11591 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

In 2020 sales “plummeted” to 70 million because of production restrictions due to the pandemic. And those restrictions remain in place still due to component shortages.

Bloomberg should know better. There is two years worth of new vehicle pent up demand that still hasn’t been tapped because manufacturers can’t build fast enough.

[rjag]

My contacts at various dealers in town are telling me of long wait lists for ICE still
Porsche 718 GTS has 20+ deposits for 3-5 allocated, 911 is similar. Which translates into 2-3 year waits. EV Taycan has 3-6 month wait as is Macan
Audi has long wait list across the range
Ford 3-6 month for ICE and 1-2 years for hybrids/EV
Toyota similar to Ford
The used market is nuts. A recent ‘21 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 that sold new last year for $105 just sold for $139k and had a lineup

[Victoria Watcher]

In 2020 sales “plummeted” to 70 million because of production restrictions due to the pandemic. And those restrictions remain in place still due to component shortages.

Bloomberg should know better. There is two years worth of new vehicle pent up demand that still hasn’t been tapped because manufacturers can’t build fast enough.

Why are there cars parked on the lot at all the dealerships?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 04 June 2022 - 07:47 AM.

[Mike K.]

A combination of high prices (dealers are marking up vehicles big time) and less than desirable units. They’re already all technically sold.

[dasmo]

This is what I want! $3500 plus shipping from China. We should be making sun 20k EVs here…
https://youtu.be/irpe3biuBIU

[lanforod]

My contacts at various dealers in town are telling me of long wait lists for ICE still
Porsche 718 GTS has 20+ deposits for 3-5 allocated, 911 is similar. Which translates into 2-3 year waits. EV Taycan has 3-6 month wait as is Macan
Audi has long wait list across the range
Ford 3-6 month for ICE and 1-2 years for hybrids/EV
Toyota similar to Ford
The used market is nuts. A recent ‘21 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 that sold new last year for $105 just sold for $139k and had a lineup

those aren't typical vehicles of course. some low volume stuff like that is major wait. pickups still are I think. but there seem to be a lot of basic cars and suv/cuvs available.

[Victoria Watcher]

Tesla AI Day #2 Moved, Tesla Might Have Working Optimus Bot Prototype There

https://cleantechnic...type-there/amp/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 05 June 2022 - 01:31 PM.

[todd]

Still don’t see how this is going to be better than a Roomba

[dasmo]

Better in bed…

[todd]

Better in bed…

How is that better than Bumble

Edited by todd, 05 June 2022 - 07:10 PM.

[LJ]

This is what I want! $3500 plus shipping from China. We should be making sun 20k EVs here…
https://youtu.be/irpe3biuBIU

Does Ford know they are calling it "Explorer"?

[Victoria Watcher]

It’s incomprehensible that during a global oil and gas shortage brought on by the wanton destruction of a civilized democracy, our prime minister thinks all will be well if only Canada rids itself of fossil-fuelled vehicles. Deep in delusion, he considers this a perfect time to announce a plan to have 60 per cent of new cars and light-duty trucks be “zero emission” by 2030.

 

When you live in a perennial state of fantasy, facts don’t matter. But here are facts that do matter to Canadians forced to face the real-world impact.

 

Fact 1: High cost. The federal budget promises a $5,000/vehicle rebate. There are 24 million gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles in Canada. Subsidizing replacement of just one million would cost $5 billion. The budget also contains $900 million for new charging stations. That’s helpful in urban centres, but providing a charging station network necessary to allow e-vehicles to travel interurban highways would cost tens of billions more.

 

Fact 2: Revenue needs. The Trudeau government’s longer-term plan is to get rid of all fossil-fuelled vehicles. Federal and provincial fuel taxes now total a stunning $22 billion each and every year. These revenues fund the cost of building and maintaining urban streets and highways. How long can it be before governments are forced to regain those revenues from electric-vehicle charging levies?

 

Fact 3: Grid stress. The average Canadian motorist drives 15,000 km per year and the average electric passenger vehicle uses 19 kw/hr per 100 km. That works out to 2,850 kw/hr per year, more than 25 per cent of current Canadian household consumption. Many of the country’s electrical generation and distribution grids are already near capacity. Electric vehicle advocates say the problem will be mitigated by mandating low amperage during off-peak, late-night hours. But most highway drivers travel during the day when the grid is near capacity. And they will need high- amperage DC quick-chargers during these already supply-tight hours.

