Hey, welcome to BrainWorms.
This is a place where I post interesting things that I find and cant categorize into one of the main subs I follow. Enjoy a front seat as i descend into madness
One problem is I don't trust the asshole drivers around me to not damage my expensive vehicle. The other problem is that I don't have $800/m to throw away on a vehicle that loses that much in value every month.
I don't need all of these fancy features. I need a basic bitch car that gets me from point a to point b and has enough trunk space for groceries.
Thank you for putting the word on my mind down. This is exactly what I want also. No bullshit smarts and apps, just a simple car with the basics
This is the reason I still keep my old car around. 20 years old and it doesn't have all of the bells and whistles but made it very easy to maintain. The alternator died once and the car can still run normally without a battery powering it.
I have two cars and both those payments combined are under $500. I’m not paying $800 a month for one damn car.
Right?! I pay $380 a month for my car, a very comfortable and efficient Kia Forte. Sometimes I take a look at other cars that are around $30k, only $5k more than I paid for the Kia, and somehow the car payments are $600 a month! Not even sort of worth it
That’s not even including car insurance which has been skyrocketing everywhere
So what you're saying is you won't buy any new car, EV or not. What is the point of your comment?
While I definitely agree that the price of EVs are too damn high, we also have to take a look at the current trend of automakers phasing out their entire affordable car lines. They don't want to sell cars working people can afford.
They are in it for the money, not for combating climate change.
What I'd really like is an electric car that is a bit larger than a podbike. Or classified as a L7e or motorcycle. Something ultra light (<100kg) and can drive up to 80km (50mph).
Or alternatively allow bicycles / velomobiles to have pedal assist driving up to 50kmh(30mph) and 500W motors.
No longer manufactured and sold according to Wikipedia and its successor, the mobilize duo, is only available as a subscription not a purchase. Absolutely fuck no to paying a subscription for a car rather than a purchase
Something that light at that speed is a fucking death sentence
Cars are big because they need to crumble, absorb energy, and redirect it
Not necessarily. First, ban huge pickups from private use (make them commercial licence only); second, tax heavier than 2000 kg vehicles. If you make small, light vehicles the norm you'll make roads safer for everyone. Crumple zones etc can be made from composite materials and eg glass fiber is cheap, light and durable.
Remember that an F1 car is surprisingly small and light, yet the driver can walk away from truly awful high speed crashes. We don't need to mandate firesuits and neck restraint devices for road traffic, but at city and intercity road speeds (in Europe, typically 50 and 90 km/h) a small light car can be reasonably safe.
First, ban huge pickups from private use (make them commercial licence only); second, tax heavier than 2000 kg vehicles.
Two things that would be a non-starter in most of the US. Not saying I disagree with you, it would just never happen here.
One has to be a bit schizophrenic to argue for positive change: A) imagine a better future or B) accept reality
No, still not safe. Even relatively heavier small vehicles fold like paper in a crash. Also, at least in my country, banning pickups would cripple the local economy and instantly result in riots. Most farmers would just get fucked
Trying a crash in a light vehicle is up to you, I'll be sure to remember to bring roses for your grave
I live in a rural area and only about 2% of the pickups I see have anything in the back or any sign of being used off-road. Anyone who is moving stuff is using a tractor and trailer or a van.
Here every farmer has a beaten up, old piece of junk gas guzzler Zamiad truck, they move produce with it. Take that away and they're practically fucked. Vans require a van license and are expensive as fuck, and trailers are basically unheard of and I think against road regulations
Those regulations sound like a French bureaucrats wet dream, which country are you in?
Iran
Nice! Any perks?
Well, I think having a van culture or trailer culture here would be absolutely fucking devastating for the cities. There are many really really old streets here that are quite small
Try to build your own car (with car building knowledge) in America and try to get it on the road legally. You can't.
That's because of inequality. It's the same in most industries now - if you want to make money you have to be in the luxury market. Working people have been bled dry.
This totally misses the point. Automakers would make cheaper cars if they could get the adoption, but the input cost for Lithium for LFP batteries or Nickel and Cobalt for NMC batteries has skyrocketed. Lithium was as high as 4Xs the cost Pre-Covid, for example
Since the input cost is so much higher, premium was the initial target until the supply chain improved and reduced cost. I mean that's exactly what Tesla did. It's just not getting broad support because a lot of people are wary of buying EV over range or charging anxiety.
I think PHEVs are the perfect way to get people over range anxiety. I know my Volt has effectively a gallon of gas worth of range or 40 miles. That's enough range to do 90% of the driving I do in a week if I charge after drive. Groceries, daycare, and work (1 way, with charging stations). I think a lot of families are used to having my car and my spouses car where now it's looking like EV for short local trips and ice for longer trips. I think PHEVs will help teach folks about what kind of range they actually need even if they are charging at home everyday.
Now we have the luxury of a garage, which seems like a major hurdle to mass adoption. More so, than range anxiety.
Hurdles from my perspective :
Price, Price, Price
No Garage These are tied together as the people who can afford a garage are the same people that can likely aslp afford an EV. Similar target markets.
High Used Prices
Low Supply
Drivers own lack of awareness of their driving habits.
Red Herring in the media: Our grid can't handle it!
This is something I hear my boomer mother say even though she's a perfect candidate for an EV.
Wouldn't high used prices be good for new car buyers? To be fair, EVs plummeted in value in the 2H23 and are now in line with the broader market