AD #2704 – Next-Gen VW Golf Debuts, Nissan Tests EV AWD System, GM Suppliers Hit Hard by Strike
October 25th, 2019 at 11:39am
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Runtime: 8:34
0:07 UAW Strike May Be Ending Soon
0:25 GM Suppliers Hit Hard by Strike
1:40 Bob Kruse Abruptly Resigns from Karma
2:20 Roger Penske Awarded Medal of Freedom
3:24 Ford Teases Electric Mustang-Inspired SUV
3:44 Next-Gen VW Golf Debuts
4:47 Jaguar Creates New EV For Gran Turismo
5:17 Lamborghini Tests Carbon Fiber for Outer Space
6:00 Elon Musk Predicts “Crazy Growth” For Tesla Energy
6:42 Nissan Tests EV AWD System on Leaf
7:20 New Meaning to Rat Race
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This is Autoline Daily reporting on all aspects of the global automotive industry.
UAW STRIKE MAY BE ENDING SOON
The UAW strike against GM sure looks like it’s going to be over this weekend. The union will announce ratification results around 4PM today, and based on results that have already been reported, so far the ratification is 60% in favor and 40% opposed.
GM SUPPLIERS HIT HARD BY STRIKE
The end of that strike can’t come soon enough for GM’s suppliers. French company Valeo reported that the strike will cost it nearly $180 million in sales and around $55 million in operating profit. Valeo says it is cutting costs and scaling back on capital expenditures. We’ve talked with other suppliers who have done the same thing, but haven’t announced it publicly. The Anderson Economic Group estimates that 75,000 workers at supplier companies were temporarily laid off because of the GM strike. Unlike UAW picketers, those supplier workers won’t get any strike pay or an $11,000 contract signing bonus. Most of them lost close to a month’s worth of wages, which must be financially devastating for them. According to the Center for Automotive Research, the communities and states where GM’s plants are located collectively lost a couple of hundred million dollars in payroll and tax revenue. So while the UAW got a good raise for its members, the strike left a path of destruction in its wake. We think there has got to be a better way to settle labor disputes without hurting so many innocent bystanders.
BOB KRUSE ABRUPTLY RESIGNS FROM KARMA
The CTO of Karma, Bob Kruse, resigned from the company two weeks ago. Kruse was recently a guest on Autoline After Hours where he spoke optimistically about the prospects for the Revero plug-in hybrid as well as the company in general. Karma did not put out a press release that Kruse left the company. It was first reported by Wards, which also reported that Karma’s owner, Wanxiang, slashed Karma’s funding from $400 million to $100 million. Kruse, who is a former GM executive with extensive EV and PHEV experience, tells Autoline he will soon announce that he’s taking on a new job.
ROGER PENSKE AWARDED MEDAL OF FREEDOM
Earlier this year, auto industry icon Roger Penske received the SAE Foundation’s Leadership of the Year Award. And now he’s received an even more prestigious honor. Yesterday, President Trump awarded Penske the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S. In addition to his racing accomplishments, Penske’s businesses touch all aspects of the auto industry including trucking, manufacturing and logistics. Penske said the medal “means more than any business success or motorsports trophy” he’s ever received. If you’d like to learn more about the career of Roger Penske, check out our interview with him on Autoline This Week from earlier this year. Look for the link in today’s transcript or description box below.
FORD TEASES ELECTRIC MUSTANG-INSPIRED SUV
Whether you’re sick of hearing about it or can’t wait to see it, you won’t have to wait much longer until Ford unveils that all-electric, Mustang-Inspired SUV. It will be revealed around the globe on November 17th and the automaker gave us a slightly better idea of what the vehicle will look like in this teaser video.
