His sense of humor comes through in the article.

As told to The Wall Street Journal

I try to look at the silver lining of the pandemic. For example, how many guys have used these excuses: “Honey, I’d love to take you to the new vegan restaurant, but it’s closed. Let me go to In and Out and just bring home some burgers.” Or, “Honey, of course, I’d love to see a Broadway musical, but there’s nobody performing right now. Let’s just watch TV.”

Another plus: We have cheaper gas and unclogged freeways. Police have given out more 100-mile-an-hour-plus speeding tickets in a month than they have in five years. Think about it: Not since 1958 have people gone more than 12 miles an hour on the 405 Freeway.



And maybe it’s my imagination but I find people are more friendly when I’m driving around the city. I have a green 1950 Plymouth station wagon that my wife calls a “roundy” car. We drive it to the supermarket. The other day there was a line of people with masks and they were sort of scowling and as soon as they saw this car, they all started smiling and waving because it looks like a big friendly dog. It’s a six-cylinder, goofy-looking car from the 1950s with big whitewall tires, and it seems to make people smile.

It makes more sense to drive something like this during a pandemic than some sort of ridiculous Lamborghini with open exhaust, like some deposed dictator’s idiot son. People would throw rocks at me.

People are also more polite. I saw this the other day: Someone was having car trouble, and everybody stopped to help her. That’s because we’re all sharing the same tragic events. I think it brings people together a little bit. It’s like, maybe being the top salesman in your office is not the most important thing right now. Let’s concentrate on what really counts.

Electric cars
The last new car I bought was my 2015 Tesla Model S.

I think it’s safe to say that a child born today will probably drive in a gasoline car about as often as people do in standard shift cars today. They’ll still be around, but everything will be electric.

For years, electric cars fell short because they weren’t as efficient, they didn’t have the range, and were, for the most part, glorified golf carts. I drove one of the first electric cars by General Motors, the EV1, back in the 1990s. It had a range of maybe 70 to 100 miles, but in reality, it went much less. The range on electric cars is like sex—all guys lie about it.


Today’s high-end gas-powered cars will become weekend fun cars as electric vehicles take over for everyday use, Mr. Leno says.
PHOTO: ALEX WELSH FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
With new technology, it can’t just be equal. It’s got to be superior. Now with the advent of Tesla and all these other companies, you have cars that have a range of 400 miles or more, so that’s not even an issue anymore. They’re faster, they’re more efficient, and they don’t cost as much to run. That’s why electric will take over. I don’t know any Tesla person that’s gone back to a gas car.

I think your Ferraris, your Cobras—these fancy cars—become the equivalent of what snowmobiles are now. They will be weekend recreational vehicles because, let’s face it, driving a high-performance Ferrari in L.A. traffic—bumper to bumper—doesn’t make any sense.

So, you’ll drive your electric car to get around the city and go to the airport. And then on the weekends, you take your sports car and you drive up to the hills or wherever you go for recreational driving.

Making the change
Steam ran this country from 1800 to 1911. Internal combustion took over from 1911 to just about now. And now we’re in the electric phase. It’s still at the beginning.

It won’t take long for those who love gas-powered cars to switch to electric. The first time your Ferrari or Lamborghini gets blown off by an electric car, that’s pretty much it.

I bought my Tesla because it is the fastest-accelerating four-door car I could buy. Really, there’s nothing faster. The fact that it happened to be electric, the fact that it didn’t use any gasoline and it never requires any repairs, that’s all secondary.

I like fast cars. I wasn’t really thinking about the environment when I bought it—lower emissions are the byproduct. I was thinking that’s a pretty good deal for the fastest-accelerating car you can get. All this extra stuff is just extra.

Some love gas-powered cars because they like the look of the engine. That will change, too. When you open the hood of a gas-powered car, there’s nothing to look at these days anyway. Just a big sheet of plastic over the engine.

Engines used to be attractive. I have a friend of mine who collects antique Maytag washing-machine engines because the engine was exposed, and it had a lot of nickel, brass and a lot of polish to it. They were fascinating to look at, like looking at the back of a watch.