 

Fact 4: Land demand. Refuelling with gasoline or diesel takes about five minutes. But even rapid chargers need 30 minutes. That means six times more land occupied by charging stations. How much of that land will be taken from agricultural production?

 

Fact 5: More emissions, not fewer. Canada’s 24 million fossil-fuelled cars and pickup trucks emit 14 per cent of the country’s 1.5 per cent share of global emissions. If all 24 million were converted to battery power, global emissions would be reduced by just two-tenths of one per cent. Emissions growth from China’s coal-fired power plants would offset that in just a few days. And that two-tenths of a per cent doesn’t count emissions produced from mining and transporting the materials that go into all those batteries. Nor does it consider that 20 per cent of Canada’s electricity is generated with fossil fuels.

 

 

https://www.timescol...-canada-5455103

[Victoria Watcher]

I think #1 through #4 can get worked out.  It's not like the change must be overnight.

[dasmo]

Fact 6: Gas is a by product of oil refinery. They used to burn it off before we started fuelling cars with it.

[Victoria Watcher]

Elon Musk tells employees to return to the office 40 hours a week — or quit

 

https://www.npr.org/...-return-to-work

 

"Anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla. This is less than we ask of factory workers," Musk wrote.

 

The billionaire added that employees' offices must be a "main Tesla office, not a remote branch office unrelated to the job duties" Electrek reports.

 

In an email, Musk said he would directly review and approve any requests for exemption from the company's return-to-work policy, but emphasized to his staff: "If you don't show up, we will assume you have resigned."

 

 

 

 

 

Babylon Bee:

 

 

https://babylonbee.c...inst-their-will

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 09 June 2022 - 07:24 AM.

[Tom Braybrook]

Volkswagen Will Surpass Tesla EV Sales By 2024 New Report Says

 

https://insideevs.co...-ev-sales-2024/

[Victoria Watcher]

That legacy auto makers with 50 or 100 head starts on Tesla are behind tells you a lot.

We will see.

[Victoria Watcher]

Volkswagen Will Surpass Tesla EV Sales By 2024 New Report Says

 

https://insideevs.co...-ev-sales-2024/

 

 

May 2022:

 

 

Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess has admitted that Tesla is a stronger rival than expected, making it harder for the German automaker to reach its goal of becoming the world's largest seller of EVs by 2025.

 

 

https://insideevs.co...-ev-sales-2025/

[Victoria Watcher]

Elon Musk warned investors in Rivian and Lucid the duo are on a glide path towards doom, and if their course is not corrected the electric vehicle startups could both end up in the cemetery of failed companies.

 

Tesla’s polarizing CEO has himself initiated measured cost-cutting at his company, including trimming fat in his middle management, amid a “super bad feeling” over the direction of the global economy.

 

“Unless something changes significantly with Rivian and Lucid, they will both go bankrupt,” he said in the second part of an interview with podcasters Tesla Owners Silicon Valley and the Kilowatts posted on Tuesday.

 

An essential part of the problem in Musk’s view is that the two are competing in an industry where generally speaking very little profit is made on a new car, with the bulk of earnings coming from the lucrative aftermarket business.

 

Much like a printer company with ink cartridges or a razor company selling replacement blades, an automaker generates a large chunk of its income from spare parts for a large fleet of existing cars on the road—something both Rivian and Lucid lack. What exactly the margins are is one of the industry's most closely guarded secrets.

 

 

https://finance.yaho...-115223132.html

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 16 June 2022 - 07:44 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

US battery start-up Our Next Energy (ONE) has signed an agreement with BMW to integrate its Gemini battery technology into a BMW iX. The vehicle prototype is to be completed by the end of this year – and will then be able to drive 600 miles or 965 kilometres on one charge.

 

BMW is one of the investors in Our Next Energy – so it is also obvious to use a BMW vehicle for further tests. The Gemini battery is a mixed battery pack: ONE’s Aires battery (an LFP battery with CTP technology) is coupled to a second, high-energy battery pack, which recharges the Aries battery like a range extender.

 

Last year, ONE installed a prototype of its Gemini battery pack in a Tesla Model S and, according to its own claims, achieved a range of 752 miles, or around 1,200 kilometres. At 203.7 kWh, the energy content of the installed battery pack was about twice as high as the original battery pack from Tesla – with the same dimensions.

 

 

 

https://www.electriv...-1000-km-range/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 18 June 2022 - 03:43 PM.