Elon Musk has some surprising comments about fossil fuels, Nissan’s axing the Rogue Sport, and Honda goes to the dogs. All this and more in today’s issue of The Morning Dump.
Welcome to The Morning Dump, bite-sized stories corralled into a single article for your morning perusal. If your morning coffee’s working a little too well, pull up a throne and have a gander at the best of the rest of yesterday.
Elon Musk Says Something True
Elon Musk is a spectacular troll and shit-talker and this sometimes makes it difficult to give full credence to what he says, but Reuters reports that he said something that seems quite basic and also quite true at a conference in Norway earlier today.
“Realistically I think we need to use oil and gas in the short term, because otherwise civilisation will crumble,” Musk said on the sidelines of an energy conference in the southern city of Stavanger.
[…]
“One of the biggest challenges the world has ever faced is the transition to sustainable energy and to a sustainable economy,” he said. “That will take some decades to complete.”
That is correct. While it would be dope if all of a sudden we had enough sustainable energy to power all our homes and businesses and cars and phones, the reality is that we do not. It will take an enormous amount of money, effort, and time to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels, so transitioning towards clean energy is very much not an overnight switch.
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep working in this direction but, for once, Elon Musk has put a realistic timeline on something. Good job Elon. Please stop talking there before you ru…
“One of my less obvious things to be concerned about is the birth rate, and I think its important that people have enough babies to support civilisation so that we don’t dwindle away,” Musk said.
There’s the old Elon! Good grief. Birth rate isn’t everything when it comes to sustaining civilization, so I guess the oil and gas comments could be chocked up to a fluke.
Nissan Is Reportedly Killing The Rogue Sport
I know it’s early in the morning, but I need you to think really hard. When was the last time you saw a Nissan Rogue Sport in the wild? Exactly. In what isn’t exactly surprising news, Automotive News reports than a Nissan internal memo says the Nissan Rogue Sport will exit production this December.
“With the all-new Rogue and recently redesigned Kicks, we will continue to cover this part of [the] market effectively,” Nissan Vice President Scott Shirley noted in the memo.
“We are also able to invest more resources in our current vehicle lifecycles and next-generation products,” Shirley noted.
While this all sounds about as boring as watching a layer of dust form on a coffee table, it’s an important moment of reflection on product portfolios. Too many manufacturers are guilty of selling vehicles that fill unneeded niches. For instance, the Hyundai Venue is a relatively slow-selling entry point to Hyundai’s crossover range. Citing Hyundai’s July sales report, only 1,895 Venues found homes last month compared to 4,253 Kona crossovers and 3,910 Accent subcompact cars. While the car shortage has affected these numbers, the Venue has historically held low sales compared to the Kona, a vehicle that’s only $2,300 more expensive when comparing base trims. In an era of component shortages, leaner lineups could really benefit manufacturers. Anyway, let’s see what else Automotive News has to say.
Ditching the Rogue Sport will allow Nissan to invest more into the subcompact Kicks, according to a dealer who requested he not be identified.
“We can get more bang for our buck with the Kicks, especially since it’s going all-wheel drive,” the dealer said.
Pause. The current U.S.-market Nissan Kicks in on the same V platform as the Versa and isn’t offered with all-wheel-drive. In fact, nothing in the V platform is offered with all-wheel-drive. Could a new Kicks be just around the corner? It’s certainly due for a new generation, so I’m excited to see if there’s any truth behind this dealer’s comment. The current Nissan Kicks is a brilliant bargain for anyone in the market for a new small hatchback and I’m hoping that the next one keeps prices low and equipment high.
Honda UK Launches New Dog-Friendly Accessory Packs
There’s no road trip companion quite like a dog, and Honda UK aims to make driving with dogs a bit safer and more convenient with several new dog-friendly accessory packs. Available for the CR-V, Civic Hatchback, and Jazz (known in America as the Fit), detailed pack equipment varies but the general concept stays the same. Each accessory pack comes with a dog guard for the cargo area, rubber floor mats, and some kind of cargo mat, while the accessory pack for the CR-V adds a bumper protector. While these accessory packs are a bit niche, Head of Automobile for Honda UK Rebecca Adamson shared some sound reasoning for the dealer accessories in a media release.
