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In this episode Mike talks about his decision to sell his beloved Ford GT. The I.C.E. behemoth doesn't "Plug In For More" and it is time for the next big thing. Any guess on what that might be? Listen in to find out! 

Plus, all the news and insights you've come to expect from the PIFM team. 


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Transcript

Introduction to Plug In For More Podcast

00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to Plug In For More, brought to you by evuniverse.com. EV Universe is your one-stop shop for all things related to the electric vehicle. Here on this podcast, our goal is to educate, inspire, and hopefully make your transition into the electric vehicle marketplace a lot less intimidating. And now, here are your hosts, Mike, Tom, and Bryant.

Hosts Reunite for Episode Nine

00:00:28
Speaker
All right, guys, I think we're up and recording here for episode nine. I'm excited. All three of us are finally back in the same virtual room here to do a recording. How are you? I'm good. I'm I'm ready to go. Had my cup of coffee. I'm not going to miss another one because I just get ripped on the whole time. So I'll be I'll be sure to join these from now on. Yeah. Well, you did start it. So I had to kind of finish it on the last one. Well, you do have plenty to make up for now at this point. It's not finished, Mike. It's not finished.
00:00:57
Speaker
I'll finish you. All right. Dorks. All right. Um, the mocky. So we're waiting. I'm trying to be patient. I'm not super good at being patient.

Ford Mach-E Recall Discussion

00:01:08
Speaker
All right. So it's rant time. Tom, it's, it's on you. I know you've got a few things that you want to get off your chest specifically about, I think it's a Ford mocky. Can you lay it out there for us?
00:01:20
Speaker
I'm not super patient when it comes to wanting my new toys, and I'm always wanting that next thing. And I ordered the Mustang Mach-E about three months ago. I knew it was going to be six to eight months, so I have no expectation I'd have it now. But Ford comes out and does a recall on Mach-Es because there is essentially a software issue that's causing the battery to overheat in the connection terminals, which will cause the car to shut down, could cause a crash.
00:01:47
Speaker
Okay, that's a problem, I get it. So Ford puts out a notice to all the dealerships to say, don't sell any more Mach-E's that have these VIN numbers that came from this plant in Mexico, like you can't sell them. So they're all frozen on lots at this point.
00:02:04
Speaker
when they first did the recall, there was no known fix. It was just like a, Hey, we're, we're shutting this down. We don't know why. And looking at like mid July for possible fixes on getting these cars back out onto, onto the roadway, getting them

Over-the-Air Updates Concerns

00:02:19
Speaker
sold. But since then I've learned there's a, it's called by at least by Ford, a simple over the air software fix that they're going to be able to push out to all the cars and
00:02:27
Speaker
it. So I guess in the end of the day, it's probably not going to change the production of any of the cars. They're still getting produced. They're still getting made and shipped. It's just delaying them getting out on the road and into the driver's hands. But I mean, it's kind of cool that they're doing it over the air, just like Tesla has. And I know there's other
00:02:43
Speaker
OEMs that are going that route. Did they say how long it's going to take for them to do that over the air update? And can they do that truly over the air? Like, well, if someone has an affected VIN that they've already taken delivery of at their house, or do they have to take it to the dealership? Do you know that? I don't know for certain, but my suspicion based upon the articles that I read is that it is going to be a truly over the air update. But I don't know if it requires a dealership intervention or not. Well, fingers crossed it doesn't delay your car.
00:03:14
Speaker
In my reading, I haven't fact checked this either, but one of the articles I read, there's a Ford spokesperson talking about how the cost for materials to produce the Mach-E have increased by $25,000 per car. Does that even seem real? I don't know. I mean, when you think about just the raw materials and this inflation in general,
00:03:39
Speaker
That seems like a lot, but were they specific about just certain materials or overall cost?
00:03:45
Speaker
I read the same article, Tom, I think to your point, I think it was the battery supplier, specifically Ford was using and, you know, listening to some stories about Tesla, you know, Tesla and their own kind of battery production. It was interesting because I know Tesla is going up like, you know, better than I do, but I think it's like 6,000, which isn't that much, but Tesla makes in conjunction, I believe with Panasonic, their own batteries, which I don't know of any other OEMs making their own batteries at this exact moment.
00:04:14
Speaker
I'm not sure on that either. I guess we could kind of be on the lookout for a price increase for those cars. Kind of like just what Tesla just came out with. I mean, it was across the board anywhere from $2,000 to $6,000 for their cars. And I've got a Model Y performance on order.
00:04:31
Speaker
that now I think that one, because I went with the white seats, it's $1,000 more than just the base price. It's white on the exterior. That one's at like just over $70,000.
00:04:46
Speaker
And now it's, you know, I'm almost gaining like three grand on that particular car just by having it already ordered, which it kind of goes back to our previous discussion when we said, you know, if you have a thought on a car you might want and you can afford to put down that deposit just to