And then somebody realized, we could just put a white box over all of this. We don’t have to make the engine attractive at all and we can save money. And then the idea of collecting washing-machine motors just fell out of favor because there’s nothing interesting about it—it was all under the box.

That’s the way modern cars are. The average person on the street could not tell an electric car from a gas car by looking at it. But they know the electric one is faster and now it can go longer, and it doesn’t require any maintenance. So give me the electric.

The one hurdle is cost for most consumers. Right now, electric cars are more expensive, on average, than gas cars because they cost more to manufacture, but that will come down.

Think about the costs and the hassle of a new gas-powered car: After the first 600 miles, first you have to change the oil and service it, and eventually you have to replace the brake pads. Electric cars have brake pads too, but they also have regenerative braking, so they slow you down and you don’t use the brakes nearly as much. My Tesla brake pads still look brand new because I just let my foot off the pedal and the car slows down. I only use the brake pedal to come to a full, complete stop.

Then there’s the gas. I used to have a big Jaguar four-door sedan that cost me $80 to $100 a week in gas. I got the Tesla, and it’s maybe $6 a week of electricity to charge the battery.

The cutoff point in America is $30,000. I think once they figure out how to build electric cars for less than $30,000, you’ll see more and more people going electric. If it hits people in the pocketbook, that’s the game-changer. If you can make a car cheaper, more efficient, faster—game over.

Driving driverless cars
The idea of a driverless car is a misnomer. It’s more like driver assist, with sensing systems that alert drivers when they veer over a lane or approach a vehicle in front. At one point in time, power steering was considered antithetical to true drivers. People protested and claimed, “I’m not using that power steering. I want to feel the tires turning when I turn the wheel.” Power brakes were the same because it’s putting something between you and the road. Well, now people wouldn’t leave their house without anti-lock brakes.

It’s all relative.

The idea of you hopping in the back seat with a bottle of Scotch and the car driving you somewhere—I don’t think that’s going to happen for a long time. You’ll always have to have a person behind the wheel. If you have an accident, who’s responsible?

Driverless cars don’t interest me because I like the interaction of mechanical things. I prefer to turn the wheel. I like winding mechanical watches before I go to bed. I like feeling that little “tick, tick, tick” as you turn the crown wheel.

But that didn’t stop me from testing a driverless car. Audi invited me up to Sonoma Racetrack to try one of their prototype electric vehicles. I sat in the passenger seat. They programmed the car and it was going well over 100, 120 miles an hour by itself racing around the track. I sat there and I watched the steering wheel turn and I watched the brakes move up and down. That was fascinating—it’s as if the invisible man was driving the car.

The first time I tested a driverless car, the whole trunk was filled with electronics. The next time we did it, the electronics were the size of a cellphone.

I’m a hopeless optimist. I believe engineers will save the world.

Look at how engineers have developed cars over the past 50 years. When I came to L.A. in the ’70s, you couldn’t go outside more than 100 days a year because of the smog. Now, we have at least 10 times as many cars on the road, or so it seems, and while the air is not perfect, it is remarkably cleaner. I think we’re moving in the right direction.

Can't say I disagree with any of his thinking. Though I did find it ironic when he said he likes turning the wheel because of the mechanical interaction. Aren't Teslas drive by wire where the steering is all electric?

I get the convenience of electric for some situations, especially in traffic. But most of my driving is in town and highways outside of peak traffic. There's just no substitute for a high torque turbo-ed engine mated to a manual trans to make you feel alive and one with the machine. I plan on driving a dinosaur powered non self anything car until they go extinct.

So many paradigm shifts happening right now. Electric cars, remote work,, etc. The ripple effects of just those two are already being felt significantly.

I remember Jay Leno. He had a great late night show that wasn't particularly political. Now that time slot is occupied by a commie named Kole-burt. He comes on and I change channels. I'm just sorry I had to work the next day and couldn't watch.

When I can drive an electric truck, pulling an enclosed car hauler, to Houston and back, from Birmingham, AL in 24 hours, THEN, maybe I will consider it. Until then it is hard to compete with a 5-10 minute fillup, even when getting 8-10 MPG in my truck.

