A Dozen To Go

No, I am not writing about ordering bagels or donuts. Actually, I will be eating very few of them, if any, until I have my semi-annual blood work in six weeks.

This is post number 1,988; of course, that is 12 short of 2,000. It is a virtual certainty that after I publish post number 2,000 I will take a hiatus. As I will probably write again, the break will be longer than two days although I don’t know if it will be two weeks or two months. The possibility exists that post number 2,000 will be the next to last post I write.

I need to see how much I will miss writing, if at all. I need to see if I can recharge my writing batteries.

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I must confess I have some interest in at least learning more about the new Dodge Charger, the ICE-powered version, of course. One interesting tidbit is that the Charger will be manufactured in Canada. The latest word is that production of the ICE-powered version will not begin until early 2025.

 

 

Pictures of the car are scarce on the Internet. I think this one shows the electric version; supposedly, the ICE-powered version will look very similar, but not identical. Note that the rear has been styled as an homage to the legendary second-generation Charger.

Dodge may regret not building a hybrid version of the Charger as, of course, hybrid sales are growing while BEV sales are plateauing. In any event, the ICE-powered version will have a twin-turbo inline 6-cylinder engine. The Standard Output (S.O.) spec will produce 425 HP while the High Output (H.O.) spec will generate 550 HP. Apparently, all Chargers will have all-wheel drive.

I have never owned any Mopar vehicle. My wonderful wife and I did test drive a Challenger 2-3 years ago as a potential grocery car, but–frankly–the interior of the car seemed cheap.

Again, idle hands are the devil’s workshop. Witness that I have also begun to look at used Nissan Z cars online. While not many are available, the ones that are have very low mileage, even when I filter using a relatively low maximum price.

 

 

After all, so many cars just one life. No, I have no intention of getting rid of my Jaguar F-Type.

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Here are a couple of tidbits about the real decline in (B)EV demand growth. The first comes from a recent Gallup poll:

 

Fewer Americans — 35%, down from 43% in 2023 — say they might consider buying an EV in the future. Thus, even as some people have moved ahead with their intent to buy an EV in the past year, public demand for the cars has contracted. Overall, less than half of adults, 44%, now say they are either seriously considering or might consider buying an EV in the future, down from 55% in 2023, while the proportion not intending to buy one has increased from 41% to 48%.

 

Of course, that trend can change, but given what is actually happening on the ground that doesn’t seem likely. Perhaps I am engaging in excessive extrapolation, but I think the Gallup results can be interpreted as only 9 percent of Americans are seriously considering buying an EV in the future.

This CNBC article is titled, “Poor resale values of EVs threaten adoption.” The piece cites the following: a recent study showed that the average price of an EV fell 31.8% in the past year compared to just 3.6% for internal combustion engine vehicles. The study focused on 1- to 5-year old cars and was published by iSeeCars.com. By the way, the average price for hybrids fell by 6.5%.

The American market is speaking loudly. Maybe someday the out-of-touch bureaucrats and politicians might actually hear the message.

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I can’t say that I have ever been a listener of NPR. This Free Press article by Uri Berliner, who has worked there for 25 years is titled, “I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust.”

From the piece here is some data on the shift in NPR listeners:

 

In 2011, twenty-six percent of NPR listeners described themselves as conservative, 23 percent as middle of the road, and 37 percent as liberal. In 2023, only 11 percent described themselves as very or somewhat conservative, 21 percent as middle of the road, and 67 percent of listeners said they were very or somewhat liberal. Berliner wrote, “We weren’t just losing conservatives; we were also losing moderates and traditional liberals. An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don’t have an audience that reflects America.”

 

Other Free Press pieces have opined that the media and government have become more polarized than the actual population. Of course, polarization at either end affects the other end. I can say I abhor extreme politics and policies regardless of whether they come from the far left or the far right.

 

#ADozenToGo

#2025DodgeCharger

#SoManyCarsJustOneLife

#AmericanPolarization

#WhereIsLiyaHarding?

#BoycottIreland