Business

They’ll turn your gas guzzler into an EV. But be prepared to wait

Published

3 years ago

April 25, 2022

They’ll turn your gas guzzler into an EV. But be prepared to wait

Mark Wagner isn’t positive what he enjoys extra: the seems to be he will get when he pulls his historical Volkswagen ragtop right into a EV charger parking area, or the seems to be he will get due to what he does subsequent.

Wagner’s automobile rolled off of a VW Beetle meeting line in 1962, the 12 months Russian chief Nikita Khrushchev performed nuclear brinkmanship with President Kennedy.

However Wagner’s Bug not carries an upgraded, Chilly Conflict-era 40-horsepower engine and 12.5 gallon gas tank. They’ve been changed with a Curtis C-50 Brushless electrical motor and a part of an 85kWh battery pack scavenged from a Tesla Mannequin S.

“Folks see a traditional automobile like this pull right into a charging area, it’s like, ‘Nicely, that jerk’s blocking the charger,’” stated Wagner, 46. “However then I open up the again, pull the charging twine and plug it in, after which it’s like, ‘Wait — that’s electrical? Can I see it?’”

With gasoline costs at nosebleed ranges and issues about local weather change and air pollution excessive, curiosity in electrical automobiles is larger than ever based on Google search trends. However provide chain issues have led to shortages of recent EVs, which has pushed up costs for used automobiles, stated Mike Spagnola, chief government of the Specialty Gear Market Assn.

Mark Wagner’s 1962 VW Beetle ragtop sports activities an electrical motor and an 85kWh battery scavenged from a wrecked Tesla Mannequin S.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Instances)

In consequence, changing inner combustion engine automobiles to electrical “has turn into increasingly in style,” significantly for house owners of traditional automobiles, Spagnola stated. “It’s a market that can proceed to develop in 2022.”

“These are individuals who love their automobiles and need to proceed driving them, with out worrying concerning the shortage of components for these older automobiles,” Spagnola stated. “It’s about prolonging their longevity and, typically, it’s about having much less of an affect on the atmosphere.”

Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk can most likely afford any automobile available on the market, and he already owns a Tesla Mannequin S and a Lucid Air, amongst others. However considered one of his favorites is the 1964 Chevy Corvette Stingray, black with a pink inside, that he acquired in 2004, he stated, after his retirement from skateboard competitions.

“It was the primary cool-looking sports activities automobile that I noticed once I was younger, and it jogged my memory of the Batmobile,” Hawk stated. “I advised myself that I might purchase one once I acquired older if I may ever afford it.” However currently, driving the automobile had turn into extra of an train in frustration, so Hawk determined to show the automobile electrical.

“As a lot as I like the Mopar transmission, it was all the time a trouble to start out and I may by no means drive it greater than 20 miles with out worrying about it breaking down,” he stated.

Automobile lovers like Wagner and Hawk are feeding an EV conversion increase, however there aren’t sufficient corporations to fulfill demand. Ready lists are typically two years lengthy.

For EV West, one of many West Coast’s hottest EV and inner combustion makeover retailers, it’s for much longer.

“Our store has a five-year wait record,” stated EV West proprietor Michael Bream, who started his firm 13 years in the past, impressed partly by — you guessed it — an earlier leap in gas costs.

“Should you known as us and also you’re like, ‘Hey, Michael. I completely need to convert this automobile.’ We will’t get you in, so we’re going to must ship you to considered one of our sister retailers” that EV West works with on a collaborative foundation, Bream stated.

“I take care of the atmosphere. However I’m a hotrodder, and I’m the son of a hotrodder. We’re not environmentalists. We’re right here to avoid wasting the automobiles.”

— Michael Bream, EV West proprietor

On a latest afternoon, Hawk’s automobile was up on a automobile elevate at EV West’s San Marcos headquarters exterior San Diego. That’s additionally the place Wagner’s ’62 Beetle conversion happened at a value of $32,000.

Bream stated a typical conversion begins at round $18,000. Among the costlier builds, for prime efficiency, can run properly previous $30,000.

