G. David Felt

Kinda like coal country, if they try to force people to buy power at higher costs to just keep a few plants open, the current administration is going to loose out. Cost out weigh the profits from retiring nuclear plants and switching over to Natural gas, solar and wind. or in those areas that can support it like here in the PNW, hydro.

I suck at photoshop but after playing around with it, Audi should have gone the Monochromatic route than the fake exhaust tips in the lower bumper with black / grey plastic insert.

I really doubt people will pay the subscription rate price to drive various models over a couple of months and then buy. Seems over priced to me.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1117054_nature-study-shows-its-cheaper-to-reduce-global-warming-than-to-adapt-to-it Seems scientist are taking aim at those that say climate change is fake news. The latest study in the Journal of Nature shows it will cost about $20 trillion less to adapt by changing to green energy and EV auto's than it will to adapt to a changing planet of rising sea levels, hotter temps, etc. To quote the study: "The study modeled the impact of historical temperature changes on GDP in 165 countries from 1960 to 2010, and extrapolated the results out to 2100, and found that the more temperature changes can be limited, the greater the economic benefits will be." Good read if you care about helping the planet.

Stupidity knows no boundaries, US isolated at the G7 Summit over the tradewar. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade/u-s-isolated-at-g7-meeting-as-tariffs-prompt-retaliation-idUSKCN1IX478

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-electromobility-jobs/switch-to-electric-cars-threatens-75000-german-auto-industry-jobs-idUSKCN1J115L According to Reuters news, EV auto's are more reliable, require less powertrain parts, require less maintenance and depending on how you look at it cleaner for the planet especially when using green sources of power. The auto industry in Germany accounts for 840,000 jobs of which 210,000 are tied to powertrain production. Electric auto's by germany's own reconning will cost 75,000 jobs by 2030 based on the assumption that 25 percent of auto's will be electric, 15 percent hybrids leaving only 60 percent as petrol / diesel variants. With the governments push to also remove all diesel other than commercial versions of auto's from the roads, this further reduces the complex powertrains of ICE from the road reducing the needs of jobs. Germany says a more rapid adoption of jobs could cost the auto industry up to 100,000 jobs by 2030. The job loss is based on the work VW, BMW and Mercedes-benz has done that shows EV auto powertrains only have a sixth of the components when compared to ICE powertrains which means EV auto's can be assembled much faster. EV auto's also take 30 percent less time to assemble. The battery factories only require a fifth of the workforce compared to an ICE plant. EV auto's also better align with robotic automation over ICE powertrain auto's. What this means is that the need for blue collar workers will further reduce requiring people to get better educated for other forms of work.

According to Rueters that GM today in China anounced a dedicated 10 models for China market added to the 10 they are already working on bringing to 20 models of EV auto's they are working on. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autoshow-detroit-gm-china/big-portion-of-future-gm-electric-vehicles-for-china-market-executive-idUSKBN1F702M GM has stated that the plan is 1 million EV auto's a year by 2026. China is the heart of GMs EV spearheaded efforts. In China, GM sold 4 million auto's in China or 40% of GM's global tally. 11,000 of them in China were pure EV. GM expects that Plug-in Hybrids and EVs will make up 20% of the Industry projected 35 million annual auto sales in China by 2025 or 7 million Plug-in Hybrids and EVs. GM is expected to sell in 2019 alone in China 300,000 EV's or plug-in Hybrids to meet China's government mandate. End result is hate it or love it, but EV's & Plug-in Hybrids are the future for GM and just about everyone else.

Yup it was sharp. Pictures never did the color justice IMHO. This was a nice Full Size sedan. Would have loved it if they had offered this interior on the Impala SS Maroon.

Nice looking for what it is, nothing really stands out as Awesome, OMG I gotta have it. I hate one part, the FAKE EXHAUST on the rear bumper. You can clearly see the plastic black center and it just detracts, might as well make it all color matched which would be better looking IMHO. Yawn, pass for me.

