The Bother Of The Bulge

On Monday, I took Abby back to her place at the University at night.

On the highway, in traffic I hit a pothole right on with my driver's-side front tire.  The hit was a mighty bang.

However we were able to continue on and get her home and it seemed all was fine.

On Thursday I met up with a buddy for lunch. On leaving the restaurant, we both noticed the front tire was looking kinda odd.

There was the biggest bulge I had ever seen in the tire. So much so that my friend was rather impressed it had yet to blow out.

Luckily we were close to Costco so I called ahead and they had tires in stock in my size so we drove there and my friend followed in case there was a blow-out.

Made it there all-right, trying to keep excessive maneuvers to a minimum.

The Costco tire tech was also of the opinion that the tire had to be replaced ASAP, and it was most likely caused by hitting a pothole, and I know the one I hit. Sigh. That bulge was most huge.

Had to replace all of the tires, which was unfortunate. The old tires had less than 50% of life remaining. The passenger rear tire already had an annoying slow leak from a nail where the puncture fix seems to have worked, but only kinda, with the need to refill it monthly.

Tires were replaced in an hour, and took it back today for the torque check.

So a very unanticipated bother and an unanticipated large expense, but it had to be done.

On the plus side, the new tires are Michellin all season tires and the car shows a seriously marked enhancement in handling and road-ride comfort as well.  Rather impressive what a difference really good tires can make.

The Most Dangerous Part Of Yesterday

The time Mr. B. and I were in the most danger yesterday did not take place while we were in the air.

Instead, it took place when I drove towards a solid green at the T-intersection from the south side of the airport to turn left onto the M-59 Highway.

I was in the left turn lane and starting the turn on the already solid green when Mr. B. said "look out!" I had seen it as well, and was hitting the brakes as he said it, and we came to a sharp halt.

An idiot in a Jeep had decided decided to whip through the already very, very, solid red without looking to see if anyone was coming out of the airport drive. It's not like he was running a yellow, this had already been a solid red before he got near the intersection.

This led to some incredulous looks by both Mr. B. and myself, as well as some language not appropriate for a general audience -- much of which concerned the dubious parentage and proclivities of the Jeep driver.

Had I been moving faster to make that turn, it would have been rather bad.  I then finished the turn on the green, well behind the speeding Jeep and no one else tried to bash through the light like that. The Jeep then came to a stop at the very next red light as there were already cars stopped in front of it, and the idiot driver really hadn't saved himself any time, so there's that at least. 

It was far more dangerous on the ground than in the air yesterday.

Wash N Wax

Today was the club's Wash N Wax day to clean the planes.

With a good member turnout the work went quickly.

I got to taxi the Archer to the wash stand and we then soaped it down and power washed it clean.

 Then I taxi'd it back to the hangar and we dried the plane off, applied wax and buffed it to a shine (Mr. B., the wax you suggested is now on order so we'll have better stuff soon).

We then did the same with the Dakota once it returned form the Wash Stand.

With everyone working it only took and hour to get it all done.

Then we got to checkout this nice 1967 Chevelle SS that a nearby hangar owner drove up in.  He checked out our nice and shiny planes, and we got to checkout his very nice car.

All original except for some hoses and the white paint on top which had been redone.   Per the owner, the original A/C has a leak and is inop, especially with the cost of freon these days,  Other than that, she's not just working and all-original but an absolute beaut of a car. 

It was a beautiful morning and a good time with some good people, cleaning planes, talking aviation, and admiring a classic car.

From Car Meme To Reality

You've likely seen this meme about the wisdom of placing decorative items on your steering wheel:

Most people would chuckle at the pic thinking people can't really be that dumb.

They would be mistaken. 

Apparently, people putting objects over their steering wheel airbags is a real current concern.

The Detroit News: Feds urge people not to put decals on steering wheels after a driver is hurt by flying metal pieces

The warning from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration comes after another driver was severely hurt by a flying emblem during a crash. The air bag inflated and sent two pieces of metal from an aftermarket decal into the driver's face and neck.

The agency said it couldn't say where or when the injury occurred. But it said the injury was the second it is aware of involving an aftermarket decal. In the previous case the driver lost sight in one eye after being hit by a rhinestone-adorned decal that hit them in the face, NHTSA said in a statement Tuesday.

Yeah, that's gonna hurt. 

