OT: Electric vehicles

Knight Shift

Heisman
May 19, 2011
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But is he wrong? There were some reports that lenders/investors were shaken by his behavior the first few days after taking control of Twitter. That Paul Pelosi thing gave everyone from investors to advertisers pause. He tried to blame companies who are hesitant to advertise on Twitter after his stunts for being woke and wanting to suppress speech but then a few days later he apparently blocked a bunch of ad execs who questioned some of the things he said and did after a conference call with large marketers and ad execs a few days ago.

The problem for Musk is he is wildly impulsive which is a bad combo with being arrogant. When you make an impulsive decision building cars or a space craft, you can often walk that back as something you decide doesn't happen immediately. But with twitter, every post he makes, every person he blocks, every person he unblocks, every person he lifts a ban from is immediate and quick and immediate reactions. Twitter highlights his worst impulses, which is often to just spout off with no thought as to the consequences.

I often took the position with Musk that you shouldn't bet against him. But something about twitter and the type of person he is strikes me as a bad combo.
I'm neutral on Musk. I don't really care about him either way. And I don't really care about what happens to Twitter either. At least some of the reporting was the usual MSM hysteria, but some of it seems warranted. I see stuff on my Twitter feed that I don't care much about that is leading me to think that Musk will regret getting entangled in this mess. He may be suffering from Superman syndrome, thinking that running a social media company is like running Tesla or SpaceX. It's obviously not.
 

Knight Shift

Heisman
May 19, 2011
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I use it but don’t love it. Wrote in an earlier email that it’s too sensitive. Brings the car to a complete stock too quickly for my liking.
I set it to one pedal driving, and an hour later, we had a fire call. I put it in reverse, and sat there for about 30 seconds looking to see if the emergency brake was on. I figured it out, and each drive is easier now that I am used to it.
 
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fsg2_rivals

Heisman
Apr 3, 2018
10,881
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That's part of the discussion on the linked thread from the Lightning forums. EV haters seem more receptive to the Lightning because it looks like an F150. It kind of reveals itself for what it is when the owner pops open the frunk to expose an empty compartment and not an engine. Enjoying the heck out of it so far. It has been a long time since I have enjoyed driving a new vehicle this much.

Did you load that bad boy with ice and tailgate one end of the game?

I know you don't drink, but sodas, steaks, brats and good ol' H20 could benefit from the F150's two-sided mullet.
 
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Knight Shift

Heisman
May 19, 2011
87,644
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Did you load that bad boy with ice and tailgate one end of the game?

I know you don't drink, but sodas, steaks, brats and good ol' H20 could benefit from the F150's two-sided mullet.
We crash other's tailgates-so we did not do that. It's just me and Mrs. Shift, and we pack a cooler of drinks for the ride up and ride home.
 
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OntheBanks

All-Conference
Jul 26, 2001
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Yeah, it was a momentary lapse of reason (channeling Pink Floyd). My participation in the drag race antics lasted all of 5 seconds. More range is better than the insane speed. I chirp the wheels when I was going about 20 mph and hit the accelerator.

Are you using 1 pedal driving. I like it a lot.
To tell you the truth. I enjoyed the 3 pedal driving the most.
Rev the Buick GS 401 Cubic Inch engine and pop the clutch and off you go.
Shift to 2nd and the front end would pop up and more of my tires would be left on the road.
I know, any Tesla today would kill me in a 1/4 mile today. Just some good memories.
 
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Knight Shift

Heisman
May 19, 2011
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To tell you the truth. I enjoyed the 3 pedal driving the most.
Rev the Buick GS 401 Cubic Inch engine and pop the clutch and off you go.
Shift to 2nd and the front end would pop up and more of my tires would be left on the road.
I know, any Tesla today would kill me in a 1/4 mile today. Just some good memories.
Sounds like a the lyrics to Racing in the Street!
Some of the old fire engines I drove required double clutching to downshift. Those were slow dogs that were challenging to make turns with while downshifting.
 

mildone_rivals

Heisman
Dec 19, 2011
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To tell you the truth. I enjoyed the 3 pedal driving the most.
Rev the Buick GS 401 Cubic Inch engine and pop the clutch and off you go.
Shift to 2nd and the front end would pop up and more of my tires would be left on the road.
I know, any Tesla today would kill me in a 1/4 mile today. Just some good memories.
This. For me, nothing quite produces the immersion of having to use all 3 pedals with all the sounds that go along with it, blipping the throttle on downshifts, executing the perfect upshifts to maintain uninterrupted acceleration, etc. If you race someone off the line w/a clutch and beat them, then you know you've actually accomplished something.

Using paddles on a really good dual clutch is second place - the violence and sounds of rapid-fire upshifts are wonderful. But in any drag race, it's basically car versus car after the initial throttle release; the driver doesn't matter.

