Big losses for Honda and Ford vehicle divisions

[Westernhawk]

I'm no expert, but I believe coordination of electric access is overseen by regional compacts, which operate somewhat independently. The Federal Energy Commission oversees it all. A good friend of mine was 1 of 5 appointed FEC commissioners during the Obama Administration. He said there was lots of room for improvement in the national electric grid. Currently another friend is Iowa's representative to the Midwest regional organization (RTO) Iowa is connected with.

(AI generated) Key facts about federal electric grid regulation:

• Jurisdiction: FERC regulates interstate transmission, wholesale power sales, and hydropower projects.
• Reliability: FERC oversees mandatory, enforceable reliability standards for the bulk power system (the "grid"), which are developed by NERC.
• Market Oversight: FERC regulates Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) and Independent System Operators (ISOs) that manage day-to-day grid operations in many U.S. regions.
• Limitations: FERC does not regulate local, retail electricity sales (which are handled by state/local regulators) and does not own or operate physical grid infrastructure.

Thanks. That's helpful to understand.

 

[Westernhawk]

The folks that run Big Auto are idiots.

It makes sense to transition from fossil fuel ICE vehicles to EV over time, for numerous environmental reasons. But the pace with which Big Auto anticipated that transition was ridiculous.

Let's see, almost all cars on the road in the US are ICE cars. Within 30 years, all cars will be EV. So, rather than think intelligently about the transition, they think everyone is just automatically going to switch to EV -- especially in the 88% of the (mostly rural) US counties which voted for Trump? I mean, how disconnected from reality ARE these folks?

What would have made sense would have been to invest heavily in R&D to develop reliable plug-in hybrid cars -- cars that get 40-50 miles (or more) on EV but also have IC engines to run on regular gas. I currently have a 2018 Honda Clarity, which is just that. Very few people in the US drive more than 40-50 miles/day, but like me when I drive to CO or WY or IL or Wisconsin I don't want to have to hassle with charging on the road. The transition to a plug-in hybrid has been smooth and it couldn't be easier or more economical -- I just plug it into the 110 outlet in my garage overnight and drive on EV most days -- I'm currently over 600 miles since I last used any gas. And the solar panels on my garage are more than enough to charge my car every night and cover all my house electrical costs.

The reason Big Auto didn't want to build more plug-in hybrid (PHEV) cars is because they're relatively expensive to build compared to strictly EVs, so they just wanted to skip the plug-in hybrid step. Honda only produced the Clarity for 3 years, then quit. PHEV's are also the most complicated cars that will ever be produced, as an engineer friend of mine explained to me. So Big Auto has their reasons to not produce them, but man, my ride is sweet and like I said, I have the advantage of having a gas engine if I need it, but I haven't paid a penny for gas for months. And when the traction battery runs out, you can't even tell when the car shifts over to gas.

And the demand for PHEVs is there, with the incredible demand for the RAV4 PHEV as proof. The warranty for the traction battery on the Clarity is 8 years/100,000 miles (in Iowa). When I bought it in 2018 I figured I'd trade it in at the 8-year mark, and have a wide variety of 2026 PHEVs to choose from. Nope.

I see quite a number of RAV4 Primes where I live. I also see loads of Teslas and other EVs, too, including the pricey Audi and BMW ones. Lots of EV and hybrid uptake where I live.

I have two geriatric internal combustion cars that I'm trying to keep going because new stuff is expensive. Even used stuff is expensive now.

 

[Gander Hawk]

I looked up several more sources and it's more like the single digits, so I did overstate based on what I read. Sorry abou that. Most sources say single digit changes thus far in really large cities that have a significant uptake of EVs. That definitely ain't true in Ioway, as a much lower percentage of rural folk own EVS (understandably).

People tend to forget that climate change is a massive problem for humanity, but there's a pretty big propaganda machine telling you not to believe your own eyes.

You are right that batteries are a problem. They just aren't the same kind of problem as CO2. People are the root cause of the problem. Lots of people who consume limited resources on our planet.

