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Factors To Consider When Buying Your Next Car

Internal combustion engine, Hybrid, or Electric Vehicles: Which one Should You Invest in Next?

We are living in interesting, changing times where we have an environmental impact. Knowingly or unknowingly we do make a difference and especially for our kids in the near future. The most intriguing fact is I found many of my clients buy the wrong car for their intended use or intended purpose. This in many cases results in premature wear and excessive cost over time. It is a very complex problem as everyone has a different need and especially after the pandemic perhaps a different criteria for their daily needs. We don’t have a system where you can just ask AI what should I buy as my next automobile, here are my needs and this is what I do daily.

What do you think? Should I buy an electric (BEV) or a hybrid (PHEV) or a mild hybrid, or perhaps a traditional Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle for my daily needs?

First, let me briefly summarize the main differences between electric (BEV), hybrid (PHEV), and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles:

Electric vehicles (EVs) run solely on electricity stored in batteries that can be recharged from an external power source. They have zero tailpipe emissions, high efficiency, low maintenance costs, and instant torque. However, they also have higher initial costs, limited range, longer charging times, and dependence on charging infrastructure.

Hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) combine an electric motor and a gas engine that can work together or separately to power the vehicle. They can run on electricity, gas, or both, depending on the driving conditions and battery level. They have lower emissions, better fuel economy, and more flexibility than ICE vehicles. However, they also have higher initial costs, lower performance, and more complexity than EVs or ICE vehicles.

Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles run on gasoline, diesel, or other fossil fuels that are burned in an engine to produce power. They have lower initial costs, longer range, shorter refueling times, and more availability than EVs or PHEVs. However, they also have higher emissions, lower efficiency, higher maintenance costs, and more noise and vibration than EVs or PHEVs.

There are more factors to consider, when you purchase your next vehicle.

Your driving habits: How often and how far do you drive? Do you drive mostly in the city or on the highway? Do you need a lot of power or speed? Do you face a lot of traffic or congestion?

Your budget: How much can you afford to spend on the purchase, operation, and maintenance of your vehicle? How much do you value fuel savings, tax incentives, or resale value?

Your environmental impact: How much do you care about reducing your carbon footprint, air pollution, or noise pollution? How do you source your electricity or fuel?

Your convenience: How easy is it for you to access charging stations or gas stations? How much time are you willing to spend on charging or refueling? How comfortable are you with using new technology or features?

I listed above a few, factors to consider when you buy a new car, however I can talk about this subject for hours. Contact me for more.

Phone:
(1) 905.795.0419.

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Should I Buy an Electric Car or Not

The great conundrum is, should I buy an electric car or not?

The movement towards electrification is on us, we are told all around us. Correct?! Electric cars are not for everyone yet, due to lack of proper affordable and convenient infrastructure in general. The electric car prices are still too high, especially with current interest rates.

Electric Car Sales Are Stalling

Not so fast, presently the electric car sales are stalling, dealers are sitting on piles of unsold electric cars. What is really happening, what will happen to all the mandated percentage of electric cars that must be sold across the board?

Consider this, your entire life or civilization is supported by oil across the board. The food you eat was raised, grown, planted and harvested by machines which are fueled by diesel or gasoline.

Tractors Running on Diesel

To grow food you need soil, then you need potash which needs to be mined then transported to the field. Then you need some additional fertilizer which is made from natural gas. The field needs to be plowed by tractors, seeds planted. Then if all goes well it needs to be harvested by tractors running on diesel.

When all is said and done then the harvest has to be transported from the farm to the factory for further processing, and from there has to be transported to your favorite grocery store.

The Human Civilization Based on Crude Oil

When you look deep inside our civilized world, the entire human civilization, production, transportation is all based on the mighty crude oil, on average 20 million barrels a day!

Humanity built our life, our society around the availability of crude oil and its derivatives for the last hundred years or so. Therefore it will take at least two decades to switch over to an alternative source of energy.

Probably en mass by 2050 perhaps due to lack of infrastructure, lack of charging and lack of available materials to manufacture the required high capacity batteries.

Reasonably Priced – Not Yet

This whole conversion has to be reasonably priced, widely available and convenient to use. Otherwise we will have even more out priced electric cars on dealer’s lots to be sold at enormous incentives.

Did you know a lithium mine takes at least a decade to put into production? Then you need to refine that lithium salt which is currently very energy intensive, and most of it done in China. The mining equipment is all running on diesel, including the generators. The lithium has to be shipped by bunker oil on gigantic boats across the ocean. After the refinery it must be shipped again to another destination for final manufacturing. Then the batteries have to be shipped to the auto manufacturer. When all said and done the electric vehicle must be transported to the dealership with a diesel truck of course.

Electrification Will Take Decades

Then for final words, look around. There is a lot of plastic around you, all made from crude oil. I’m not a skeptic, I like to think realistically, electrification will take decades, so hang on to your chair so to say it will be a bumpy ride occasionally.

I am Driving Hybrids, Should I buy an Electric Car or Not?

Mind you I have been driving hybrids for over 9 years and to boot I commute to work by bicycle daily.

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The new BMW 3 Series

For a very long time, the BMW 3 Series was the car to beat in the market for premium compact sedans. Recently the competition has caught up, with the likes of the Mercedes C-Class and the sharply styled Lexus.

The next BMW 3-series will be the most efficient yet, with at least two plug-in hybrid models and a miserly three cylinder engine promising to dip below the 100g/km CO2 emissions threshold.

New BMW 3 Series

The new car, codenamed G20, will also major on improved dynamics, better quality materials and enhanced safety in a bid to reclaim ground lost to the Mercedes C-class.

The hybrid option-will be a 1.5-litre with a 60kWe electric motor, good for approximately 30 mile range and the more performance oriented 2.0 liter with the 90 KW electric motor will offer approximately 50 EV miles.

The more conventional modular four and six pot engines will still account for the bulk of
sales.

The next M3 / M4 will adopt electronic turbochargers, and water injections, inspired by the forthcoming current generation of M4 GTS.

The dynamic brief is to fuse cushy ride with sportier handling, via adjustable dampers, switchable anti roll bars, second generation active steering and a new torque vectoring system, which piggybacks ABS and DSC.

Longer wheel base, wider track, lower center of gravity, and lighter overall weight will enhance the handling road holding as well.

On the quality front BMW will invest in better materials for carpets rubber seals and sill covers to re-take the premium crown.

In addition the 3 Series will be a techno tour, de-force that can park itself via remote control. It will stay in lane or change lines if required, overtake if needed under certain conditions, brake when required will drive semi autonomously on the road. This feature is especially helpful in stop and go traffic up to 60 kilometers in hour.

Although the 3 series cockpit looks familiar, it boasts a variety of new high quality instrument graphics, a more comprehensive head up display and a large color monitor in the center stack which blends touchscreen access, gesture control and voice activation with the existing iDrive controller.

G20 will be built on the flexible new cluster architecture chassis and will be designed with sharper creases and harder edges than the current car.

Expect to see it on the road in North America in 2018.

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