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Drew Dowdell

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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    The UAW has announced that their membership has ratified the new 4-year contract deal with General Motors 23,389 to 17,501. Roughly 46,000 union members will receive an $11,000 ratification bonus while temporary workers will get $4,500. According to GM, work is to resume Monday with the first shift, however GM was attempting to get volunteers to start production earlier on Saturday and Sunday at Flint Assembly and Fort Wayne Assembly where the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado are built. The strike, which lasted roughly 6 weeks, cost the company $450 million per week. The new agreement includes: No increase in healthcare contribution, retaining the current 3% rate 3% wage increases or 4% lump sum payments each of the 4 years of the contract $11,000 signing bonus to union employees, $4,500 for temporary employees $7.7 billion in investments in U.S. manufacturing plants, including Detroit-Hamtramck, a plant originally slated for closure Enhanced employee profit sharing with no cap A clear path for temporary employees to become permanent after three years of service beginning January 2020. View full article
  2. Drew Dowdell
    More information about "UAW Votes To Ratify Contract"
    The UAW has announced that their membership has ratified the new 4-year contract deal with General Motors 23,389 to 17,501. Roughly 46,000 union members will receive an $11,000 ratification bonus while temporary workers will get $4,500. According to GM, work is to resume Monday with the first shift, however GM was attempting to get volunteers to start production earlier on Saturday and Sunday at Flint Assembly and Fort Wayne Assembly where the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado are built. The strike, which lasted roughly 6 weeks, cost the company $450 million per week. The new agreement includes: No increase in healthcare contribution, retaining the current 3% rate 3% wage increases or 4% lump sum payments each of the 4 years of the contract $11,000 signing bonus to union employees, $4,500 for temporary employees $7.7 billion in investments in U.S. manufacturing plants, including Detroit-Hamtramck, a plant originally slated for closure Enhanced employee profit sharing with no cap A clear path for temporary employees to become permanent after three years of service beginning January 2020.
  3. Drew Dowdell
    As with all things... it really depends on the vehicle. I wouldn't want a manual in my Toronado for example. But a small economy car or sporty car like the Miata or Camaro, yes a manual would be nice. That said, I just had a Camaro with the 10-speed automatic and it did everything I told it when I told it.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    Ironically, at the time it was on the market, the Toyota built Pontiac Vibe was the lowest rated in CR of all the Pontiacs.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    Significant power difference... not to mention interior kwality.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    Both of you knock it off! Put each other on ignore.
  7. Drew Dowdell
    I spy some rocket power....
  8. Drew Dowdell
    The only other premium vehicle in the top 10 was the Benz A-Class
  9. Drew Dowdell
    More information about "Preview of Ford's Mustang Inspired EV SUV"
    Ford will be showing their Mustang inspired EV SUV on November 17th ahead of the LA Auto Show. We still don't have a name for the upcoming vehicle, but Ford has recently trademarked the name "Mach-E" and "Mustang Mach-E". Could this be a name for this new EV crossover? Time will tell. What you can see from the sketch is that it will have Mustang-like tail lights and headlights, plus a swept back, coupe-like roof line and a long hood. We do know an approximate range per charge of 370 miles on the WTLP cycle, which is slightly more optimistic than the EPA cycle. Ford also recently announced the creation of the FordPass Charging network, a way to take the worry out of range anxiety. We expect we'll hear even more about FordPass Charging Network at the November 17th presentation.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    Ford will be showing their Mustang inspired EV SUV on November 17th ahead of the LA Auto Show. We still don't have a name for the upcoming vehicle, but Ford has recently trademarked the name "Mach-E" and "Mustang Mach-E". Could this be a name for this new EV crossover? Time will tell. What you can see from the sketch is that it will have Mustang-like tail lights and headlights, plus a swept back, coupe-like roof line and a long hood. We do know an approximate range per charge of 370 miles on the WTLP cycle, which is slightly more optimistic than the EPA cycle. Ford also recently announced the creation of the FordPass Charging network, a way to take the worry out of range anxiety. We expect we'll hear even more about FordPass Charging Network at the November 17th presentation. View full article
  11. Drew Dowdell
    When it comes to electric vehicles, Telsa takes nearly all of the headlines, but Nissan has been quietly selling the Leaf since 2010, two years before the Tesla Model S came to market. Now, Nissan wants some of its thunder back and is working on a dual motor prototype of the Leaf e+. The motors are set up at each axle and provide a combined output of 304 hp and 501 lb.-ft of torque. The regular Leaf e+ has 214 horsepower and 251 lb.-ft of torque and gets to 62 mph from a stop in 6.9 seconds, so with 90 more horsepower and about double the torque, the dual motor version should scoot along quite nicely. Nissan has tuned the power delivery to be smooth but very responsive. The all-wheel drive system has been tuned to work with the regenerative braking to help control stability even more than a normal all-wheel drive system would. While it is not going into production, this test bed shows that Nissan is working on more EV systems for the future for a greater variety of vehicles. View full article
  12. Drew Dowdell
    More information about "Nissan Leaf Prototype Has AWD and 501 lb.-ft of Torque"