What going to happen when people find the power grid in this country doesn't have enough capacity to charge their cars? Last time I checked the estimated cost for expanding the power grid for a 100% electric vehicle fleet was 180 TRILLION dollars. Note, that is just an estimate at today's cost of materials. When that expansion is actually being implemented I suspect the cost will be 8 to 10 times higher. So what is the next unit of measure after 1 Trillion?

The good news is that in 20 or 30 years the Obesity Epidemic will be history. Because people will be peddling or walking almost every where. Because they won't be allowed to charge their shiny new cars, that will be strictly rationed.

Jay is a true gearhead, so I think he has a fair assessment of where personal transportation is going. Most manufacturers are heading toward EV.

On the power side, utilities are scrambling to forecast the shift in load curves as well as adding capacity (generation, transmission and distribution). Another aspect is utility rates (time of use, peak demand charges). In California, we already pay unconscionable rates for electricity and I feel do a poor job on the generation side of the equation. "Give me green power, produce it somewhere else, save the planet, make the big power businesses pay for system upgrades and make it affordable for the little guy." There's a huge information gap for most consumers of electricity. They simply don't understand the complex nature of generating and delivering power in a cheap and reliable manner. Heck, in CA, we've done our best to take out the last two nuclear plants.

I still hope to own a gas powered 911S, but ICE's days are numbered.

I like Jay, but he lives in California, and people in California think everywhere is California. It ain't.

What I agreed with: smiling when you see a 1950 Plymouth Suburban.

What I disagreed with: electric cars replacing gasoline. I live in the sticks, and about 1/3 to 1/2 of my work is done on the road. I may spend nine or ten hours driving in one day, gathering data. Electric cars would have to change *enormously* to even come close to being practical for me.

Regardless of whether we have a power grid for EVs theres always the big problem of how long it takes to charge them. Even if they had a 600mi range who's gonna sit around for several hours to charge it? I can fill up now in less than 10min. We would need radical changes in charging before these cars will ever have mass appeal.

Everyone who hates on electric cars always points out the extreme examples every time. 80% of the population have a commute under 40 miles every day. The vast majority also do not drive long distances for vacation anymore and when they do it’s once or twice a year where you could easily rent a car and jam all the miles on the rental. Sure there will be the extreme example were electric will definitely not work but for the vast majority of the population they will be better than gas and Electric cars repeat buy rate shows it.

I totally agree with Jay in that most people will be driving electric and fun powerful V8’s like my Scat Pack Challenger will mostly be used for nice weather weekends, which by the way, already happens.

quote:

Originally posted by Russ59:

I still hope to own a gas powered 911S, but ICE's days are numbered.

The internal combustion engine in cars will continue to be around for a long, long time. It ain't going anywhere.

I personally feel that the VOLT generally had it right. Electric, that could be plugged in and charged but had a backup IC charger so for long distance you could fill the gap with quickly replaced fuel.

So a modern EV with a 300 mile range and a tiny IC generator/charger to fill those rare long range gaps would be perfect.

All that said the grid, taxes and costs associated with charging will radically change once everybody goes EV en masse and all those costs will certainly skyrocket from 6 bucks a week.

My friends have a Tesla with a cracked windshield, like for the last 18 months. Try getting something like that on one of those repaired. Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by coloradohunter44:
My friends have a Tesla with a cracked windshield, like for the last 18 months. Try getting something like that on one of those repaired. Good luck.

That's a Tesla problem, though, and not an electric car problem. Jay is right - very few people that get a Tesla go back. It's like a cult. The question is whether those people will remain brand loyal or tech loyal as more electrics come out. Outside of Tesla, which is already a premium priced brand, but the realistic competition is from brands like Audi (eTron) and Jaguar (ePace) right now. Cars like the Bolt and Leaf are somewhere between the souped up golf carts Leno talks about and mainstream.

Yes the best Teslas are fast, but the fast ones are also limited on range unless you pay more for long range version. Charging stations are also limited where I live so to be practical I'd need another car for trips. Why pay 2-3 times more unless you need to be green with your fun car?

I said this many years ago and I will say it now.

