G. David Felt

Balthazar, do you not think EVs will catch on much faster due to state, county and city GOVs going to EV fleets which will introduce more people to driving them and helping to change peoples perception? Tesla I think more than the Prius has changed peoples attitude about EV auto's and I think the BOLT will only increase the notion that I can go electric and ditch the dirty pump for many people. Ease of recharging at home is very appealing to people rather than having to plan to run out and fill up auto's for the week. I kinda view the situation you described like going to the movies in the '20s-70s to the 80s with VCR rentals to the 90s with DVD rentals to Netflix at home... It was once fun to go to the movies with friends and family....but....waiting in line excessively took a toll on our patience... So by the time movies were being transferred to Beta and VHS and we could rent them, we stopped waiting in line excessively... We still wait in line like this...but only for the Star Wars franchise it seems and for young Leo DiCaprio movies where he is drowning in the North Atlantic from hypothermia... And, by the time DVDs came of age....we were even fed up of rewinding the damned tape before returning the movie back to Blockbuster Video...(yeah remember them???!!!) So when Netflix came to be...we just about had it from renting movies for 24 hours, then for renting them for 48 hours and then for 1 week, only to bring the movies back???!!! What the hell is that???!!!! I have to go out of my way to rent the stupid movie, then return it????!!!!! Go phoque yourself Blockbuster!!! I dont have to return no movies no more!!! (this was when Netflix mailed the bloody movie to your home...and alls you had to do is just mail it back, but that too became tiresome..now Netflix lets us download....but apparantly that is starting to bother us as well) OK...the connection: I dont know about anybody else, but Im fed up of stopping every so often at the gas shop and most of the time the route to the gas shop is outta my way just to have my hands stink of gas.... I realize that EV range is nowhere near the range of gasoline powered cars..but doncha think when battery range comes close to gasoline range....doncha think that people are gonna view recharging at the comfort of one's home versus going out of one's way to gas up or recharge at a gas/recharge station as they do Netflix to DVDs to Beta/VHS to movie theatre going? We as humans, when we find a way that eliminates the hassles, we tend to adopt the less hassle way of things immediately is alls Im sayin'!!! We'll Stated Olds!

+1, I agree with SMK! stupid.

I agree, which only makes this more confusing. I would wager to believe some way or another that employment and/or money is a problem and you'd save a lot buying/leasing a smaller American made car than this tiny i3. Yes, LA has stated they will save on the fuel cost and help go greener, yet do they really need these auto's for the use they think they will apply them to. I am willing to bet they could find alternatives that would be better than this and some of it could be as simple as putting meter maids or Men on bicycles, having them walk, etc.

Let me ask you some thing dfelt. What do you think they should use? Simple, having uncles and Aunts in local police forces here in washington I have had this chat with them many times and they all admit that they can easily us much smaller 4 door sedans than the huge purchase of police interceptor versions of SUV's, they only need a few motorcycles and should have at least 2 police interceptor models of high performance cars, could be mustangs or camaros. For bringing the equipment to a crash scene, there are many options for the vans or full size SUV to use. Usually a commercial van is best. With that said, as long as the state, county and cities give a wide open choice they are trying to give every officer on the force the same fully loaded SUVs. There is allot of waste in government and we all know it as many jobs can be done with much less auto or no auto. The problem is one department sees what another buys and wants the same toy. Perfect example is the Home Land Security office here in Seattle. The whole force is nothing but GM Tahoe police versions. Does HLS really need to have a full fleet of petro drinking SUVS when they spend the bulk of their time in cites? I bet most of the tax payers would be shocked at how much waste is spent on auto's and allowing the gov employee to drive said auto's home driving up the amount of fuel used by giving a perc to these workers that private workers do not have. Why should the cops, fire department, City Employee get to drive a taxpayer auto home every day putting on needless miles and gas costs when they could use mass transit or should be driving their own auto to work.

But then figure in the longer range with the explorer and the larger size does that 5K price difference still save on achieving what they think they need? I do not know but just asking the question. Clearly the smaller auto can save money and at least to me save the department funds as I am sure it will service the police just fine, but then they all have their own agenda for getting the most toys for tax payer supplied dollars. After all who are they to actually be fiscally responsible since they are not footing the bill.

If you're single or a couple, go with the CX-3. Families, jump to the CX-5. Bill, what about people over the national average hieght of 5'10" for men, can the CX3 fit them? Ya know I will always ask the question if my 6'6" tall body can fit!

Cool Review, so in other words, buy the CX5 over the CX3 as you will be happier as will your passengers is the message I get here.

Interesting story time! What is tomorrow nights story about?