Placing any object - whether metal, stone or otherwise, over the casing of an airbag that will move towards you rapidly and with explosive force during an accident is just a stupid idea.

Not Flying But Did Some Driving And Approaches Anyways

So today was the day we would finally fly the Archer and Dakota down to Adrian, leave the Archer to get the new autopilot installed and all fly back in the Dakota.

Weather forecast last night was favorable and I would fly the Archer, E. in the Dakota, and he was bringing as buddy along as well. 

Should be simple, about a 55 nautical mile flight, and we would finally have the Archer getting thew work done after waiting over a year since we ordered the autopilot.

Easy, right?

It was not to be.

So we got up early, and the weather basically sucked.

IFR conditions with light snow and icing over Pontiac airport, with another large cell in between Adrian and Pontiac, and Adrian also going IFR at times.

We went to the airport anyways, hoping for a break in the weather and there never really was one where Pontiac, Adrian, and the space between were all not IFR.

That kinda sucked. So we all got a chance to drive E.'s Chevy EV Equinox and drove to get some breakfast. 

E. works for GM and he has a pre-release of the 2025 Electric Equinox RS to test drive and it is rather interesting to drive.

Overall, it's a nice-looking EV SUV, and nicely trimmed out.

It does have very weird flush door handles that come out of the doors when you approach, but open towards the rear of the car.  While it looks aerodynamic, the feel when using them is that your hand is going to slip off the handle as you open the door. They really should have had them facing the other way.  Also, if you leave your car outdoors in freezing rain, these flush fit handles may give you issues.

Features on the Equinox EV include an interesting one-pedal mode, where if you're not applying force to the accelerator it begins to slow down and even stop the vehicle - that's quite a weird feeling. It is an option you can switch on and off while driving.

Handling was absolutely superb even in snow, and the traction control was really spot on in preventing slipping on snow-covered roads and made driving in the snow very easy even on turns. Acceleration is effortless,  the vehicle is rather nice and responsive and road noise is minimal. 

However, driving it is not completely intuitive. The shifter is on a stalk on the right side of the steering wheel and is really not intuitive to use at all. Wiper controls are rotating dials on the left stalk and again not exactly intuitive to find.

It has a great and large touchscreen but lacks tactile buttons for most selections, and, for whatever reason, the icons are small and close together which makes selections more complicated while driving, requiring you to take your eyes off the road to find the selection you want.  Most cars with touchscreens are like this and the loss of tactile buttons where you don't need to move your eyes from outside the car but can find your options by feel is a personal pet peeve.

Downside on the Equinox is the claimed 300 mile range on the battery isn't, especially in winter conditions.

If you're not doing road trips and just using it for an in-city trips and you can regularly charge it, it would make a lot of sense.  Taking long trips may turn your voyage to Chicago into a 14-hour trip rather than the 5 in a normal car.

If they made this model as a hybrid, I believe it would sell like hotcakes as that would solve the range problem by having a generator on board to recharge the batteries, but hybrids aren't, for whatever reason, the fashionable vehicle these days with the current crop of auto execs and politicians pushing EVs over everything.  

After driving the EV, we then used the simulator at DCT as it was available and  E. is a part-time instructor, so  each of the three of us logged two ILS approaches at "Flint" down to minimums in the sim.  The sim is as sensitive as I remember it, and flying an approach in it is indeed harder than in an actual airplane.  E.  made the scenario a bit challenging with some crosswinds, cumulus clouds to bounce one around,  and cloud cover opening right at minimums.

Good practice, and now I need 4 more approaches to get current, which I need to do, and soon.

The weather never lifted so we called it off and we will see if we get a break tomorrow.

Whitmer and The Dems Give You A Tax Increase For Christmas, And A Mioney Giveaway Too

That sucking sound you just heard is $700 million in taxes being pulled out of your wallets for more Democrat government spending.

The Detroit Free Press: Michigan's income tax rate can rise in 2024, judge says

A Court of Claims judge this week dismissed a lawsuit from Republican state lawmakers and business advocacy groups asking that the default income tax rate in Michigan remain at 4.05% instead of 4.25%.

Barring a successful appeal, that likely clears the way for the state's income tax rate to return to 4.25% for the 2024 tax year, a change expected to bring about $700 million more into Michigan's general revenue fund.

That was Judge Elizabeth Gleicher, who tends to rule for the Dems,  and here she nullified one of the words in the statute, making the tax decrease for one year only rather than it properly being the baseline under the law subject to being raised by further legislation.

