Youtube invi: Waching daily Apr 29 2017

Coming up on today's show: BMW uses fear of Tesla to motivate its employees, Waymo

launches public self-driving car trail in Phoenix, Arizona, and the Nissan LEAF that's

driving from the UK all the way to Mongolia.

No, Seriously.

These stories and more, coming next on TEN.

Like all our content, today's show is funded by the in-stream ads on today's video and

by the kind donations of viewers like you.

Follow the link at the end of today's video to make a monthly donation to our Patreon

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And if you're already donating, thanks for your continued support.

It's Friday April Twenty-Eighth Twenty Seventeen, I'm Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield and this is

TEN, the automotive equivalent to This Week Tonight, but with less John Oliver, Donald

Trump, and Lolz.

As recently as a year ago, luxury German brands like BMW, Daimler and Audi were playing it

cool, telling anyone who would listen that they were far from scared of upstart Tesla

and its range of super-fast, all-electric cars.

But in recent weeks, Daimler, Audi and Porsche have all admitted that Tesla is a major threat

to their established market share -- and this week we learned that BMW is actually leveraging

fear of Tesla among its employees to encourage them to do everything they can to work hard

to help BMW catch up with Tesla's electric lead.

As Elisabeth Behrmann of Bloomberg reports, BMW has been holding regular "pep rally

/ horror film"showings, complete with images of rival luxury cars, and Elon Musk.

The message?

That the auto industry is in the midst of an electric assault which must be taken very

seriously, and that BMW needs to do everything it can to develop electric vehicles which

are better than Tesla's.

Following the slashing of Model S 60 and 60D battery unlock prices earlier this month,

Tesla has confirmed this week that it has slashed the battery capacity unlock price

for Tesla Model X 60D owners to just four thousand U.S. dollars.

Yes, it's still twice the unlock price for the Model S 60 and 60D, but this particular

upgrade is more attractive than ever before for Model X owners.

While I'm on the subject of Tesla unlocks, I should note here that Tesla has begun pushing

a new software update to all Tesla cars fitted with Autopilot 2.0 hardware which should activate

Automatic Emergency Braking on these cars and finally bring Tesla Autopilot 2.0 cars

in feature parity with Tesla Autopilot 1.0 cars

It's taken longer than Tesla had originally planned, but here's hoping the upgrade push

goes without a hitch, and finally makes Tesla Autopilot 2.0 owners a little happier.

Talking of fun, it seems owners of the Chevrolet Bolt EV -- all three and a half thousand of

them so far -- seem to be making plenty of use of the two hundred and thirty-eight miles

of EPA-approved range that each Bolt EV is capable of.

So much so that as of April second, the three thousand four hundred and ninety-two Bolt

EV owners in the U.S. who had their cars at that point had totalled more than four point

five million cumulative miles of zero tailpipe emission driving, with one owner managing

three hundred and ten miles on a single charge and on a continuous trip.

But it also admits that the average Bolt EV owner covers just 53 miles per day in their

car, something that will make hardened EV fans laugh, since they've been telling us

that 100-mile electric cars have been suitable for the needs of 95 percent of the population

for years.

Still, I guess that extra hundred and eighty-five miles is useful for long-distance trips right?

I mean, that's why I'd buy a longer-range car (and probably will at some point).

While most of us will likely stay buying plug-in cars for some time, Alphabet's self-driving

arm Waymo has just launched a new program in Phoenix, Arizona which not only previews

the day when we may not be owning our own cars but also not driving them.

The first-ever public trail of its fully-autonomous vehicle program, Waymo is inviting residents

in the greater Phoenix metro area, including Gilbert, Chandler, Tempe and Mesa, to sign

up to become "early riders" in its autonomous vehicle program.

With five hundred cars -- and five hundred trailed 'drivers' monitoring the vehicles

at all times, it's a great way to experience autonomous vehicles first hand -- and to get

a free ride, because there's no charge to take part.

Head to Waymo dot com to find out more.

Back to Tesla now with four quick updates regarding Model 3.

At the start of this week Tesla announced it would be doubling the number of Supercharger

stations around the world in preparation for Model 3's launch, expanding existing sites

and building new ones, with some sites primed to get several dozen stalls each.

It's been met with applause from most Tesla owners, but Roadster owners are begging Tesla

not to leave them behind as they still have to rely on the old 80-amp, 240-volt Tesla

charge stations that are becoming increasingly rare.

Along with expanding its Supercharger network, Tesla says sales and service will grow too,

and has just made the training and approval process to become an authorized Tesla repair

center cheaper and quicker, something which should help those Tesla owners who have found

themselves waiting weeks for accident repairs.

