G. David Felt

Nope, Dead on Arrival!, Kill off the Diesel auto's, focus on Hybrid and the use of alternative fuels that are cleaner.

I would focus on Petro, Hybrid plug-in and pure EV.

Hydrogen just does not make sense as it take way more energy to produce the fuel.

Clarification on the Diesel, if you already have it and it can pass the upcoming emissions then keep it going till you have to truly invest major dollars, otherwise drop it. Reality is a 10-15 year death for diesel as Europe adopts strict emissions and more and more places stop selling it and supporting it, this will give it time to wind down. If you have to do it new like what I get out of this story, then it makes no sense to build it.

Very cool Drew!

University of Waterloo in Canada working with BASF have found a way to stabilize Lithium Sulfur batteries. These batteries are known to carry 75% denser energy storage in a traditional LiS cell compared to a LiO cell. This would reduce greatly the size of a battery pack needed.

Example is the current LiO battery pack in the upcoming Bolt is 225 mile range based on current info. If you can add 75% more range to this battery pack you have a 393.75 mile range on the battery pack and I think most would agree that it would be more than enough for most uses even day time road trips.

Just think if this Chevy Spark battery pack which is 85 mile range had a 75% increase in power density with no change in size, that becomes a 148.75 mile battery pack which is still way better than the current version.

https://chargedevs.com/newswire/researchers-announce-significant-improvement-in-li-s-battery-performance-and-cycle-life/

Interesting points of acknowledgement in the links is:

"The lithium–sulfur battery is receiving intense interest because its theoretical energy density exceeds that of lithium-ion batteries at much lower cost,"

Marilyn was over rated in my book, but my dad loved her. I did like Catherine as she was hot in her daisy dukes. Way more hot woman than I can remember from the 70's and 80's.

Yeah I have a gym membership, but lately my workouts are coming from swinging a sledge hammer.  I have two apartments that I am gentrifying renovating from low-middle income housing into something nicer.  There is a Google campus less than 5 minutes away from these places and rental prices for nicer apartments have skyrocketed. 

Very cool, Yes swinging hardware can be just as solid a workout as the gym. Way to go Drew.

This makes total sense and with some places being destroyed by acid rain from all the diesel and other polluting auto's and companies, it would make sense to have your ubber luxury ride be pure EV.

Intersting, should garner more than a few sales initially. I like the more subdued look and subtle sporty body kit. I am underwhelmed by the pathetic motor. 

Very cool, look forward to seeing the pictures at home since work blocks them.

i loved how the 17 I drove, drove.

 

I'd like to see the electric only range get to 100 miles one of these days.  200 would be nice for long trips but maybe that's a lot to ask in the next few years.

 

At this point though, the flaw here is that the Volt is still small and that makes it a hard sell for anyone who wants space for people and stuff.  If the Volt were a midsize, i guarantee you there would be a whole lot more interest in this car, even during the time of cheap gas.  

 

Maybe Chevy needs this Volt and then to plug the Voltec into the Malibu and new Equinox.

I see no reason not to use the BOLT battery pack with the generator system of the VOLT and put this into a mid size CUV and have that 200 mile range with generator.

I've been absent from C&G the past couple of months but took the time to read up from the last post I stopped at.  You've made great strides with the Ford. Can't wait for the next entry in the story to unfold. 

Welcome back GMTruckGuy74, we missed you around here.

Yes I totally agree that this has been a great following. Looking forward to the next chance after a replacement coil to hear if it fires up.

 

 

Yeah, I was going the speed limit in heavy Sunday afternoon traffic...winding divided freeway section w/ a 6% grade...no truck escape ramps like on I-70 in Colorado... I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw this massive chrome front end bearing down on me (I think it was a Western Star)...the left lane had no room to get in, so I got on the yellow lane divider to give him enough room to get past....I think he brushed the guard rail (several 100 ft drop off into Black Canyon there)...it looked like the brakes on the trailer were gone...lots of pungent brake smoke....(had the sunroof open and smelled it)... talk about a white knuckle experience.

Another thought--the driver may have been distracted playing Pokemon Go.

Given the area, I'm surprised they were going the right direction. I have never lived in an area with so many wrong way driver accidents.

Lots of bad drivers in Az. The heat bakes their brains.

 

Yea, that is very common in the south. So common they have a yummy recipe.

Baked Brains

For those that want to unbake their brains, they have a 10 ways to unbake your brain!

Brains Unbaked!

For those wanting food based Unbaked Brains!

Unbaked Brain Food!

Me think this is the death of TDI in the US. I bet they move forward going hybrid and all ev as they focus to get their dealerships selling again. 

Very nice write up that was informative and helped me out in understanding the updated auto.

Shame they still have some hard plastics and that head room is a bust due to the stupid Coupe design.

Over all, excited to see the improvements and that the volt continues on and is not killed off.

Very cool, glad you had such an Uber Excellent Experience!

 

 

Stinkin' SJW's....

 

Ugh

What's SJW? 

 

 

 

Social Justice Warrior.

