Recent Comments:
Jetta TDI demos turn up at dealers, lots of orders coming in {Autoblog Green}
Jun 30th 2008 12:26PM I guess I have only two questions about this vehicle:
1) What are the emissions per mile compared to a hybrid? Since it appears that the pricing of Diesel now takes into account the performance difference, the only thing left to differentiate them to me is the emissions.
2) Will it have the same quality as most Volkswagens in the US? I usually get a laugh at the number of VW's I see on the road with some sort of electronics issue...(lights, power locks, dash failues, etc.)
Shipping cost may cut into overseas outsourcing at GM {Autoblog Green}
Jun 29th 2008 10:47PM Woo hoo. The US is now the low cost country!
I dug up this old Ward's article about Bo's brilliant idea to send parts from overseas via airplane.
http://wardsautoworld.com/ar/auto_article_11/
The guy is so into the month-to-month profit mentality that he just can't grasp that in the long run he is losing money on the deal. Now all of the overseas production is going to come at a price premium because all of the capable US suppliers are now gone....
Based on the profits that GM has made during his tenure, I would reconsider anything he proposes...
GM struggling to recruit engineers for advanced projects {Autoblog Green}
Jun 17th 2008 12:14PM Me2, you really aren't being fair. Having been in the industry almost 20 years, as I see it the problem is because the guys with a lot of passion leave right away and the rest get beat down day-after-day by purchasing (lowest cost no matter how bad a decision it is), management ("good news...you aren't being laid off and now you have the responsibilities of 2 more guys that we did lay off"), peers ("hey you should work in Industry X, we get paid better, have better benefits, etc."), and the consumer ("those crappy engineers at YYY reek, they can't design anything").
Too often when some innovation is proposed it is shot down because:
1) it costs too much per vehicle. It seems they are always neglecting the increase profit margin...it seems like they look at costs only ...related to number 2
2) There isn't a supplier that can quote this competitively. This usual means that purchasing was expecting the items to cost less than a dollar and the quotes were coming in at $1.05. Usually the customer will pay $15 dollars for it in the end.
3) The customer doesn't want this. Marketing showed that something like a navigation system would not be chosen as an option at a price point of $1500. So the takeaway is that navigation systems are not desireable.
4) Our dealers won't know how to sell this. Dealers are idiots and can't show the utility or value of a new feature...like Ford's Sync.
5) Don't make interfaces to other things...have every thing built in. I realize people already have cell phones, but what they really want is a phone built in to their car that has a call plan that costs 5 times more...OnStar! Charge big bucks to have an aux input to the car stereo.
6) The innovation is too different from purchasing/mearketing/management's comfort zone. We just don't understand why someone would want to use their own mobine phone in their car...see number 5
7) I could go on, but won't
Judging the Tesla Roadster and Chevy Volt by different standards {Autoblog Green}
May 9th 2008 9:20AM Wow, Whopper...that was harsh.
Actually as a "consumer" I value my experience just as much as the "enthusiast". Do I really want a $125,000 exotic to drive from point A to point B in overly congested, poorly maintained roads, amongst other drivers whose idea of performance driving means tailgating and lane changing continually? No, I'd rather spend $15,000 to drive an appliance and use my other $110,000 to enjoy life at point A or B (which may/may not include latte's)! I don't have to wait for "Kim-san" to work on my car, my Toyota appliance doesn't go into the shop; definitely not as much as the neighbors Corvette. It spends more hours in the shop than it drives in a performance mode beyond my Toyota's capability (speed limits and other traffic laws normally guarantee this).
$200 oil "Super Spike" within 6 months? {Autoblog Green}
May 8th 2008 9:16AM Tulipomania!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania
Enerpulse claims pulse spark plugs increas fuel economy on hybrid vehicles {Autoblog Green}
Apr 29th 2008 10:04AM Without a meaningful Measurement System Evaluation of the dyno system, can we even be sure that the 2-5% improvement is even outside of the noise inherenet to all measurements? The two tests were carried out an hour apart. Did the ambient environmental conditions account for the change? A single run is insane. Show me the average of at least 5 runs with some report of the variability!
Now we know why the automakers weren't screaming over the CAFE rules {Autoblog Green}
Apr 29th 2008 9:55AM Of course there is an unintended upside to this formula: safety. If the car companies maximize wheelbase they will put more structure between the passengers and the object their vehicle is hitting (front/rear impact). The other part of the footprint formula also applies: trackwidth. More structure between the passenger and the object hitting them (side impact).
I wonder how the economics of this formula actually works out? Adding more structure to the vehicle will require more steel/aluminum/plastic. The question is whether the run-up in raw material costs and the increased useage of raw material is higher than the CAFE penalty. Plus there is the mass penalty...does the mass increase offset the formuula eeffect?
Tesla now on the receiving end of a lawsuit, Magna sues for breach of contract {Autoblog Green}
Apr 16th 2008 7:49AM Stevefazek writes: "To make a profit of 25% after this ..."
Chortle, gufaww, spit take... 25% in automotive? I thinks it's time to run a random drug test on Steve. I don't ever recall a supplier ever making that sort of profit even in the day of high profit SUVs. Heck, 10% is considered outstanding and also the point where the OE purchasing department sends out your drawings for "competitive bidding."
Now had Tesla been a GM, Ford, or Chrysler then cancelling the contract and not paying would be a normal operating procedure. Note to Tesla: Always have the supplier roll the development costs into piece price based on an overly optimistic sales forecast. For example, tell Magna that they should have rolled their $6 mill of engineering costs into the transmission assuming 20,000/yr unit sales. That way, if you only sell 1000 units, the engineering costs to you are negligible.
Ethanol-powered gas turbines to generate electricity {Autoblog Green}
Feb 18th 2008 12:27PM Maybe I am missing something here. Looking at the LPP website all they are claiming is that using their process they can get a biofuel (ethanol as well as biodiesel) to work in the standard gas turbines without modification. Isn't that a good thing? It seems that a powerplant that has been using only natural gas may want to be able to switch to the cheaper fuel with minimal investment to maximize profits.
When natural gas prices ran up a few years back, the local powerplant owner went backrupt because his kWh price became uncompetitive. Along those lines we had a local biodiesel producer idle his operation due to low demand. Now, if the biodiesel producer could supply material to the powerplant at a competivie price relative to natural gas, isn't this a good thing...keep the biodiesel producer active and also increase the profitability of the powerplant?
I think the main point of the LPP process is that it allows an existing infrastructure to use multiple fuel types. This lets the power producer smooth out the peaks of the supply and demand game.
Video: GMC's Superbowl ad for Yukon hybrid {Autoblog Green}
Feb 4th 2008 2:02PM Was Sisyphus an appropriate symbol for their campaign?
From wikipedia:
Sisyphus promoted navigation and commerce, but was avaricious and deceitful, violating the laws of hospitality by killing travelers and guests. He took pleasure in killing his guests because that would allow him to maintain his position at the top.
As a punishment from the gods for his trickery, Sisyphus was compelled to roll a huge rock up a steep hill, but before he reached the top of the hill, the rock always escaped him and he had to begin again (Odyssey, xi. 593).
So, I pull out the following message...GM is deceitful and as punishment they will continue toiling away making no progress for eternity...or did I miss something? :-)
