GM needs to make a hot version of its work vans: COTD

General Motors says it will end production of the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana after the 2025 model year. If that happens, both vans would have been in production for about three decades with minimal changes to their exterior. Journalists and enthusiasts often complain about cars that were in production, but I’m sad to see these workhorses stop being made.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like these vans will be phased out with a bang. As Jason wrote this morning, it’s also likely the last consumer-grade vehicle you can buy without an infotainment screen. I agree with StillNotATony here, these vans need to go out with a bang:

On the old site they asked which vehicle needed a sport version and I said the Express needed an SS model.

You can already get an LS, so equip it with a supercharger, and by 2015 you could get all-wheel drive. Bring that back, slam it up, stiffen up the suspension, add a body kit, and you’ve got a Typhoon for the whole family, plus Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Daryll, etc.

Call the Express.

Then GM can put a big old screen in the dash.

I’m not going to lie, I’ve been dreaming of a Chevy Express souped up like the Ford F-150 FP700. Just a work van with insane amounts of power and a stylish appearance. Yes, please!

Today I received information about a new RV that is supposedly coming on the market next year. I get these emails all the time, but this one was bizarre. It was a 1,400-pound box pulled by an electric tricycle. Neither of us could figure out exactly who this thing was intended for, so we decided to write two completely different articles about it. Her responses to Jason’s were hilarious.

TXJeepGuy:

I didn’t read the original article because I read it and said, “This thing is stupid and useless.” However, I read this because the thing is stupid and useless.

Jesus Chrysler drives a Dodge:

1. Subtract a zero from the price
2. Renamed to an eco-friendly nano pop-up banana stand.

Job done. There’s always money in the banana stand.

David recently spent more money charging a Rivian R1S in public than he would have fueling a clunky gasoline vehicle. Unfortunately, many public chargers are expensive, leading to this unfortunate realization from JP15:

I wouldn’t recommend anyone buy an electric vehicle unless they can charge at home or at work (or they’re willing to put up with some inconvenience/understand the cost).

That’s really the crux of the matter and exactly what I tell anyone who asks me whether they should buy an electric vehicle. Do you live in an apartment and commute an hour each way to work? DO NOT get an EV.

I only ever charge at home, maybe two to three times a year at most with a public charger, and my effective “cost per mile” i.e. maintenance/insurance/fuel is $0.03/mile compared to $0.33 /mile on my Subaru that I had before. Since I bought my first car, I’ve carefully tracked all vehicle costs (a strange habit my parents taught me) so I had years of cost data on exactly how much it cost to use my car. This made calculating EV savings pretty easy when I started shopping for an EV, but again, that only applies to my very specific needs.

I’ve been looking around on Plugshare and it looks like public charging fees in my area have gone up massively recently. I know electricity prices have risen sharply, but for power plants that used to cost about $0.02/kWH, they are now over $0.40/kWH.

I currently live in an apartment and have no way to charge at home, so any electric vehicle I own would be 100 percent charged on public chargers. This is causing me a lot of pain with the Zero motorcycle that I have owned for a year and six months. Have a great evening everyone!