GM’s CEO Mary Barra said the other day that it is not possible to sell a profitable EV for less than $40,000 and that she expects that “electric and combustion vehicle costs will equalize sometime in the latter part of this decade . . . maybe a little longer.”
In other words, all cars will cost at least $40,000 or more “sometime in the latter part of this decade . . . maybe a little longer.”
In fact, they already cost at least this much – if we are talking about EVs.
Most cost more – especially if you want more range than they come standard with. This latter being one of the lesser known hidden facts about EVs. It is a sin of omission – on purpose. Because people might chafe if they understood they will be expected to pay extra for what is already standard in non-electric cars, which do not come standard with a gas tank that’s only got about 60 percent of the capacity of the tank that’s available . . . for a lot more money.
But battery-powered devices come standard with exactly that. The battery with less capacity. Which is the EV equivalent of buying a non-electric car with a gas tank that only holds about 6-7 gallons of fuel. This is why the typical “entry level” $40,000 EV has a range in the range of 250 or so miles. But, don’t worry! You can pay another $4,000 or so (on the low end) for a “tank” that holds the equivalent of maybe 10 gallons of fuel – which will give you range comparable to that of a thirsty gas-engined car.
But, don’t worry! Costs will equalize “sometime in the latter part of this decade . . . maybe a little longer.”
By which time, no doubt, the cost of the average new car will be at least $50,000 – if only because of inflation. Not counting the extra cost of a little more range.
Of course, for this equalization to happen, non-electric cars must be made as least as expensive as electric cars. And Mary Barra is saying they will. She just doesn’t want you to understand it.
If anything, they ought to cost less – and would – were it not for the cost of compliance, which is being used to make them more expensive (so as to equalize things) and, ultimately, to eliminate them altogether. Even hybrids are being driven off the road by the costs of compliance. Because they are not “zero emissions” (at the tailpipe) vehicles. Never mind that they “emit” almost zero of anything that’s actually a pollutant. They are under fire because they “emit” carbon dioxide – now styled more malevolently as just “carbon,” to further gaslight the rubes, who no longer understand the difference between “emissions” and pollution.
The cost of hybrids especially have got to be equalized – because they are currently about half that of the $40,000-to-start EVs Barra hopes to sell at a profit “sometime in the latter part of this decade . . . maybe a little longer.” Right now, you can buy a 2023 Toyota Corolla hybrid for $22,800 that comes standard with 600 miles of range, or more than twice the range that comes standard in every EV you buy right now for $40,000 or so.
In order for the latter to be cost-competitive with the former, the cost of a Corolla hybrid would have to almost double. Or the cost of the EV would need to go down by a similar factor. And the EV’s standard range would have to at least double, too – without adding to the cost.
Which do you suppose is the likelier outcome?
Barra herself hints at the answer when she admits that EV battery costs are still too high for manufacturers to build a profitable mass market EV. She does not say that these costs are going to come down – which EV Peddlers have been saying for the past 30-plus years. Of a piece with “Peak Oil,” except in reverse. More oil has been discovered and – were it not for the imposition of measures designed to create artificial scarcity and so increase costs of something that ought to cost less – there would be more (and cheaper) oil.
And there was, just three years ago.
That problem was solved by getting rid of the Orange Man, whose measures facilitated the abundance and low cost we are now being denied. That are in the process of being . . . equalized.
Apparently, this is going to take about five years – which appears to be the plan. Over that span of time, the government will take steps to ensure that the cost of electric cars vs. the alternatives to them equalizes – by raising the cost of the former to at least parity with those of the latter. Probably via increasing (even higher) the costs of compliance.
As well as fuel.
No doubt there have been meetings to assure this outcome. It is the only rational explanation to account for what would otherwise be inexplicable as well as untenable. That being this business of building cars that aren’t profitable – and won’t be, until “sometime in the latter part of this decade . . . maybe a little longer. ”
. . .
