iamsuperdan

Monster trucks are bigger than ever. Pun intended.

Agreed, but I'd have the AC on as well!

Correct on both counts!

Our first Bronco Raptor arrived yesterday. The world's ugliest fender flares.

Another visit to my friend's shop this morning. And I love this one. A white 454SS.

Saw it yesterday but couldn't snap a pic of my own. This beauty is at a local Honda dealer. https://www.wheatonhonda.com/inventory/used-1989-chevrolet-corvette-hatchback-2-dr-1g1yy2188k5100275/ Paint job aside, this is a pretty awesome car for $17k CDN. And under 28k km. That's about $12500 US and 17500 miles.

Seems to work fine for me.

Our first Bronco Raptor arrived yesterday. Pretty cool, but I still think the fender flares are hideous.

I do find it odd that an order placed on an in stock item will have a 5 day delay before it is shipped. Maybe to ensure payment clears? Either way, my order shipped exactly when they said it would, has now arrived in Canada, and will be here before the weekend. I'm in no rush to get the stuff I wanted. So i'm happy, will buy again. I prefer buying local, but my local stores couldn't get what I wanted this time around.

First thing I see in my email this morning when I arrived at work was an email that said yes. Client I've been working on for a couple of weeks now. Big order. 30 units to start. Eventual changeover over the next two years of the entire fleet of about 120 units. Mainly pickups, but some Medium Duty trucks and SUVs too. Plus they're leasing everything. Plus they want the telematics system we have. Plus charging stations for the EVs. It's a pretty big deal. And we didn't have to discount the crap out of everything. Solve their problems, show them value. Boom. Makes up for the customer I fired back in June. ?

I'd grab a couple of those for sure.

Having been driving EV since April, I can tell you that my monthly vehicle expenses are significantly lower now than when I had the F150 ICE. Power bill has seen less than $10/month increase. And that's with plugging in to a Level 2 charger a couple of times a week. My F150 was about $180 CDN to fill (136L tank) and that would last me 1-2 weeks depending on what I was doing on the weekends. Typically about 1100km to a tank. Fuel costs in my vehicle went from around $500-600/month to about $10. In winter, I fully expect to have less range per charge, so will be charging more often. But then, because of idling and warming up time, my ICE vehicles have less range per tank in the winter too. So even if my monthly charging costs quadruple in winter, I'm still way ahead. Maintenance on an EV is much lower than on ICE equivalents. Obviously no oil changes, no fuel filters or fuel system servicing. Tires get rotated or changed just like an ICE vehicle. Brakes should last longer because when using the 1-pedal drive feature, you literally don't need to touch the brakes in normal driving. Stop and Go city driving...look ma! No brakes! The motor does the braking for you, so no wear and tear on the brakes. Plus it helps recharge the batteries. Brake fluid gets maintained just like it would on an ICE vehicle, but with longer service intervals likely. All of the normal vehicle service items are just like an ICE car. A lot of people are still gun shy with EVs, and that's fair enough. It's still new tech for a lot of people, but as they become more commonplace, people will eventually see they aren't as scary as they think. ICE sales still vastly outnumber EV sales, but both are pretty steady. Will be interesting to see how it changes over the next year or so.

Giving wifey's old Volvo XC90 a refresh. Ordered up some new headlight lenses, tail lights, foglights, front grille, bumper dye, and will be taking the wheels in for a refinish. And I have my polisher and supplies ready to make it look showroom. We've been humming and hawing about replacing it for a while now, but it's too good a vehicle, so we're updating it instead. And she's on board with finding a toy for the summer months and turning the Volvo into her winter vehicle, so this could be interesting.

It's really no different than an ICE car. How often do you leave your car on empty? Or under a 1/4 tank? Same thing with an EV. Keep it charged over 25% and you have at least 100km (62miles) to get out of a danger zone if need be. Idling in an EV uses almost no power, so traffic isn't a huge issue. And if it's stop and go traffic while fleeing your area, the regenerative braking will extend your range. Just like your phone, plug it in each evening, and you're good to go when you need it. Once you get used to it, it's really not much different than ICE.

Nice build! I like the colour choice, very era-appropriate.

Huge part of my childhood! TPIR always came on right before The Flintstones at noon. We'd rush home from school to eat lunch and catch The Flintstones. Always caught the final 10 minutes or so of TPIR. Figures that Bob would get closest to 1.00 without going over.

True, but the Rivian isn't doing long hauls. They use those for local area deliveries. And with a Level 3 charger back at the depot, when the driver comes back for his lunch break, he plugs in for 45 minutes or so, and it'll be back to full charge. And in city driving, the EVs actually get better economy than on the highway. Regenerative braking extends the life of the charge significantly. Again, it's not the solution for every situation, but for some situations, it does great.

It's a regional thing for sure. I'm actually surprised that we do well with them here, because Alberta is oil/gas country. Haven't actually seen any of them come back to our used lot yet. Our store actually paid the $$$ to become Model E Elite certified, meaning that we will be one of Ford's top tier EV stores. That means we have to keep inventory. And have no caps on ordering. There are a few local stores that gladly give up their EV stock. Normally, we dealer trade. We want their unit, they take one of ours back. But with these EVs, especially the eTransit, dealers are just telling us we can have their vans, no need to trade back. Suits us just fine!

Is that one of the Rivian vans they use? Amazon aren't using those up here in the Great White North yet.

Yeah, I noticed there was a Hobbycraft in Southampton. I remember when we used to come over when I was a kid, and I remember the Beatties that was in Southampton. It was around 35 years ago or so, but wow do I remember that store as being awesome.

Yeah, we're going to have to turn the moderation back on. Ahh well.

True, but the guy in that article admitted that he passed several charging stations before ultimately choosing the one he did.