Affordable EVs: Chevy Bolt and Nissan Leaf

00:05:02
Speaker
do it. And I know there's a ton of people doing it right now. That might be the right thing to do just to cover yourself.
00:05:08
Speaker
I don't think I talked about this. I took the EV6 in because there was a parking brake, software glitch where it can come out of gear and it wasn't over the air. He had to over the air and then take it to dealer, but it was 30 minutes. It was really simple. Pretty easy. So nothing to complain about there. I was kind of nervous at first having a car two months and then getting a recall notice.
00:05:29
Speaker
Other than that, there's not too much else personally. I was reading in the news that speaking of, you know, price increases, Chevy has actually lowered the price of the bolt, um, below 30,000 making it that Nissan Leaf, I believe the only two electric vehicles right now below 30,000. So kudos to Chevy for lowering the price of entry level. Um, I mean, most cars are more than 30,000. So that puts that into the masses. I think that's an opportunity.
00:05:59
Speaker
For people that may be listening that are priced out of some higher expensive EVs, 30,000s, you're not going to get too many new cars below that. That's impressive. I was just going to say that Bolt's a nice car, especially for that price point. He's not going to be the fastest car out there, but for everyday utilitarian vehicle,
00:06:20
Speaker
It'll get everything done that you need. And the range is not insignificant. I mean, it's not going to be 400 miles by any stretch. But I mean, it's a solid option for a lot of people. That's fantastic news. It really is. Yeah, it's a solid city commuter. I think you're right.
00:06:36
Speaker
If you're not going to take too many road trips with that and just drive around town and have a charger nearby your home or close by in the city, then that's a solid option for a smaller mid-sized car. Absolutely. I was also

Buick Electra and Jeep's Electric Future

00:06:49
Speaker
reading Buick. Their new lineup is going to be called the Electra name, which I think is cool because one of my good friends has a Buick Electra. It was one of his first cars and I shot him a note.
00:07:01
Speaker
He wasn't like super enthralled with EVs before this came out, but he might have to get a new Electra to go with his old Electra. So pretty nostalgic. I think that's pretty neat for Buick to bring back that name. I think it's a little bit different than the Mustang, the Ford Mustang, and obviously the Mach-E Mustang. This is going to be the name, I believe, of their entire lineup from the Electra. So that's pretty neat. I thought that was cool. And then I thought this was also interesting. I was reading Jeep.
00:07:28
Speaker
is going to go 100% plug-in EV or hybrid in 2023 in Europe and not have a gas option. I thought that was interesting to read about. I had an interesting scenario the