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I just get tired of their constant double-speak, aka lies. The way they wave their hands around as they speak, so you don’t notice their smirks, and obviously lying eyes. They don’t want eye contact, for that reason alone. Watching these people speak is like watching the interrogation tapes of sociopathic murders, or like a rap-video where the “artist” is jumping around and waving his arms over his head like an aggressive chimpanzee. Distract, overwhelm and drone with endless nonsense and lies, this is their behavior, as if they are performing circus animals, as we are clearly seen as the “suckers” P.T. Barnum could have only wished for!
And OBTW, when the prices do equalize (if I’m looking for a car at that time), I will still get the ICE if available. Because it’s not a fucken EV. I know that won’t work for a lot of people but — give the “equality” of the equation — if the price of an equalized ICE won’t work for people, neither will the EV.
But, I have a feeling that Barra is flat out wrong anyway. I think she’s engaging the tiresome practice of saying what you want to see in order to make it manfest — like a spell or incantation.
Sorry but the earth (i.e., resource availability for EVs), forced decline of supporting energy systems due to climate hoaxers, and the reduced ability for people to participate in manufacturing jobs, is going to make the cost of EVs skyrocket.
These people are desperately fighting reality and losing, just as they did with the corona hoax. I think the corona hoax “control group” has provided an example to all that, yes, we can resist enough to fuck up their grand plans. It’ll still be a disaster but they won’t get their wish. Their vision will never fully manifest. It’ll just be more misery and problems which will make even more people join the “control group”.
They could even regulate smaller gas tanks and make gas pumps slower… to equalize. And the ICE would still be superior. Basically the only thing these people end up being “good” at is making life miserable for large numbers of people. THAT they can do.
Their fight against reality? That’s probably gonna end up similar to Ukraine’s fight to achieve the impossible as well. Just a tiresome and endless stream of transparent lies and propaganda while the reality is misery, death and destruction.
Good luck Barra. Better wish up on that star twice as hard.
Once again, applying Moore’s Law where it doesn’t apply. We have this bizarre misunderstanding of electronics because we’re all so used to faster/better/cheaper and longer runtime from silicon devices. That doesn’t transfer to anything else that runs on electricity. Take a look at an iPhone 14:
https://valkyrie.cdn.ifixit.com/media/2022/09/17134529/iphone_4-edited.jpg
Even with chip designers obsessed with power consumption, nearly half the volume of the case is battery. The space at the bottom is speaker, basically air, and the top is made up of sensors and cameras, again empty space and glass. The motherboard is half in 2D space but is actually very thin.
Permanent magnet “Brushless DC” motors are well understood and about as effiicent as one can get without affecting longevity. They’re usually rated above 95% efficiency. The power switching curcuits are over 98% efficient. The drivetrain just isn’t going to get much better. Designers and engineers can make a very slippery body that slices through the air with a drag coefficient of 0.3 but that’s about the practical limit, especially considering the volume taken by the battery. Tires’ rolling resistance can be reduced but with a trade off of maneuverability and traction.
There’s a lot of “moon shot” projects going on in batteries, none of which seem to perform any better than iteration on existing chemestry. Oh, there might be a thinner electrolyte material, or a “better” annode material, but nothing like the exponential increases we’re used to seeing in microprocessors.
There is no free lunch.
If they really want to lower the “carbon footprint,” buy every office goldbricker a pair of Apple ski goggles and open up the skies for delivery drones on a wide scale. Let people who need and want vehicles to use ’em. Using a 3000 lb car to pick up a couple of bags of groceries isn’t efficient and not usually necessary, just get your stuff delivered -by drone or small atonomous vehicle. It’s not like Walmart is all that exciting anyway (unless you’re downtown, then you might get show too).
Oh, but that would require the FAA and DOT to actually allow that stuff into their domain. And there’s no more hidebound agency out there than those two. Autonomy is a non-starter for DOT because What about the children! Seriously, a Yeti cooler on wheels is going to kill everyone it encounters, so nein! Verboten! Same with a 10 lb delivery drone. First opportunity its going to smack your bananas and beer into United 478, just for spite! Besides, everything is fine, except for that extensional crisis the politicans keep bringing up…
OT, but since it’s gone full yellow outside, from the Canuckistan fires, it’s got me thinking – how much pollution and CO2 being generated by a couple stupid fires. And yet we need to drive EVs and use electric stoves? What a crock.
