G. David Felt

16 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

That sounds great... and yes, I'm sure every manufacturer is working towards this extensively now. 

In the case of the Bolt, I won't be surprised if/when GM announces other variants in order to improve the ROI.  Having a single car on a platform is generally not a good idea financially unless you can sell a huge number of copies of it. So I really expect more versions of the Bolt if GM is going to have financial success with it. 

I agree that the technology needs to be spread across the product lines.

I think GM would have a Massive Hit on their hands to make a Zolt. An EV Mini Pickup on this that would be well loved in the City.

My piss Poor photoshop but I think a mini EV Pickup would be a big hit. 500 to 1000lbs is all it needs to haul in the bed.

Like this comparison between the Moto-Z and Note 7 even better.

http://newatlas.com/galaxy-note-7-vs-moto-z-comparison/45072/

Just read a review, Moto-Z if you like and want the snap-on attachments, otherwise Note 7.

https://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-galaxy-note-7-specs-vs-s7-moto-z-iphone-oneplus-3/ 

15 hours ago, Frisky Dingo said:

The Scirocco would be cool. They couldn't make it AWD though, for fear of stepping on the TT's toes. Keeping it FWD and cheaper would be the right call.

I disagree, make it an AWD EV for the US market. This Scirocco would sell big time I think.

On 9/17/2016 at 1:38 PM, Frisky Dingo said:

Yeah, I understand. It's still BS. The only people that care that VW lied is the government and EPA. TDI owners loved their cars' performance, and the only reason the overwhelming majority of them are letting go of their cars is because the buyout is such a ridiculously good deal. Our diesel regs are garbage anyway. There were far bigger issues to focus on. They're picking something that's an easy target.

I have to disagree with you. The diesel engine with proper clean technology is fine, but letting them pollute the way they did adding carcinogens to the air we breath, acid rain, etc. calls for VW to be spanked hard and their diesel to die.

We have much better tech now anyway than to continue to use polluting, death causing diesel.

7 hours ago, daves87rs said:

Thinking....Trailblazer?

New Trailblazer SS AWD EV would Rock

14 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

It sounds like you maybe want to buy an unlocked phone off Ebay instead of buying new. 

The Moto-Z is what I was referring to above. The different attachments you can get for it are something I've wanted in a phone for a while.  I **love** the idea of the camera attachment that has a real zoom lense. 

Cool, did not know they had this type of feature.

I love my Samsung notes, never had problem with them either under a cell phone vendor or if it was cracked. Phones just work.

You can pick up a Note3, 4 or 5 pretty cheap on Amazon,

Here is their unlocked listing of cell phones. 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_11?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=unlocked+cell+phones&sprefix=cell+phones%2Caps%2C293

Amazing how cheap some of these unlocked new and refurbished certified phones are.

10 hours ago, bigpoolog said:

Top Tier: Nexus 5X

Mid Tier: Moto G (Newest Model)

Shit Tier: Samsung

Why do you think Samsung is Shit Tier?

3 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

To be honest, I'm not even sure how to approach them. I found their email address. Now I'm not exactly sure what to say. lol

I would point to this story and ask them if they are going to be adding EV buses to the transit pool.

@A Horse With No Name

QUOTE of the DAY!

"Prius - Something a bunch of 1960's Citroen designers would do given LSD and a room full of Pokemon....In a good sort of way!"

2 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

I wish I had hopes for getting them In 2017 here.

If you can, I would like to invite you to email, call, reach out to your local tansit and find out if they are considering these Proterra EV buses. If they are, when do they think they will have them added to the fleet? If not, then why not. 

Post their response here, it would be awesome to see how others are thinking.

I agree that all transit should get these buses into their fleets.

Watching to see how many BOLTS sell in the first 30-90 days and how it affects the Leaf, Focus EV, etc. will tend to tell how the market accepts these auto's. 

I wonder how the Ioniq will do as their battery pack is half of the bolt. I just do not see anyone wanting to spend 30K on a 100 mile EV when you can get 238 miles in a 30K CUV.

I thought the Scirocco was a bust here when they sold it in the US. 

Very cool, options for building auto's is always good. Hopefully the BOLT will take off faster than slower in adoption allowing GM to use Oshawa for legacy auto's and convert some of the other plants to the new EV lines.

