Drew Dowdell

I actually preferred the look of the older one. It was much more distinctive compared to the competition. I’m done with small displacement turbos replacing larger NA engines myself, but this isn’t the best case scenario for that argument. The 1.8 was gutless and saw no noticeable fuel economy gain over the 1.4T. The 1.4T does roll on like a larger engine and would be perfectly suitable as a base engine in these. The 1.8 NA should have been dropped completely and a 1.8T should have been offered.

EVs aren’t consistent enough to form any opinion. You basically have Teslas and you have the rolling penalty boxes that look like eggs. Shocker, the rolling penalty boxes that look like eggs have poor resale. The Versa Note and Chevy Spark have terrible resale also because they’re rolling penalty boxes that look like eggs. But that’s the entire market of EVs right now, there is no middle ground like say an EV CR-V. So it’s pretty impossible to form any conclusions as to what an EV resale landscape will look like when more models come out.

On a different tack, one of the only things that bothers me about the Avalanche is how un-green of a vehicle it is, slurping down gasoline at 16 miles per gallon. However, the conversation we had here the other day about E85 made me do some figuring, and I think I'm just going to run E85 all the time from now on. It will cost an extra $125 every 10,000 miles to do it, but I think it's worth it in order to use a renewable fuel. Plus, of course, Moar Powah! Also, by using E85, I will be using less than half the amount of petroleum that a Toyota Pruis would be. In fact, a vehicle would have to achieve an average 83mpg to use as little petroleum as I do when running E85.

If the electrical grid fails, you still aren't pumping gas. I've been in south florida after a hurricane when no one had power... you're still not pumping gas. I had an extra 20 gallons strapped to the back of the Honda when I went down and I got gas at what was probably the last available station before the power outages and it took me two hours of waiting in line to get my 16 gallons. They wanted to fuss at me about the gas cans on the back of the car because they thought I wanted to fill those also, but I had filled them in PA before I went down.

Whatever the percentage is today and multiply that out by the number of EVs sold in the future. It isn't a knowable number at the moment.

No. I like the powertrains in the EVs... I like the Tesla powertrain. The Bolt EV is an absolute hoot to drive. My issue is the body they put them in. I wouldn't buy a Bolt EV even if it was powered by a Blackwing or a 6.2 Ecotec. I buy vehicles I like the looks of first, powertrain second. I bought the Avalanche because I like the Avalanche. The 5.3 I would describe as adequate at best, but I would have definitely preferred at 6.2 or even an EV if those were options. Lots of people like the Tesla looks enough to buy one. I do not. I think they look like a soulless jellybean and their interiors are spartan... but so does a '99 Taurus or Lumina. I wouldn't buy either of those either. Put the Tesla powertrain in a CT6 and I don't care if I can't afford it, I'll make it work somehow. I really wish AWD wasn't a requirement for me or I'd pick up a CT6 Plug-in.

The battery degradation issue is widely not an issue. In hybrids and EV, the cars are wearing out before the battery does. NYC’s and LA’s fleet of hybrid taxis age out before the battery dies.

The way the bans in Europe work is that you are only allowed in the city center or congested areas if you have a certain color registration sticker (theirs goes where our inspection stickers go). Some of the bans are time based to keep heavy polluters out during rush hours. But basically it works like this, only vehicles that meet the emissions requirements get the best sticker that can travel to city center at any time. If the police catch you driving (not parked, actively under power) and you have a banned sticker, you can be heavily fined. One of the only exceptions I know of is medical emergency, but there may be others. Delivery and work trucks also get special hours for operation. Now all of the places that are planning total bans are the cities, specifically ones that have fantastic public transit, so your scenario of Aunt Millie who lives on the side of a remote mountain and only goes to a general store in a town of 1,000 doesn’t apply. Also, classic cars get emissions exemptions as long as they’re driven less than a certain distance per year. Most people live in cities in this country, more than half. So I still maintain that EVs will be suitable to 80% of non-commercial drivers by 2030 without much difficulty. They’d be accepted by 50% of drivers if the financially accessible “middle class” ones didn’t look like stupid eggs.

I think I’ve pointed out multiple times different solutions for different lifestyles.

If you can't afford an 8-year old Leaf, you can't afford a car. 2013 Ford Focus Electric - $4,868 - 74k miles 2014 Chevrolet Spark Electric - $4,995 - 62k miles and more torque than my Avalanche(!!) There are 189 EVs for under $7000 and under 75,000 miles available on AutoTrader right now.... so maybe we can move past the "EV's aren't affordable" trope. Unless your house is on an electrical panel pre-1990 (and I fully admit that many houses are), the cost to install at charger averages $1200. It costs roughly $1,295 to fuel a Toyota Corolla for 1year/15,000 miles at 2.59 a gallon and 30 mpg average (local average price). Charging at home costs so little per mile compared to fueling with gas, that ICE maintenance more than exceeds that cost.

I don't believe I said everyone. But even in locations like that there is going to be a Wawa or Sheetz or Getgo or a State Park or charging at/near their employer. Furthermore, people in the locations like that photo are much more likely to live in a detached house. Here in Pittsburgh (in a neighborhood where a lot of greenies live, but still) there is a neighborhood that most houses do not have driveways and yet I still see a number of scenes like this one. (Reserving your street parking is a local phenomenon here and generally accepted) And as I mentioned... it's not hours and hours to charge a significant amount of miles. It's 30 minutes to an hour for a typical week of driving, and that's with technology available today and on the used market. The story continues to evolve and in 2030, the 2017 Bolt will be the same as any other 13 year old used economy car on the market... it will be dirt cheap and chargers will be everywhere.

