Drew Dowdell

It took me most of the day because I'm not a coder, but the newsletter is now fixed. That should be the last stumbling block down!

Rock Creek: Rugged Looks, Trail-Ready Features Today, Nissan revealed the updated 2025 Nissan Rogue and introduced a new trim to the lineup called Rock Creek. Now, before you get out your overlanding gear, the Rock Creek is a rugged appearance package. Like many outdoorsy crossovers in this segment, the Rogue Rock Creek is probably best limited to compacted dirt trails. The Rock Creek comes with 235/65R17 Falken Wild Peak all-terrain tires, Hill Descent Control, a tubular roof rack, updated facia with red accents, and water-repellent leatherette seats. Additionally, the updated HD Intelligent Around View Monitor that all Rogues get for 2025 also includes an Off-Road View that can operate at speeds up to 12 miles per hour to help maneuver around obstacles. A premium package for Rock Creek further adds a wireless phone charging mat, heated steering wheel, power passenger seat, motion-activated power liftgate, auto-dimming rearview mirror, and interior accent lighting. Rock Creek will be available in four colors: Everest White, Super Black, Boulder Gray, and Baja Storm. ProPILOT Assist 2.1 and Updated Tech For 2025, optional on SL and Platinum, Rogue can be equipped with an updated ProPILOT Assist, now at version 2.1. This version allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel on single-lane highways while remaining attentive to their driving surroundings. With the available technology package, the 3D Intelligent Around View Monitor gains two additional camera angles: Front Wide View, which allows drivers to "see through" pillars and parked cars, and Invisible Hood View, which shows footage from underneath the vehicle. Rogue S, SV, and Rock Creek feature an 8-inch touchscreen with standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, while SL and Platinum move up to a 12.3-inch touchscreen with Google Built-in and wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. VC-Turbo Powertrain Powering all 2025 Nissan Rogues is a 1.5-liter variable compression turbocharged 4-cylinder (VC-Turbo) that produces 201 horsepower and 225 lb-ft of torque mated to Nissan's XTronic CVT. The engine continuously adjusts its compression ratio to optimize for power or efficiency depending on driving conditions. The Nissan Rogue lays claim to the best-in-class gasoline-powered fuel efficiency rating. Check out the 2025 Nissan Rogue Rock Creek photo gallery for a full look at both color options and the rugged styling details. View full article

Lucid filed a report with the NHTSA on July 1st, issuing an over-the-air recall for 2022 - 2023 Lucid Air sedans. According to the report, the over-the-air update was sent on June 24, 2024 and owners will receive an additional notification in the mail after August 15th. Lucid reports that the High Voltage Interlock Software could disconnect the contacts while the vehicle is in motion, causing a complete loss of drive power. The issue affects roughly 5,251 vehicles. Complaints about he Lucid Air on the NHTSA database matching this description date back to at least September 2022. View full article

Remember when that was a thing when manufacturers were porting the HVAC through ducts in the doors? GM did that on few models like the Bonneville and Aurora.. Probably some other

Check out the forum card list. I finally finished all of it. Every brand has their logo and an example car, and if you scroll down to the social and tech sections, those have been updated too. In the next couple of weeks we will be restarting our weekly newsletter. You'll know it's coming when I've got about a week's worth of news posted. Beyond the backlog of news I need to catch up on, I have a 3 page list of OpEds to produce and at least 10 reviews to write. It's going to be a fun summer. I've created a new birthday cake and will put it in the e-mail for members' birthdays tomorrow. The garage will need to be rebuilt before the next major upgrade of the software sometime next year. If you have pictures you'd like to save from there, please do. There will be several warnings before I disable it. The vendor that wrote the software went out of business and won't be producing the update for the next big version.

Okay, I haven't seen it happen on my end, and I was on a good bit yesterday.

Is that still happening?

@balthazar has not visited us in quite a while. I'm unsure he will answer.

If you haven't watched it, you should definitely check out Person of Interest (only available on Amazon Prime currently, with ads). The series started in 2011ish and run until 2016. But you'd think it was from today with all of the AI talk. If you're a Plex user and want to be friends on their, DM me and we can friend each other and you can stream from my Plex box.

