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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 6h

The most recent #coal power plant in the U.S. (opened 2013) is expected to remain closed until March 2027.

The 932-MW plant went offline in April, when it apparently suffered a major failure. Few details have been made public about the outage; the cause of the failure remains unclear.

Newest big U.S. coal-plant offline until 2027

The newest major coal-fired power plant in the U.S. is expected to be offline until March 2027 after a major failure in April.

ieefa.org

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 12h

Always possible. And we're very unlikely ever to know the P+Ls.

But point of my OP was difference between (1) Ford effectively renting space in an underutilitized US factory to produce its own hybrid; and (2) relabeling a Nissan small crossover with a totally different incompatible hybrid system.

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 12h

Offers have to work for the other maker's P+L, more so than for Nissan.

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 12h

You can do the pros + cons as well as I can. I think it'll come down to having local dealers + service, what degree of screen-only you can tolerate, and relative feature sets in each of the trim levels.

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 12h

Yeah, but both those decisions were made years ago. I don't see any of the Detroit 2.5 bringing any new vehicles from China ... though will be curious to see what Stellantis does, if anything, with the Leapmotor vehicles. (Which didn't get great reviews in Yurrop.)

John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 12h

To @burnsf.bsky.social: What Gary said.

John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 14h

I've read ~ 10 different analyses, but one of 'em had a nice bulleted rundown of all the changes ... noting that loss.

Concern I've seen is that Tesla doesn't actually have a lot of optional eqpt on previous versions of those models + this adds a surprising degree of complexity. Batch builds?

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 15h

That's a whole LOT of changes for probably low volumes, though I imagine that model will be 100% of Uber + Lyft fleets within a couple of years.

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 15h

It is estimated that the CCP has contributed more than $230 BILLION in direct or indirect subsidies (2009-2023) especially since the "Made in China 2025" plan in 2014 to promote global #EV battery + vehicle dominance.

The Chinese EV Dilemma: Subsidized Yet Striking | Trustee China Hand | CSIS

Scott Kennedy writes that Chinese EVs have benefitted from massive industrial policy support, and their quality is improving, making them attractive to domestic and overseas consumers. An effective re...

www.csis.org

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 15h

Peasant 1: "That's King Arfur!"

Peasant 2: "'Ow do you know 'e's King Arfur?"

Peasant 1: "'Cause 'e's not all covered in sh!t like the rest of us peasants."

Peasant 2: "Ah, right."

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 15h

As I've never heard of Kim Java + prefer not to ask AI to summarize stuff ... give me the salient info + high points of a 14-minute video I'm not going to watch.

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 15h

(2 of 2) Chairman Mao said, "Take the countryside; surround the cities." You lot are the countryside; North America = cities.

It costs $1 billion-$2 billion over 10 yrs to launch a new auto brand here. New makers are handicapped by laws requiring 3rd-party dealers + sprawling geography. NOT easy.

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 15h

The only new marques worth paying attention to are Rivian + Lucid. Polestar is struggling mightily; VW claims it may launch Cupra here by 2030 but VWoA really ought to get its own house in order before doing something as costly + bizarre as that; and BYD is the big unknown but not yet. (1 of 2)

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 15h

Fair.

John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 15h

Errrrrrrr ... have you MET me?

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 15h

TBH, I've seen a lot less chatter about the #Tesla "Model 2" in the last 6 months than the previous utter certainty about what it was, where it would be built, what it would cost, when it was coming + so forth.

Thankfully.

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 15h

I have not yet been admitted into the Cone of Silence that permits such treasured information to be shared with mere peons (e.g. freelancers). I aspire to such glory before the end of my meagre days.

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 15h

Wait ... #Tesla HAS a PR person, unhelpful or not? News to moi.

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 15h

I've now read lots on the lower-cost 'Standard' versions of the #Tesla Model 3 ($37K) + Model Y ($40K) #EV.

Didn't hit the $30K-$35K range (bad); shoppers at large are still likely to view them as same old aging current models (bad); Model 3 now has turn signal stalk (good!). Meh.

R.I.P. Model 2.

Tesla offers cheaper versions of 2 electric vehicles in bid to win back market share in tough year

Tesla announced the launch of cheaper versions of two of its electric vehicles Tuesday in hopes of reviving flagging sales.

apnews.com

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 16h

(2 of 2) ... reskin a totally different Nissan product that uses 100% different engine + drivetrain just to get hybrid production into U.S. from Mexico.h

Could Ford use part of the Smyrna overcapacity for its own line, as Toyota did in the Subaru Liberty IN plant from 2007 to 2016? Ideas, anyone?

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 16h

(1 of 2) This baffles me. Presume the latest generation of Nissan's e-Power series hybrid delivers "adequate" performance for U.S. duty cycles (previous gens didn't).

But Ford has 20+ years + 4 generations of its own hybrid development. Scratching my head over the idea it would ... [GIFT LINK]

Nissan in talks with Ford, Stellantis on sharing hybrid, EV

The crossover would feature the third generation of Nissan’s e-Power series hybrid system.

www.autonews.com

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 1d

To be blunt, I'd forgotten @cnbc.com interviewed me in late August on @rivianofficial.bsky.social designs ... in particular, those headlights.

Wasn't until friends outside the #EV world pinged me that I realized the segment is live. Quite an honor to appear along with Frank Stephenson. Give a look!

What Inspired Rivian’s Unique Headlight Design?

YouTube video by CNBC

www.youtube.com

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 1d

Please come into my office. I have some things I need to discuss with you. In person. Immediately.

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 1d

None whatsoever. I am bereft of humour, utterly deficient in that department, consider it an annoying waste of time + require all commenters to adhere to this requirement.

Was that not obvious from the very, very long list of requirements + pledges you signed before you ...

Oh. Wait. Wrong thread.

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John Voelcker @johnvoelcker.bsky.social · 2d

Did you read the article?

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