EV Charging Issues: Tesla Wall Connector Story

00:07:42
Speaker
other day. One of my neighbors called me and she said, hey, can you help me with my Tesla wall connector? My car is not charging. We went through
00:07:51
Speaker
It's not the troubleshooting and seeing what lights were doing what and that sort of thing. And we went through the whole, again, the whole procedure of turning it off at the breaker, taking the wall connector off, that kind of stuff, seeing that there was anything kind of fried, having some conversations with the electrician that installed it. Turns out that, and she'd mentioned this when we first started talking about her house got hit by lightning the day before.
00:08:19
Speaker
did nothing damage the car, but the wall connector went out. I'm not sure, it doesn't seem like it would just be a coincidence that the wall connector went the same day she got hit by lightning, but they did have a full house surge protector. I'm not sure if it was on the same circuits and all that kind of thing, but she did have a
00:08:41
Speaker
an issue there. Luckily, you're still underneath warranty. Tesla is shipping her a new wall connector. It's going to take about three weeks or so. So she's been coming over to our house and charging and using some superchargers around to get by. But something to think about that if something happens, you still have other options, especially as this
00:09:00
Speaker
the EV revolution takes place, the expansion of the chargers, you can just use the neighbors for next door. That's a good point. I gave Mike a shout out too, cause I was in New York all week for, for work. And, uh, I was at the airport delays and all kinds of stuff on airplanes and my wife texted and she couldn't get our charger at home to work. So Mike was able to help. I don't even know what you guys figured out, but some who got fixed. So thanks, Mike.
00:09:26
Speaker
Yeah, I mean she's basically had a loose connection. So we are all good. But did it just have to be plugged in? No. So what ended up happening was there is an there's an adapter on the level one for the type of outlet that you have. And so that got a little bit loose. So the connection wasn't yeah, it wasn't able to to work appropriately. But well, ready, tidy.
00:09:49
Speaker
And we're all good. Mike comes to the rescue. Mike, you should start a concierge service, Mike. Any listener needs help. Just reach out to Mike. He can help. Where would we be if Mike wasn't here to tell us to turn things to the right to tighten them? I'm going to not. And on next week's episode, we're going to bring you Lefty Lucy. All right. What are we also going to hear to talk about, guys? You're listening to the Plug In for More podcast.
00:10:13
Speaker
If you're looking for information on electric vehicles, electric vehicles components, or information on how to reduce your carbon footprint, look no further than EVUniverse.com. EVUniverse.com is your one-stop shop for all things related to electric vehicles. A big thing for me, and we talk about the transition into electric vehicles, and a lot of people are doing it for their
00:10:39
Speaker
you know, daily drivers and that sort of thing. I'm going to make the full jump into that for collector cars too. So as you guys both know, I have a particular vehicle that's very special to me that I've had for a while. And that's a 2005 Ford GT that you guys have both been able to ride and drive. It's a pretty special car in my opinion.
00:11:03
Speaker
I think a lot of people would agree with that, but I'm going to be selling it in the really near future. Well, that's kind of heartbreaking.