Relatedly, the TV is telling people to stay indoors and wear N95 diapers outside. And Justin Castro is saying this is caused by global warming. I’m calling BS – these could have been intentionally set fires to drive this narrative further. There are no coincidences anymore.
‘it’s got me thinking – how much pollution and CO2 being generated by a couple stupid fires.’ — BAC
Before 1910, western forests burned every 5 to 7 years due to lightning strikes. Those low-intensity fires cleared out the underbrush and seedlings, but left the tall trees unharmed in an open, low-density forest. ‘Nature’s broom,’ naturalists call it.
Over a century of fire suppression led to forests with up 1,000 trees per acre. When these get lit, the horrific inferno kills everything in its path.
Costly forest thinning efforts are underway here. Some of the sawed-down trees will be airlifted out by helicopter. As a buddy commented yesterday, ‘I’m just gonna get a six pack and sit up on the hill and watch that.’
To thin ALL the western forests this way would cost more than the freaking Ukie war. Alternately, let nature’s broom work as it used to do, and yes there will be smoke and yes there will be carbon dioxide ’emissions’ — same as it ever was.
Actually, burning wood is carbon neutral. All the CO2 that a wood fire puts out is CO2, or other carbon, that the wood incorporated within its life span. In the case of these fires, it gets dumped all at once, since natural burn offs are not allowed.
Over the decades there have been plenty of forest service tax consumers who sound the alarm about letting fires burn. Problem is one of “optics.” No one likes to see burn scars, and it tends to causde problems with infrastructure (such as the never-quite-explained-cause Glenwood Canyon fire and subsequent rock slides that took out I70 for months).
Besides, everyone loves firefighters! Even the ones who they truck in from the prisons for “rehabilitation.”
Here at the southern most tip of Sunny Southern Maryland, the air report has been very unhealthy for at least a week now (losing track actually) because of those moron’s inability to properly manage their forests.
It’s even made its way, way the hell down to SE Virginia, down to the Willis/Floyd area. My friends told me about it yesterday and asked how it is where I live.
So those fucken morons get to adversely affect the health of now MILLIONS of people with CARBON soot and sit there and bullshit us about CO2. I fucken drink CO2 just about every day. That soot is causing people health problems.
They’ve even grounded flights out of LaGuardia. NYC now looks like the steaming shit hole that it is conceptually anyway.
Funny thing. People in China originally (mostly) sported masks when going outdoors because of the serious smog and pollution. For short periods of time, that’s not bad idea but continual use of masks cause health problems in any context.
But anyway, now the lunatics in NYC will have a dual purpose for the masks. 1) Their PTSD brain damage from corona hoax, and 2) the soot in the air, courtesy of their liberal lunatic comrades in Cannuckistan! These fucken people are made for each other.
Barra’s remarks explain WHY the Chevy Bolt, which was the most affordable EV out there, is being cancelled! Even though it’s been selling in good numbers, GM will stop building it this year.
The Bolt used LG Chemical’s LiPo battery tech. Same thing that was spec’d out for my solar array’s storage. LG had some serious problems getting their bleeding edge design sorted out. So they stopped producing it. My guess is the Bolt was designed around that battery’s specifications, so it won’t be possible to just swap out someone else’s. Better to scrap it and start over.
I figured that GM simply wasn’t making money on it.
I’m sure that was a major factor too. Why keep fix a broken product that loses money?
So you’re saying that they so over-engineered the freaking battery, that appliances that used it have to be scrapped entirely?! Pure Wiley Coyote, super genius!
Here I thought a battery has two connection points, positive and negative. Different shapes, sizes, voltage, amperage, etc. How the hell much effort does it take to fuck that up?!
LG… Life is Good, huh?
What this means is vehicle sales will continue to fall – squeezing the manufacturers. In business, all of your profit is in the last 20% of sales, and that is being squeezed out of existence – and there are so many brands all competing for a dwindling market.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DAUPSA
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TOTALSA
Most businesses sell something in millions of units, but cars are measured in thousands. Many models are less than 10,000 units a year – that is not much when you consider the capital cost to set up the assembly plant – often in the billions. And this big policy change to jump on the EV bandwagon happened when borrowing costs were nil, now interest rates are going up – fast.
