Flying electric cars are practically here

Assuming life returns to something akin to normal, we’ll see races in the California desert by the end of the year.
It’s time to invest your life savings in Spacely Sprockets.

https://www.euronews.com/living/amp/2020/04/11/with-women-among-the-pilots-this-is-set-to-be-the-formula-1-for-flying-electric-cars

This thing looks sweet

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/09/26/chinese-electric-car-start-up-xpeng-shows-off-new-flying-vehicle-.html

The electric automaker revealed Saturday at the Beijing Auto Show the first in a series of electric flying vehicles the start-up said it is developing.
With eight propellers and a capsule-like frame, the vehicle resembles a human-carrying drone more than a flying car

The first multi car crash in turn 3 is gonna be brutal.

The first multi car crash in turn 3 is gonna be brutal.  Can't wait to see it and also pre-order my hover car.

How many power lines you figure are gonna get taken out once we get ours for Christmas?

Very uplifting story.

kingstonlake wrote:Very uplifting story.

Was afraid that story might get a rise out of you.

StylesGShmooth wrote:

kingstonlake wrote:Very uplifting story.

Was afraid that story might get a rise out of you.

Put me on cloud nine.

StylesGShmooth wrote:The first multi car crash in turn 3 is gonna be brutal.  Can't wait to see it and also pre-order my hover car.

How many power lines you figure are gonna get taken out once we get ours for Christmas?

Some people will be concerned about the rise in electrocutions. I’ll be concerned about my internet going out.

A Prius with wings.

Can you imagine the amount of air defense our strategic buildings like the White House will need to invest in if these things become commonplace?

Fuck, forget that. Pulling off another 9/11 type attack will be a cakewalk. I hope I'm long dead and buried by the time these things start taking out high rises.

[Insert Debbie Downer pic here]

AvgMSUJoe wrote:OK... CAR BUYING QUESTION....

Looking at a GM car. One salesman says he can get me the "Supplier" discount.

What is that?

People that work for companies that supply parts to GM get a discount on GM products.

GM offers a discount to employees of suppliers and companies that buy a lot of GM fleet vehicles.  The "discount" is a set price for the vehicle (below MSRP).  In general it is a very good price and you still get any offered incentives (like rebates).

I assume you don't work for such a company.  The salesperson may still be able to give you the discount - it means they have a valid authorization number to purchase the vehicle this way that the sales person is willing to let you use.

steveschneider wrote:A Prius with wings.

IB4 snarky Pantry comment.

AvgMSUJoe wrote:

MSU addict wrote:GM offers a discount to employees of suppliers and companies that buy a lot of GM fleet vehicles.  The "discount" is a set price for the vehicle (below MSRP).  In general it is a very good price and you still get any offered incentives (like rebates).

I assume you don't work for such a company.  The salesperson may still be able to give you the discount - it means they have a valid authorization number to purchase the vehicle this way that the sales person is willing to let you use.

This is what I assumed, but I didn't know if the dude was just blowing smoke. Made it seem like no big deal, others are willing to follow suit... so the "authorization number" must not be too hard to come by.

I trust car salesmen like I trust presidents (now a days).  

From what I know (I am not a car salesman) of the way it works - when someone buys a vehicle using a valid supplier discount (which they do document) then GM allows one additional discount authorization code for a "friend or family" of the person receiving the discount that is valid for 90 days or so.  It essentially can be used by anyone and an experienced salesperson usually has a few of these in their back pocket so to speak.

AvgMSUJoe wrote:OK... CAR BUYING QUESTION....

Looking at a GM car. One salesman says he can get me the "Supplier" discount.

What is that?

I wonder if there’s available info online to check out current supplier discounts to see if what he’s offering is legit.

GM Discount = It’s not what you know, it’s who you blow.

Gonna have to make that salesman happy at some point...

tGreenWay wrote:

AvgMSUJoe wrote:OK... CAR BUYING QUESTION....

Looking at a GM car. One salesman says he can get me the "Supplier" discount.

What is that?

I wonder if there’s available info online to check out current supplier discounts to see if what he’s offering is legit.

I don't believe so.  It is a fixed price list from GM (not all vehicles qualify) so I am sure GM would like to keep that somewhat confidential.  

I would be willing to bet that it is legit.  The purchase paperwork should show that it was bought under the program and I believe the dealer would get paid a better.

As I said earlier, when a person buys a car under the program GM gives an additional code authorization.  A good sales person is going to ask they buyer if they know someone who would want to use it - double sale.  If they say no, they are probably going ask if they can give it to someone else.