Mike's Commitment to Electric Vehicles

00:11:11
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it is. And with that particular car too, that one's special to me in particular because it was the
00:11:21
Speaker
the car in our hometown when we were in college that was roped off, that you couldn't get within five feet of, that I wanted and thought about for many years, and then I was able to actually purchase it. So that is the exact VIN, as you two are both well aware of. And I have all the service records. We know the original owner.
00:11:44
Speaker
All those types of things and be able to find it 4 hours away from our hometown. It was really special to me and that car is. In great shape had a lot of work done to it, but end of the day it's kind of it goes against everything we're doing here you know when I think about climate change and.
00:12:04
Speaker
uh, reducing emissions. And then all of a sudden in the garage, I've got one of the most gas guzzling sports cars of all time. That's ranges 150 miles ish. Um, even less depends on how you drive it. Uh, kind of felt like a little bit of a hypocrite, but you talk about that range of 150 miles and we're sitting here talking about range for electric vehicles. I never considered once for a gas vehicle in range in terms of miles like that.
00:12:28
Speaker
Yeah, I think the EPA rating on it was like 185 or something like that. And don't quote me on it. But somewhere, it was less than 200. It wasn't good. It's got a small gas tank. And this particular car has got a smaller supercharger pulley. So it's running more horsepower. And it's got different exhaust and all those types of things, which we know decreases range. And usually when you drive a vehicle like that, you are not
00:12:57
Speaker
You're not going for the most mileage you can get. It's spirited driving. It's usually harder acceleration and therefore, I mean, you're not.
00:13:08
Speaker
I don't think I could get more than one 70 out of the car, even if I tried. So I'm going to, I'm going to come in here and completely disagree with what Mike's decision is here because I think the Ford GT is one of the best cars ever to drive and ride in. And you can feel the rumble on your chest. The motor sits like two centimeters behind your head. And I understand the environmental impact, but the fact that you're driving that car, maybe.
00:13:36
Speaker
How many miles have you put on it since you own that car, Mike? Maybe a thousand. A thousand miles. Maybe. That's such little impact. I understand and respect your decision, but I've gone the opposite listeners. I've since the start of this podcast, I've picked up a 97 Transam 5.7 liter V8 gas guzzler, but I'm not only driving it. Maybe I put three, 400 miles on that car.
00:14:01
Speaker
Yeah but your your thing by is that's a family car so you gotta explain a little bit more here this guy if you're gonna go against me here you gotta walk that back a little bit and.
00:14:15
Speaker
Share some of the reason why you got that car. To your point, it was owned the entire time by my aunt in Detroit. It was one of the first cool cars I bought or she bought. It was the first cool car I ever drove. I just want to be careful of listeners thinking classic cars are going to hurt the environment because we just don't drive them that much. I don't have any guilt driving that car 1,000 miles a year, just so little compared to my daily driver.
00:14:43
Speaker
Already almost 3,000 miles. I'm a v6 in two months. So yeah, I mean that's fair I mean, I guess for me it's more it's some of his optics one and two, you know, I think this is you know, Brian with with your experience and you know being in the collector car industry for X number of years and really being a true expert there and
00:15:07
Speaker
One of the things I keep thinking of is the Ford GT has done very well from an appreciation standpoint. It's done very, very well. But I do think that there is potentially one EV out there that could surpass it as far as appreciation, especially when you look at a percentage basis. And I think you know which car I'm talking about.
00:15:33
Speaker
I think it's a Tesla Roadster. I do. I think there's way less of them than there was with the Ford GT. The Ford GT, there's around 4,000 of those built. Right now, there's about 1,500 Tesla Roadsters on them that are even in existence at this point because a lot of them have been either crashed or
00:15:55
Speaker
disassembled by Tesla. So I think those being the first really like collector EV, if you don't think of the ones from the early 1900s, I think that's going to be a better investment than what the GT will be.
00:16:11
Speaker
Again, listeners may take me to tear my head off for saying that. That's fair. I don't disagree, Mike. I think it's interesting because if you look at the bull market list that Hagerty puts out, the 4GT is on that list and the bull market list means the cars we're predicting, Hagerty's predicting will go up in value the most.
00:16:29
Speaker
The Ford GT is on that list, and this year, guess what? As you know, the Tesla Roadster is on that list. So we'll just have to see. Let's take a snapshot in time. Right now, the Ford GT, roughly, different conditions are between, I'd say, 320,000 and 420,000, depending on how many miles and conditions. I don't think there's too many cars for sale, less than 400 right now.
00:16:53
Speaker