They're already working on battery recycling and used batteries can be used for other energy use storage including for homes.

 

[Westernhawk]

They're already working on battery recycling and used batteries can be used for other energy use storage including for homes.

I'm curious about states with massive sunlight and the ability to store some energy for off-peak hours.

 

[BryceC]

They're already working on battery recycling and used batteries can be used for other energy use storage including for homes.

Redwood Materials claims to be able to recycle 97% of the materials in an EV battery.

 

[BigD]

GM/Chevy have announced discontinuing GM Express and Savana chassis. Excuse me........select wheelbases going away. Not the products.

It's amazing some of the crap that is on the market for new cars and trucks. I know YouTube is not always accurate and their are YouTube channels out their just putting out the CLICK BAIT. I know "FRY" has made comments about that. I don't always respond to some of his comment's because most people know his comments are correct.

However, WTF is going on with FORD??? Record breaking recalls because of poor manufacturing.

Not that I would buy a Dodge product but I did stop by a Dodge dealership and check out the only 2026 Charger they had on the lot. The place closed in ten minutes but a salesman did come out and let me start it up and rev up the motor. Man, that brought back feeling to my younger day's. Price? In the mid-seventies......... no thank you. I've already passed the mid-life crisis age.......... ten years ago. I also don't need a bunch of speeding tickets. Now if they dropped that price down to around $50K I would have given serious consideration to it as a weekend toy to play with. I also would have to buy the most sophisticated radar detector on the market.

 

[BigD]

GM/Chevy have announced discontinuing GM Express and Savana chassis. Excuse me........select wheelbases going away. Not the products.

By the way Tampa where have you been? I haven't seen you posting as much as you used to.

 

[BigD]

I looked up several more sources and it's more like the single digits, so I did overstate based on what I read. Sorry abou that. Most sources say single digit changes thus far in really large cities that have a significant uptake of EVs. That definitely ain't true in Ioway, as a much lower percentage of rural folk own EVS (understandably).

People tend to forget that climate change is a massive problem for humanity, but there's a pretty big propaganda machine telling you not to believe your own eyes.

You are right that batteries are a problem. They just aren't the same kind of problem as CO2. People are the root cause of the problem. Lots of people who consume limited resources on our planet.

I wonder if Trump's idea is to start World War III and cut down on world population that way? GULP!!!

 

[Westernhawk]

I wonder if Trump's idea is to start World War III and cut down on world population that way? GULP!!!

Or, maybe he just wants to decrease petroleum supplies to the world by more than 20% immediately, thereby reducing emissions! Real men of genius.

 

[Westernhawk]

It's amazing some of the crap that is on the market for new cars and trucks. I know YouTube is not always accurate and their are YouTube channels out their just putting out the CLICK BAIT. I know "FRY" has made comments about that. I don't always respond to some of his comment's because most people know his comments are correct.

However, WTF is going on with FORD??? Record breaking recalls because of poor manufacturing.

Not that I would buy a Dodge product but I did stop by a Dodge dealership and check out the only 2026 Charger they had on the lot. The place closed in ten minutes but a salesman did come out and let me start it up and rev up the motor. Man, that brought back feeling to my younger day's. Price? In the mid-seventies......... no thank you. I've already passed the mid-life crisis age.......... ten years ago. I also don't need a bunch of speeding tickets. Now if they dropped that price down to around $50K I would have given serious consideration to it as a weekend toy to play with. I also would have to buy the most sophisticated radar detector on the market.

Price in the mid 70s? WOW!

 

[Westernhawk]

Redwood Materials claims to be able to recycle 97% of the materials in an EV battery.

That's good info. Thanks.

It's almost a talking point of those who have been conditioned to hate all alternative energy sources (and cars) to say that batteries are worse than climate change.

I've been on this board, in different forms, for maybe 20 years. They've evolved their comments from "climate change is a hoax" to "windmills and batteries are terrible and just as bad." Same shit different day.