I'm not against EVs, I'm against subscriptions for a vehicle that already costs more than $60k and feels like toy.
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American auto manufactutereeurs are trying to sell us $60k cars in an economy where we can barely afford usedslop.
I would consider buying a new EV as long as it was affordable, safe, good quality, and didn't spy on me. Otherwise, I'm sticking with old manuals and bikes.
Also, anyone who wants to charge me a subscription to use anything on the vehicle I own can eat all of my shit and hair.
Its the spying and subscriptions that keep me away.
Idk about the telemetry in the electronics in regards to privacy but we just got a 2021 Bolt used (previously leased w/ 12k miles) and it was 17k USD out the door and my wife loves it. It gets charged off solar at home and we laugh at people talking about gas prices. Bikes, trains, busses, and regular old feet are also a big part of our lives, but IMO people acting like EVs are an impossibility are deluding themselves to defend a harmful status quo /shrug
eat all of my shit and hair
ew, waiter, there's a hair in this shit!
Yeah, it's because the vehicles that are selling so incredibly well in Europe aren't available in the US, namely the BYD range.
The reason Americans don't buy EVs is because all EVs sold in America are:
- More expensive than their ICE equivalents initially
- Are made by idiots like GM who make their cars only pre-2023 or for one year in 2026 (seriously GM just make the fucking Bolt)
- Nissan.....who just FINALLY got it through their fucking heads that air cooled batteries and Chademo are bad ideas as they're about to go bankrupt
- Are Tesla and financially supports the trillionaire neo-nazi.
There are very few basic, cheap EVs on the American market. Tesla is really the only one and most of us refuse to support that prick.
I just bought a used 2023 Bolt EUV a few months ago. Absolutely love the thing. I got it for $15.5k and it still has 5 years of warranty. And GM decided "hey....you know that car you love? We're going to stop making it because it doesn't have the margins our big boi SUV gas guzzlers have. Sorry and fuck you".
- They depreciate faster than room temperature milk.
Now, that depreciation may be (or probably is) offset by the decreased fuel and maintenance costs, but I see this point too often ignored.
Hyundai and KIA are notably missing from your list. Besides the DC converter failures, they're very solid.
Toyota / Subaru make EVs, but in a "fiiiine, if you insist" way, their heart really wasn't into it and it shows.
One of the largest issues is the American mindset when it comes to buying vehicles. Many people consider all of their needs, even those that might be yearly. Most EVs have the range to handle 99% of most peoples trips, but they consider that last 1% of a yearly road trip when thinking about range. It's one of the reasons that Trucks and SUVs are so popular with their higher capability.
How can you not consider your all of your needs when buying a vehicle?
You can rent a truck, but owning a truck means you have to pay more to haul around a bunch of stuff you don't need. That's why you shouldn't be worried about every possible thing you might need a vehicle for.
It's more over-weighting rare long road trips compared to everyday use. People are terrified of having to spend an extra 30 minutes charging an EV on a road trip, but don't think about all the time they can save on a weekly basis by never having to go to a gas station, or never having to get oil changes, etc.
Trucks and SUVs are popular because they can be made cheaper due to government subsidies and lax emissions laws that exempt them.
That's on top of the massive tariff in place for any truck imported into the US. Its a main reason the Big 3 basically stopped making sedans.
Says the CEO of a luxury EV brand that only makes SUVs and pick-ups that sell for >60k. Can't imagine why no one is interested...
You clearly didn't read the article. Did you even read the headline?
They literally just released a (more) reasonably priced SUV. The R2.
They always planned on starting with the high end market, then slowly release more economically priced versions as their technology matures.
Will it work? Who knows.
The R2 still starts at 50K
*$45K. Either way, there are a lot of people in the US who are paying >$60K for vehicles with internal combustion engines, so I'm not sure what point you're trying to make
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but $50k is the current average price for a new car in the US.
The R2 starts at $45k, which isn't a bad price for a luxury SUV.
They're also planning a more affordable R3.
From my experience reading the various articles everywhere and driving an EV exclusively since 2018... it is 100% misinformation, largely based on media coverage. And the media's lack of updates as technology has advanced quickly. Not all of it is intentional misinformation, some is just obviously ignorance by whoever is covering the topic.
There is the disinformation campaigns from the fossil fuel lobby, but that is separate from just poor journalism and people not updating their beliefs from previous reports they heard years prior.
Most US manufacturers have only produced the minimum EVs required for things tax breaks. And several of the big foreign manufacturers selling in the US have done the same, or cancelled plans to expand. Or they're focused on Hydrogen still for some reason despite 2+ decades proving that's a failed technology for consumer use.
So you really just have new startups on the scene, like Rivian, and Lucid, and a couple companies making mid EVs that clearly still use ICE thinking and just have an EV powertrain dropped in them, not taking advantage of the things they can do without an ICE engine.
A big indicator of this is if they still have an Engine Start/Stop button. There is no reason for that to exist in most EVs, especially if it has a mobile app and can have settings changed and starting things remotely. The vehicle is never "off" so there's nothing to start, just have it turn "on" when the key is inside. Tesla has done this basically since the beginning just fine. Getting in an EV and having to press a useless button just because that's what the ICE version needed is pointless and shows a lack of real development for the vehicle.
The start button (or app, or whatever) absolutely does something, and to say otherwise leads me to think you need to dive in deeper to how they work.
The button closes the contactors, activating the high voltage battery pack. To do otherwise is a massive safety risk. It also verifies the key (to prevent theft, and required by law) and on some models launches the parts of software needed for driving.
I'm not familiar with Tesla's design, but it should be easy enough to set the code to run this process whenever the door closes. Whether that's what people want is a different question entirely.
Yeah Chevy got rid of the start button on the 2027 and it turns on* when you close the door. Its one of the common complaints I read about on the subreddit. It would annoy me as sometimes I dont need the car on and automatic things annoy me
I WANT a start/stop button or key. I do not want smartphone control. It is a car, whose sole purpose is to haul me around from place to place. Why does it need all of that extra crap?
I have had a tesla and a ford EV (with a start button). I prefer having a start button. I did not like how the tesla always fired on all of its accessories and HVAC every time I approached the car, even if i wasn't going anywhere.
in case anyone asks, no i don't still have the tesla.
A lot of what I like about my bolt is how much its like a gas car. Everything has buttons for the most part, it has a start and stop button etc. A lot of my coworkers have teslas so I ride around in them often and its what put me off from even considering them
Go back 10-15 years (and ignore everything we've learned about Elon Musk.) Tesla's were objectively cool.
But now they're high priced, and software locked, track everything you do and everywhere you go, will trap you inside if caught on fire, require costly body work if in a fender bender which also takes forever, have replaced buttons with screens and door handles with software, and depreciate like a lead balloon.
No, dumbass, we're not against EVs, we're against your version of EVs. If Honda ever puts out an Accord EV with Android Auto / Car Play (and priced appropriately), the EV wars are over. That's all we want.
meanwhile honda has retreated on EVs... .AGAIN....
I so want to convert my old honda element into a 40-60m range EV. it's so damned compact and handy.
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