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| ONLY EV AT TEST DAYS: GM improved the Chevy Bolt EV for the 2019 model year, but sent a 2018 model to Test Days, the year's premier event for auto writers and publicists who belong to the International Motor Press Association. |
EDITOR'S NOTE: Scotty Reiss, president emeritus of the International Motor Press Association, reacted strongly to this post, claiming "your story was negative, biased and factually incorrect." Her complete email appears in the comments section at the end of the post.
By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR
MONTICELLO, N.Y. -- If you doubt traditional carmakers like Nissan are trying to slow the transition to electric cars, consider the vehicles the Japanese company brought to the year's premier event for the automotive press.
Most prominent was a monstrous, gas-guzzling SUV from Nissan's luxury division, Infiniti, with a sticker price north of $91,000.
The owner of this ungainly Infiniti QX80 Limited would spend $8,000 more on gasoline over 5 years than someone who drives the average new vehicle, according to the government-mandated sticker.
Not to mention all of the extra tailpipe emissions, said to cause a total of 58,000 premature deaths in the United States every year.
QX80 Limited
The word "Limited" in the model number is undoubtedly a reference to the intelligence of anyone who would spend so much on such a wasteful vehicle, which appears to seat only 6.
If that vehicle wasn't bad enough -- representing as it does Nissan's royal F.U. to the environment -- the company's Northeast Region public relations chief didn't bother to provide the vastly improved second-generation Nissan Leaf or the longer-range version of the EV with active battery cooling.
"Just didn't bring it," shrugged Steven Oldham, when asked why he wasn't providing an all-electric Leaf for members of the International Motor Press Association to drive silently over beautiful two-lane country roads around the Monticello Motor Club, the private race track for the wealthy that was one of the sponsors.
Sponsors cut back
In response to an email, Dan Bedore, director of Nissan Division Communications in Franklin, Tenn., said:
If Nissan withheld the Leaf for budgetary reasons, that was only one of the cutbacks evident this week to IMPA members like me who have attended Test Days stretching back decades, when they were held at two other tracks, Pocono Raceway and Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.
Fewer food choices
At lunch on Tuesday at the Monticello Motor Club, I asked a server if there were veggie burgers available like the ones I enjoyed last year.
"Not today," he said, so as a non-meat eater I had a choice of three salads -- tuna, edamame and couscous.
The main items on the buffet were hamburgers and chicken with pesto.
Pastas and salads -- but no fish -- were available to non-meat eaters at Tuesday night's banquet in the Resorts World Casino.
Test Days coordinator Paul Licata said in response to an email that cost doesn't allow "us to have every option for everyone."
Track time
This year, in another cost-cutting move, the Monticello Motor Club also declined to provide the race instructors who were available on the first morning of the two-day event.
An instructor would sit in the front passenger seat, and give IMPA members like me tips as they drove the 469-horsepower Mercedes-Benz AMG C 63 and other performance cars around the challenging 3.5-mile track.
On Wednesday, IMPA members had a wide choice of vehicles from among the 70-plus in the paddock to drive unaccompanied on the track, and pretend they are Lewis Hamilton, who is on the cusp of his 5th Formula 1 World Championship.
Test Days sponsors included Fiat Chrysler, Ford, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota/Lexus, Acura, BMW, Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz and Subaru, among other automakers; American Ethanol, a tire company and a public relations firm.
No ethics policy
IMPA is the nation's oldest organization of automotive journalists and public relations professionals, but the group is only now starting to discuss adopting an ethics policy to govern members' relationship with automakers and dealers.
That has allowed carmakers to essentially bribe members with all-expenses-paid travel to see the unveiling of new models; free loans of new vehicles for up to a week to write road-test reports or just to provide them with a ride during their vacations; and free trips to the big auto shows in New York, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere.
Revenue from dealer advertising, meanwhile, keeps many of the writers' publications, websites, blogs and YouTube channels afloat.
Thank sponsors
In an email, IMPA President Bill Howard reminded members:
"Sponsors make the event affordable: $100 for the ticket, not $400. Say thank you as you relieve them of their coffee, bottled water, doughnuts and candy in the paddock."
Tesla doesn't advertise or provide cars for IMPA events, and that may be one factor behind all of the negative stories about the world's premier maker of all-electric cars.
And in recent years, traditional automakers like the ones that sponsor IMPA events have restricted loans of new vehicles to writers whose reports have such a large exposure that there is a good likelihood they will translate into sales.
That prompted one long-time IMPA member to say he'd like to see a return to "equal opportunity bribery."
EVs, hybrids
As the owner of a Tesla Model S, I tried to drive only EVs and hybrids on Tuesday.
I had a lot of fun in a 2018 Chevy Bolt EV, which is everything you'd want in a small car and more.
By shifting the transmission into "L," you can operate the all-electric hatchback with one pedal:
When you take your foot off of the accelerator, the Bolt EV will come to a stop at a light or stop sign, and lifting off partially slows the car for corners.
That same one-pedal operation is available in another all-electric car, the BMW i3, which wasn't brought to the event.
Instead, BMW provided a 2019 i8 Roadster, a low-slung gas-electric hybrid that is the open-top version of the 2018 BMW i8.
The sports car was fast and fun to drive, but noisy and impractical. Total suggested retail price is $166,795.
Toyota and Lexus brought no gas-electric hybrids to the event, and Jaguar's first all-electric car, the 2019 I-Pace, also was missing.
Most prominent was a monstrous, gas-guzzling SUV from Nissan's luxury division, Infiniti, with a sticker price north of $91,000.
The owner of this ungainly Infiniti QX80 Limited would spend $8,000 more on gasoline over 5 years than someone who drives the average new vehicle, according to the government-mandated sticker.
