[Evergreen6]

Originally Posted by Martinjlm

This. There are extremist groups and media “sources” on both sides of the discussion. I equal opportunity ignore both sets of extremist.

Well said. It's a lot of noise.

Sad that some people can't just enjoy the cars.

[Capricio]

Originally Posted by Martinjlm

Seems to me that a lot of this thread has turned into “this random group of environmental extremists said <blah blah blah> and that is proof that they [whoever THEY are] are gonna ban our cars. That’s a huge stretch.

Not really. FWIW, I'll define THEY as globalists and environmentalists that are subject to their fear campaign. And you used the word "ban", I've already conceded it's a gradual denial of ICE lifecycle replacement options. THEY'll starve us out until we either ride bicycles or buy what THEY want us to drive.

Originally Posted by Martinjlm

But expertise in environmental issues does not equate to expertise in automotive issues.

Nor does regulatory policy equate to consumer interest, apparently. Nor does government meddling in the marketplace with subsidies and tariffs drive demand to THEIR projected targets. But here WE all are... backpeddling from the "all in" projections.

Originally Posted by Martinjlm

Because some guy attends Davos and comes away with an opinion that cars are bad or that we need to develop ways to keep cows from farting

Bad for US, at scale, not for THEM, by exception, lets be clear. They are nothing if not hypocrites.

Originally Posted by Martinjlm

doesn’t mean that the CEOs and Boards of every major automaker will take that hook line and sinker and put all their money on EVs.

Someone please explain this to Queen Mary, then.

Originally Posted by Martinjlm

The fact that many CEOs and Boards ARE moving fast toward EVs is an indication that they are listening to a broad spectrum of inputs on a number of issues and coming up with similar views of where the industry is headed. Not a big conspiracy. Simply similar understanding of a broad spectrum of inputs.

They got way out over their skis and now have to dial back to reality. Whatever inputs they were listening to didn't factor in limited consumer demand (for a variety of reasons beat to death here) and overestimated the power of regulation and government incentives.

Originally Posted by Martinjlm

Prime example…about 10-15 years ago there was a bunch of noise that autonomous vehicles were gonna take over and people would be banned from driving. Those discussions were almost as fun as this thread. How’s that going? It’s been pretty much crickets for the past 3 - 5 years. Did all those “THEYs” just change their minds? Or did reality kick in? I vote reality kicked in.

If only autonomous driving had the force of subsidies and policy to keep it floundering in the marketplace for another 10 years or so. We can only dream. Too bad unrealistic projections lead to rapid failure when the marketplace won't sustain them by itself. If only the government had intervened with some fear propaganda about saving lives or some such thing, followed some mega-grants funneled through key political donors to burn through... Now I'm sad.

On the upside, we still have EVs being thrown at us!! Thank goodness all the smart people know what is best for us (and the planet!).

In other news:

https://fortune.com/2024/02/27/byd-a...-tesla-brazil/

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/byd-e...095401805.html

Western OEMs are not well positioned to compete with these guys, yet they insist on trudging along this path at their own peril while they believe their respective governments will give them cover... for now.

[Martinjlm]

And they clearly own controlling interest in the company and can direct the policies and opinions without the input of other shareholders. Except they don’t. And can’t. 9.1% is not by any means a controlling interest. Neither is a combined 19%.

[Evergreen6]

This is starting to sound like arguing with a Russian troll farm. A president has no ability to “end” fossil fuels.

Carry on.

[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by MSS1LE

So Joe Biden isn’t in a position of power? That’s news to me. If he’s able to fulfill his promise to ‘wipe out fossil fuels’ what’s going to fuel your Camaro? Fairy dust?

“I want you to look at my eyes. I guarantee you. I guarantee you. We’re going to end fossil fuel.” Joe Biden

https://apnews.com/united-states-pre...fd0fa6dece3974

Keep trying to deny the obvious. Your credibility is rapidly approaching zero.