Motown Spartan wrote:GM Discount = It’s not what you know, it’s who you blow.

Gonna have to make that salesman happy at some point...

He’ll be happy just to sell the car. It adds to his quota and there’s the dealer holdback that assures the sales person gets some cash on the deal, regardless of the sale price of the car.

There seems to be a decent amount of info online regarding the supplier discount. The article I posted below includes a formula for figuring out what you might save. As it mentions in the article, you might be able to negotiate a sale price that’s even better than the Supplier Discount.
Also, I just remembered it’s Sept. 30th. It’s not just the end of the month, it’s the end of the quarter. That almost always means sales staff who haven’t met their quota and the dealership as a whole if it hasn’t reached its quota, are desperate to move cars.
Today could be the perfect time for getting an excellent deal. And don’t worry about losing the deal if the transaction doesn’t go down entirely today. As long as there’s signed paperwork and (probably) a down payment, you can complete the buy within a couple of days.

https://m.carsdirect.com/deals-articles/gm-supplier-discount-how-its-calculated-what-you-need-to-know

Supplier discount is okay but not as good as an employee discount.   Sis worked for GM for years so got the discount many times.  You'd think the discounted price would be the same (on the same vehicle) at every dealer, but it's not.  Use to shop employee discounted purchases and leases at many Detroit area dealers.  Prices were nearly identical at all of them, except one.  Same equipped vehicle leased at that dealer for $30 less a month.  They were one of the highest volume dealers in the country and must have got some extra break from GM on the invoice price.  Was a GMC/Pontiac dealership.  After that deal I ended up buying and leasing a number of GMCs and Pontiacs.

Sis and her husband both quit their jobs at the Tech Center and moved to North Carolina.  End of the GM employee deals, or so I thought.   Got a call from my sales guy late 2003 (week before the New Year) offering me employee pricing on a new vehicle so went for it.  Easiest vehicle purchase I ever made.  Went online to search the dealership inventory.  Found exactly what I wanted and called him back.  Gave him the stock number but he couldn't immediately locate it and said he'd call me back.  Called a couple hours later to say it wasn't in their lot...it was on a truck in transport.  Good guy.  Saved me $8K off the $40K sticker.

Work for a GM strategic partner and can get a discount.  Not sure if the "strategic partner" designation gets a better discount than "supplier". Haven't checked into it because I'm not in the market for a new vehicle yet.

Saw one of these in the wild yesterday.

Looked cool at first but appears these things need more work.  Good call doing the demo over the water  

Hoverboard falls into river during Detroit Auto Show demonstration

The Pantry wrote:Looked cool at first but appears these things need more work.  Good call doing the demo over the water  

Hoverboard falls into river during Detroit Auto Show demonstration

Oops

The Pantry wrote:Looked cool at first but appears these things need more work.  Good call doing the demo over the water  

Hoverboard falls into river during Detroit Auto Show demonstration

Obviously, neither him nor you have seen Back to the Future 2...

Cameron wrote:

The Pantry wrote:Looked cool at first but appears these things need more work.  Good call doing the demo over the water  

Hoverboard falls into river during Detroit Auto Show demonstration

Obviously, neither him nor you have seen Back to the Future 2...

Knäppgök!

Cameron wrote:

The Pantry wrote:Looked cool at first but appears these things need more work.  Good call doing the demo over the water  

Hoverboard falls into river during Detroit Auto Show demonstration

Obviously, neither him nor you have seen Back to the Future 2...

Thought about BTF2 but the working principles of the two boards are clearly quite different.

We're 37 years behind where Hollywood wanted us to be.

The Pantry wrote:

Cameron wrote:

Obviously, neither him nor you have seen Back to the Future 2...

Thought about BTF2 but the working principles of the two boards are clearly quite different.

We're 37 years behind where Hollywood wanted us to be.

More than 37 years if you consider Star Trek and 2001 A Space Odyssey

Trapper Gus wrote:

StylesGShmooth wrote:The first multi car crash in turn 3 is gonna be brutal.  

I always wonder how these are going to be stopped or turned without the friction of tires on the ground to counter the directional motion?

Also, in the US which agency has regulatory jurisdiction?

Space Force?

tGreenWay wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

I always wonder how these are going to be stopped or turned without the friction of tires on the ground to counter the directional motion?

Also, in the US which agency has regulatory jurisdiction?

Space Force?

Did you know they released their own battle song?

[tw]1572262668068884480[/tw]

That’s new.