Finally, Tesla has taken delivery of the first batch of Model 3-destined robotic production

equipment, and has smoothed out threats of industrial action at its recently-acquired

Grohmann engineering in Germany, where a lot of the Tesla model 3 production equipment

will be made, by offering the 700-or so staff there a substantial pay rise.

Essentially, Tesla is oiling the wheels to make sure everything goes according to plan

when Model 3 launches this year, something that absolutely must go without a hitch.

All I can say is that I'm glad I don't' work at Tesla right now.

I'm sure there's more stress than a little…

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and in this case, Tesla should be

very flattered -- because Audi has just opened up reservations in Norway for the e-tron quattro

electric SUV, long before it's even announced official pricing.

To join the queue to buy one, customers have to put down twenty-thousand kroner (just under

three-thousand U.S. dollars), and then wait until next year for the car to actually enter

production.

Yes, this is very Tesla (right down to the not-announcing final specifications or pricing)

but actually, while people think of Tesla as pioneering that technique, I want to remind

everyone that Nissan and Chevy both offered online reservations way back in twenty ten

for the Nissan LEAF and Chevy Volt… so maybe it's just the EV thing.

*shrug*

On this show, you'll know I'll cover anything that's cleaner, greener, safer and smarter.

And while this next story certainly ticks two of the boxes, I'm not sure about the

other two.

Because this is the Flyer, a flying vehicle that's a cross between a water ski, a hoverboard

and well, a quad bike.

the first vehicle to come from Kitty Hawk, a startup backed by Google's Larry Page

which has just come out of stealth.

Eventually, the company wants to build a fully-working flying car, but for now, it'll sell you

the Flyer from the end of this year.

It looks ...fun to fly, and I'm not sure about the learning curve, but as to its safety?

Well, if you've ever crashed a drone I think you'll get my concerns.

Still, it's cool… and I want a go.

What about you?

For some time now, it's been no secret that Tesla electric cars -- especially Model S

and Model X -- retain their value as they age, with very little depreciation compared

to other cars of any fuel type.

But this week we learned via Autolist that Tesla Model S cars sell far quicker than the

competition in the used car marketplace, with the average used Model S selling in 87 days

-- about five percent quicker than other competing vehicles.

What's more, the listing prices for Model S sedans were between three and five percent

more than their competitors in the used car marketplace.

And that's just helping to push Tesla shares even higher as investors grow in confidence

that Tesla -- and its cars -- are a good deal.

From cars now to how they're powered.

Or rather, how they're not powered.

You see, last Friday, for the first time since the Industrial revolution, not a single piece

of coal was used to power the UK for an entire twenty-four hours.

Over the past few years, burning coal for electricity generation has dramatically dwindled

in my home country, replaced by cleaner (although still emissions-producing) natural gas, increased

renewable energy, and increased nuclear power.

While it's a good shift toward cleaner power, the UK -- like the rest of the world -- needs

to make sure that it doesn't replace coal-powered electricity with other fossil-fueled electricity.

Instead, a continued investment in distributed renewable energy and products like the Tesla

powerwall will make the biggest impact.

Let's hope things go in the right way moving forward.

Back in the noughties, before cars like the Nissan LEAF even came to market, BMW's MINI

brand produced limited-numbers of the MINI-E, a two-seat, all-electric conversion of MINI

Cooper.

But despite this, BMW hasn't yet produced a production electric MINI that you can buy.

And while late last year MINI confirmed an all-electric production model was coming -- in

addition to the recently-launched MINI Countryman plug-in hybrid -- some question remained as

to what an all-electric MINi would be like.

Well this week, we've heard confirmation that MINI bosses want an all-electric MINI

to be one of its brand 'Superheros' -- a mainstream model that not only represents

the brand as a whole but entices new customers in.

Something that's not a compliance car but rather a fully-fledged, well-engineered electric

MINI that will sell just as well as the rest of the range.

Sadly there are no more details at present, but I for one can't wait to see what this

model will turn out like.

And finally,

If you've ever spent any time with the Nissan LEAF, you'll know it's a very competent

electric car which, with some help from a decent DC quick charging network, can be used

to make some pretty successful long-distance trips along major routes.

But the guys at Plug in Adventures are about to do something completely different with

a lightly modified Nissan LEAF.

Take part in the ten thousand mile Mongol Rally from the UK to Mongolia.

With the rear seats stripped out, the suspension raised, a special adventure light bar, heavy-duty

roof rack and the car wearing some chunkier rally tyres, the LEAF -- dubbed AT-EV -- will

be tackling some of the toughest rally conditions possible on this endurance event, just to

prove that electric vehicle travel is only as difficult as you make it.

Good luck guys, and here's to a successful completion!

Talking of completion, that's your lot for today.

As always, don't forget to like, comment and subscribe, visit transport evolved dot

com for more cleaner, greener, safer and smarter transportation news, or join in the conversation

on Twitter at transport Evolved.

