace company to an auto powertrain supplier. https://chargedevs.com/newswire/electric-powertrain-provider-irp-systems-raises-17-million-in-series-b-funding/ Seems Tesla has cut prices across the board as a base Tesla 3 now starts at $37,990. https://electrek.co/2020/05/27/tesla-cuts-prices-lineup/

Seems France is doing a second round of Auto Company bailouts. After the first initial $5 billion secure loans to keep Renault and other french auto companies alive, France is now moving forward with an $8.8 billion Euro auto industry bailout which not only give additional life to Renault but also many EV auto startups. Here to keep the auto industry going with production is $3 to $5 thousand dollar incentives to buy an auto. If you go EV you get $6 to $7 thousand dollars towards the purchase of an auto. https://chargedevs.com/newswire/frances-8-billion-euro-auto-industry-bailout-includes-support-for-evs/