Extra, Extra....Read All About It!

[eddiet1212]

Rivian now has a bedroom to go with its kitchen

Rivian and camping gear company iKamper have launched a new tent designed for the R1T electric truck that’s based on iKamper’s Skycamp 3.0 Mini pop-out tent. The $4,595 Skycamp Mini add-on stows away in a hardshell case that fits over Rivian’s bed rack and pops out to the side of the truck with a ladder to help you climb inside.

Rivian now has a bedroom to go with its kitchen

Stowaway tent plus self-inflating mattress.

www.theverge.com

 

[Dana]

According to this article, teslas have a habit of disengaging autopilot right before an unavoidable accident - https://electrek.co/2025/03/17/tesla-fans-exposes-shadiness-defend-autopilot-crash/

I’d actually put this down to the driver disengaging. I think it’d be difficult to not jerk your hand or step on the brake in imminent collision. Human action absolutely always takes precedence over Autopilot features. If you’re at any speed it’ll go nuts if it doesn’t feel torque on the yoke. Originally it wasn’t that sensitive but each year it’s gotten worse. And now the interior camera tries to watch your eyes but gets mad if you look at the navigation screen…it’s a lot of knee jerk reaction and has made the car perform worse than they used to. I ended up placing a sticker over the camera.

 

[Dana]

Honestly, I fully support the Tariffs. Being able to manufacture a car cheap in Mexico and Canada and then charging the crap out of the American Consumer is moronic. I think making it America and charging a fair amount is way better than having to know the rip off that's happening. I can't wait for them to go back in place, and for the pause to be undone.

I am in finance for a manufacturing facility. Here’s how that can play out…of course there’s a zillion different scenarios for different manufacturers.

A U.S. manufacturer builds a machine paying the US factory guys over $30/hr with full benefits. A lot of parts…castings, hydraulics, deer proof bumpers, snow plows…are made at satellite facilities or by local third parties who also pay good wages and benefits. The more machines you make the more hours, and overtime, all those folks make. And your fixed costs of the plant go down so the company is making more money and researching new products like the rooftop tent or a solar roof.

But tariffs hit. And the 25%-35% of parts you source overseas are more expensive. The wiring harness or bolts. And maybe you’re buying your bolts from a US company making them but they get the steel from overseas so there’s still tariff cost added on. Or maybe the company gets bolts from a company using US steel and price goes up that way…but, hey, there’s five more smelting jobs at the steel plant.

So now your top quality machine is 10%-15% more expensive. So you sell less of them…that’s just how that works. So you reduce factory hours. You don’t rehire for folks who retire, etc. And you buy less of the 65%-75% parts that were wholey US. And, you don’t need as much steel anymore so they lay off two of the five smelters. All of those parts suppliers lay off or reduce hours. And this happens all over the country. As more folks are unemployed other businesses suffer…you don’t get the new boots, your daughter doesn’t get her hair professionally done from prom, etc., etc..

Eventually a company starts shifting manufacturing. The casket maker in Missouri who sells to Canada, the US and Mexico realizes they’re paying tariffs on steel coming in and their buyers are getting hit with tariffs on the other side so they really aren’t selling many caskets in the markets they used to. So they open a factory in Mexico. And that factory builds all the caskets they ship to anywhere but the US. And the US facility only makes what will be sold in the US…and less build means less hours which means less people. Tariffs can drive manufacturing overseas.

Already there are Buy American regulations for products sold to government. If a national park needs a truck for its rangers that truck has to meet a US origin requirement. This is good.

Very targeted tariffs to prevent very specific actions are also good. But wholesale tariffs will drive up prices for us and destroy overseas markets for our products which tend to be higher value items, like a Scout, rather the $10 decal printed in the Bahamas.

I guess what kinda angers me is that the tariffs are a indirect tax on us. The administration can claim they aren’t raising income taxes but they are raising billions in an indirect tax on us to pay for very expensive tax cuts for the wealthiest in our country…while our veterans lose suicide hotlines and seniors dependent on Medicaid for nursing homes are in jeopardy.

Anyway, hope my perspective on tariffs helps anyone who has not worked in large scale manufacturing before.