So that's kind of the, that's the snapshot in time that we're looking at for the Ford GT. And you would know the Tesla Roadster better than I do around 180, 250. Like, is that the range for the Roadster roughly?
00:17:07
Speaker
It's even less. With the Ford GT, you have the livery edition that makes those cars a lot more valuable. I can't remember what percentage of those have that livery on it, but it's not many. With the Tesla Roadster, you have
00:17:25
Speaker
a couple different variations that increase and decrease value one of them if it's a sig 100 so signature 100 or a validation prototype one of the first first cars built those things are worth a lot more or if it's one of the final five those are worth more than some of the other ones but yeah if you can get your hands on a sig 100 car those are
00:17:49
Speaker
way over 170 to 200, 220, somewhere in that range, depending on if it was owned by someone famous or what exactly goes on with that vehicle. The other cars, anywhere from 120 to 170, it's a little bit less, but I think those sick 100s and the final five are going to go long-term, go crazy. Those are going to be the seven-figure cars.
00:18:11
Speaker
Makes sense. I don't think you can go wrong either way I think I think both cars and appreciate will see long-term which one does it the most and I'm just bummed because I think I think it's an awesome car But I respect I completely respect your decision and I also think it's kind of interesting owning such a variety of vehicles that I own You can kind of like make people think certain things about you Depending which car you pull up in so if I pull up my EV people think
00:18:39
Speaker
different thoughts about me as a person. If I pull up my 97 Trans Am Firebird, if I pull up my 2006 Pontiac Solstice, or if I pull up in my Dodge Ram pickup truck. And so it kind of is cool because you can really be a chameleon and people judge you based on what you're driving. And I get way different reactions depending on which car I drive. And just for fun, if I have people in town, I pick them up maybe from the airport in the EV and the next day I'll bring my Trans Am and they're like thrown for a loop. And so I just like the fact that you could
00:19:08
Speaker
pull up in your Tesla and the next day pull up in your Ford GT and people completely be mind-shocked by you. Yeah, it's really funny like when I would take either one of those cars to the car show like the
00:19:20
Speaker
Different people are attracted to the different vehicles like it's a just different demographic you want to talk about the Ford GT and look at it and then you know the the Roadster it's again a lot more of the Younger kids just gravitate to the the Roadster. It's it's neat But both of them bring bring a crowd which is fun. Yeah, so yeah, I will miss the GT but
00:19:45
Speaker
I think it's time, and we'll see how it goes. And it's going up for sale on carsandbids.com, which is owned by, or at least maybe I'm not sure what the ownership percentage is, but Doug DeMuro is essentially the head of that.
00:20:01
Speaker
company. And so I've been messaging back and forth with Doug about that car because he's a big 4GT guy. And as I think you guys both know, he's really big on YouTube, multiple million subscribers, and he's never had a 4GT on his website. And so that was one concern I had
00:20:22
Speaker
was, hey, I know you love GTs, but you haven't sold one yet. And so I think he's going to promote it a lot, which I'm really excited about, because I think he does a really good job, and I'm excited to see what he does with it. So one thing with the GT sale, an anecdotal story that I often tell people when we're talking about EVs and making transitions, and by no way, shape, or form am I trying to be diminutive of the Ford GT. It's an incredible car. There's no way around that.
00:20:49
Speaker
But when we came to visit and I drove your GT, it's very fast. It's scary. I almost feel like it's trying to hurt me while we're driving it because it is so fast and so, so quick. So we drive that car. It's an amazing experience. And I love this, this car. And then we go to the Tesla dealership and we get into the model three performance, which is a mid to small size sedan and what a $65,000 price point.
00:21:18
Speaker
I think, thereabouts. Which, you know, at that $65,000 price point, by no way shape or form is it the same class as that 4GT, but it's quicker. And I didn't feel like the Model 3 was trying to kill me. So from this standpoint, like, it's absolutely mind boggling to me that you have this mass-produced, family, small to mid-size sedan that is essentially outperforming a 4GT in what the 4GT is supposed to be good at.
00:21:48
Speaker
and go in going fast. Yeah, exactly. I mean, so I think about, um, I mean, the Ford GT is, um, I would say one of the best drivers cars I've ever been in and say, I think same thing for Bryant and a number of people like zero to 60 time. I mean, daily traffic, even if you're on a track, I mean, a model three performance or even the Tesla Roadster.
00:22:16
Speaker
it's going to decimate that GT up to 60 or 70 or so. After that point, and you are driving it appropriately, that GT is going to catch up and surpass those cars. But you look at it versus a
00:22:33
Speaker