And if you liked what you saw today and want to help us make more shows like this, please

consider making a donation to our Patreon crowdfunding campaign, a link for which is

in the description and at the end of today's show.

Thanks again for joining me, I'll see you next week, I'm Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield,

That was TEN, have a great weekend, and until next time, keep Evolving!

For more infomation >> BMW Scares Employees With Tesla, Waymo Public Tests, LEAF AT-EV, T.E.N. Future Car News 4/28/2017 - Duration: 11:46.

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Still Confused About Trump's 1 Page Tax Plan? Goldman Explains It - politics - Duration: 11:30.

Still Confused About Trump's 1-Page Tax Plan?

Goldman Explains It All

Goldman employees - who better to explain what Trump had in mind than Goldman Sachs

itself, which it did overnight in a far lengthier note from its chief Washington analyst Alec

Phillips.

Here is Goldman with an elaboration of the handful of bullet points contained on the

much anticipated one page, extending it by nearly 600% to some 6 pages of details.

Perhaps it would be prudent to just have Alec Phillips present the next iteration of Trump's

tax plan: after all he , together with Jan Hatzius, appears to be the man behind it.

From Goldman

Q&A on the President�s Tax Reform Plan

The White House announced a slightly revised set of principles for tax reform, which appear

to incrementally reduce the size of the proposed tax cut compared with the President�s campaign

proposal, and eliminate a few of the differences between the campaign plan and the House Republican

blueprint on tax reform.

That said, the White House proposal is still likely to reduce tax receipts by substantially

more than the House proposal would.

While the White House appears likely to rely on optimistic growth assumptions to offset

most of the fiscal effects of the proposed tax cut, Congress will not be able to do so

and must decide whether to pursue revenue-neutral tax reform or an explicit tax cut.

While no decision is imminent, today�s announcement and indications of openness to a tax cut among

congressional Republicans suggest that a tax cut is more likely than revenue-neutral reform.

We expect a long road ahead for tax legislation.

While we believe there is a good chance that tax legislation becomes law�in fact, market

participants might be underrating the odds of tax cuts, a change from earlier this year�there

may be few concrete legislative actions on tax legislation over the next couple of months

for markets to react to.

Q: What did the White House announce?

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House National Economic Council Director Gary

Cohn briefed the press today (April 26) on the direction that the President will take

on tax reform this year.

They provided little detail, and what detail was provided was mostly similar to President

Trump�s campaign proposal.

That said, there were some policy changes compared with the campaign proposal that provide

clues about the direction the White House might take the debate.

In addition, the Administration�s thinking on the fiscal impact of the tax cut is at

least slightly clearer.

Q: What has changed compared with the last tax proposal?

The proposal appears to have changed in four areas compared with the campaign proposal:

A smaller tax cut for top income earners: The White House proposal would lower the top

marginal tax rate for individuals from 39.6% to 35%, rather than the 33% proposed in the

campaign.

A smaller tax cut for middle-income individuals: The proposal now calls for a standard deduction

of $24k for couples rather than $30k.

This is still roughly twice as much as the current standard deduction and is identical

to the House Republican proposal.

Repeal of the state and local tax deduction: The Trump campaign proposal was unclear about

which, if any, individual tax deductions might be eliminated, but the current White House

proposal is more specific; the deduction for state and local taxes would be eliminated,

while the deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions, and retirement savings

would be maintained.

A territorial tax system for business income: The campaign proposal would have repealed

the deferral of tax on income earned by foreign subsidiaries of US companies, and would have

instead taxed those earnings at 15% minus foreign tax credits, amounting to what would

effectively be a 15% minimum tax on foreign earnings.

Instead, the revised White House plan would adopt a territorial tax system, which exempts

foreign earnings from US tax.

In addition to the explicit changes compared to the campaign proposal, today�s announcement

was also noteworthy for two conspicuous omissions.

No border adjustment: The plan does not endorse the border adjusted tax (BAT) that makes up

part of the destination-based cash flow tax (DBCFT) system in the House Republican blueprint.

In comments earlier in the day, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin indicated that the White House did

not support the BAT in its current form, though he suggested that revisions might be considered.

In light of substantial opposition to the BAT in the Senate, it would have been very

surprising to see the White House endorse the proposal.

That said, today�s announcement did not include an outright rejection of the proposal

either.

No mention of interest deductibility or capex expensing: The Trump campaign proposal would

have allowed businesses the option of full expensing of capital investment in return

for non-deductibility of interest expense.

However, today�s outline is silent on this question.

This is notable since many observers assume that the White House does not support the

mandatory shift to full expensing of capex and non-deductibility of interest included

in the House Republican blueprint.

Exhibit 1: The latest White House plan includes some new elements