Porsche/Audi (VAG) getting into this will be the death knell for Tesla and the beginning of the mainstreaming of EV tech.

Ford has that fairly nice, albeit completely WRONG NAMED, Mustang thing and the F150 on the horizon. Both Ford and GM have bought into the Rivian truck/tech.

Point is we are on the precipice of mainstream EV tech.

Now being a car guy I both love and hate this. There is a lot to love with EV’s but there is a lot to miss from IC’s (the sound/rumble/fury, the gearboxes etc.).

I think Leno is dead on. In a very few years/the next decade or so EV’s will begin to dominate the normal car market as well as the super car market. IC cars will slowly become the toys of you will.

I don’t think this is a bad thing fundamentally. I do think there is a TON of infrastructure work to make this happen.

As far as pure performance instant torque is hard to argue with. It will be similar to dual clutch transmissions (ala PDK for example). There will always be purists whole enjoy a manual transmission but If your honest a PDK/Dual Clutch blows manual shifting out of the water from a purely performance metric. (I like driving a stick FYI). I think EVa vs ICs will be similar. I think they will eventually be vastly superior but will never scratch that “drivers” itch. So to speak.

If you would have told me I would have an IPHONE/Smart Phone on me everyday and use it for damn near everything, I would have laughed at you and I was involved with the Original Iphone Launch in an ancillary way many moons ago. I think EVs are at that same tipping point.

quote:

Originally posted by Russ59:
Jay is a true gearhead, so I think he has a fair assessment of where personal transportation is going.

To a degree, yes...but not totally.

quote:

Most manufacturers are heading toward EV.

Most manufacturers are being pushed, bullied, and bought off with taxpayer money to try and coerce them into producing EV's that an overwhelming majority of auto consumers don't want and can't afford, and that there is no real infrastructure to support. But I think Jay totally missed the boat when it comes to the next generation. I personally don't think they'll be driving anything. This is the Uber/Lyft/Whatever comes next generation. Many of them have no interest at all in cars. They just want a simple way to get from point A to point B. And why drive when someone else can do it for you. I think the next generation will be almost completely divorced from the idea of owning a car at all. Just a cellphone and a credit card will do.

And you living in Loonyville provides the icing on the cake. California can't even keep the damn lights on in the homes attached to it grid all the while bloviating about more green energy that costs too much and is incredibly inefficient on any real scale. EV's aren't the solution to anything. They're just more of the wet dream, liberal, foolishness that the rest of the country is being told is the future, when most of us with a functioning brain stem know they're government's latest boondoggle paid for on the taxpayer dime. Compliments of the same government that told us masks would inhibit the spread of Covid...while case numbers skyrocket.

Until I can charge a vehicle at home while living in an apartment complex with no assigned parking, I won't be buying an electric vehicle.

Back on 12/03, there was a good article in the Patriot Post on various government efforts to do away with ICE vehicles. One thing that I have wondered about that is mentioned is the materials necessary to build EVs. Here is a bit from the article:

Last year, Professor Richard Herrington of the Natural History Museum in London sent a letter to the British government after he and his colleagues analyzed what it would take to convert that nation’s cars to electric vehicles (EVs) by 2050, not 2035. They concluded that such a conversion would require, based on 2018 mining levels, the entire world’s production of neodymium, three-quarters of its lithium production, and at least half of its copper production to produce the required number of EVs — just for the UK.

America? “The U.S. has about 276 million registered motor vehicles, or roughly nine times as many vehicles as the U.K.,” explains columnist Robert Bryce. “Thus, if Herrington’s numbers are right, electrifying all U.S. motor vehicles would require roughly 18 times the world’s current cobalt production, about nine times global neodymium output, nearly seven times global lithium production, and about four times world copper production.”

That's a lot of mining. Are these eco-warriors going to allow that? These figures are for replacing the current vehicles on the road and not future ones. How much do we have in natural resources to keep building EVs? What about the age-old question of toxic battery materials when they wear out? It's starting to sound as though transportation of the future will be for the elites only.


Link to article: https://patriotpost.us/article...ter-autos-2020-12-03