When Government GEVeth, Government Can TakEV Away

GM, Ford and Stellantis all jumped on the EV bandwagon in compliance with President Biden's edict to shift to electric vehicles.  The edict came with the carrot of many government subsidies for doing so, including $7,500 direct to each consumer.

The problems that then ensued is that the infrastructure for such vehicles is still not in place even after billions spent by the Biden Administration to force such to be created - only to have it bogged down in  Democrat-created red tape that basically spent the funds to create jobs for Democrat functionaries with little actual results to show for it. Even Democrat cheerleader and mouthpiece John Stewart was appalled. Nor are the vehicles themselves suitable to fully replace ICE vehicles on a one-for-one basis.

But the market for electric vehicles was pretty much created and expanded by these edicts and subsidies.  Now that President Trump's administration has ended the taxpayer give-aways and drunken spending on electric cars, economic reality has set in.

The current limits on electric cars still make them a niche vehicle that are only good for certain conditions - and not for the Democrat-Greenie-demanded total replacement of internal combustion engine vehicles.

The results are that the manufacturers that went all-in and complied with the Biden Administration's edict and promise of government subsidies while ignoring economics and the actual current use case for electric vehicles are now realizing reality:

The Detroit News: Stellantis writes down $26.5 billion from EV investments

Yahoo Finance: What Ford Motor (F)'s $19.5 Billion EV Reset and Hybrid Pivot Means For Shareholders

 GM Authority:  GM Writing Down Another $6 Billion For Cutting Back On EV Investments

 Jumping on the Biden EV bandwagon cost the automakers over $58 Billion dollars so far and the losses continue to pile up.

Again, EVs do have some niche uses and appeal, but to expect based on government edict and the promise of tax breaks and subsidies alone that they would replace ICE cars and especially work trucks was foolhardy in the extreme. 

A Little Ruck and Tires

I did a 41 minute ruck around the neighborhood this morning still with the 35 pounds in the ruck, and managed to do almost two miles in that time, missing it by just a bit when I got a call while rucking involving tires.

Not much to see, just some Canadian Murder Chickens giving me the side-eye.

 

So, the ruck got cut short by needing to help a friend add air to their tires.  I have an inflator and the friend does not, and the TPM sensors on the car were screaming.  

Tires are showing low inflation today because since we've had a cold snap recently the air pressure dropped, and so it was time to add air to the tires. The pressure had dropped from the recommended 41 psi (found on the inside of the drivers door frame)  to 35 psi which is a pretty decent drop and enough to set off the warning.

I also checked and topped up my tires as well, as they too had dropped due to the cold below the recommend fill amount down to 38 psi. Not so much that they would kick off the TPM sensors.  Back up to the stated 41 psi they went as well.

Still it was a decent little working to get moving this morning, and everyone's tires are inflated to where they should be, so not a bad start to the day.  

So, if you've had a cold snap in your area now that autumn is here, you might as well check your tire pressure and adjust as required.

Your Cupholder Is NOT A Holster

Do not leave your firearm sitting in the cupholder of your car in plain sight and then compound the problem by negligently messing with it.  Bad things happen as a result:

The Detroit News:  Man charged after co-worker's accidental shooting in Auburn Hills

As the victim entered the car, Wright, who has a concealed pistol license, tried to take his handgun from the cupholder and place it in the backseat, according to the prosecutor's office. As he did, the gun was discharged, and the bullet struck the victim’s hip. 

Really, don't do that.   Have the firearm properly secured in a holster or at the very least in a secure and safe location in the car where you don't have to move it when you have a passenger accompany you in the vehicle.

The victim was injured, which is bad enough, but thankfully not killed by this stupidity.   

You cannot afford to become complacent with handling your firearm, nor its proper storage.

Other Fun On The Weekend

I got a chance to drive a friend's Corvette Stingray C8 Z51 this weekend.

 

To say it is a fun ride is a major understatement.

You feel like you are wearing the car rather than just sitting in it. The seat is very supportive and the car feels like an extension of you and all controls are easy to reach and use.

Handling, responsiveness, and acceleration are all exceptional and it is a ton of fun to drive. Wind in your hair with the top down and all that.

And, it has more horsepower in its mid-line located engine than the total horsepower of both of the planes in my flying club combined. 

