clifff @clifff

2 posts2 participants0 posts today

**Tina M Casey** @Casey@newsie.social · 4d

US startup picks up EV battery swapping ball dropped by Tesla

https://cleantechnica.com/2025/03/19/ev-battery-swapping-to-earth-how-do-you-like-me-now/

CleanTechnica · 4dTokyo to Trial New 5-Minute EV Battery Swapping SystemThe US-based EV battery swapping innovator Ample is bringing its lightweight, modular, 5-minute battery exchange system to Tokyo.

#evs #electricvehicles #electriccars

**Tina M Casey** @Casey@mastodon.green · 4d

Tina M Casey @Casey@mastodon.green

US startup picks up EV battery swapping ball dropped by Tesla

https://cleantechnica.com/2025/03/19/ev-battery-swapping-to-earth-how-do-you-like-me-now/

#evs #electricvehicles #electriccars

Continued thread

**ˈdälfən™** @dalfen@mstdn.social · 6d

ˈdälfən™ @dalfen@mstdn.social

~ Trump’s Unwelcome News to Auto Chiefs: Buckle Up for What’s to Come ~

But in a statement provided by the White House, Mr. Navarro described Mr. Trump's advisers as following his lead, characterizing them as "a diverse group with complementary skill sets and a high level of trust with names like Bessent, Greer, Hassett and Lutnick who debate behind closed doors and emerge as 'one band, one sound." There have been few exceptions granted. Ms. Rollins heard from farmers who wanted an exemption for potash, an important ingredient for fertilizer. Mr. Trump ultimately agreed to a reduced 10 percent tariff, but was unhappy about the reprieve, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. In a statement, Ms. Rollins said the president's "reduction of tariffs on potash is a critical step in helping farmers manage and secure key input costs at the height of planting season while reinforcing long- term agricultural trade relations." But in many other cases, Mr. Trump has seemed far less willing to offer significant industry exemptions than he was in his first term.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/trump-tariffs-auto-industry-corporate-executives.html

Accessed: 17 March 2025 at 1645 CST

While some industry executives have tried to push back during discussions with the White House, very few have said anything publicly; those who did earned the ire of the Trump administration. Those who have spoken privately have generally sandwiched any criticism of Mr. Trump between lavish praise. Some companies have been "intimidated" about pushing back on tariffs, wary of becoming some kind of target, Mr. Reinsch said. "Nobody wants to go public," he said, "because they're concerned about the consequences." But those companies are still counting on policies they favor, such as tax cuts and deregulation. Jonathan Swan is a White House reporter covering the administration of Donald J. Trump. More about Jonathan Swan Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent, reporting on the second, nonconsecutive term of Donald J. Trump. More about Maggie Haberman Ana Swanson covers trade and international economics for The Times and is based in Washington. She has been a journalist for more than a decade. More about Ana Swanson

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/trump-tariffs-auto-industry-corporate-executives.html

Accessed: 17 March 2025 at 1645 CST

#USA #Canada #Mexico

Continued thread

**ˈdälfən™** @dalfen@mstdn.social · 6d

ˈdälfən™ @dalfen@mstdn.social

~ Trump’s Unwelcome News to Auto Chiefs: Buckle Up for What’s to Come ~

He feels that so far the pressure has worked, aides say, citing Mexico's willingness to stem the flow of undocumented migrants and fentanyl into the United States. Even after Mexico came forward with those measures, Mr. Trump still pushed forward with 25 percent tariffs before pausing their application on a number of items.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/trump-tariffs-auto-industry-corporate-executives.html

Accessed: 17 March 2025 at 1645 CST

One of the biggest differences between the first term and now is that Mr. Trump is far more confident in his instincts and has stocked his team with people who echo them. He rarely hears strong dissenting views about his economic policies. Mr. Trump received fierce opposition to tariffs in his first term from those who said they would raise costs for consumers and businesses and slow the economy. His team included people Mr. Trump would derisively refer to as "globalists" - like Steven Mnuchin, the treasury secretary at the time, and the economic adviser Gary Cohn, who worked with others to stop tariffs by taking papers from the president's desk, and showed the president charts and maps to illustrate the benefits of trade. Other aides, like Larry Kudlow, were less confrontational but still skeptical of a protectionist trade policy.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/trump-tariffs-auto-industry-corporate-executives.html