What could be coming is a huge shakeout in auto business, where only a few survive, but then again, maybe not. I will tell you a big factor coming down the Albert C. Pike superhighway to hell – the hegemon (demonic USA) is rapidly losing it’s #1 status, and the world is reorganizing currency dominance (BRICS, Russia oil ruble, China gold Yuan). The headlines are in the news daily, the shift is on.
And the US Government, now under permanent Demoncrap control, spending is out of control – just yesterday the national debt jumped 359,000,000,000 USD in one day. Putting that in context is staggering – it took 193 years (1789 – 1982) for America to get to one trillion in debt, now a trillion is being added to the national debt in shorter and shorter time spans. In one day, over 1/3 of a trillion!
https://wolfstreet.com/2023/06/06/us-national-debt-spikes-by-359-billion-on-1st-day-after-debt-ceiling-suspended-tga-begins-to-get-refilled-draining-liquidity-from-market/
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/us-debt-visualizing-314-trillion-owed-2023
And the wild card are rising rates as the hegemon slips. Interests rates are now going up – and will not stop going up – because the credit rating is slipping. CDS insurance on US Treasuries could continue spiking as lender psychology shifts – like Lehman Brothers CDS rates (the insurance cost of insuring debt) spiked again and again until one day no one would buy Lehman debt because the cost to insure that debt was to high. The slippage was slow at first, then very quickly LEH went under – and the rating agencies of it’s debt did not downgrade that debt until 2 weeks before it went under!
The lesson is clear, slippage occurs slowly at first, then fear, then panic, then it is all over and everyone wonders what the hell just happened. I do not see why that could not happen with USA debt. Afterall, it is just another corporation being grossly mismanaged – possessed by end time hubris – it’s labyrinth of policy wonks all caught up in so many lies – no one knows what reality is anymore – thus daily pronouncements of Ukraine taking Crimea or Moscow, but in reality the Uke army is decimated.
Every dollar that the USA spends must be borrowed. Think about that. How much confidence do you have in Trump or Biden? Or any clown they put into office? We literally live in a pseudo fantasy reality, where clowns like Trump still brag about “warp speed vaxx” when it is known the vaxx is killing millions – surely that oaf Trump is being told this by his followers. Obviously, Trump is a delusional stooge of pharma.
Biden, of course, is some demented, senile, perverted old man – barely able to walk – or climb steps – or make a coherent speech. And in the betting odds, those two clowns are currently the leading contenders for the 2024 election shit slinging show. Seriously, are you kidding? Trump vs Biden again? We can do better but we won’t.
Both Trump and Biden are spendthrifts – they think we can deficit spend forever because we are god’s grace to earth. In reality, Amerika is the most evil nation ever, based on how many we killed in all the wars we initiate under false flag pretense. Donald Jeffries told Jeff Rense the other night that Amerika has killed more people than any nation before. Dr. Kevin Barrett has written that we killed so many in so many wars no scholar knows how many, but since WW2 the range is 30 to 50 million. And the Biden thing is currently funding a huge Biblical level bloodletting in Ukraine, something like 500,000 so far – and the nation is being decimated – and it cost the US Treasury over $200 billion thus far. A complete waste of your money.
Zero Hedge puts up another article today comparing us to ancient Rome, and how it fell, under it’s mad, sexually perverted, Caesars. Well, this is not the peak of the empire any longer, we are post peak USA, we are slipping, slippage is occurring, and the speed of the slippage is increasing – sort of like at Wile E Coyote who runs off the cliff edge, and is wondering when he will fall. That is a good analogy, or like that heavy train that goes over the blown out bridge – into the vacuum of empty air. Everything seems fine while in zero g. The titanic took a while to sink – then it reared up and went under quickly.
Interest rates are going to the moon. Car companies don’t know it yet, but they are facing an existential crisis – they followed the Judas goat (Biden EV policies) to their doom. How many cars can you sell when interest rates go to 10%, 20%, 70%? In my view, Mary Barra is just another woke idiot playing king of the hill on turd mound. What moron follows Biden’s lead?