To say it gets up and goes when the light turns green is another major understatement. 

That was fun. 

Well, That Was A Fun Way To Start Off The Morning

 

A quick reminder for people on how to use roundabouts (traffic circles):

 

1.     When the way is clear, you enter the traffic circle.

 

2.     Once you enter a circle you proceed and you do not suddenly slam on your brakes for no damn reason (allegedly because you see a car coming from the other side of the roundabout that isn’t an actual factor), causing the car behind you that was following and had also entered the circle to slam on their brakes.

 

On the upside, speed in the traffic circle is low, and my brakes work really, really good, even with the surprise factor of the elderly lady deciding to lock up her brakes right in front of me in the circle as she apparently got confused as to roundabout operation.

 

Not even a scratch on either car, nor any injuries, which is nice.

 

Startle response and blood pressure increase to start the morning off, not so much.

Nice Plate There

Well done, Doctor.

 

 

The new model Odyssey TARDIS Edition by Honda.

The Bother Of The Bulge

On Monday, I took Abby back to her place at the University at night.

On the highway, in traffic I hit a pothole right on with my driver's-side front tire.  The hit was a mighty bang.

However we were able to continue on and get her home and it seemed all was fine.

On Thursday I met up with a buddy for lunch. On leaving the restaurant, we both noticed the front tire was looking kinda odd.

There was the biggest bulge I had ever seen in the tire. So much so that my friend was rather impressed it had yet to blow out.

Luckily we were close to Costco so I called ahead and they had tires in stock in my size so we drove there and my friend followed in case there was a blow-out.

Made it there all-right, trying to keep excessive maneuvers to a minimum.

The Costco tire tech was also of the opinion that the tire had to be replaced ASAP, and it was most likely caused by hitting a pothole, and I know the one I hit. Sigh. That bulge was most huge.

Had to replace all of the tires, which was unfortunate. The old tires had less than 50% of life remaining. The passenger rear tire already had an annoying slow leak from a nail where the puncture fix seems to have worked, but only kinda, with the need to refill it monthly.

Tires were replaced in an hour, and took it back today for the torque check.

So a very unanticipated bother and an unanticipated large expense, but it had to be done.

On the plus side, the new tires are Michellin all season tires and the car shows a seriously marked enhancement in handling and road-ride comfort as well.  Rather impressive what a difference really good tires can make.

The Most Dangerous Part Of Yesterday

The time Mr. B. and I were in the most danger yesterday did not take place while we were in the air.

Instead, it took place when I drove towards a solid green at the T-intersection from the south side of the airport to turn left onto the M-59 Highway.

I was in the left turn lane and starting the turn on the already solid green when Mr. B. said "look out!" I had seen it as well, and was hitting the brakes as he said it, and we came to a sharp halt.

An idiot in a Jeep had decided decided to whip through the already very, very, solid red without looking to see if anyone was coming out of the airport drive. It's not like he was running a yellow, this had already been a solid red before he got near the intersection.

This led to some incredulous looks by both Mr. B. and myself, as well as some language not appropriate for a general audience -- much of which concerned the dubious parentage and proclivities of the Jeep driver.

Had I been moving faster to make that turn, it would have been rather bad.  I then finished the turn on the green, well behind the speeding Jeep and no one else tried to bash through the light like that. The Jeep then came to a stop at the very next red light as there were already cars stopped in front of it, and the idiot driver really hadn't saved himself any time, so there's that at least. 

It was far more dangerous on the ground than in the air yesterday.

Wash N Wax

Today was the club's Wash N Wax day to clean the planes.

With a good member turnout the work went quickly.

I got to taxi the Archer to the wash stand and we then soaped it down and power washed it clean.

 Then I taxi'd it back to the hangar and we dried the plane off, applied wax and buffed it to a shine (Mr. B., the wax you suggested is now on order so we'll have better stuff soon).

We then did the same with the Dakota once it returned form the Wash Stand.

With everyone working it only took and hour to get it all done.

Then we got to checkout this nice 1967 Chevelle SS that a nearby hangar owner drove up in.  He checked out our nice and shiny planes, and we got to checkout his very nice car.

All original except for some hoses and the white paint on top which had been redone.   Per the owner, the original A/C has a leak and is inop, especially with the cost of freon these days,  Other than that, she's not just working and all-original but an absolute beaut of a car. 