NEXT-GEN VW GOLF DEBUTS
The 8th generation Volkswagen Golf made its debut. While the styling has been updated, most notably the head and tail lights, it still looks similar to the outgoing model. It’s the first model in the VW brand lineup to feature connected car technology, which comes standard. The new Golf offers a wide variety of powertrain options, including two four-cylinder gasoline engines, two four-cylinder diesel engines and a natural gas option. On top of that, there’s hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants available. The hybrid features 48V technology, it comes in three different power outputs and can cut fuel consumption by up to 10%. The plug-in hybrid features two different power outputs and is equipped with a 13-kWh lithium-ion battery that provides an all-electric driving range of 60 kilometers, based on the WLTP, which would be about 33 EPA miles. The new Golf will be available in Europe in December.
JAGUAR CREATES NEW EV FOR GRAN TURISMO
Jaguar created a sleek looking EV for the racing video game Gran Turismo Sport, called the Vision Gran Turismo Coupé. While it’s only going to be seen in the virtual world, it could pave the way for more futuristic designs. Styling for the GT Coupé was inspired by classic Jaguar models, like the C-Type and D-Type as well as the newer I-Pace. The GT coupé will be added to Jaguar’s lineup of Gran Turismo-specific cars in the game next month.
LAMBORGHINI TESTS CARBON FIBER FOR OUTER SPACE
Lamborghini is the first automaker to develop advanced carbon fiber materials that will be used on the International Space Station. It’s working with the ISS U.S. National Laboratory and the Houston Methodist Research Institute. The project will test five different composite materials produced by Lamborghini under the extreme stresses of a space environment. The idea is to use the best performing composite in future Lamborghinis and in medical devices.
ELON MUSK PREDICTS “CRAZY GROWTH” FOR TESLA ENERGY
Tesla is starting to make good inroads selling solar panels and battery storage for homes and businesses. They call that business Tesla Energy and Elon Musk says it could grow to be as big as Tesla’s automotive business, maybe bigger. He says that as they went through production hell ramping up the Model 3, they actually stripped engineers away from Tesla Energy, and diverted battery cell production away from home batteries and over to car batteries. But now that the Model 3 launch is behind them Musk says they’re throwing more resources back into Tesla Energy and that we’re going to see “crazy growth” in that business for as far as he can see into the future.
NISSAN TESTS EV AWD SYSTEM ON LEAF
Nissan is testing an all-wheel drive system for its electric vehicles with a Leaf that has front and rear electric motors that are integrated with the chassis control system. It seems as though Nissan took the electric motor currently offered in the Leaf and added another one to the rear. The system produces a little over 300 horsepower and more than 500 lb-ft of torque. Nissan says it offers a “huge leap in acceleration, cornering and braking performance, on par with the latest sports cars” and that the dual motor setup will launch on a next-generation EV.
NEW MEANING TO RAT RACE
Most human beings enjoy driving in their cars. But guess what? So do rats. They can already recognize objects, hit switches and make their way through mazes, but researchers at the University of Richmond wanted to see if rats could operate a moving vehicle. It turns out they can, and they seem to really enjoy it. Amazingly, once they mastered the task of driving, the rats showed a notable reduction in stress. The researchers also found the rats share something in common with many humans. They’d rather be driving than riding as a passenger.
And with that, we wrap up today’s show, thanks for watching and have a great weekend.
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Comments (77)
October 25th, 2019 at 11:53 am
A. “So while the UAW got a good raise for its members, the strike left a path of destruction in its wake. We think there has got to be a better way to settle labor disputes without hurting so many innocent bystanders.”
Absolutely right. This strike, which should have ended 5 weeks ago, is a disgrace, as is the greed and selfishness of the corrupt so-called leadership of the UAW.
B. Bob quits Karma. Good for him, the car was an utter loser anyway, despite all his many improvements on it.
C. The plug-in Volt’s 33 mile range (less with traffic, probably) would not do the job for me, I need at least 50-60 miles round trip from my summer home to downtown and back. This will work only for suburbs near big cities.
D. Jag keeps creating new EVs few buy. Way to go.
E. Tesla solar panels. If they are available in Europe, I might look into them, I could install them in the spacious flat roof of my summer home, where, at least in the summer, it almost never rains, sell most of the electricity I produce to the utility, and use the rest, 100% clean, to power cars, appliances etc. I’ll read the linked article later for details.
Have a great weekend too!