But not to worry, that revenue will be used to bribe you to buy electric cars and to benefit Democrat-supporting unions in this state:

Yahoo News: Michiganders could save up to $2,500 on a new car under Whitmer rebate proposal

Whitmer's latest proposal for a state tax rebate lowers cost based on the type of vehicle purchased:

• $2,500 for a new battery electric or hybrid vehicle made in a unionized facility

• $2,000 for a new battery electric or hybrid vehicle made in a non-unionized facility

• $1,500 for a new internal combustion vehicle made in a unionized facility

• $1,000 for a new internal combustion vehicle made in a non-unionized facility

So a nice boost to push people to buy union-made cars, and electric ones as well, and a rebate to new car buyers at the expense of, and paid for, by everyone else in this state that likely would have preferred top keep their money in their pocket rather than for these Democrat-agenda-driven rebates.

A $700 million tax increase is quite the Grinch move there.

Abby's Chicago Trip - The Long Wait To Charge Home

Their trip was good and she was much surprised and they had a very nice time.

The return trip however was not quite so delightful.

You see her boyfriend drove her there in a nice new Mustang Mach-E GT.

E is for electric.  Now it is a very nice car, very well appointed with all the bells and whistles, and apparently is both zippy and comfortable.

While electric cars are great for in-town travel, a 241+ mile trip turned into quite the ask of the vehicle. 

It led to a game of find a car charger, wait for charger to be available, wait to charge car, rinse, repeat.

Took them well over 12 hours to get back to their respective places in Ann Arbor for a trip that would take under 3 hours and 45 minutes by gas-powered car, or four and a half hours by train.  Their way there took quite a while as well, but the way back was apparently a lot longer due to both a lack of chargers, and a lack of available chargers not being used by others on their trip home.

So for in-city travel, electric cars seem to be doing very well.  For longer trips, anecdotally, not so much.

The Henry Ford Rouge Tour With Distinguished Visitors

I traveled once again to the Henry Ford Museum yesterday.

MrGarabaldi and his heir apparent had come to town to visit the Museum.

They arrived late Friday night so we met up at the museum Saturday morning at 9 when it opened.

First thing we did was the Rouge Factory Tour. The tour takes you to where they are currently building F-150 trucks.

The historic and storied Rouge Factory Complex is huge.

 This picture taken from the observation deck of the F-150 assembly building gives you an idea of the size of the complex - every building you see in this picture is a part of it.

They've made the site more green, with living roofs on some buildings and transforming what were slag-heaps into green-spaces.

We then entered the building.  The tour begins with you traveling to two different theaters.  The first gives a short film with the history of the Factory and Henry Ford. The second is an impressive show complete with lights, lasers, and robots,  that demonstrates how an F-150 is made.  Both were impressively well-done and set the tone of the tour very nicely.

You then head up to the observation deck, and we chatted with a knowledgeable and friendly docent who was a retired Ford employee, who gave a really informative chat as we  saw what was there.

Each F-150 gets driven on a test track after assembly:

Every 58 seconds while the factory is working, a new F-150 is born.

We then walked a catwalk above the factory floor and got to see the trucks being assembled, as they were working on Saturday.  No pictures or cell phone usage was permitted.  Watching the trucks being built on the assembly line was very impressive.  MrGarabaldi, with a background in automotive, provided some very knowledgeable color commentary about the process that made it even more interesting. The catwalk tour was 1/3 of a mile long and was only a portion of a side of the factory, which gives you an idea of how big the building is. Real big is an understatement. We got to see the line shut down for the lunch break, which was interesting to see everything go from humming alone to a dead stop in an instant.

After the catwalk, we got to examine a Ford F-150 cutaway that was neat to poke around.

MrGarabaldi's heir left the tour wanting to buy an F-150, and I understand that completely.

After the tour, we left the museum grounds briefly and I took them to a coney restaurant so they could get some local flavor.  The Coney Dogs were pronounced good and the Gyros received MrGarabaldis' stamp of approval.

We then returned to the museum and toured it until it closed. Lots to see.

From Ford's Quadracylce, the first commercial vehicle he made:

 

To the first Mustang and Taurus-

We saw the sweep of automotive history.

Not neglecting aviation, we also saw the Ford Tri-Motor and many other flying machines in the museum.

