The West Is In An Unnecessary Energy Crisis

On August 30, 2022 By Steven SymesIn Automotive

And it’s of our own making.

If you haven’t seen your energy bill climb by several factors, get ready, because it’s coming. While some of us have tried sounding the alarm of spiking costs for electricity, natural gas, and oil across the West, others have been busy rationalizing this phenomenon away. For example, when a relative of mine shared my post about electricity making recharging EVs in Germany expensive, warning associates the effect is rippling through countries, someone dismissed the information: “That’s Germany.”

Unfortunately, this isn’t voodoo magic where supposedly if you don’t believe in rapidly increasing energy costs they won’t affect you. I’ve pulled an anecdote from Twitter to demonstrate what you might be seeing soon in many other countries, including the US and Canada. One is a café in Leicester, UK where the electric bill has essentially tripled. Think about that: what would you have to do with your budget if what you spend jumped that much overnight? There are more stories like this and soon you could be one of them.

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WEF Can’t Figure Out Why Only The Rich Buy Electric Cars

On August 29, 2022 By Steven SymesIn Automotive

Gee, this is a tough one.

I’ve noticed a consistent problem with how many executives in the automotive industry as well as people outside of the industry who want to influence its direction approach the adoption of electric cars. What I chock it up to is group think and a disconnect with the average citizens in Western countries, because our leaders can’t seem to understand why more aren’t buying a Tesla or other EVs.

This blithely elitist attitude is perfectly encapsulated in an article published by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Thomson Reuters Foundation trust, titled “This is how the US can make EV charging sites more accessible.”

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Charging Electric Cars Is Far From Easy

On August 22, 2022 By Steven SymesIn Automotive

This might make you think twice about taking the plunge.

Right now, the pressure inside the auto industry to cheerlead electric vehicles is tremendous. Automakers see this as a chance to make tons of money while weeding out smaller competitors since only the mega automakers can achieve the economies of scale apparently needed to profitably manufacturer EVs. The “green energy” industry also stands to gain tremendously from the push as people are told they need to go with solar or wind energy to further shrink their carbon footprint. But all of this comes at a tremendous cost, one of which you might not realize until it’s too late.

A new report from The Verge highlights a survey done by JD Power of EV and plug-in hybrid car owners. They contacted 11,554 people from January through June of this year, learning that overall people absolutely hate using public charging stations.

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Automotive News Roundup 8/19/2022

On August 19, 2022 By Steven SymesIn Automotive

Here are the automotive news stories you might have missed this week.

1. NHTSA boss steps down.

Steven Cliff, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has stepped down to take a job as executive officer at the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Confirmed by the Senate in May, Cliff’s tenure is shockingly short.

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Porsche’s EV Blows Away Tesla

On August 10, 2022 By Steven SymesIn Automotive

This thing is fast!

Porsche proudly declared today that it set a new record for a production electric vehicle lapping the Nurburgring Nordschleife, which is a big deal in the car world. Using a Taycan Turbo S, a driver got around the Green Hell in 7minutes 33.3 seconds. In case you haven’t been keeping track, that edged out the previous record held by the Tesla Model S Plaid at 7 minutes 35.6 seconds.

For quite some time, automakers have been using the Nurburgring Nordschleife as a measurement of overall performance for production vehicles. Considering the 12.92 mile track comes with a little bit of everything from tricky chicanes to elevation drops and big straightaways for hitting top speeds, enough people consider it to be an important measurement.

Ford Lightning Shows What An EV Future Might Become

On August 9, 2022 By Steven SymesIn Uncategorized

Is going electric-only the solution to our transportation woes?

By now you might have already seen the news that Ford is opening up the order books for the F-150 Lightning as well as increasing the price significantly. It’s an ironic move considering one of the long-time talking points for EVs is they’re more cost effective than traditional ICE vehicles. Yet this combined with the recent round of price increases for Teslas casts a shadow of doubt on such declarations.

Sure, you can get Ford Lightning Pro model starting at $46,974 – at least in theory. Automakers often use the bottom-tier, stripped-down trim on a premier model line to wow consumers with how affordable the vehicle could be, then reels them in with more features which pump up the price. Many shoppers who have blown way past the budget they set for a new car know firsthand how this works.

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Automotive News Roundup 8/5/2022

On August 6, 2022 By Steven SymesIn Uncategorized

Here’s what you need to know about what’s happening in the industry.

I haven’t been able to get a post up for a couple of days and have several interesting items I want everyone to be aware of since they could have a huge impact on the automotive industry in the near future. Click on any of the links to get more info from the source for each story and don’t be scared to leave a comment below – I like discussing topics, even if you don’t entirely agree with my take.

1. Tesla Is On A Roll

Last night was the Tesla annual stockholders meeting and it was a pretty wild time. Yet again, many are comparing Musk to Steve Jobs, especially as he came out on stage almost an hour late and wearing black head to toe. Still, he gave quite the presentation, making the automaker’s challenges seem like mere anthills.

One of the more troubling items presented during the meeting, at least for luxury automakers, is Tesla’s forecast that it will build 1.5 million vehicles in 2022. The company also believes at the end of the year it will be building EVs at an annualized rate of 2 million units. To put that into perspective, last year BMW delivered 2,521,179 vehicles to customers last year. In other words, Tesla is almost on its heels.

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That Time Daimler Made The Weirdest Car Ad

On August 6, 2022August 6, 2022 By Steven SymesIn Uncategorized

I would’ve loved to have been a fly on the wall when this was discussed in marketing.

I want to share a lighter topic, a photo montage shared by Daimler back in December 2014 to promote the Smart Fortwo Brabus. That’s right, the high-performance tuner took a shot at the all-electric version of Daimler’s two-seater microcar. For some reason, marketing thought the best way to promote the vehicle was parking it inside a mall in Berlin featuring a model dressed as Santa Claus and an angel.

In a way I can see what they were aiming for. The marketing copy accompanying the photos talks about how impossible it is to find a parking spot in Berlin, something anyone who lives in a dense urban area can certainly identify with.

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D.C. Has Fallen Out Of Love With Tesla

On August 6, 2022August 6, 2022 By Steven SymesIn Uncategorized

The latest example of this is being largely passed over by the media.

During the 2012 presidential debates, Mitt Romney landed some solid punches against Barack Obama, even though he ultimately couldn’t reel in the presidency. While many have focused on how he’s been vindicated on topics like his warning about Russia, he also got it right when it came to the Obama Administration’s picking of winners and losers. For a long time, supporters of the 44th President of the United States tried hard to ignore the abject failure of Fisker and Solyndra, choosing instead to celebrate Tesla’s success. Many enthusiastically purchased a Model S or Model X and revered Elon Musk. In case you haven’t noticed, leaders in Washington, D.C. have done a sudden about-face on Musk and Tesla fairly recently.

The most recent example of this souring attitude comes via the $430 billion drugs and climate change bill Joe Manchin has agreed to after months of wrangling with Chuck Schumer. While spending our way out of inflation is absolute insanity, what really caught my eye was the electric vehicle tax credit.

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Why We Can’t Really Talk About Electric Vehicle Fires

On August 6, 2022August 6, 2022 By Steven SymesIn Uncategorized

This topic is taboo in much of the media.

You’ve likely heard about the wildfire that’s been raging in France since it’s been all over the news while being touted as an example of the ravages of global warming. While it’s tempting to dive into why weather becomes climate at the convenience of alarmists looking to grab power or the debate about how unchecked conservationist policies led to improper forest management and an abundance of fuel to keep the fire raging, there’s another aspect of this case which isn’t getting even a whisper of a mention in American corporate news.

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