Another Interesting read on Auto things that need to die and stop polluting our driving enjoyment. https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enthusiasts/car-performance-fads-that-need-to-go-away/ss-AAy1GAd?li=BBnb7Kz Four Door Coupes - Coupes are 2 doors, not 4. German brands biggest offense of it. Touch Screen Infotainment systems. Knobs are OK Fake Exhaust Tips, Audi SQ5 biggest offense of this. Endless Driving Modes, Electronically controlled automatic shifters Fake Carbon Fiber Trim Auto Rev-matching Electronic Dipsticks Unnecessarily Big Wheels and Low-profile tires Fake Engine Sounds - Example is the fake sound of a Honda Civic Type R Electric Parking Brakes Have to say I agree with a good amount of this list and a few I could care less about. Guess you can add the Audi Q8 to the list of Fake Exhaust in the bumper crap now.

Interesting Read on Forbes top 12 auto's to avoid for 2018. https://www3.forbes.com/business/steer-clear-new-cars-to-avoid-for-2018/?utm_campaign=Steer-Clear-New-Cars-To-Avoid-For-2018-auto&utm_source=Outbrain&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=00711c0c785914931f6fac419f7c06b527&utm_term=msn.com+[36] Acura ILX - The Top Worst Auto on the list based on Poor Reliability, below average overall rating by Consumer Reports and JD Power Surveys. Dodge Grand Caravan Dodge Journey Fiat 500 Fiat 500L Fiat 500X Ford Focus Ford Fiesta Ford Taurus Jeep Wrangler JK Maserati Ghibli Mitsubishi Mirage

Weight Bloat, thanks to all the Gov Required Nanny devices and safety improvements such as the side door I beam requirements and the roll over crush minimization requirements. etc. etc. etc.

Make sure to rent an auto for the mountains, they are a blast to drive and the scenery around Kobe is awesome. I do recommend the winter gees festival on Hokkaido. Also make sure to enjoy the Hot Springs in Beppu. Ferrari lovers will love this, Folks that like virgin old auto's will hate it and the rest of us will shake our head at people that have more money than brains. Yet if you like the auto you build, enjoy it just like he says.! https://jalopnik.com/why-this-guy-spent-1-3-million-to-restore-a-dino-with-1826406030

Add to that a very combative Stockholder meeting and Musk has some issues to face big time. https://www.autoblog.com/2018/06/04/elon-musk-tesla-stockholder-challenges/ The lawsuits over compensation of their sales force and the monthly moving targets so it is hard to make money says Tesla has some major problems. Tesla Shortchanging their sales staff makes ya question Musks management capability. https://jalopnik.com/why-teslas-sales-staff-say-theyre-behind-shortchanged-i-1826206999

@ocnblu Your Next Auto, California Camper Van from VW. https://jalopnik.com/heres-every-cool-thing-we-could-find-in-the-2018-vw-t6-1826454018

Very cool pics of Wrenching on Auto's in Hong Kong. Amazing what they do and would be illegal in the US to do what they do there. https://jalopnik.com/the-most-dedicated-mechanics-in-the-world-wrench-on-the-1791804151

My Samsung note 8 Rocks, Wife and I have not had the problems my son and daughter have had with their new Apple Phones and the lack of features on the Apple that I have on the Samsung surprised me.I really expected more from Apple.

Since Job's Death, just further proof that Apple is surviving on the past and not creating new. Samsung has replaced Apple as the better Phone.

True a European focused platform. Still they should have rolled back in the profits into Dodge & Chrysler and built up those portfolios before wasting the billions on resurrecting Alfa which contributes NOTHING to FCA.

Exactly, Italians always build small lite platforms more focused on Fashion trend style than on performance. No way a Hellcat or Demon engine could work with the Georgio platform. For Dodge to work, they would have to make a new Hemi 4 banger and Hemi V6 with turbo's and even then be limited to how much power to produce. Again, further proof of incompetence by Sergio as he stole the profits from Chrysler to bring back from the grave stupid Alfa crap and prop up the garbage Fiat.

This sucks that the GLobal Executive for Chevrolet smashes the pace car before the race even gets started.

Continental pickup?

I used to be able to buy malt for adding to pancakes and waffles and now it is so hard to find. Shame as I love all things Malted!

I really have to question just how realistic the FCA 5yr Road map is as looking at the last one, they only accomplished maybe 1/3 of that plan. This plan is even more vague, so I have to figure half of the 1/3 accomplished from the last plan which means maybe 20% or less will really happen. ?

Saw my first Z71 Redline edition Chevy Pickup crew cab today. Even more impressive in the wild than in pictures.