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Hybrid Vehicles

I am not sure Tesla misses Clarkson and his often foolish attention to the wrong things, to be honest with you. It's a freak show/entertainment, not an honest review of any sorts.
 
I am not sure Tesla misses Clarkson and his often foolish attention to the wrong things, to be honest with you. It's a freak show/entertainment, not an honest review of any sorts.

Agreed, but it happened nonetheless.

One of the recent GT episodes involved EV's and it made me pull out my hair about all the fallacies and bunk Clarkson was spewing forth, but the Tesla review was reasonably factual and interesting. One of the biggest thing they could find wrong was that it was too wide for their side of the pond, which again, is factual.
 
Agreed, but it happened nonetheless.

One of the recent GT episodes involved EV's and it made me pull out my hair about all the fallacies and bunk Clarkson was spewing forth, but the Tesla review was reasonably factual and interesting. One of the biggest thing they could find wrong was that it was too wide for their side of the pond, which again, is factual.

Factual to him for his freak show, but useless to anyone who would never use the car the way he has, especially without clearly mentioning the real range of the car . Like he took Shelby GT500 for a run from somewhere in UK to soccer stadium in Italy. Could not stop bitching, that he had to stop every 200 miles to fill-up .... LOL ... wouldn't you know that Shelby GT500 is a perfect trip car for long distances? They should really stick to the absolutely hilarious episodes with no car reviews, like the one with the caravan trip. The rest? ... meeh ... gets old really fast.
 
On another note ... looks like GTAA is ready to have more DCFC chargers install at their two locations around the airport. Recently, they just completed, roofing installation for the south. they have 5 units at each location, but they have room for 10. The roof was installed for 10 units, so hopefully they will expand the number of units too. They are now working on the east cell phone lot.

Bolt production numbers going up, model 3 deliveries to Canada will start probably soon (judging by people's ETA's from Tesla), around mid of the year. Leaf numbers should be growing quite quickly too .... in another words, I expect a lot more traffic at these places by the end of this year.
 
Everything green and EV will likely come crashing down if Ford makes it to office, so anyone looking at using the current subsidies or whatnot...should probably do so soon.
 
That's a reasonable assumption. But, I don't believe just yet that even if he somehow he gets into the chair of premier, it will not be a majority government ... in another words, he will have to behave, compromise on everything or get nothing done. We will see where this is going.
 
That's a reasonable assumption. But, I don't believe just yet that even if he somehow he gets into the chair of premier, it will not be a majority government ... in another words, he will have to behave, compromise on everything or get nothing done. We will see where this is going.

Double negative. Same as saying you do believe it will be a majority government.
 
Everything green and EV will likely come crashing down if Ford makes it to office, so anyone looking at using the current subsidies or whatnot...should probably do so soon.

It would be interesting to see the projected stats on the effects of the subsidies. How many die hard electro heads would pay full shot?

How will that trickle down with used EV's?
 
How many die hard electro heads would pay full shot?

Not many. As much as it's fun to save money at the pumps, if you had a choice between a Cruze LT ($22,000) or a Volt LT ($39,000), it becomes hard to justify the Volt..
 
It would be interesting to see the projected stats on the effects of the subsidies. How many die hard electro heads would pay full shot?

How will that trickle down with used EV's?

I certainly would not have paid full pop for the Volt. Although, even without a subsidy, it'd be hard to go back to an ICE at this point. Likely, prices will fall before I'm back in the market for another car
 
Looking at the used vehicle market, I find the pricing to be competitive.

So I’m not sure if the manufactures are pricing their new vehicles higher to take advantage of the rebates that have already been negotiated?


If they go away, I’m sure the manufacturers will adjust their pricing accordingly.

Maybe not completely on par but, enough to win a few customers.

The number of Plug In Hybrids has increased a lot and I see the benefit of doing local/shorter trips on EV power and having petro for longer trips.

It’s a good balance.

My range needs and budget just doesn’t allow to buy new at the present time.

My current employer now offers the Ford Fusion Hybrid (not the Energi) as a choice.

Since it wasn’t designed as a Hybrid, the battery is in the truck. Can’t even pack a set of golf clubs.

Guess It’s not bad you don’t mind tossing them in the back seat, it still works.






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Everything green and EV will likely come crashing down if Ford makes it to office, so anyone looking at using the current subsidies or whatnot...should probably do so soon.

You're making those broad statements again. Business would slow no matter which opposing leader gets in. That's the way markets usually work. They pause and assess the situation, before continuing on their merry way. If the market has no merit in the current period, it may stop until it again becomes relevant.

What's Ford going to do? Go around and personally pull out charging stations from people's houses?

p.s. How's the shoulder doing?
 
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Not many. As much as it's fun to save money at the pumps, if you had a choice between a Cruze LT ($22,000) or a Volt LT ($39,000), it becomes hard to justify the Volt..


and this is where a proper hybrid comes into play, lower price, no need to worry about plugging in, plenty of styles and types to choose from.

still the smart choice today.
 
