Do I need it ... No, but I want it. Rivian Truck

Yeah, a car owner sees a $10k repair bill, definity news-worthy. Someone just cut 8 catalytic converters out of our work vehicles and drilled and drained 4 tanks. Better call CBC for this national news event about the risks of ICE vehicles.

did you have write them off ?

also in the news all the time



 
did you have write them off ?

also in the news all the time



Touche.

Repaired, and all vehicles now stored off site in a secure lot at extra cost and inconvenience.
 
did you have write them off ?

also in the news all the time



Are those stories being framed as cautionary tales of ICE ownership?
 
I've cherry picked a different angle:


Ford dropped its prices because dealers were complaining they had 2023 inventory that was in the way of the 24s coming in. They also lowered interest rates and offered factory incentives for gas models. Worldwide car sales are down, across all power train formats.

Tesla has had a charmed run for a long time, but they're not a feisty new startup anymore. They're a market leader, and with that comes minute scrutiny of everything they do and say. Part of that scrutiny is careful evaluation of their perceived worth vs their market capitalization (share price). Stock prices rise or fall when actual numbers are compared to expected numbers. So when Tesla sales slide more than over all vehicle sales did, it's news. (If they'd slid less than global overall, that'd be news too). And of course there's the anti EV angle as well, Tesla is the lightning rod for those folks too. Anything negative about the big T suits their narrative.
 
I'd agree with this take, also noting that the Tesla line has gotten pretty stale. The Model S is now 12 years old - the internals have been updated progressively, but the exterior styling is really looking old. Its still an attractive car, but in the same way that a 12 year old Mercedes S class looks good - attractive, but not current. The Model 3/Y are getting up there as well, and the cyber truck was a swing - big miss - way too polarizing to get much mainstream traction against the F150 or Rivian.

Stale lineup, Howard Hughes 2.0 CEO, no wonder the shine is starting to wear off that particular brand and people are starting to value it on the fundamentals. Its no longer just the future potential.
 
They're delivering on the sales end, with model Y being the biggest selling car worldwide in 2023. The share price seems overvalued based strictly on fundamentals, but the market continues to support it. One big thing in their favour is virtually none of the legacy car makers are seeing profits yet from their EV products. They already demonstrated this with price cuts last year that put even more hurt on the competition. That will likely cause some rivals to leave the EV space partially or completely, either way Tesla's market share increases. And the outlook for revenues from the charging network is wide open. Their future is still bright, not just on the car sales front.

I probably sound like a wild eyed Tesla fan, but it's possible to respect a company while still remaining objective. Model S is looking tired. X has those silly gullwing doors and a hefty price tag, but the 3 is getting a face-lift this year. Not sure about model Y.

Cyber Truck from a technical point of view is a breakthrough, 48 volt architecture and all ethernet bus are big steps forward, but who will buy it? If you don't mind the styling, can you accept all the other design conceits, like minimal/no rear view but no camera, box sides too high for loading/unloading from the side, tiny triangular mirrors, handle less doors that show fingerprints, crazy long wiper blade, no control stalks or buttons, everything ona screen
 
The one thing that could separate Tesla from others the most is their full self driving tech. I see today they announced an upcoming robotaxi reveal. I think it has the potential to be huge if they can convince people it’s safe.
 
The one thing that could separate Tesla from others the most is their full self driving tech. I see today they announced an upcoming robotaxi reveal. I think it has the potential to be huge if they can convince people it’s safe.
Yes, add that to the list of future possibilities that has the stock market mesmerized.

Right beside Tesla in the global EV market is BYD (Build Your Dreams), a Chinese maker that is neck and neck for market share, despite not yet participating in the US/Canada market (with cars at least; they do manufacture electric buses in California and Ontario). Like Tesla, they are completely vertically integrated, including designing and making their own batteries. They even own their own car transporter ships for export to offshore markets.

BYD have the low cost angle sorted and their inexpensive EVs are rapidly penetrating markets worldwide. In Australia, a market with similar size and pricing to Canada, they have two models under $45,000, undercutting their Tesla counterparts handily, and a light truck is on its way. By the time Toyota, Honda and Nissan have true EV platforms to launch, virtually all of the early adopters worldwide will already own an EV - made by someone else.