Here is the first chart, Domestic Auto Production, with a red trend line:
AMERIKA IS SCREWED AUTO PRODUCTION CHART
https://ibb.co/W5h8H7j
They are eliminating natural gas stoves as we speak. They’re dangerous to your health dontcha know. Yes,,, government is worried about your well being, Guess that’s why they want everyone to take the clot shot.
Obviously, if burning natural gas is bad for you than burning gasoline is a killer.
Remember, this all started with the seat belt,,, the 1.5 gallon toilet, the incandescent light bulb, and onward and upward to the soon banning of gas and diesel.
It’s all for our health and safety,,,, and don’t forget, Mother Earth.
Well, now they’re saying that a Tesla Model 3 is only $23,000 — AFTER a $7500 federal tax credit, a $7500 California credit, and a $2000 factory rebate.
So when you have the government paying the manufacturer about 40% of the MSRP, it becomes “affordable”:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-model-3-now-costs-as-little-as-23k-in-california-thanks-to-tax-credits-195807162.html
Of course, none of this has anything to do with the “free market” whatsoever, it is indeed a form of communism or, perhaps more accurately, left-wing corporatism where the auto manufacturers are de facto extensions of the state.
Steal your earnings,,, give them to gov-whores so they can show everyone how virtuous they are. Yeah,,, what a country! Just one f**king scam after another,,, all funded by stolen/printed fed-bucs. You have to be a modern American to really enjoy the shit show brought to you by the greatest crime family in human history.
How about this Turkish proverb from this mornings Armstrong site.
When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a King,,, the palace becomes a circus.
Saw an article the other day about a luxury EeeeVeee (don’t recall the brand, was in the Wall St. Journal) that claims 600 miles of range, at the low low price of $138,000. It also takes a weekend to recharge at your home charger; get with the program peasants! 😆
Even if we were forced to buy IC cars with only a five gallon gas tank you would still be back on your way in a few minutes, something no EV will ever be able to do.
You must be thinking of the Lucid Air.
Hi OL,
I think he is thinking of the Lucid Air. What a silly-pretentious name for a car. Sounds like the latest tennis shoe for rappers. It’s a measure of the era, isn’t it? And $130k-plus? Another for-the-ultra-rich car. I think that’s what this is all about, ultimately. The return of the era when to own a car was for the very rich only. The rest of us had to walk, ride a bike – and live within the walking/bicycling radius of stores and so on. In other words, in the urban areas. The lords of the manor lived out in the country.
Is it any wonder that quality used cars are now so extraordinarily expensive? A 2003 Mercury Marauder with low miles is $29k on eBay. A 2019 VW Alltrack SEL AWD manual with very low miles is $29k. Used cars used to be bargains. No longer. Why? It’s not the chip shortage, but it’s all the crap in new cars these days and people don’t want it. At the rate we are going, in 50 years, we’ll be the equivalent of Havana where everyone is still driving 50’s American Cars. Peak car will be around 2016-2020 and you’ll see these on the roads for decades to come unless something changes.
Something will have to change, or there won’t be a US economy where any car is affordable well before 50 years.
If we get most of the chips from Taiwan and some from China, good luck getting them for your car when the war starts for the US officially. Worse yet, the US military may get priority over the chip supply.
I was told cars as old as the 1980’s have components that will fry in an EMP attack. Time to get an old Bug and some duct tape. That will be more of the peak car that survives
Peak car is NOT 2016-2020. Those are still brand new, and overly complicated, unrepairable, tech-laden, high-strung plastic crap. Few of them will be on the road 15 years from now.
I’d vote that peak car of the EFI era is approximately 1990-2012.
I’m getting old (Gen Xer)! Used to be in the 80’s GM would always stir up excitement about what they were going to produce next. Cars like the IROC-Zs, Grand Nationals, the aero-coupe Montes & Grand Prixs and 454 SS trucks. Not to mention Ford’s SVO programs and Chrysler working with Shelby. Most of them were autos that were affordable and attainable! Now it seems we are just repeating an old Soviet era where one would work for YEARS to save any money and wait for YEARS on a waiting list to receive a brand new battery powered shitbox! Were is that time traveling DeLorean when you need one!
