More awesome news out of DC

[PatrickStapler]

Drove by my local Ford dealership this week. The entire front row of the dealership was lined with brand new Lightening trucks...all seemingly untouched. Not a single new ICE F150, F250, or F350 to be seen from the the road. Maybe they have them hidden in hopes that some sucker's come in and start buying all the E-trucks... .

 

[Quik5oh]

What they have to remember is that they *want* me going to the racetrack. If you take that away, then I'm going to spend my time doing something else. You're not gonna like that something else.

Same!

 

[KazarS197]

Drove by my local Ford dealership this week. The entire front row of the dealership was lined with brand new Lightening trucks...all seemingly untouched. Not a single new ICE F150, F250, or F350 to be seen from the the road. Maybe they have them hidden in hopes that some sucker's come in and start buying all the E-trucks... .

Hey. I'd take one for free just to beat the crap out of it. 12.7 on the drag strip in a truck would be fun. I could make loud engine sounds like I did when I was a kid. That would only be if I could make it there without running out of juice.

 

[TMSBOSS]

The dealers here are advertising price adjustments from Ford on EV's. $12500.00 on Mach E GTs were common.

 

[PatrickStapler]

That with the recent 25-30% pay increases, 6-8 weeks of paid leave, and guaranteed $$$ pay increases for the next X number of years might just do the trick for putting all American car manufacturers out of business by 2030.

 

[JDee]

I was thinking about trading my F150 in on a hybrid Maverick, but the more I looked into it, the more I wasn't real thrilled with the idea. So far up here the uptake on electric cars isn't fabulous, at least not that I can see. There were some discounts advertised on them, so I think that tells you something. It's not uncommon to see a Tesla or other electric, but there's not really a hell of a lot of them around either. Pure electrics seem to look goofy, they have odd front ends on them, hybrids seem to look just like ordinary gas cars though.

I think our hard winters may have something to do with the lack of uptake on pure electrics, the range must take a dump when you're trying to keep warm from a battery? My next truck will likely be a hybrid, but for sure I am not lining up for a pure electric any time soon. For one thing, we don't have cheap electric power, nor a surplus of it either, I can't see how our often shaky power grid is going to support a large fleet of electrics. There are no new big power plants being built either, just some smaller natural gas powered units installed in certain urban areas to pick up the extra demand at peak hours.

<rant>
I also tend to not be an early adopter, I like to let some other guy take the bullet in the back when debugging new tech, and I'll jump in later after he's got it all sorted. And for sure the bigger problem up here is not gas vs electric, it's how do you keep the exploding criminal population from stealing your car? Car theft from your driveway is right off the wall up here now, just ridiculous. Any car that doesn't need a key put in it to start it is at serious risk. Faraday boxes are a hot ticket these days. The F150 needs a key, the 'stang doesn't, so the stang sits in the garage on the top story of a lift. Try to steal that one, goofs.

This is what happens when you have a haircut for a leader.
</rant>

 

[JAJ]

I was thinking about trading my F150 in on a hybrid Maverick, but the more I looked into it, the more I wasn't real thrilled with the idea. So far up here the uptake on electric cars isn't fabulous, at least not that I can see. There were some discounts advertised on them, so I think that tells you something. It's not uncommon to see a Tesla or other electric, but there's not really a hell of a lot of them around either. Pure electrics seem to look goofy, they have odd front ends on them, hybrids seem to look just like ordinary gas cars though.

I think our hard winters may have something to do with the lack of uptake on pure electrics, the range must take a dump when you're trying to keep warm from a battery? My next truck will likely be a hybrid, but for sure I am not lining up for a pure electric any time soon. For one thing, we don't have cheap electric power, nor a surplus of it either, I can't see how our often shaky power grid is going to support a large fleet of electrics. There are no new big power plants being built either, just some smaller natural gas powered units installed in certain urban areas to pick up the extra demand at peak hours.

<rant>
I also tend to not be an early adopter, I like to let some other guy take the bullet in the back when debugging new tech, and I'll jump in later after he's got it all sorted. And for sure the bigger problem up here is not gas vs electric, it's how do you keep the exploding criminal population from stealing your car? Car theft from your driveway is right off the wall up here now, just ridiculous. Any car that doesn't need a key put in it to start it is at serious risk. Faraday boxes are a hot ticket these days. The F150 needs a key, the 'stang doesn't, so the stang sits in the garage on the top story of a lift. Try to steal that one, goofs.

This is what happens when you have a haircut for a leader.
</rant>

I've been watching this thread with interest. A few points from my decades of watching regulatory overreach develop and grow to fruition:

1. That there's a car industry at all is an urban myth. It was completely destroyed back in the 1970's when governments imposed super-stringent regulations that were supposedly intended to lower smog in cities. We all know better, of course. The industry was vaporized in an instant. The idea that any car company, let alone Ford, could produce a 780 horsepower car in 2020 is pure internet garbage. None of that exists. The real performance car industry was completely snuffed out in the '70's.

