Motor Trend June 2021 Issue
 

One look at the cover and it went into the recycle pile unopened..."The green issue". The big test comparison article plugged on the cover? Mustang Mach E vs. Tesla Model Y.

Sign of the times...Oil is evil....Won't be any gasoline produced from Kalifornia by 2045

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday said California will stop issuing fracking permits by 2024 and halt all oil extraction by 2045, using his authority to take on the state's powerful oil and gas industry in a year he will likely face voters in a recall election.

If successful, California — the seventh-largest oil-producing state in the nation — would become the largest to ban fracking and likely the first in the world to set a deadline for the end of all oil production.

“As we move to swiftly decarbonize our transportation sector and create a healthier future for our children, I’ve made it clear I don’t see a role for fracking in that future and similarly, believe that California needs to move beyond oil,” Newsom said at a news release.

California was once one of the largest oil-producing states in the nation, with a robust industry centered in the Central Valley just north of Los Angeles. But by 2020, the state’s oil production fell to its lowest level in state history, down 68% from its peak in 1985. Still, the industry employs about 152,000 people and is responsible for $152.3 billion in economic output, according to a 2019 study.


https://news.yahoo.com/california-governor-seeks-ban-fracking-190531485.html

Electric cars are taking over now not because of green issues, but *economics*.
They are simpler to make, use a fraction of the number of drivetrain components, and very soon (by 2022) will be cheaper to buy (and more profitable to make) than equivalent gas powered cars.
With the leaps in battery tech, ranges of 400+ miles are here. (The new Mercedes coming out is something like 450 miles.
The internal combustion engine for cars is officially a dead man walking. I can’t imagine any manufacturers are putting any significant R&D dollars into future IC engines.
I’m glad to have lived through the rise and peak of the IC engine, and as one with gasoline in my veins sad to see it go.

Substitute "Mustang" for "Viagra" in Paul's case

Isn't Porsche investing hundreds of millions in carbon neutral gas?

There are currently 1.42 billion cars in the world. Let's say every car is battery-powered, as is the ultimate goal one day. A Tesla has a battery pack weighing 1,200 pounds, with 7,104 batteries. So we would need 1 trillion, 704 billion pounds of batteries. And for total number of batteries, we'll have to switch to scientific notation: 1X10^13 batteries. They'll probably last about 8 years. Something to think about.

Yep. The level of dirty mining to get the ingrdients for batteries. The poor level ofrecycling of battries.

Then countries that burn coal to get the electricirty. The loss of electricity along the power wires before it goes through a charger...

I read that one reason the Japanese are sticking with hybrid cars are that they have a massive supply infrastructure and there are many companies making parts for their vehicles, if they switched to electric cars that would put a lot of companies out of business. Interesting to consider that aspect.

Extending that argument would suggest we continue making buggy whips and kerosene lanterns.

Nothing remains the same. We may kick,scream, kvetch and moan, but they change.
As I get older I am amazed by the amount of energy some people waste trying to stop time.
Enjoy the ride, folks!
As for Motor Trend, I stopped reading that pathetic rag decades ago.
Best
Les

I'm ready. I am fairly certain that the GTI we bought in 2018 may have been the last ICE new car purchase in my life.

everyone likes progress, fewer like change.

Problem is...Motor Trend is among the scant few hard copy car magazines left...

Too bad you threw it away. Harbor Freight had a coupon for a free pool-ball gearshift knob. Your choice of the 8, 6 or 14 ball.

#livinginthepast.
do you have a colour tv? :)

That's a shame...I'm holding out for a 5 ball. Love it's color.

Through this board, I was introduced to Bad Obsession Motorsports (Project Binky), Iain Tyrrell's Garage, Harry's Garage, and Retropower. There is lots of other content out there on the interwebs. Youtube keeps suggesting different channels, some I have liked and followed, some are not to my liking.
In short, I am not missing hard copy automotive magazines at all. I used to subscribe to C&D, Road & Track, Automobile and Sports Car International. That era is past.

Enjoy what we have.
Best
Les

Say what you will, car guys that give the electric cars a fair shake generally come away impressed.

They aren't garbage...

Indeed...electric motor torque is impressive. good thing...ICEs are falling out of favor quickly.

Washington state passes bill to halt new gasoline-powered vehicle sales starting in 2030

The dominos are falling in the war on gasoline-powered automobiles. Washington State lawmakers have passed a bill to stop sales of gasoline-fueled vehicles there beginning in 2030. That’s five years ahead of California, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, which have all set a deadline of 2035.

The Environmental Protection Agency says transportation is the no. 1 source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

Though these changes are starting to gain traction in U.S. states, the anti-fossil fuel trend around the globe is well underway. At least 15 other countries—including the U.K. and Japan—have established plans to sales of new gasoline cars, and others have established stringent policies to spur EV adoption.

“Europe and China have woken up to the fact that [the combustion engine] is dead,” Arndt Ellinghorst, automotive analyst at Bernstein Research, told the Wall Street Journal last fall. “Now, it looks like the U.S. is waking up.”

https://www.hagerty.com/media/news/washington-state-passes-bill-to-halt-new-gasoline-powered-vehicle-sales-starting-in-2030/?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Satu rday_RoadTrip

The don't call it Motor TREND for nothing.

