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Drew Dowdell

Editor-in-Chief
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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    Look at it this way. Technology/advancment in hybrids/EVs is all well & good, but you still have to get people to BUY THEM. Hybrids have been here for 15 years now, and while everyone is jumping to offer 1 or more EVs, last year hybrids/electrics only grabbed .6 of the market. Stated again :: 15 years = 0.6% of the market. So 10-20 years to reach 51% is just about completely out of the realm of possibility. My guess is a minimum of 30 years. Trend lines do not have to be linear
  2. Drew Dowdell
    Well that's one way to fix the tarnished Volkswagen brand in the US. Sell the same cars as Skodas instead.
  3. Drew Dowdell
    I see Hybrids as taking over for larger displacement engines. I see the T8 as a V8 replacement that gets V6 like fuel economy.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    This pretty lady took Best in Show at the Allegheny Rockets Oldsmobile Club 2016 Spring Show today
  5. Drew Dowdell
    Everyone has EVs in the cards.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    Lambdas don't use the LFX V6, they use the LLT. What "unresolved issues" are you referring to? There are some timing chain stretching issues with the Lambdas... and all of the earlier 3.6es even. GM has been dropping the ball on this one by only extending the timing chain warranty on some models but not others. The biggest difference between the Traverse/Acadia and the Enclave is the addition of Buick's quiet tuning. Not that the Chevy and GMC are particularly loud, but the Enclave is whisper quiet and serene inside.. it really is ... an Enclave.
  7. Drew Dowdell
    "Doubling of electric rates" sounds like a lot... but it really isn't when you consider that rather minuscule increase is over 15 years. I'll also note that those rates probably don't include delivery, which is a separate charge. 1000kwH of electricity would cost you $40.30 in generation in 2000 and $85.30 today. It works out to be a yearly increase of $33.75 per year over 16 years. I just can't get excited about that. If only everything else increased in price at such a slow pace. So add an electric car to the household.. most people report their electric bill increasing by $25 to $35 a month, but their gasoline bills plummet, sometimes to zero. Friends of mine, one of whom is an Editor at Cars.com, are on their second Volt lease. They buy gas every three months and reported an electric bill increase of $30 a month. They traded in an old Pathfinder that was costing them $400 a month just to fuel. It was simple math for them. Volt Lease + Electricity Bill Increase < Pathfinder Fuel costs. Even if electricity rates doubled again... not over 15 years, but next year.... you're looking at $60 a month to run an EV. The math still works.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    Over time, I am becoming less and less convinced of the claimed advantages of turbo-charging.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    False - Your local utility may have raised rates on you, but on average, the price of electricity has gone up 5 cents a kWh since 2001. (7c/kWh in 2001, 12c/kWh 2016). That's a third of a penny per kWh per year over 15 years..... not exactly soaring rates. Half the states have free(er) market electricity. There are over 250 energy companies operating and competing in Texas. In just my zip code I have 91 different energy plans available to me through a multitude of different companies. My current plan is a 100% wind generation supplier who is cheaper than coal. If you don't have a competitive energy market in your state, write your state representatives.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    Supercharging was never "free". It was included with the price of the Model S. Keep in mind that early base model Model-S did not have access to supercharging either, you had to pay a $2,500 upgrade fee to either upgrade your base Model-S or pay for the more expensive trim-line to the tune of $15k or more. Most Supercharger stations have solar generation, so the cost of the actual electric commodity is really cheap to Tesla. (They sell electricity the utility when cars aren't charging, they buy electricity from the utility at night). Even still, at household rates, it costs about a penny a mile to "fill up" a Tesla. At those rates, would cost Tesla about $2.60 per fill-up if a P90D rolls in with 0 miles left of range. A 60KW car (range = 208 miles) with the $2,500 Supercharger upgrade would cost Tesla about $2.08 to fill from zero. That means a 60KW Model-S owner would have to visit the supercharger 1,202 times, filling up from zero each and every time, before Tesla was out of the money on the electricity cost. Mind you, that's at household rates which Tesla probably pays less than. The big cost to Tesla is in the building of the supercharger stations... but once those are amortized out, the remaining upkeep and electricity costs are minimal. Assuming the Model-3 (Why isn't it the Model-4 btw? Don't we count the roadster?) is a 60KW car, they could charge $5 to fill it up at a super charger station and it would be profitable for them.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    For long term data storage, I use cloud based solutions.
