CrackerJackAg said:

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I bought a Tesla for my daughter (she is 15 so I drive it alltime). Still have my truck and the Wife's SUV so we still have combustion/gas.

I think it's awesome though.

I charge it for a few bucks. Mileage is never an issue as it's usually just short drives.

Drove to Austin a couple times. Top off at Buccees for $5 in 15 minutes. Hotel has a free charger.

No oil changes and it drives me around while I Texags on the phone so I don't have to drive.

Point being that TESLA is pushing all of this technology forward and it's pretty cool.

Electric isn't the problem. Stupid laws around gas are.

I don't give two ****s about the environmental aspect of it, but the car itself is cool as hell.

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Totally agree. I bought a Tesla to replace my aging Porsche a few months ago. Got the performance version of the Model 3. Without a doubt the fastest car I've ever had. Maybe not top speed, but acceleration blows everything away. Kinda wish I didn't buy the performance model now. It's overkill. 0 to 60 in 3 seconds.

I have the Full Service Driving too. Amazing. It drives me to/from work everyday. I watch Texags show when I drive around too. (found a cool cheap mount that fits on the dash so you can watch through the steering wheel, so you don't piss off the camera watching your eyes). It drove me all the way to Birmingham and back (ATL) and I only intervened a few times. Awesome.

Charging is super fast and easy. Drive up, plug in and go to the restaurant or Buccees or whatever. Use the bathroom, grab a bite and it's ready to go. Yep, 15 minutes. Don't even pay, it charges automatically to your card.

No car key - cell phone is your key.

Now that it's getting cold, I'm going to enjoy not having to get out and stand in the cold and pump gas. I have a charger in my garage. 60 seconds or less and it's plugged in. In the morning, 60 seconds or less to unplug and hand the cord and it's ready to go.

Car, seat and steering wheel are heated in the morning when I get in and I hit a button on my phone and it's heated when I get in leaving work. In the summer, I have it set so the car never goes over 100, and you can precool it by pressing a button on the app like for the heat.

I also think this environmental crap around cars is bull***** I didn't buy it for that. I have a diesel truck that I'm not getting rid of and I'll always have an ICE vehicle.

No oil, hardly ever use the brakes due to regenerative charging, less cost for "gas." $0.08 per kWh. For regular driving distances, it is far superior to an ICE vehicle in every way. For long distance, it's not really that much of an inconvenience. Superchargers are everywhere.

I will never have an ICE vehicle as my primary unless I suddenly have to travel long distance every day. Driving an ICE vehicle now feels like diving a horse and buggy. The car has updates all the time with new technology and features.

I'm glad Trump is getting rid of regulation. Stupid.

aggiez03 said:

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Buck Turgidson said:

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Little compact trucks were everywhere in the late 80s and early 90s. My brother had a little Mitsubishi that was indestructible. I was surprised that our stupid assed government killed those off. They were perfect for lots of people.

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I am guessing the Big 3 Automakers killed them off.

There are lots of urban people who want a basic pickup to be able to haul a couch, mulch, and lumber and a bunch of trades that could convert the back to have a rack or bins for deliveries.

This seems like the perfect hybrid vehicle since it is a 4 cylinder and probably could get 40+ mpg as a hybrid.
My customer has a plug-in hybrid that is a Toyota. He gets 20 miles all electric, then the gas engine kicks in and he still gets about 50 MPG. When he runs errands local, he never has to put gas in it.

You aren't hauling a boat or Side by side to the deer lease with it, but that isn't the target market.

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Oddly CAFE killed them!!! I don't recall the details, but they couldn't match the mileage of their comparable sized sedans. The "light trucks" got more favorable targets based on their foot print. So light trucks had to get BIGGER to lower their fuel efficiency to help the auto markets hit their numbers!!!

Why Don't They Make Small Pickup Trucks Anymore

Here's a good article that dives into it.
Small trucks were a combination of fuel regs, crash safety standards, and margins.

I'll refer to earlier posts that higher margin chasing wasn't just corporate greed, it was a market driven decision due to ever increasing engineering and overhead costs chasing already diminishing returns

If this has removed some of the Wheelbase Ratio vs MPG restrictions so they can start making smaller trucks (like the ranger, S10, etc.) in the US again, I am all for it...

I would love to have a "micro" truck as my commuter...

Quote:

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The CAFE standards have significantly influenced the size and efficiency of small trucks in the U.S. market. These standards, which aim to improve fuel economy, have created a loophole that encourages manufacturers to build larger vehicles. The footprint rule introduced in 2011 ties a vehicle's MPG target to its physical size, allowing larger vehicles to meet lower fuel economy requirements. This has led to a trend of increasing vehicle sizes, including small trucks, which now often exceed the standards set for passenger vehicles.

The EPA's tailpipe emissions rules have also played a role in this trend, preserving special treatment for larger trucks and SUVs, which are exempt from more stringent emissions standards. This has allowed manufacturers to continue producing larger vehicles, despite the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The government's Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards have been a key factor in the growth of oversized pickups on American roads. These standards have set different rules for cars and trucks, with trucks being held to looser standards, giving automakers more flexibility.

The Trump Administration's reset of CAFE standards has aimed to ensure the program's fidelity to legal restrictions set forth by Congress, potentially impacting the size and efficiency of small trucks in the future.

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You multiply the wheelbase x track to achieve the "footprint" and plot it on this graph below, to determine the fuel economy that is required by CAFE; and it's easy to see why trucks have gotten huge and there are no compact trucks anymore...



For example: The 2004 S10 (when they stopped making them) was 128 IN Wheelbase by 68 IN Track, giving a 58 SQFT "Footprint"

To make that in 2025 without a penalty / tax, it would have to get something like 39-41 MPG.

I had a 79 Chevy Luv as the first auto I bought at age 17. I'd luv to have something like that again at this point in my life.