October 25th, 2019 at 11:58 am
I believe that most of the onus for the GM strike has to be assigned to the UAW. While they finally reached a deal, of which the workers weren’t at all bad off to begin with, and although inroads to more compensation was acquired, perhaps this could have been done in a more timely fashion and even the voting should have been set-up to be ready, instead of even drawing that out, to a week. Money’s lost will never be recouped, and especially for the suppliers, a disservice was truly done on this round of negotiations. I realize that GM role was certainly not ‘saintly’ either but I’m much more on their side than the Unions (at least this time). And oh my gosh, please; this is JMO
October 25th, 2019 at 12:01 pm
2 Good that you clarified it is JYO. Otherwise, we would think it is that of your Mother-in-Law’s.
October 25th, 2019 at 12:01 pm
1,C. You meant plug-in Golf. The recently orphaned Volt has 53 miles of EPA electric range.
I feel sorry for all of the supplier employees who lost a month’s pay, while in most cases, making about half what the UAW people make. What a mess.
October 25th, 2019 at 12:07 pm
4 sure, freudian slip maybe. The OPEL version of the VOlt may be available, but the model is not very appetizing to me, exterior or interior.
October 25th, 2019 at 12:19 pm
Suppliers were always at a disadvantage, a “monopsony” or “ologipsony” situation with only 3 buyers tops, and dozens of suppliers. The buyers always put pressure on them to reduce prices for the parts or otherwise limit their profits. And when many of them went broke a decade ago or two, none was bailed out by Big Mommy Government, while it did bail out the dysfunctional GM and Chrysler.
October 25th, 2019 at 12:19 pm
Sean,
Instead of having driverless cars, maybe mice driven autos are in our future! LOL
October 25th, 2019 at 12:20 pm
https://www.wardsauto.com/ideaxchange/strikes-hurt-everybody?NL=WAW-04&Issue=WAW-04_20191025_WAW-04_208&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1&utm_rid=CPENT000009061197&utm_campaign=22867&utm_medium=email&elq2=cc35ad92caf945a3baa627952b5a6482&utm_source=27171
Here is a longer editorial by John Mc on the strike, just got it in my Ward’s daily email.
October 25th, 2019 at 12:21 pm
and this from Legendary Apple Founder Steve Wozniak, he is skeptical towards AVs:
https://www.wardsauto.com/autonomous-vehicles/apple-s-woz-sees-autonomous-vehicles-long-way?NL=WAW-04&Issue=WAW-04_20191025_WAW-04_208&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_4&utm_rid=CPENT000009061197&utm_campaign=22867&utm_medium=email&elq2=cc35ad92caf945a3baa627952b5a6482&utm_source=27171
October 25th, 2019 at 12:25 pm
If those University of Richmond researchers used Kawasaki KLXs, then we’d see what those “dirty” rats can really do. Smile or groan… your choice…. it’s Friday, have a great weekend.
October 25th, 2019 at 12:25 pm
7 will they be inside the wheels, pedaling?
October 25th, 2019 at 12:30 pm
The nerve of the working class to not eagerly, gratefully accept the crumbs offered by the investor class.
October 25th, 2019 at 12:32 pm
Unions perform a very different function in Germany and Japan. They raise the professionalism of their members via education, quality work standards, and adaptation of new technology. We don’t need to talk about China as the whole country is one big union.
This UAW debacle should be a wake-up call to redefine its role… to serve its members in a similar manner as unions in Germany and Japan, including (dare I say) more personal responsibility over their health.
October 25th, 2019 at 12:34 pm
@Barry, Drew & Larry – Thanks for the laugh on a Friday!
October 25th, 2019 at 12:39 pm
Researchers were quoted saying ” we have been successful in training the rats to get out of the left lane and hope to use some of the information and strategies in teaching North American drivers to do the same”.
October 25th, 2019 at 12:45 pm
Unless something has changed, negotiations have ALWAYS started way ahead of an ending contract. The only reason I see for calling a strike is when the other side refuses to negotiate.
But I agree, there has to be a better way.
