Drew Dowdell

GM + a little help from Isuzu

There's no reason they can't sell them... they just can't be the sole contract winner

While I think putting so many of our eggs in just the natural gas basket is asking for trouble (Just ask the UK), for the moment, natural gas prices are so cheap, we have too much. Companies are drilling wells and then capping them because they have no place to store the gas, so they might as well just store it where it is until it is time to bring that supply to market.

I don't see CNG taking off. ANy alternative powertrain that becomes mainstream will have some component of electric propulsion. I dont believe we need the government to mandate this crap though. I'd rather the manufacturers build this stuff and convince the public through great product than the govt force feeding half baked ideas (which is what happens when it goes through govt)

The government isn't mandating it. It is encouraging an environment for the EV car infrastructure to grow.

i dont see coal going away, maybe no new plants but we'll still get a lot of electricity from it.

Look again then....

The 150th Coal fired generation plant shut down since 2010 just shut down last month.

Ford's design is very annoying, that's true, but in their cars that use Sync for HVAC primary control, it can end up being a reliability thing too. I've had Sync crash on me more than once.

I'm a traditionalist, so this isn't for me really.

However, there are certain cars in the generations that I'm interested in that came with white painted rims or colored hubcap inserts.... I could see a use there.

The only thing I would use this for on a modern car would be that "Winter Mode" set, in black, for our CR-V or Encore.

Well there goes GM's access to the VM light duty diesel I suppose....

Still, $47million seems really cheap for an engine manufacturer.

This very well preserved El Camino was seen out shopping at the mall over the weekend.

Looking forward to seeing it in person.

Coal fired plants are at an end. Any new ones currently being built are likely to be the last ones. In fossil fuel generation, natural gas is where it's at for efficiency, broadness of scale, cheapness of fuel and cheapness of construction, cleanliness, and demand responsiveness.

The coal argument is invalid.

EV's for the middle class people are coming.

I love the Evoque but I cannot deny the presence this car has...

CTS-V wagon.

Not new

You can fill up a CNG vehicle with CNG in even fewer locations than EVs at the moment.

Tesla while an outstanding car in today's society, is an exception and not the norm.

Even their own polls seem to show a older, wealthy group of people buying or leasing these cars.

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/7238-Model-S-Buyers-What-s-Your-Income

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/17717-Model-S-Owner-Age

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/6998-Model-S-Reservation-Holder-Demographics-Age

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/8920-What-was-your-age-annual-income-and-what-battery-pack-are-you-getting

This in comparison to the average middle income household making 45-55K a year will be looking at auto's in the 30K range.

This may come as a shock to you, but the early adopters of the first Apple iPod and first Apple iPhone ($499 for the 10gb model in 2001 and $499 for the 4gb model in 2007 respectively) were relatively wealthy people. As the technology improved the price came down, and more people were able to afford it.

Today, the cheapest iPod that isn't a shuffle has a full color screen and 16gb of memory costing only $149 each.

Tesla is, at best, in the circa 2003 iPod time frame when they are still a curiosity that rich people buy, but that price WILL come down. The next generation models are already supposed to be cheaper than the current one.

260 miles isn't "any real distance"? Why do we keep having this conversation over and over? The Tesla Model-S has a longer range than my (currently out of service) Honda CR-V. As EV technology continues to improve, range will either increase or cost for that range will decrease, or a combination of both.

Your Tin-Foil-Hat brigade comment that this is a way for the government to control the movement of the population is beyond dumb, and quite frankly, beneath you. The government is doing THE EXACT OPPOSITE of what you said by encouraging MORE CHOICE in the mode of transit.

Happy belated!

Edit: Added poll

It is so close to the Riv and Eldog alloys, but just a tiny bit different enough.... I'm still figuring. Might see Dominic pop in here.

now... I do think that GM has the strength again to bring back Pontiac as a true sports car brand.... but the moment they announce an Epsilon platform car, forget it, fold it, go home.

Banks get to set the terms of the loans. If GM didn't like it, they could have gone elsewhere or just folded completely.

Did you note the offset of the alloy rim. If it's pre'85, that looks like it would be a fwd car.

The A3 doesn't carry the cache that the CLA does

.... well.... good luck with that....