Big oil forced that shit onto you instead of going the far superior EV route from the beginning. Now EVs are finally taking over and I’m happy my kids never have to get fuel grease on their hands and suffer those nasty fumes at gas stations. Shifters were needed for an inferior technology to work. I liked it as an experience when I learned to drive. But cars are mostly transport due to failure of better public transport infrastructure. I don’t care whether they’re fun. I drive for fun on the Xbox or maybe in a GoKart every few years.
EVs weren’t viable for long distance travel before though. Like batteries didn’t have the energy density they have today. The advancements in battery tech relied heavily on the advancements in computing tech. Like for battery research, manufacturing, battery management. And research in computer technology has never stopped.
Even if they never stopped making electric cars, they would have stayed short distance vehicles for a long time since battery tech didn’t advance fast enough. We might have gotten long distance EVs a decade sooner but definitely not decades. And fast charging is also only possible because of miniaturization of computer chips, nobody would’ve bought an EV that can travel less than 100km and take a full day to charge for their primary mode of transportation .
You know that there’s shops all over the place who will fix cells in bad packs? Replacing the whole battery is FUD similar to warning someone they need to replace their whole engine if there’s any issue.
Not talking about replacing the battery, I’m talking about every part having an encrypted module that only the dealership has the key to, meaning only the dealership can replace the part.
edit: and also the fact that most of them have that stupid giant tablet instead of buttons, and spy on you without consent.
edit 2: the other reply proved my point. you shouldnt have to take your car to the dealer for repairs. You should be able to do it yourself if you wanted to. The dealer shouldnt own a repair monopoly.
It isnt, but unless you sink the price of a new car into an EV-conversion kit, the only options are older gas cars for consumer-friendliness unfortunately.
IME, (2019 Volt) maintenance costs are lower with a PHEV. I have needed to take it to a dealer to deal with a OBD2 code that neither I nor my local mechanic could resolve, but the replacement part and labor was reasonably priced.
As a right to repair advocate, the fact you had to take it to the dealer is a turn off for me. I’ll be driving my 03 shit box til it dies or I move to a country with good public infrastructure
Eh, I had to take my Saturn (previous vehicle) to the dealer several times. The car before that was ruined by a “shade-tree” mechanic, so when I lived in the same city as the dealer I preferred that.
I’m with you on right-to-reapir tho. It would have been better if the diagnostic methods and parts were available from other than the dealer (and maybe they were and the local guy just didn’t want to mess with it, doesn’t do a lot of EVs at his shop). But my experience with cars is mostly that dealers have that advantage whether you go electric or not, and I prefer electric.
Still let me know if I can do something to improve right to repair for me or others.
Other than writing your Congress-people (lol) or donating to non-profits that support Right to repair I have nothing at the moment. In my (limited) experience it seems that most cars built after 2010 have some sort of “only the dealership” type thing built in, so at the moment its kind of just “buying used”. Ive been considering getting an early model Prius when my car goes (pre 2015) but, depending on how the rest of this presidency plays out I may not even be in the country.
With Tesla burning right now (sometimes literally), I’m concerned for the future of EVs.
There are other EV-only makers, most notably in my mind, rivian, but not many others come to mind.
Most other manufacturers have either stopped making EVs entirely, or switched to hybrid, or hybrid adjacent technologies. Honda is a good example of this backpedaling. They dipped their collective toes into EVs with proper hybrid vehicles during the pre-pandemic years. Between 2015 and 2020 (ish) they had a PHEV, the clarity. It was discontinued in 2020. I forget if the last model year was 2019 or 2020. Either way, I still kind of want one… Regardless, they took everything they learned and put it into their fancy new e-CVT, which essentially, at most speeds, turns the gasoline motor of the vehicle into a generator, powering an electric motor that drives the wheels.
Don’t get me wrong, that’s still more efficient than burning the Jurassic forests to drive motion, but it’s not as efficient as running the drive motor from batteries that were charged from green sources.
Most other manufacturers have done something similar in abandoning BEVs for HEVs or whatever Honda is doing. There’s a few stand out exceptions, like the F150 lightening. Good on you Ford… But the list is pretty short, especially compared to the fuel based alternatives.