You're making those broad statements again. Business would slow no matter which opposing leader gets in. That's the way markets usually work. They pause and assess the situation, before continuing on their merry way. If the market has no merit in the current period, it may stop until it again becomes relevant.

What's Ford going to do? Go around and personally pull out charging stations from people's houses?

p.s. How's the shoulder doing?

It's not about people who already have a setup and perhaps already made an EV leap. The experience is vastly so good that nobody wants to go back. It's about how to grow this group of people so transition to cleaner transportation is on-going. The government's help is still needed, so it's a correct concern to have.

And no, I don't expect Ford to show up at my door ... Although, I would quite frankly get a good laugh out of him as I am sure he would explain to me that the green gravy train needs to stopped or derailed.
 
You're making those broad statements again. Business would slow no matter which opposing leader gets in. That's the way markets usually work. They pause and assess the situation, before continuing on their merry way.

What's Ford going to do? Go around and personally pull out charging stations from people's houses? .

Based on his statements and how he's scoffed at most green/environmental initiatives in the past (if they cost the government/taxpayers a dime that he doesn't agree with) I would expect him to pull the plug on most of the EV related incentives and programs in short order.

No, not "pulling the plugs on peoples home charging stations", but cancelling the rebate program, the public charging infrastructure programs, and the EVSE rebate program will be akin to pulling out the rug from under the EV segment that's still in it's infancy here in Ontario..and just starting to get a foothold.

It will most certainly stunt growth.

p.s. How's the shoulder doing?

Not bad, thanks - went back to work 3 weeks back and it's getting the job done - is still sore sometimes at the limits of it's movement up or out, but I've been told it'll be that way for probably a year after the surgery. At least the "resting" (IE, arm just hanging at my side) pain is completely gone which in my books is a massive success and worth the pain. It was a super crappy surgery and recovery, that's for sure...and this is coming from someone who's had a C1/C2 spinal fusion before. ;)
 
We joined the club. Not a plug in but, there are ways to benefit from EV power alone and sip less petro and still provide range while carrying the pups in the back.

We shall see what the weekend brings in terms of fuel efficiency. Won’t be the same as a plug in but, definitely has some benefits of battery only power under limited circumstances while having decent vehicle performance for a Hybrid powertrain.

Only 59k on the odo and pretty clean overall.

Looking forward to adapting some driving techniques to get improved mileage. And even if I’m lazy, it’s still not a bad drive.

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So, I’m learning about the C Max.

You can drive in EV mode at highway speeds. The ICE consumes considerably more fuel when cold. Once warmed, it’s much better.

A trip of mixed highway and city came back at 5.6 L per 100 kms.

Haven’t had a lot of time to play around.

And I know many drive these things like a game. I can see the attraction. But, not to the point of obsessing.

We did challenge ourselves yesterday to take a trip to the supermarket EV only.

I had the ICE activate once for a short period.

Will be interesting to see what kind of range I get in a tank of gas.

The dogs fit in the back and Kids like the room in the back seat and mom and I enjoy the ride up front.

Decent steering feel. Roomy and quiet cabin.

Some folks praise the Prius as the Hybrid king. And that might be true.

But I find this Ford is alright.

I’d rather a Volt but the sedan configuration made it a no go for the pups.

And more plug ins are available but, we were looking at the cheaper used market and newer offering would have us into a monthly payment we rather avoid.


Looking forward to achieving similar fuel consumption as my motorcycles. Lol.


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I’d rather a Volt but the sedan configuration made it a no go for the pups.

A wagon seems like the perfect form factor for a vehicle with a large battery pack. I keep coming back to the opinion that most manufacturers are happier not selling vehicles with a useful electric range but sell something much less appealing to appease regulators.
 
So, I’m learning about the C Max.

You can drive in EV mode at highway speeds. The ICE consumes considerably more fuel when cold. Once warmed, it’s much better.

A trip of mixed highway and city came back at 5.6 L per 100 kms.

Haven’t had a lot of time to play around.

Sounds like a decent success so far - that's respectable fuel economy for a car that's not a turd like a Prius, and it'll get better with the warmer weather and as the ICE breaks in I'm sure.

On the fuel economy front, my wife just got back from a 1000KM trip to Montreal and back with her Volt and averaged 6.2L/100KM basically being on the ICE the entire trip beyond the initial 50KM of battery - she couldn't charge at the hotel there.

It seemed a tad high (we accomplished ~5.25-5.5L/100Km all ICE on previous trips in the summer) but then I remembered that her Volt still has it's snow tires on, so the extra consumption suddenly made sense. Once the proper LRR all seasons go back on the fuel economy will return.
 
A wagon seems like the perfect form factor for a vehicle with a large battery pack.

Wagons just don't sell. Look at the Magnum - only ran for a few years before it was scrapped due to poor sales numbers. Yeah, they have a bit of a cult following now, but I don't think they've come back around into vogue again quite yet, even if someone put out another "sport" one like the Hemi Magnum I owned up until I bought our second Volt.
 

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