It was a beautiful morning and a good time with some good people, cleaning planes, talking aviation, and admiring a classic car.

From Car Meme To Reality

You've likely seen this meme about the wisdom of placing decorative items on your steering wheel:

Most people would chuckle at the pic thinking people can't really be that dumb.

They would be mistaken. 

Apparently, people putting objects over their steering wheel airbags is a real current concern.

The Detroit News: Feds urge people not to put decals on steering wheels after a driver is hurt by flying metal pieces

The warning from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration comes after another driver was severely hurt by a flying emblem during a crash. The air bag inflated and sent two pieces of metal from an aftermarket decal into the driver's face and neck.

The agency said it couldn't say where or when the injury occurred. But it said the injury was the second it is aware of involving an aftermarket decal. In the previous case the driver lost sight in one eye after being hit by a rhinestone-adorned decal that hit them in the face, NHTSA said in a statement Tuesday.

Yeah, that's gonna hurt. 

Placing any object - whether metal, stone or otherwise, over the casing of an airbag that will move towards you rapidly and with explosive force during an accident is just a stupid idea.

Not Flying But Did Some Driving And Approaches Anyways

So today was the day we would finally fly the Archer and Dakota down to Adrian, leave the Archer to get the new autopilot installed and all fly back in the Dakota.

Weather forecast last night was favorable and I would fly the Archer, E. in the Dakota, and he was bringing as buddy along as well. 

Should be simple, about a 55 nautical mile flight, and we would finally have the Archer getting thew work done after waiting over a year since we ordered the autopilot.

Easy, right?

It was not to be.

So we got up early, and the weather basically sucked.

IFR conditions with light snow and icing over Pontiac airport, with another large cell in between Adrian and Pontiac, and Adrian also going IFR at times.

We went to the airport anyways, hoping for a break in the weather and there never really was one where Pontiac, Adrian, and the space between were all not IFR.

That kinda sucked. So we all got a chance to drive E.'s Chevy EV Equinox and drove to get some breakfast. 

E. works for GM and he has a pre-release of the 2025 Electric Equinox RS to test drive and it is rather interesting to drive.

Overall, it's a nice-looking EV SUV, and nicely trimmed out.

It does have very weird flush door handles that come out of the doors when you approach, but open towards the rear of the car.  While it looks aerodynamic, the feel when using them is that your hand is going to slip off the handle as you open the door. They really should have had them facing the other way.  Also, if you leave your car outdoors in freezing rain, these flush fit handles may give you issues.

Features on the Equinox EV include an interesting one-pedal mode, where if you're not applying force to the accelerator it begins to slow down and even stop the vehicle - that's quite a weird feeling. It is an option you can switch on and off while driving.

Handling was absolutely superb even in snow, and the traction control was really spot on in preventing slipping on snow-covered roads and made driving in the snow very easy even on turns. Acceleration is effortless,  the vehicle is rather nice and responsive and road noise is minimal. 

However, driving it is not completely intuitive. The shifter is on a stalk on the right side of the steering wheel and is really not intuitive to use at all. Wiper controls are rotating dials on the left stalk and again not exactly intuitive to find.

It has a great and large touchscreen but lacks tactile buttons for most selections, and, for whatever reason, the icons are small and close together which makes selections more complicated while driving, requiring you to take your eyes off the road to find the selection you want.  Most cars with touchscreens are like this and the loss of tactile buttons where you don't need to move your eyes from outside the car but can find your options by feel is a personal pet peeve.

Downside on the Equinox is the claimed 300 mile range on the battery isn't, especially in winter conditions.

If you're not doing road trips and just using it for an in-city trips and you can regularly charge it, it would make a lot of sense.  Taking long trips may turn your voyage to Chicago into a 14-hour trip rather than the 5 in a normal car.

If they made this model as a hybrid, I believe it would sell like hotcakes as that would solve the range problem by having a generator on board to recharge the batteries, but hybrids aren't, for whatever reason, the fashionable vehicle these days with the current crop of auto execs and politicians pushing EVs over everything.  