While the Center for Automotive Research mentions state and community losses around GM plants, it fails to merit the pay-back they get from negotiated gains that each worker will spend. And maybe not as valid, the state and communities didn’t seem too reluctant about forfeiting revenues when they give millions in tax exemptions! I think things are better with GM/UAW than without them.
October 25th, 2019 at 12:46 pm
9 I remember years ago, when Wozniak thought his Prius was “running away,” when it got up to 90-some mph when he wasn’t stepping on the gas. It turned out, that he didn’t know the “tap up” on the cruise control was additive, so if you are on cruise control at 80, and tap up 15 times, it will eventually get to 95 mph. That might take a while with a Prius, but it will happen.
I don’t know if Toyota cruise still works that way, or if GM does. I’ll have to check when I think of it.
October 25th, 2019 at 12:48 pm
15 We should be so lucky.
October 25th, 2019 at 12:58 pm
3, I just said that so others could voice theirs (opinions) and I could avoid a tongue lashing saying I didn’t know anything (which I don’t because I am not privy to the negotiations as some union members here do or might be). Guess I didn’t evade all the snide remarks though.
October 25th, 2019 at 1:16 pm
Our Lincoln cruises control works like the “tap-up” you described. I like it.
And my union comment wasn’t meant to cause trouble either. Only wanted to share my thoughts when looking from the other direction.
I believe it’s healthy to view things from all directions and learn something,too!
October 25th, 2019 at 1:20 pm
17 my first CC car was the 90 Accord coupe 5 speed, and I first used when I drove south to Columbus to see a first cousin and her husband who had a postdoc at OSU. Like Wozniac, I had not read the manual carefully before I used it and was shocked, after a while, to see my car about to hit the one in front. I hit the brakes, which turned out to be the perscribed way to cancel the CC. Today’s adaptive CCs would not have that problem.
As far as Tesla’s Autopilot, they should not have named it that, many, it seems including the Woz, falsely believed it was a full fledged AP.
October 25th, 2019 at 1:22 pm
19 unless you quote a source, it is assumed that what one says is one’s own opinion.
October 25th, 2019 at 1:24 pm
My Mercs both have very nice ccs, not adaptive, but the tap up or down works for 99% of the cases on highway trips, and saves gas too vs an erratic driver. I even use it for shorter highway rides if traffic is not much.
October 25th, 2019 at 1:24 pm
20 I suspect what Woz ran into is that, on a slight, but generally invisible uphill slope, a Prius won’t accelerate very quickly at 80+ mph, so you might tap up a bunch of times, or hold the lever in “accelerate” position for a while, and not much would happen. Then, when that slight uphill becomes a slight downhill, before you know it, you are going 95 mph.
A cool thing with the cruise control on the Toyota hybrids I’ve had, is that on a fairly steep downhill, the cruise control will maintain set speed using the regen braking, rather than “over-speeding,” as long as the battery has headroom to store the charge. On a long downhill, the battery will get full, and speed will increase if the hill is very steep.
October 25th, 2019 at 1:26 pm
22 The Investors are the most abused in this. They are the True OWNERS of a company, YET others make decisions and screw it up, like incompetent CEOS and spoiled, greedy corrupt union bosses.
Investors lost EVERYTHING if they had GM or Chrysler in 2008. So the owners lost ALL, and their EMPLOYEES lost almost NOTHING.
That is justice for you? Not for me. I sure will never buy ONE SHARE of a UAW run company. our 401k mutual funds will keep buying a few shares, though.
October 25th, 2019 at 1:28 pm
25 was for 12, Brett, not 22, who was me.
October 25th, 2019 at 1:30 pm
23 Do the CCs on you Mercs add taps up, or taps down, like if you tap up multiple times at highway speed, quicker than the car accelerates, will the set point increase by the number of taps ?
October 25th, 2019 at 1:34 pm
27 have not checked if it does. It has other features that seem strange at first, like in the speedometer there is a band of white squares covering a range of speeds, I think it shows the speed dif in miles from the car in front. First time, when I just bought it and I drove it from Carmel IN back to MI I had no chance to read the manual and was a bit confused by it.