  12. Drew Dowdell
    I won't be keeping the laptop for infinity. Three to four years at best.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    Hmm... it looks like the Opel interior in a different shell.
  14. Drew Dowdell
    And honestly, if I were buying a Model-3, I'm probably not going to worry about unfettered access to the Supercharger network. Most of the time, I'll be driving within range of my house anyway, so I would just fill up at home. The few times a year I need to take it on a long trip, I would pay the fee to use the Supercharger.... no biggie. It's still cheaper than gas in the long run, and in that scenario, probably cheaper than paying the unlimited use supercharger fee.
  15. Drew Dowdell
    The high rollers probably spent enough to buy two Model-3s... so why wouldn't it come with? Equus buyers get a "free" iPad. while genesis 3.8 sedan buyers get nothing.
  16. Drew Dowdell
    I think he had to move to this cost model eventually. I bet eventually even the Model S and X will start to have to charge for it too. The problem is one of assholes... people who park their Tesla at a supercharger station all day and clog up the system.
  17. Drew Dowdell
    Both the Sonic and Cruze are good choices. Just make sure you get the 1.4T and not the 1.8
  18. Drew Dowdell
    More my speed
  19. Drew Dowdell
    None of that actually translates to sales. Suzy McRealestateAgent isn't picking a GLC over an XT5 just because the AMG GT is faster than an E63.
  20. Drew Dowdell
    The new format for SSDs is very small... but more importantly, the interface is much faster than any version of SATA. My next laptop will have one of these.
  21. Drew Dowdell
    What is wrong with being the American Buick? Why do they have to be Audi? Oldsmobile was American, didn't try to copy imports, they had the contemporary stealth bomber theme styling, but they gave you a little more performance than a Chevy, a little better ride and handling. That was a good formula, even though that brand is dead. People buy crossovers in droves for roominess, they like comfort, a smooth ride, some interior space, they like the safety of all wheel drive (or perceived safety). Because of Buick's present connection to Germany.
  22. Drew Dowdell
    I've said it before...Buick needs to become the American Audi. FWD based but with AWD available on everything. German premium feelings, but without the pretension of Mercedes and Cadillac.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    With gas prices this low, there is very little point for cars that small.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    I think Balth and I are in agreement. I think one maybe two additional CUVs/SUVs for Cadillac at most... but not a Benz-like 5 or 6. Benz has 6 SUV/CUVs today.. and a 7th since they seem to count the E-Class wagon in their crossovers, with apparently CUV variants waiting in the wings. Cadillac doesn't need that many. I could see an X3 sized competitor and maybe something between XT5 and Escalade... but anything below X3/GLC should be handled (and is handled) by Buick. Cadillac doesn't need to be the next purveyor of fake Louis Vuitton bags like Benz and Audi have become. Cadillac also does not need sales dogs like the GLE Coupe and X6 just to satisfy armchair CEOs with a penchant for comparing every number to Benz. The Cadillac ELR is dead. What Cadillac needs to do now with its car lineup is expand the number of body styles in the existing lines. There needs to be a CTS Coupe and Wagon again. There need to be multiple convertibles. There should be a coupe/convertible CT6. All three of their newest sedans need to be offered in coupe and convertible format... period. We already know the XTS is dead man walking, so I'm not counting that for anything. Next you'll tell me that Cadillac needs a minivan to compete with the Mercedes Benz Metris. Pointless as nothing competes with a Metris. Sure there is... the smaller Ford Transits, the Ram Promaster, the GMC/Chevy work vans, Nissan NV... all in the same price class and similar capability.
  25. Drew Dowdell
    My problem with this move by Buick is that the replacement already exists and is being sold in other countries. It's not like they needed to design a car for just 32k in sales in the US. They'll sell 250k of them a year in China and another 75k in the EU. That's 325k of units alone... taking on another 32k for sale in the US doesn't seem like a big deal. Even if they make them a bit more premium, bump the base price up a bit, and build them in the EU... put the Opel plants to work and use the US plants for other models. And check out what we'll be missing out on... This is the 2016 Opel Astra interior... how could that not compete with the A3?
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