First…even with outdoor temperatures in the 30s and house thermostats set in the 60s (those are Fahrenheit temps in case those of you in countries that use Celsius are confused), I woke up about 2 AM completely drenched in sweat, so much so that I had to change my T-shirt. I can only surmise I had a hell of a nightmare. Fortunately, I don’t remember any of the details.
As reported in this CNBC article and elsewhere, General Motors has announced that it will be investing nearly $1 billion in four production plants to support production of components for electric vehicles and its next generation of V-8 engines. Would any company, even as one as large as GM, invest a nine-figure sum in a technology it will discard in a little more than a decade? The author of the CNBC piece (or his editor) writes, “It’s a signal that the company will keep relying on gas-powered vehicles for the foreseeable future.”
Of course, GM and all automakers (except Tesla) will have to rely on gas-powered vehicles to sell in the US. Despite the years of hype, the excessive propaganda from governments and media about the alleged need for all of us to drive electric vehicles, in 2022 pure EVs accounted for only 6 percent of new vehicle sales in the US.
In this post I wrote about a Hagerty story on a KPMG survey about automobile executives becoming more realistic about how quickly EV adoption would occur. Akio Toyoda has been very outspoken, and very brave to do so, about how EV mandates by governments are completely unrealistic.
I will believe this for the rest of my life. EVs are not the answer; synthetic fuels are.
Yes, the car shown above is not a GM product. It is, of course, my 2022 Mustang GT.
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Speaking of synthetic fuels, this CNBC article by the same writer is about Porsche’s beginning production of e-Fuels (a politically correct way to say synthetic fuels) at a plant in Chile. From the piece:
“Company officials say e-fuels can act like gasoline, allowing vehicle owners a more environmentally friendly way to drive. They could also use the same fueling infrastructure as gas, compared with the billions of dollars in investments needed to build a network of charging stations for electric vehicles.” [emphasis mine]
The zealot lemmings simply assume the money to build EV infrastructure just exists. Synthetic fuels will require NO infrastructure spending and will achieve the same result. As I keep writing, the push to “go green” is not really about the environment, but about smug, self-righteous and arrogant ideologues’ quest for control and punishment. I become more sure of that every day.
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Let’s see if I can display this image:
The recently concluded Mecum auction in Kissimmee, Florida surpassed $200 million in sales for the second consecutive year. Prior to last January, no automobile auction had ever exceeded $180 million in sales.
Of course, part of the reason for the record-setting sales volume at Mecum Kissimmee 2023 was the record size of the docket, about 4,200 vehicles. That is an average of about $56,000 per vehicle.
My favorite car from the auction, and a car that Mecum has previously offered for sale, was probably this one.
This is a 1955 Chrysler Ghia ST Special, of which four were built. Unlike at least one previous Mecum auction where the car did not sell (I believe at a high bid of $450,000), the car sold at Mecum Kissimmee, all in, for $770,000. If I could afford it, which I cannot, I would spend a million dollars on this car.
In general, and as I have previously written, American cars from the 1950s are really starting to appeal to me. IF we are successful in buying the “Goose Bumps” house (and we should know much more about that in the next 2-3 days), then I might just buy such a car at some time in the future. While the bodywork for this car is Italian, the drivetrain is American and the car doesn’t look that different from Chrysler products of the same time period, just a bit more streamlined.
#IsGeneralMotorsHedgingItsBetOnElectricVehicles?
#EVsAreNotTheAnswer
#2023MecumKissimmee
#1955ChryslerGhiaSTSpecial
#somanyCARSjustonelife
#disaffectedmusings
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PS, for the first 20 days of this month, the average number of daily blog views and visitors reached a level not seen since last January. Of course, part of the reason is that I have posted every day this month except one. I’ll keep writing as long as you keep reading. Is that a deal?
Disaffected Musings 
“EV mandates by governments are completely unrealistic.”
When wishes run into reality, the result is never what was desired. Let’s look at past government mandates and their outcomes:
There has been a “war on poverty” for nearly 60 years. I would venture to say that there are as many, if not more, folks living below the “poverty line” still. Even after trillions of dollars spent, there is no discernible improvement.
Lets now look at the “war on drugs.” 50 years into this “war”, it appears to me that drugs are winning. Untold amounts of money spent yet no major victories, and very few minor victories.
Pretty much anytime the government mandates something, it fails. You can look at various departments that have been created, by mandate, and see how well they have worked. Department of Education? Seems to me we are going backwards there. Department of Energy? Yeah, not much success there, either. Most any of these “feel good” mandates are just that, feel good projects. But it keeps some pointy headed bureaucrats employed, so we have to keep the project alive. Besides, to do otherwise would be to admit we, the government, was wrong. Can’t have that.
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Many thanks, DDM, and well done.
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“Pointy headed bureaucrats” for those fans of Saturday Night Live, think Cone Heads. Same level of understanding between bureaucrats and the general public as the Cone Head aliens and the Earthlings they encountered, sans the humor.
The Department of Energy was created to consolidate the various Federal government facilities needed to enrich Uranium for the military and civilian purposes. It also satisfied the politicians as a place to make it look like they were concerned with the use of energy in our country after the 1973 Arab oil embargo and a way to control more of the economy. Mission accomplished.
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