October 25th, 2019 at 1:35 pm
27 My dealer Merc of Ann Arbor has free PDFs of the 700 or so page manual for all E models for each year on their website and I bet you can find the answer there. I downloaded the PDFs for 2007 and 2008 in addition to the hard copy I got in the gloveboxes.
October 25th, 2019 at 1:41 pm
There is a better way to negotiate the union contracts and that involves a third party mediator. They should try and reach an agreement on their own months before the contract expires and when they get within 8 weeks without an agreement a third party mediator should be brought in and decide what is fair and they be stuck with it. which would prompt them to come to an agreement on their own.
Next VW Golf Yawn..
Driving rats; Interesting.
October 25th, 2019 at 2:01 pm
#20 – The CC on your Corvette (at least our 2016) will downshift the transmission in an attempt to maintain the speed you have it set at. We also have a 2018 Fusion Sport that will do similar downshift. I believe you may have some difficulty finding steep enough slope in Florida.
Side note is that I believe most of the CC units in production (at least all that I’ve driven) have tap up/tap down feature.
October 25th, 2019 at 2:04 pm
An Audi I owned had indicators above the numbers in the speedometer. As you tapped the CC up the indicators would light up to the speed you selected and the car would accelerate until it reached that speed. It was very handy to understand what you were tapping up or down to. It adjust in 2MPH increments.
My Ford has a digital display which pops up and gives you the exact speed you are selecting with the tap of the CC buttons. It adjusts in 1MPH increments.
The method of negotiation will never change for the OEMs and the UAW while these 2 groups see each other as diametrically opposed entities instead of the partners that they truly are. That is a cultural shift I see no one in the UAW or OEM management ever resolving. These 2 groups will never understand that they are 2 sides of the same coin until they see each other in the unemployment line.
October 25th, 2019 at 2:11 pm
32 Your Audi probably does it in 2MPH increments due that it was probably set up for 1KM adjustments which would be more than a 1 mph adjustment. Most all recent cars I’ve driven are capable of adjusting to a single MPH speed and can maintain within a couple MPH up or down hill.
October 25th, 2019 at 2:20 pm
31 My Corvette is a 2016. Either I haven’t been on a steep enough downhill for it to downshift on CC, or maybe likely, it does it so smoothly that I wouldn’t notice, unless I was looking at the tach.
October 25th, 2019 at 2:25 pm
I much prefer the 1 mile increments i got. If u want 2 miles, it is really easy to just tap again fast.
October 25th, 2019 at 2:38 pm
Couple days ago when Tesla’s quarterly losses or (as it turned out) profits were speculated here, I explained they are really immaterial and insignificant at this Growth stage of the company and again gave the example of Amazon, who lad losses 10 years straight and the stock still skyrocketed, making Bezos the richest American at $130-150b, and cwolf claimed that Tesla is allegedly not Amazon and is required to produce profits now.
Guess what happened. You know Tesla beat all the expectations by a mile and instead of $250mill expected loss it turned out an ACTUAL $345 mill Gain. But you may not know that AMAZON, actually, screwed up in its Qerly earnings a day later, (or was it the same day) and got hammered?
October 25th, 2019 at 2:39 pm
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/24/amazon-earnings-q3-2019.html
The scientific term is “CLOBBERED” apparently.
October 25th, 2019 at 2:40 pm
32,33 My Toyota and Corvette tap up and down in about 1 mph increments, and the Toyota displays set speed in 1 mph increments. My Corvette doesn’t display set speed, but I’ve read that some C7s do. I don’t know if I have something wrong, or if it varies by model year.
October 25th, 2019 at 2:47 pm
38 I see the new CC speed at the point of tapping in big font, but then it disappears until I change it again. But my gauges have several menus one can change from the left side of the steering wheel and then tap up or down and depending on choice one hears the next track on the cd player, or one sees a different set of stats, etc. There are lots of tech features I have not checked out in the dashboard, preset stations etc., cd changing, lots of menus and sub-menus in Nav and Audio etc.
