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G. David Felt

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Everything posted by G. David Felt

  1. G. David Felt
    EV Battery War Heats UP, Asia Versus America! Seems America, Tesla and the department of energy have created the next war. This is the Battery war, Lithium Ion versus Solid State batteries and Japan is behind. As such according to the story in the Nikkei, the Japanese government is funding research by leading Japanese manufacturers to develop what they believe will power the EVs of the future. This group brings together the Japanese Consortium for Lithium Ion Battery Technology and Evaluation Center (Libtec) with Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor, Honda Motor, Panasonic and battery maker GS Yuasa to develop rapid charging solid-state batteries that are easier to manufacture, safer, denser energy and costs less. The story goes on to say that Toyota's Solid State battery technology is considered to be the most advanced in the world, but is not commercialized yet. This new consortium is meant to make this happen by being funded by the Japanese government. This should help Japan beat China, Korea and the US in having the fastest charging, safest and densest battery packs in the world. Current market numbers are that global battery market shows Japan had 70% in 2013 but shrunk to 41% today, China and Korea combine for 26% today from 3% in 2013 The consortium is quoted as bringing the smaller but denser 400km Toyota solid state battery pack to market in the next 18 months in current EVs and have the size grow of the solid state batteries grow very little while having 550km batteries by 2025 and 800km batteries by 2030. For those that are a bit rusty on their metric, this equates to 249, 342, and 497 miles of range in a small dense battery pack. Japan industry ministry is eager for the country to reclaim its global dominance by setting the standard for solid-state batteries. Nikkei Story
  2. G. David Felt
    OUCH have to say this is one of the ugliest Buicks yet I have seen. Good thing it is in China only. http://www.thedrive.com/news/20740/2018-buick-excelle-sedan-unveiled-for-china
  3. G. David Felt
    WOW, Talk about so many news sources not linking to Audi's actual news release on this. I did find this Fortune story where Audi Executives are stating that by 2025 the US market will be 1 in 4 Audi sold to be a Plug in EV. http://fortune.com/2016/05/12/audi-plans-to-launch-a-new-electric-vehicle-model-every-year/ Based on this story and others from Wall street journal, CNN, etc. it would appear that Audi believes their US business will be 25% petro, 50% Hybrid and 25% EV by 2025. The consistent 25% makes me wonder about the thought behind this.
  4. G. David Felt
    True, 1 in 85 but I believe we will see that number reduce fast as automakers release EVs in greater variety that people want to buy. I know if GM would update the dash on the BOLT to be optional two tone or all black or better yet give us the Mocha brown interior, they would sell more. Options is what people want.
  5. G. David Felt
    Yes you did post that pic, that is why I posted the story as because you posted the pic I related to what the story was about. I agree, trucks truly have been far more robustly built than cars. You Rock!
  6. G. David Felt
    Gotta say this is a beast of a machine, totally sexy and love this salute to the outgoing Vantage. http://www.thedrive.com/news/20748/aston-martin-brings-back-a-legend-with-the-new-v12-vantage-v600
  7. G. David Felt
    Seems Audi is expecting to sell 800,000 EVs / Hybrids by 2025 as they transition away from Diesel and Petro. https://www.autoblog.com/2018/05/09/audi-800000-ev-hybrid-sales-2025/
  8. G. David Felt
    AAA latest survey find 1 in 5 want an EV now! AAA latest survey results of auto's, the type wanted and what people love or hate has really shown big changes. 20% of America or 50 million want an EV auto up from 15% in 2017. AAA survey found the biggest fear on EV auto's was range anxiety and that is dropping month by month as people new to EV technology see how it fits into their everyday life. While range anxiety is one of the top fears, what has changed is that more people like the reliability of EV or Hybrids over traditional petro powered auto's. On top of this is the reduced maintenance EVs bring, more technology as society embraces it with acceleration, handling and safety technology being mentioned. Some really good info, check out the story below. https://newsroom.aaa.com/2018/05/1-in-5-us-drivers-want-electric-vehicle/
  9. G. David Felt
    OUCH, Seems Audi found 60,000 more TDI's that need to be recalled. 900,000 TDI's now on the recall list! ? https://www.autoblog.com/2018/05/08/audi-diesel-emissions-scandal-recall/
  10. G. David Felt
    ? So the 2018 version had a curb weight of 4255, 2019 version has a curb weight of 4370. So an increase of 115 lbs, how is this a Driving machine when it is waddling to the race line? ?