After driving the EV, we then used the simulator at DCT as it was available and  E. is a part-time instructor, so  each of the three of us logged two ILS approaches at "Flint" down to minimums in the sim.  The sim is as sensitive as I remember it, and flying an approach in it is indeed harder than in an actual airplane.  E.  made the scenario a bit challenging with some crosswinds, cumulus clouds to bounce one around,  and cloud cover opening right at minimums.

Good practice, and now I need 4 more approaches to get current, which I need to do, and soon.

The weather never lifted so we called it off and we will see if we get a break tomorrow.

Whitmer and The Dems Give You A Tax Increase For Christmas, And A Mioney Giveaway Too

That sucking sound you just heard is $700 million in taxes being pulled out of your wallets for more Democrat government spending.

The Detroit Free Press: Michigan's income tax rate can rise in 2024, judge says

A Court of Claims judge this week dismissed a lawsuit from Republican state lawmakers and business advocacy groups asking that the default income tax rate in Michigan remain at 4.05% instead of 4.25%.

Barring a successful appeal, that likely clears the way for the state's income tax rate to return to 4.25% for the 2024 tax year, a change expected to bring about $700 million more into Michigan's general revenue fund.

That was Judge Elizabeth Gleicher, who tends to rule for the Dems,  and here she nullified one of the words in the statute, making the tax decrease for one year only rather than it properly being the baseline under the law subject to being raised by further legislation.

But not to worry, that revenue will be used to bribe you to buy electric cars and to benefit Democrat-supporting unions in this state:

Yahoo News: Michiganders could save up to $2,500 on a new car under Whitmer rebate proposal

Whitmer's latest proposal for a state tax rebate lowers cost based on the type of vehicle purchased:

• $2,500 for a new battery electric or hybrid vehicle made in a unionized facility

• $2,000 for a new battery electric or hybrid vehicle made in a non-unionized facility

• $1,500 for a new internal combustion vehicle made in a unionized facility

• $1,000 for a new internal combustion vehicle made in a non-unionized facility

So a nice boost to push people to buy union-made cars, and electric ones as well, and a rebate to new car buyers at the expense of, and paid for, by everyone else in this state that likely would have preferred top keep their money in their pocket rather than for these Democrat-agenda-driven rebates.

A $700 million tax increase is quite the Grinch move there.

Abby's Chicago Trip - The Long Wait To Charge Home

Their trip was good and she was much surprised and they had a very nice time.

The return trip however was not quite so delightful.

You see her boyfriend drove her there in a nice new Mustang Mach-E GT.

E is for electric.  Now it is a very nice car, very well appointed with all the bells and whistles, and apparently is both zippy and comfortable.

While electric cars are great for in-town travel, a 241+ mile trip turned into quite the ask of the vehicle. 

It led to a game of find a car charger, wait for charger to be available, wait to charge car, rinse, repeat.

Took them well over 12 hours to get back to their respective places in Ann Arbor for a trip that would take under 3 hours and 45 minutes by gas-powered car, or four and a half hours by train.  Their way there took quite a while as well, but the way back was apparently a lot longer due to both a lack of chargers, and a lack of available chargers not being used by others on their trip home.

So for in-city travel, electric cars seem to be doing very well.  For longer trips, anecdotally, not so much.

The Henry Ford Rouge Tour With Distinguished Visitors

I traveled once again to the Henry Ford Museum yesterday.

MrGarabaldi and his heir apparent had come to town to visit the Museum.

They arrived late Friday night so we met up at the museum Saturday morning at 9 when it opened.

First thing we did was the Rouge Factory Tour. The tour takes you to where they are currently building F-150 trucks.

The historic and storied Rouge Factory Complex is huge.

 This picture taken from the observation deck of the F-150 assembly building gives you an idea of the size of the complex - every building you see in this picture is a part of it.

They've made the site more green, with living roofs on some buildings and transforming what were slag-heaps into green-spaces.

We then entered the building.  The tour begins with you traveling to two different theaters.  The first gives a short film with the history of the Factory and Henry Ford. The second is an impressive show complete with lights, lasers, and robots,  that demonstrates how an F-150 is made.  Both were impressively well-done and set the tone of the tour very nicely.

You then head up to the observation deck, and we chatted with a knowledgeable and friendly docent who was a retired Ford employee, who gave a really informative chat as we  saw what was there.

Each F-150 gets driven on a test track after assembly:

Every 58 seconds while the factory is working, a new F-150 is born.