For comparability, a 2022 Toyota Prius begins at $24,625; a 2022 Chevrolet Bolt begins at $31,500; a 2022 Tesla Mannequin 3 begins at $41,940. However provide chain issues have led to a semiconductor scarcity, which suggests new EVs could be onerous to search out in some markets.

After the conversion, upkeep turns into primarily a matter of preserving the classic components of the automobile going, which could be dealt with by the automobile’s common mechanic, Bream stated.

A worker removes parts from a totaled Tesla to use in converting gas-powered vehicles to electric.

Turning a automobile electrical is sophisticated and time consuming; it’s not simply dropping in an electrical motor and battery and sending the client on his or her manner. Each kind of automobile, truck or van requires its personal intricate resolution.

Bream has collected an enormous quantity of components on web site and 3D printers are used to manufacture different components and for ending touches that give the sensation that the whole lot belongs. Some analog gas tank gauges are there, however now the “F” to “E” is reporting how a lot battery cost stays.

For instance, “this Corvette is fiberglass,” Bream stated of Hawk’s automobile. “You don’t need to minimize it. You don’t need to alter it. You need to hold it as authentic as completely attainable.”

Bream stated firm engineers and technicians used a bolt-in meeting housing a Tesla Mannequin S motor for a part of the set up.

“This manner you may as well reconvert again to combustion,” he stated. “It’s vital that we hold the conversions reversible. So we haven’t taken any worth out of the automobile.”

Clients searching for a conversion at EV West have an preliminary resolution to make. One alternative is to get a sizzling rod conversion, just like the one for Hawk’s automobile.

“We’ve pulled the entire rear finish out. We’re doing a bunch of various issues within the entrance of the automobile. We swap out the entire drivetrain,” Bream stated.

“However the majority of what we do is a traditional automobile conversion,” which sharply limits the quantity of recent parts and preserves as a lot of the unique as attainable, he stated, utilizing a 1969 Karmann Ghia for example.

The face of Michael Bream, owner of EV West, is reflected in the mirror of a Karmann Ghia.

“The vast majority of the drivetrain on this automobile goes to be authentic, just like the clutch system, the gear shift, so you possibly can nonetheless downshift,” Bream stated. “We try this for lots of shoppers who need to hold as a lot of the unique platform as attainable.”

Bream is a man who is tough to pin down. He drives an EV and has photo voltaic panels on the store’s roof and sufficient storage batteries inside that he generates extra energy than his enterprise wants, however don’t name him an environmentalist. Placing EVs on the street is a secondary or perhaps even a tertiary impact.

“I take care of the atmosphere. However I’m a hotrodder, and I’m the son of a hotrodder,” Bream stated. “We’re not environmentalists. We’re right here to avoid wasting the automobiles.

“I can’t entrance as an environmentalist once we’re nonetheless out again doing 200-foot-long burnouts. If we’re environmentalists, then I’m telling my buyer what to do. We’re simply going to depart the sweet bowl out on the desk and let folks dip in for their very own causes.”

With shortages nonetheless affecting most elements of the provision chain, it may appear doubtless that there can be spirited competitors amongst conversion corporations for essentially the most prized batteries, that are made by Tesla. However there appears to be no scarcity of Tesla house owners who’ve gone out and severely wrecked their automobiles, whereas managing to not injury the batteries.

“There’s no competitors, as a result of everyone’s actually busy. We’ve helped different retailers with their first builds to assist them get into the enterprise,” Bream stated. “We’re on good phrases with many of the different retailers. We’re all on the identical web page, simply attempting to construct enjoyable, electrical automobiles.”

The rear of a DeLorean car being converted to an electric vehicle at EV West.

The lure of electrification additionally is robust for house owners of business automobiles that run on diesel, which stays properly above the typical worth of a gallon of normal gasoline. A gallon of diesel gas averaged $6.36 a gallon in California on Friday in comparison with common gasoline at $5.69, based on AAA.

Ralph Biase, maybe finest identified for his work as producer and host of the TV present “Geared Up” on Motor Development, has extra work than he can deal with at Titan Automobile Restoration in Commerce.

