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Comptech
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
In the last month have have dropped the ball big time. First was a power supply for my Pi3 adb-s server. Power supply died ordered one Amazon prime, two day delivery. A week and a half later get a empty padded envelope that was obviously opened and resealed. No problem, Amazon sent another one and it took two weeks to get here. Now last Friday I ordered a NMO mount from the antenna farm. Got a tracking number and they got it out that day. Blairsville GA is about a hundred mile from me. It went to Atlanta two Friday's ago and has not moved since. Tracking just shows ypur item is late, but is on the way. No wonder they are broke. Could have picked it up in a 3 hour round trip.
$10 bucks two day priority and 7 business days later, I still don't have it. It is amazing how government entities work.
60 Replies · 6404 views
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DJdish
Another fator that has affected me personally, regarding post deliveries and the pandemic, is that
the mail man assigned to this route told me around March April, the local post office was reducing the number of mail carriers to avoid having them on a crowded office where they sort out all the parcels, so they would work every other day, taking turns,

Then the mail man who covers this route, was out of commission for around a month, some other postmen came to fill in for him, and they just told me he was out on sick leave, and nobody would tell them if he had caught the virus,

Then he came back, and I didn't even want to ask him, he looked fine, OK;

About a month ago, again he has been missing, and I know him well, he's very responsible, and if he has been again out of commission for 4 weeks it must be something serious,

This time there are no other mail men to cover for him, and I haven't received many parcels, that I ordered online in May and June and later on...

Above all I hope the mail man who covers my route is well, and I hope to see him again healthy,

The delivery of my parcels can wait.....
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FTA4PA
My wife ordered a gift for her Mom from Michigan on December 5th with priority mail delivery to Pennsylvania. It was tendered to USPS on the 7th with delivery expected by the 11th. As of the 11th it has been setting in Michigan with no movement and no updates. :mad:

I ordered a movie on the 11th from Indiana to be shipped media mail. It was tendered to USPS on the 12th with delivery expected by the 17th. It has been setting here in Pennsylvania since the 15th, again no movement, no updates. Being as this is media mail I doubt it will arrive before Christmas. :(
NYDutch
We're still waiting for Christmas presents we sent to two relatives on Dec 11th to be delivered...
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mdonnelly
The card I sent from OKC to Dallas just got there, 12 days later. :o
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FTA4PA
My wife ordered a gift for her Mom from Michigan on December 5th with priority mail delivery to Pennsylvania. It was tendered to USPS on the 7th with delivery expected by the 11th. As of the 11th it has been setting in Michigan with no movement and no updates. :mad:

I ordered a movie on the 11th from Indiana to be shipped media mail. It was tendered to USPS on the 12th with delivery expected by the 17th. It has been setting here in Pennsylvania since the 15th, again no movement, no updates. Being as this is media mail I doubt it will arrive before Christmas. :(
My item showed up on Dec 28th - 11 days longer than expected delivery. :(

My wife is still waiting for her item. On Dec 27th it appeared at a USPS facility near Detroit but it has been there for three days. It is now 19 days and counting past expected delivery. :mad:
M
I don't get mail delivered to my house because the city won't plow snow on my street. (The street in front of my house is actually an alley by most peoples reckoning). So I have a cluster box at the end of the block to get mail delivery. Every once in awhile I get a package delivered to my door by USPS. (Mostly because it doesn't fit in the parcel locker at the cluster box). I was expecting a UPS Mail Innovations delivery and tracking showed when it reached my local post office it stopped moving. For 8 days no updates. I planned to contact my seller on Monday the 28th to complain. Then I got an email saying the package was delivered the day before on Sunday to my front door. Well of course there was no such delivery. My house is ringed with security cams and no one entered my property on Sunday. So I went to the USPS to get the process started. You can't call them on the phone here. :( Of course finding a parking spot was insane and the line to the window was almost the length of the building. Finally my turn, and the guy says let me get the map that shows the exact location the delivery man was standing when he scanned the delivery. He comes and shows me the spot on the map and I'm going, "you guys suck" in my mind. It was delivered to the parcel locker at the end of the block where it should have been. But I never knew to expect delivery on a Sunday. And I never thought to look in my cluster box for the delivery to my front porch.
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DJdish
Another fator that has affected me personally, regarding post deliveries and the pandemic, is that
the mail man assigned to this route told me around March April, the local post office was reducing the number of mail carriers to avoid having them on a crowded office where they sort out all the parcels, so they would work every other day, taking turns,

Then the mail man who covers this route, was out of commission for around a month, some other postmen came to fill in for him, and they just told me he was out on sick leave, and nobody would tell them if he had caught the virus,

Then he came back, and I didn't even want to ask him, he looked fine, OK;

About a month ago, again he has been missing, and I know him well, he's very responsible, and if he has been again out of commission for 4 weeks it must be something serious,

This time there are no other mail men to cover for him, and I haven't received many parcels, that I ordered online in May and June and later on...