Not to mention all of the extra tailpipe emissions, said to cause a total of 58,000 premature deaths in the United States every year.
QX80 Limited
The word "Limited" in the model number is undoubtedly a reference to the intelligence of anyone who would spend so much on such a wasteful vehicle, which appears to seat only 6.
If that vehicle wasn't bad enough -- representing as it does Nissan's royal F.U. to the environment -- the company's Northeast Region public relations chief didn't bother to provide the vastly improved second-generation Nissan Leaf or the longer-range version of the EV with active battery cooling.
"Just didn't bring it," shrugged Steven Oldham, when asked why he wasn't providing an all-electric Leaf for members of the International Motor Press Association to drive silently over beautiful two-lane country roads around the Monticello Motor Club, the private race track for the wealthy that was one of the sponsors.
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TRICK OR TREAT: Total MSRP for the Infiniti QX80 Limited is $91,450, including an all-season package for $355 and destination charges of $1,295.
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Sponsors cut back
In response to an email, Dan Bedore, director of Nissan Division Communications in Franklin, Tenn., said:
"We generally bring our newest in-launch products to these events as well as crowd pleasers like GT-R [a high-performance sports car with 565 horsepower to 600 horsepower that starts at $99,990].
"Placing vehicles [at events like IMPA's Test Days] includes a per-vehicle cost from the organizers and a shipping cost and we have budgets to operate within."
If Nissan withheld the Leaf for budgetary reasons, that was only one of the cutbacks evident this week to IMPA members like me who have attended Test Days stretching back decades, when they were held at two other tracks, Pocono Raceway and Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.
Fewer food choices
At lunch on Tuesday at the Monticello Motor Club, I asked a server if there were veggie burgers available like the ones I enjoyed last year.
"Not today," he said, so as a non-meat eater I had a choice of three salads -- tuna, edamame and couscous.
The main items on the buffet were hamburgers and chicken with pesto.
Pastas and salads -- but no fish -- were available to non-meat eaters at Tuesday night's banquet in the Resorts World Casino.
Test Days coordinator Paul Licata said in response to an email that cost doesn't allow "us to have every option for everyone."
Track time
This year, in another cost-cutting move, the Monticello Motor Club also declined to provide the race instructors who were available on the first morning of the two-day event.
An instructor would sit in the front passenger seat, and give IMPA members like me tips as they drove the 469-horsepower Mercedes-Benz AMG C 63 and other performance cars around the challenging 3.5-mile track.
On Wednesday, IMPA members had a wide choice of vehicles from among the 70-plus in the paddock to drive unaccompanied on the track, and pretend they are Lewis Hamilton, who is on the cusp of his 5th Formula 1 World Championship.
Test Days sponsors included Fiat Chrysler, Ford, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota/Lexus, Acura, BMW, Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz and Subaru, among other automakers; American Ethanol, a tire company and a public relations firm.
No ethics policy
IMPA is the nation's oldest organization of automotive journalists and public relations professionals, but the group is only now starting to discuss adopting an ethics policy to govern members' relationship with automakers and dealers.
That has allowed carmakers to essentially bribe members with all-expenses-paid travel to see the unveiling of new models; free loans of new vehicles for up to a week to write road-test reports or just to provide them with a ride during their vacations; and free trips to the big auto shows in New York, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere.
Revenue from dealer advertising, meanwhile, keeps many of the writers' publications, websites, blogs and YouTube channels afloat.
Thank sponsors
In an email, IMPA President Bill Howard reminded members:
"Sponsors make the event affordable: $100 for the ticket, not $400. Say thank you as you relieve them of their coffee, bottled water, doughnuts and candy in the paddock."
Tesla doesn't advertise or provide cars for IMPA events, and that may be one factor behind all of the negative stories about the world's premier maker of all-electric cars.
And in recent years, traditional automakers like the ones that sponsor IMPA events have restricted loans of new vehicles to writers whose reports have such a large exposure that there is a good likelihood they will translate into sales.
That prompted one long-time IMPA member to say he'd like to see a return to "equal opportunity bribery."
 |
MSRP of $166,795: The 2019 BMW i8 Roadster is a plug-in hybrid with a total of 369 horsepower from a turbo 3-cylinder gasoline engine and an electric motor. The easiest way to get into the low-slung sports car is to plant your tush on the wide sill and swing your legs in, below.
|
EVs, hybrids
As the owner of a Tesla Model S, I tried to drive only EVs and hybrids on Tuesday.
I had a lot of fun in a 2018 Chevy Bolt EV, which is everything you'd want in a small car and more.
By shifting the transmission into "L," you can operate the all-electric hatchback with one pedal:
When you take your foot off of the accelerator, the Bolt EV will come to a stop at a light or stop sign, and lifting off partially slows the car for corners.
That same one-pedal operation is available in another all-electric car, the BMW i3, which wasn't brought to the event.
Instead, BMW provided a 2019 i8 Roadster, a low-slung gas-electric hybrid that is the open-top version of the 2018 BMW i8.
The sports car was fast and fun to drive, but noisy and impractical. Total suggested retail price is $166,795.
Toyota and Lexus brought no gas-electric hybrids to the event, and Jaguar's first all-electric car, the 2019 I-Pace, also was missing.
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ONE OF FORD'S LAST SEDANS: The 2018 Fusion Platinum Energi is a 5-passenger gas-electric hybrid, one of only 3 sedans the company still sells.
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DESTINATION CHARGER: I was able to plug in my Model S at a Tesla Destination Charger in front of the clubhouse at the Monticello Motor Club in Monticello, N.Y.
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