For many people, including me, dogs are so much more than a pet. They’re part of the family. The dog accessory pack is designed to bring peace of mind when travelling, no matter how long or short the distance. Not only will it help to keep your dog safe and secure while on the move, but it will also reduce the likelihood of interior damage.
While these dog-friendly accessory packs are only for the UK market at the moment, I’d love to see them on this side of the pond. A dog guard for a Civic Hatchback sounds quite brilliant for city-dwelling dog owners, while a bumper guard for the CR-V should prevent owners from scratching the paint while loading and unloading bulky items. Also, just look at the dogs Honda UK has in the press pics. Aren’t they adorable?
Lucid Hires Former Apple Exec For Software Help
While hard characteristics like cylinder count and square-feet-of-leather used to set luxury cars apart from more retail-grade machines, the concept of luxury in the electric vehicle space seems to be led by software. So how does an automaker create more luxurious software? Well, hiring from Silicon Valley is certainly one way of doing it. Automotive News reports that Lucid Motors has hired former Apple executive Derrick Carty to get the EV startup’s software up to speed.
Carty’s responsibilities at the newly created post include advanced driving assistance systems, audio, embedded software, and systems architecture, Lucid said a news release.
Carty will report to Michael Bell, Lucid’s senior vice president of digital.
“Derrick’s wealth of experience with systems architecture and his ability to lead teams that create customer-friendly, easy-to-use software interfaces is crucial as we continue to roll out new Lucid Air features via our over-the-air software updates,” Bell said in the release.
Carty seems like the sort of person Lucid Motors needs right now. Lucid still hasn’t rolled out Apple CarPlay or Android Auto compatibility, so letting owners mirror their phones will likely be a priority for the startup. In addition, over-the-air updates to enhance both features and cybersecurity are the norm in the EV world, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Lucid Motors wants some extra focus on those updates.
The Flush
Whelp, time to drop the lid on today’s edition of The Morning Dump. With the work week back in swing, I’d love to know what automotive adventures you got up to over the weekend. I’ll admit, other than ordering new fog lights for the 325i and giving it a wash, it was a light weekend for me regarding car stuff. Still, light weekends can still be fun, so whether you finished up an engine swap or simply enjoyed a crisp heel-toe downshift while on a grocery run, I’d love to hear what you got up to.
Lead photo credit: Tesla
I had not driven in 3 weeks due to being in Malaysia for business. YES, I heel-toed all weekend long. “Sure, I’ll go to Target” “Sure, I’ll go to Walmart” “Sure, I’ll pick up pizza”
I strained a hamstring vacuuming. No issues on my Saturday bike ride. Hurt myself cleaning. If you have the option of staying alive while not aging, I highly recommend it.
> I’d love to know what automotive adventures you got up to over the weekend.
I went to a car show, with mine included on being presented.
I have a smaller lightweight battery in it. I let so many people sit in it (so I could take photos of them for them), play with the top, etc. the battery went flat from all the computer modules waking from sleep all the time. Thankfully I always bring jumper cables with me so I was good to go after a few minutes.
For weekend car adventures I did what’s quickly becoming tradition…I take the Kona N for a high speed rip on some open stretches of road then stop and get it washed on the way back. It’s black so naturally keeping it looking good is a non-stop operation. There’s a local do it yourself car wash that has the automatic laser machines.
For the $14 bucks or whatever it is they do a good enough job for my liking. I don’t have time to hand wash constantly and I’m not taking the car through a drive through car wash anytime soon…they wreaked havoc on my GTI’s finish back when I didn’t know any better. I usually take some time to vacuum out the interior and wipe away areas the laser wash missed too. Plus there’s almost always something cool there for me to gawk at/I talk to the other enthusiasts doing the same thing from time to time.
Re: What automotive adventures you got up to over the weekend?
– Went to Cars & Coffee for the first time (finally). Great experience and will definitely go again.
– Tracked down oil leak; replaced oil filter housing seal and serpentine belt on Mercedes R320…spent hours cleaning everything on the front of that OM642 motor. Then of course found ANOTHER oil leak after I got everything back together. Also finally upgraded the terrible headlights on that car.
