Category Archives: Cars

Electric Car Expansion to Apartments

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Electric cars are making more and more in roads. One of the most visible brands of these new electric-only vehicles is Tesla. Electric only cars run solely on an electric motor, no gasoline. This makes them very cost efficient to run, but limits their use because you a) need to plan road trips carefully to make sure you can charge, b) for daily use need to have a charger available at home or work to recharge when necessary.

To alleviate the first concern about road trips, Tesla has been installing quick charge stations along major highways in parts of the country.

That second point is critical because for many in urban environments, there simply isn’t a personal garage where you can install one of the charger machines. This means electric cars simply aren’t an option for apartment dwellers. So, my thought is, in order to open up more potential customers, Tesla should partner with a few national apartment management corporations and install charger stations.

The benefits would work for both sides. Tesla gets more charging stations across the country, and potentially more customers looking at them as a realistic option. The apartments have a selling point for people who are looking to rent, but want an electric car – they would practically have no other choice.

Chevrolet Volt Review

This week I was given a Chevrolet Volt to test drive. I received the car because I’m a registered user at Klout, and a promotional company, Page One Auto in California is trying to get people talking about the car.

The Chevrolet Volt represents the progress American car companies have made lately. After coasting on their reputations through the 90s, the domestic auto makers have realized stale ideas, bad build quality and low MPG is not going to cut it. The Volt is a hybrid, but with a twist. Unlike the Toyota Prius, which runs on electricity only at very low speeds or when stopped, it runs only on electricity for about 40 miles. And unlike the all electric Nissan Leaf, when the battery runs out, you aren’t stuck, there is a typical gas engine that goes for another 300 miles or so.

The idea is that for most daily commutes, people drive less than 40 miles a day. So, you could typically do your trip to work, run an errand, and make it home all without using gas. But, if you want to take that road trip up the coast, you don’t have to rent a gas car. Since moving to California, my commute is 12 miles each way, but it takes me about 45 minutes! I was eager to try out this car since it seems like the perfect solution for me.

As far as the commute, this car is excellent. I changed nothing about my driving habits or style, and made it to work and back home with 14 miles left on the electric battery. If I was using this as a daily driver, it is likely I would almost never have to pay for gas. The company states it costs about $1.50 to charge the car over night. If you charge it every night, thats about $45 a month. That is about half my typical gas costs a month. I wondered what would happen to stagnant gas sitting in your gas tank for long periods. Turns out the manual says the pressurized tank keeps gas ok for about a year, after which the engine will enter “maintenance mode” and burn gas if you haven’t done so in 365 days to keep the engine running smoothly. Well thought out solution by GM engineers.

While driving in all electric mode, you don’t notice that this is an electric car. It feels like a normal gas powered engine. Kudos to the engineering team for accomplishing this feat. At first I thought it was a little underpowered, but after I checked my speed on the dash, I realized I was wrong. I believe the lack of engine noise as feedback makes you feel like you aren’t pushing the car, but trust me, it goes.

When you lift your foot off the accelerator pedal, the car lightly applies the brakes, which helps to recharge the battery. It feels a bit like when you drive a manual and let the engine do the braking. This takes a bit of getting used to, because you end up going slower much quicker than you do when you coast in a normal gas car. But, it helps tremendously with milage. I drive downhill for a bit on my commute home, and my battery didn’t go down at all during this part of my trip.

Charging the car isn’t difficult. The car comes with an adapter that plugs into any three pronged normal household outlet. Using these 120V plugs, the car takes about 6-8 hours to charge. When you get home for the night, just plug in and then unplug when leaving in the morning.

Other systems exists that use 240V power and charge in about half the time. You can get these installed in your home, but you’re more likely to encounter them at the charging stations you see around town. I tried one out at a grocery store near my workplace. The system is easy enough, just pull up and plug in your car. Some cost money, so you swipe your credit card like at a parking meter. (the rates seems to run about $0.50 per hour on average) but many are free because they are hosted by local stores. For example, the one I used seemed to be paid for by the local grocery store. The incentive is that they figure you will shop at the green grocery store instead of the one without the charging station if you have a green car.

I had a thought about wondering how these cords will hold up to vandalism – a very real aspect of concern in Los Angeles. Turns out, if the cord is taken out before the car is unlocked, your alarm goes off. Another nice solution from GM.

The car is very attractively styled. Mine came in a nice sporty red color. I definitely saw people checking it out, and it is nice to see a hybrid car that doesn’t just have that angled slab prius look. The car is a hatchback that seats 4, with two captains chairs in the back instead of a bench seat. I was told the battery runs down the middle of the car. This helps with balance, but is the reason there is no middle seat in the back. However, what this does is actually make it feel like the chairs in the second row have more space. I also noted that the second row chairs have a kind of reclined position, which also seems to help give the allusion of space. This is important, because I found that the car was really about the size of a small sedan. Think Civic or Corolla, not Accord or Camry.