Same here, Allen –
I don’t think it’s just us getting old. I think that – objectively – things are getting worse, as you’ve laid out. $40,000 (for openers) for an extruded plastic appliance with zero personality, that’s as homogenous as a Soviet apartment building?
Not for me, thanks.
Five year plans have a very Soviet feel… And, since we’re going down this path, the whole EV thing has a very Soviet Virgin Lands disaster feel as well.
“Five year plans and new deals
Wrapped in golden chains”
CCR “who’ll stop the rain”
“Five Year Plans”. Reminds me of Lenin’s so-named plans, and history can show how well those worked out.
You had V12 Ferraris and Jaguars, V8 American muscle, V6 VW Sciroccos and screaming 4 banger Japanese souped up econoboxes. Great time to be alive.
According to legend, a GNX got turned in as part of Cash For Clunkers 1.0. If true, that was probably the “it” moment when things changed, once the Feds realized the power of handing out “free” money would make people give up any vehicle, even a legitimate garage queen candidate.
I believe Cash For Clunkers 2.0 will take out “beater” trucks — 20-ish year-old F150s, Silverados, and Ram Trucks which still have a lot of life left as real work vehicles but must be eliminated as part of the agenda.
Whom ever traded in a GN for that con game program needs to be horsewhipped! I think the Regime will find it more difficult to find people dumb enough to bring in their pickups since new or near new ones are out of the price range for a majority of working people who depends on them for home use and work. The Stalinists in the “Mordor on the Potomac” will find more sinister ways to ban them such as causing much higher fuel prices and if they can get away with it ( I know they are thinking about it), impose retroactive emissions standards on the old trucks.
Sounds like a politician. Front load the supposed benefits and shove the costs down the road far enough to not need to worry about them. Why is this…person….not being charged with fraud is beyond me.
do not CEO’s of publicly traded corps have a legal responsibility to the share holders? I guess GM shareholders won’t mind losing money for the next decade…or longer.
Yes, CEOs have resposibility to shareholders and a fiduciary duty of sorts. Here’s the rub, however; their shareholders are not people like you, me, or even your 401k. Their shareholders are the people like George Soros, Larry Fink, and others who have set up a fake social credit system for corporations. The metric is no longer return on investment or profits. That’s taken care of as long as the company stays in line. For that matter, we used to see a lot of corporate bankruptcies that led to economic problems. Today, we don’t see any of that. When was the last big bankruptcy? Layoff? Closure at headquarters?
Labor is becoming incrementally cheaper through inflation. Fake money is being printed for all potentially insolvent companies as long as they fly a pride flag at headquarters. This is where we are. No one is going to be charged with fraud because if you bring a legit lawsuit, you don’t have “standing”
‘Sounds like a politician. Front load the supposed benefits and shove the costs down the road.’ — Andy L
Case in point: after the Uniparty debt ceiling deal last week, U.S. national debt spiked by $359 billion in one single day, on the first working day after the Fiscal Responsibility Act [sic], to $31.83 trillion.
But the Treasury’s General Account balance only rose by $48 billion on Monday, to $71 billion … versus a desired routine balance of at least $500 billion.
So, expect another $500 billion of debt issuance this month, blowing the national debt up to nearly a trillion higher than its level of last week.
Wheeeee! What fun, spending other people’s money with wild abandon! Too bad we forgot to ‘save the children,’ after all those good intentions.
And just like a politician, she won’t be there when the poo poo hits the whim wham.
You know, when Mussolini and Hitler did this they called it fascism, which was a popular notion in the US in the ’30s. Looks like it still is.
Rather than bureaucracy as an aspect of government, now it has become our form of government. Democracy be damned. Hardly any of this had to be forced through an elected congress. It all originates in some alphabet bureau, to which NO one was elected.
‘electric and combustion vehicle costs will equalize sometime in the latter part of this decade’ — EeeVee Mary Barra
With 120 years of experience building IC-engined vehicles, GM can project their build costs quite accurately.
EeeVees have a much shorter history. Their battery accounts for 30 to 40 percent of the vehicle cost. Material costs, in turn, constitute 77% of the battery’s cost.