“I’ve acquired a two-year backlog,” Biase stated. “I’m not even taking any new purchasers for the time being, as a result of I’ve so many already on deck, in line ready to get restoration performed.”

Many of the EV conversions his firm does are for industrial automobiles, with purchasers together with Adidas and Nike.

For a latest conversion of a Canadian mining firm’s pickup truck, “they wanted the batteries to suit between the body rails beneath the mattress of the truck, however there wasn’t one commercially obtainable,” Biase stated. “All the pieces needed to be scanned in 3-D. I had all of the [computer-aided design] drawings for the area between the body rails, and I had, mainly, a battery field made for it.”

The dashboard of an electrified VW Beetle.

For his Beetle ragtop, Mark Wagner wished to imitate the unique automobile as a lot as attainable, and the inside has been rigorously upgraded.

“The fuel gauge is now the battery monitor. In addition they gave me these knobs which have an actual classic really feel to them,” stated Wagner, 46. Bream stated that there’s about one-third of the Tesla battery pack within the VW.

The 100-mile vary of the automobile, when pushed conservatively, is sufficient for him to make use of it as his day by day driver, to and from work and for errands. He’s even pushed as much as Massive Bear from his house in Irvine. One cost will get him to the bottom of the mountain, the place he stops to eat and loosen up a bit whereas his automobile costs for the final 30 miles uphill.

“It’s my without end automobile,” Wagner stated.

Tony Hawk has some fairly particular plans for the very first thing he needs to do along with his completed Corvette Stingray conversion. Requested the place he may drive it first, Hawk stated “to and from my half-pipe!”

Business

As Delta Reports Profits, Airlines Are Optimistic About 2025

Published

8 hours ago

January 11, 2025

Press Room

As Delta Reports Profits, Airlines Are Optimistic About 2025

This year just got started, but it is already shaping up nicely for U.S. airlines.

After several setbacks, the industry ended 2024 in a fairly strong position because of healthy demand for tickets and the ability of several airlines to control costs and raise fares, experts said. Barring any big problems, airlines — especially the largest ones — should enjoy a great year, analysts said.

“I think it’s going to be pretty blue skies,” said Tom Fitzgerald, an airline industry analyst for the investment bank TD Cowen.

In recent weeks, many major airlines upgraded forecasts for the all-important last three months of the year. And on Friday, Delta Air Lines said it collected more than $15.5 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024, a record.

“As we move into 2025, we expect strong demand for travel to continue,” Delta’s chief executive, Ed Bastian, said in a statement. That put the airline on track to “deliver the best financial year in Delta’s 100-year history,” he said.

The airline also beat analysts’ profit estimates and said it expected earnings per share, a measure of profitability, to rise more than 10 percent this year.

Delta’s upbeat report offers a preview of what are expected to be similarly rosy updates from other carriers that will report earnings in the next few weeks. That should come as welcome news to an industry that has been stifled by various challenges even as demand for travel has rocketed back after the pandemic.

“For the last five years, it’s felt like every bird in the sky was a black swan,” said Ravi Shanker, an analyst focused on airlines at Morgan Stanley. “But it appears that this industry does have its ducks in a row.”

That is, of course, if everything goes according to plan, which it rarely does. Geopolitics, terrorist attacks, air safety problems and, perhaps most important, an economic downturn could tank demand for travel. Rising costs, particularly for jet fuel, could erode profits. Or the industry could face problems like a supply chain disruption that limits availability of new planes or makes it harder to repair older ones.

Early last year, a panel blew off a Boeing 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight, resurfacing concerns about the safety of the manufacturer’s planes, which are used on most flights operated by U.S. airlines, according to Cirium, an aviation data firm.

The incident forced Boeing to slow production and delay deliveries of jets. That disrupted the plans of some airlines that had hoped to carry more passengers. And there was little airlines could do to adjust because the world’s largest jet manufacturer, Airbus, didn’t have the capacity to pick up the slack — both it and Boeing have long order backlogs. In addition, some Airbus planes were afflicted by an engine problem that has forced carriers to pull the jets out of service for inspections.