Absent those two things, it's just about getting from point A to point B in smooth quiet comfort. Thus, when it comes to an EV, I'm only interested in an SUV. An SUV is never about non-stop thrills for me. It's about smooth quiet comfort (and I don't care how fast it is since it's too big and heavy to drive fast in reasonable safety anyway). Decent handling in small SUVs can be fun, though.
 

mildone_rivals

Heisman
Dec 19, 2011
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3 pedal driving is cool until you’re in traffic. Will never go back to 3 pedals again.
Wuss. 😀

But you're right, of course. Clutches can be a PITA in stop and go traffic, especially if it's a stiff clutch with a high and narrow bite-point. But that's what the SUV is for, when one cannot avoid traffic. Sports cars for the mountains, SUVs for the mundane traffic-laden stuff.
 

Knight Shift

Heisman
May 19, 2011
87,644
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3 pedal driving is cool until you’re in traffic. Will never go back to 3 pedals again.
And when you try to teach your spouse how to drive with 3 pedals, on a hill. It was almost a hill I died on, but we are still happily married 32 years later. 🤣
 

mildone_rivals

Heisman
Dec 19, 2011
55,607
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The forum is having issues w/posting at the moment. It appears to be attempting to post multiple times from one "post reply" button press (you get the "must wait N seconds before posting" warning sometimes even though only posting once) and multiple posts are showing up.

Been happening to me this morning, and I can see it just happened to @Frabjous just now.

@Richard Schnyderite
 
Dec 4, 2010
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mildone_rivals

Heisman
Dec 19, 2011
55,607
51,272
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GM is great at announcing their EVs are "sold out". Unfortunately, they don't announce their planned production. The Hummer EV is sold out for the next 2 years! Wow! Fine print....they produce less than 500/quarter.
Weird post.

While I'm sure GM would love to sell one billion Hummer's, it was never intended to be a high-volume vehicle for them. Their standard pickup trucks, ICE and EV, along with some other vehicles, are intended for higher volume production. Not Hummers.

Announcing it's sold out is information important to consumers, as well as good marketing hyperbole. Nothing wrong with doing that. Nothing unusual in doing that. ALL automobile companies, including Tesla, do the same kind of stuff where they fully leverage ever last bit of potential for marketing hype. Why wouldn't they do that?

It's not "fine print" or deceptive or bad in any way. Anybody who follows the automotive industry knows this. Anybody except, apparently, people whose interest in the automotive industry is limited to worshiping a particular brand and view everything else as a challenge to their worship.
 

mildone_rivals

Heisman
Dec 19, 2011
55,607
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is that what you tell your hookers and sheep?
As Chief High Lord Pimpity Pimp, I instruct my vast fleet of hookers to fake it like mad. Give the customers what they want and collect your $10K per night plus tips, I say. I confess that my financial interest in their success may cloud my judgement about that.

The sheep, OTOH, never have to fake it with anybody. Sex is what they're built for, after all. They are like the Maserati's of love. Always producing great exhaust sounds. "Baaaaaaaaa", they moan. Baaaaaa.
 
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Dec 4, 2010
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Speaking of Tesla China....Giga Shanghai broke ground in Jan 2019. In less than 4 years, Tesla went from a muddy field to a fully ramped factory currently operating at a run rate of over 1 million EVs/year. An amazing and largely overlooked accomplishment while the media focuses on Elon & Twitter. I expect the newest Giga factories in Texas and Germany to exceed that production in the coming years.

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-giga-shanghai-1-million-vehicles-run-rate-confirmed/
 

mildone_rivals

Heisman
Dec 19, 2011
55,607
51,272
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Speaking of Tesla China....Giga Shanghai broke ground in Jan 2019. In less than 4 years, Tesla went from a muddy field to a fully ramped factory currently operating at a run rate of over 1 million EVs/year. An amazing and largely overlooked accomplishment while the media focuses on Elon & Twitter. I expect the newest Giga factories in Texas and Germany to exceed that production in the coming years.

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-giga-shanghai-1-million-vehicles-run-rate-confirmed/
Wait. You want the US media to focus more on Musk's massive funding of Chinese workers?
 

mildone_rivals

Heisman
Dec 19, 2011
55,607
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Older news - has already been discussed here.
Except for new vehicles coming out, or new versions of existing vehicles, or people getting new vehicles, it's pretty much all old news that's already been discussed.

IMO, in this case, the immense ridiculousness of it bears repeating several times. Hey, Legislators, my neighbor has a bigger house than me and it isn't fair. Make it law requiring we burn it down.

That's some good governance right there. 😃
 

Jtung230

Heisman
Jun 30, 2005
19,079
12,244
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Question for EV owners who charge at home. Does it matter when you charge? My JCPL doesn’t differentiate. Looks like I’m paying 13 cents per kwh
 

Rutgers Chris

All-American
Nov 29, 2005
4,808
5,551
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Question for EV owners who charge at home. Does it matter when you charge? My JCPL doesn’t differentiate. Looks like I’m paying 13 cents per kwh
I have JCPL and it looks like there’s about a 4.5 cent difference in charging off peak. I always charge overnight
 
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