Above all I hope the mail man who covers my route is well, and I hope to see him again healthy,

The delivery of my parcels can wait.....

As a follow up, I am glad I got to see the mail man, again,

He is safe and sound, he came by yesterday to thank me for attentions to him (as I usually receive a lot of mail and some parcels requiring signature, I am used to see him often, so I always have a bottle of water for him on a hot day, a cash bonus around this time of year, etc.)

I had the chance to give him a little Christmas present I had for him, and he urged me to take the pandemic seriously and to take care, we talked briefly about that, but I didn't want to ask me if when he was out of commission it was because of that.....

Important thing is that he is doing fine and I was glad to see him.
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in TV Shows
Don't know if any of you have watched this series yet, it would be interesting to see if you feel this review was accurate. It was very humorous to listen to however.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tsDO3y8I2c
2 Replies · 95 views
KAB
KAB
What a "pile of slop" review! I liked the show.
Y
What a "pile of slop" review! I liked the show.
If the review is like the article, oi! Eighteen paragraphs into the review and... all they've done is not really talk at all about the actual thing they are reviewing.

Halfway into the "written" review, I know more about how the writer "thinks" than I do about what they are writing about. I understand their politics, their self-overestimated understanding of film, their inability to be funny.

Takes about 22 paragraphs to get to one that starts "Anyway, the story kicks off...". Talk about Slop! 😂
K
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in TV Shows
Season 2 order already in hand:

'Star Trek: Starfleet Academy' Renewed for Season 2, Tatiana Maslany to Guest Star in Season 1

I've not been optimistic about this show based on what I've read so far. Seems to be aimed at a younger audience. Interesting though that Tatiana Maslany will have some sort of role.
91 Replies · 3657 views
K
I'm sure I will watch at least the first episode but I am not optimistic.
Here i am over a year later and just finished season 1. Not great but not as bad as I was expecting. Did not care for the barefoot captain stuff but overall ok. Actually looking forward to see what they did for season 2.
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MikeD-C05
Here i am over a year later and just finished season 1. Not great but not as bad as I was expecting. Did not care for the barefoot captain stuff but overall ok. Actually looking forward to see what they did for season 2.
Yeah, the foot stuff was just nasty. I kept thinking of how dirty her feet would get traipsing around shoe-less. Funny, I love being shoe less at home and never wear shoes indoors in my home for long, but seeing her laying on all her furniture with her bare feet hanging out just kind of grossed me out.
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harshness
I kept thinking of how dirty her feet would get traipsing around shoe-less.
Where would this "dirt" come from? Dead skin and dandruff?
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MikeD-C05
Where would this "dirt" come from? Dead skin and dandruff?
There would still be dirt ,dust in the future I am sure. So walking around the station like she did she would get stuff on her feet. I am sure the robot vacuum is still going to miss stuff, with all those different alien species running around there.
harshness
There would still be dirt ,dust in the future I am sure.
Where is it going to come from -- specifically?

Why do you think cleaning technology won't improve in the next few hundred years? HEPA filtration was invented as part of the Manhattan Project.
MikeD-C05
Where is it going to come from -- specifically?

Why do you think cleaning technology won't improve in the next few hundred years? HEPA filtration was invented as part of the Manhattan Project.
I don't know, but I still don't like her walking through the station or the academy with out her shoes. It looks unprofessional and very "hippy like" for someone of her status and I personally don't get off to feet, so there is that. ;)
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osu1991
I don't know, but I still don't like her walking through the station or the academy with out her shoes. It looks unprofessional and very "hippy like" for someone of her status and I personally don't get off to feet, so there is that. ;)
Stay out of my office. I rarely have shoes or socks on in the office. My office and business is at home though :clapping
MikeD-C05
Stay out of my office. I rarely have shoes or socks on in the office. My office and business is at home though :clapping
Say, I don't wear socks or shoes in my house either. But for a captain in Star Fleet it looks bad to be walking around the academy with no shoes. Gives off 1960 Hippie vibes.
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Jimbo
Gives off 1960 Hippie vibes.
You say that like it's a Bad thing or something ... :biggrin
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long_time_Dish
Well, look at the way she sat in the Captain's Chair. I didn't say the show should have been called "Captain Chair-Whore" for nothing...
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primestar31
Say, I don't wear socks or shoes in my house either. But for a captain in Star Fleet it looks bad to be walking around the academy with no shoes. Gives off 1960 Hippie vibes.
star trek GIF by HULU


Just sayin...
MikeD-C05
You say that like it's a Bad thing or something ... :biggrin
For a whole generation of adults it was in the 1960s and 1970s.

