Welcome to The Morning Dump, bite-sized stories corralled into a single article for your morning perusal. If your morning coffee’s working a little too well, pull up a throne and have a gander at the best of the rest of yesterday.
New Cars, Weird Time
It’s that time of year, isn’t it? Automotive News (sub required) has the big annual rundown of new cars we can expect to make debuts next year, and it’s a pretty interesting list. I think 2023 will be the year the electric vehicle market really gets serious and people start to realize Tesla isn’t the only EV out there. Of course, that happens as supply chain issues, rising interest rates, an uncertain economy and absurd prices (both on the dealer and MSRP side) continue to be the dominant trends. Basically, we can fully expect 2023 to be another weird year on the car-buying front. But CNBC speculates the auto industry could go from a supply problem to a demand problem as car prices skyrocket and people avoid big purchases ahead of a possible recession: To which I say: Maybe? It feels hard to believe car prices will really go down, especially as automakers need to charge big premiums for their EVs and need the cash to scale up their electric ambitions. The used car market will also stay rough for a while, probably (???). It’s a supremely weird market based on unprecedented economic factors. Nobody really has this figured out. Put another way, will higher interest rates, growing recession fears and too much inventory force automakers to cut prices − and give up profits − to draw potential buyers to showrooms? If you are in the market for something new next year, however, Automotive News lists a few notable releases: the Chevy Silverado EV, the Kia EV9 SUV, a pretty big onslaught from Toyota (including a hybrid Tacoma) and the Acura Integra Type S, just to name a few. There’s also the Tesla Cybertruck if they can get it out—and that’s probably still a big “if.” Elon Musk could probably do well to put down his phone, stop tweeting and get that one over the line. Me, I’m especially excited about the Hyundai Ioniq 6, the super-rad cyberpunk EV sedan that runs on vibes. I probably won’t be buying one, but I am looking forward to seeing those on the road.
How Southwest Spent Its Money Ahead Of The Christmas Travel Catastrophe
I’m still relatively new at hanging with The Autopian kids and the usual suspects are on the road today, if they haven’t killed each other in a knife fight yet. So I’m not really sure how much we cover aviation news around here. But lots of car people are also plane people, it’s a slow news day, and who doesn’t love whining about air travel? You’re well within your rights to do that if you flew Southwest over Christmas. One of the worst nationwide winter storms in decades brought air travel to its knees, but Southwest—the airline you begrudgingly book when Delta didn’t work out for some reason—had an especially rough go. More than 2,500 flights were still canceled a week after the storm, leaving customers stranded. It’s so bad that U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is… well, he’s very upset! And he is going on the news to talk about how upset he is. From Reuters:
EV Trucks Bring Their Own Problems Because They’re Huge
But let’s not pretend this is a Tesla-specific issue because I think that would be unfair. It isn’t. The entire car industry is about to deal with this stuff. Here’s Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Safe Climate Transport Campaign, in that same story: “So what this indicates is a system failure (at Southwest), and they need to make sure that these stranded passengers get to where they need to go and that they are provided adequate compensation, not just for the flights itself … but also things like hotels, like ground transportation, like meals because this is the airlines’ responsibility,” he said, adding he had spoken to the company’s leadership. Did you get stuck trying to travel over the holiday?
The Flush
Tesla Is No Longer One Of America’s 10 Biggest Companies
Even CarMax’s CEO Thinks Used Car Prices Are Too High
Ford Raises The Ford F-150 Lighting Base Price Again
Elon Musk Sells $3.6 Billion In Tesla Stock
2nd, let’s hope the EV Silverado works out. yet another class action on GM for the defective lifters started a few weeks ago.
3rd, you missed the part about the weight of the EV’s in general, but more so on the EV half tons. highest selling vehicles, that will now destroy the roads much quicker due to weight. Until the road crews also go electric the increased need for repairs will also offset some of the environmental gains.
I honestly can’t believe The Autopian is giving this kind of crap attention without discrimination. Last time I checked, FOSSIL FUEL EXTRACTION is absolutely terrible for the environment. Plenty of actual, you know, research has shown that large batteries may take a couple years to pay off wrt CO2, but they do so rather quickly and then it’s net positive from there on out. That article lists “large amounts of aluminum” as a factor, as if the F-150 and other trucks are made out of sheep wool and bamboo.
