Featured Threads Archive
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VW installs first chargers
Source: Volkswagen Begins Installing Chargers Under Electrify America Plan
In total, eight units were installed in the Washington, D.C. area last month:
- Pentagon City Fashion Centre in Arlington, Virginia;
- Ashburn Village Center in Ashburn, Virginia;
- Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets in Leesburg, Virginia;
- Newgate Shopping Center in Centreville, Virginia;
- Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center in Woodbridge, Virginia;
- Dulles Town Circle in Dulles, Virginia;
- Bowie Town Center in Bowie, Maryland;
- St. Charles Towne Center in Waldorf, Maryland.
Currently Volkswagen is installing dual-head... -
Teardown of Chevy Bolt
Source: Charged EVs | Teardown of Chevy Bolt points to massive disruption ahead
It’s not unheard-of for financial analysts to tear down a vehicle to get an accurate estimate of what it costs to produce. Back in 2015, a consulting firm took apart and reverse-engineered a BMW i3. More recently, a team from UBS disassembled a Chevy Bolt and published a cost analysis of the new EV. However, its report went much further, making some bold predictions about the future of the auto industry.
UBS’s main goal was to estimate GM’s cost to build the $37,000 vehicle. It concluded that the Bolt’s electric powertrain is $4,600 cheaper to produce than previously estimated, “with much cost reduction potential left.” However, GM losing money on the Bolt. “We estimate that GM loses $7,400 in... -
Wanna see a 1000 HP Prius?
Check out this extreme rebuild of a Gen II Prius so it can cointain and use a 1000 HP hellcat engine without self-destructing; These Guys Are Swapping a 1,000-HP Hellcat Engine Into a Prius Because Why Not - The Drive
"The team at American Racing Headers has decided to undertake this swap, dubbing it the "PriuSRT8". And while it may look like a gas-sipping hybrid on the outside, it's a fully built, NHRA-approved tube chassis underneath. It would have to be to hold up to the power they're aiming for, and with a 6.2L V-8 paired to a 4.5L Whipple blower, there's no way standard Prius underpinnings could hope to keep up."
Lot more details and pics in the link. Enjoy. -
Tata Motors and MAHLE partner to develop a prototype Secondary Loop Mobile Air Conditioning System
Tata Motors and MAHLE partner to develop a prototype Secondary Loop Mobile Air Conditioning System on a vehicle
"Tata Motors Limited and MAHLE have signed a joint development agreement for designing and developing a Secondary Loop Mobile Air Conditioning System (SL-MAC), under the aegis of United Nations Environment.
In the SL-MAC system, the alternative refrigerants first cool a secondary fluid/coolant, which in turn cools the air to comfortable temperatures inside the vehicle cabin. This process allows the safe use of slightly flammable refrigerants that have a low GWP and in turn achieves high cooling capacity, minimizing the losses and achieving an optimized overall thermodynamic... -
Big Oil just woke up to the threat of rising EV demand
Let's hope this trend of electric vehicles continues to go up.
Big Oil Just Woke Up to Threat of Rising Electric Car Demand - Bloomberg
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Level 3 Autonomous Car Announced
The Audi A8: the World's First Production Car to Achieve Level 3 Autonomy
Level 3 means the driver needn’t supervise things at all, so long as the car stays within guidelines. Here that involves driving no faster than 60 kilometers per hour (37 mph), which is why Audi calls the feature AI Traffic Jam Pilot.
from The Audi A8: the World's First Production Car to Achieve Level 3 Autonomy - IEEE Spectrum -
Brace for Impact: U.S. Sales Plunge Ahead
Source: http://wardsauto.com/industry/brace-impact-us-sales-plunge-ahead
AlixPartners forecasts 2017 sales of 16.9 million units, down from a record 17.5 million last year. WardsAuto forecasts 17.1 million light-vehicle deliveries this year. Looking further ahead, AlixPartners thinks sales will tumble to 15.2 million in 2019, a forecast that runs counter to many others that see industry sales enjoying a long-term plateau near current levels.
. . .
Wakefield says a key element of the consultancy’s forecast is a “used-car time bomb” set to go off as 500,000 more vehicles will come off lease this year than year-ago. The flood of previously owned cars and trucks likely will double the 13% drop in used-vehicle prices the industry has witnessed since 2014.
“Our biggest concern is used cars,” says Wakefield, who sees the price drop costing automakers’ captive-finance companies upwards of $5 billion.... -
Rice University paper on F150 vs Prius
Source: https://www.bakerinstitute.org/media/files/files/c8cb9e96/BI-Brief-061417-CES_Trucks.pdf
U.S. sales of large passenger vehicles have boomed for most of the past decade. Yet despite continued reliance on gasoline propulsion in the U.S. and a trend toward larger, more powerful vehicles, the 7.6%
rise in miles driven seen from February 2012 to February 2017 yielded a gasoline demand increase of only 3.8%.1 Better engine technology likely underpins much of the rising gasoline consumption efficiency on U.S. roads and the big, powerful pickups and SUVs cherished by many American drivers are at the center of the action.