    When it comes to electric vehicles, Telsa takes nearly all of the headlines, but Nissan has been quietly selling the Leaf since 2010, two years before the Tesla Model S came to market. Now, Nissan wants some of its thunder back and is working on a dual motor prototype of the Leaf e+. The motors are set up at each axle and provide a combined output of 304 hp and 501 lb.-ft of torque. The regular Leaf e+ has 214 horsepower and 251 lb.-ft of torque and gets to 62 mph from a stop in 6.9 seconds, so with 90 more horsepower and about double the torque, the dual motor version should scoot along quite nicely. Nissan has tuned the power delivery to be smooth but very responsive. The all-wheel drive system has been tuned to work with the regenerative braking to help control stability even more than a normal all-wheel drive system would. While it is not going into production, this test bed shows that Nissan is working on more EV systems for the future for a greater variety of vehicles.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    The Tesla Model 3 nearly broke into the top 10 best selling vehicles in Europe for September 2019, missing the mark by just 217 units. Overall, sales growth in the EU is strong with 14 markets reporting positive numbers. Germany came in at 9.1 percent and Italy came in at 6.5 percent. Battery electric vehicles were up sharply, increasing 119 percent, of which Tesla controlled nearly 50% of that number. Total Tesla registrations were 19,500 out of the 40,700 BEVs registered. That put the Tesla Model 3 as the best selling BEV in Europe. For September, the Volkwagen Golf was the best selling vehicle in Europe with 32,398 units registered. Tesla shares jumped 18 percent yesterday after a surprise profit for Q3 of $1.86 per share, up from an expected loss of 42 cents per share. View full article
  14. Drew Dowdell
    More information about "Tesla Model 3 11th Best Selling Vehicle In Europe"
    The Tesla Model 3 nearly broke into the top 10 best selling vehicles in Europe for September 2019, missing the mark by just 217 units. Overall, sales growth in the EU is strong with 14 markets reporting positive numbers. Germany came in at 9.1 percent and Italy came in at 6.5 percent. Battery electric vehicles were up sharply, increasing 119 percent, of which Tesla controlled nearly 50% of that number. Total Tesla registrations were 19,500 out of the 40,700 BEVs registered. That put the Tesla Model 3 as the best selling BEV in Europe. For September, the Volkwagen Golf was the best selling vehicle in Europe with 32,398 units registered. Tesla shares jumped 18 percent yesterday after a surprise profit for Q3 of $1.86 per share, up from an expected loss of 42 cents per share.
  15. Drew Dowdell
    I like the look of it at least. That's about as nice as I can be about it. Maybe with a rotary generator it will be more impressive.
  16. Drew Dowdell
    Every car would need it for it to be successful
  17. Drew Dowdell
    Well, it's M "tuned". It's not a full M. I didn't have it on a track of course, but it felt really firm and the steering was great. Given that it is AWD like the Golf R, I would expect handling to be within the margin of "operator error" in difference.
  18. Drew Dowdell
    Well the problem was that it could only talk to other CTSes because they were the only model with it, so unless you were about to rear end another CTS in your CTS, the system didn't do a whole lot.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    Mazda rolled the new MX-30 electric vehicle at the Tokyo Motor Show today. The MX-30 is a new take on the Kodo design language and one of its most interesting features is the clamshell doors. This vehicle will be the brand's first battery electric vehicle, but it is unlikely to make it to the U.S. in this form. What we're looking at here is a European model. The MX-30 is powered by a single motor driving the front wheels and a 35.5 kWh battery pack under the floorboards. That battery size is rather small compared to some other EVs (The Chevy Bolt EV is 60 kWh for example) and range is limited to about 130 miles. Power rings up a 141 horsepower and 195 lb.-ft of torque. Mazda has tuned the MX-30 differently than other EVs. Rather than strong torque off the line, power builds more gradually and regenerative braking is less grabby than others. Mazda even pipes artificial engine noise into the cabin to give the sensory effect of acceleration. Mazda called the new powertrain e-Skyactive. There are rumors that an MX-30 will appear at the Los Angeles Auto Show with a rotary powered regenerator, a vehicle much more interesting to the North American buying public, but for now, we just sit and wait for pricing to be announced to this European model. View full article
  20. Drew Dowdell
    More information about "Mazda Rolls Out The MX-30 EV"
    Mazda rolled the new MX-30 electric vehicle at the Tokyo Motor Show today. The MX-30 is a new take on the Kodo design language and one of its most interesting features is the clamshell doors. This vehicle will be the brand's first battery electric vehicle, but it is unlikely to make it to the U.S. in this form. What we're looking at here is a European model. The MX-30 is powered by a single motor driving the front wheels and a 35.5 kWh battery pack under the floorboards. That battery size is rather small compared to some other EVs (The Chevy Bolt EV is 60 kWh for example) and range is limited to about 130 miles. Power rings up a 141 horsepower and 195 lb.-ft of torque. Mazda has tuned the MX-30 differently than other EVs. Rather than strong torque off the line, power builds more gradually and regenerative braking is less grabby than others. Mazda even pipes artificial engine noise into the cabin to give the sensory effect of acceleration. Mazda called the new powertrain e-Skyactive. There are rumors that an MX-30 will appear at the Los Angeles Auto Show with a rotary powered regenerator, a vehicle much more interesting to the North American buying public, but for now, we just sit and wait for pricing to be announced to this European model.
  21. Drew Dowdell
    MAZDA-MX-30-Interior-European-specification-2.jpg

    From the album: Mazda MX-30

  22. Drew Dowdell
    MAZDA-MX-30-European-specification-7.jpg

    From the album: Mazda MX-30

  23. Drew Dowdell
    MAZDA-MX-30-European-specification-2.jpg

    From the album: Mazda MX-30

  24. Drew Dowdell
    MAZDA-MX-30-European-specification-1.jpg

    From the album: Mazda MX-30

  25. Drew Dowdell
    MAZDA-MX-30European-specification-11.jpg

    From the album: Mazda MX-30

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