G. David Felt

Watch out for who wears glasses. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/college-students-used-meta-s-smart-glasses-to-dox-people-in-real-time/ar-AA1rATLI?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=c1b3480336dc49a9b1c3adc0c51611d3&ei=85

WOW, Thanks @A Horse With No Name for posting the videos, that area is going to be hit hard for years to come from this storm.

Interesting CR study that coves some interesting EV info. Link if the PDF file does not download for you: https://u21687886.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.iadG0tRuH77wgV7bNCoWhASAFSn33kVtnWJwXtsBJtZgaCIGY7Biv6-2BOW9IV-2FQ0UZA7FiiNnXrJ5v-2B-2F9GYH4R1fAGH1Zvfbeoex0DmBKwvRTlkz6RdcQ0eJOZ9UHL7gmtr3-2FjwG2F-2BwfiY-2B5nzb4PoBqGq4q3nSlgV48Wcpfok1WDLXgDxPHQEop0zyjDwzXlajepR0sHAmYYQPwxoWzaEdrMEpmV8WXHZkD552ZHUc-3DIke3_pnbeO0JlXQ32WaBds8sgBijUCJQzc2xGazVUgDNadr2YudLZUvvenMSodUeRKm6DR5wO7VlD3j8RJjqcgJIch6W-2BymDtWQ-2BsKesbjyvG739KTczQpM5-2Fn0h7lrRehTUpZU4Kf2HI-2F0tEidnXyKJRLZTNNMYduK-2FK-2BpO0mssDgHRQz9fXlHfNPL1cDoTQGVGTOkSG71lt6JQ9VlQgHUase1Yx5vFLPRmhUJdn20lAeR54nyCCLeo6-2FCQvwZvKhi7ciYb-2F4reLQ1bOX82c7CckMmlLUiXspkMPh2NWByB6c5RnRdOsNUaNLYo-2FnqGMC03z CR’s+Guide+to+EV+-+PHEV+Ratings-October+2024.pdf

Very interesting read. I have always felt that immigrants helped this country, and the facts are proving that out. Most immigrants start their own business than take existing jobs. This is some interesting facts that help explain how we continue to grow our GNP. Are immigrants taking jobs from 'native' U.S. workers? Here's what economists say (msn.com)

Some will love the Mach e Rally

Ford wants to be your EV choice! A Ford Survey was conducted from September 13th to 17th, 2024 covering a total of 2,007 respondents and highlighted the following: Most respondents do not understand how home charging works. Most respondents do not know where you would buy or how to get a home charger. Most respondents do not understand how you go about getting the charger installed. All respondents had no idea what the cost might be or if it was affordable to have a home charger installed. To quote Ford: "Ford believes it will take more than jumbo rebates to truly break through with the estimated 19 million people in the U.S. interested in electric vehicles. It will take – you guessed it – convenience, peace of mind, and expert service. It will take a modern-day version of the friendly filling station, only this time you “fill ’er up” at home." Ford Power Promise Anouncement today is the following, Home is where the charge is, On-the-Road charging with confidence, Battery Confidence, Ongoing support and guidance Ford Power Promise Fact Sheet.pdf Ford has been focused on making public charging easier with the joining of the Tesla Supercharging station network added to the Ford BlueOval Charge Network and now they are taking this one step farther as federal rebates will not be enough for the bulk of folks looking to move over to an EV. People loved their old Bronco's, F100, F150 pickups, SUVs and cars, but gone are the days of stopping at a gas station and having the windshield cleaned, tire pressure checked, quart of oil added if needed by a team of attendants. Now you have to pump your own gas and pay an attendant sitting behind a plexiglass wall as you get your lottery tickets and energy drinks. People want less maintenance and easier filling up, Ford Power is going to deliver that with Home Charging and a superior experience via the BlueOval charge network. Ford Power Promise Gives Electric Vehicle Customers New Confidence | Ford Media Center View full article

Maybe time to rethink this. Have you looked at the lease cost on an F150 Lighting? Ford is now paying to also include besides the GOV rebates, a level 2 hardwired charger at home. Ford Power Promise Gives Electric Vehicle Customers New Confidence | Ford Media Center Going to write up a quick story on this now.