There was other tumult, too. Spirit Airlines filed for bankruptcy. A brief technology outage wreaked havoc on many airlines, disrupting travel and resulting in thousands of canceled flights in the heart of the busy summer season. And during the summer, smaller airlines flooded popular domestic routes with seats, squeezing profits during what is normally the most lucrative time of year.

But the industry’s financial position started improving when airlines reduced the number of flights and seats. While that was bad for travelers, it lifted fares and profits for airlines.

“You’re in a demand-over-supply imbalance, which gives the industry pricing power,” said Andrew Didora, an analyst at the Bank of America.

At the same time, airlines have been trying to improve their businesses. American Airlines overhauled a sales strategy that had frustrated corporate customers, helping it win back some travelers. Southwest Airlines made changes aimed at lowering costs and increasing profits after a push by the hedge fund Elliott Management. And JetBlue Airways unveiled a strategy with similar aims, after a less contentious battle with the investor Carl C. Icahn.

Those improvements and industry trends, along with the stabilization of fuel, labor and other costs, have created the conditions for what could be a banner 2025. “All of this is the best setup we’ve had in decades,” Mr. Shanker said.

That won’t materialize right away, though. Travel demand tends to be subdued in the winter. But business trips pick up somewhat, driven by events like this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The positive outlook for 2025 is probably strongest for the largest U.S. airlines — Delta, United and American. All three are well positioned to take advantage of buoyant trends, including steadily rebounding business travel and customers who are eager to spend more on better seats and international flights.

But some smaller airlines may do well, too. JetBlue, Alaska Airlines and others have been adding more premium seats, which should help lift profits.

While he is optimistic overall, Mr. Shanker acknowledged that the industry was vulnerable to a host of potential problems.

“I mean, this time last year you were talking about doors falling off planes,” he said. “So who knows what might happen.”

Business

Insurance commissioner issues moratorium on home policy cancellations in fire zones

Published

9 hours ago

January 11, 2025

Press Room

Insurance commissioner issues moratorium on home policy cancellations in fire zones

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has issued a moratorium that bars insurers from canceling or non-renewing home policies in the Pacific Palisades and the San Gabriel Valley’s Eaton fire zones.

The moratorium, issued Thursday, protects homeowners living within the perimeter of the fire and in adjoining ZIP codes from losing their policies for one year, starting from when Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Wednesday.

The moratoriums, provided for under state law, are typically issued after large fires and apply to all policyholders regardless of whether they have suffered a loss.

Lara also urged insurers to pause for six months any pending non-renewals or cancellations that were issued up to 90 days before Jan. 7 that were to take effect after the start of the fires — something he does not have authority to prohibit.

“I call upon all property insurance companies to halt these non-renewals and cancellations and provide essential stability for our communities, allowing consumers to focus on what’s important at the moment — their safety and recovery,” said Lara on Friday during a press conference in downtown Los Angeles.

Insurance companies in California have wide latitude to not renew home policies after they expire, though they must provide at least 75 days’ notice. However, policies in force can be canceled only for reasons such as non-payment and fraud.

Insurers have dropped hundreds of thousands of policyholders across California in recent years citing the increasing risk and severity of wind-driven wildfires attributed to climate change. The insurance department said residents living in fire zones can be subject to sudden non-renewals, prompting the need for the moratoriums.

In addition, Lara asked insurers to extend to policyholders affected by the fires time to pay their premiums that go beyond the existing 60-day grace period that is mandatory under state law.

It’s not clear how many homeowners in Pacific Palisades and elsewhere might not have had coverage, but many homeowners reported that insurers had not renewed their policies before the disaster struck. State Farm last year told the Department of Insurance it would not renew 1,626 policies in Pacific Palisades when they expired, starting last July.

Residents can visit the Department of Insurance website at insurance.ca.gov to see if their ZIP codes are included in the moratorium. They can also contact the department at (800) 927-4357 or via chat or email if they think their insurer is in violation of the law.