October 25th, 2019 at 2:53 pm
It will be interesting to see how Bezos’s rocket company does. They have a big, impressive building near Kennedy Space Center that I drive by occasionally, but they haven’t flown any rockets yet from Florida.
October 25th, 2019 at 3:32 pm
#38 – Since we both have 2016′s, I’m assuming yours also displays set speed. If you’re interested, I can take screenshot of display where it does & send to you outside of forum.
Have a good weekend.
October 25th, 2019 at 3:43 pm
Off topic. A real Toyota pickup truck, with a regular cab and long box. I don’t know where this is. India? Philippines?
https://flic.kr/p/2hAiM98
October 25th, 2019 at 3:54 pm
41 I’m not sure of the best way to do it. I don’t know that I am supposed to, or want to post an email address here. I may need to just go through the menus. I kind of found what I liked as far display, default steering mode, etc. in the first few weeks I had the car, and about never changed anything after that.
October 25th, 2019 at 3:56 pm
42 It’s Thailand.
October 25th, 2019 at 3:58 pm
On some CC’s there are two detents where a push will raise the set by 1 mph and is cumulative and will catch up, and if you push the button to the second detent the speed will be set 5 mph higher. I have seen this on my Cadillac and my wife’s Mini. Guessing others have this as well.
October 25th, 2019 at 5:03 pm
Strike officially over.
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1187834840789504000?s=19
October 25th, 2019 at 5:30 pm
46) boy, what a relief!
Because the vote was close, I wonder if the reason for taking so long was due to honest attempts on the UAW part to keep plants open and/or return more jobs back to the U.S.. Maybe they really were giving it their best to help those who lost their jobs even though they knew it was a battle that couldn’t be won.
This is just a thought and not fact!
36)Larry, your conclusion about my earlier remark is TOTALLY INCORRECT as usual.
If you are unable to correctly paraphrase another’s words without twisting them to only satisfy you, I think it only respectful not to say anything at all.
October 25th, 2019 at 8:47 pm
The story on the GM suppliers is a huge reason why people have no sympathy for or a real distain for UAW employees. They come off as greedy SOBs who don’t give a rat’s a$$ about who gets hurt as long as they get theirs. So while they go back work with raises and bonuses the poor stiffs that make the parts they use get screwed over and possibly become unemployed if their companies wind up never recovering form something they had nothing to do with.
October 25th, 2019 at 9:03 pm
I haven’t heard yet, but the UAW will probably try to get a similar contract with Ford and Chrysler.
October 26th, 2019 at 8:06 am
Congrats to Roger Penske, Without a doubt the most successful team owner in multiple divisions and types of racing ever. A champion in Trans -AM ,USSCA, Can-Am, Indy 500, Indy Car championship, NASCAR , Daytona 24 hour, IMSA, V8 Supercars and Bathurst Champion, F1 constructor and race winner. Plus others I’ve missed I’m sure. So it is well deserved recognition for someone who dedicated his whole life to motorsport and excellence.
October 26th, 2019 at 8:11 am
48 Absolutely, 100% right. 40 days that wreaked havoc not just with the Suppliers but also the economy of MI and especially the really weak Detroit area.
If I were GM, I would NOT assume all the risks and have the Workers get their undeserved huge wages (for the kind of assembly work they do) rain or shine, but I would LINK them not only to the profits by giving them fat bonuses when it is appropriate, but ALSO when their crappy cars (CEO Mary Barra’s words, not mine) don’t sell and the company has huge losses.
October 26th, 2019 at 9:28 am
Here is an interesting piece about drive motors that often over looked. The possibility to turn the wheels 90 degrees would make parallel parking a breeze…even with the largest of SUV’s and trucks.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49958457
October 26th, 2019 at 9:56 am
https://www.motorweek.org/
I’m not paying $100k+ for a stupid 4-cyl 2-liter breadvan on stilts, even if it alleges to be a “Range Rover”. Thank God for used V12 Mercedes 600s and BMW 760iLs for $20k!