The last Rogue sport I saw was the one I had from Enterprise a couple of years ago. Spent a weekend around Devils Tower/Mount Rushmore. Didn’t push it very hard, but didn’t have anything bad to say about it.
As for this weekend: Replaced the water pump in the Mustang, and changed the oil. Then went for a nice topless drive to the Dairy Queen! Also adjusted the rear alignment on one of the Foci.
Flush: I attended the 44th annual LeMay Car Show at the LeMay Collections at Marymount in Tacoma this weekend. While there, I spotted a 1962 Oldsmobile Starfire – one of my holy grail cars – for sale for $9500.
It was pretty close to perfect. New drivetrain in the last few years. The only things mechanically wrong with it are the horn, tach, and wipers – all easy fixes. The windshield is cracked, which is certainly a bigger challenge, but not insurmountable.
I spent a SOLID chunk of my time at that show trying to figure out 1) how to justify the expenditure to my wife, and 2) where on earth I would put the damn thing (I’m currently living in a hotel courtesy the US Navy). In the end, unfortunately, common sense won out.
…but I kept the guy’s phone number just in case.
They are such a beautiful car, epitomizes the longer, lower, wider mantra of early 60’s auto’s.
I tried to go to the store in the work truck.. low tire. Ok, fine, I’ll take wifeys Subaru.. dead battery. Ok… Mustang despite it needing an alignment.. fired right up and drove great! Now I have three problems to fix and not just one!
I picked up my Land Cruiser this weekend after it spent 3+ weeks in the shop waiting for a new ABS module/master cylinder/brake booster. I celebrated by driving it through a particularly rugged section of Baltimore this weekend. Having brakes is good!
I’d love to know what automotive adventures you got up to over the weekend. I’ll admit, other than ordering new fog lights for the 325i and giving it a wash, it was a light weekend for me regarding car stuff.
Getting another fucking flat on the Porsche. And again, the passenger rear. I was already planning all four tires before end of year anyways, but now the damn thing has to be towed in and is out of commission for “???”. The dealer’s booked through the 20th of September.
And of course, this time it was a huge screw that shredded things. And of course, it’s about an inch from the shoulder. So not only is it unrepairable, it can’t even be ‘just to get it to the shop at 30MPH’ repaired. Didn’t even bother pulling it to try a plug – diameter’s clearly larger than the largest plug kit I have.
But I should have the title for the Saab today at least. Which will clear me to go drive it home this weekend with some luck.
Let’s see, Ms. Tacofan’s 2018 Legacy hit 50K miles so I did the oil change and tire rotation. She’s in need of some new tires to replace the stocks that I admit lasted a long time.
Anyone got any suggestions for a 6 cylinder Legacy tire that would just be used for all season driving (real winter included but only inches of snow at a time).
For all my dd’s (that double as ‘winter-car’) I always go for Conti Extremecontact DWS06.
They are plenty grippy in the dry, very good resistance to aquaplaning, I’ve done plenty of ski trips with them on FWD cars loaded with gear, their 60,000miles rating is not BS and they cost less than $150/tire in my size
Caved and bought a minivan, astronomical used prices be darned. But, only because I decided to also sell my commuter sedan in this market, so it’s sort of a wash… sell high, buy high. Working from home left me little use for it upon reflection.
Personally, I’m bullish on hydrogen fuel cell long-term, even if the costs are high and scalability is hard. This is because the fuel is more viable for heavy vehicles and long transport than batteries. I don’t know how big of a battery you’d need for a cargo freighter, for example. But it would have to be huge and would display a lot of the freighter’s total capacity.
Flush: Nothing really. Just some comfy driving in some of the most comfortable breezes Nebraska has had in several months.
*displace, not display.
People REALLY need to start getting comfortable with nuclear power. Newer designs are stable, and a lot of the cost is due to overly burdensome regulations and scaling fuel production.
“I don’t know how big of a battery you’d need for a cargo freighter, for example. But it would have to be huge and would display a lot of the freighter’s total capacity.”
Do the math. It’s fun!
Spoiler alert! The battery’s weight alone sinks the freighter.