It’s a good time for other companies to pick up the ball that Tesla dropped here, and I’m hoping they do. … I mean, they won’t because they’re too busy buying yachts with all that fossil fuel bribe money they get, but I can dream.
Apart from China, Hyundai/Kia is producing really great EVs. And the German brands have viable ones that might eventually catch up to Korea and China now that they’re taking it more seriously. Renault is really getting it lately and even Stellantis is coming with new platforms that are pretty good. The Japanese have invested more in anti-EV-propaganda than in EVs.
We have a Hyundai Kona from 2019 and it’s an amazing car. Every single person who ever tried it never wants to drive an ICE again. And this is an old low-to-mid-end vehicle. Our next EV is definitely going to be a lot better.
My only real personal problems with EVs, have nothing to do with them being electric.
Early EVs all looked like science experiments… I’ll give some examples. The Nissan leaf. The BMW i3. And a more recent example is the VW ID.Buzz mini bus thing.
I want a car, not a statement piece, and until recently, Tesla seemed to be the only ones selling EVs that didn’t look dramatically different than other cars on the road. I just want a car. I want it to use volts instead of gasoline.
The second issue I have has more to do with the automobile market than EVs… Everyone seems to have a sport crossover or SUV converted to EV, but very few have just plain sedans, and those that do, a nontrivial number of them violate the first complaint.
I like EVs, I want to drive an EV, but I don’t want it to look like it’s straight out of someone’s LSD trip. That’s just not groovy man … I’m not a fan of SUVs, I just want a small sedan or coupe that’s normal except it uses batteries instead of Jurassic remains.
Big oil forced that shit onto you instead of going the far superior EV route from the beginning. Now EVs are finally taking over and I’m happy my kids never have to get fuel grease on their hands and suffer those nasty fumes at gas stations. Shifters were needed for an inferior technology to work. I liked it as an experience when I learned to drive. But cars are mostly transport due to failure of better public transport infrastructure. I don’t care whether they’re fun. I drive for fun on the Xbox or maybe in a GoKart every few years.
Oh that felt good to rant.
EVs weren’t viable for long distance travel before though. Like batteries didn’t have the energy density they have today. The advancements in battery tech relied heavily on the advancements in computing tech. Like for battery research, manufacturing, battery management. And research in computer technology has never stopped.
Even if they never stopped making electric cars, they would have stayed short distance vehicles for a long time since battery tech didn’t advance fast enough. We might have gotten long distance EVs a decade sooner but definitely not decades. And fast charging is also only possible because of miniaturization of computer chips, nobody would’ve bought an EV that can travel less than 100km and take a full day to charge for their primary mode of transportation .
I’m sure batteries would have progressed more quickly if they had been chosen as the preferred path 100 years ago.
Except they made sure you couldn’t repair it so You’ll end up dropping that 50k once every 5-10 years anyway 🤪
(Im pro-EV btw. just wish EVs were pro-me)
You know that there’s shops all over the place who will fix cells in bad packs? Replacing the whole battery is FUD similar to warning someone they need to replace their whole engine if there’s any issue.
Not talking about replacing the battery, I’m talking about every part having an encrypted module that only the dealership has the key to, meaning only the dealership can replace the part.
edit: and also the fact that most of them have that stupid giant tablet instead of buttons, and spy on you without consent.
edit 2: the other reply proved my point. you shouldnt have to take your car to the dealer for repairs. You should be able to do it yourself if you wanted to. The dealer shouldnt own a repair monopoly.
How is that any different from a modern gas car?
It isnt, but unless you sink the price of a new car into an EV-conversion kit, the only options are older gas cars for consumer-friendliness unfortunately.
IME, (2019 Volt) maintenance costs are lower with a PHEV. I have needed to take it to a dealer to deal with a OBD2 code that neither I nor my local mechanic could resolve, but the replacement part and labor was reasonably priced.