The Pacific Palisades fire, the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history, as of Friday morning had grown to more than 20,000 acres, burning more than 5,000 homes, businesses and other buildings. It was 6% contained.

The Eaton fire, which has burned many structures in Altadena and Pasadena, has spread to nearly 14,000 acres and was 3% contained as of early Friday. Ten people have died in the fires.

Business

In Los Angeles, Hotels Become a Refuge for Fire Evacuees

Published

20 hours ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

In Los Angeles, Hotels Become a Refuge for Fire Evacuees

The lobby of Shutters on the Beach, the luxury oceanfront hotel in Santa Monica that is usually abuzz with tourists and entertainment professionals, had by Thursday transformed into a refuge for Los Angeles residents displaced by the raging wildfires that have ripped through thousands of acres and leveled entire neighborhoods to ash.

In the middle of one table sat something that has probably never been in the lobby of Shutters before: a portable plastic goldfish tank. “It’s my daughter’s,” said Kevin Fossee, 48. Mr. Fossee and his wife, Olivia Barth, 45, had evacuated to the hotel on Tuesday evening shortly after the fire in the Los Angeles Pacific Palisades area flared up near their home in Malibu.

Suddenly, an evacuation alert came in. Every phone in the lobby wailed at once, scaring young children who began to cry inconsolably. People put away their phones a second later when they realized it was a false alarm.

Similar scenes have been unfolding across other Los Angeles hotels as the fires spread and the number of people under evacuation orders soars above 100,000. IHG, which includes the Intercontinental, Regent and Holiday Inn chains, said 19 of its hotels across the Los Angeles and Pasadena areas were accommodating evacuees.

The Palisades fire, which has been raging since Tuesday and has become the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles, struck neighborhoods filled with mansions owned by the wealthy, as well as the homes of middle-class families who have owned them for generations. Now they all need places to stay.

Many evacuees turned to a Palisades WhatsApp group that in just a few days has grown from a few hundred to over 1,000 members. Photos, news, tips on where to evacuate, hotel discount codes and pet policies were being posted with increasing rapidity as the fires spread.

At the midcentury modern Beverly Hilton hotel, which looms over the lawns and gardens of Beverly Hills, seven miles and a world away from the ash-strewed Pacific Palisades, parking ran out on Wednesday as evacuees piled in. Guests had to park in another lot a mile south and take a shuttle back.

In the lobby of the hotel, which regularly hosts glamorous events like the recent Golden Globe Awards, guests in workout clothes wrestled with children, pets and hastily packed roll-aboards.

Many of the guests were already familiar with each other from their neighborhoods, and there was a resigned intimacy as they traded stories. “You can tell right away if someone is a fire evacuee by whether they are wearing sweats or have a dog with them,” said Sasha Young, 34, a photographer. “Everyone I’ve spoken with says the same thing: We didn’t take enough.”

The Hotel June, a boutique hotel with a 1950s hipster vibe a mile north of Los Angeles International Airport, was offering evacuees rooms for $125 per night.

“We were heading home to the Palisades from the airport when we found out about the evacuations,” said Julia Morandi, 73, a retired science educator who lives in the Palisades Highlands neighborhood. “When we checked in, they could see we were stressed, so the manager gave us drinks tickets and told us, ‘We take care of our neighbors.’”

Hotels are also assisting tourists caught up in the chaos, helping them make arrangements to fly home (as of Friday, the airport was operating normally) and waiving cancellation fees. A spokeswoman for Shutters said its guests included domestic and international tourists, but on Thursday, few could be spotted among the displaced Angelenos. The heated outdoor pool that overlooks the ocean and is usually surrounded by sunbathers was completely deserted because of the dangerous air quality.

“I think I’m one of the only tourists here,” said Pavel Francouz, 34, a hockey scout who came to Los Angeles from the Czech Republic for a meeting on Tuesday before the fires ignited.

“It’s weird to be a tourist,” he said, describing the eerily empty beaches and the hotel lobby packed with crying children, families, dogs and suitcases. “I can’t imagine what it would feel like to be these people,” he said, adding, “I’m ready to go home.”

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