For hydrogen because of the lower energy content per volume the internal volume of the tanks would need to be about 3x as large (assuming liquefied hydrogen) vs. HFO tanks. The LH2 tanks would also need to be shaped like soup cans or spheres to maximize capacity which would limit packaging and would also need refrigeration hardware and thick insulation adding to the bulk.
The better option would be nuclear.
Yes nuclear…If only there was a way to generate electricity with nuclear, wind or solar, and then propel the vehicle with the energy somehow while it was moving…. Maybe some kind of track or something….Just shooting from the hip here, but maybe all the vehicles could be lined up and follow the lead vehicle. I bet something like that could haul a tremendous amount of freight very efficiently. /s
I’m surprised Nissan is killing the Rogue Sport/Qashqai. Isn’t that actually a hot segment in terms of sales?
I don’t think it actually sold all that well, but part of the problem would have been that it wasn’t differentiated from the Rogue enough.
Nissan wanted you to think of it as a version of the Rogue, and they actually combine the two for sales figures and don’t even disclose separate sales figures for the Sport alone.
Maybe if they let the Qashaqi stand on its own, it might do better. Maybe.
Or maybe Nissan just sucks so bad they can’t sell even in that segment 😛
water pump on a TBI 350 swapped Cj7, sure seemed like it should be pretty easy, but V belts and PO locations of accessories made it not a lot of fun.
1st Dump
The Emperador of Mars speaks.
Also difficult to conduct all our wars on electricity.
Made a small change in Elon’s comment that is just as newsworthy:
“Realistically I think we need to STILL HAVE THE SUN RISE DAILY in the short term, because otherwise civilisation will crumble,”
“Birth rate isn’t everything when it comes to sustaining civilization”
It is at peak capitalism where unfettered and continuous growth is required. And Elon is nothing if not a peak capitalist. He doesn’t give a shit about the planet, that much is clear.
Actually, it’s another racist dogwhistle from Elon.
Fact: Elon Musk is a racist and a white supremacist.
Fact: Elon Musk wants the white male birth rate to increase because he is a subscriber to white supremacist and fascist ideology including the ‘great replacement theory.’
What he actually means is “we need the white fascists to pump kids out like it was a competitive sport so white people don’t end up a minority. Because holy shit we do not want to be treated like we treat minorities. And we really want to keep treating them that way.”
It’s not the first time he’s said this shit, or the last time he’ll say it.
I honestly wouldn’t be surprised to hear he is racist considering his rich, white, South Africa origins, but I don’t pay attention to Musk whenever possible. What other dogwhistles has he been blowing?
Depending on how generous you want to be with the word ‘dogwhistle’, he did tweet this image:
And since people on the far right are now synonymous with white supremacists, then I’m going to count it.
There is not one untrue thing about that image, other than the stick figure on the right should also be depicted sprinting that direction.
…This is the most absurd comment. You can’t just call people racist and claim it’s fact lol. And 9 people gave you votes?!
Musk named Kanye as his choice for Time’s Person of the Year and even wrote an article about the dude. Is commonly seen at his concerts.
https://time.com/3822841/kanye-west-2015-time-100/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI-7TVeTs5s
Say what you want about him (and about Kanye!) but at least back yourself up. This is next level bad commenting. Yikes.
In history an obsession with birth rate is also often misogynistic and homophobic. Basically anyone who has sex which doesn’t result in children is considered an enemy, because, like you said, they’re not building up whatever race or culture they are trying to make dominant.
As soon as someone starts going on about birth rate it is Very Bad.
It’s a fact that Americans are having fewer babies.
Nobody is denying that the birth rate is slowing.
The problem is why it becomes an issue to certain people, and what they do to try to get the birth rate kicking up.
He’s also specifically trying to make his whole 10 kids by multiple partners thing (some even simultaneously) righteous.
Little wonder that his transgender child disowned him.
Screw him.
Re: Elon
If a stopped clock is right twice a day, how often is a cuckoo nutjob billionaire right?
We’ve got this one, at least.
Flush:
No real automotive adventures, but with the wife’s Mazda in the shop for some bodywork I did roadtrip ~5 hours one way with a brand new rental Charger to go to my niece’s birthday. Damn near effortless drive there and back, despite leaving after a full 10 hr work day, and driving back somewhat hungover from the adult afterparty once the kids were done.