Awesome, being a person that loves to drive, I always drive way more than most people, so did not know that 1000 miles per month is the national average. Good Info Drew!  

G. David Felt
Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com

2016 J.D. Powers VDS SUVs

JD powers has their 2016 vehicle dependability study out. VDS Study

 You can review it for all other segments, but being a dedicated SUV / CUV buyer, I was curious to know after 3 years who was top dog.

• Small SUV - Buick Encore
• Compact SUV - Chevrolet Equinox
• Compact Premium SUV - Mercedes-Benz GLK
• Midsize SUV - Nissan Murano
• Midsize Premium SUV - Lexus GX
• Large SUV - GMC Yukon

I have to say that having 3 of the 6 segments covered by a GM product is pretty damn impressive!

On 9/13/2016 at 3:22 PM, smk4565 said:

This sounds like a pretty awesome bus, to have no emissions and no noise and 1/4 the operating cost of a diesel that is amazing.  Seems like it could recoup the additional cost to purchase in fuel savings.

 

The Tesla is only 100 kWh battery, with 600 kWh battery they could put an insane ludicrous mode on this bus.  

Agree, this bus is gonna be awesome for transit and how nice and quiet it will be. Looking forward to riding one when Seattle gets them in spring of 2017. 

I wonder how long it will take before transit groups flip their whole fleet to EV buses like this?

The savings in fuel, maintenance, etc. is just gonna be awesome.

Hope they do the proper thing, so they can survive, but one does have to wonder how they can tell the world they have been cheating and then still cheat and no repercussions. 

Makes one wonder just what is going on with Japan Government to not have done something by now. The loss of face is huge here and heads should have rolled by now.

2 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Trailblazer SS is one of the better Ideas GM had over the last 15 years or so....I would be enjoying that until someone pried it out of my cold dead hands.   Seriously.  And I am not even an SUV guy!

Yup, it will stay in the garage once I buy a BOLT for the wife to use in running around for her errands, visiting friends, family, etc. No need to put miles on the trailblazer for local city driving.

BOLT just makes sense!

1 hour ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Why would you lease that at 10K a year when you could buy it for twenty bucks more a month?

Lease gives you a dedicated value at the end, buying does not so while it is rare for a used car to hold far more value after 2 or 3 years, the promised trade in value allows people who are not sure if they want to be in the auto for 5 or more years to use the auto, then trade it in for a new one and not deal with a used auto and repairs. For a business it is easier to write off the cost of the least and make sure your employee is in a reliable auto to get their job done.

Many reasons to lease over buy. Yet with that said if you are one to hold onto an auto for more than 3 years, then leasing is probably not right for you.

Just as an example, Washington state has some of the cheapest if not the cheapest electrical rates in the country. We have level 1 to 3 chargers all over and the cities are pretty much letting you charge for free at this time to get people to convert over.

BOLT, 238 miles on their 60 KWh battery, at 6 cents per KW equals $3.60 cents to fill up the battery. At 1000 miles per month, you have $15.12 per month energy cost to drive that 1000 miles.

That compared to my trailblazer at $2.25 per gallon, getting an average of 14 miles per gallon, costs just over $400 per month to fuel.

EDIT: Before anyone says anything, yes my wife drives much more than the 1000 miles, but I used that as an example of how much sense this BOLT makes as a commuter car, daily driver.

I can take my paid for Trailblazer SS and just enjoy it on road trips, weekends but also buy the BOLT and still come out ahead in local driving.

Gotta Love the Video's Chevy is doing on the BOLT!

 Love the fact that this little CUV is 128 MPe City and 110 MPe highway.

Plus Millennials are more inclined to lease a BOLT than a gas powered auto. GM seems to have done their research and based on reviews so far have a solid winner on their hands. Now we just need to get them on the lot for purchase or lease and see how it really performs.

GM makes sure it is a solid reliable CUV like the Volt and the BOLT will just sell like crazy I suspect.

Agree with Drew on this one +1 ^^^

Ugly mess and Mistubishi could go the way of other past auto companies joining the history books.

Blah but like others have stated, if given free to me, who am I to kick it out of my bed! At least I would drive it till I could trade it in on a Chevy BOLT!