To complete the Planes, Trains, and Automobiles set, we of course, had to checkout the railroad section.

Once the museum closed, we exited and then headed off to Buddy's Pizza so the intrepid travelers could experience some Detroit Pizza, which was excellent as always at Buddy's.

It was a great short trip and great to see MrGarabaldi and his heir in person again.

Michigan's Distracted Driving Law To Go Into Effect June 30

Say goodbye to penalty-free holding your phone to your ear, and other uses of the phone as a distraction, while driving in Michigan starting June 30.

 The Detroit News: Whitmer signs distracted driving laws: When they go into effect

While I tend to have a bit of a libertarian bent as far as phone use while driving goes, it is unfortunately and very readily apparent that most Michigan drivers cannot handle it. 

Heck, I noticed years ago how just holding a phone and talking on it visibly degraded my driving performance, and have been hands-free (on the rare occasions I actually need to talk to someone while driving - most calls can wait until you're at your destination and can pay full attention to the call) for years and years now.

From driving under the speed limit (generally in the left lane) with a phone visibly pressed to their ears; to intermittent and uncalled for braking; to not going when the light turns green; or for some reason hitting the brakes before going through a green light; or much more dangerously going through a solid red, there's a lot of distracted drivers yaking, texting, or playing on their phones out there.

Yes, I have been hit by a distracted driver - a couple years ago, hit from behind while I was stopped at a red light, not a particularly pleasant experience and wholly avoidable had the moron been looking up at the road ahead instead of at their phone.

Since most cars today have easily usable hands-free options, this is pretty darn easy to comply with. It is unfortunately a needed law due to the sheer number of idiot drivers not paying attention to properly operating their vehicles out there.

When you're driving, your attention needs to be on your driving first, everything else is secondary to that. It shouldn't take a law to require this basic approach to vehicle operation, but it sadly seems that it does.

Saturday Fun Day - To The Henry Ford Museum

So my dad came in for a visit this week, arriving on Thursday evening.

This weekend has been marked by rain that would not cease, and it was full on overcast, windy and wet the whole weekend.

To entertain him, I took him to the Henry Ford Museum Saturday afternoon as he had not been there before. 

We entered, paid the admission fee, and started looking around.

First, to see the finer things:

The 1931 Model J Dusenberg:

Behind the Dusenberg, the  Bugatti Type 41 Royale:

At $43,000 in 1931 it would, per the helpful information sign,  take a worker at the time with an average wage of $1,388/year a total of 31 years to buy the car - assuming they put all their money towards it.

We then went to check out the performance car section,

Having been a racing physician (he would drive the medical chase car during Formula One races in Ontario), he has quite an interest in race cars.  Truth to be told, he still drives like he's in a chase car all the time.

They've got quite a display of race cars, including the winning Ford GT from Le Mans, 1967:

 

The winning car from the Hoosier Hundred in 1960:

 And of course, Formula One cars drew interest:

We then went by quite a well-done display of the history of the consumer automobile and we found this particular car, which made him exceptionally happy:

Yes, his first car was a 1966 Chevy Corvair (the floor model here is a 1960).  His had air conditioning and he noted that the car would eat fan belts like they were going out of style due to the lousy routing design of the belt.

Definitely a nice trip for him down memory lane.  His Corvair, for the record, was red rather than blue.

We then checked out the aviation section, because, airplanes!

Henry Ford's 1926 Flivver, his attempt to make airplanes like he made Model Ts.  Unfortunately, the Flivver was a Flop, and dangerous to fly, killing its test pilot.

A more successful Ford flying product was the Ford Trimotor:

 

 

A quality passenger and cargo aircraft. Some are still flying and giving rides today - complete with the original wood-and-wicker-type passenger seats for passengers.

We then headed out as the museum was closing and met up with the rest of the family for dinner.  It was a great outing.

Nailed It.

Not in a good way either:

That doth suck.

Quite a large nail, but interestingly, it held pressure pretty good and did not deflate the tire. 

 I only saw it when refilling all the tires as a cold snap made the low pressure light come on and all tires had dropped in pressure and it was face up staring at me as I came to fill the tire.

Sadly, it is apparently not a repairable nailing incident, and the tire needs to be replaced, which means replacing two tires as that tire model is no longer manufactured.

No, Really Don't Do That During A Traffic Stop

A client of mine from out of town got a ticket.

He stated the police officer was a bit of a jerk at the time.