Balthazar, do you not think EVs will catch on much faster due to state, county and city GOVs going to EV fleets which will introduce more people to driving them and helping to change peoples perception? Tesla I think more than the Prius has changed peoples attitude about EV auto's and I think the BOLT will only increase the notion that I can go electric and ditch the dirty pump for many people. Ease of recharging at home is very appealing to people rather than having to plan to run out and fill up auto's for the week.

Reg where are you located in North America, I am only asking as I searched all of washington and oregon hoping to find a dealer with an Envision to check it out and no one has received any. I would think the west coast would get them first coming from China but then I could be wrong.

Totally agree with you smk, I see so many wasted auto's in comparison to what the police really use it for plus the waste of gas by letting the officers drive them home and back. Must be nice to be able to not have to drive your own auto and let the commute come out of the tax payers pockets.

Be interesting to see how long it takes before some engineer figures out how to hack the S sedan and allow you to get that full battery pack for free.

I assume the LAPD will be putting a lot more miles on them than allowed for $199 a month. Gonna be interesting to see how they chase the bag guys with the limited range. I figure they will bring in the petro powered to take over. These aren't going to be for chases. The i3s will be part of LAPD's non-emergency vehicle fleet, meaning they'll be used for "transportation vehicles for officers and in community outreach initiatives," according to BMW in a press release. I'm betting the i3 is slightly more practical than a Volt. Also, I don't think LAPD is being taken to the cleaners. Buying a group of vehicles for a fleet is a much different and expensive than you or I going into a dealership. I doubt that someone is offering $199 lease to fleet customers. But as I posted here, other states have negotiated deals with the auto companies including GM so WSP here is getting Volts Dirt cheap and supporting an american company over a german one. http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/86754-ev-group-buying-is-it-the-right-thing-to-do-from-a-state-federal-level/ I realize that this is a $13,932 cost per i3 for 3 years compared to the $33,859 purchase price before rebate on the VOLT, but still I see the VOLT as a far better option for the purpose you have stated than the i3.

I assume the LAPD will be putting a lot more miles on them than allowed for $199 a month. Gonna be interesting to see how they chase the bag guys with the limited range. I figure they will bring in the petro powered to take over.

Awesome to understand, Thank you for all you do Drew! You Rock!

Balth, perhaps a history lesson on these in another thread. What kept them from saving Studebaker? +! Yes I agree, I would love to learn more. Plus I would also love to hear more about this story from Road and Track: http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/news/a29169/bobby-darins-dream-car-was-an-outrageous-vision-of-the-future/ These concepts are feakin awesome, talk about how they influenced various OEM builders. That would be cool to I think to hear from you.

Very cool to read Drew. Question you say 3 days to rebuild everything and bring it up. Does that mean the site will be down during this change over or will we still have access?

This is why I think the Chevy BOLT will be a huge success for GM.

Interesting, like the name but not a fan of the styling.

Yes and for a far cheaper cost they could have had VOLTS. THis is just more of the same BS Stupidity of the politicians. Here in washington state, the WSP (Washington State Patrol) said they were up against a deadline and so got an exemption from going out for competitive bid and spent millions buying BMW motorcycles for their patrol men who are only on the highways and in a state where most of the time with rain makes no sense to have a motorcycle. As it is, they replaced bikes that were fine and still had years left in service and most of these bikes sat due to weather. This stinks of stupid deal making and no allot of common sense. Just trying to say they are greener. Also, why $387 when you can lease them 3 years here in washington with the same full service for $199. Seems the idiots got taken to the cleaners.

That rocks and is very exciting.

WOW, Guess I just do not get it then as I found the commercial boring, non-inspiring and pretty much Yawned all through it with the bland Jelly Bean cars they have built for the last 30+ years. Porsche peaked in the 60's and have not done anything to get my passion for their auto's going. I do fully agree with you that they started off right with the Dare Greatly and have let it languish like Cadillac and all of GM seems to do as they just do not get Marketing or how to continue the drive to getpeople into the showroom. Course this could also have something to do with the ancient crypt keeper like show rooms GM has here in the US compared to China.

Yes, Lexus uses electric motors connected to the axel. I could not find the info on any US or Japan web site, but the Lexus of UK has a ton of great pictures and a detailed overview on how the Lexus Hybrid system works. http://blog.lexus.co.uk/how-does-lexus-hybrid-drive-work/ Also found this on a dealers web site here. http://mcgrathlexusdealers.com/lexus-hybrid-drive-how-does-it-work/ Pretty interesting to see the images from the UK site on the Lexus hybrid.

This was to be expected. They see what GM and MB are doing there and want a bigger piece of the action, aka $. I know from coworkers who are chinease, they like the names of the old auto's, this goes for Cadillac as well. Since China is the biggest market in the world by population, one would think the companies would follow what the customer wants.