 

[Dana]

I really don't see the tariffs going in place. All this is at the moment is a game of Delay.

But it shifts behavior, and not for the better. If you’re Japan buying soybeans from North Dakota and all of a sudden those soybeans are 25% more expensive, or rumored will be, you look to buy from somewhere else. And even if US is like, eh, never mind, just kidding…the trust is gone. You want a reliable source of soybeans. And the North Dakota farmer has lost that market for YEARS. Long enough to lose the farm.

I’m assuming you work, or are retired. You’re working, got a mortgage and Scout car loan to pay. Your employer keeps telling you that he’s gonna half to cut your wages, just has to, business is bad. Are you going to sit back and say, well, I’m sure everything will be fine or are you sending resumes out for a more reliable employer so you have more confidence that you’ll make your mortgage payments? It doesn’t actually matter that he hasn’t cut your wages yet…your behavior has shifted.

 

[Dana]

“Tesla Takedown” movement plans 500 protests in 277 stores, Superchargers

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) stated that March 29 is her birthday, and “all I want to see happen on my birthday is for Elon to be taken down.”

www.teslarati.com

Really feel bad for Tesla and everyone that uses them on the daily. Try to avoid them on the 29th or stand your ground and go to them. This should be illegal. Tell you local and state authorities to keep an eye out.

I drive a Tesla and I’m not angry about the protests. I’m not even angry about the fires. Musk just shouldn’t have entered politics…and he’s destroying a lot of really good things, and peoples lives with it. I understand. I love National Parks and I’m worried for them. But, first and foremost, protecting our ability to disagree with government is paramount. It is a cornerstone to the Constitution. Peaceful protests are , historically, more successful than non peaceful though.

 

[THil08]

If im being honest my opinion hasn’t changed. Tariff is still the most beautiful word in the dictionary.

 

[THil08]

I drive a Tesla and I’m not angry about the protests. I’m not even angry about the fires. Musk just shouldn’t have entered politics…and he’s destroying a lot of really good things, and peoples lives with it. I understand. I love National Parks and I’m worried for them. But, first and foremost, protecting our ability to disagree with government is paramount. It is a cornerstone to the Constitution. Peaceful protests are , historically, more successful than non peaceful though.

Not really its gonna make taxes less since there will be less government wages to pay by cutting jobs that were unnecessary that the employees weren’t working or showing up to the office. And it will create more real jobs for the economy.

From your statement I guess you would rather higher taxes. We obviously have two totally different views.

Too political so get off the topic.

 

[THil08]

Hyundai to Invest $21 Billion in US in Bid to Avoid Trump’s Tariffs

Hyundai already makes cars in the United States, in Georgia and Alabama.

www.nytimes.com

 

[THil08]

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/fbi-says-it-is-probing-increase-violent-activity-toward-tesla-2025-03-24/

 

[OleScout]

Hyundai to Invest $21 Billion in US in Bid to Avoid Trump’s Tariffs

Hyundai already makes cars in the United States, in Georgia and Alabama.

www.nytimes.com

Perhaps post this here...

Hyundai Forums

Hyundai Forum is a community for all Hyundai Owners to talk and learn all about their favorite subject: Hyundai cars from the Sonata to the Elantra and even the new Kona!

www.hyundai-forums.com

 

[THil08]

Perhaps post this here...

Hyundai Forums

Hyundai Forum is a community for all Hyundai Owners to talk and learn all about their favorite subject: Hyundai cars from the Sonata to the Elantra and even the new Kona!

www.hyundai-forums.com

Ummmm this is just information. For god sakes we post BMW stuff in here. And no one not even you put a BMW forum in here.

 

[MasterSpam]

Hyundai to Invest $21 Billion in US in Bid to Avoid Trump’s Tariffs

Hyundai already makes cars in the United States, in Georgia and Alabama.

www.nytimes.com

Yep... I was going to post this too.

 

[THil08]

https://carbuzz.com/the-volkswagen-coupe-that-achieved-313-mpg/

Who remembers this thing?

Also I guess I should put this in a VW forum right?

 

[LastDayScout]

https://carbuzz.com/the-volkswagen-coupe-that-achieved-313-mpg/

Who remembers this thing?