@A Horse With No Name Thank you for posting that video, WOW, that is crazy the amount of water that came down. We had a Category 5 Atmospheric River storm that was expected to hit Oregon and Washington last week, at the last minute the storm pushed north into Vancouver BC up to Anchorage Alaska with over 6" of rain fall per hour over a 24hr period, flooding and so much crazy water. Lucky it hit mostly uninhabited space.

I agree, do not buy it when it already needs new shocks and not just the one, replace them all. Have them check the alignment and ball joints, if it has been driven on a bad blown out shock, there could be other suspension issues. Just be cautious.

@surreal1272 @ccap41 The CyberJUNK is a joke and IMHO a alpha test that people are paying for so Tesla can figure out how to build a so called truck. Rivian is so far superior in this manner. Tesla Cybertruck breaks down after going through car wash | The Independent Another story on the car wash problem. Can You Put a Cybertruck Through a Car Wash? (dailydot.com) Seems according to Tesla, one has to go through a very detailed change to use an auto wash, they recomment washing the CyberJUNK by hand. Cleaning (tesla.com) What a joke, I just pull into a touchfree auto wash in my EV9 and it gets nice and clean and I drive away, no need to do all this crap and yes the EV9 has auto sensing wipers, but just one turn on the stalk and it is off and they are already hidden out of the way.

Looking good Robert! Relaxing to recharge the soul as they say.

Industry standard to turn over the table as otherwise you sit there having another cup of coffee and they generate no money. They want you to leave asap so they can get another seating of customers to order their food. All about the turnover rate of a table to make money. The days of yor when you would sit for another 30 minutes to an hour enjoying your coffee what not what modern places want.

Kia has announced plans to have access to Tesla Charging stations and the converter starting in January 2025. KIA AMERICA TO OFFER NORTH AMERICAN CHARGING STANDARD (NACS) ADAPTERS IN EARLY 2025 (kiamedia.com)

So the tires on my EV9 are rated at 50,000 miles and I have not noticed really any wear in the almost 9000 miles we have driven so far. Both the AWD and the RWD have snow mode which was tested in Norway by Kia where they developed it so I will know more as I use it to go skiing this year, but reviews have been solid about those with RWD in Snow having no problem getting around. Yes this is on an AWD, but I see plenty of reviews you can read about the RWD. One thing this guy points out is that the EV9 has all the physical buttons that so many of us have pointed out for basic use stuff. https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a61108648/2024-kia-ev9-land-awd-reliability-maintenance/ Reviews for the All Season Tires on the EV9 seem to be very solid. Kumho Crugen EV HP71 Listed as #10 on the list. https://www.bestproductsreviews.com/kumho-tires?targetid=dat-2336599648382060:loc-190&matchtype=b&device=c&campaignid=424505904&creative=&adgroupid=1356798789474024&feeditemid=&loc_physical_ms=109642&loc_interest_ms=&network=o&devicemodel=&placement=&keyword=$ALL&target=&aceid={aceid}&adposition=&trackid=us_all_top_1_1&mId=407-132-4411&trackOld=true&msclkid=c08099c18ca914a0792dff32ea83ff1d

ChargePoint Gets $19M Funding to Install Fast Charging Ports (yahoo.com) Very cool that all 248 DC fast chargers will be able to handle pushing power up to 500kW to an ev and they will be dual charging poles allowing 2 evs to charge at the same time. Faster charging, less time sitting around.

@ccap41 While I think the Lincoln is not bad for what they have listed, the question I would ask is what is your monthly budget for car payment as the lots have plenty of steel on them and right now there are lots of options including leasing on some very nice options. Compared to what I am paying, Kia EV9 start @ $299 a month for a 36 month lease with with them having over 300 miles of range, the EV9 is far nicer and more enjoyable to drive than the Lincoln or my SS was. Kia is also giving you the first 1000kW of charging at Electrify America so that is 10 charge ups if you do the full 100kW battery pack or if you always just do the 18 min to 80% it will do you well. Worth test driving and checking out as there are some great deals on the leasing of an EV. Otherwise if the other person does not take the Lincoln, I would then consider it but be aware that premium fuel is what I would put in it, synthetic oil changes and things will start to need repairing. I am seeing lots of discounts on buying too.