Tesla Model S Plaid and that GT is not going to catch it in a quarter mile. Not even close. It'll be a couple seconds behind. And then unless you're going for top speed, then that's where the GT is going to win out. But it's going to take a long time to get there. If you're living on a track and all you do is drive on a track every day, then great. Cool. Like the Ford GT all day. But for 99% of us out here in the world, we're just looking for a daily driver.
00:23:01
Speaker
Yeah, which, I mean, frankly, I mean, it's a collector car and a GT is not going to, if GT for GT is your daily driver hats off to you. And that's, I mean, that's a, it's a different, a different realm there. But, but yeah, I mean, it's a, it was an experience. I'm glad I got to do it. But like I said, I think it's, it's time and let someone else enjoy it. And, uh, yeah, for me, my focus, just my whole heart's behind EVs. And, um, that's what I'm going to do.
00:23:29
Speaker
I'll make sure you guys check out our socials. We'll put pictures of Mike's G.T. up on our social media pages and links to the cars and bids auction when it comes time. And we'll get all that stuff out there for you to take a look at. So so, Mike, two comments on some things you said that triggered just a quick thing. One, I agree when when you're driving the EVs, the kids, the younger than 10 years old see it's an EV and they want to come up and talk to you about it.
00:23:58
Speaker
But the older, I'd say plus 50 year old men, not interested at all. But when you're driving like a collector car, they want to come talk about it. And so it's completely different audiences. And the other thing is, I'm curious once you sell your Ford GT, if you'll miss kind of disconnected
00:24:15
Speaker
When I'm in the GT, what I like about it is you're not looking at your phone, you're not looking at any technology. It's kind of when I get in my Trans Am. It doesn't have Bluetooth as a CD player and a tape player. So there's just something about being disconnected from technology that I think appeals to some of the older cars. And obviously I still love EVs. I just think it's interesting you made those two comments. I'll be curious if you miss just going for a ride in a car that's not connected like a Tesla.
00:24:44
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, so I think it will miss the GT in the aspect of I love driving a manual transmission vehicle.
00:24:51
Speaker
and pressing in the clutch and just feeling the shifting and the experience of the noise and that aspect. But as far as feeling the road, the Tesla Roadster, I felt like you feel that just as much from the steering perspective and hearing the road because it's so quiet. And so that's different just because there's no power steering in the Tesla Roadster and you get a more
00:25:21
Speaker
Analog feel kind of like what the GT is. But yeah, I think at the end of the day, I will miss it to some extent. But one thing I forgot to mention earlier is that Superformance, who does all the Shelby Cobra replicas and that kind of thing,
00:25:40
Speaker
They are working with a group out of England, I believe, to make an EV Superformance GT based on the GT40. And so it'll be a kit car with a, I believe it's a Model S P100D drive train in it. Wow. And it's supposed to be making 800 horsepower, which is substantially more than what mine has in it. And they're going to be able to make it where you can shift the car to. Wow.
00:26:11
Speaker
Yeah, cool. And so that might be that might be the car for me if I can get into it. That's the other concern with those original GT 40 like cars. There's not a whole lot of headroom there. They're not really built for people above six feet tall. So I'm six to that might be a little difficult getting into, but I really love the look. So maybe that'll be something I go after in the future. Who knows? I have a challenge for Tom or for Mike.
00:26:40
Speaker
And maybe, Tom, actually it's for all of us. Let's find Mike, like a totaled out four GT and do an electric conversion on it. And I don't know of any, there's probably, there probably is exist, but I don't know of any personally electric four GTs that exist. And, uh, if we can find a total of one that we can do a project on, that would be pretty sick. That would be.
00:27:03
Speaker
that the absolute epitome of what I'd love. I mean, I would love to do that. Absolutely. If we can figure that out and do it, I know a couple of people who do conversions, one in particular, his name is Carl Medlock out of Seattle, who was original service advisor or ran service for Tesla back in like oh nine to like 2013, him and his sons. That would be a group I would love to take a wrecked
00:27:31
Speaker
GT two, um, and have them convert. And I actually talked to Carl about doing that on my GT before, but just because of the value of it, I'm like, only if the engine blows up or something will I do it. So it has crossed my mind. I, if we can do it, let's do it. Hmm.
00:27:52
Speaker
All right. Well, Mike, I'm excited for you in the next transition into, uh, whatever new EV you come up with after you offload this GT. I'm excited to see how that thing, how it moves and how things work with cars and bids. And hopefully we'll, uh, have some updates here for me soon. Sounds great. And I appreciate everything guys. And, uh, we'll just keep going down the road and see what, uh, what happens next.
00:28:18
Speaker
Cool. Have a great day, guys. Thank you for listening to plug in for more. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes. In the meantime, check out the one-stop EV Marketplace EVUniverse.com. Until next time.