ISOBUS/CANBUS already exists, and Ethernet is becoming more common between certain systems for higher data rates. But the issue isn’t the communication path, but what gets communicated.

Thanks to John Deere’s work in the Millennium Act, none of the farm machinery companies use an OBD-like system. There has been some work on creating an “ISO” standard for some systems, like the GPS-to-steering systems. Without the regulation, though, there’s no incentive for one company to make one up.

Again, I’m talking about commercial and industrial equipment. Nobody is going to install “new underground high-pressure H2 storage at every damn gas station”, as you put it. I agree with your assessment about H2 for passcar, so slow your roll a bit, bud.

For cars, yeah, it’s not great. For commercial vehicles and industrial equipment, you gotta have some type of quick and transportable re-energizing solution.

He must have been thinking of a metric ton, which is 1000 Kilograms.

Carpet. Vinyl. Floor mats. That kind of stuff.

Ok, so I know a few engineers that survived the Merger era AND the FCA era, and they have some crazy stories. My favorite? The Europe spec stated that efficiency testing is done with the base vehicle. How did they get the Journey to pass? Make everything optional.

Good god, the Ultradrive transmission is older than the Journey. The progression this transmission started from the 41TE in 1989. For the most part, all they’ve done is make is cheaper and lighter, with the only improvement being the switch to Variable Line Pressure in 2007, which is technology older than the original…

A buddy of mine had a GenII GTI dubbed “Eurotrash” due to it’s ridiculous amount of modding over the years, and it was notorious for losing the handles. He left his lights on one night...

I don’t know if we can use the Ram EcoDiesel as a baseline, since they pulled the same move as VW: they got really good gas mileage by using emissions defeat devices. 

You missed the part that the consumer trucks have Torque on Demand T-cases. That means you can leave it in 4auto all the time on high-mu surfaces, and it will only apply torque to the front when you need it for traction control. Only the fleet ones have part-time shift-on-the-fly T-cases, which is what you’re talking…

I would disagree with that. Ford’s have disconnects at both ends. They disconnect at the wheels AND they disconnect the transfer chain. Therefore, when in 2WD, the only parts that are spinning are the same parts that spin on a 2wd-only truck. Obviously, there’s a little drag, but not as much as you’re talking about,…

Neutral: I watched an interesting presentation by some oil companies talking about HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition) engines, which is what the new SkyActiv-X is using. Since you actually WANT self-combustion with HCCI, you can drop down to a 60RON fuel and still be ok.

Roommate has an ‘04 1500. The thing had patches welded in all over when he got it in 2014. In just ten years of normal use, it needed major rust repair...

I grew up on a farm. I have an early 2000s F150 Extended Cab. I 100% disagree with you. I keep all of my tools in the back seat (since no one sits back there anyway), and they’re safe, clean, and dry that way.

28kWh is a bigger battery than the Nissan Leaf.

This happened to me when I hired a company to ship our furniture to a new town. When our stuff didn’t show up on time, they said “we only subcontract between shipping companies. Once it’s on the trailer, it’s your problem and you have to call dispatch.” Problem was, they wouldn’t tell me which shipping company had my…

I drove a Fisker Karma once, and my first thought was “that’s an odd looking cubby on the console.” Except that it wasn’t. It was a piece of glass covering...nothing? And they’re on the doors too?!? What is happening here?!?

Here’s an explanation of a typical truck transmission. It includes diagrams of the Eaton transmission used in the video (Page 60).

Here’s an explanation of a typical truck transmission. Starts at page 47. They explain how you pre-select, but the air shifter does not engage until the main shift stick passes through neutral. I usually mentally wait 2 seconds before selecting the next gear, just to make sure the range dog clutch engages correctly.