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Toyota Prius Is the Best Apocalypse Vehicle

The Tuesday: The Prius Is Simply a Terrific Car | National Review

Coronavirus: Car sales to plummet as pandemic wreaks havoc on economy

New - used - hybrid ir not.

Full Article and Press Release

Special guest, eminent mobility journalist. John Voelcker, joins the panel for a discussion on the GM’s EV announcement. They spend the hour digging into the details and what they think will happen.

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1) EV sales reach 8% market share in Switzerland 2) A look back at the Tesla Power Pack system in South Australia 3) A new electric motorcycle in the UK 4) The affects throughout the EV world from the coronavirus

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Rumor Mill: Tesla Gigafactory 3 Production Hits New High 3,000/Week


Bob Wilson

It appears the 2021 model is getting the hybrid system used in the Ioniq.

Meet the All-new 2021 Hyundai Elantra | CleanMPG

I worked for a lot of years designing and building automotive paint systems. There were developments over the years that made significant improvements.

Due to ever increasing emission requirements the primer and color coat were switched to water based paint. The clear coat remained solvent based because they couldn't get enough sheen from water borne paint for that.

E-coat (electro coat) paint lines are used to put the primer on the white bodies (bare metal). In what looks like a glorified car wash the bodies move through a tunnel and they are rinsed of dust. Next a detergent is applied then they are rinsed with de-ionized water. The conveyor dips them in a phosphate tank. The phosphate etches the surface of the metal. The surface changes from a smooth texture to something like a piece of paper so that the paint has something to bond to. There is a final D.I. rinse and then they go through a drying oven.

The bodies are then picked up by an overhead conveyor and then go to the...

28% in the last month. DJIA figures Feb 12 close to Mar 12 when posted.

How likely are you to buy a new car?

What already shaky car manufacturers will go out of business?

Toyota (together with Toyota Industries) announced a new hybrid battery that will have these characteristics: lower cost, more compact, greater longevity and higher performance.

According to Toyota’s Australian VP of sales and marketing Sean Hanley:

“Our parent company decided to develop a new battery for hybrid vehicles due to the need for more compact batteries that can offer greater power and longevity at lower cost than the current options.”

From this article from Australia: “ It was developed jointly with Toyota Industries Corporation, which will produce the new battery at its Kyowa plant in Japan’s Aichi prefecture.”

This seems to say it has already been developed and now is about to be manufactured as the Toyota plant where it will be manufactured is being announced.

My guess is the target is 40 to 50 miles range as that would potentially cover 90% of the daily miles for a majority of drivers as most people drive 50 miles or less most days.

This appears to be a...

I was checking fueleconomy.gov and the 2019 Highlander Hybrid and older Highlanders get 29 city / 27 highway / 28 average. The 2020 Highlander Hybrid gets 35 city / 35 highway / 35 average. What did they do to get such a big jump in economy?

I might end up having to replace the cells in my HV battery in a gen 2 Prius.

I'm curious to know if there are any good, reputable websites that sell cells at an affordable price.

I've looked on eBay and they seem to range from 19.99-30 bucks each.

If you had to replace the cells in your HV battery, where would you go?

Being harvested by all, except the USA.
Rare Earth Elements: Why the U.S. is missing out on the race to mine trillions of dollars worth of metals from the ocean floor - 60 Minutes - CBS News

Fuel cell engineer and sustainable energy expert Matthew Klippenstein comes on One on One to discuss the Nikola merger and what it means for Nikola, fuel cell and BEV semi trucks. A little aside on GM’s new announcements but mostly, why a diversified energy sector is a stronger one.

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10 new models coming with the earliest starting this year (Bolt refresh thats finally getting ACC).

GM reveals 10 new production EVs all at once, with range up to 400 miles - Electrek

But the biggest news to me is this battery design philosophy:

The centerpiece of the presentation was the company’s new battery system, dubbed “Ultium,” which will power GM EVs starting next year.

The battery system is focused on modularity, allowing different types of cells and chemistries to be used in packs ranging in size from 50 to 200 kWh, enabling “up to 400 miles of range or more.” The company committed to producing cells, in cooperation with LG Chem, that reduce the use of cobalt by 70%, thereby bringing down costs.

Each module will have a dedicated battery-management-system, a move that will allow an individual module to be replaced with a new one, and even to mix and...

If I understand correctly, Geely is a Chinese car company and the Icon is its new "hybrid" SUV. It boasts a " 48V mild hybrid technology" that is twice as powerful as an electric wheelchair! It also offers an "N95 certified Intelligent Air Purification System (IAPS) (that) isolate(s) and eliminates over 99.7% of dust and harmful particulates including bacteria and viruses from the cabin." So as long as you sit in the car you're all safe from COVID-19 and stuff. The entire site has kind of a Detroit 1950's feel in how it markets the product, very different from Toyota.

ICON : Geely Global

Pennsylvania PHEV rebate was at $1000
just released the NEW rebate dropped to $500 starting March 1, 2020
There is "extra" for low income etc and other used vehicles

I was excited when I found out about this a few weeks ago, but now being cut in half!





Alternative Fuel Vehicles




Eligible Vehicles
New, Pre-Owned, and Demonstration vehicles with final purchase price of $50,000 or less (purchase or lease):

$1,000 rebate on:

• Hydrogen fuel cell vehicle

$750 rebate on:

• Battery electric vehicle

$500 rebate on:

• Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle
• Compressed natural gas vehicle
• Propane fueled vehicle
• Electric motorcycle (Does not include electric scooters)

It appears a half-sized Cybertruck, when loaded, can beat a Ford F-150.

Tesla Cybertruck vs. Ford F-150 tug-of-war rematch finally happens but with 'small' twist - Electrek

The guys get into a tussle over Tesla’s Gigafactory in Buffalo New York now that Panasonic has pulled out of the location. Will there ever be Solar glass? After 40 years of trying to figure it out, scientists have finally figured out why solar panels experience a 2% efficiency drop within the first hour of […]

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