When asked for details it turns out he was pulled over for a driving offense that he clearly did do, but nothing major and a fully lawful stop by the officer, and I got the following story:

It was raining so he kindly thought he'd make the officer's life easier by getting out of his car and going up to talk to the officer and apologize for driving while dumb.

Yeah, don't do that.

The Officer immediately yelled at him through the car speaker to get back in his car.  Client thought that was rather unfriendly.

You do NOT get out of your car when pulled over unless the officer asks/tells you to do so - and then you do so in a carefully non-threatening manner.

Apparently, in the town/state he's in, it is considered friendly to do so, especially with you getting wet instead of the officer.  

Here, it is really not considered friendly, and is instead considered a potentially threatening move towards the officer.

Client is now suitably enlightened as to how to handle traffic stops properly in the future:

Pull all the way over to the side of the road, keep your hands in view and don't be flailing around the interior of your car, shut the car off, have the window down, and if at night your interior lights on.  

Much more likely to get a friendly result that way.

That White Stuff On The Ground Means It's Time To Slow Down

Just enough snow and ice present on the streets this morning to present a problem for the morning commute.

It's not a lot and the streets look pretty clear, and that is the problem.  A lot of clear ice abounds.  

A lot of people have forgotten how to drive in the winter, and with driving skills already degraded by the Covid shutdowns, it really shows.

Saw a couple decent traffic accidents on the way to work already due to cars not being able to brake in sufficient time on ice.  In short, ice just laughs at your brakes, and inertia is not your friend at an iced-over intersection.

Winter is a time to give yourself more space and increased stopping distance, and to plan to give yourself more time for your commute due to the need to drive in a more careful and controlled manner.

There's more coming in tonight to create a slippery layer on the morrow, so plan ahead for your morning drive.

To No One's Surprise, Electric Vehicles Are More Expensive To Operate

The Detroit Free Press: Study compares electric vehicle charge costs vs. gas — and results were surprising

In fact, the results were not surprising to anyone paying attention. 

EVs cost more to use and operate than gas vehicles, and that's not counting the time value of time/money when you're siting somewhere waiting for the EV car to charge.  The study did however take into account the estimated time to find a charging station.  I suspect their numbers would be even worse if they added the cost of the substantial lag caused by waiting for a vehicle to recharge versus filling it with gas and going on your way.

In short, EVs are nice as a second vehicle for in town short jaunts and can fill that role well if you have the cash to cover the higher costs, but you really need a gas- or diesel-fueled vehicles if you plan any seriously long trips.

Still no answer as to where all these electric vehicles will actually go to charge, nor any answer as to the current lack of infrastructure to provide the increased power demanded for them to charge, especially as the Dems and Greens are focused on shutting power plants down rather than building new ones.

I'm puzzled that they haven't come out with diesel-electric hybrids where all the diesel engine does is power a generator to recharge the batteries as needed when the vehicle is on the road.  Possibly too practical and not green enough, or something.

A Woman And Her Car . . .

May get the experience of a mechanic trying to rip them off, badly. 

Tash's car did indeed need an alignment after getting new tires. 

She took it to an alignment / repair shop that is a chain that goes by the brand name of a king who had the ability to turn everything he touched into gold.

Well, at Midas, they must have thought they struck gold when seeing her bring her car in for an alignment.

They performed a free inspection, then refused to do the alignment and claimed the car was unsafe to drive and needed $11,000+ in repairs, complete with a nice detailed scary report with pictures.

She properly flipped out and decided to take it to our own mechanic that we trust to get a second opinion.

Unsurprisingly, No, it does NOT need $11,000.00+ in repairs.  

But, it does need a couple repairs - new rear struts, power steering reservoir is leaking, and it needs a new gasket for the transfer case and some new front brakes which are actually going to be repaired as a warranty as the brakes are replacements and still under warranty, and the total is not even close to the $11,000 quoted (which is more than the car is worth at this point - but it's paid off and overall reliable transportation) -  it is $1,800 to repair everything.  He is not seeing any evidence of most of what they are quoting as problems and is in fact seeing the opposite of their claims. Our mechanic is furious at Midas for trying to rip her off, as are we.

Now to be fair,  they'd probably pull that on me as well, but I suspect they pull it more readily on women even more due to the stereotype of women not knowing anything about cars or car repairs.  Shame on them for pulling this nonsense.