Commodity prices being notoriously volatile, this presents a real forecasting challenge when it comes to EeeVees. GM meets this challenge with a combination of WAGs [Wild Ass Guesses] and wishful thinking — the notion that battery manufacturing is going to follow a learning curve and become cheaper.
Quite aside from their future cost — whatever it turns out to be — EeeVees face heavy consumer resistance from a large cohort of drivers who do not find EeeVees practical for their personal transport needs. These folks range from apartment dwellers, to urbanites who park on the street, to folks who park in their driveway or don’t have a garage.
I loathe Government Motors. Take this Chevy and shove it.
I often find myself over relying on my instincts due to basic laziness. But they are so darn effective and a very efficient shortcut to assist in arriving at correct conclusions. When i looked at that picture of Mary Barra it gave off “repulsive controller” Some of these peoples appearance seems to just exude their innate character. I would best describe this look as a combination of arrogance, intelligent stupidity, and smug self satisfaction. Yesterday i walked by a an older man driving a Tesla through the company parking lot. He had his drivers side window lowered, was wearing a white apple earbud and was looking for someone he was picking up. His car stopped behind my gas car which I was about to get into. There was something slightly creepy looking about this man even though he was doing absolutely nothing wrong. He sort of of glared at me and as I got in finally decided to move his Tesla. To my surprise, it was virtually silent except it made this weirdly unpleasant electronic squeaking noise. I did not make me want a Tesla! So I am not looking forward to whatever Mary Barra and her ilk have planned for us.
GM to invest 1 billion in “notably” profitable heavy duty pickup trucks.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/05/gm-to-invest-in-new-heavy-duty-pickups.html
From link:
The notably profitable trucks are in high demand, and sales are needed to assist in funding the automaker’s investments in EVs.
Funny thing is that when it comes to small cordless tools the battery ones are becoming cheaper so much so that you can find small battery powered weed whackers for less than small gas powered ones. Any advice whether I should buy a small gas one or small battery powered one? Either one would work but I personally prefer gas powered. Homelite?
It makes you wonder why this doesn’t happen with cars? Of course the weed wacker doesn’t come with a “Ludicrous Mode”.
I like gas powered stuff, but I have an electric weedeater and lawnmower. Why? Not because it’s cheaper, but because the ethanol fuel is so bad in Texas that you can’t leave it in the lawnmower for more than a week without gumming up the carburetor.
For some reason, the ethanol seems to work better in full sized cars.
In my other house, I have a gas lawnmower. It works better and ethanol free fuel is available in OKlahoma
I can still get ethanol free fuel. I know what you mean about it going bad. A few months in a sealed can and the ethanol smells funny while ethanol free still smells good.
Landru,
It just depends on how much work you typically do, and how often you do it. Gas engines don’t particularly like sitting around not doing anything. May not start when you need it. Of course the electric may not start either if you fail to keep the batteries charged. I have three for my electric pole pruner that I use once per year. Which is why it’s electric. As far as gas engines go, I prefer Stihl. Yes, they are a bit pricey, but I’ve got a chainsaw and and a commercial grade trimmer that are both over thirty years old, and have seen extensive and heavy use. And still work.
Even though I don’t work. Being old and arthritic.
They outlasted me.
Every couple weeks I trim around the planters and foundations. Further out from the house I’m not as picky. I use ethanol free gas mixed in small quantities with 2 stroke oil and stabilizer. For the chainsaws when done; I warm them up, drain the gas then run them dry. The Poulans seem to respond well to that treatment. Funny thing is I have better luck with my Poulans than my Stihl 025, must be the primer bulb on the Poulan. My Homelite leaf blowers run OK. Most of my small engines were salvaged or free and still run OK.
Here in Michigan, “recreational gas” is available in most rural areas. This is ethanol-free and is the ONLY gas I use in my small gas engines.
If you want truly ethanol-free gas, you can remove the ethanol yourself. All it takes is water. Ethanol will separate from gasoline simply by introducing water which will cause the ethanol to separate.
There are youtube videos showing how its done.
My understanding is modern small engines are all pretty much made in the same factory, different labels.