G. David Felt
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Everything posted by G. David Felt
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@Cubical-aka-Moltar @balthazar I expected Leaf sales to tank and they have based on the fact that they have Leaf 2.0 out but not the long rang battery option yet so you have 110 miles in a Leaf 2.0 or 238 miles in a Bolt. Bolt wins and I am seeing those that leased Leafs here at work trading in their leafs for bolts. Bolt sold 1,177 in Jan up from Jan 2017 Leaf sold 150 in Jan down 80% from Jan 2017 I believe due to the new model out but not with the long range battery pack yet. i3 sold 382 the exact same number as in 2017. Like the leaf you have just over 100 miles range ev and people are not willing to pay the BMW premium for it. They would if it had a real battery pack like the bolt. Bolt is clearly eating the others lunch and yet this time next year as we see more EV's with the supposedly 300 mile battery packs hit the lots, it will be interesting to see what goes down in sales numbers. For some the tax credit is a driving force but for many, the wait for something they like better from a different name brand with a 300 mile range is where we will finally see a difference in sales and I expect a big drop in ICE over EV's once all the various brands start to put them on the lots for sale. Most people hate oil changes, hate filling up gas, hate all the maintenance around an ICE auto. EV's will change that in many ways and the public is waiting for choice that is better than we have now. -
@smk4565 @balthazar Since you guys both have a different take on a story that neither one of you posted the link too, I decided to hunt it down and see what I could find for everyone's benefit. WOW balthazar is right, MB is losing market share especially in the high end auto's to American automakers with luxury packed Trucks & SUV's. NYT Story Man looking at the German brands for a new ubber luxury auto instead drives off the lot in an $80,000 F150 Raptor and people love it over the German blah brands. To Quote the NYT story that SMK only sees as MB being #1: "Ford and Chevrolet saw similar but smaller jumps, driven by increasing high-end truck and S.U.V. sales. At the same time, the portion of over-$60,000 sales for luxury brands including Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Jaguar and Cadillac shrank." So many additional stories out there supporting the same findings, German brands are being dumped for American Trucks / SUVs. Autoblog Story had this to say that I quote: "From 2013 to 2017, the truck category — everything from pickups to minivans — climbed from 30 percent of the market to 41 percent. In January of this year, trucks claimed 66 percent of new vehicle sales. At the milk-and-honey end of profits, GMC alone accounted for 11.3 percent of all vehicle sales over $60,000, not just trucks. That puts the luxury truck maker behind Mercedes-Benz and Ford, The Blue Oval's feasting on Lariat, King Ranch and Raptor versions of the F-150, which make up more than half of that pickup's sales, putting it ahead of Chevrolet, Porsche and Lexus on the high-dollar sales list. The average transaction price of a GMC in Denali trim last year was $56,000; it's easy to see why, when one dealer told the NYT he just swapped a 2012 BMW 550i for a $71,000 GMC Sierra Denali. That truck starts at $52,900." Seems Luxury has new leadership coming on, The American Truck / SUV!
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Face the math, unless your a traveling sales person or someone who loves road trips to the point that you do really drive 20,000 miles plus a year, Diesel is a money looser not a saver in cars. Especially in the average 3yr ownership lifespan before trading in. Even then, those that do hold onto their auto's 10 plus years are still challenged to break even as balthazar states. The whole point is gas / hybrid / ev's make considerable more sense than diesel in a car. Trucks / full size SUV's where one pulls trailers and cargo, Diesel totally makes sense.
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Have to disagree with you. Diesel is the more expensive power plant worldwide and is not easier for people to own. When the diesel needs repairs, many end up sitting in yards or junked as people cannot afford to repair them. Yes GOV pushed them, but they were not the better choice just a cheaper choice at the time based on GOV subsidies for diesel and misconception. Truth is out on the damage Diesel can do to the planet and the health of people in dense inner cities. Time for Change, the one thing that Scares the Hell out of you.
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They are coming, GM CEO is on record by her own words that 2 CUV's will be coming for sale at 2020 models in late 2019 and by 2021 Generation 2 platform for the BOLT will spane 7 more EV's plus be used for plug in Hybrids using the VOLT type powertrain for a total of 11 EV/Hybrid auto's. Forgot that in October, CEO Barra stated that the updated plan is to have 20 EV auto's out in the next 6 years of which the first two as I stated above will be based on the BOLT Generation 1 platform out late 2019 as 2020 models and then 18 based on Generation 2 platform covering global sales and all 4 family brands. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/02/gm-to-ramp-up-electric-vehicle-plans-with-20-models-over-next-6-years.html Here was the official GM release about 20 EV auto's and a global push for Zero Emission family of auto's for the planet. http://www.gm.com/mol/m-2017-oct-1002-electric.html
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Your post tells me you have never actually looked at one, been in one or test drove one. 0 to 60 in 6.5 seconds is nothing to sneeze at and when you put it in sport mode it drops a full second to 5.5 seconds. BOLT is faster than most ICE Cars out there today. More usable space than a Tesla 3, there has been no official testing of a Tesla 3 so trying to compare it to an ATS or better than anything else is Vapor Speech. People who say it is a stripped down Econobox, needs to first go and record themselves in the actual car. It is a very nice car with triple door seals and yes closes better than than most German cars including the E-Class. Your snob attitude tells me you have not set foot on a chevy dealership at least since the BOLT came out as you think you and your E-Class is too good to even go and be a TRUE CAR ENTHUSIAST and check the BOLT out. I challenge you SMK to go onto the lot, record yourself checking out a BOLT and post the Pictures / Video to everyone and then if you still want to say it is garbage, your right. Right now, the BOLT is way better than allot of cars / CUVs out there.
