quote:

Originally posted by Tn226:
Well, there are alternatives


Stellantis’ new Ram pickup is an EV — with a gas-powered generator in case the battery runs out
The truck can operate as a zero-emissions EV until the vehicle’s battery dies and an electric onboard generator — powered by a 3.6-liter V6 engine — kicks on to power the vehicle after its initial charge.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/0...ctric-generator.html

It will be interesting how this pans out. GM already tried the sss as me thing with the Volt and the people who bought them loved them but not enough people bought them.

The Ram does have impressive power and essentially unlimited range.

Based on the numbers in that article and the link in that article to an article about the 100% electric Ram 1500:

The all electric Ram is supposed to go 500 miles on a 229kWh battery pack and 350 miles on a 168kWh battery pack. The Ram with the generator is supposed to go 125 miles with a 92kWh battery pack. My easy accountant math says that’s 2.18 miles/kWh, 2.08 miles/kWh, and 1.36 miles/kWh.

That’s a hefty penalty in miles/kWh to pay for having to haul an engine, a generator, a radiator, the rest of the cooling system, the exhaust system, and a gas tank with 26 gallons of gas around. If the miles/kWh drops that much just for the added weight of all that, how much will it drop when you hitch up a trailer? I get a 24% drop in mpg at 70mph on my F350 towing just a tandem PWC trailer with two PWCs all weighing about 2,200lbs.

That’s just right for starters. I’m sure the numbers will get worse when you take the price of the vehicles and extra maintenance into account.

https://www.breitbart.com/envi...9A4hceAqws8u9nNNmhyU

New York Gives Up on Electric Snow Plows: ‘Insufficient for the Demands of Winter’



New York is staying with traditional diesel-powered snow plows after rejecting electric vehicles proposed as a replacement.
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quote:

Originally posted by Tn226:
Well, there are alternatives

Stellantis’ new Ram pickup is an EV...

Seems like a parallel hybrid would be the way to go, at least that option is available again.

A hybrid is the only option I’d choose if given the choice between it and all electric. My parents had a hybrid highlander and got great mileage overall. The only downside would be the eventual expense of battery replacement which unless one is willing to get a new car every 10 years or less (I am not) will become necessary.

Until another option such as hydrogen from cracked water molecules becomes available, I’ll stick to ICE. As a country, we are FAR from being able to support going full electric.

This is only an issue because electric vehicles are not happening organically. They are being forced into markets for which they are not prepared nor practical. Economics trump ideology in a free society. The government will have to choose between liberty and ideology. Of course this has been tried before with predictable results.

Going to the Good Guys car show tomorrow.

Looking forward to seeing some beautiful badass Hotrods!

Had to get the Mach cleaned up today.

That Mach sure is a hot looking car. It's like when you see this beautiful woman with the perfect body and your buddy whispers to you they're fake you know. Makes me lose interest. Hot looking EV's have the same effect on me.

"Number One" in my organization drives a Mach-E. It's an interesting thing to look at, for sure. It's a interesting machine, as a whole, and there's a lot of neat technology built in. I'll give all the credit for all of that.

Fans and purists will debate the good sense of calling it a Mustang for eons. I think I understand why Ford chose to do that; I'm not sure I agree with it. I'll add this: I'm no particular fan of the Mach-E, but the stripes PR64 added to his do give a bland exterior design some serious personality, and it's my opinion they look pretty good.

All that aside, I'll come back to darthfuster's statement: this move to EV isn't happening organically. He's right. When government and "elites" try to push [force] us into something, it's likely not in our best interest.

I had a disagreement with my boss some 20+ years ago, and we had a good long talk about it. After discussing it for a while, he'd finally had enough. He looked at me, closed his notebook, and said, "Look. It comes down to this: nobody likes being told what to do." (For the record, I replied with, "yes, sir, you're right," closed my notebook, and left. We laugh about it now.)

My point in that is this: we're being told what to do with this whole EV thing. We don't like the government or the elites or the environmental fanatics or anyone else telling us what we should drive. None of them lives our lives, nor has the chores and responsibilities we do, so we don't like them telling us how to get our jobs done. Very few of us fit the generic mold that the people who want to decide for us think we should fit into. We like our independence, and the internal combustion engine -- along with a nationwide support system for it -- helps us maintain that independence. We don't like someone trying to limit that independence (freedom) by deciding for us how we get around.

Americans, historically, thrive on innovation. When we need a better tool for a particular job, we develop it -- think of the cotton gin, for instance. Or the snowplow. Or even the automobile in general. Putting a ton of effort and money into developing something because there's a demand/need for it is good practice; developing something and demanding that everyone adopt it is not. (Especially when the "infrastructure" can't support it, the economics don't work well for the end user, and there's a danger of the thing spontaneously combusting!)

Saw some V8’s today at the Good Guys show…

quote:

Originally posted by airbubba:
no ev in my future!!

-----------------------------

Nor mine, however a hybrid, would be my next choice, drive 30 miles~ on a battery then gas after that. I would have to take a good look at the vehicle before dropping some serious $.

The rational people have looked at the numbers and they are not good.

So many rare earth metals and exotic materials need to be mined/processed in order to meet the battery and electronics of EV cars and their 2035 (deadline) that it's impossible to achieve. That's in a free-trade world. Now that the world is on the edge of WW3 and half the materials are only found "on the other side of the wall", it's pretty much impossible to achieve.... period.

