@johnvoelcker.bsky.social
Raconteur. Random cultural, political, sociological, science, tech, #EV, #LGBTQ, British car stuff. "Plucky and good fun."Contributing Editor, CAR and DRIVER, Green Car Reports, others; Cofounder, Tempting Fate Tours. Welcome to Bluesky. Don’t be a jerk.
Amid nationwide attacks on transgender rights, #NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani is set to establish the first-ever Mayor’s Office of #LGBT QIA+ Affairs.
It will also be the first NYC agency led by a #trans person.
Truly doing the work of the Lawd: Watching 6 hours of testimony by #DOGE bros.
What's alternatively enraging + sad is just how entitled + contemptuous they seem. They just assume they run the world + can do what they want.
Let us hope the world teaches them otherwise. In, errmm, constructive ways.
Well, his Commerce Secretary anyway (Lutnick).
Historian Rutger Bregman writes: The difference between movements that fizzle + those that succeed is simple.
"They picked a single target—one both symbolically powerful + genuinely vulnerable—and went all in."
"700,000+ people have joined an international boycott of ChatGPT. It takes 10 seconds."
Yet ANOTHER career failure for one of the world's most utterly contemptible gay men, Ric Grenell.
Apparently he very much prefers to be addressed as 'Ambassador'. [snort]
I once expressed a desire to do something deeply humiliating to him, which got me temporarily banned from Twitter. Worth it.
As it tests complex tolling systems, the new Gordie Howe Bridge set tolls at "reasonable rates" ... vs recently soaring costs on the competing Ambassador Bridge, owned by the Moroun family, which lobbied Trump (via Lutnick) to delay the international competitor.
Guess whose rates are TWICE as high?
After 7 hours with @lucid-motors.bsky.social execs yesterday, it took time to boil down the most important parts of their plans for 3 future #EV SUVs, an all-new powertrain + a whole lot more.
Here's my report for @caranddriver.bsky.social, though I hadn't realized the details were 'Juicy' ... 😁
⚠️ The escalation of the Vietnam War to direct US ground combat involvement began on March 8, 1965, with the landing of 3,500 US Marines from the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade.
Neither Uber nor Nuro has those CA testing permits ??
It's a CONCEPT for display only designed to show the rest of us what the interior's like. If it turned into a production vehicle it would absolutely have doors.
They are quite clear that IT IS A CONCEPT. As the original post says.
The first demonstration of an autonomous Lucid will be the Ubers that go into service starting at the end of this year with Nuro sensors + software. More detail here ...
Uber seems to see a business in it. Lucid sees Uber as a reliable customer to which it can sell incremental #EV models, including some that are purpose-built.
Believe that's correct; the cars have to charge + I suspect that's when they're cleaned, serviced, etc. Just like commuter trains or buses or subway cars at depots.
I'd like to see a decent analysis of that. Learned at a conf last week that Waymo is quietly building out massive #EV charging depots in its soon-to-launch cities. That firm clearly sees a business in it. The Q is whether a vehicle optimized for a majority of trips but not all saves enough $$$.
Wow, the degree to pure hatred for this really startles me.
Because no couple has ever done that in a human-operated rideshare vehicle?
So you don't believe this is a saleable product? Or that rideshare companies (e.g. Uber) would be interested in buying it?
Better comparison.
Thank you for not calling TOTAL BS + saying it'll never happen it's only about the stock price it's copying Tesla it's copying Musk etc. etc. etc.
The volume of ... comments ... it generated was all out of proportion to what I expected. In part, cause we couldn't shoot the actual production model?
You're about the 90th person to call total BS + say stock price.
Lucid's Chief Engineer told me + other reporters it's a concept that hasn't been greenlighted for production. (Yet?)
BUT: The presence of Uber COO Andrew Macdonald + the amount of time spent on this suggests to me there's more to it.
I spoke at length to Lucid's Chief Engineer; he echoed that it's a concept, one of a few spun out of the Midsize platform beyond the 3 they referenced, but that it hasn't been greenlighted for production. (Yet?)
That said, the presence of Uber COO Andrew Macdonald suggests to me there's more to it.
Or, ahem, it could become part of the booking process, perhaps incentivized by a cheaper rate or some other spiff.
No idea where the data came from, but I heard it from both the Uber COO + Lucid's acting CEO.
OTOH, @robpegoraro.com dug up a study that suggests it's a bit lower than that: 83%.
So, I was of the exact same viewpoint without thinking hard about it.
I do believe that robotaxis will come to parts of the country by 2030. Geofenced, under only some operating conditions, but I do see the technology getting there.
As for " #Tesla gold dust" ... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !! Hard disagree.
(a) This one does have a shorter wheelbase;
(b) My article in @caranddriver.bsky.social tomorrow will lay it out in more detail; and
(c) Not sure if you saw this, but relevant. So there's considerable contact + experience between Lucid + Uber already.
The argument is minimizing operating costs is hugely important to robotaxi operators. Eliminating 2 empty seats that aren't used on 90+% of rides lowers vehicle weight, meaning smaller battery, faster charges, and most importantly very, very high efficiency. Lucid suggested 6 to 6.5 mi/kWh for this.
bsky.app/profile/john...
I suspect "# of passengers" will become a standard part of the app request.
Watch for my @caranddriver.bsky.social story ...