As a right to repair advocate, the fact you had to take it to the dealer is a turn off for me. I’ll be driving my 03 shit box til it dies or I move to a country with good public infrastructure
Eh, I had to take my Saturn (previous vehicle) to the dealer several times. The car before that was ruined by a “shade-tree” mechanic, so when I lived in the same city as the dealer I preferred that.
I’m with you on right-to-reapir tho. It would have been better if the diagnostic methods and parts were available from other than the dealer (and maybe they were and the local guy just didn’t want to mess with it, doesn’t do a lot of EVs at his shop). But my experience with cars is mostly that dealers have that advantage whether you go electric or not, and I prefer electric.
Still let me know if I can do something to improve right to repair for me or others.
Other than writing your Congress-people (lol) or donating to non-profits that support Right to repair I have nothing at the moment. In my (limited) experience it seems that most cars built after 2010 have some sort of “only the dealership” type thing built in, so at the moment its kind of just “buying used”. Ive been considering getting an early model Prius when my car goes (pre 2015) but, depending on how the rest of this presidency plays out I may not even be in the country.
With Tesla burning right now (sometimes literally), I’m concerned for the future of EVs.
There are other EV-only makers, most notably in my mind, rivian, but not many others come to mind.
Most other manufacturers have either stopped making EVs entirely, or switched to hybrid, or hybrid adjacent technologies. Honda is a good example of this backpedaling. They dipped their collective toes into EVs with proper hybrid vehicles during the pre-pandemic years. Between 2015 and 2020 (ish) they had a PHEV, the clarity. It was discontinued in 2020. I forget if the last model year was 2019 or 2020. Either way, I still kind of want one… Regardless, they took everything they learned and put it into their fancy new e-CVT, which essentially, at most speeds, turns the gasoline motor of the vehicle into a generator, powering an electric motor that drives the wheels.
Don’t get me wrong, that’s still more efficient than burning the Jurassic forests to drive motion, but it’s not as efficient as running the drive motor from batteries that were charged from green sources.
Most other manufacturers have done something similar in abandoning BEVs for HEVs or whatever Honda is doing. There’s a few stand out exceptions, like the F150 lightening. Good on you Ford… But the list is pretty short, especially compared to the fuel based alternatives.
It’s a good time for other companies to pick up the ball that Tesla dropped here, and I’m hoping they do. … I mean, they won’t because they’re too busy buying yachts with all that fossil fuel bribe money they get, but I can dream.
BYD is doing just fine, your shitty protectionist government just won’t allow you to buy them.
… Which is probably why I had no idea they exist.
Apart from China, Hyundai/Kia is producing really great EVs. And the German brands have viable ones that might eventually catch up to Korea and China now that they’re taking it more seriously. Renault is really getting it lately and even Stellantis is coming with new platforms that are pretty good. The Japanese have invested more in anti-EV-propaganda than in EVs.
We have a Hyundai Kona from 2019 and it’s an amazing car. Every single person who ever tried it never wants to drive an ICE again. And this is an old low-to-mid-end vehicle. Our next EV is definitely going to be a lot better.
My only real personal problems with EVs, have nothing to do with them being electric.
Early EVs all looked like science experiments… I’ll give some examples. The Nissan leaf. The BMW i3. And a more recent example is the VW ID.Buzz mini bus thing.
I want a car, not a statement piece, and until recently, Tesla seemed to be the only ones selling EVs that didn’t look dramatically different than other cars on the road. I just want a car. I want it to use volts instead of gasoline.
The second issue I have has more to do with the automobile market than EVs… Everyone seems to have a sport crossover or SUV converted to EV, but very few have just plain sedans, and those that do, a nontrivial number of them violate the first complaint.
I like EVs, I want to drive an EV, but I don’t want it to look like it’s straight out of someone’s LSD trip. That’s just not groovy man … I’m not a fan of SUVs, I just want a small sedan or coupe that’s normal except it uses batteries instead of Jurassic remains.
BYD and xiaomi produce more EVs than American manufacturers produce vehicles in total.
The future of EVs is secure and the majority of drivers on earth will be driving one by 2050. Just not in the US, Canada, UK or other failed states.