Marion GM plant to see $500M upgrade to help make electric vehicles

[BigRed]

All these electric cars and an old electrical grid that can't support them. Like building a house and then sticking a foundation under it. Stupid liberal

Fear not....

State will be plundering you soon enough to subdidize the grid the market does not demand.

 

[tmschuller]

Some of the monster old stamping presses are being replaced with these upgrades.
Lots of empty space in that plant, its a shell of what it once was.

Here’s a picture of the old press that came out and the gantry they use isn’t even in the picture the heavy lifter crane .. it’s cylinders on each side are about 20” across .. its the crane in the back of the shot

 

[KokomoDave]

Have they signed the next contract yet?

No we haven't.

Also there is 2.75 million sq ft under roof on 187 acres.

 

[bwframe]

Is GM getting fed tax money or breaks in some fashion to fund this battery car thing?


.

 

[Pepi]

Fear not....

State will be plundering you soon enough to subdidize the grid the market does not demand.

OH! no doubt in my mind!

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Elon Musk, idiot liberal that he is, sure lost his ass investing in EV development and manufacturing, didn't he?

Oh, right.

GM may lose out because GM does GM stuff, and Tesla is well ahead as a battery company that makes cars vs a car company that makes batteries. Tesla's investments in solar and storage (powerwalls) help integrate their entire market as well, and eliminate a lot of the 'the grids isn't ready' concerns. The grid was never ready for the next big thing. Anyone who owns an older home and moves to a current construction will note the rather significant increase in power outlets sprinkled throughout every room, but there's money to be made and smart people who like to make money, so things change. I'm not ready for an EV yet, but writing them off as impossible or impractical long term is a mistake.

 

[hoosierdoc]

My problem with EV is the .gov mandated markets via tax credits and banning ICE.

Let it be a niche market for those who want to head that way.

As it stands it just seems like CFL bulbs all over again

 

[wtburnette]

My problem with EV is the .gov mandated markets via tax credits and banning ICE.

Let it be a niche market for those who want to head that way.

As it stands it just seems like CFL bulbs all over again

Exactly. The funny thing is, after we all were forced to switch to the "green" lightbulbs, I remember a small, buried article that came out saying CA didn't see nearly the cost savings they thought they would see on electric bills once everyone had switched over. I'd be interested in studies to see if anyone saved any money on this crap. Of course, the Greenies don't want that because they're not about repercussions or taking the blame for failures...

 

[KLB]

Exactly. The funny thing is, after we all were forced to switch to the "green" lightbulbs, I remember a small, buried article that came out saying CA didn't see nearly the cost savings they thought they would see on electric bills once everyone had switched over. I'd be interested in studies to see if anyone saved any money on this crap. Of course, the Greenies don't want that because they're not about repercussions or taking the blame for failures...

I don't believe the amount of energy to run a LED bulb is in question. I doubt overall power consumption has declined though. We seem to only add more things that require power, even as many of the things we use individually become more efficient than previous models.

I like not having to change bulbs as often.

 

[wtburnette]

I don't believe the amount of energy to run a LED bulb is in question. I doubt overall power consumption has declined though. We seem to only add more things that require power, even as many of the things we use individually become more efficient than previous models.

I like not having to change bulbs as often.

My point was more for the CFL bulbs, but yes, LED bulbs can be great.

 

[Leadeye]

While I am no car designer I would imagine that much of how a car is traditionally fabricated with stampings will change as most of the weight is moving to the batteries from the engine. From what I've seen it appears that the batteries and their compartment are part of the car's structure and not just attached to it.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Exactly. The funny thing is, after we all were forced to switch to the "green" lightbulbs, I remember a small, buried article that came out saying CA didn't see nearly the cost savings they thought they would see on electric bills once everyone had switched over. I'd be interested in studies to see if anyone saved any money on this crap. Of course, the Greenies don't want that because they're not about repercussions or taking the blame for failures...