This is very cool and exciting technology Solid-state battery with 1,070 Wh/L energy to be game-changer for EVs (interestingengineering.com)

Very cool

Gambling is like flushing your cash down the toilet. I only go to Vegas once a year for the tradeshow, otherwise, a place I can do without.

GM is STUPID, they should be giving the adapter to the EV customers for free, not charging $225.00. Especially considering how many 3rd party adapters are available much cheaper, yes Tesla is making these for the OEMs, but considering that Lectron has a blessed adapter that is cheaper anywhere from $150 to $200 online, it is crazy of GM to charge their early adopters. I am very happy with the new EVgo Stations that are starting to open much like a regular gas station. Very cool. EVgo and GM Take Charging to the Next Level with New Flagship Destinations Set to Optimize the Charging Experience

Awesome Job Drew, looking good. Suck getting older that we cannot ride long on the sport bikes, but touring does make it comfy.

I am so in agreement that just getting away to the mountains is such mentally refreshing. Any where but in a city with political idiots pushing narrow minded agenda's. Lets get back to a more balanced give and take life with folks that realize the world is a wealth of options and those options is what makes life so fun, not a single narrow focus. See ya on a trail in the Mountains my friend!!!

Very interesting read World Investing Almost 2× More Into Clean Energy As Fossil Fuels Now! - CleanTechnica

Hello Everyone, You have probably NOTICED that I have not been posting much and especially this summer have not been posting any auto news. That will change as I move into the fall and get back to my hobby of my passion for the auto industry. What have I been doing you might be wondering. I had a major yard project that consumed every day all my spare time. I installed a 33,000 lb commercial grade retaining wall and a new heavy duty 6ft fence on my back yard. Last winter storms took down my fence that was part of the house when I bought it in 1999. The yard was also on an angle from 5ft height to the east to ground level on the west. Since my wife and I have decided to eventually in 20 plus years retire here, I decided to level the yard, install a retaining wall and replace the fence. We love to garden so 1/3rd of the yard is at the higher level and the rest is ground level with the base of the house. After my company Trade Show, I came home on Friday May 24th 2024 and took delivery of 33,000 lbs of retaining wall stones, toppers and corner stones. As one can see, I did make a mistake in that I had them left double stacked and as such had to lift all the stones multiple times to get them down and stagged in the back yard. Each stone weights 90lbs, corner stones are 110lbs and the toppers are 45lbs. I also had 6 tree stumps to remove as these trees which where my neighbors had grown across the property line and would if left, over time rot and cause the wall to possibly shift and sink. I also ran into this huge green granite boulder which was buried again once I had removed the tree stumps. Here is a picture of the west side corner looking back, the excavation I did for prepping for 5/8th crushed rock bed and installation of the wall. With the crushed rock bed in place and packed down, I could also install the draining line and start to install the stones. From filling in the stones with crushed rock to building the corner, things progressed nicely I felt. To keep dirt from clogging the drain field behind the wall, I used commercial grade fabric that lets the water flow but holds the dirt back. Toppers are glued on after I cut them to give me a presentable corner. The green sticks you see is where I will have the galvanized fence post base installed into the wall with cement. Here is the section with the tree stumps removed and the wall built, dirt packed and all secure. Now comes the coring part to create the holes that will allow me to install the fence post bases. The toppers where the post go is not glued on yet. To do this, it takes a strong 18V drill, 5" core bit, water and strength. I used OZ-Posts bases which are great. Here is the upper section with them cemented in. The best thing about these is that in my lifetime I will never have to worry about having to replace them. If a tree falls and damages a section of the fence, easy to unscrew the posts and replace the section. Best part is I never have to worry about rotting as you install them up 1 inch to allow all water to run off the post and onto the topper and go away. With the bases installed and cured, I was able to install all the fence posts and start building. View from the neighbor's side of the finished wall/fence Finished view from my deck. I still have an interior wall to finish that will support the raised area where our garden will be and build an easy walk ramp up from the lower section. So, this is why you have not seen much posting from me or heard much from me over the last 5 months or so. Still have much to do, but at least the biggest part of getting the yard secured with a new wall / fence is done. I will be working on the rest of it over the fall/winter/spring. If ya have any questions hit me up, always happy to share my experience with ya. Yes, I lost 35lbs doing this project, nothing like a ton of manual labor to get into shape. ?