Again.... (and again... and again.... and again...) This is not the usage pattern for EVs. It may be the way new EV owners are doing it, but it's not the way it is done once you know what you're doing. First, and most importantly, 30 minutes gets you 200 miles in a Tesla, 30 minutes gets you 90 miles of range in a 2017 Bolt (from empty) and a 2020 will get you 100 miles, a Leaf on DC will fill up completely in 30 minutes. All of the above cars can get from 0% to 100% in about an hour on fast charging.... 63 minutes for the Bolt if you want to get technical. So no, not hours and hours. Furthermore, the Bolt, Tesla, and other 250+ range EVs have enough range to get 80% of non-commercial drivers through their week on a single charge. Going on a normal weekly grocery run (not just eggs, cheese, milk, bread) can easily blow an hour of time. Now this next part I know you understand, so what I don't understand is why you keep parroting the false narrative of how EV charging works. An EV driver does not need to be charging to full every time they charge. They only need to charge enough to get them through to the next charger plus some wiggle room for error. I'm at Costco at least twice a week and the normal grocery store at least once a week. It is unusual for me to be out of either place in less than 30 minutes unless I'm going in for one thing. Right there my commuting miles are covered if I charge for 30 minutes each time. But I do not need to get to 100% each time! I just need to add just enough to get me the next few days till I'm at a charger again. At my old job, I was able to charge at work for free... I'd never need to charge at home or at a retail facility. In short, the idea you have of the usage pattern of EV's is way off.... unfortunately, your way of thinking is the same as a lot of peoples' and it will take time to change that mentality. That's why Tesla and GM warranty their batteries.

At some point, not this season but maybe next April or May, I plan to buy the tent attachment for it.

.... in the back of the Avalanche.... Full size air mattresses fit perfectly in the bed... ask me how I know.

I have plenty of trunk now for an italian job

What I described is what you would do if you were buying an EV tomorrow and lived in a situation where you couldn't charge at home. What I see happening in the mid-term future is that chargers at stores become substantially more common as new places are built or existing facilities are renovated. It will eventually become a revenue stream for them. Our local grocery chain (and others nationally) has spent million and millions putting gas stations in their parking lots and tying gas discounts to grocery purchases. I can absolutely see that same grocery chain doing the same thing with EV charging in their lots. But also, as charging gets more ubiquitous, people will finally learn that you don't need a full charge every single time. The mind set of "I have to fill up" will change to "oh, I'll just charge for 20 minutes while I'm in this store and then when I go to the doctor tomorrow I can charge there too". Even if you only charge at a rate of 100 miles per 30 minutes, that's enough for a couple days of errands. The fueling of EVs requires a complete shift in mentality. Without that shift in mindset, of course EV's "won't work" if one keeps thinking in old ways.

At a local rapid charger that is in the parking lot of the Kroger/Walmart/Target/Best Buy/Mini-mall they're shopping at. Once range hits 300 to 350 miles on a charge, just charge it once a week when you're doing your grocery shopping. At my old job, I could charge while I was at work. I have a friend who has a Volt who lives in a similar place as that picture... he parks at the mall next to his job and charges it up. When he sees on his phone that the car is full, he walks over and moves it into his lot (He's a service manager for a Lexus dealer). He basically never uses gas except when the regenerator comes on to burn off the old stuff. Once you get over the "OMG I could NEVER do that!!!!" F.U.D., most people are pretty resourceful and can figure out how to make it work. As more charging stations become available, more solutions will present themselves to people. A Telsa can recharge 200 miles in 30 minutes right now. Future battery improvements will reduce that time.

Funny this came up. @Paolino was asking me yesterday about it. He hasn't put gas in the car since March and the tank is full. I told him he needs to go burn through that tank soon and get a fresh tank in there.

I have always liked driving these. I fit really well in the driver seat and everything is ergonomically great. The balance of the car, the steering, the handling are all superb. Could it use a bit more horsepower? Sure, but I wouldn't want it to disturb the balance of the car.

The opposite. However, it can cause problems if you've run crap fuel for 100k miles and then suddenly run E85 and the E85 starts to break up the deposits and let them loose into your engine. E85 is a solvent and really good at cleaning engine deposits, but you can't run it unless all of your fuel system is set up for it because it can dissolve rubberized parts. The Avalanche was built to run E85 and gets 326hp and 348 lb-ft of torque on E85 while getting 320hp and 335 lb-ft of torque on regular 87. My mileage on E85 is around 11-12 and on gasoline is 15-16. E85 is about 25 cents a gallon cheaper here than the cheapest regular (costco) and 55 cents cheaper than everyone else.

Oh, well it gets an Italian Tune Up every day then... sometimes multiple times a day. Plus I'm also running E85 through it every 3rd tank or so which should really clean out the engine good.

A what now?

This is the CAI I like. I like it because the box has insulation in it and the tube is plastic so it doesn't absorb heat like metal would. https://www.coldairinductions.com/shop/cold-air-inductions-products/cold-air-intakes/chevrolet/avalanche/2009-2013-gm-v8-fullsize-truck-and-suv-cold-air-intake-black/

I do, and the thing that saved me from costly tickets was the fact that none of my 3 vehicles had over 160hp. Now I have a vehicle with 326 horsepower (and probably a CAI coming soon). I gotta watch myself in the new wheels.

It was on the AWD Honda CR-V. I'm pretty good about tire rotations too. I have it done at every oil change and on the CR-V that was at 7,500 miles. Keep in mind that the quality of the roads here in PA are substantially different than what you have out your way.