Dude, shame on you
If we really want to see lower emissions? Public transit. Walkable cities with a lot of mixed-use residential/commercial. Strict limits on private flights. Electrify vehicles that do a lot of idling, like delivery vehicles. Reward efficiency: instead of the same tax credit for any electric, offer larger credits for vehicles that are more efficient. Failing that, getting the larger vehicles changed over to electric is a good move.
I fail to see how this author is being indiscriminate or where anyone discussed being net CO2 positive or negative at all. What do you want, a cheerleader squad? That’s not journalism and ignoring the potential downsides of new technology is how we got in this situation to begin with.
Anyway the piece you quoted is from Forbes, not The Autopian, and if that article lacks context the audience here, of all places, is quite likely to be aware of the issues surrounding the transition to electric vehicles and thus capable of providing that context on their own.
There’s your CO2 reference/implication, and I’m not going to bother further explaining that this is a hit piece article that doesn’t deserve a headline that isn’t calling it out on its BS
Their entire point is that while EVs are more environmentally friendly they aren’t without their disadvantages and catering to the market regardless of efficiency while preaching some mission of stopping climate change is both hypocritical and sanctimonious.
It’s a marketing scheme with some truth to it, sold by a person who couldn’t care less about the environment except as a selling point. When GM starts pretending their Hummer EV will help save the world then they’ll get the same criticism.
The Forbes article isn’t a hit piece unless you define anything remotely critical of Elon Musk and Tesla, not BEVs generally, as a hit piece. Which, it seems, you do.
Why? Or does your ban on not discussing it further extend to talking about why criticism of this one company, and not the industry as a whole, gets you so upset?
Trucks aren’t going anywhere and if manufacturers need to make EVs then well have EV trucks. The government would be better off working to shift people back into cars and out of SUVs if they are actually worried about this sort of things. SUVs need big batteries too.
I have a reservation for a Silverado EV which I am excited for. At least for now. I really hope I can get what I want under 80k. With the top trim going for 105k I’m worried. If it ends up too expensive Ill likely just drop the reservation.
Can’t wait for irregularly scheduled availability of electricity so I can drive over gravel that was once asphalt to go search for a functioning charger.
But you’re right, it’s not that bad, it’s worse. Somalia at least has an explanation for the problems. Whereas there’s no excuse for forcing people to live without electricity in collapsing buildings, relying on subsidence hunting and illegal logging and mining for heat over here.
Some parts out there are just truly horrifying. Towns where the annual household income has a median of $13k. Hell, I lived in a ‘nice’ town, and the next town to the east? 61.9% of children in abject poverty. And it’s not even close to the worst.
I don’t know how you’d set up a trap with geothermal heat as the bait, but I’m intrigued.
Instant torque + lighter car = idk man but I’d hella send it (probably into a tree).
DC just approved increased yearly fees for anything over 6000lbs, that may be the way to go (definitely similar to how the EU tries to keep the rolling stock sensible) although it may cause torches and pitchforks in the more bigger is better parts of the country.
I’d actually be happy to consider a performance EV in a few years and think my ICE N is making for a great last hurrah with gas…but I have absolutely 0 interest in EVs that are pretending to be ICE vehicles. I don’t want some stupid fake shifting experience or dumb exterior sounds that make it a drivable video game. I’d rather have an EV that…you know, just does EV stuff really well and offers an engaging driving experience.
This Forbes piece looks like another bogus ‘research’ article that was probably directly or indirectly funded by oil industry interests.
The flush: I’m excited to see the increased availability of more BEVs in general. And production for the Cybertruck should start later in 2023 while the Semi should be ramping up through the year. And hopefully Hyundai/Kia ramp up Ioniq 5/EV6 production. I’d love to have either of those. And I hope we will hear an update to Tesla’s future product plans and I hope it includes a 4 door hatchback slotted below the Model 3. Telsa/Musk stated in the past that they want to have a vehicle in every major segment… and a hatchback below the Model 3 is a big segment that is currently only being served by the Chevy Bolt.
Arguably oil and methane (“natural gas”) are renewable. You can extract oil from plants and get methane from rotting garbage. But guess what? Burning that stuff IS a problem for the climate.
