Drew Dowdell
Editor-in-Chief
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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell
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I'm not sure if you're intentionally trolling or are actually missing the nuance of what I said. Infrastructure is more than just charging stations, though yes, those also need to increase. There is also the infrastructure in lithium mines, battery construction, electric motor construction. GM is geared up today to build millions of 4-cylinder engines world wide... but they'll only build maybe a hundred thousand electric motors for EVs this year. (Bolt, Volt, CT6 PHEV, eAssist). It's not easy to quickly turn an engine manufacturing plant into a motor manufacturing plant. The subsidies need to continue in order to make the technology available to a wider audience. That wider audience will drive demand for infrastructure higher. The pump still needs to be primed for a while.
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I drove from Pittsburgh to NY to Pittsburgh earlier this week. It shouldn't be surprising to me that people are idiots on the road, but on the first leg of that trip I wanted to nuke the whole east coast. I can't imagine the idiots who can barely operate a Corolla operating a flying drone car...
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Changing a technology like this requires investment. There won't be chargers without EV demand and there won't be EV demand without chargers. It's a chicken and egg problem. Also, until any of these things hits large scale, there won't be economies of scale and the price won't come down. The Federal government started the EV credits to help prime the pump and lower costs until the price comes down. Lest we forget, the government paid for a whole bunch of paved roads 100 years ago to enable vehicle traffic. Prior to that, roads between cities were largely dirt paths with mud axel deep. It wasn't "The Market" that paved those roads.
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The industry got those regulations because the industry was acting badly. Corporations will poison your kids for a 5 cent jump in share price if they could get away with it. It is much better to be proactive with regulations than reactive with spill cleanup. That said, at least these tax credits are helping the end consumers directly instead of going to multi-billion dollar corporations.
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GM is weird. Sometimes they'll have a car out as soon as January of one year prior to model year and then you get 18 months of a model year's production. Other times it will be December before it goes on sale and then quickly switch in May or June. The Envision's first model year was only about 3 months long.
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My next purchase is one for me and will be something that went out of production after 2013. Albert gets his Encore replacement after I get my new to me car. I've suffered long enough with the CR-V..... though neither of us drive much anymore. He takes the bus to work and I work from home.
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The system voltage is largely irrelevant as long as it is within a certain range. The Chevy Volt's battery runs at 360 volts. The old eAssist Malibu ran at 36 volts. A first gen Prius battery is 200 volts. The original Civic Hybrid IMA battery is 180 volts. I couldn't find the battery voltage for the XC90 and XC60, but as both of them produce more total system power than the Benz, I feel the actual voltage of their system is completely irrelevant. Can you please stop thinking that the 48 volt system from Benz is anything special? It's just eAssist a decade late.
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Tesla is too unpredictable, but yes, I am concerned for the future of the company. I don't have a personal interest in any of their automotive products (I do like their ideas for home solar and home battery), however even if I never bought a Tesla car, I would not be "gratified" to see them go under. If you are referring to my comment about shorting the stock, I can easily see the money making opportunity of an overvalued stock and yet still not want the company to go under. Tesla is not the only company on the stock market looking at precarious conditions these days. We're due for a major correction soon.
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Prior statements of yours
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You don't simply add the horsepower of the gas motor and electric motor together to get total system output. If the Benz 4 is not going to be a plug-in, then it is already beaten by Volvo's 4-cylinder hybrid which has 400 hp and is plug-in. You keep throwing confetti around about the Benz 48-volt system.... it's nothing but a modern version of eAssist. Buick and Chevy have that now. Benz is a decade late to the game.
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It takes a certain mindset to cheer for the death of an innovating American company, even if one doesn't care for their products personally.
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It's the only way most people can get the car they want these days. Note, I didn't say afford... because if they could afford it, they wouldn't be leasing. The problem is that so many people have E-class tastes but a Cruze LT budget, so even if they split the difference and get Accord V6, it's still a big stretch for them financially and they end up leasing. The only reason we leased our Buick is that at the time we had different life plans and expected to need to be out of it in 2 years. The next vehicle will be a CPO or used.
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Mercedes does not have 20 models with a V8. They don't even have 20 models total. (No, the E-Sedan, E-Wagon, E-Coupe, E63 Sedan, E63 Wagon, etc are not all different models.) I'd be happy to compare some vaporware future Mercedes 4-cylinder with only 308hp to Cadillac. Cadillac's is 335hp.
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If it wasn't a breach of ethics for me, I'd short the stock.
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The 2017 ended production back in May/June and the 2018 entered production in late August. Sales blips like that happen all the time during a model change over. I honestly think that Lacrosse buyers don't like the new car. I know I am not all that excited about it. I much prefered both of the prior generations of Lacrosse. The new one checks all the right boxes on paper, but visually does not have the presence of the prior two models. As for the new Regal, I think it will do better than the prior one did, but it will never be a super hot seller. The GS looks promising... and oddly... my partner specifically wants the GS. Not for any performance characteristics, but because he wants another Buick and he wants massaging seats. I'm leaning towards Volvo myself, but if he really wants a GS, that's what I'll get I guess.
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Eh, they're good slow speed tuggers if not particularly fuel efficient. Not something you have to wind up like an EB. Remember, HP is a function of torque and RPM, so the slower the engine is turning when it is making that torque, the less horsepower it makes. Also, those numbers didn't look right, so I also went and looked them up on Ford's website and found this: The meat of that 420 lb-ft or 356 lb-ft is going to be available at very low RPM. No, they're not race motors. They're built for pulling. In an Ecoboost, you'll be spooling up the turbo constantly to get that sort of power.
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What do you mean "How so?" You show it yourself. Every Cadillac engine has more power than the Benz version. N/A V6 - Benz doesn't even make one and has you make due with a Turbo-4 instead. Cadillac's can go to 335hp. But just for good measure, Cadillac's 4-cylinder also beats the standard issue Benz 4-cylinder too. Sure you can get the CLA AMG43, but unlocking more power from the Cadillac LTG is just a stage kit away. Turbo V6 - Benz tops out at 396. Cadillac has a 3.0TT which isn't even a "V" engine that does more than that, the 3.6TT makes up to 460. V8 - Benz makes 383 horsepower to Cadillac's 420. Force-fed V8 - Again, Benz comes up short.
