The Hyundai concept is pretty cool. I miss all the long hatches of the 80s (the hatch - not the rest of the cars usually)

5th Gear: Mechanics will be fine, it’s the “quick oil change” places that are doomed. Suspensions, CVs, brakes, cooling and climate systems are all the same or similar to ICE vehicles. They’re mostly swapping knowledge of fuel and emissions systems with batteries and power systems.

In my experience GM has a pretty good history supporting their vehicles whether they were “100% in-house” or not.

At this point, I’m pretty sure that if GM came up with a competent competitor to the Transit/Promaster, the sales for these would be unaffected. The people who still want these vans are the only ones who want these vans.

I rescued a ’77 924 last summer that had been sitting for 16 years. I’ve not priced out a clutch yet, because fortunately mine seems to be good for now. But here’s the thing you need to remember about a car like this: There’s almost nothing for it that you can buy at your local auto parts store. It all has to come…

As a Tesla owner - the biggest thing that would be keeping me from getting a non-Tesla is the fast charging network.

My business partner ditched his Tesla for a Polestar 2 EV. Rationale? Tesla was fine when it was pretty much the only option out there, but the Polestar is a much better vehicle. I think there are a lot of people out there with Teslas with pretty much zero loyalty to the brand.

“Back then (2008) , automakers rushed to push out more economical vehicles because of consumer demand”

But your missing out on the XJ220 powered Ford Transit.

Pro-tips from a guy that did longer trips with families and now does week long trips for work pretty regularly.

2nd: Recently, Manchin has called the EV tax credit “ludicrous” and that he’d much rather coal powered vehicles be subsidized instead.

So sorry to hear about Jan. Good luck, I hope you find her soon.

It’s not even the “up to” that’s the killer here. It’s the other shit the trucking companies pull. That theoretical faerietale amount of $250,000 is gross wages. By the time you pay for your own fuel, maintenance, certifications, and inspection on a truck you’re paying a lease on to the company that employs you, your…

“Apparently full benefits and the ability to make up to $250,000/year won’t cut it.”

Unionized trucking companies have a “driver advocate” too

I’m all for limiting tax subsidies freebies to the wealthy but when did we start pretending 100k household is a lot of money?

Totally agree. I think a cap of 50k USD for the vehicle and 150k (household) income is reasonable.

I’m going to mindlessly blame the driver for reasons I’m pulling straight out of my ass.

At this point I would be highly suspicious of any company formed under the auspices of a SPAC. They seem inherently scammy and I suspect they’re going to become illegal some day after a bunch of powerful people manage to lose a ton of cash on one, instead of taking it from other fools.

And Apple could probably make the same case for their proprietary charging ports and cables but that’s not stopping the EU from putting their foot down and saying “look, one standard for everything so we can stop with all the waste”.

It’s OK to make manufacturers uncomfortable and force them to a standard.