 

Yes the socialist idiots that feel we have to make sure everyone has the same thing as everyone else. After all we gotta make sure the peeps that work hard are supporting the lazy ones sitting around getting stoned all day.

Yea, just push the SJW off a cliff and let them deal with the after affect.

Cool to see that the body-on-frame will still be there with a solid axle underneath. 

I understand the need to reduce weight and improve MPG, but I do wonder how fast the aluminum body will get ripped apart. Steel is are better when you are off road.

Should be an interesting ride.

How is that rear door latch working?

 

12851 Model S's is 51,404 annually. Tesla sold 52,580 last year, of which around 52,375 were Model S's.

Q2 numbers are out.

Q1 Model S sales : 12,851.

Q2 Model S sales : 12,420.

 

Q1 Model X : 204

Q2 Model X : 2400.

 

That's a to-date half-year sales total of 27,875.

 

 

 

Musk wants to sell 90,000 units this year but is only on pace to build 62,000.

 

Adjusted sales pace for 2016 : 55,750.

 

Musk stated he wanted to sell 90,000 in 2016.

 

Not seeing the exponential 'sales growth' so far.

 

Nope EV is for long term thinkers and long term owners of auto's, with cheap gas many people who only see an auto as a 2-3 year ownership before trading it in on the newest thing is going to hurt EV sales.

Based on all the proof of just how fast electric is and the increase in MPG for the right combo of Hybrid, I can see the V8 being gone from the majority of auto's by 2020-2022.

I also think Diesel will only survive in select markets and select types of auto's such as trucks/vans here in the US and select trucks/vans/cars in europe. I see most of Asia going away from Diesel and hybrid / electric in everything but commercial trucks.

Days are numbered on diesel I believe. 

 

 

Still a lumbering minivan on short stilts.  Combine that with an uber-crappy CVT and you have what amounts to a giant slug on wheels, guaranteed to require many trips back to the dealer service department.  Other than that I really like it.

I think someone needs to change their old Granny pantys, your becoming very sassy in your old age!

 

      *you're

 

 

Great review and feedback. I am way to big to fit into the Volt and was hoping GM would put this powertrain into a CUV. Glad to hear it is that silky smooth and enjoyable.

 

GM ARE YOU LISTENING? Put this in a CUV now and you will have a Winner Winner Chicken Dinner all the way to the bank.

Ya know... I'm kind of surprised nobody other than Tesla's X has tried to be the first to an electric CUV. Even if it was just a small Trax/HR-V/CX-3 or something. Just to say they have the only/first(pre Tesla's X) EV SUV. 

 

Totally agree, I think GM was right on with the VOLT, but they also should have done a VOLT-C and use the Trax or Equinox and put the power train into one of those to offer a plug-in Hybrid. 

Bolt will be a hit and I suspect many will really like it once they get to test drive it. I hope GM does it right by having driving clinics to get people into the BOLT and test drive it.

 

So I wonder if they paid 86 million to california, how much will get paid to each state after that? I know washington state has a lawsuit with VW so I have to imagine that VW will end up paying out millions more per state.

 

I am sure every state would like to get a boost like this.

I bet it all has to do with which states test emissions to begin with. My local city doesn't test and most of the suburban around me doesn't either but MO does. I would assume Chicago's Cook county would test but I'm not sure. I would assume states that don't test at all would get waaaaay less than states super strict like Cali. 

 

Washington and Oregon back in the 90's adopted CA emission laws and yearly testing. So I expect a decent payout to these two states.

Random, did you guys realize Elon Musk was the creator of PayPal?? I just found this out yesterday. 

Yup, he made his billions off paypal and now is doing what he wants regardless of what others think. Very cool.

Hey dfelt,

What do you think about this workout? 

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kris-gethins-12-week-muscle-building-trainer.html

 

I've done the first 9 weeks, I believe. And I've done be best not skipping anything listed or days in general.

 

Edit: Yesterday was Day 71.

Not a bad workout. I do not see specific details of the types of exercises to perform, but I will say that this is a good 90 day jump start your body to make a difference. I did not have the time to view the videos, but I like the type of work outs stated and down time to let the body recover.

Good Job.

Did you take a before photo for day 1 and then at any other time to help track progress? Visual is always good to have to make sure you are making a difference that you wanted.

 

The Range Rover is a legit off roader for sure, one of the best out there.

 

The real Range Rover, as I call it, that starts at $85k sold 1,044 units last month.  The Range Rover Sport that starts at $64k sold 1,500, and that isn't a true off roader, and the $41k Range Rover Evoque isn't even a Range Rover.  So if we look at the real Range Rover it outsells the G-wagen by 3 to 1, but starts $35,000 cheaper too.

 

I think the GLS  can hold its own off road, they do sell an off road package for it.  It is no Range Rover, but it could mop the floor with a Lexus RX or Acura MDX or any of those car based crossovers.

The Evoque has a lot of off road goodies doesn't it? Like multiple terrain management, raise and lower suspension accordingly, those fancy front cameras to look around obstacles as you're creeping around them?

 

I also thought the VW / Audi / Porsche had those same features, adjustable suspension, camera, various crawl modes, etc.