Accessed: 17 March 2025 at 1645 CST

Mr. Trump's hard-line trade adviser Peter Navarro used to have Oval Office shouting matches against the so-called globalists. Now, returning for a second term, Mr. Navarro's disputes with other advisers are more nuanced. Mr. Bessent was a hedge fund executive, and Mr. Lutnick was the chief executive of the Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald. But both have publicly embraced tariffs before they were granted their jobs. And whatever they think about the tariffs privately, nobody is sitting across the Resolute Desk from Mr. Trump, strenuously arguing against his economic ideas. His current team's arguments revolve around public messaging about the tariffs, as well as exemptions and the scale and timing of the tariffs, but no one is challenging the idea of using them in some form.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/trump-tariffs-auto-industry-corporate-executives.html

Accessed: 17 March 2025 at 1645 CST

Nor is Mr. Trump hearing strong dissent from Capitol Hill. Republican lawmakers are either converts to protectionism or cowed against speaking out. The Wall Street Journal editorial board is the rare right-leaning institution still consistently challenging his approach to trade. Mr. Lutnick, who is also overseeing the U.S. trade office, receives many calls from unhappy business leaders, along with the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and the agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins. On the night of March 13, Mr. Lutnick, Mr. Bessent, Kevin Hassett, who is the National Economic Council director, and a few others met at the Naval Observatory with Vice President JD Vance to discuss having a cohesive public message about the economy, amid complaints from allies about inconsistency, according to four people briefed on the meeting. White House officials declined to comment on the meeting.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/trump-tariffs-auto-industry-corporate-executives.html

Accessed: 17 March 2025 at 1645 CST

#USA #Canada #Mexico

Continued thread

**ˈdälfən™** @dalfen@mstdn.social · 6d

ˈdälfən™ @dalfen@mstdn.social

~ Trump’s Unwelcome News to Auto Chiefs: Buckle Up for What’s to Come ~

One of Mr. Trump's advisers, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations, said the Biden presidency proved to Mr. Trump that the stock market is not a foolproof barometer of the economy's future, nor a useful indicator of voter sentiment. If it were, Mr. Biden, who presided over a booming stock market, would surely be the president, the adviser said, explaining Mr. Trump's thinking.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/trump-tariffs-auto-industry-corporate-executives.html

Accessed: 17 March 2025 at 1645 CST

Advisers say Mr. Trump knows that foreign leaders are watching to see whether he follows through on his threats, looking for signs of weakness. They have said he believes that backing off his tariffs would permanently damage his preferred image as a strongman. Sometimes he has granted absolution of sorts - like when he exempted from tariffs products from Canada and Mexico that comply with his North American trade deal. But he has repeatedly said that more and bigger tariffs are on the way. Business leaders are now rapidly reassessing the cheerful assumptions that had guided their thinking since Election Day.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/trump-tariffs-auto-industry-corporate-executives.html

Accessed: 17 March 2025 at 1645 CST

Bill Reinsch, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former Commerce Department official, said Mr. Trump had been explicit in the campaign about his intentions, and that his tariff proposals this time have been much deeper and broader than in his first term. "I think he was clear," he said. "I don't think people paid much attention." Their misread is understandable. In the lead-up to the 2024 election, Mr. Trump's new crop of economic advisers sent reassuring signals to Wall Street. Their public remarks suggested that Mr. Trump's second-term trade policy would be much the same as the first. In September, Howard Lutnick, now the commerce secretary, described tariffs as a "bargaining chip" that would ultimately lead to freer markets. And Scott Bessent, who became Mr. Trump's treasury secretary, wrote in a letter to his clients last year that "the tariff gun will always be loaded and on the table but rarely discharged."

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/trump-tariffs-auto-industry-corporate-executives.html

Accessed: 17 March 2025 at 1645 CST

It is still possible that Mr. Trump backs away from some of his tariffs, but if he's contemplating a reversal it would be news to his closest advisers. Mr. Trump has said repeatedly he plans to issue much more extensive tariffs on April 2, and his advisers have told foreign officials and chief executives that he won't be deterred. His comments to his cabinet secretaries and aides in Oval Office meetings track with his public rhetoric, according to two people with direct knowledge, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. Mr. Trump personally drafts or dictates his Truth Social posts that threaten ever- escalating tariffs as China, Canada and the European Union retaliate against his provocations. Even former aides who think his maximalist approach is the wrong one say he has a valid point about how China and Europe have treated the United States unfairly when it comes to trade.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/trump-tariffs-auto-industry-corporate-executives.html

Accessed: 17 March 2025 at 1645 CST

#USA #Canada #Mexico

**ˈdälfən™** @dalfen@mstdn.social · 6d

ˈdälfən™ @dalfen@mstdn.social

Trump tells the US auto industry to buckle up and get ready for his tariff ride.