BYD are reportedly building a small but upgradeable production facility in Mexico, which could be come the basis for entry into the US/Canada market. Obviously there are fairly serious political and trade parity objections to any Chinese builder intending to sell vehicles in the US, one can't help but think they'll be watching the US election closely this year. Or maybe it doesn't matter to them. With the volume of vehicles they're moving around the rest of the world, they could conceivably ignore nth america and hone their product line, manufacturing efficiency and battery technology in all the other markets.

I'm long-winded as usual. Suffice to say, there's another huge player on the world stage we barely know about here.
 
Here's a look at the Chevy Silverado electric pickup. The top of the line RST model shown in the video below isn't available for sale yet, but it should allay range anxiety for many: Chevy claims it's good for 724 km! Even towing something serious, you could expect as much as 350 km between stops. GM decided to develop its Ultium multi-vehicle EV platform first, and then start releasing models based on it. (Ford got the Lightning onto the market a couple of years early by fitting electric components into a regular F150 ladder frame/cab combo).

The battery is massive, over 200 kWh, but they have done serious work on charging speeds so highway stops shouldn't be onerous. The body setup is reminiscent of the old Avalanche, complete with fold-down seats and flip-up rear window to accommodate bulky items. The market was lukewarm on this concept the first time around, so we'll see how it's received this time.

 
The body setup is reminiscent of the old Avalanche, complete with fold-down seats and flip-up rear window to accommodate bulky items. The market was lukewarm on this concept the first time around, so we'll see how it's received this time.
The Avalanche was a terrible design. It's almost like they don't want anyone to buy them.
 
Yeah you see a lot of social media comments about it being an Avalanche, and not in a positive way. Still not as polarizing as a cyber truck though!

Truck marketing is full of sneaky psychology. All the ads show them blasting through mud or snow, climbing mountains, hauling ridiculously large loads, etc. They push the rugged workhorse image, yet the majority of them aren't used for work and don't go off road. The truck builders aren't always selling the reality of work trucks, they're mostly selling the idea of them.

Conversely, the Avalanche was pitched as a versatile, do-anything vehicle for suburban folks, which is what most truck buyers actually want. But it didn't make people feel like burly construction guys or daring off road adventurers. Rather, it reminded them that they were indeed soccer moms and dads, they may as well have bought a minivan. Although it stayed around for a decade, truck buyers said no due to the unibody design, and others realized they could have more passengers and more comfort in a Suburban.

We will see how this set of facts plays out when applied to the Silverado EV. A lot of people want that 700+ km range. GM says the side fin thingies are important for smoothing down aero drag to stretch range. OK, but they didn't have to add the Avalanche-esque convertible cab/bed function. Being on the Ultium platform, they can more or less place whatever body design they want on top. Should be able to do EV versions of Suburban, single cab long box pickup, extended cab regular box, etc.

It would be interesting to hear the design and management team's rationale behind settling on the convertible cab concept for their first EV truck release.
 
The 10 foot box by removing the window is awesome it’s probably the best EV truck out there now.
 
The 10 foot box by removing the window is awesome it’s probably the best EV truck out there now.
Some will love it, some will hate it. (The latter mostly those who don't own one).

As I read it, the 3WT ($C 77,199) has GM's standard battery for the truck line, still offering an excellent 620 km range. The step up to the 4WT model with 720 km expected range is a very reasonable $C 82,999. The luxury lovers will pay $C 120,000 for the RST trim. All models can accept seriously fast charging: 350 kW, which will be essential with such huge battery packs.


On paper, this is the new top dog in the EV truck sector. 720 km range is more than what my gas Silverado 1500 had on tap. Tow range will be diminished, of course, but still a reasonable 300-400 km depending on what you're pulling. The Ramcharger PHEV from Dodge hasn't yet announced pricing, but providing separate electric and gasoline power trains and ancillaries isn't free. Either Dodge takes a huge loss on each one, or it's gonna cost more than the Ford or Chevy EV trucks.
 
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