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Growing up in this meant you always had plenty of room. Loved the rear facing 3rd row bench seat. That was my domain. Yup had to wait to be let out, but my space and plenty of it. Remember when we went from the 75 above to the 78 below. both still lovely station wagons.
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I can Dream
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Go test drive one, the closing of the door on the Bolt is like a vault compared to the tin can close of the E-Class. Chevy did a very nice job on the Bolt and you get allot of CUV for the money I think. The one thing I hear over and over is how solid the BOLT is by people that check it out compared to higher end luxury auto's.
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https://www.volkswagen-media-services.com/en/detailpage/-/detail/World-premiere-of-the-ID-VIZZION-in-Geneva-Volkswagen-shows-the-potential-of-its-new-range-of-IDmodels/view/6263949/7a5bbec13158edd433c6630f5ac445da?p_p_auth=kYDRWB9n ID Vission to be shown at the Geneva show looks like an S-class EV competitor in terms of size at least. Excited to see real pictures. Have to say that I am excited by VW ID EV auto line.
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Totally support this, the automakers should be held accountable and feel the wrath of the courts for putting profits over the health of humans. Day of Diesel for everyday basic auto use is over, they just need to accept this and move onto regular gas for now as they work to get out their Hybrids and EVs.
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@smk4565 Right from their website:
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Cool looking pickup? what was this designed for by Cadillac? Curiosity has got me.
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I hate and love everything, just the nature of the beast and what fits me. End result, German brands are just too small and tight like asian brands and sadly many american brands are also just too small and tight leaving me with US Full size Pickups and SUVs. I hope that when they release the mid size EV CUVs that they truly capture the interior space of full size auto's from the 70's or 60's.
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I understand the point your making. I do believe the blunt front end of an auto though makes a difference in this and that you are right, I think many of the .cd numbers are extremely variable depending on where one measures. This site is really cool as they have a full auto testing wind tunnel that does measure everything. The pictures do show that they have a stream of smoke to help identify the over the top measuring much like the MB pic above. https://www.horiba-mira.com/our-services/full-scale-wind-tunnel-(fswt)
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I called them as every auto and the size of the battery (Most expensive component) makes every conversion a custom quote. I agree with you that the 1yr warranty is weird and I would have expected longer too from Tesla, but at least they are trying. I wonder when GM or Toyota will offer EV powertrain kits on their crate sales site.
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I will have to call BS on MB drag coefficient numbers. Based on the attached paper, it is very clear that the blunt nose of their auto's cannot slip through the air as well as they state or even you state. AutoAerodynamicReduction.pdf This PDF shows how you would calculate the CD number and one has to take into account the blunt front end of the auto, not up on top of the hood. I did learn a clear explanation as they show with pictures about the changes I have seen on Semi Trailers for the side and back. Cool Info.
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What a joke of a picture, move the smoke down to the front of the car and see how well it slips around the whole car and not just on top of the hood. These tests are a joke and waste of time as any car today pretty much slips through the air when you have minimal resistance. Lets see how it really fares when you have the actual front of the car hitting the smoke. Doubt there is that good of a CD and what a tired worn look for a car, this could be any of their products from S-Class down to A-Class they all look the same and are just bland boring overpriced Toyota / Chevrolet equal auto's.
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So totally agree and perfect analogy, a worn bar of soap is exactly what the car looks like. Tesla is a patent / powertrain win for who ever eventually buys them, right now their best bet is what they have started to do which is sell the Powertrain via EV conversion shops like EV West who will sell and install it for you into your auto or just sell you the package for doing it yourself.
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Any more delays past June and I think Tesla will have officially shot themselves in the foot long term. Benefit is that Chevy is going to win over some skeptics who will find the BOLT to be every bit as good if not better than the Tesla 3.
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My 300K plus suburban does not use oil. I think it is how one does the maintenance or not. Seems those that think they do not have to do maintenance seem to have all the issue in the world.
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Sweet SuperCharger!
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Nice auto's but not equal to a Denali especially in the looks department. These are too bland to say Luxury or even mid luxury IMHO.
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You are so CORRECT, Fiat and Alfa left dealership holding the bag with garbage product and warranty claims that never were paid. Engine swaps because the engines could not last even a few hundred miles before blowing up. Electrical problems that required using American OEM parts to have an auto work. American built Motors to replace the garbage Italian motors that could not last. Families bought into building dealerships, selling product and honoring warranties and then when Fiat / Alfa realized they could not survive in the US walked away leaving hard working Americans holding the bag and worthless product that no one wanted to buy, dealerships that folded and destroyed families. @smk4565 If you had any understanding of how bad FIAT / ALFA screwed over America in the past you would never make the statements you made. Learn the history before saying they have Italian Flair and more value than the US name plates.
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Alfa is only worth Billions on the books from the Billions the IDIOT CEO stole from the American brands and pumped into a dead product that has only sold a few thousand world wide. Alfa sold 8904 cars in the World excluding the US and 1648 in the US. Giving them a Generous 75K sales price per auto, that is only $791,400,000, so 3/4 of a Billion dollars and they have spent close to 10 Billion on the platforms and trying to bring Alfa back from the Grave. NO WAY the product is worth billions if they sold it off. Lucky if they could get a Billion. Alfa a waste compared to what they should have done with reinvesting the billions back into better products for the US names plates then maybe try to bring Alfa back.
