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They really have no choice but to use aluminum alloys to keep the weight down for efficiency. Steel is just too heavy for the needed structural strength. GM made a big mistake using traditional stamped steel for the Ultium vehicles, all of which are incredibly overweight resulting in lower...

No skateboard… the three sections are self contained and bolt together near the end of assembly. There’s a video on the hidden Ford site that shows the “marriage” of the front and center sections on one side. Basically two overlapping blades come together and a bunch of beefy bolts go in to hold...

The launch model is selling for around $60k. A lower trim model should show up next year at around $45-$50k. One important note: The R2 has no radio, it has internet radio only. Some urban buyers don’t mind, but I’m not a fan of connection delays, drop outs and inserted ads that come with...

Seems like 3 key issues for the kind of camping you’re discussing. First is camp/pet/stealth/overnight modes, allowing climate control with no lighting. It‘s a simple software implementation. Tesla and Rivian do it, but no one at GM seems to understands this. This is Fords opportunity to...

Regarding the Sierra EV, my understanding is the current GM EV software contains pieces made by different groups and outside suppliers which is why it comes up short sometimes. Although the Ultium motors and batteries were all new, the electrical architecture was burdened by plenty of legacy...

That is for buying in Kansas and registering in California. The original issue was buying from a California dealer. That works for a California buyer but no one in their right mind would buy from a California dealer and register in another state, mainly because of the sales tax complications.

Typically the direct selling dealers do 3% below invoice, but sometimes 4% or even 5% depending on models. All the usual Ford incentives, public and private, also apply, subject to the normal stacking rules. Basically they just want to sell cars and we just want to buy them, so it’s a simple...

California is more strict about it than most states, mainly because of widespread past abuses. There is a penalty, but it is modest for the first few months or so, mainly as an incentive to just get on with it. The effective date is upon entering California, which is somewhat difficult to...

What a silly comment. No one could go into a store and buy a 12v battery in 1950 either when all cars had 6v batteries. Guess what happened next?! And your mind lives in such a static world that you cannot even conceive of a design without a LV battery where the keyless entry module directly...

People need to remember there are California sales tax complications for out of state buyers. You have to pay California sales tax unless the vehicle is shipped out of state by a third party. You should get a credit in your home state if you pick up and pay California sales tax, but if your...

There is no need for a low voltage battery on a clean sheet design such as the UEV. Any minimal standby power needed can be tapped from the traction battery with very little consequence. The main reason EVs up to now needed a low voltage battery was to support legacy carryover components and...

Same process with Granger Ford in Iowa. Both Granger and Long-McArthur are the best way to buy a popular Ford without any of the dealer drama. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Several people here with insider knowledge have claimed there is a midgate… And there is a patent image showing a midgate. It may not be on the base model, but the evidence is strong there will be one somewhere in the lineup.

Yes, they have go with Ethernet because CANBUS, the original twisted pair digital communications protocol designed for automotive environments, isn’t fast enough anymore, even with enhancements like CAN XL. But it is a specialized Automotive Ethernet which includes robust L1 loop currents and...

Yes, the industry has been trying to move up to higher system voltages for decades. But as you say, the diverse and entrenched supplier base made it virtually impossible for anyone to take the financial risk of changing everything at once. Musk himself is trapped by his own legacy hardware...

Note quite as simple as that. Telephony used higher voltages to overcome long line losses in the local wire loops to homes. If anything they were the oddball because telephony used a -48v positive ground configuration. Transportation equipment has generally used negative ground configurations...

The Kia EV3 is more likely a competitor for the second UEV iteration after the Fathom, specifically the two row CUV which is expected to bring back the Escape name. But in the short term it seems every $30k EV will be cross shopped!

I believe these items are now known known: Low voltage architecture is 48v, although there are some local 12v step downs (eg DC power port) Charge port location on the prototypes is drivers side rear (unlikely to change at this stage) Destination charge is $1,595 (based on stated sell price...

It’s simpler than it may seem… The NACS standard uses the same pins for AC and DC charging, they are switched internally in the vehicle. The SAE (J1772/CCS1) standard has separate pins for AC (J1772 part) and DC (CCS part). Because passive adapters are not capable of switching internally...

Two approaches for hitting the $30k bogey: Slate did it with a relatively conventional design that has features stripped out. Ford did it with a novel design enabling radically lower production costs that allowed features to be left in. The Ford approach is clearly the right path for the future…