31–40 of 97 posts
Is it me or unions on Germany are a species of their own kind? I mean I'm expected the union to do strikes to raise salaries, protect laziness and unproductive workers, counter automation and firing of current workers... Edit: I'm not sure why I'm getting down-voted over this.
As a former Audi owner, I wonder if the "audi service position" will be applicable to their electric cars. Tangental I know, but I would be curious to know if they will make their cars easier/cheaper to service. I never really had much trouble with my A4, but maintenance costs upwards of 1k per 6 months(I was driving a lot of miles at the time) turned me off to the ownership experience.
Brake pads should last a little longer, but I'm not sure how much.
Ultimately though I believe electric cars will be much more expensive in the long run. Nissan wants $5499 for a new battery back. I don't know of any study on how long they last, but reading forums and extrapolating I would say you should plan on replacing the battery pack every 100000 miles. This of course depends greatly on how your charge it which in turn depends on how far you drive. If you drive the full range of the battery every charge you probably need to replace the battery every 50000 miles. If you make dozens of short trips per day, charging after each, you could potentially get several hundred thousand miles.
I'm curious about your A4 experience - how many miles were you driving. Unless you are driving 80,000 miles a year I don't see how you can get that high - at 80,000 miles/ year you have timing belt service. If you are driving this many miles the VW diesels (same base platform as the A4, though less luxury) can probably pay for the entire car including maintenance just in fuel savings.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Many people and organizations with a lot of power have spent a lot of time and money giving you that impression. Unions have done a great deal of good worldwide, but no 'it's Henry Ford that's responsible for the 40 hour week' etc. PS: Remember, the best way to keep power long term is to convince everyone else to hand it to you.
40 hour work week? Unions Weekend off? Unions 9-5? Unions Retirement Savings? Unions Pension Program? Unions Health Benefits? Unions Vacation Time? Unions Sick Time? Unions Lunch break? Unions Work place safety regulations? Unions Boss threaten to fire you if you don't let him screw your wife? Unions
Employers were not willing to give those concessions without a fight.
Sigh. This better not be what Audi actually thinks. Let me say it as clearly as possible - ALL CARS will be electric vehicles in the future. So if Audi still comes at this from the perspective of "let's build an EV for environmentalist vegan weirdos...and I guess for some eccentric millionaires", then it will always be 5-steps behind Tesla, and it will fail badly in the EV market (as well as in the gas-powered car market, once the decline begins).
As a former Audi owner, I wonder if the "audi service position" will be applicable to their electric cars. Tangental I know, but I would be curious to know if they will make their cars easier/cheaper to service. I never really had much trouble with my A4, but maintenance costs upwards of 1k per 6 months(I was driving a lot of miles at the time) turned me off to the ownership experience.
Is it me or unions on Germany are a species of their own kind? I mean I'm expected the union to do strikes to raise salaries, protect laziness and unproductive workers, counter automation and firing of current workers... Edit: I'm not sure why I'm getting down-voted over this.
> Edit: I'm not sure why I'm getting down-voted over this. Because your characterization of unions just sounds like blindly repeating the anti-union propaganda that has been so successful in the US starting from Reagan's time.
> but the success of Tesla and arch rival BMW's "i" series of electric cars has convinced Audi there is a market for electric luxury vehicles after all. Sigh. This better not be what Audi actually thinks. Let me say it as clearly as possible - ALL CARS will be electric vehicles in the future. So if Audi still comes at this from the perspective of "let's build an EV for environmentalist vegan weirdos...and I guess for…
As a former Audi owner, I wonder if the "audi service position" will be applicable to their electric cars. Tangental I know, but I would be curious to know if they will make their cars easier/cheaper to service. I never really had much trouble with my A4, but maintenance costs upwards of 1k per 6 months(I was driving a lot of miles at the time) turned me off to the ownership experience.
Depends on a lot of factors. There is no engine oil, so the first scheduled maintenance will probably be the cabin airfilter (20000 miles in every car I've had that has one), and I would guess that anything in the suspension that needs grease will get the same interval (many cars have nothing to grease today but it is a possibility). Then there are tires. Brake pads should last a little longer, but I'm not sure how m…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Electric cars are far from perfect, but the simple fact that they have less moving parts than an ICE vehicle. No fanbelts to stretch, no flywheels to break, no fuel injection pump, etc, etc. Other than normal wear and tear, there should be massively less maintenance required for electric vehicles.
I mean, yes that's probably true for mass market vehicles, but not true for luxury cars. Look at Teslas. Yes, the drivetrain is vastly simplified, but I can't imagine things like those gull wing doors, power door handles, air suspension, etc. will be inexpensive to maintain.
In the Teslas, there are dramatically fewer moving parts and consumables.
No rings to dry rot / wear out, spark plugs, fan belts, oil filters, pistons, fuel pumps, etc, etc. I was actually referring to the Teslas. I do however, think the X was too much too quickly. It is a mess from an engineering standpoint. That being said, the drive train will last much longer than a similar ICE. I suspect in the long run, with battery wear, it will be a bit more than a wash.
Disclaimer: I'm long on TSLA and Solarcity Solar Bonds.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Electric cars are far from perfect, but the simple fact that they have less moving parts than an ICE vehicle. No fanbelts to stretch, no flywheels to break, no fuel injection pump, etc, etc. Other than normal wear and tear, there should be massively less maintenance required for electric vehicles.
I mean, yes that's probably true for mass market vehicles, but not true for luxury cars. Look at Teslas. Yes, the drivetrain is vastly simplified, but I can't imagine things like those gull wing doors, power door handles, air suspension, etc. will be inexpensive to maintain.