All In The Family Nostalgia GIF by Sony Pictures Television
All In The Family Singing GIF by Sony Pictures Television
harshness
Females wearing any clothing is unthinkable on Ferenginar.
long_time_Dish
Females wearing any clothing is unthinkable on Ferenginar.
Was never a huge of the Ferengi-centric episodes in Trek...
Scott Greczkowski
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!

So let the game continue!

The last song was added by Bobby who posted...

One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters

CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!

Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game

Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.

Example:

Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

Another example:

Ride the Lightning -- Metallica

Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne


Get it?


An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
68605 Replies · 2677777 views
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sdfntx
Gondoliers, Shakespeares, Overseers, Playboys and Bums - Norman Greenbaum
Bobby
I Wish I Was Eighteen Again - George Burns
harshness
I Wish - Stevie Wonder
EatMyVolts
Lonesome Road -- The Wonder Who?
long_time_Dish
Lonesome Loser - Little River Band
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Love this guy's channel. Looks like Walmart has thrown in the towel when it comes to conventional car batteries.

I bought a new AGM battery from Walmart about a year ago, it is already needing replacing. I thought about just buying a regular battery but from what I've read, that might not be a smart move. Might check my Forscan program and see if I can change the battery type from AGM.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awe7kY5nvdU
15 Replies · 126 views
harshness
When you need a battery, you need a battery.

If you can wait, new technologies are on the not-too-distant horizon.

You're probably doing something wrong if you're only getting a year out of an AGM battery. Heat and infrequent charging both significantly reduce lifetime.
Jimbo
The guy in the Video, REALLY needs to TAKE a Breath ...
If he'd Slow down, you could figure out What he's testing and on what. :(
harshness
If he'd Slow down, you could figure out What he's testing and on what.
You can't view his videos passively.

I appreciate this approach to videos that take an hour to deliver a fraction of the same data.

Now, if YouTube were required to flag the AI "reviews", that would really be something.
dishstaller
You're probably doing something wrong if you're only getting a year out of an AGM battery. Heat and infrequent charging both significantly reduce lifetime.
Huh? How can I be doing something wrong.....I took out the original battery, that was 6 yrs old and put in a new one.....kinda hard to screw that up. I figure it was just a bad battery....it happens.


The biggest takeaway I got from this video was the Walmart batteries only had something like 85% of battery life left even though they were brand NEW. The ones from O'Reilly all tested 100% of life left.
Jimbo
Huh? How can I be doing something wrong.....I took out the original battery, that was 6 yrs old and put in a new one.....kinda hard to screw that up. I figure it was just a bad battery....it happens.


The biggest takeaway I got from this video was the Walmart batteries only had something like 85% of battery life left even though they were brand NEW. The ones from O'Reilly all tested 100% of life left.
And the Walmart ones mostly had very little warranty.

My last AGM (using now) I got from O Rielly's, its the Super Start ... I got the Platnium, they had several to choose from.
TRG
TRG
Huh? How can I be doing something wrong.....I took out the original battery, that was 6 yrs old and put in a new one.....kinda hard to screw that up. I figure it was just a bad battery....it happens.


The biggest takeaway I got from this video was the Walmart batteries only had something like 85% of battery life left even though they were brand NEW. The ones from O'Reilly all tested 100% of life left.
I've been buying my batteries from AutoZone. I avoid Walmart whenever possible.
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dishstaller
I appreciate this approach to videos that take an hour to deliver a fraction of the same data.
That's the way I feel about it.
I hate those videos where they show themselves slowly opening up the box and unwrapping it.
His videos are probably the fastest pace test videos on Youtube.
T
He sounds like he's trying to sell me a pocket hose.

I just had to replace a car battery this week and thought I'd look into LiFePo4. Amazon has plenty of them, but all have top posts and only one 'also' has side connections (Group 75).Then I read that they're really lousy in the cold. So, an AGM, but again, almost nothing with side terminals instead of top. In researching that, I read that most mfrs in recent years have dropped side terminals and gone back to the old top posts, which is surprising to me since those are more corrosion-prone, cause the battery to need more space and are generally more hazardous. Finally I just threw up my hands and bought a regular lead-acid at Sam's Club. They had a Group 75 "Duracell" with side terminals only. It was virtually the only such battery with side posts on their shelves
arlo
Had a Die Hard in my folks cellar for over 6 years. Pulled it out, slapped it on a charger for a day. Put it in my 'Cuda and drove it around for a week of my vacation. Next year, the same. But my dad kept it topped off for me.It was a mid 80's battery in early 1990.