The interior was plush, with heated leather seats, and a leather steering wheel. Faux brushed aluminum was everywhere in the cabin as well. The version of my car was fully loaded. It came with a touchscreen navigation system, bluetooth, XM radio, Bose stereo sound system, remote starter, keyless entry and rear backup camera system. These luxuries were a very appreciated change of pace for me. In particular, the Bose sound system, coupled with how quiet the electric car was to drive ended up in one of my most peaceful commutes to work. A much appreciated aspect for me.

GM cars have OnStar built in, which means I could push a button and ask for directions to be sent automatically to my navigation system. This was nice because the last thing I want to do on a trip is have to stop and type in an address or search for a location on a map program. However, I found the other parts of the voice activation system lacking. I could push a button and say “Call Dad”, but not “adjust temperature to 72″ or “change radio station to 102.7″. This seems small, but it comes into play when you examine the dashboard controls.

The center column is very attractive, but stumbles a bit in usability. Whereas most cars I’ve been in, which use buttons to control things, the Volt goes a bit too far on the “futuristic” trip. Almost all the controls are done with capacitive “buttons”. These are like the buttons on the front of many android phones. They don’t indent or “push” in. They are touch sensitive. Its very pretty. But while this is ok on a touchscreen, I have trouble when it is part of the physical radio/HVAC column. You expect to not get tactile feedback from a screen, but on a center dash, I like to keep my eyes safely on the road, reach over and kind of “feel” around for the fan button. Here, when I would try to do that I’d end up turning on my heat warmer and changing the radio station. It requires you to take your eyes off the road for almost every function. Form over function at its worst here. It seems like the designers spent so much time perfecting the electric engine technology they didn’t pay attention to some of the interior details.

Otherwise, the bluetooth system had great sound quality. Callers had no trouble understanding me. And the navigation system displays on the second screen behind the steering wheel, so that music and air adjustments can be made on the center screen without you losing directions. Smart touch. The car features a USB port which recognized my iPhone. All my audio apps worked, and responded to the controls on the radio (play/fast forward/skip) including third party apps like spotify and stitcher.

My one other complains about the interactive system is that it cannot be operated unless the radio is on! This means I can’t adjust the AC without the radio on. Sure you can turn it all the way down, but that fact that is has to be on to use anything else (navigation/bluetooth) is ridiculous.

There were a few amenities that seemed to be missing about this car’s feature list. For example, the seats required manual adjustment. My friends and I postulated that this is because having hydraulic systems that you just push a button to move your seat would require more equipment that would add to the car’s weight and worsen the MPG that the electric car would get. But, in other aspects, this doesn’t apply and makes them just seem like oversights. For example, only the driver’s window is one-touch auto up and down. All the other windows only auto down. That can’t be an equipment issue, and is very annoying.

The reason I bring that up is the cost of this car. Keep in mind this is a Chevrolet. GM chose not to use their luxury badges like Buick or Cadillac. The Volt starts at $39,995. My version was $45,000. I understand you are paying a ton because of the new technology that GM developed for this car. But it is hard to justify paying over $40,000 for a small prius sized sedan with a Chevy brand on the front. They counter that you receive a federal tax credit of $7,500 and you save $7,500 in gas over use of it after 5 years, which would put it at $26,000. But thats a lot of incentives you have to make up over a long time versus paying $40k right out of pocket.

In fact, that is where they will have the most problem with marketing this car. I got a ton of questions about the car. Including a question not even an hour into my week with it when the security guard at my job asked about it. Considering some of the super cars we see from stars on the lot, this is no small detail to note. But when I told him the price he winced. And despite how it differs, most general consumers are going to think “ok this is a hybrid, like the Prius, but costs twice as much. Why would I pay more for a Chevy?”

So, would I buy this car? If I had the money, I would buy an electric car, absolutely. The time I spent with it destroyed all my fears about unreliability and the money saved from not having to buy gas is tremendous. Plus, there is just the cool factor. However, I’m less certain I’d buy a Chevy for $40,000. Make this car $30,000 and we can talk. I think with time, like all new technology, the pricing will come down and it will be far more attractive.

Pricing at Car Dealership

I passed by a car dealership today on my way from work. It was a Ford dealer, but they had a used Toyota, presumably that someone traded in.

I thought about whether there would be any pressure to price the Toyota artificially low. Ford probably wants their own cars to look like they have good re-sale values compared to other brands. Therefore, they could be motivated to artificially deflate their competition’s cars to compare well.

You can see a dealer pointing out that they had to sell the Toyota so low, because no one wants it, while the Ford is priced higher. I think pricing the other branded car higher than your own is a better method than inflating your own brand’s value.

The downside of course, is that the dealer would get reduced profits from their sale of the car with its lower value. I wonder if this actually goes on at dealerships. With so much information available to consumers, it seems it would be easy to compare and reference what a car should cost.

Beyond the Steering Wheel

By now you have probably heard about Google’s project involving Driverless Cars. Google has put their detailed mapping of the country along with their enormous computing power and technology in order to allow cars to drive themselves.