  11. G. David Felt
    Secret "ALEC" in Big Debate between Oil and Electric for Subsidies! Not many of us have heard of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), yet this group of Utility companies clashed recently with the oil industry that wants to kill all EV subsidies and yet Oil takes in billions in subsidies from the federal government now. This group has clearly been an ultra conservative group till recently where it has split into two camps, those that are backed by big oil and their desire to kill subsidies and those utilities that have gone very green and want to increase offering subsidies to buyers of all things electric. At the spring meeting, the new Green Utilities put forth a measure that would offer subsidies for non-gas auto's. This included electric, natural gas, biofuel, propane, bio diesel auto's and subsidies for said fueling infrastructure. The interesting part is that this new resolution was put forth by the Koch brothers, oil magnates as well as Ebell's CEI and the conservative group Americans for Prosperity in addition to EEI "The Edison Electric Institute". These groups believe that utilities offering subsidies that would in some cases reduce to zero cost installation of home fast chargers, reduced kWh rates and rebates on EV / Plug-in Hybrid auto's would help spur additional sales of electricity increasing the expansion of a better electrical grid across north america. On the other side you have representatives from Texas, Duke Energy and some folks from Trump's EPA transition team lobbying against it. This was confirmed by EEI. Since this was at a tie in voting, it looks to be brought up at the fall meeting again for a vote. If this goes through, one can only wonder how big the rebates on auto's could be in addition to the charging systems, etc. Check out the two links below for more info. Think of states like California that have fed rebates, state rebates and if utilities offer rebates, this could push EV auto's to very low cost to own. Utility Drive Green Car Report
  12. G. David Felt
    @balthazar Yoda of all things old, I thought of you and felt you would enjoy this story: https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1116596_1912-electric-truck-take-that-tesla-semi Gotta love that 1912 Curtis Publishing was using their electric truck fleet till 1962 and now #4 and restored #8 are up for sale. Cool EV facts on these trucks, the batteries were rebuildable every 10 years. Some very cool other facts on these work horse trucks in the story. Enjoy EV Trucks Shows how good Americans can build trucks!
  13. G. David Felt
    Read a review on the Honda Clarity and when I saw this side profile: It made me think of the 1990 Total Recall chase auto on earth. Just a modern day take on the auto. LOL
  14. G. David Felt
    I so wish that was enforced here. Seattle says it is illegal if the street has a bike lane and yet with all the stupid bike share companies here, they have bikes all over the sidewalks and so tourists and locals ride everywhere causing all kinds of problems. Guess it is the same everywhere. ?
  15. G. David Felt
    Here in Seattle, I know pedestrians and bike riders are tickets if they go against the red and are held accountable for breaking that law no different than a driver in a car. Yes Peds and Bikes have the right of way over a car if they have the green but to go against the road laws they are just as at fault so I agree that it does depend on the situation.
  16. G. David Felt
    Sad Day for Chocolate!
  17. G. David Felt
    Would have to disagree with you, it is BOTH persons responsibility. Today, there are many people who ignore the signals and just walk out into the crosswalks. Lucky for me, Seattle has so many cameras that they record 24/7 the cross walks and who has the right of way. If someone walked out in front of me when I have a green light, I will expect them to pay for any damages / repairs. We have already had these issues in the city with not just pedestrians but also bike riders who jump up on the sidewalk out of the bike lane to cross and then hit cars. Here I would sue a pedestrian or bike rider if they hit me by going against the lights when I had the Green. Hold everyone equally responsible.
  18. G. David Felt
    Nothing shocking about this I think to everyone in the world, car sales are making it very hard to keep them going. I would expect others to mimic and reduce car types that they sell. I bet the german brands will reduce the types of cars sold over the next year.
  19. G. David Felt
    Um....... Why?
  20. G. David Felt
    Have to say I like this body style over the XT5. Wish they had just designed the interior space better.
  21. G. David Felt
    Guess we should also include LinkedIn. Guess we need people catchers now on every auto. ? Or a sweeper to sweep the peeps away:
  22. G. David Felt
    Like this story this morning: BEST and MOST Scenic Summer Road Trips for 2018 Trip #9 covers the Pacific Northwest! https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/best-and-most-scenic-summer-road-trips-for-2018/ss-AAwie7o?li=BBnb7Kz#image=3 Cannot go wrong when you start a story with a picture like this!
  23. G. David Felt
    Wish the 1st and 3rd ones would just die.
  24. G. David Felt
    Me Too, I would if I could up Vote this +1000!
  25. G. David Felt
    Awesome Thank you Drew, Great write up of info on this.
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