A correct statement would be “But if all that energy comes from LOW CARBON sources and it’s used efficiently, then it isn’t a problem for the climate”.
I don’t think this guy really knows what he’s talking about when it comes to climate change and WHY BEVs are our best technological choice at the moment.
Basically a lot of the stuff is misleading and some of it, like I pointed out in my last comment, is flat out wrong.
” Forbes isn’t my favorite for a lot of reasons” Ouch. Just ouch.
I expect they’ll still gain market share, but not anywhere near the pace they had been, despite the new models hitting the road.
Keep up the good work shining light on the drawbacks on the EV “miracle solution”. Don’t let people who have been told what is good by the government bully you.
They marginalize the immense danger to the employees and HUGE amount of ENERGY it takes to extract the minerals out of the ground for the batteries, the ENERGY to transport the minerals, the ENERGY to transform the raw materials into the battery, the ENERGY to them transport those vehicles to the dealers.
How is electricity produced?? Unicorn farts and handfuls of hope? Unfortunately, mostly fossil fuels because they are still more efficient than “renewable energy”.
What happens to the batteries when they are used up? They can’t be recycled, they just get thrown in a landfill. Same with the short finite life of the “renewable energy” equipment.
Signed-
Trash and waste employee that hauls all previously said items to landfills
Also… Our nation’s electrical power grid and infrastructure is severely outdated and barely able to handle our current energy demands. Prime example blackouts in California this summer. Can’t cool your house or charge your car.
Sounds absolutely wonderful!
Instead of massive frunks, replacing the engine, this is a perfect opportunity for going to sloping, school-bus-like hoods. The hurdle is that level of practicality just doesn’t sell – see the preference for SUVs over minivans. https://media.ksdk.com/assets/KSDK/images/3198f5ff-cb9b-4583-ac63-40c83f7c4a35/3198f5ff-cb9b-4583-ac63-40c83f7c4a35_1920x1080.jpg
What I do want to share is how much I feel for the employees of Southwest. Obviously, this whole fiasco stinks for the passengers (particularly those on a tight budget that have to really save up for that trip), but those workers are also really getting run through the wringer.
From my time working on the railroad, we were expected to be at our “home terminal” (yard) no matter what the weather. Even if all the trains were shut down, we still had to show up, sign in, and speak to whomever “upstairs” about how the day was gonna happen. So then you’d have a whole crappily outfitted crew room full of people sitting around doing nothing (kinda like what the flight crews have been doing at the airports and hotels) because there was nowhere to go. Most people would make it to work and others wouldn’t. Some of those folks got in trouble, some didn’t. Even if it was a limited schedule to get some trains repositioned to where they went, no one really knew who was on what train, it was a mess. You could get to where ever the train finished up, and wind up going right back out. Or, you wound up in a yard that was 2 hours away from your car and no way to get back to it until the next day, just because you were the only one around that could still legally run the run. It blows.
I’m not even talking about all the ticket agents, customer service workers, hell even the flight attendants that probably aren’t even getting paid to be where ever the hell they are stuck, that got completely shit on while management was sitting in cubicles somewhere because they aren’t licensed to do anything to help do the actual job of transporting people.
The point of this is that Southwest totally jobbed their employees and I’d expect them to be even further short-staffed after this from attrition as a result. They really screwed the pooch here and are gonna pay for it. Dividend or not.
…and then there’s those idiots that like to do burnouts.
I have a 21 year old Silverado. I am committed to keep it running forever, given the current market for replacement vehicles. Parts are cheap and available, and any indie shop can work on it. Here in The Land That Rust Forgot™, it makes more sense to keep it forever than to buy anything new.
The Smart Car needed a metric ton of engineering to protect its occupants in a crash, since small cars have small crumple zones. Today, with taller, heavier, faster vehicles and inattentive drivers, the road threats are even harder to defend against.
I suppose I’m speculating that America’s kei-class might have to be the size of a Honda Fit rather than a Changli.
Nuance doesn’t attract clicks.
But tell us again how it’s people who want a living wage at the barest minimum and expect to be paid fairly in both money and benefits commensurate to their experience and training that is the problem. Go ahead. Do it.
