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Article about low availability & long waits for EV charging in NYC.

Seems like they're encouraging rideshare drivers to adopt EVs, but that growth is getting ahead of what their permitting process can handle for charger build-outs.

Oil companies and their gas stations didn't wreck the planet by selling a thing that you needed apps, timeslots and hours of daily patience to use. They built enough competing stations to make efficiency experts weep.

Granted, the petroleum industry had the advantage of installing a lot of infrastructure before there was as much bureaucracy around construction.

I take it as a reminder that we're still very, very early into a very big change.

(Link fixed)

Hyundai/Kia make some excellent EVs, and Toyota doesn't. It's quite the mystery...

Why Are Hyundai's EVs So Good? And Why Are Toyota's So Bad?

Source: EV repair costs continue to outpace those of ICE vehicles | PropertyCasualty360

Every now and then, you come across well produced, abysmally ignorant YouTube videos. Just sharing what the nonsense is likely to be ... like the old "Dust to Dust" report that claimed Hummers are better than Prius. Regardless, here is the latest from 'ChargeDrive'. From their self-description:

FYI, all of their YouTube videos start with "HUGE NEWS! <bovine fecal matter>"

As for me, neither my EV nor PHEV are for sale. Furthermore, this week bought more EV stock.

Bob Wilson

Teslas crash more than gas-powered cars. Here’s why | CNN Business

This is a very nice follow-up article on the article about Hertz selling its Teslas because they have been getting into too many crashes.

Incidentally, when I test-drove the Gen 5 Prius, I found the low-speed accelerator- and brake-pedal modulation in the Toyota Hybrid System 5 BEV mode to be perfect. The car basically sits at standstill when you don't press the accelerator, and when you press the accelerator, initially the response is very slow, gentle, and smooth, as it should be. In contrast, my Gen 4 Prius Prime is not nearly that smooth, with the car picking up a lot of speed with the accelerator pedal not pressed at all and even a light touch to the pedal producing a lot of torque. I drive in the eco mode as well. I have never driven a Tesla; so, I don't know how it reacts to the pedal input.

In any case, the BEV...

Toyota's greenwashing AI 'eco-copilot' is fake, but the prank makes a real point

“Toyota” announced a new eco-conscious AI copilot at the DC Auto Show yesterday, which promises to reduce environmental impact by up to 10% – but it turns out the whole thing was a prank, and the prank makes a real point about Toyota’s tendency towards greenwashing.

The announcement involved a press event at the National Press Club, along with official-looking press release and even a whole website. The press release fooled some (including Carscoops, who then...

This is not a problem for me in Southern California, but it looks like the current-state-of-the-art BEV technology is far from being ready for prime time in extremely cold weather. I can’t imagine what a pain it was for these drivers. I wonder how my 2021 Prius Prime would charge in that cold.





Dead Teslas pack Oak Brook Supercharger station due to cold weather

What is news to me is that Hertz stated that Teslas are getting into more crashes than other cars.

“Besides costing more to repair when they’re damaged in a crash, Scherr also said, EVs are also getting in more crashes. Again, Teslas, which make up 80% of Hertz’s EV rental fleet, are mostly the problem in both these areas, he has said.”

I wonder why this is. Could it because of

• unconventional, center-touch-screen-based controls that drivers are not used to?
• distracting center touch screen?
• drivers not knowing how to operate Autopilot?
• Autopilot itself getting the car into crashes?
• lack of a conventional blind-spot monitor?
• Teslas being driven faster and more recklessly as they are considered to be sporty cars?
• other reasons you can think of?
• a combination of the above?

Perhaps our Tesla expert @bwilson4web can comment.

Hertz is selling 1/3 of...

North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year™ Officers Reveal Award Winners for 2024 - North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year

• North American Car of the Year™: Toyota Prius & Prius Prime

• North American Truck of the Year™: Ford Super Duty

• North American Utility Vehicle of the Year™: Kia EV9

Founded in 1994, these awards are the longest-running new-vehicle awards not associated with a single publication. They are judged by 50 professional automotive journalists from a wide variety of print, online, radio and television media outlets in the United States and Canada. The votes are confidentially tallied by Deloitte LLP, ensuring each stage of the award cycle is the collective decision of all jurors. Votes for the 2024 NACTOY winners remained secret until envelopes were opened onstage during today’s event.