So yes, if you get a repair quote at Midas, you'd better get a second opinion.

Even More Automotive Supply Chain Woes

Now supply shortages of chips are seriously affecting GM, leading to idled plants.

The Detroit Free Press: GM to halt production at nearly all North America assembly plants due to new chip problem

This is a very big deal and it's a sign things are not getting better in the automotive industry.

Shutting down production will cost GM lots of money each and every day these plants are shut down.

Don't expect either the new nor the used the car market to stabilize anytime soon.

The Biden Admin's Latest Bit Of Cringe, Now With An Ex-Michigan Governor

A cringe-worthy propaganda piece from the Biden administration trying to push the bipartisan infrastructure bill (A bill that sis neither bipartisan anor solely about infrastructure), featuring Michigan's 2nd worse governor in recent history and a Chevy Bolt has gone viral, and it's as bad as you think it would be.

The Detroit Free Press: President Biden surprises GM's Barra by using a Bolt in video gone viral

Very cringe-worthy, and I doubt Granholm's solar panels alone are recharging her Bolt.  You can also hear her stumble on a few of her lines, which is hilarious.  The dialogue does tend to be rather stilted and shows Boomers trying to speak Millennial at times like its a foreign dialect.

Also did you notice that our former Governor Granholm doesn't seem to know how to wear a seatbelt?

Does anyone wear a seatbelt like that when they are actually in a front seat of a vehicle? She'd get a ticket if she was in Michigan wearing a seatbelt like that.

Did you hear where they talk about how excited they are at 2:23 when they talk about electric transit buses?

Well Granholm was certainly excited, all the way to the bank:
Granholm questioned about potential conflict of interest with bus company

Report: Biden Energy Secretary Receives Waiver to Dump Massive Amount of Electric Bus Company Stock

Ethics, after all, are for the little people.

So EVs are supposedly it, even as some places like California and New York City are requesting people not charge their cars due to energy shortages from a lack of production facilities.  

Maybe an Energy Secretary should look into that?

New Tires Have A Remarkable Effect

There's been even more snowfall in the past few days, and I've been stuck driving while its falling more often than not recently. 

In regards to slipping in the snow, I found I needed to have new tires as my previous set was down to 2-3 mm, which partly explained some of why I was having problems getting up (and down) the driveway.

I then got some new Michelin tires installed and the difference is rather remarkable.  Much, much more control and traction.  Even with them tires being all-season they're acting like a winter tire.  Drove home in a snowstorm last night with nary a problem and even made it up the Driveway of Doom™and into the garage with over an inch of snow upon it.  Very nice and the old tires would not have done that.

Replacing tires is expensive, but the increase in traction and handling over worn out tires makes it well worth it.  The bank account is not happy, but the safer handling and control is very happy making.

A Little Stuck

So Abby got stuck in the snow with her car this morning.

How stuck?  Completely stuck with wheels spinning fruitlessly stuck.

I first tried to dig around the snow she was stuck in to give the wheels some purchase, but no dice, even with me pushing the car as she tried to move it forward and back and forward again.

I then grabbed some of the extra gravel I had stored that was leftover from the parking pad project and I scooped copious amounts of gravel under the front of her tires to help them get some traction.

That did the trick combined with my pushing the car forward.

A great and freezing cold way to start the morning it's about 6 degrees Fahrenhit out there right now,  which made the whole experience extra pleasant.

Putting The Electric Car Before The Horse (Power)

While GM announced the they have plans to exclusively offer electric vehicles by 2035 on January 28, its only today that people are asking the question that policy poses: 

The Detroit News: EVs are coming: Can Michigan's power grid hold up?

Behind a paywall, as that's how Detroit News rolls these days.  But the answer at first glance would be no.  

We haven't built a new power plant in Michigan in decades and a few windmills aren't going to cut it.  

Going to all-electric vehicles sounds nice until you realize there is insufficient electricity generating capacity and infrastructure to meet the demand from such a fleet of electric powered vehicles.

Indeed as noted in an op-ed article not behind a paywall, the answer is no.  Especially as Michigan under Dem Governor Granholm denied the permit to build a 600 Megawatt coal plant and there has been no further serious power generation plant built  in Michigan since.

We simply don't have the generating capacity nor the infrastructure to support an all-electric vehicle fleet.  Meanwhile the supporters of vehicle electrification are in general the same people preventing new generating capacity from being built.