Elon Musk takes over Twitter

Yep ... you need something to haul around those stacks of $100 bills. #boatobsessedposter

 

It’s weakening, but truck buyers are the most loyal segment of the new vehicle market.

 

My across the street neighbor, a really good guy, has a very nice motor boat. He spends more time cleaning it and doing maintenance than he does on the water. I'll stick with golf, thanks. Cleaning my clubs and shoes doesn't take up much of my day. I know lots of people fish, boat and even sail here. But to me, it's like having a really hot or classic car in Massachusetts. You can't use it six months a year.

 

We don't do blue font here anymore.

 

Truth be told, I like a lot of the little projects and problems-to-be-solved that come with being a sailboat owner. If I had the money to be one of those farm-everything-out guys, I don't think I'd enjoy it nearly so much.

 

Oooh, it’s a schooner!

 

I've been saying that there still needs to be a leap forward in battery tech, but go back and forth on how much I mean it.

The F-150 is supposed to get up to 320 miles with the extended battery. Towing, it's half that? 160 miles? That'll work sometimes, but certainly not always. Are you going to throw down for a new truck that's going to work for 80% of the things you actually use a truck for? I don't know. That might well be a dealbreaker for me.

I work in agriculture. Are the ranges/power strong enough yet for rural America? Some of these men and women can end up a long, long way from help if their battery dies at the wrong spot, and certainly they need to be able to tow plenty on a regular basis, as well. And, frankly, they may need to get to a full charge in the hours between midnight and 6 a.m.

On the other hand, if the lake is 10 miles away and you only tow the boat to and from there, or if you got a truck so you can haul lumber back from Home Depot twice a summer and carry the grill to the tailgate 5 weekends during the fall... well, then maybe you'll jump at the Ford right now.

 

The batteries would get really run down when they’re out plowing snow. (Yes, I understand the braking provides regenerative energy — at least that’s what I think it’s called.) Is a landscaper going to plug in their truck all the time?

 

Half of the dudes in America use them as luxury testosterone boosters and little more.

 

I can understand battery anxiety, since one of my buddies was bitching the other day that he had to buy SIX phone chargers for his new iPhone - he couldn't bear the thought of not being able to charge at his office, in his car, in his bedroom, the living room, his editing studio. (Sorry, can't remember the sixth place.)

But the fears about lacking a place to charge your car battery are probably overblown at this point. You can go to this site, for example, and make sure your trip would be OK. Unless you're going on a cross-country trip and not traveling by major highways, you're going to hit a bunch. Screwing around with various hypothetical trips, I think the only issue might be if you want to drive from the states to Alaska, because it looks like large portions of British Columbia don't have recharge stations.

 

I can totally dig that. Some of us are hands-on guys, and some of us, like me, are "let me phone the man" guys. One reason I'd never own a boat. The boatyard would own me eventually.

 

Thinking more about the range if you're driving a heavy vehicle. As of now, it seems like we'll be using oil there for awhile.