Mach E is the pacecar for the Talledega 500 today.

Having put around 5000 miles in Teslas, I agree. They are very impressive in many ways. Quiet, smooth and the torque is simply amazing. For those 3 reasons alone, the vast majority of drivers would much prefer a Tesla to a similar gas powered car, if they drove both for a week.

But I think for us old car guys, the electrics really have so soul, and IMO are not fun. To me, the torque was novel at first but wore off. I can’t deny their cold competence, though. An impressive accomplishment by Tesla, there hasn’t been anything like what they’ve don’t to revolutionize the auto industry since the Model T 100 years ago.

The e-Mustang also appears to be very good. Maybe the e-150 will get some converts here.

Everybody should have an EV for a DD.

Your IC car is your sports car.

I'd love a small EV truck -- a four seater, with a short bed. I don't need to tow anything massive.

I'm sure smaller e-trucks are coming. But I think the longer bed of the full size allows for a huge battery and longer range right now.

Imagine an EV with a 5 or 6 speed with some sort of clutch. But hell, you can hardly find an ICE car with a clutch.

With almost constant torque and very high rpms available, the multi-speed transmission provides almost no benefit, and a lot of weight and cost. It won't happen.

Even Porsche limited their 'Turbo' to a two speed transmission.

It would be fun. But I don't think you'll ever see it.

This is how I do it. I usually cycle through daily drivers every year due to boredom but I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Model 3. I cannot say enough good things about how it drives. It's both fun and easy to drive which is such a rare combination. It's quiet. It's simple. It requires almost no maintenance. I don't ever stop to "refuel." Oh, and it's the fastest point-to-point street car out there that isn't an exotic. There are faster cars, but very few faster under normal driving conditions.

I bet the May 1920 issue of Horseman magazine got tossed into the fire when the cover showed an automobile. it went downhill from there, fast!!

Did I say electrics were bad? Nope. My honorary nephew has a chevy bolt..he loves it. But I'm not interested in electric cars...definitely no intentions of buying one. So why bother reading?

I will confess to being a bit miffed at Ford for calling a small electric SUV a Mustang...

Why wouldn't you buy one? I find this attitude odd.

He obviously has no clue where oil is used beyond gasoline and diesel fuel.

The only things holding me back with an electric is that they can't replace the minivan yet and for road trips they take too long to charge back up. I can't justify another car just for the commute to work.

There are more horses in the USA now, than ever before. They are mostly "pets" or pleasure only horses now.

It will be the same for IC cars. They will be just hobby toys. My 911 is a car than can be fixed up over and over. Long after I am gone, I hope it is in some collection and driven on occasion.

Modern cars, all modern cars and especially electric cars are disposable. How will one find the computers for the climate control or the computer that runs the traction control for a 30 year old car? All cars will be using the John Deer mode of dealership only repair and all software will be intellectual copyrighted property.

The hotrod guys will be writing custom software to run custom modules that operate the vehicles. Programmers will be the gurus.

Finding the hardware will be the hard part.

There is a lack of a fast charging network where I live. The present premium for an EV over an ICE along with the cost of a home charger buys a bunch of fuel. Just not viable for me at the current time.

The cost hurdle can be a big one depending on which model you're looking at. All I have is a 220V line out to the garage which wasn't particularly expensive. My car was under $50,000 with federal and state incentives and it costs me about $20/month to keep it charged so two years of ownership has been about $480 in running costs.

I've only had to use a fast charger like 4 times since buying it, all on road trips.

A wise man once said, "No knowledge is truly wasted. "

Best
Les

I have to say my wife's Model Y is a digital wonder. She loves it. As for me, it's "meh." I don't tell her but in my mind, the car is a total appliance. Like I've said before, I encouraged buying it on the basis of close to no maintenance, it's a decent car, and with our solar panels it's close to zero cost electricity wise. I much prefer to drive my Ford van with the 3.5L Ecoboost.

Honestly, until we come up with the next generation of nuclear power generation, there is no viable way to replace the carbon of ICE with EVs.

In reality, the current drive for electric vehicles over internal combustion isn't so much the total reduction of carbon emissions, but rather removing those emissions from urban centers.

Try standing on the curb in a major city as a bus goes by and weigh the relative merits of standing mere feet from the exhaust with having the exhaust removed to another location.
It isn't perfect, but likely improves the health of everyone around you.

Best
Les

There are really good technical videos out there. The problem with current EVs is the energy store. A tank of gas is many times more efficient than a battery. The ICE is not dead due to the fact that (1) there are still more efficiency gains to be found, and (2) a battery can not store the power needed to make an automobile practical as a replacement to the ICE. I think we might be looking at some other source of power like hydrogen or some such, or many generations later of improved batteries. Or carbon neutral "synthetic" gas.

In our lifetime, it is not likely that the ICE will be replaced by battery powered EVs.