Looking Back at 2017

2017 has admittedly been a somewhat slow year for us. With lots going on in our personal lives, it's been hard to post regularly. Still, 2017 was still an eventful year for us in automotive terms. As East Brother is currently on vacation, I will share some of my favorite automotive moments from 2017.

Cadillac Truth + Dare 

Earlier this year, East Brother and I attended an event put on by Cadillac called the "Truth + Dare" driving event. It was an event put on to highlight some of the technological and performance aspects of Cadillac's newest crop of vehicles. This wasn't something we covered here on the blog, but ended up on our own personal Instagram accounts instead. Still, despite the coverage, we had a blast at the event. The highlights being getting to floor both an ATS-V and CTS-V down a 1/8 mile course, and getting to flog some cars through a small autocross course.

Instagram

Speaking of Instagram, we finally have an Instagram account! I know, it only took us a few years to hop on the bandwagon. You can find us @eastwestbrothers.

Alfa Romeo Giulia

2017 marked the year Alfa Romeo was serious about returning to the mainstream American auto market with the Giulia mid-size luxury/sport sedan. East Brother and I managed to snag a test drive a few months after it hit the market at our local Rusnak Fiat/Maserati/Alfa Romeo dealership. While we both walked away impressed with how the car drove and looked, the interior was well below our expectations of a car costing north of $50k (as equipped). Of course, there was also Alfa's "legendary" reliability issues constantly nagging us in the back of our minds. 

A few months ago though, I had noticed that the dealer had vanished. Considering that at the time of testing, the Giulia was probably only doing about 2,000 units per month, it was really no surprise that Rusnak decided to abandon ship. It's a fantastic car, and I really want to like it and recommend it to people, but the reliability issue and company longevity issue really makes it hard to like and recommend. Damn shame too because it's such a fantastic driving and gorgeous looking car. 

East Brother's Chevy Bolt

East Brother acquired a new vehicle this year with a new Chevy Bolt EV. I was never a huge fan of his Ford Focus EV, but the Bolt, despite looking funny, impressed me with its performance and level of technology. Funny how we now have two cars in our fleet in a shade of  "pull me over" blue. I think we've agreed to stick with the theme and possibly get our next car in a similar shade of blue.

Vehicle Retirements

2017 also marks the year we sent two of our long term cars back to their respective manufacturers: our 2014 Acura RLX and 2014 Ford Focus EV. You can read about our respective final thoughts on both of these vehicles here and here.   

I hope that 2018 proves to be an even more exciting year for us. 

Stay safe everyone, and Happy New Year!

Long Term Test: 2014 Ford Focus Electric post #4

Update #4
Mileage: 11,533

Owning an electric car may require some sacrifices in terms of planning trips around the vehicle's range, but there are a number of real world incentives that can take some of the sting out of that extra effort. When we first got our Focus Electric, the first thing I did was spend a good amount of time researching the incentives that we qualified for and applying for all of the appropriate ones that would likely benefit us.

The most important one is of course the $2,500 electric vehicle rebate that the state of California supplies to EV buyers. While this benefit has changed, it still allows a large number of EV buyers to take between a $1,500 to $4,000 rebate for the purchase of an EV. The extra funds really helps to reduce the vehicle ownership cost. In some states, the rebates are large enough that it makes the ownership cost almost nothing. When we visited friends in Georgia during our cross-country road trip, we talked to them about their Nissan Leaf, which they said that between the federal incentive of $7,500 and the state incentive of $5,000, their lease costs them only a few dollars a month and the amount they saved on gas means that the car actually was a net positive for them.

Product Review: Kuat Sherpa and Torklift Central EcoHitch

As an avid cyclist, one of the biggest challenges is finding the right way to travel with my bike. When it is just me, throwing the bike in the back of the car and packing a light day bag is not an issue. However, add in my wife, her bike, her stuff, our dog, and our dog's stuff, things start to get a bit crowded pretty quick. With the Focus, there is adequate space for one person, but definitely not enough for two plus the dog, which means we needed to look for a suitable solution to carry the bikes on the outside of the bike. Having experienced a trunk mounted solution during our cross country road trip, I was not particularly keen on going that route in part because it is not the easiest to put on and take off on short notice. I knew I still did not want a roof mounted solution because of the fuel economy penalty, especially given the already limited range of the EV.