Flooded acid batteries like a float voltage of around 13.5-13.8 voltage.
AGM needs a float of 14.2 volts. So if you slap an AGM in where a flooded was. It never gets a full charge.
"Why do they die so fast?" Question answered. There are folks who sell voltage regulators for alternators that are designed to boost float voltage for AGM batteries.
The other way around? Flooded will gas-off a little at 14.2 volts. But seems to tolerate it pretty good.

Lithium car/bike/atv batteries. After 3 batteries in my Harley. The OEM flooded and two AGM's (before the 14.2 volt float requirement to let them live was learned). I bought a lithium for it. 4 year, no gripe warranty after having it tested by an approved store.
The thing started like Thor himself sent a bolt from the sky. Except......try to start it around freezing? Nope. Needed a heating pad.
And I usually like to park it around events in the evening with the parking light on. Looks cool like that.
We could traipse around for a few hours no worries. Hop on, fire it up, and go putt around.
Lithium? A Dakota Lithium at least. The BMS shuts it right down if it discharges below <something>.
Come back. Parking lights off. Won't start. And you know the rest. But it lasted 6 years. A lot better than 'new every two'. And the fact that powersports batteries are warranted for six, maybe nine months. Ludicrous.

I called Noco. Asked all of the right questions. Great warranty. Save some bucks ordering directly, faster service that the wally world alternative.
They addressed (or claimed over the phone) that the shut down was addressed. Sure. The BMS keeps it form being damaged. But if it is shut down because it does become low. Shut down any load (key on, parking or headlights left on) for 10-15 minutes and you get a second try to start your rig. Not a bad thing if it really works. Right?!

Exide, Interstate? Be very afraid. They ain't what they used to be. In Florida my '70 Cutlass had an Interstate (early 90') that lasted 6 years until it dropped its plates at an intersection and boiled over. In Florida, mind you. The last Interstate.....done in 2. Guys down there would suck out the acid and put water in shortly before the warranty ran out. Make it to the auto parts, get them tested. And get a new one pro rated. No more pro rating.
You can't beat an Odyssey. Napa, AC Deco (the better ones). Yup.
The mom and pop Car Quest only sells Die Hard. For a reason, the old man says. So they convinced that a Die HArd Platinum was the hot ticket for me. l will see. Stand by!

You can't cut Mr. Project Farm down. He does great tests of all sorts of things. Not sponsored and pressured to slap a little sugar on his comparisons and reviews. Compared to the Brits and Aussies with their constant overzealous and same sounding (Dave from EEVblog) rant. I like P-Farm a lot. Of course I like AvE (Boltr) too.
Reminds me to beware when wearing shorts around the garage vice.


Opinions may vary.
TRG
TRG
Pub Member / Supporter
· posted in The Chit Chat Club
I collect and play vinyl records regularly. A friend of mine told me about a record stash located inside an antique mall. So naturally I had to go go check it out.

records.webp
0 Replies · 20 views
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Van
Van
Last reply · posted in What's Cooking?
Who says dinner or lunch has to be the only good meals of the day?

Honey butter grits with scrambled eggs and grilled boneless pork ribs on flakey biscuits washed down with cranberry juice.
6632 Replies · 379971 views
dfergie
Speaking of waffles, I'm going to put my mini waffle iron on stove so I'll remember to make waffles in the morning... Had some last week, been awhile.
dfergie
Dos cackleberrys over easy on top of 2 corned beef hash patties fried in skillet... Chocolate milk.
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TRG
TRG
Cold morning today, only 32 degrees. Fired up the oven and made cinnamon rolls (from a tube) and a pot of coffee.
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TRG
TRG
2 egg burrito with bacon and a side of hashbrowns. Coffee.

1645.webp
TRG
TRG
Breakfast Quesadillas. Grilled flour tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, hash browns, chopped green chile, cheddar & Jack cheese and bacon. Coffee.

q.webp
osu1991
Pub Member / Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club

The number-one US state for EV growth, according to the June 22 Yardi report?
Oklahoma.


