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Very good Mach E review

@Joan KisslerWrangler has rear spare tire and I saw some of them have bike racks on that spare tire, not sure how well they work. Roof rack will be hard to put bikes on. The best IMO is to use hitch platform bike rack. I have Yakima hitch rack but it is regular hanging bike rack. It is for 4 bikes and when i put 1 or 2 on it it is fine but when I put four bikes for the whole family it is a nightmare, they don't fit that well and they scratch each other. I plan to sell it and to get hitch platform bike rack. They are heavier but it is much easier to put bikes on them and bikes are not touching each other. Here is ine inexpensive for 2 bikes https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Bike-Racks/Swagman/S64650.html

Next summer, Cadillac will introduce two high-performance vehicles to their roster, the 2022 CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing. These sport sedans will be offered with a 6-speed manual transmission as standard, with a 10-speed automatic transmission available at additional cost. While the stick-shift has throwback associations, the Blackwings will be General Motor’s first production vehicles to use 3D-printed parts, including air ducts, an electrical harness bracket, as well as a stylish medallion emblazoning the shift knob. For the uninitiated, manual transmission vehicles are equipped with a third pedal to the left of the brake that’s referred to as the clutch. Depressing the clutch pedal enables different gears to be selected with the shifter, allowing different amounts of power to be allocated to the wheels. While this process takes a little extra practice and coordination, manual gear changes affords a more engaging driving experience and a greater sense of control over the vehicle. Autotrader

I am a Star Trek fan as well, but I prefer to think of my cars as women, like in Gone in 60 seconds ?

@ccap41I can't say anything about other brands but EGO stuff I am using is very good. Initially I bought a lawn mower and than slowly when it was on sale I got trimmer, hedge trimmer, weed wacker and the chain saw. I have only two batteries, bigger one that came with the mower and a smaller one that came with one of the tools (rest of the tools I bought without the battery, much cheaper that way). I can't attest how all of that works for the long run but in two years I have been using it was great, good quality tools.

I have Google mesh WiFi, I can only say that it worked very well last two years I had it.

Well, last time I was with my wife's previous car at the dealer changing oil (still was under warranty) they said the car needs rear brake pads and quoted me $300 for the replacement. I said no thank you, bought pads on rockauto for $40 and it took me 40 minutes to install them. So that's that ...

MDX Sport Hybrid. More powerful than regular MDX with better transmission, it is definitely more quieter and gets at least 4-5 more mpg on average. It is only $1.5k more than comparable regular MDX (well we bought dealer's car that was at the end of the year cycle and they used it in the dealership, had 2k miles but was significantly cheaper. Officially we are the first owners) I really don't understand why Acura doesn't make more of them but they are pretty hard to find.

My wife's car is a hybrid (Not Lexus) and it is actually quieter than ICE counterpart, and faster, and more economical. Definitely not always the case between ICE and Hybrid car but that's why we got it.

Depends. My car, my wife's car and my parents car are all 2016-2019 models with my wife's car being a hybrid, and all the basic stuff is not a problem to do, Oil, brakes are easy. Some light bulbs are pain in the @ss to replace.

I would love to do this if it was under different circumstances. But it is a two day trip and with the Covid and everything I can't really do it at the moment.

Yes

I am actually now trying to get a vehicle from North Carolina and they said they will ship it to me for $900.

That's fine to each its own. I am not much of the wrencher either, just like doing some basic stuff. I would rather drive also.

@balthazar No doubt electric mowers and yard tools are more expensive than ICE when compared apples to apples. But it is just a tool and to me personally and for my needs these where well worth the extra price.

You see, to me it is far more enjoyable than mowing my lawn for example. I would rather work on my car than do landscaping. I guess part of me being a car enthusiast.

fits in mine

I have the bigger battery from the EGO mower (mine is like in the link, self propelled, but I rarely use propulsion. Kids do use it)and a smaller one from one of the tools. Most of the tool (blower, chain saw, trimmer, hedge trimmer) I got without battery because two batteries is more than enough for the tools I don't use that often. I am considering getting snow blower as well but it is not cheap and last few winters were pretty warm with this one forecasted being warmer than usual as well in the North East. Plus I have two growing boys that I plan to put to work in case we have a snow storm

It is never 30 minutes, you have to get to dealership and than it takes at least an hour till they process your car, all in all you spending at least couple hours and being grossly overcharged. My wife's car is still under warranty and I prefer to change oil at a dealer just not to get them excuse in case something happens. My car on the other hand is out of warranty and very easy to change oil. Synthetic oil from Costco for $25 and high quality Purolator filter from Amazon for $8 or $9 and it takes me exactly 30 minutes on my driveway including taking out and putting back all the tools. Any local car auto parts store or Walmart takes used oil for disposal.

They can deliver to local dealer, it might be not as expensive as you think My yard is not huge, I have pretty much everything EGO now. Didn't want to deal with smell of gas and noise.

Mazda Honoring Local Heroes by Giving Them 100th-Anniversary Miatas The free Miatas are going to 50 people who have dedicated themselves to their communities this year. Mazda Miata Special Editions Being Gifted to 50 'Local Heroes' (caranddriver.com) That's our local hero who gets the car: N.J. teacher who turned his home into PPE factory honored with new car. N.J. teacher who turned his home into PPE factory honored with new car - nj.com

Looks so much better than Silverado, especially in these colors.

Since @David didn't answer my question about electric consumption demand as we switch EVs here is a good estimate: How Much Electricity Will It Take to Power Electric Cars of the Future? (inverse.com) Since Texas and California consume more electricity than any other states, they provide a good snapshot of what a future filled with electric vehicles might look like. In both cases, an increase in EVs would drive consumption higher, with the potential to strain local infrastructure. If virtually all passenger cars in Texas were electrified today, the state would need approximately 110 more terawatt-hours of electricity per year — the average annual electricity consumption of 11 million homes. The added electricity demand would result in a 30 percent increase over current consumption in Texas. By comparison, because of a more temperate climate, California might require nearly 50 percent more electricity than it currently consumes if passenger vehicles in the state were fully electrified. That means California would need to generate an additional 120 terawatt-hours of electricity per year. In 2018, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the organization that manages most of Texas’s electric grid, hit a new peak demand of roughly 73 gigawatts on July 19. Looking at the off-peak hours for July 19, 2018, we found the ERCOT grid had spare capacity to provide more than 350 gigawatt-hours of additional electricity if idled power plants continued to operate throughout the day, not just during peak demand. Based on our estimates, the charging requirements for a fully electrified fleet of personal cars in Texas would be about 290 gigawatt-hours per day, less than the available surplus of generation capacity. In other words, the Texas grid could theoretically charge a fully electrified vehicle fleet today if vehicles were charged during off-peak hours. When we did the same analysis for California, however, we found that if EVs become the norm, it could push the total demand for electricity beyond the existing capacity of the Golden State’s grid. To meet that demand, California and Texas would need to build new power plants or buy more electricity from neighboring states than they already do. The states might also need additional transmission and distribution infrastructure to accommodate new automotive charging infrastructure.

Coal is only 23% of electrical energy sources. Renewable is about 17%. If renewables completely replace coal (which will take years if not decades) it is still will be only 40%. The rest is natural gas and nuclear. @David do you have any estimate of the electric energy capacity required to replace all cars with EVs?