After doing some research, I decided that the best solution was going to be a hitch-mounted rack. Going that route offered all manners of platform options, which was an absolute must because of my carbon fiber bike, but presented the minor hurdle that the Focus EV is not offered with a hitch. More research and digging around on the web resulted in the discovery of a few aftermarket solutions that bolted right on, would not affect the warranty, and could be easily removed before turning the car in at the end of the lease.

A few months worth of research resulted in my decision to go with the EcoHitch from Torklift Central in combination with the Kuat Sherpa hitch mount rack.

Long Term Test: 2014 Ford Focus Electric post #3

Update #3
Current mileage: 7,523
Average MPGe: 114

A big part of EV ownership, especially of one if these first generation cars, is a need for planning ahead. Some people feel that is a huge limitation as they want the freedom to just jump in their car and drive anytime they want. I freely admit that I am still one of those people at heart, but a super busy schedule lately in conjunction with a number of personal obligations means I get to do that less and less. Add to that the fact that being in Southern California means I have the flexibility to hop on my motorcycle any time to satisfy my wanderlust and on warmer days, I can always take my bicycles out as well. Luckily for us, since my wife and I share a car, we are always planning our car use anyway, which means we are planning things out well in advance anyhow. That is not to say that we have not run into some slightly hairy situations.

Of course, our lifestyle and choice of residency location allows us to take full advantage of an EV. In the 13 months we have owned the car, we have encountered only one trip that we could not complete in the EV, and it was a longer road trip where we brought our bicycles along. Otherwise, getting around town has largely been problem free, although not totally range anxiety free. There has been one incident where we were holding our breath, hoping not to run out of juice. Luckily, we made it, if just barely. Fortunately, the public charging network in Southern California is quite good and relatively plentiful, so sometimes if a top-off is needed, it is usually possible to find a place to plug in for a bit. Some of the chargers are not in the most fun places, but that's when a good old-fashioned nap is the best choice.

During these first 13 months, the little silver hatch has already suffered some indignities to its pristine condition. Traveling anywhere away from home means things like door dings are inevitable, Aside from that, though, there was one incident that was the result of an inattentive driver rear-ending the car on the freeway in bumper-to-bumper traffic and another involving a low retaining wall. The resulting damage in both incidents was rather surprisingly pricey to fix. Fortunately, everything is fully repaired and there seem to be no ill effects resulting from the incidents.

In the meantime, the car continues to drive well and I am still regularly surprised by how dramatic a difference it is going from the EV into a regular car. The low-end torque and nearly silent travel are definitely going to be hard to give up to go back to gasoline. That and the 114 mpg equivalent.

Editorial: The future of green cars - how the Tesla Model S changed everything for me

The perfect example of the horrid looking EV, the
Mitsubishi i-MIEV (photo courtesy of Mitsubishi)

I was not a fan of green cars. To me, they were always pitifully under-powered, insect-looking, miserable little cars that could never meet the real needs of an enthusiast. When I was growing up, electric cars were little more than glorified golf carts and hybrids had been adopted by such a particular set of buyers that being remotely associated with that group made me sick to my stomach. Deep in my psyche, though, I knew that the era of the fossil fuel swilling internal combustion engine would have to draw to a close someday, quite possibly within my lifetime, but as an enthusiast, I saw no viable alternative.

Tesla Roadster (photo courtesy of Tesla Motors)

Then, a ray of hope breached the gloom, illuminating an underdog manufacturer scrambling to demonstrate that electric vehicles did not have to be horrible, whiny, plasticky pieces of junk that crept along at a snail's pace. The arrival of the Tesla Roadster marked a turning point in my paradigm, opening the door to a whole world of possibilities of alternative energy powered vehicles. Sure the Lotus-derived roadster had some rough edges and the range was still far below that of a fossil fuel powered car, it at least demonstrated that electric cars could not only be fun, they could be stylish as well.

Preview: Quick look at the Tesla Model S

Earlier this winter, I had the occasion to pay a visit to the Tesla store in Santa Monica, CA where they had the Model S on display. While I have seen the Tesla Model S in photos, this was the first time that I had seen the luxury EV in person and I must admit, it looks every bit as impressive in person as it does on paper. In addition to being able to see the exterior, I had the opportunity to sit in the car and play with some of the controls, touch the surfaces, and see many of the cars basic functions in action. Unfortunately, a test drive was not in the cards, but I was able to spend enough time to get some good impressions of many aspects of the car.