:eek


It has no ZEV mandates and "minimal" incentives, Yardi says, but also has cheap electricity, high multi-car household rates (so, for example, a non-Lightning Ford F-150 pulls their trailers), and a consumer base willing to switch.
116 Replies · 1045 views
meStevo

Never realized that Tesla is losing to BYD at manufacturing too, which IMO is Tesla's biggest accomplishment and area of innovation. Nice writeup about the state of play and how we got here though. I have no faith that we're moving any productive direction though sadly, most changes and efforts feel reactionary rather than rooted in making use of the time being bought by tariffs, with few exceptions.

So: how are the cars so cheap, and what is being cut to get there? The best public accounting comes from the Rhodium Group, which compared BYD, Geely, and Leapmotor against Tesla's Chinese operation, a fair comparison because it removes labor costs and shipping from the equation entirely. Their estimate is that BYD builds a car for about $4,700 less than Tesla builds a Model 3 in Shanghai, roughly 15 percent of the Model 3's price. The breakdown is the interesting part. Direct government grants account for about $292 per vehicle, which is 5 percent of the gap. The biggest single factor is vertical integration: BYD makes about 80 percent of its top-tier components in-house, against 37 percent for Tesla, and that eliminates roughly $2,369 per vehicle in supplier markups. Lower overhead, meaning cheaper engineering talent and administrative cost spread across enormous volume, accounts for another $1,719. And BYD pays its suppliers on 155-day terms, against Tesla's 60, which is worth about $214 per car in float. When people say the Chinese advantage is subsidies, the per-vehicle number says otherwise. When people say it is slave wages, the Tesla Shanghai comparison says otherwise too. The advantage is mostly that BYD decided, twenty years ago, to make its own batteries, its own motors, its own power electronics, and its own semiconductors, and Western automakers decided the opposite.​
osu1991
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harshness
If it weren't for the sky-high electricity prices...

Of course, the real scare with Winter coming is the insane cost of heating oil.
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osu1991

GM said its next-generation vehicle architecture will provide 40 times more computing power and 30 percent less wiring than before and will expand from the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ to its high-volume SUVs, trucks, crossovers, and fourth-generation EVs, which will be powered by lithium manganese-rich (LMR) prismatic batteries

Despite the politicization and perceived consumer pivot away from EVs in America, GM needs to remain globally competitive, so it's doubling down on its fourth generation EVs, with energy-dense, cheaper-to-manufacture LMR batteries, more efficient motors, and state-of-the-art centralized computing architecture. With a stated goal of cutting the traditional four- to five-year concept-to-production time in half, GM is clearly challenging the concept of "China speed," which in the Chinese automotive industry can be as quick as 18 months from design to start of production. In the AI space, GM is smartly collapsing all of its marque-specific apps under the familiar OnStar brand, while providing more features—both on the phone and in the car—than it ever has before.
harshness
Let's tell it like it is. GM's EV efforts are coming from SAIC. The brain trust is almost entirely in China, and GM is hanging off of SAIC's shirt tails.

It is a lot like asserting that the Corvette was designed by Chevrolet when most of it came from the Cadillac CTS-V.
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T

Never realized that Tesla is losing to BYD at manufacturing too, which IMO is Tesla's biggest accomplishment and area of innovation. Nice writeup about the state of play and how we got here though. I have no faith that we're moving any productive direction though sadly, most changes and efforts feel reactionary rather than rooted in making use of the time being bought by tariffs, with few exceptions.

So: how are the cars so cheap, and what is being cut to get there? The best public accounting comes from the Rhodium Group, which compared BYD, Geely, and Leapmotor against Tesla's Chinese operation, a fair comparison because it removes labor costs and shipping from the equation entirely. Their estimate is that BYD builds a car for about $4,700 less than Tesla builds a Model 3 in Shanghai, roughly 15 percent of the Model 3's price. The breakdown is the interesting part. Direct government grants account for about $292 per vehicle, which is 5 percent of the gap. The biggest single factor is vertical integration: BYD makes about 80 percent of its top-tier components in-house, against 37 percent for Tesla, and that eliminates roughly $2,369 per vehicle in supplier markups. Lower overhead, meaning cheaper engineering talent and administrative cost spread across enormous volume, accounts for another $1,719. And BYD pays its suppliers on 155-day terms, against Tesla's 60, which is worth about $214 per car in float. When people say the Chinese advantage is subsidies, the per-vehicle number says otherwise. When people say it is slave wages, the Tesla Shanghai comparison says otherwise too. The advantage is mostly that BYD decided, twenty years ago, to make its own batteries, its own motors, its own power electronics, and its own semiconductors, and Western automakers decided the opposite.​
That's how Ford did it- vertical integration. He even set up a rubber plantation in S. America