But imagine the possibilities. Drunk driving could be a thing of the past. After a night of drinking you just enter in your address, maybe a stop by a fast food place on the way, and you arrive safely at home. Or, think about 24 hour taxi service. Instead of wondering if there will be a cab available at a late hour, you just go to a website, enter in your pickup and drop off addresses. When the car arrives you get a text, go out and have a ride home. No tired cab drivers. No night shift.

GM: General Mismanagement

Part of General Motors’ restructuring involved shedding some brands. They got rid of Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Hummer. They kept Chevy, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac. I think it was a mistake that they kept the Buick brand.

I recently caught an ad for a new Buick.

Note, they compare the car to Lexus, BMW, Audi. If I were to tell you this were a GM ad, you would probably jump to Cadillac once you heard those comparisons. So, it seems they are trying to bring the Buick brand up into the luxury market. Admittedly, this apparently was where Buick was positioned when it first came out. When you made it, you bought a Buick – true excess was left for Cadillac owners.

But that is not the market we live in now. I would suggest even Cadillac has trouble staying in certain consumer’s minds with Lexus Acura and other luxury brands. Certainly Buick won’t fit in there. But GM insists they are both luxury. So, GM will have to price Cadillac in the stratosphere to separate the brands. Which is more than most people would say a Cadillac is worth.

I found this statistic that shows the average age of a Buick buyer is 70. 70! So, what does this tell us? Maybe Buick still is held in high regards with those older generations who remember when it was a luxury brand. However, young people don’t see it anymore. What is going to happen to this brand when the current kids get older? Will they sudden see the light and think to buy a Buick? Frankly, no.

So, basically Buick is doomed. Good move, GM. My solution? GM should have killed off Buick, focused on Cadillac as its sole luxury brand. Then, they should have kept Pontiac, but remade it. GM has trouble with the youth market, as I alluded to above. So make Pontiac the Scion (Toyota’s youth focused brand) of GM. Toyota saw that people were taking its (and competitor’s) cars and then doing a bunch of aftermarket things to them to personalize them. They simply introduced a cheaper brand, and moved the aftermarket to inside the dealer. GM should have made the same move with Pontiac. Make it a youth focused car company, with a lot of options for personalization and a focus on cheap performance. Then, once the kids have been hooked on the GM brand for a few years, they might look to Chevy or Cadillac instead of Honda and BMW.

What I think makes this extra interesting is the collapse of Toyota quality on public display recently. This would be the perfect opportunity for GM to showcase some quality cars. No parent wants to send Tiffany off to college in a corolla with bad brakes. This would be the perfect time for a cool new quality GM. What do you think – will you be buying a Toyota anytime soon? I read that they have been cutting costs to increase profits. I think they are suffering what the American auto makers went through in the 90s, which can be expected when a manufacturer sees extraordinary growth. Now the turnaround happens with an increased focus on quality to bring back the luster to the tarnished brand. I would probably not buy a Toyota today- but in 5 years or so, I can see them being optimal again.

Want Quick Service at Your Car Dealer? Don’t Pay.


Ford Recall Repair

Originally uploaded by jonarogers

I got a notice in the mail for a recall notice on my explorer. I took it in to the local Ford dealer. I was fully expecting to have to endure the normal day long wait typical when I go in for any kind of service on my car.

To my astonishment not long after I dropped it off I got a call that it was done. I was shocked. This dealer is actually pretty advanced and emails you when you drop your car off, and when it is done. Note the time stamp – the repair took 3(!) minutes.

Lesson? If you want to get in and out quick, take it in for a recall if you have a big repair. When you aren’t paying, they get you in and out quick.

In all seriousness, they offer great service. I’ve been there before and they actually are surprisingly quick with repairs. If you need service on a Ford check out Universal Ford in Richmond.

Your Foreign Car Only Has the Illusion Of Being Safer

Everytime I hear someone parrot the opinion that “foreign cars are more reliable and safer” I sigh to myself and shake my head.

Foreign cars have just as many problems as American cars. They simply hide (lie) about their defects more. This happens over and over. There have been numerous lawsuits conerning defects that Honda or Toyota refuse to acknowledge.

In yet another example- Toyota finally admitted their accelerator pedals were getting stuck to their floormats. This has gone on for years, but they finally fessed up to it. You may hear about recalls for Fords and GM cars more often, but at least they are announcing and fixing their problems. I’d rather take my car in 3 times to get fixed than drive around not knowing my car could malfunction and kill me.

Fuel System Gentrification

Part of the hurdles of getting electric vehicles to really take off is that in most cities there isn’t an infrastructure in place to provide charging stations for the fleet of vehicles.

In an interesting case of serendipity, there is another infrastructure that is phasing out – phone booths. Now that everyone uses a cell phone, these relics from another time aren’t as necessary. Instead of just leaving them to be blights, or paying to have them removed people have figured out they can be repurposed as electric car chargers.

It’s an ingenious idea since telephone booths are often located close to curbs, and they already have built-in electricity supplies. As a result, it’s cheaper to convert the booths into charging stations than to build the stations from scratch.

How neat of an idea is that?