Not sure a statement to a 24 year old lobbyist at a campaign event amounts to a promise but it is definitely something he said. Doesn’t mean he has the power to do it. He does not. As was the case with California, the most he can do (and he has not done so) is issue an Executive Order to investigate how to do it. Seeing as how his term is about to end and he hasn’t done it I think that we can conclude that it was the throw-away comment that it appears to be or he understands the Constitution well enough to understand that it is not within his authority. Or both.

It doesn’t bother me that my credibility with you is waning. I have a feeling that I have a shit-ton more credibility on auto industry issues than you yourself have. I have three contracted presentations on this very topic this upcoming week. Given how much they are paying to have me come in and advise them on this topic and that two of the three are repeat engagements helps me feel better about my credibility.

[0stones0]

So Biden talking to someone who is too young ( thats what it appears you’re saying) isn’t a promise? Especially with the words he used to make his point. Are you kidding me?

[Evergreen6]

Remember when the last president lied to the grown adults in this country? I do..

[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by Evergreen6

Remember when the last president lied to the grown adults in this country? I do..

[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by 0stones0

So Biden talking to someone who is too young ( thats what it appears you’re saying) isn’t a promise? Especially with the words he used to make his point. Are you kidding me?

What I am saying is the person he said this to was inconsequential to anything ever coming from that statement and also pointing out that if he had the juice to go through with this he would have done so by now. He doesn’t. He didn’t. The office of POTUS does not have that power. Influence? Yes. That specific power? Nope.

[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by Chrome383Z

Cool tech, fast as hell given the weight..

My concern for the car scene in general is that the days of buying a ss and modding it to higher performance is over. That is sad. With EV you pay for what you get.

Let’s let this be my feeble attempt to get this thread back on topic. So, in response to the first post…

Cool tech indeed! Elon appears to be finally bringing this one to production. Not sure about the 1 second 0-60, but I guess we’ll see.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a6...osits-details/

[Evergreen6]

0-60 in 1 second should be 2-3 G's of force for the occupant. How will they get it to hook up with the road, though?

[90503]

Gotta share one thing....The other day I got a good look at a Tesla Cyber-Truck traveling alongside me on the freeway. That thing is huge!...Much larger than it looks in pics. Definitely on the top of the nothing-else-like-it-on-the-road list. It reminded me of an oversized Wolf range stove....lol
But, it was an awesome sight for sure. Quite impressive, to say the least.

That's it. Thanks for listening.

[Mr_Draco]

Originally Posted by 90503

Definitely on the top of the nothing-else-like-it-on-the-road list.

Sorry but when I read this, I immediately started singing "I've Never Seen Anything Like It" from the 1967 version of Dr Dolittle.

[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by MSS1LE

Total BS. He can easily regulate ICE out of existence, just as the government has regulated the Camaro, Charger, and Challenger out of existence. It’s being done as we speak and you know it.

Your statement is laughable. I’m not going to waste my time debating with a dishonest person.

If he could have he would have but he did not. Period. Didn’t even try. Why? Because the Executive Branch of the US Government does not have that power. Period. I learned that in junior high school and that's an honest statement.

Camaro, Charger, and Challenger going out of production was a business decision. How can I say that? Because Mustang, Supra, and Nissan Z are still in the market despite the same regulations. Different companies make different decisions given the same regulatory challenges and technology availability. Ford chose to put the emissions technology on the Mustang. GM and Stellantis chose not to do so. It’s really that simple.

Back to topic…

Ford vehicles have just gained access to the Tesla Supercharger network. On one hand, it starts to erode Tesla’s built in advantage that is one of the bigger differentiators when people decide which EV they are going to buy. The flip side is Tesla profits every time a Ford vehicle charges at a Supercharger. Other brands will begin to roll in over the next year or so.

One other issue that might be problematic is that the chargers are designed specifically for the Tesla charge port to be on the rear driver side. For cars with ports located differently (front driver side) the car would have to park in one stall while using the charge cord from another stall. Ford and GM EVs have the charge port on the front driver side.