October 26th, 2019 at 4:51 pm
I see that the next Golf will be 5-door only everywhere. The 3-door hasn’t been sold in the US for a year or two, but has been sold everywhere else. Also, I read that the regular version of the new Golf won’t be sold in the US at all, only the GTi and maybe the $40K+ Golf R.
October 26th, 2019 at 5:10 pm
53 It’s a real Range Rover, but getting only 19 point something mpg on gas in their test, and 30 plug-in miles, what’s the point of that powertrain? If most of your driving is short trips, close to home, operating costs would be lower than other versions, but I doubt that people buying these things care.
October 26th, 2019 at 6:04 pm
55 I was very surprised when I saw that too, I thought it was the regular one and then they would give the plug-ins. But I assume if not plug-in w the V8 it would get less than 10 MPG overall and 15 hwy at best.
October 26th, 2019 at 6:07 pm
54 also the Golfs sold here don’t have the smaller engines, they did not have them since the 80s. When i rented one in Berlin for a 3 day weekend (twice, reserved a Fiesta to pay the lowest rate and hoped they would give me an upgrade, and they did, Golf both times) it would only go 100 MPH on the autobahn, continuous speed, with the accelerator on the floor. (no cc then), Must have had a 1.2-1.4 lt engine.
October 27th, 2019 at 8:23 am
56 Here are EPA numbers for some Range Rovers. The plug-in hybrid is not shown for either 2019 or 2020, but a non plug-in hybrid is listed, but the mpg is not much better than other versions.
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=40577&id=40675&id=40578&id=42105
October 27th, 2019 at 8:44 am
57 During most of its life, Golfs have had about 6-8 different engines available in Europe, kind of like Ford, Chevy, and Plymouth in the US in the 1960s. The smallest engine in the Mk 1 Golf in some markets was 1.1 liter. The US has typically offered one gas engine, and off and on, a diesel, in the non-GTi Golf.
Before the Golf came along, VW offered at least 3 different engines in the Beetle in Europe in the late ’60s and early ’70s. 1200, 1300, and 1500cc. I had a US spec 1970 with a 1600cc engine, but the 1500s sold in Europe were faster, top speed, and the 1300s about the same top speed as my “big engine” US spec car. I know this from driving on autobahns in 1970. The top speed of my 57 hp car was about 80 mph on flat ground w/o wind.
October 27th, 2019 at 9:21 am
In my weekly drop in the public library I looked at a couple car mags, one had that bigfoot on the cover and very little of interest to me inside (I think it was R&T), maybe it had an article about the fastest Cayenne, which happens to be a $190k plug-in Turbo with a 500+ HP V8 and a 150 or so HP Motor. 3.3 0-60, not too shabby for a 6,000 lb rhino, but $190k is Bentley Bentyaga $.
October 27th, 2019 at 9:22 am
58 their gallons per 100 miles nos are similar to my liters per 100 km for the old 5 sp civic 1991-2016 we had in the summer home.
October 28th, 2019 at 8:29 am
Here’s an interesting video of Tesla vs pistons.
https://youtu.be/h8R7kZGvAUk
October 28th, 2019 at 8:30 am
52 Interesting article which reminds me again how life imitates art. In the 2004 movie I-robot with Will Smith the Audi used in that car seems to keep getting closer to actual reality. The car he drives was not only autonomous and electric but the wheels were basically balls and could spin in any direction allowing for perpendicular motion for parking.
One of the few futuristic movies where life isn’t post-apoptolyptic and the vehicles seems at least plausibly realistic.
October 28th, 2019 at 8:42 am
52,63 Here is another way to go in any direction, rotate, etc. We sometime use these wheels on robots for playing games. The down side of these wheels is that they don’t have good traction for games that involve pushing and blocking for defense.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tmiu1wpp_E
October 28th, 2019 at 8:44 am
62 That is exactly what will make EVs attractive. The performance aspect is what manufacturers need to capitalize on. If they forget about trying to push them as a way to save money on fuel and go after the luxury/performance they can compete.
October 28th, 2019 at 8:48 am
65 Yep, they are great for performance, and commuting for those who can charge at home and/or work, but not ready for long highway trips for some people, like me.
