Drew Dowdell

This thread has gone on long enough.

Wings, your takeaway from the MT comparison is that the Mustang makes a better Accord than the Camaro does?...... okay.

You sat in a very early pre-production model.

You've driven the 2016 Camaro extensively then? Can you do a write up on it? I'm curious what parts you feel need more refining on a chassis derived from a Cadillac. *hands Wings a bottle of aleo vera* Here's some aleo for that BURN!!! (It helps heal burns, or skin damage in general - DOUBLE BURN FOR PRETENDING YOU DONT KNOW THE BENEFITS OF ALOE VERA ON THE SKIN!!!) Sorry cap, I proved drew wrong ::::as I hand over an un-opened bottle of aloe, with a grin:::::: You did no such thing. I asked for your experience with the Camaro, not a parrot of someone else's opinion. I have little faith in the majority of the motor press for any opinions... that's why I own my own site.

Oh, and the Mustang also has a weight disadvantage going forward.... much harder to make up for than gear ratios or power deficiencies.

You've driven the 2016 Camaro extensively then? Can you do a write up on it? I'm curious what parts you feel need more refining on a chassis derived from a Cadillac.

I think they are hidden in the grille, you won't see them on the front bumper.

Models getting cut, VW to shrink

It's fairly simple. Would the new mustang stack up against the current ATS-V Coupe in handling? Considering the league the ATS-V plays in, I'm betting not. I expect the new Camaro and the ATS coupe (which is wider than the ATS sedan remember) will have very very similar handling dynamics. That the SS is getting magnetic ride control means that the handling can be adjusted at the press of a button. Very dynamic and quite polished.

1mpg over the 80,000 miles is actually pretty huge. It ends up being around 200 - 215 gallons of gas over the life of the tires.

I do like that Citroen and Audi, BV

One wonders how much benefit this really is at the average 50 mph though.... not enough to be worth paying more for I'm sure.

AWESOME!

That depends. Any reason it couldn't ride on the same frame as a crew cab pickup? might need stiffer springs but nothing drastic in the suspension. Front clip, doors, dash, seats, ... everything forward of the backside of the second row could all carry over.

It would make sense... It really can't cost that much more to add it to a a truck platform redesign that you're doing anyway.

Drew, the solar solutions you do are they other than size that much different than a solution you would do on a home? Also what are your thoughts on the solar solutions that are currently being sold such as by Costco? http://www.costco.com/CatalogSearch?catalogId=10701&langId=-1&keyword=solar&storeId=10301&refine=13223%2b I get a server error on that link. I have to disclaim that I am not in any way a solar power expert... I am just repeating things that I am picking up at work. Our solar installations are fundamentally the same regardless of size. The controller technology we use is slightly different and lets us get a little extra production out of a pack of cells, but otherwise it is the same as any other tech. What we excel at is energy usage advice. We can go into a factory and get granular visibility on all of the various devices that use energy to see where savings might be had. We can also make recommendations on changing of production schedules that will save money in areas where there is smart metering and variable rate pricing. One example we were shown yesterday, a factory uses 4 giant dust collecting devices. We we put monitors on the whole plant but one of the dust collectors was using triple the amount of energy. Through our analysis the company found that the motor, while still operational, was starting to go bad. Spending the money to replace that motor, that again was otherwise operational, will save this company over $50k a year in energy costs. The service we provide is on-going, so companies can spot issues like that. We focus on making the business as energy efficient as possible first before we evaluate for solar. No point putting solar panels on the roof when all of that energy is going to be eaten up by inefficient lighting and HVAC.

Sleeping with the staff

The things we do for cars.....

I wanted one so bad when I was in college. That's when they were brand new and well out of my price range. Most examples today have been far too modified for my tastes.

Hyper, I think we're talking past each other. Offering Superchargers was a necessity. Offering the use of them for free is a courtesy. At the corporate level, no, the companies aren't making just token moves. There are big companies making big investments into solar, and along with other power analysis systems, finding ways to save large amounts of money on their energy spend. We don't just slap panels on the roof and call it a day, we analyze how and where they are using their power and do efficiency projects first, then we put the solar up. When you have a lot of real estate with a lot of flat roof area, the payback time for a solar installation shrinks dramatically. Companies can also lease out their roof to us for a percentage of the energy generated, and we get to sell the power into the grid at market rates. It becomes a no-cost install for that company and their energy bills go down. We have the advantage of scale and can buy the solar panels cheaper because we're buying so many. These types of services are what my employer offers, we're fairly large company, and still growing fast. We wouldn't be growing this fast with just token moves.

I the CT6 will start higher than that, probably $60k at least.

I'm going to need a whiteboard to diagram that mess out.... but yes... same platform as the Vue... hence why the XL7 is a crying Saturn Vue.

If that later XL-7 is of a Saturn Vue depicting sadness, is a Red Line Vue one that is depicting anger and rebeliion? What about a Chevrolet Captiva? Is that one depicting a lonely and very confused Satrun Vue? One that was abandoned by his parents at birth and is an orphan? I have no idea what you're talking about dude... I'm just talking about the headlights on the XL7 that look like they're crying.

Oh, and SuperChargers were never intended to replace regular charging at home. They are a courtesy add-on. What was tacky was people parking there all day or using it for all of their fill-ups.

It's not a prototype as more of a development platform. The front P85D motor, will most likely be the rear Model 3 and possibly entry Roadster motor. The technical know-how to blend the front and rear motors for AWD was needed ahead of the Model X. All of the Tesla models are interconnected in this way. Gigafactory will pay off.... I work in the energy sector... our solar division is the fastest growing division in our company and home batteries are going to follow right behind. The company I work for is making huge global investments in both of these, I just sat through 90 minutes of presentation on the subject today. I will say that it will be the commercial sector that goes Solar/Battery combo first as they have the biggest incentive and biggest savings to do so. Gigafactory isn't just about car batteries.