That thing soaks up the miles.
I’ve never been a Dodge fan at all, and it may be that I’ve just been driving older cars for too long, or newer cars that don’t fit me well, but I’m really wondering if I should look for one now.
Go with the Chrysler 300. It’s a Charger with a 5.7 but a smoother shifting transmission (different program, less willing to gear-slam) and a much nicer interior. Especially the 300S. Every seat is heated, front seats are ventilated, heated wheel, heated mirrors, better cushioning, and better soundproofing.
I was curious about them as well. Knew they were the same car, but wasn’t sure what the marque/trim level differences were
In terms of materials and build quality, especially versus a fleet spec Charger, night and day. You can get them with the 3.6 V6 which is fine, but why would you? Especially since the 5.7 can be had RWD or AWD. And will pretty much run forever.
It’s not New FCAtlantis Product nice inside of course, but honestly, not fucking much is. The new Grand Cherokees are really goddamn nice and it infuriates me that their last big touring sedan will not get the same treatment. But at the same time, it’s so perfectly set up overall, adding a bunch of stupid bright and ugly screens would only detract from it.
But BMW and Mercedes-Benz can eat my ass, the 300’s the pinnacle of big luxury tourer even as-is.
This isn’t just a fleet spec, for whatever reason. I’m just outside of Tampa so I go to Tampa International for rentals. For whatever reason they always have slightly nicer cars than the other rental places I end up at. As a result I’m driving around in a GT model. Still a V6, but a GT.
Saw a RF Miata while I was there as well, auto unfortunately but it is still a rental car.
Only reason I’ve been impressed with the V6 is the mileage is better than my wife’s 4-cyl crossover. It almost makes a nice noise when you accelerate as well.
I’m conflicted on Chargers. There’s a lot to like about them but I struggle to look past the types of drivers they attract. It seems like every other serious automotive crime in my city is the result of a Charger or Challenger guy doing something dangerous…and they’re real favorites of the thin blue line crowd.
But…they’re big, comfy, simple, and can be made to handle well enough. Plus, you can’t really get big NA V8s in anything at that price point anymore. They absolutely chug gas and I’m sure cost a miserable amount to insure but also….big, NA V8 my guy. There’s no replacement for displacement.
Yes, the people that drive them are the woooooorst.
I was unaware that the Nissan Rogue Sport existed. Now that you have brought that useless information to my attention, I will try very hard to forget it.
The Hyundai Venue was a new one to me too.
Well.. “said something sensible” is maybe pushing it a bit far if you ask me.
For sure all media outputs here in Norways embraced his quote, as the majority of Norwegians seems to think we should continue to empty our oil reserves (and open new ones), because our oil and gass “is the cleanest” in the world (yes, we actually claim thats since we run some oil platforms on electricity..).
Yes, we still probably need oil and gas in a transition period, but we can also forget about limiting the global temperature rise according to the goals set. If we don’t at the same time heavily invest in renewable energy, the future looks bleak.
I wish they had kept the Rogue Sport’s European name, if only to confuse Americans. Qashqai? Qashqai.
They actually did in Canada.
Ah yes, the Nissan Kumquat.
> “Realistically I think we need to use oil and gas in the short term, because otherwise civilisation will crumble,” Musk said on the sidelines of an energy conference in the southern city of Stavanger.
Is this really where we’re at with Elon discourse? We praise him because he said something extremely basic that 99.9999999% of the population agrees with?
Unfortunately, the remaining 0.00000001% hold positions of power and influence.
Elon Musk has been making sense on certain, very specific, things lately, more so than before. I don’t know if he’s on new meds or just off his old meds or something, but he seems to have more “good” days than in the past
New lawyers and/or PR people.
“When was the last time you saw a Nissan Rogue Sport in the wild? ”
Never? A dozen times every damn day? I honestly have no idea. Who can be bothered to register such a boring occurrence?
Some of them are painted very bright green, which is kinda notable in 2022. I saw one in lime green with huge black stripes that had “Qashqai” on them – I’m in Canada – and it was notable just for how incredibly odd it was.
I’m certain that would have caught my attention. I don’t think we get them in bright green in the US. Or we’re just so lame here that everybody buys them in white/black/silver.