Most of the new Ford don’t even have “pad” for the numbers. They are embedded in the B-pillar and only light up when your hand gets close.

On Fords, they come that way be default ( think 10 minute shut-down) but you can also switch that off, so it keeps running. Either way, it’s honks at you if you leave while it’s running.

I don’t know the total population stats as far as work vs live breakdown (and it is somewhat non-traditional in Portland anyways, with a lot of reverse commuting), but 45% of downtown commuters use public transit and the system carries over 75,000,000 trips per year. More telling as that almost 80% use it voluntarily,…

Cars, it probably doesn’t matter much unless you want something low-volume, high-demand. But boats and motorhomes? Definitely during a recession! You can get new ones half of original MSRP when things are slow! Used expensive boats and motorhomes are even a better deal!

True, but they’re probably just rolling the early payoff costs into your next lease.

Also, my credit union (First Tech, which is huge) will finance whatever/wherever. But if it’s not a CUDL purchase, they will cut a cashier’s check, which means there’s more risk to you if the deal isn’t legitimate for any reason. They will on occasion direct transfer funds to a non-CUDL seller (Enterprise in my case)…

But it’s also a city that driving 50 miles east or west puts you squarely in snow territory half the year.

Everybody will have go full Mercury Sable:

Ok, but let us know which one has the higher lifetime operating costs when they both have 200,000 miles. I suspect it won’t be the Odyssey. 

The Sprinter, even the long-wheelbase, extended, high-roof, still only gets 188 hp.

It’s double-walled. With the section of solid slab overhead, I think this concept utilizes a lift in the center of the aquarium, to bring your car up to the slab when you want to drive.

I agree with that, but that’s almost the last worry on heavy trucks, since powertrains already come as packages that are extensively dyno-durability tested.

I got hung up on that too. Glad you pointed that out.

The largest barrier to widespread adoption IMO won’t be range, and probably not even recharge time. It’ll be the lack of durability testing. Tesla will be launching this with maybe tens of thousands of test miles logged. Freightliner puts their prototype trucks through millions test miles, on both the Redmond Oregon…

Probably not much, if anything. Add a bunch of weight to a Forester, and it gets pretty dismal fuel economy. Like mid teens on the highway, once you load up the back and put a cargo box on the roof. And at that point its dangerously slow. Then there’s the extra engineering for driving up curbs at speed, or taking a 75…

It probably won’t be noticeable once the obligatory push bar grill guard is installed.

I think it’s nothing more than a CYA. They granted a waiver after a new standard was implemented, and then people died. Nevermind that nearly all other Amtrak equipment is also non-compliant with the new standard, but they don’t have to be. But what’s super disappointing, is this might end up causing the route to use…

Battery pack failures correspond more with age rather than miles. And the packs are relatively easy to rebuild. Usually just a handful of cells go bad, and can swapped easier than changing spark plugs in may new new cars. The biggest hinderance is likely the lack of acceptance for hybrid owners to bring their cars to…

All trains in the US are subject to FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) unless they are on their own closed track system. Our regulations are just as antiquated as our trains are. The FRA basically assumed passenger trains will inevitably collide with a freight trains as some point, which unfortunately is somewhat…

Compared to coaches used outside the US, I suspect you are right, that the loading is higher with the single-wheel-pairs. Compared to the ancient 60-year-old rolling stock used everywhere in the US, besides the Pacific Northwest (and recently Florida) it’s still way lighter. The rest of the US still runs these…