. . .
Old news, we've known about the disproportionate effect of improving the efficiency of the least efficient vehicles. But it also brings up the 'problem of the commons.' If my neighbor chooses to commute to their business office in... -
Too much inventory
Source: AD #2143 – Future Looks Bright for EVs, Ferrari SUV In the Works, Automakers Have Too Much Inventory – Autoline Daily
AUTOMAKERS HAVE TOO MUCH INVENTORY
Looks like we’re headed for blow-out sales of new cars in the American market. Automakers have too much inventory on hand. There are 4.1 million vehicles sitting on dealer’s lots, in rail yards and in transit. Last year at this time automakers had 66 days of inventory, now it’s 77 days. The problem is that sales are slowing down, but assembly lines keep on humming. And that’s especially true of passenger cars. For example, the Fiat 500 has 172 days of inventory. The Ford Fiesta has 104. The Buick Regal sits at 214 days, the Hyundai Azera 151 and the Toyota 86 has 135 days of supply.
Does anyone have a source of 'days of inventory' for our favorite rides?
Thanks,
Bob Wilson -
Reuters report on used car market
Let's make a deal: Automakers, U.S. auctions align to prop up used car prices | Reuters
Says in U.S. that lots of used sedans coming off lease. So this is managed closely by auto manufacturers. Some things going on include lots of trucks on the highways moving used vehicles around to the best markets, etc. to try to maximize used car values/profits and protect the new car market. Holding some used cars off used market longer to control supply. etc. -
Can the height the hatch opens be controlled?
I got my new Prius Prime home and opened the hatch in the garage and it touched the door!!! I looked in the manual and googled it, but is there anyway anyone knows of controlling how high the hatch opens?
Thanks! -
Dashboard summary through June 2017
Another excellent report from Jeff Cobb's team: June 2017 Dashboard
I throughly recommend reading his summary.
model 06/15/17 05/15/17 04/15/17 03/15/17 1 Fusion Hybrid 5697 5671 4509 5865 2 Prius Liftback 5476 6064 5802 5798 3 Transit Diesel 3789 4830 4025 4258 4 RAV4 3709 4070 3516 3497 5 Model S 2200 1700 1200 3100 6 Niro Hybrid 2188 2660 2939 2704 7 Model X 2100 1800 900 2500 8 Accord Hybrid 1799 1976 1787 1843 9 Volt 1745 1817 1807 2132 10 Bolt 1642 1566 1292 978 11 Prius Prime 1619 1908 1819 1618 12 Leaf 1506 1392 1063 1478 13 Highlander Hybrid 1478 1514 1663 1587 14 Camry Hybrid 1355 1711 1513 1658 15 Ioniq Hybrid 1348 1752 1297 327 16 C-Max Hybrid 966 880 720 671 17 C-Max Energi 936 950 720 662 18 Prius C 867 1121 1161 1385 19 Colorado Diesel 784 666 753 722 20 Prius V 773 929 926 960 21 Sonata 741 848 1115 1082 22 Fusion Energi 707 1000 905 1002 23 RX 400 / 450 h 655 747 615 713 24 CT200h 615 825 794 841 25 i3 567 506 516 703 26 Golf Sportwagon Diesel 565 1819 1819 ... -
All Volvos launched from 2019 will be hybrid or EV
Volvo Cars to go all electric - Volvo Car Group Global Media Newsroom
Misleading title on the press release, but it basically boils down to... between 48 volt mild hybrids (it's better than not having any hybrid system, even if a full hybrid would be better), PHEVs, and BEVs (five of which they're claiming will be released between 2019 and 2021), Volvo will not launch any ICE-only models in 2019 or later. -
Toyota taxi jumps curb
Source: Taxi jumps curb at Boston airport, injuring 10 cabbies - ABC News
![[IMG]](proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fa.abcnews.com%2Fimages%2FUS%2FWireAP_125bd39812584982b0ba0b1f9f49d496_12x5_1600.jpg&hash=b1b40b6dbc2b5eba4e8cb67949c30c1b)
I'm shocked that a Toyota jumps a curb and we're not inundated with more "run away acceleration" articles. Oh, it isn't a Prius ...
Bob Wilson -
CA HOV Update (re: PHEV/Prime Demand)
Re: PHEV demand
I see that California has a new bill proposing to extend HOV green/white stickers to 2025 (from 2019).
I *assume* that bill will probably pass and will assure decent Prime sales in the future. One aspect to look for is the older PiP treatment, but I assume it is questionable...not sure
"AB 544 | Author: Bloom ... zero-emission vehicles, or transitional zero-emission vehicles to use HOV lanes for four years after vehicle identifiers are issued".
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