“The increasing weight of electric vehicles is going to be a real problem in time. It’s not when they’re only a tiny fraction of the production,” Becker said. “All these trucks are going to require a lot of battery. Those batteries are going to require a lot of electrons. And those electrons are going to require a lot of power plants.”
Congratulations on catching up to what I was telling you morons over 20 years ago. And it’s certainly not like I wouldn’t already be an expert in these sort of issues. Since they keep fucking happening. “Oh the future is COMPUTERS! Build a million datacenters everywhere!” And then construction got halted or the building sat idle for months or years because guess what? Big datacenters eat megawatt upon megawatt of electricity. And what held it up? You name it. Generation capacity, substation not big enough, power company needed to build a substation, feeds to the substation not big enough, need a new natural gas pipeline for the generators because they only had a 3″, “everything’s ready but our emergency diesel supplier can’t do it because the terminal’s at capacity,” take your pick of infrastructure problems.
And these idiots think that residential grids – tens of millions of which have 60+ years of deliberate neglect – and power generation facilities that are nearly as bad or worse, are just going to be fine absorbing an additional … 500 customers, 7kW each … 3,500kW or 28000kWh/day or 3.5MW of demand per 500 cars? True ‘American exceptionalism.’ No country is more deluded than us.
“What new car debut are you excited about next year?” To the surprise of many, I’m sure, it’s actually the Kia Niro. The GR Corolla’s going to be beyond a shitshow and you are not getting one. The new Z is going to be just as bad and frankly, Nissan build kwalitee doesn’t appeal. But the Kia Niro? Now that shit’s legitimately interesting. It’s an all new platform for 2023, bringing it more in line with the Niro E. Okay, that’s a start. The styling is… honestly pretty okay. Rear visibility is shit as a result of it, but name a car without that problem these days. But it comes in COLORS! It even offers something besides a single black on black option on the inside! But most interesting is that it’s now a hybrid, using Kia/Hyundai’s well-proven 6 speed DCT coupled to a hybridized version of the 1.6 CVVD engine. The dual level cargo board also shows that Hyundai/Kia are really making strong efforts to innovate where customers want it, not where it strokes their ego. And the pricing? It’s a hybrid compact SUV that’s nicer than a Prius, gets same as or better mileage than the Prius, and costs less than the Prius. Or more directly, it just embarrasses the Rav4 hybrid.
That makes it incredibly interesting. Because this is, whether or not you like it, exactly the car that Joe Average Consumer wants. It’s affordable (tops out at about $37k,) it’s an ‘SUV,’ it has all the options customers want like heated seats, lazy person cruise control, a decent stereo with CarPlay, wireless phone charging, all standard. The insurance on it should be extremely reasonable as well. If Kia ever solves their dealer network being their own worst enemy, this thing could crush the Rav4 in sales. Hell, with how good it is, it may crush the Rav4 despite their dealer network.
Germany has entered the chat…
Looks like a nice replacement for the 370, for folks who want that (I would be tempted but headspace isn’t there for someone my size).
One can hope, anyway.
Every time I go back to Europe I spend a week thinking that The Cars Are All Too Small, and then when I come back I spend a week thinking that The Cars Are All Too Big ????.
It’s probably only going to happen when external factors make it happen and half the country will have to be dragged kicking and screaming out of it, but if something can’t go on forever it won’t.
That all being said I’d like to have a Cybertruck as my “beater” every dent, scratch and bit of surface rust on the chassis will just add character, I don’t have to worry about door dings and such with a Cybertruck whereas basically every other car I like dents and scratches are serious deals. I’d prefer plastic body panels like on the Smart Cars and older Saturns but sadly I know of no new cars sold in the US with plastic body panels.
If they are easy and cheap to replace who cares?
CV axle boots are rarely replaced on new cars. when they split the whole axle is replaced instead. There are plenty of older cars where replacement axles are quite rare.
What’s better? An easy to replace electric door handle that brakes often or a manual door handle that almost never brakes but is somewhat harder to replace?
In this age of CarPlay and Android Auto all you’d need is a screen and a plug (or some minimal UI to set up wireless connection with the phone). You could have something cheaper and that would most likely last as long as the car and/or be easy to replace.
But automakers still think about those parts of the car as profit centers and with the lead times (and awful development practices) they have for them it’ll be years before we’re out of the hole.