Also I guess I should put this in a VW forum right?

This is totally my opinion, but if VW had not found their way into Dieselgate, I have a strong feeling there would be many diesel hybrids running around today getting 80+ mpg. Little diesels have come a long way since then in power, efficiency and emissions. Most of the emissions technologies that were problematic back then have been solved and are now far more reliable. That said, I still like the power, efficiency and low maintenance of EVs.

 

[BartMan Terra Total EV]

I am in finance for a manufacturing facility. Here’s how that can play out…of course there’s a zillion different scenarios for different manufacturers.

A U.S. manufacturer builds a machine paying the US factory guys over $30/hr with full benefits. A lot of parts…castings, hydraulics, deer proof bumpers, snow plows…are made at satellite facilities or by local third parties who also pay good wages and benefits. The more machines you make the more hours, and overtime, all those folks make. And your fixed costs of the plant go down so the company is making more money and researching new products like the rooftop tent or a solar roof.

But tariffs hit. And the 25%-35% of parts you source overseas are more expensive. The wiring harness or bolts. And maybe you’re buying your bolts from a US company making them but they get the steel from overseas so there’s still tariff cost added on. Or maybe the company gets bolts from a company using US steel and price goes up that way…but, hey, there’s five more smelting jobs at the steel plant.

So now your top quality machine is 10%-15% more expensive. So you sell less of them…that’s just how that works. So you reduce factory hours. You don’t rehire for folks who retire, etc. And you buy less of the 65%-75% parts that were wholey US. And, you don’t need as much steel anymore so they lay off two of the five smelters. All of those parts suppliers lay off or reduce hours. And this happens all over the country. As more folks are unemployed other businesses suffer…you don’t get the new boots, your daughter doesn’t get her hair professionally done from prom, etc., etc..

Eventually a company starts shifting manufacturing. The casket maker in Missouri who sells to Canada, the US and Mexico realizes they’re paying tariffs on steel coming in and their buyers are getting hit with tariffs on the other side so they really aren’t selling many caskets in the markets they used to. So they open a factory in Mexico. And that factory builds all the caskets they ship to anywhere but the US. And the US facility only makes what will be sold in the US…and less build means less hours which means less people. Tariffs can drive manufacturing overseas.

Already there are Buy American regulations for products sold to government. If a national park needs a truck for its rangers that truck has to meet a US origin requirement. This is good.

Very targeted tariffs to prevent very specific actions are also good. But wholesale tariffs will drive up prices for us and destroy overseas markets for our products which tend to be higher value items, like a Scout, rather the $10 decal printed in the Bahamas.

I guess what kinda angers me is that the tariffs are a indirect tax on us. The administration can claim they aren’t raising income taxes but they are raising billions in an indirect tax on us to pay for very expensive tax cuts for the wealthiest in our country…while our veterans lose suicide hotlines and seniors dependent on Medicaid for nursing homes are in jeopardy.

Anyway, hope my perspective on tariffs helps anyone who has not worked in large scale manufacturing before.

Well said Dana

 

[BartMan Terra Total EV]

Not really its gonna make taxes less since there will be less government wages to pay by cutting jobs that were unnecessary that the employees weren’t working or showing up to the office. And it will create more real jobs for the economy.

From your statement I guess you would rather higher taxes. We obviously have two totally different views.

Too political so get off the topic.

You brought it up. The money saved will go to tax cuts to Elon and his like.

 

[Jamie@ScoutMotors]

If you all think something you say will be political it is best to just not say it and keep the discussion Scout related.

There are plenty of places for political discussions, but I think most people come here to avoid them.

 

[THil08]

If you all think something you say will be political it is best to just not say it and keep the discussion Scout related.

There are plenty of places for political discussions, but I think most people come here to avoid them.

Thank you, Jamie. Also, the profile post digging needs to stop. I only know that this was being done since there is no way anyone is more than 5 pages behind on the Extra topic, it's a massive information dump.

 

[THil08]

Anyone remember when these "Concept Renderings" were circulating? And that it would be utilizing VW's PPE Platform.

 

[Jamie@ScoutMotors]

I remember fondly. It was fun to watch.