(article screenshots follow in next post)

Trump's Unwelcome News to Auto Chiefs: Buckle Up for What's to Come President Trump's approach to tariffs has unsettled many corporate leaders who believed he would use the levies as a negotiating tool. As it turns out, he sees them as an end in themselves.

NYT headline, 17 March 2025

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/trump-tariffs-auto-industry-corporate-executives.html

#USA #Canada #Mexico

**Tina M Casey** @Casey@newsie.social · Mar 15

Mar 15

Tina M Casey @Casey@newsie.social

BMW aims to fill the EV sales gap left by Tesla, with hydrogen fuel cell EVs in the mix as well.

https://cleantechnica.com/2025/03/15/bmw-spots-an-ev-sales-opportunity-as-tesla-tumbles/

CleanTechnica · Mar 15BMW Spots An EV Sales Opportunity As Tesla TumblesBMW Group is revving up its EV sales and production engine in Europe and elsewhere around the globe as EV demand continues to rise.

#bmw #bmwgroup #bmwi3

**Tina M Casey** @Casey@mastodon.green · Mar 15

Mar 15

Tina M Casey @Casey@mastodon.green

BMW aims to fill the EV sales gap left by Tesla, with hydrogen fuel cell EVs in the mix as well.

https://cleantechnica.com/2025/03/15/bmw-spots-an-ev-sales-opportunity-as-tesla-tumbles/

#bmw #bmwgroup #bmwi3

**RonSupportsYou** @RonSupportsYou@mastodon.social · Mar 14

Mar 14

RonSupportsYou @RonSupportsYou@mastodon.social

Sen. Mark Kelly: "I bought a Tesla because it was fast like a rocket ship. But now every time I drive it, I feel like a rolling billboard for a man dismantling our government and hurting people. So Tesla, you’re fired!" #politics #automobiles #Musk

**John Arnold** @JohnDA@vivaldi.net · Mar 14

Mar 14

John Arnold @JohnDA@vivaldi.net

_The Evening Post_, 15 March 1924:
SENSATIONAL MOTORING
N.Z. RECORD BROKEN
BY
ESSEX CAR
——
AUCKLAND – WELLINGTON IN
13 HOURS 19 MINUTES.
DRENCHED to the skin, plastered in mud, and shivering with cold, Norman Smith, better known as “Wizard” Smith, of Sydney, reached the Wellington Post Office at 6.34 on Thursday evening in an Essex racing car,…498 miles [800 km]…from Auckland in 13 hours 19 minutes…the new record has been achieved in the worst possible conditions as regards the weather,…slippery, mountainous, and winding roads…. the strain was necessarily enormous, and, although both he and his mechanic, Ben Campbell,… were in the pink of condition, they were both feeling the effects of the marvellous feat.… His car was a four-cylinder Essex, 18 h.p., two seater.…
[Details of incidents]
CAUSES OF DELAY
That Smith is capable of clipping at least 2½ hours off his present record may be believed from the…avoidable delays which occurred:—Attention to exhaust, 15 minutes; accident, 47; wrong turning, 18; punt at Mokau River, 17; bad roads and rain between Levin and Wellington, 30; motor-lorry on road between Paraparaumu and Paekakariki, 40—a total of 2 hours 47 minutes…
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19240315.2.183

Black-and-white photo montage: Thrilling motor sports at Muriwai Beach last Saturday: the Auckland Automobile Association’s speed tests. 1924. Description: Snapshots from the motor racing sports at Muriwai Beach which attracted 5000 motorists and spectators. 1. The natural grandstand at the start line: showing crowds seated on the sand dunes and a small aeroplane flying low across beach. 2. Officials on the judge’s stand. 3. Spectators in a car watching the race for the New Zealand Motor Cup (50 miles). 4. H. Natrass [Howard Nattrass], winner of the cup, in his Mercer car. 5. A view of the road to the beach, busy with cars and pedestrians. 6. The Austin that won the New Zealand Light Car Cup (50 miles). 7. The Essex competing in the race, in which it finished in third place. 8. Start of the Touring Car Handicap. Mr L. Howden’s Durant (18) winner. 9. Cars belonging to visitors parked in a valley near the beach. Citation: Supplement to the Auckland Weekly News, 27 March 1924, p. 39. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19240327-39-01. https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/247247

Black-and-white photo: Detail from the other attached photo showing the Essex racing car, possibly driven by “Wizard” Smith.