Happy Birthday @Robert Hall!

That's likely the difference between the marketing people's wishful thinking and the engineering people's reality. While energy densities may vary between NMCs, the basic chemical reactions do not. All NMC batteries will have similar degradation profiles within the margin of error of different charging and usage profiles. Much of this particular battery chemistry advancement is done unless some headline breakthrough comes about.

Of course, all that goes out the windows on vehicles with LFP batteries, which are only standard range Teslas at the moment. But Ford and others will be using LFP for the next generation of low(er) cost EVs they plan to release. With LFPs, you can pretty much do whatever you want with regard to charging. They don't degrade from L3 charging as NMC batteries can. They don't mind being at 100% for extended periods. However, they don't have the energy density for long-range installations, so they'll likely end up being used in lighter and cheaper vehicles to counteract the range deficiency. To maintain the same range, an LFP in the Kia EV9 would need to be roughly 30% larger, and there likely isn't room for it.

So, two things: 1. Consistently charging to 100% on fast charging is where most of the damage happens. He is slow charging at home, so this isn't an issue. 2. Holding the vehicle at 100% for extended periods of more than a few days also causes damage. If the vehicle gets L2 charged to 100% overnight and then is used for commuting every day, there are very few negative effects. That said, two other things: 1. Letting the battery go towards zero is good for the battery and the software calibration. It won't harm things if you don't, but doing so keeps your range estimates accurate. 2. Those with short commutes do not need to charge daily on long-range EVs like this. Yes, it's neat that you can start every day at 100%, but each charge cycle is still a cycle, and there is an upper, though undefined, limit on the number of charge cycles the battery will take. Taking a more ICE-like approach of only charging when needed will extend battery longevity. Plugging it in only every few days when the SOC gets to ~20% is fine. Of course, if you know you have a longer trip coming, fill it up ahead of time just like you would with a gas car.

Rivian and Volkswagen have announced a joint venture initially worth $ 1 billion to create the next generation of software-defined vehicles for both companies. Future investments and loans adding up to an additional $4 billion will occur in 2025 and 2026. The venture will be equally owned and controlled by both companies to lower the cost per vehicle of both companies' vehicles. Rivian will contribute its electrical propulsion and battery expertise and license its software to the joint venture. The move gives Volkswagen access to Rivian's current EV propulsion designs to accelerate the rollout of VW Group vehicles. Rivian points out that this agreement does not cover areas such as chassis or non-propulsion-related component design. This means that the VW group's upcoming Scout brand will not feature badge-engineered Rivians. The investment will provide Rivian with some much-needed cash as it builds a new production facility in Georgia and gears up for the production of the Rivian R2 and Rivian R3. View full article

I’m 99% sure it’s coming, just not officially announced. It might be a 2026 model. They’ve already developed the powertrain for the China market and with Barra’s reversal on PHEVs in the US, it seems logical to not waste development dollars.

The new Traverses make me double take as I think they are a Tahoe at first but then something in the back of my brain will click and say "WRONG". The difference between Equinox EV and Blazer EV is range, performance, and sportiness.

How is it running for everyone so far? It seems a lot snappier to me.

Ugh, and most of the Marriott properties use glass tops on their desks, meaning I have to go find some magazine or something to use as a mouse pad since optical mice don't work on those.

As a swimmer, I concur. The pools are so tiny I can't even get one stroke in before the end of the pool. I'm 6 - 10 strokes per breath, which means I breathe as little as once per 25 yards. Most of the hotel pools are no more than 5 yards.

And we're done. Four hours exactly. I need a break from the computer for a bit, but lots more to come.

The other sites are moving quite swiftly, and I've got a good sense of what will need to be done tomorrow. The only difference for C&G is that it's 200 times the size, so getting the file and the database zipped up and then moved takes a lot longer. The good news is that even the smaller sites are worlds faster.... This site software is chonky, so it will never be the fastest site out there (until the next major version at least), but it will be a lot faster than now.

We're going to have one more scheduled outage starting tomorrow morning for about 4 hours as we make one final jump to a stable server. I got us put back together, but we're held together with bubblegum and a wish at the moment. I'm moving some smaller sites first to get the process down before I move all 26 gigs of this beast.