We then walked a catwalk above the factory floor and got to see the trucks being assembled, as they were working on Saturday.  No pictures or cell phone usage was permitted.  Watching the trucks being built on the assembly line was very impressive.  MrGarabaldi, with a background in automotive, provided some very knowledgeable color commentary about the process that made it even more interesting. The catwalk tour was 1/3 of a mile long and was only a portion of a side of the factory, which gives you an idea of how big the building is. Real big is an understatement. We got to see the line shut down for the lunch break, which was interesting to see everything go from humming alone to a dead stop in an instant.

After the catwalk, we got to examine a Ford F-150 cutaway that was neat to poke around.

MrGarabaldi's heir left the tour wanting to buy an F-150, and I understand that completely.

After the tour, we left the museum grounds briefly and I took them to a coney restaurant so they could get some local flavor.  The Coney Dogs were pronounced good and the Gyros received MrGarabaldis' stamp of approval.

We then returned to the museum and toured it until it closed. Lots to see.

From Ford's Quadracylce, the first commercial vehicle he made:

 

To the first Mustang and Taurus-

We saw the sweep of automotive history.

Not neglecting aviation, we also saw the Ford Tri-Motor and many other flying machines in the museum.

To complete the Planes, Trains, and Automobiles set, we of course, had to checkout the railroad section.

Once the museum closed, we exited and then headed off to Buddy's Pizza so the intrepid travelers could experience some Detroit Pizza, which was excellent as always at Buddy's.

It was a great short trip and great to see MrGarabaldi and his heir in person again.

Michigan's Distracted Driving Law To Go Into Effect June 30

Say goodbye to penalty-free holding your phone to your ear, and other uses of the phone as a distraction, while driving in Michigan starting June 30.

 The Detroit News: Whitmer signs distracted driving laws: When they go into effect

While I tend to have a bit of a libertarian bent as far as phone use while driving goes, it is unfortunately and very readily apparent that most Michigan drivers cannot handle it. 

Heck, I noticed years ago how just holding a phone and talking on it visibly degraded my driving performance, and have been hands-free (on the rare occasions I actually need to talk to someone while driving - most calls can wait until you're at your destination and can pay full attention to the call) for years and years now.

From driving under the speed limit (generally in the left lane) with a phone visibly pressed to their ears; to intermittent and uncalled for braking; to not going when the light turns green; or for some reason hitting the brakes before going through a green light; or much more dangerously going through a solid red, there's a lot of distracted drivers yaking, texting, or playing on their phones out there.

Yes, I have been hit by a distracted driver - a couple years ago, hit from behind while I was stopped at a red light, not a particularly pleasant experience and wholly avoidable had the moron been looking up at the road ahead instead of at their phone.

Since most cars today have easily usable hands-free options, this is pretty darn easy to comply with. It is unfortunately a needed law due to the sheer number of idiot drivers not paying attention to properly operating their vehicles out there.

When you're driving, your attention needs to be on your driving first, everything else is secondary to that. It shouldn't take a law to require this basic approach to vehicle operation, but it sadly seems that it does.

Saturday Fun Day - To The Henry Ford Museum

So my dad came in for a visit this week, arriving on Thursday evening.

This weekend has been marked by rain that would not cease, and it was full on overcast, windy and wet the whole weekend.

To entertain him, I took him to the Henry Ford Museum Saturday afternoon as he had not been there before. 

We entered, paid the admission fee, and started looking around.

First, to see the finer things:

The 1931 Model J Dusenberg:

Behind the Dusenberg, the  Bugatti Type 41 Royale:

At $43,000 in 1931 it would, per the helpful information sign,  take a worker at the time with an average wage of $1,388/year a total of 31 years to buy the car - assuming they put all their money towards it.

We then went to check out the performance car section,

Having been a racing physician (he would drive the medical chase car during Formula One races in Ontario), he has quite an interest in race cars.  Truth to be told, he still drives like he's in a chase car all the time.

They've got quite a display of race cars, including the winning Ford GT from Le Mans, 1967:

 

The winning car from the Hoosier Hundred in 1960:

 And of course, Formula One cars drew interest:

We then went by quite a well-done display of the history of the consumer automobile and we found this particular car, which made him exceptionally happy:

Yes, his first car was a 1966 Chevy Corvair (the floor model here is a 1960).  His had air conditioning and he noted that the car would eat fan belts like they were going out of style due to the lousy routing design of the belt.