Honda considers $14 billion plan for EV production in Canada, Nikkei reports | Reuters

The project could be one of Honda's largest investments, the report said.

HONDA now the Japanese Tesla?!
This New Plan changes EVERYTHING

Over 40 Percent of Toyotas Sold in Canada Are Electrified Vehicles - The Car Guide.

Pretty impressive that more than 2 out of every 5 vehicles (almost 44%) was electrified and most of them were hybrids. If you examine the Toyota Canada press release, some of the results are even more impressive.

Record Electrified Vehicle Sales Power Toyota Canada Inc. to Strong 2023

67% of Lexus sales were built in Canada. Low hanging fruit because Lexus biggest sellers are made there, like the RX and RX Hybrid (up 237.1% YoY) as well as the NX and NX Hybrid (up 20% YoY). In fact the NX Hybrid, RX Hybrid and other Lexus hybrids accounted for 55% of all Lexus sales. If you...

Currently, very few EVs qualify for some federal tax credit, let alone the full $7,500 tax credit. It will be a while before domestic mining of lithium and production of lithium cells begins for more EVs to qualify for the tax credit under the inflation-reduction act.

We’re down to just a handful of EVs that qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit in the US—The Verge

Source: TI Press Release

https://www.motortrend.com/awards/best-car-of-the-year/

Beat out the Model 3 and a Porsche among others.

In other news, Motor Trend going to 4 printed issues a year. Publishing is a challenge, (I do my part, 1 Daily, 1 weekly, two monthly not counting MT)

The biggest, but mostly unaddressed, issue with all these pure EVs is that you can't just roll up and pay cash. You need to have an account with someone and you need to remotely log in before you can charge. Everywhere you have ever been becomes part of your permanent record. The potential for misuse of this system is tremendous.

Source: GM Issues Stop-Sale for Chevy Blazer EV Due to Software Glitches | Edmunds

With coal-powered EVs being shoved down everyones throat despite the lack of back-end production for raw material existing and an administration that sh*ts on the very producers of those raw materials, as well as an overall lack of charging infrastructure...

Just give me a plug-in hybrid. That's affordable.

I don't need a backup camera. I don't need a giant screen. The Japanese domestic market can somehow produce barebone vehicles like this for the current model year in Japan but Americans apparently need bells and whistles?

I don't want it to look stupid; something that took about five generations of Prius for Toyota to ALMOST figure out (the taillights are atrocious on the new Prius, Toyota needs to fix that and drop the "Prius" brand due to its connotation with overall lameness). EVs and plug in hybrid designers and their out of touch handlers just CANT HELP THEMSELVES and add weird and goofy little plastic trim pieces, strange dimensions (Wth is the Chevy Bolt?) and overall...

GM buys out around half of its Buick dealers | Automotive Dive

"General Motors has bought out around half of Buick dealers that declined to invest at least $300,000 to sell and service its future electric vehicles, a company spokesperson confirmed in an email."

Cummins, maker of the 6.7L ISB Turbo inline-six that goes into Dodge RAM 2500 and 3500 heavy-duty pickup trucks, was fined US $1.675 billion (~€1.519 , CAD $2.225 billion with a b) as part of a settlement by the US DOJ. Affects model years 2013 through 2023 although the defeat devices only affected up through 2019. After that they were fitted with, and this is my favorite, "undisclosed auxiliary emission control devices". This affects about 960,000 diesel engines.

Wonder how that money will be used? Wonder how the states will react? Last time New York State gave out up to $2,000 rebates for purchasing PHEVs and EVs from the VW Dieselgate settlement. I believe that rebate still exists.

Forgot the link:
Cummins Fined $1.6B for Diesel Defeat Devices in 630K Ram Trucks