2. The badly damaged tiny fragments of the largely obliterated car industry that was left after the emissions debacle was dealt another regulatory smash-and-grab in the 1980's. This time the excuse that was jammed down our throats was "safety". We all knew that it meant the end of nice looking cars with beautiful flowing lines. And, sure enough, as expected, we got ugly bloated pieces of junk. We call them "SUV"'s, three letters that stand for "Shockingly Ugly Vehicles".

3. I have a family member in that deep-freeze province in central Canada that we all call "Ontario". She got a Mustang Mach E a few months ago and it's been a massive disappointment. Those insanely low overnight electricity rates of 2.8 cents a KWH that let her commute from somewhere near Hamilton to Toronto for $21 a month just don't compensate for the inconvenience of having to plug that piece of crap into a wall socket in her garage every day. One thing she did right was cutting a deal with Ford that lets her drive the car without having to own it. She sends them a bit of money every once in a while and Ford leaves her alone. And the best part? If there's a problem or she doesn't like it any more, she just gives it back.

 

[blacksheep-1]

I've been watching this thread with interest. A few points from my decades of watching regulatory overreach develop and grow to fruition:

1. That there's a car industry at all is an urban myth. It was completely destroyed back in the 1970's when governments imposed super-stringent regulations that were supposedly intended to lower smog in cities. We all know better, of course. The industry was vaporized in an instant. The idea that any car company, let alone Ford, could produce a 780 horsepower car in 2020 is pure internet garbage. None of that exists. The real performance car industry was completely snuffed out in the '70's.

2. The badly damaged tiny fragments of the largely obliterated car industry that was left after the emissions debacle was dealt another regulatory smash-and-grab in the 1980's. This time the excuse that was jammed down our throats was "safety". We all knew that it meant the end of nice looking cars with beautiful flowing lines. And, sure enough, as expected, we got ugly bloated pieces of junk. We call them "SUV"'s, three letters that stand for "Shockingly Ugly Vehicles".

3. I have a family member in that deep-freeze province in central Canada that we all call "Ontario". She got a Mustang Mach E a few months ago and it's been a massive disappointment. Those insanely low overnight electricity rates of 2.8 cents a KWH that let her commute from somewhere near Hamilton to Toronto for $21 a month just don't compensate for the inconvenience of having to plug that piece of crap into a wall socket in her garage every day. One thing she did right was cutting a deal with Ford that lets her drive the car without having to own it. She sends them a bit of money every once in a while and Ford leaves her alone. And the best part? If there's a problem or she doesn't like it any more, she just gives it back.

Agree completely, I too watched the government disassemble the American auto industry since 1970 by well meaning but utterly moronic elected officials.

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

Other than our military I don’t know of anything that the government runs or controls that works.

Our military can go anywhere, any time and kill people and destroy things.

Anything else that it runs or controls is just about as much of a clown show as it can be. Doesn’t really matter which party is in charge. Although one does seem to run the show most often.

 

[saleen367]

Sooo ... at the risk of everyone calling me nuts (my mother is 1st in line btw) ...

I'll keep it simple;

It's ALL a house of cards. The only question that remains is when will it all come crashing down.

 

[Fabman]

Sooo ... at the risk of everyone calling me nuts (my mother is 1st in line btw) ...

I'll keep it simple;

It's ALL a house of cards. The only question that remains is when will it all come crashing down.

Sooner than we think.

 

[TeeLew]

Other than our military I don’t know of anything that the government runs or controls that works.

Our military can go anywhere, any time and kill people and destroy things.

Anything else that it runs or controls is just about as much of a clown show as it can be. Doesn’t really matter which party is in charge. Although one does seem to run the show most often.

The only competent branch of our government is the one that makes people money.

 

[TeeLew]

Side note: How stupid is Ford to not call their new EV the "Galax-E" instead of trying to artificially tie it into the Mustang nameplate.

 

[Dave_W]

Only a bunch of (older) car enthusiasts know of the Ford Galaxie. I'm guessing the Mach-E target demographic wasn't born until at least a decade after the last Galaxie rolled off the assembly line. The Mustang nameplate is still in use, and is closely associated with power and performance. Not saying it wouldn't be cool if they used it, but I can see the marketing reasons behind using Mustang.

While not having the "halo" of Mustang, I think re-using the Fusion badge would be a great name for a Ford EV.

If the Lightning pickup had come out at the same time, maybe use Thunderbird for the Mach-E. Then pay to license Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody for the ad - "Thunderbird and Lightning - very, very frightening!"

 

[TMSBOSS]

Side note: How stupid is Ford to not call their new EV the "Galax-E" instead of trying to artificially tie it into the Mustang nameplate.

That’s the best spin-off name for a Ford EV yet.

 

[TeeLew]

Only a bunch of (older) car enthusiasts know of the Ford Galaxie.

Next do Maverick.

 

[TeeLew]

...As long as it's not another "Probe."

 

[TMSBOSS]

Maverick is a small pickup now.

 

[TeeLew]

Maverick is a small pickup now.

And its a name they already own which damned few remember.

 

[TeeLew]

...As long as it's not another "Probe."

If anything, that one just sound uncomfortable.