Definitely a nice trip for him down memory lane.  His Corvair, for the record, was red rather than blue.

We then checked out the aviation section, because, airplanes!

Henry Ford's 1926 Flivver, his attempt to make airplanes like he made Model Ts.  Unfortunately, the Flivver was a Flop, and dangerous to fly, killing its test pilot.

A more successful Ford flying product was the Ford Trimotor:

 

 

A quality passenger and cargo aircraft. Some are still flying and giving rides today - complete with the original wood-and-wicker-type passenger seats for passengers.

We then headed out as the museum was closing and met up with the rest of the family for dinner.  It was a great outing.

Nailed It.

Not in a good way either:

That doth suck.

Quite a large nail, but interestingly, it held pressure pretty good and did not deflate the tire. 

 I only saw it when refilling all the tires as a cold snap made the low pressure light come on and all tires had dropped in pressure and it was face up staring at me as I came to fill the tire.

Sadly, it is apparently not a repairable nailing incident, and the tire needs to be replaced, which means replacing two tires as that tire model is no longer manufactured.

No, Really Don't Do That During A Traffic Stop

A client of mine from out of town got a ticket.

He stated the police officer was a bit of a jerk at the time.

When asked for details it turns out he was pulled over for a driving offense that he clearly did do, but nothing major and a fully lawful stop by the officer, and I got the following story:

It was raining so he kindly thought he'd make the officer's life easier by getting out of his car and going up to talk to the officer and apologize for driving while dumb.

Yeah, don't do that.

The Officer immediately yelled at him through the car speaker to get back in his car.  Client thought that was rather unfriendly.

You do NOT get out of your car when pulled over unless the officer asks/tells you to do so - and then you do so in a carefully non-threatening manner.

Apparently, in the town/state he's in, it is considered friendly to do so, especially with you getting wet instead of the officer.  

Here, it is really not considered friendly, and is instead considered a potentially threatening move towards the officer.

Client is now suitably enlightened as to how to handle traffic stops properly in the future:

Pull all the way over to the side of the road, keep your hands in view and don't be flailing around the interior of your car, shut the car off, have the window down, and if at night your interior lights on.  

Much more likely to get a friendly result that way.

That White Stuff On The Ground Means It's Time To Slow Down

Just enough snow and ice present on the streets this morning to present a problem for the morning commute.

It's not a lot and the streets look pretty clear, and that is the problem.  A lot of clear ice abounds.  

A lot of people have forgotten how to drive in the winter, and with driving skills already degraded by the Covid shutdowns, it really shows.

Saw a couple decent traffic accidents on the way to work already due to cars not being able to brake in sufficient time on ice.  In short, ice just laughs at your brakes, and inertia is not your friend at an iced-over intersection.

Winter is a time to give yourself more space and increased stopping distance, and to plan to give yourself more time for your commute due to the need to drive in a more careful and controlled manner.

There's more coming in tonight to create a slippery layer on the morrow, so plan ahead for your morning drive.

To No One's Surprise, Electric Vehicles Are More Expensive To Operate

The Detroit Free Press: Study compares electric vehicle charge costs vs. gas — and results were surprising

In fact, the results were not surprising to anyone paying attention. 

EVs cost more to use and operate than gas vehicles, and that's not counting the time value of time/money when you're siting somewhere waiting for the EV car to charge.  The study did however take into account the estimated time to find a charging station.  I suspect their numbers would be even worse if they added the cost of the substantial lag caused by waiting for a vehicle to recharge versus filling it with gas and going on your way.

In short, EVs are nice as a second vehicle for in town short jaunts and can fill that role well if you have the cash to cover the higher costs, but you really need a gas- or diesel-fueled vehicles if you plan any seriously long trips.

Still no answer as to where all these electric vehicles will actually go to charge, nor any answer as to the current lack of infrastructure to provide the increased power demanded for them to charge, especially as the Dems and Greens are focused on shutting power plants down rather than building new ones.

I'm puzzled that they haven't come out with diesel-electric hybrids where all the diesel engine does is power a generator to recharge the batteries as needed when the vehicle is on the road.  Possibly too practical and not green enough, or something.