Did you think everything else stayed static during the transition? Each BitCoin transaction takes roughly 2 months of an average household's electricy use due to all the computing power used to make it happen. We have more and more electric gizmos. TVs are bigger. Computers are faster. Hotter weather has resulted in more AC use. I don't think *anybody* expected total electricity use to go down, and that's not even the question. The question is did it go down vs the same future with filament bulbs?

 

[Creedmoor]

Exactly. The funny thing is, after we all were forced to switch to the "green" lightbulbs, I remember a small, buried article that came out saying CA didn't see nearly the cost savings they thought they would see on electric bills once everyone had switched over. I'd be interested in studies to see if anyone saved any money on this crap. Of course, the Greenies don't want that because they're not about repercussions or taking the blame for failures...

Well I would say Californians need to brush up on some basic math.

LEDs give better efficiency and long life as compared with the CFL bulbs with respect to cost and energy savings. By average LED provide 80-90 Lumens per watt which is equivalent to 5 times of incandescent lamps (16 lumens/Watt). Typically to get 900 lumens we can use only 10 Watts instead of 60 Watts incandescent lamps. Hence we get the net energy saving of 50 Watts.

 

[KLB]

My point was more for the CFL bulbs, but yes, LED bulbs can be great.

Yeah, CFLs pretty much sucked. I never saw the advertised life from them. I happily replaced some still functioning CFLs with LEDs.

 

[tmschuller]

Well I would say Californians need to brush up on some basic math.

LEDs give better efficiency and long life as compared with the CFL bulbs with respect to cost and energy savings. By average LED provide 80-90 Lumens per watt which is equivalent to 5 times of incandescent lamps (16 lumens/Watt). Typically to get 900 lumens we can use only 10 Watts instead of 60 Watts incandescent lamps. Hence we get the net energy saving of 50 Watts.

Sort of the same but not.. I did a large project where we switched from metal halide or sodium bulbs to LED. Granted these took a ballast and a bulb.. but the energy savings payed for the conversion and labor. More efficient and effective light produced plus the psychological effects of light output making people feel safer That was 5 years ago in street lights and same bulbs in play. Now indoors and a gym same type of lights being replaced by led and all lights had to be replaced but it was a bad design of the lights itself. Looked like a disco with all the flashing lights

 

[kiddchaos]

Personally I think more biofuel is the way to go. -MasterBlaster.


But seriously, yes, from poo, waste, etc. But needs to be alge low tech and super cost-effective.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Exactly. The funny thing is, after we all were forced to switch to the "green" lightbulbs, I remember a small, buried article that came out saying CA didn't see nearly the cost savings they thought they would see on electric bills once everyone had switched over. I'd be interested in studies to see if anyone saved any money on this crap. Of course, the Greenies don't want that because they're not about repercussions or taking the blame for failures...

And they contained mercury, and broken ones were hazmat issues, and you can't just toss them in garbage when you're done with them.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Yeah, CFLs pretty much sucked. I never saw the advertised life from them. I happily replaced some still functioning CFLs with LEDs.

Many LEDs suck too. The actual LED will last as long as predicted, but the cheap circuitry around it fails so much sooner

 

[Creedmoor]

Sort of the same but not.. I did a large project where we switched from metal halide or sodium bulbs to LED. Granted these took a ballast and a bulb.. but the energy savings payed for the conversion and labor. More efficient and effective light produced plus the psychological effects of light output making people feel safer That was 5 years ago in street lights and same bulbs in play. Now indoors and a gym same type of lights being replaced by led and all lights had to be replaced but it was a bad design of the lights itself. Looked like a disco with all the flashing lights

I did a swap out at the new gig I took a few months ago myself. The only thing running in the empty building were lights sometimes an exhaust fan or two, the sprinkler fitters and myself.
Only about a third of the 4' four bulb florescents were working. I installed about 150+- high bay leds, less fixures more light for less kilowatts. I ended up with seven to do my barn. lol
They will pay for themselves by end of spring next year.
This is what they are.

 

[KLB]

Many LEDs suck too. The actual LED will last as long as predicted, but the cheap circuitry around it fails so much sooner

I must have managed to avoid the cheap ones then. So far anyway.