#OnThisDay #OTD #PapersPast

**Matthewchat** @MatthewChat@mstdn.social · Mar 12 *

Mar 12 *

Matthewchat @MatthewChat@mstdn.social

#musk #tesla #automobiles

**Imogen** @HopelessDemigod@mstdn.social · Mar 3

Mar 3

Imogen @HopelessDemigod@mstdn.social

#Finance #Automobiles #Inflation

Bloomberg) -- Impending tariffs on Canada and Mexico risk driving up US car prices by as much as $12,000, further squeezing consumers and wreaking havoc across the intricate web of automotive supply lines spanning the continent.

“That kind of cost increase will lead directly — and I expect almost immediately — to a decline in sales of the models that have the biggest trade impacts,” Patrick Anderson, CEO of Anderson Economic Group, said in an interview.

**Ben Higbie** @BenHigbie@mastodon.social · Feb 27

Feb 27

Ben Higbie @BenHigbie@mastodon.social

1964 Meyers Manx Dune Buggy

a photo of a blue and black and chrome dune buggy, large black tires, it looks really stylish and fast and fun

a photo of the interior of the vehicle, the seats have plaid fabric on them, the dashboard black, there are large silver roll bars on it, the convertible top down

the vehicle seen from the side, it is facing right, with the convertible top up, it is black colored

a photo of the shield-style decal on the hood, it is a lion in silver on black holding a sword, facing left, the company name underneath it

#auto #automobiles #automobile

**Tina M Casey** @Casey@newsie.social · Feb 26

Feb 26

Tina M Casey @Casey@newsie.social

Real estate giant CBRE still bullish on EV charging, Trump or no Trump.

https://cleantechnica.com/2025/02/26/new-ev-charging-scheme-taps-into-big-juicy-ev-sales-opportunity/

CleanTechnica · Feb 26New EV Charging Scheme Taps Hidden EV Sales OpportunitiesA new EV charging business model is finally cracking a tough-to-crack EV sales bottleneck at apartment buildings.

#evcharging #evchargers #evchargingstations

**Tina M Casey** @Casey@mastodon.green · Feb 26

Feb 26

Tina M Casey @Casey@mastodon.green

Real estate giant CBRE still bullish on EV charging, Trump or no Trump.

https://cleantechnica.com/2025/02/26/new-ev-charging-scheme-taps-into-big-juicy-ev-sales-opportunity/

CleanTechnica · Feb 26New EV Charging Scheme Taps Hidden EV Sales OpportunitiesA new EV charging business model is finally cracking a tough-to-crack EV sales bottleneck at apartment buildings.

#evcharging #evchargers #evchargingstations

**Jake Brown** @JacoBrown@pixelfed.social · Feb 22

Feb 22

Jake Brown @JacoBrown@pixelfed.social

Caught a sleek Datsun 1600 pickup truck today

#portland #oregon #pdx #pnw #ippawards #cars #trucks #automobiles #antiques #datsun #nissan #photography #iphone #iphoneography

#iphoneography

**Bruce MacDonald** @rationaldoge@hachyderm.io · Feb 20

Feb 20

Bruce MacDonald @rationaldoge@hachyderm.io

The moose is Minnesota’s largest wild animal.

Strib: 'Sheriff’s Cmdr. Nate Skelton said Wednesday that [19-year-old Ava] Knutsen “was trapped but got out on their own.”

'The moose was collected by the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for its next stop, a food bank, Skelton said.

'Skelton said vehicles hitting moose is “a fairly common” occurrence in his county, “but not as often as deer hits, mind you. I’d just as soon hit a deer as a moose. They are pretty much an immovable object.”'
https://www.startribune.com/night-driver-hits-immovable-object-a-large-moose-on-iron-range-highway/601225449

www.startribune.com · Feb 19Night driver hits ‘immovable object’ — a large moose — on Iron Range highwayAs for the fate of the animal, the Sheriff’s Office reported that “sadly, the moose did not survive.”

#Minnesota #moose #automobiles