October 28th, 2019 at 9:11 am
https://europe.autonews.com/blogs/why-sedans-are-sign-rebellion-against-suvs?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20191028&utm_content=article9-image
Is the sedan becoming the middle finger of the future? (Vs SUVs?)
This lame author managed to put a pic of a VOLVO sedan of all makes. 0.5%-0.7% Volvo-Geely. Geez.
October 28th, 2019 at 9:30 am
66 How many decades did it take for the gas/diesel cars to become commonplace? Since the invention of the car by BENZ in 1887, a tricycle with a park bench and a 0.67 HP engine, it took TWENTY years until Ford and the assembly line made it commonplace in the US, and MUCH more to make it so in Europe, where even until the 30s cars were a plaything for the very rich. That is 50 years!
For some reason many today expect EVs, which are UNdeniably the future, to make gas and diesels obsolete in just a few years. NO, the horse and buggy lasted from 20 to 50 years, and so will the ICE cars. BUT this does NOT mean that BEVs are not the Future, they sure are, they have Physics and Reliability and Simplicity of design on their side, AND ICE car makers (workers) are already worried about losing their jobs because of that, but I think the SERVICE workers (mechanics at dealers and independent ones) are the ones that should worry the most.
October 28th, 2019 at 9:50 am
67 Sounds good to me, but I’m not holding my breath.
October 28th, 2019 at 9:56 am
68 EVs still need to get cheaper, and we need a lot more charge infrastructure for EVs to make ICE vehicles obsolete, but yeah, within 30 years or so, it could mostly happen.
October 28th, 2019 at 10:05 am
70 exactly what I was talking about, people just have NO patience at all. First of all some EVS are ALREADY as cheap as they need to be, the Model 3 in particular is no more expensive than the 3 series, and just as competent. OTHER EVs like the Bolt which loses $9,000 a copy anyway, need to be cheaper, MUCH cheaper, but the SMART designs like the Model 3 are already there.
And as battery prices (and this is a FACT) KEEP going down every year, and made TREMENDOUS progress since 2011, now being one seventh (!!!!) of what they were then, future cost and price reductions are guaranteed. AND further price reductions will be achieved when they are MASS PRODUCED.
October 28th, 2019 at 10:18 am
Tesla has been able to sell their cars as “premium,” because of their performance, and because they are different. Except for performance, a $25K Accord is a better car than a Model 3. Both CR and C and D agree on that. In a few years, though, as batteries get cheaper, EVs can sell for “mainstream” prices, but will still have the performance.
October 28th, 2019 at 11:14 am
68 I’m not sure anyone on this forum believes that BEV are not the future. In fact many myself included have said they will eventually become common place someday. The question is when? If anyone on this forum says anything negative about EVs you are very quick to spout how “THEY are the FUTURE whether you like it or not”. Which anyone calling out the current downsides is not a dismissal of their potential at all, but just a comment to the current position.
When the first cars were being built though they did not try and sell them as being more reliable than a horse. They were not. Similarly EVs being marketed as a way to save on gas or any economical advantage that is just not there yet. No doubt they will get there but until then they need to be offered as luxury/performance vehicles because that is the only real segment where they compete with current ICE vehicles. Building the small econobox BEV with mediocre performance is a waste of time.
I don’t believe that even having the infrastructure in place is going to boost the sales much. It will take the price coming down and a battery re-charge that is close to a gas fill up. So its not that people don’t believe BEVs are the future its just how far into the future are they?
October 28th, 2019 at 11:31 am
@67 I was maybe waving my middle finger (a little) when I traded in my XT5 for my CT6. I longed to get back in a real sedan, and so far, haven’t been disappointed with my switch.
October 28th, 2019 at 11:48 am
74 Glad to hear that. I’m doing my part. My newest “truck” is my ’89 Caravan.
October 28th, 2019 at 11:58 am
26
My heart bleeds for the investor class. Having to deal with risk and all that.
No, not really.
October 28th, 2019 at 8:47 pm
@73 Lambo +++