G. David Felt

Canada is cheap compared to the US right now.

Makes me think another auto company could be buying it. Tesla could sure benefit from a real assembly line for their products. I wonder about a few other EV startups that might want a move in and tweak assembly line to build. China auto company also could end up buying it. Interesting times we live in.

@Cmicasa the Great I have to agree that choice is always good. I used to say F*#K Start / Stop but just finished having a new 2019 XT5 on loan while my auto was in for service and the start / stop feature was bloody smooth compared to years earlier where it was very rough and noticeable. In regards to the GM AWD system, GM used to have a major ownership in Subaru and their AWD system was a clone of that up till bankruptcy. Not sure how much it has changed since then, but I can say that the AWD system is excellent. My pet peeve is that on the XT5 default is auto sense for basic FWD/AWD when slippage is detected. You can go into sport or luxury mode. I might just not know how to have it set for that as the new default, but after turning the car off it went back to the normal setting. Hopefully Cadillac will change this, I like AWD all the time.

Smartest thing VW could do is move their global product line to EV and Hybrid ASAP! If US brands do not get a move on, I could end up buying a german label EV. Very Cool

Just think that is for FWD mode, if they applied the AWD you would have dual motors ending up with 320HP and 5162 lb-ft of torque with Torque Vectoring. That would make those Jeep Renegades destroy every ubber high end ICE performance auto. Ferrari, Lambo, etc. could not touch it. AWESOME

Sure there is, you had an Italian leader that has built nothing but crap build a piss poor 48 volt hybrid crap system into the Ram that performs poorly on MPG, so yes Italian garbage.

Poorly designed and you get poor results. They rushed it and they have egg on their face. This does not mean it does not offer other benefits such as better torque from zero over ICE only.

Of the 6 Chevrolet dealers in the Greater Seattle area, they have a total of 21 blazers and of those 21, 8 are RS models from $50,765 to $51,160. The dates on them all range from 2 to 3 weeks sitting, so I would have to say they are not moving that fast, but then only a couple weeks old here.

While not everyone will like them, at least they are different than the bland coupe everywhere cars we have now.

Walking home from the bus after work and saw someone had this skylark sadly stored. ?

Shell New Energies agrees to acquire Sonnen Group, a leader in smart energy storage systems and a pioneer of clean technologies, decentralized and connected energy systems. Sonnen is an award winning leader and one of the fastest growing tech companies from Germany. Sonnen has won awards for their virtual battery system that is based on residential storage systems, sonnen offers new and highly innovative energy services for grid providers and customers. Sonnen has their products available for sale in Germany, Italy, UK, Australia and the USA. Shell is announcing that they will be spending between $1 to $2 billion this year on commercial opportunities. Sonnen technology will allow Shell New Energies to grow and expand both residential and commercial opportunities along with their service station installation of charging systems where Sonnen will be the energy storage system of choice. Just as Shell acquired Greenlots, this is another arrow in Shell's arsenal of technology in the changing auto fueling business. The ability to have smart storage to deal with fueling of the future auto's of the world. This purchase gives Shell New Energies a singles stop solution for the electric auto industry commercial to small business and for personal off the grid living. You can find more on what Shell New Energies is doing here at their website Shell New Energies. Shell New Energies Press Sonnen

Your probably thinking, did I read the teaser right? Did it really say 2,581 lb-ft of torque or 3,500 NM from a 160 horsepower or 120 kW motor with torque vectoring? Yes, Yes you did! GKN Automotive is proud to unveil the world's first battery electric vehicle (BEV) with a two-speed transmission and torque vectoring. GTD19 demonstrator vehicle is built from a Jeep Renegade and is currently in Arjeplog, Sweden undergoing winter testing. To prove the industry-leading standards of efficiency, safety and driving dynamics in this BEV model, GKN choose to go with a FWD version where torque vectoring can provide noticeable benefits than in a rear wheel drive or all-wheel drive platform. To Quote GKN: Why a two-speed gearbox? The setup in the GTD19 is engineered to ensure the shifts are seamless, with minimal loss of power and torque while providing faster acceleration and higher top speed with improved efficiency. What is the top speed you ask? The eTwinsterX allows a top speed of 155 mph or 250 kph. To quote Hannes Prenn, COO of GKN ePowertrain: The all new eTwinster powertrain can be easily adapted and integrated into existing vehicle platform for FWD, RWD or AWD configurations. Twinster torque vectoring delivers swift and smooth acceleration while providing greater lateral control and optimized driving dynamics. GKN has stated their eTwinster system is smaller than many equivalent systems from competitors allowing it to be easily integrated into existing vehicle plate forms as they did with the GTD19 replacing it's ICE powertrain. The small size allowed GKN to install in place of the ICE, the complete solution of electric motor, inverter controls, eAxle along with all required cabling leading to a very thin battery pack underneath the GTD19. GKN system integration allows them to offer the eTwinster powertrain as a readily adaptable solution for all types of auto's from all-wheel drive hypercars to plug-in hybrid luxury SUVs to entry-level city cars. If you have ever been in a Range Rover Evoque Hybrid, then you have already experienced the Twinster system as it can be added to the Hybrid solution with the Twinster unit in the back helping to improve the dynamics and calibration of the auto. This GKN solution will also show up in the Opel Insignia. To quote GKN: Where else will you see this amazing system that was the number one hybrid / electric vehicle system shown at the Geneva Auto show this year is in the BMW M3 Concept, Volvo XC90 demonstrator which will be paired with the T8 Twin Engine Plug-in Hybrids as well as Mercedes-Benz AMB GLA45 prototype. View full article

