I have to say that I am impressed with Carvana. We signed the paperwork to sell the Cascada yesterday, a Sunday. The payment for the car was in my bank account by 5 AM local time. (Yes, I was up at that hour. I usually am.)
It’s just one transaction, but Carvana seems to be able to function when so many American companies are unable to do so. Again, I wish they sold “classic” cars, but I am not buying anything in the near future, anyway.
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Some photos to start the week:
No points for guessing where we had lunch yesterday.
The cloud in the center looks like a big head to me. I never said I was sane.
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A link to a CNBC piece that warmed my heart: “Facebook scrambles to escape stock’s death spiral as users flee, sales drop.” Laura Martin, an analyst at Needham, said, “I’m not sure there’s a core business that works anymore at Facebook.”
Fack Fucebook!
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Not all automobile executives are jumping on the EV bandwagon. In another article that brightened my day, this piece from Hagerty reported on Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda’s continuing skepticism over “pie in the sky mandates” such as the one issued by California in August, six days before asking EV owners to reduce their charging because the grid couldn’t handle it. What the hell, here’s a big chunk of the article:
“Speaking with reporters during a dealer meeting in Las Vegas, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda expressed skepticism over pie-in-the-sky mandates such as California’s total ban of gasoline-powered cars in the state by 2035, according to a report from Automotive News. The mandate, which was recently adopted by Washington state and even more recently New York state, doesn’t seem possible, according to Toyoda. “Realistically speaking, it seems rather difficult to achieve that,” he said. Electric vehicles are “Just going to take longer than the media would like us to believe,” he continued.”
“This isn’t the first time that Toyoda poked holes in what many believe to be the future of the automobile. In September of last year, Akio Toyoda expressed similar skepticism about the inevitability of autonomy as well as the electric revolution. While automakers [are] continuing to chase more efficient and eco-friendlier EVs, Toyoda’s remarks feel like a welcome reality check for the prevailing market forces that seem to think the various issues with EVs—where the materials come from and the rising costs of battery vehicles in general, to name a few—will magically sort themselves out in a few short years.”
A welcome reality check, indeed.
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Another CNBC article, this one about the 10 least popular US states to move to. Only one state surprised me on the list.
The 10 least popular states to move to in 2022:
- New Jersey
- California
- Illinois
- New York
- Connecticut
- Utah
- Maryland
- Rhode Island
- Louisiana
- Virginia
Utah was first in percentage gain in population among all states from 2010 to 2020 so its inclusion here is surprising to me. States 1-5 are all high tax jurisdictions. When they can, people vote with their feet. In a federal republic states are allowed to have different tax regimes. I have lived in two of these ten states and would NEVER live in either one again.
#MundayMosings
#FackFucebook!
#EVsAreNotAPanacea
#PeopleVoteWithTheirFeet
#somanyCARSjustonelife
#disaffectedmusings
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Disaffected Musings 
“I have lived in two of these ten states and would NEVER live in either one again.”
I have lived in one of the ten, and like you, have zero desire to live there again. Even visiting family there is depressing as the squalor and corruption seems to be more evident each time. Speaking of squalor and corruption, I will be visiting your old hometown in a week or so, to meet with a company regarding some possible work at some of their facilities. It’s been about 3 years since I have been to Baltimore and suspect that things have not improved much. I should be able to survive the 24 hours I’ll be there, as long as I abstain from any nightlife (which beyond taking folks out for a meal, won’t be hard).
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Thanks, DDM. Please be careful visiting my old stomping grounds.
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Toyota still is staking their electric future on hybrids. They have a reliable technology with quality batteries and a system of regeneration that even provides less maintenance on brakes (since the car is slowed by converting kinetic energy to electricity). And I don’t have to look for charging stations.
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Thanks, JS. Toyota is also trying to develop hydrogen-based propulsion. While that paradigm has obstacles, give the company credit for not being a lemming.
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Hydrogen-based propulsion has its serious possibilities especially in the long haul trucking field. Sadly, it will face the same problem as electric vehicles with a lack of fuel supply infrastructure. The use of hydrogen as a fuel source has a serious set of problems of containing the gaseous hydrogen. Hydrogen is the smallest atom and therefore it is very difficult to seal and contain within the piping and tanks. The electric utility companies have worked with gaseous hydrogen for years having used it as a heat exchange coolant for their electric generators. Their systems are not mobile and do not require numerous flexible joints requiring sealing. Their number of installations is very far less than having several hydrogen fueling stations in every city for transportation vehicles. The National Fire Protection Association will have to become involved, in they are not already, in setting standards and specifications for hydrogen-based vehicle fuel systems and fueling stations.
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Merci encore.
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On a nasty note, I see some (insert not nice words here) with big pickup trucks are parking in charging stations en masse keeping electric car owners from recharging their vehicles. Can’t people just leave others to their own anymore?
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Welcome to a world afflicted with an epidemic of narcissism.
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My next door neighbor normally owns SUVs and pickup trucks. Because of the high price of gasoline, he wanted to buy a hybrid, a Toyota hybrid specifically. He searched high and low across the nation for a new Toyota hybrid. The dealers either had only used ones or would only sell to someone in their state. The neighbors visit Pinetop, AZ regularly so on a whim the stopped into the Toyota dealer and asked about hybrids. They only had used ones on the lot and when he asked about a new one, the answer was sorry we don’t have one (laughing all the time). Then one salesperson checked the the computer and lo and behold a new hybrid was being delivered the next day. Mike, my neighbor whipped out his credit card and bought it on the spot for around $27K.
Toyota is one of the few auto manufacturers who understands the paradigm that “one size does not fit all”, as you wrote previously. Ford and GM sadly do not understand that, and they both NEED new open-minded management from top to bottom. They both need to stop playing the woke political game and stop trying to please the government.
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Thanks for sharing, Philip. It’s a sobering story.
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