THe CEO's have realized the strategic impossibility of this materials gap, combined with the drop in EV sales and their own failures to achieve decent EV sales that the Big 3 US companies are all stomping the brakes on EVs. Toyota is not convinced battery powered cars are the future. Last week, Honda was in a working relationship with GM to bring their first EV SUV to market, that just got killed.

We are not even going to mention the lack of chargers and capacity to bring electricity to those chargers in CONUS.

Electric is not dead, but it's headed to the ER now.

The next new car I will purchase will probably be the refreshed Tesla Model 3, next year. In my opinion, when it comes to ev’s, there is Tesla and then everyone else.

But, but, but,
You meet the nicest people.

The Camry is going to hybrid only. Doh!
https://www.oann.com/business/...-us-goes-all-hybrid/

"The next generation of the Toyota Camry, the best-selling sedan in the U.S. market, will come with only a gas-electric hybrid powertrain, the boldest move yet by the Japanese automaker to push hybrid technology into the heart of the U.S. market."

Booooo Hissss
"Toyota did not disclose pricing or fuel-efficiency figures for the 2025 Camry, due in showrooms next spring. The cheapest Camry hybrid model currently sells for about $2,400 more than the most inexpensive combustion Camry."

"Toyota’s Camry, Best-Selling Car In US, Goes All-Hybrid
November 15, 2023 – 3:34 AM UTC

DETROIT (Reuters) – The next generation of the Toyota Camry, the best-selling sedan in the U.S. market, will come with only a gas-electric hybrid powertrain, the boldest move yet by the Japanese automaker to push hybrid technology into the heart of the U.S. market.
The 2025 Camry will combine a 2.5-liter gasoline engine with an electric drive system tuned to deliver more power in both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive versions of the car, Toyota said.

Compliance with tougher U.S. fuel economy rules was a factor in Toyota’s decision to make the new Camry an all-hybrid vehicle line, dropping four- and six-cylinder combustion models that made up about 85% of sales in the current model year, David Christ, head of the Toyota brand in North America, told Reuters. Another factor behind the decision was “the performance we were able to get out of the hybrid,” he said.

While Toyota has accelerated development of electric-vehicle technology, it is still betting that demand for hybrids and plug-in hybrids will remain robust as the automaker takes a “multi-pathway” approach seeking to satisfy customer needs in every market.

The hybrid powertrain and a new electronic all-wheel drive system deliver 232 combined horsepower – nearly 15% more than the outgoing Camry with a mechanical all-wheel drive system, Toyota said.

Toyota executives unveiled the ninth generation of the midsized Camry sedan on Tuesday in Los Angeles, ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show that opens on Friday.

The new Camry will compete in a segment largely abandoned by the Detroit brands, with the exception of General Motors’ (GM.N) Chevrolet Malibu. The new Camry’s direct competitors – putting aside scores of compact and midsized SUVs – will include a few remaining sedans such as the Honda (7267.T) Accord, the Hyundai (005380.KS) Sonata and Tesla’s (TSLA.O) all-electric Model 3.

The Tesla Model 3 outsold the Camry in California, a key market for Toyota, during the first nine months of 2023, according to data from the California New Car Dealers Association.

Toyota did not disclose pricing or fuel-efficiency figures for the 2025 Camry, due in showrooms next spring. The cheapest Camry hybrid model currently sells for about $2,400 more than the most inexpensive combustion Camry.

Most of the hybrid powertrains sell at a $1,500 to $2,000 premium to combustion models, Christ said. “We think the value the hybrid powertrain brings is worth that kind of premium.”

A current Camry hybrid is rated at 52 miles (84 km) per gallon in combined city and highway driving, compared with a 32-mpg rating for the conventional four-cylinder Camry. The hybrid saves $650 a year in fuel costs compared with the combustion model, according to U.S. government fuel economy data.

Toyota previously switched its Sienna minivan to an all-hybrid powertrain approach. The Sienna is “our second-fastest turning car and the car we have the most reservations for,” Christ said.

Reporting by Joe White in Detroit. Editing by Matthew Lewis"

Baby steps, it would have been better to move from ice to hybrid to EV's with some EV tech ie Tesla and higher end vehicles along the way.

All the advancements in automotive tech back from day one are put in the higher end brands, those buyers can afford and don't care about the price and they get the new tech first.

PR64s EV is good looking and it's not odd that Ford stuck the Mustang badge on it, Falcon or Pinto wouldn't evoke thoughts of good things about the vehicle.

Funny thing too EV, Fords got the Mustang EV, and then rolls out a 5.0 litre V8 Coyote powered with 6 speed manual hard core gas eating no electric assist muscle car all while GM and Mopar call it quits. KInda the F Greta edition...

Fossil Fuel Forever...

100% electric commuter bus owned by Google. Stops working on a steep San Francisco hill, rolls backwards into a bunch of cars.


link

They can just run that bus’s regenerative braking backwards and fix those cars right up.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
They can just run that bus’s regenerative braking backwards and fix those cars right up.

Hahaha!!!

I love both my wifes and my brothers Teslas when they let me drive them. Took a road trip to vegas and back (@3000 miles total) with my brother in the last winter's snowstorm and fell in love with those cars. Especially after driving over 1000 miles last month with the wife in hers.

I'm not telling anyone else what they should drive, I have a hybrid, but those tesla's are amazing.