My brother likes to say Star Trek also has a lot to answer for. TNGs ubiquitous touch screens are now a widespread infection in nearly all devices today including refrigerators, washing machines, and unfortunately automobiles. No one thought to ask "but is this actually a good idea?". Also Star Trek's talking computer with a conversational interface is now becoming mainstream with llms.
Same here but I renovated my houses and built my workshops.
I can retain my paid-for gassers for another 50 years (in the case of my '75 F350) or another ~26 years (F150s and one 5.3 Silverado) at trivial cost because they are designed to be repairable and are not vendor locked by electronic feature bloat.
Early 2000 LS drivetrain trucks and vans already fetch high prices because later years are so intensely mechanic-hostile. (Mechanic of many decades here.)
Driving used trucks let me easily pay off my homes and acreage then retire early. Buying even one new truck would have delayed my financial freedom by years.
When Slashdot was a techie site more viewers understood such things.
Function is the issue, not being a pickup. This may be painfully difficult to understand for BEV zealots but not everyone WANTS what leftists (it's political, you want social control by regulation) attempt to coerce people into buying. Build what customers want, not what someone who is not a customer wishes they should want.
Compete or be cast out.
I and millions of others would be delighted to buy a BEV truck that equals or surpasses gassers in EVERY way with zero sacrifice of functions WE (not you) care about. When one pays that much excuses won't do.
There is no current coldly pragmatic personal reason to buy a BEV pickup truck no matter how much frothers screech otherwise. They're not good enough at truck tasks yet. People who don't use trucks pretend they know what's best for people who do and vilify gasser pickups (though the same drivetrain in a van triggers no one).
Not sure if it's 1:1 with this new matter thing (I think it's their third push in this direction, at least), I can only recognize the door/window open sensor (even that is SLIGHTLY different), anyway I have a bunch of door sensors, leak/water sensors, and movement sensors. They all work over zigbee, went into Home Assistant with no fuss, I think they can do even firmware OTA updates. Best design ever for each specific use, batteries last forever (and work, even better, and report well the capacity for NiMh), super-happy. In some threads I follow people reported repeatedly that they had problems with the batteries draining quickly, but mine will go over a year for sure (I recharge them just in case once before the winter together with the ones for some thermostats and such) but it might be that there are some quality control issues, OR some environmental (radio) factors that might play a role here.
With a president who solves an existential threat by finding the best expert he can find, and using his own formidable political skills and charisma to run interference for that expert.
Seriously, Comacho was a meathead, but Iâ(TM)d vote for him.
No comment.
The big three hardly make any cars anymore. It's all SUVs, crossovers, and trucks.
Was it by measuring emissions in a parallel universe?
One add a larger or additional fuel tank to any conventional truck, or plop a transfer tank with pump in the bed.
People buy trucks to serve their use case, not to serve anyone else's. Invent a form and fit gasser replacement and they'd sell, but paying for inferior performance is absurd.
That's hilarious calling me a soft lefty.
It's no dig by the way. It's reality. As a conservative voter I reserve my harshest criticism for them since they are ostensibly "my kind of people" and they know better. While my values in most ways align most closely with many who call themselves Conservative, I would be willfully ignorant to not call attention to their many failings as a party, as well as the rank hypocrisy that so often accompanies right-wing politics these days. I've been a party to some very honest discussions with our local Conservative representatives in the Legislature and Parliament. Our local guys are generally honest but do get caught up in the Party line rather than represent the actual needs of their constituents, as do all MPs from all parties.
I may have little in common with [Ll]iberals but I can understand how they come by their positions.
The problem with midsize trucks is that they aren't actually much smaller than a full size truck now, except that for some inexplicable reason the box is about an inch too narrow to put a sheet of plywood in the back. Also these midsize trucks are nearly as expensive as the full size and, like you say, they don't get significantly better fuel efficiency than the full size truck. Given these facts it's no wonder North Americans prefer the full-size trucks.
As for the Lightning, it is a reasonably good fit for the farm. I burn tons of gas putting around checking on irrigation. Electric would do it except for a couple of issues: curb weight and overall price. The weight alone gives me pause as I drive in soft fields and don't want to get stuck all the time, or leave horrible ruts.
Ironically the people that actually work for a living and need trucks are such a small market compared to those who just want to drive around luxury trucks as as status symbol. So we end up having to buy trucks that really have way more bells and whistles than we need (carpet for one). Trucks that are meant for trades people do exist and they do sell pretty well. They also tend to be just one color, white. But I'm glad I still have some options.
I'm sure that will give their US based employees a lot of comfort, sitting in their jail cells.
The reality is far more nuanced than that. Despite Trump's attempts to make it otherwise, the economies of Canada and the US are deeply intertwined as are our banking industries and law enforcement. As a general rule, Canadian companies and the Canadian government cooperate with American authorities on issues of copyright infringement and other intellectual property issues. The US commands a tremendous amount of extrajudicial power over its allies. You can argue whether this is out of intimidation or out of a sense of shared, common values. This includes, often, extraditing the accused after a certain amount of due process in Canada.
One thing that's always bothered me is that the Conservative Party has always rolled over to every American demand. Since both American political parties are to the right of any party in Canada, I guess they deeply admire American muscle and what the US lets corporations get away with. I suspect this propensity is the biggest reason they lost the last federal election.
Republicans mean anyone but them picking winners and losers is a bad thing. When they do it it's a good thing. By definition, if they do it it's good and legal and patriotic. And heroic. And benevolent. Nixon said that out loud, but there was still enough democracy to make him pay for being a criminal. Bush/Cheney rewrote the rules even further and Trump/Vance are doin whatever they want now with impunity.
"Mercor's 22-year-old CEO"
"Mercor is an American artificial intelligence hiring startup that provides experts to train AI models and chatbots."
"Mercor pays out over $1.5 million daily to professionals it hires"
that's a lot of money going out. How much is coming in?
That is bonkers. This whole thing is bonkers.
"There is such a fine line between genius and stupidity." - David St. Hubbins, "Spinal Tap"
