In all fairness, the eGolf is like the FIAT 500e (we had one) or the Chevy Spark EV - great for around town or commuting, but the ~100 mile range means it’s not good for long distances. Those were Gen 1 compliance cars.

Now we are on Gen 2. The Chevy Bolt and KIA Niro EV with their ~230 mile range plus fast charging ar…

Like Kodak? RIM? Nokia?

Ford said its average fleet customer drives ~75 miles each day. The USPS mail vans drive 20.8 miles each day. It’s hard to beat a battery with use cases like that. That’s even before you start looking at O&M.

Anyone done the napkin math for the big three auto markets of the world? Fund a fuel cell program for $XM a year, get the policy makers to jack up the incentives (no income cap on the California rebate) and credits versus developing an EV?

The electric delivery van is the next Cap’n Obvious segment for EVs with their known range, route, and cargo requirements. They also come back to the barn at night, perfect for overnight charging. Ford even said their average fleet customer drives ~75 miles a day. That’s why their electric Transit will start off with…

The mail vans average 20 miles a day (see above). The Ford e-Transit has a 120 mile range. That’s six days, call it a five to be conservative.

Yeah, this doesn’t work. People used to try this back in the “49 state car” days, i.e. the 1980s. DMV is already onto this.

This.

Nice work. You out by Cazadero?

Yeah, I am a Jeep guy and very excited about the Wrangler 4xe (PHEV). Also cool that Jeep has stated they will offer a PHEV version of every model by 2025 (it’s on jeep.com in the Wrangler 4xe FAQ). Bring on the three row PHEV off-road capable SUV.

The USPS mail van is screaming out to be electric. Just look at the data (scroll down a bit to the “LLVs stop and go a lot” section):

True. All Nissan seems to have are the underpinnings of the upcoming Ariya BEV as well as the “e power” system available outside of the U.S., which as far as I can tell is a glorified version of the BMW i3 REx powertrain that doesn’t plug-in to the wall...

True at the low volume of the Xterra, which is why it makes sense to spread a plug-in hybrid powertrain across the Frontier and the larger Armada/QX80/Titan variants. That sweet torque of an electric motor would be awesome off-road, and power export would be great too, not just for overlanding.

I think a plug-in electric off-roader would be pretty sweet. The new plug-in hybrid Jeep Rubicon has a 25 mile range, 10+ inches of ground clearance, and 30" fording capability. What’s not to love? It’s just a powertrain option, just like some offer various size gasoline engines or (a few) a diesel engine today.

Well-said. Thank you.

Yeah, but nuclear is baseload while wind and solar (without storage) are intermittent.

This. I lived in Germany while this shutdown was pushed through. There wasn’t really a plan to replace the nuclear plants... other than with natural gas imported from... Russia.

This!

1st. Yes, bring back the Xterra. Make it a plug-in hybrid while you are at it, Nissan. Offer that powertrain on the Frontier (the new one), the Armada, and their Infiniti twins.

Just for the record, gas / road taxes are broken even if EVs didn’t exist. In other words, we aren’t collecting enough money to pay for maintaining our current infrastructure let alone building for the future. Since taxes are a third rail, we will pay the piper one day.