Agreed, right now voice truly sucks, but if they could get it to work without having to touch your phone then I would be up for that.

Totally makes sense plus western Europe is a mess right now. I think that a big dealership / auto consolidation is coming.

In the latest round of Trade War rhetoric is a question that has ended up in the courts, when is a passenger van really a cargo van and does this tariff engineering really justify getting around the 25% chicken tax? In response to President Donald Trump's tariff war, automakers are find interesting ways to play the grey area of the legal system. According to BNN Bloomberg and Bloomberg news, trade attorneys are closely watching the Ford Motor Co. legal case play out in federal court. This case deals with the importation of passenger vans that are then stripped down once they clear customs and sold as cargo vans. The difference here is that Ford pays 2.5% import duty on passenger vans versus te 25% import duty on light trucks / cargo vans. This challenge against Ford brought by U.S. Customs is challenging the practice of tariff engineering. The art of building a product one way, then changing it once cleared by customs for another use. With all the increased tariffs imposed by the Trump administration this could have critical impact on a region that many automakers have used to bring in a profitable product for market needs. According to the news stories, a ruling by the Court of International Trade ruled in Ford's favor in 2017 but is being challenged by the administration in the U.S. Court of Appeals. Regardless if the U.S. and China come to terms for a new trade agreement, there are no promises that the in place tariffs would be repealed. Ford's argument is that tariff engineering is a legitimate maneuvers for firms exploring ways to mitigate duties by project reclassification, shifting production to other countries which changes the origins of product assembly. Trade lawyers across the country say this case will help establish legal guidelines for tariff engineering. To quote the story from BNN Bloomberg: The U.S. Court of International Trade has stated that under the well-established customs law, manufacturers can intentionally make a product that can avoid higher tariffs with simple changes. What cannot be done is situations such as hiding a higher quality product in a lower quality product like high grade tobacco inside a case of lower grade tobacco. This case has come down to the wording on the import paperwork of "principally designed for the transport of persons". The current administration says this is a scheme for avoiding taxes and local jobs. Ford argues that the goods must be classified in their condition as imported, regardless of later alterations and ended use by consumers. Appeals court is expected to rule in the coming weeks. View full article

I think the next thing is true voice control over the whole phone and building it to be either a bracelet, or just an ear piece. I have found that there is a need to have everything in the phone but in a very small format as well as the need to be flexible with lifestyle.

Agree, me think the profits are Vaporware here in the US at least!

Roomy for us big people and better than cars in most cases which are even more cramped.

If your at home, then again 220V charging while your doing stuff at home is still more than enough and some states more than others lead in quick charge DC charge station easily found around the highways, work and retail locations. Do not get me wrong, it would be nice to have a 440V 3 phase fast charger at home, but more often than not most people would not need it or need to spend the money on it once they got used to charging their auto every night.

Disagree, SUV's are not to blame. Consumers tastes are. Roadsters might be nice to look at but unless they are profitable, hard to justify for the bulk of society to own and use.

If only that was true of apple products. Not everyone sees the apple interface as user friendly or simple.

That is a super sexy Cadillac. Todays auto's are truly missing that interior room with comfort.

Yet the Chrysler commercials with Ricardo Montalban were really good I thought even if the auto's were not memorable. https://www.bing.com/search?q=car commercial with ricardo montalban&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&pq=car commercial with ricardo montalban&sc=1-37&sk=&cvid=6FAE91254C15464BA6B757257493F10B