Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

391–400 of 528 posts

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#391

Post by torrent-of-ions »

old-gregg wrote: post #84

I suspect that people of the future will look back and be amazed that for more than a century we've been legally allowing our slow-reacting bodies [1] to ride around at 80mph in a 2-ton hideous mechanical equivalent of a horse, killing ourselves [2] and simultaneously destroying our cities [3]. I myself used to be a "petrolhead" my 20s and it's quite amazing to observe this awakening when looking in the mirror. I sus…

Road safety is much better in Europe than the US. The US seems to have a problem with driver education. I actually think the prevalence of automatics is part of the problem as they present themselves as a big toy and convenient luxury rather than as a powerful machine that comes with a lot of responsibility.

I wondered if the design of the roads themselves plays a big part, but I no longer think it is very significant here. In South Africa the roads are basically built to British standards but they have even worse safety than the US. The big difference I noticed there is the extreme variety of vehicles on the road. You get modern, powerful cars just like in Europe, but also rattly old rust buckets that would have failed their MOT test in the UK years ago. This variety makes navigating the roads much more difficult.

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#392

Post by tdb7893 »

Someone1234 wrote: post #146
DamnInteresting wrote: post #73

A few weeks ago I bought a Chevy Bolt EV...according to the dealer it was the first one sold in my state (Utah). I'd been on a waiting list for almost a year. Sure, ICE engines are getting better, but EVs are rapidly gaining and will soon surpass. The Bolt is a bit expensive for a car of its body type, but "gassing up" at home is amazing, the 200+ mile range is great, and the sharply reduced emissions are a weight of…

Electric vehicles are a tough sell now though. The Chevy Bolt EV has a 60 kWh Lithium-ion battery; to charge that fully costs $8.7 in Utah (14.5 cents per kWh). Per the EPA's measure that gets you 238 miles. Gas costs approx $2.24/gallon in Utah. A Prius has a 11.3 gallon tank and a 540 miles range (again, EPA standard). That means that $11.15 would get you the same distance as a full Bolt EV charge in gas. Now, befo…

They aren't quite economically feasible now but they are getting darn close. Also, how long do electric cars last? I assume they would last longer with the simpler drive trains (except for stuff like battery replacements) but I'm not sure because they are so new. If they can make them last longer that also would solve the economic issue pretty immediately

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#393

Post by steverb »

angerbot wrote: post #88
selectodude wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The new BMW M5 is 4400 lbs. 30 years ago the BMW M5 was 3300 lbs.

The new BMW M5 is also closer to the size of a 7 series from 30 years ago. Additionally, even with AWD being added it's 200lbs lighter than the last gen was. Cars are certainly heavier on the whole than they used to be, but lightening them is starting to happen again and they're much safer than any car from decades past.

Yeah, my 79 BMW 528 was positively tiny compared to current models.

I also greatly preferred its' handling. Newer BMWs feel (to me) similar to driving my parents' Crown Vic (a comment that irritated the BMW dealer considerably).

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#394

Post by torrent-of-ions »

rsync wrote: post #80
kmm wrote: post #60

I always wondered why American cars are so inefficient. Seems such a waste of your significantly cheaper gas :) I drive an Opel Astra H 1.7 CDTI and I can get up to 50 mpg (4.7 l/100 km) on the highway, and I never dip under 40 mpg (5.8 l/100km) even when doing a lot of city driving. I understand that my car is comparatively somewhat smaller (1200 kg) and underpowered (100 hp), yet I can't imagine needing more horsep…

"What do you get in the place for this lower efficiency? Are American cars that much heavier? More comfortable? Faster?" I cannot speak for everyone, but as someone who lives in the US and also spends a lot of time in Europe, there is a very big lifestyle difference at play here. First, I have a five person family (wife and three kids) and you[1], statistically, as a European, have 1.6 children - and as a highly educ…

This lifestyle is not unique to the US, but the big, inefficient car thing seems to be. South Africa is on a similar scale to the US and probably much more mountainous in general. Yet most of the cars there are European sized. And it's not just because they can't afford bigger ones; many of them can. It just seems that if they are going to choose one vehicle they choose the one that makes sense for every day of the week, not the few times a year they drive for 8 hours across multiple mountain ranges.

I live in the UK and I'd been told by Americans "you just don't understand" many times. But I can tell you now that it's perfectly fine to make day long road trips across mountain ranges in something like a VW Golf. You don't need a 3L+ monstrosity.

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#395

Post by alistairSH »

chrisseaton wrote: post #379
reportingsjr wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Multiple people where I work change the oil in their cars at this rate. I explained that you can go further with more modern oils, especially synthetic, to no avail. I think you'd be surprised at how much people spend on car maintenance.

In the UK people are told to change their oil once a year or 10k miles. If you do it every 3k miles in the US, which of us is doing it wrong? Either we're damaging our cars or you're wasting money and oil. They're the same cars doing the same distance, and parts of the US are similar climates.

3,000 mile oil changes hasn't been a standard recommendation in the US for at least a decade, probably longer.

These days, most (all?) cars have an idiot light that pops on every 5-10k miles, based on usage patterns. Some have a more robust algorithm than others. Either way, in my experience, my last 3-4 cars (Jeep, Lexus, Volvo, VW) have all gone about 8k miles between services, as indicated by the light.

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#396

Post by chrisseaton »

stupidhn wrote: post #388
chrisseaton wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the UK people are told to change their oil once a year or 10k miles. If you do it every 3k miles in the US, which of us is doing it wrong? Either we're damaging our cars or you're wasting money and oil. They're the same cars doing the same distance, and parts of the US are similar climates.

> Either we're damaging our cars or you're wasting money and oil. The latter. Most manufacturers recommend 10,000 miles now, some as high as 15,000 (Jaguar, known for being unreliable): https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/tips-advice/stop-changing-y... Being as how manufacturers have to cover the warranty issues that could be related to lack of oil changes, I go with what they recommend.

I think the UK we don't even have the same 'lube shops' that you do. The dealerships change your oil at the yearly service.

It's a whole industry that you have that seems to be entirely redundant!

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#397

Post by driverdan »

timelol wrote: post #109
DamnInteresting wrote: post #73

A few weeks ago I bought a Chevy Bolt EV...according to the dealer it was the first one sold in my state (Utah). I'd been on a waiting list for almost a year. Sure, ICE engines are getting better, but EVs are rapidly gaining and will soon surpass. The Bolt is a bit expensive for a car of its body type, but "gassing up" at home is amazing, the 200+ mile range is great, and the sharply reduced emissions are a weight of…

I have an electric _bicycle_ that routinely dusts off ICE cars at stop lights. It just takes a while for all that machinery to start rolling.

That's because you're going full power and the car driver isn't.

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#398

Post by stupidhn »

falsedan wrote: post #377
perryh2 wrote: post #9

The chart makes me sad. My Subaru BRZ (2013-) "sports car" comes with only 200hp. Many people looking for more power install aftermarket superchargers.

> "sports car" lol Why'd you get a BRZ? Bonus question: uh why did Toyota/Subaru make them

>Why'd you get a BRZ?

Good looking (subjective), reliable, quick, fun to drive?

Why did you buy your car?

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#399

Post by stupidhn »

wiredfool wrote: post #360
galdosdi wrote: post #355

Past a certain point (like, not being able to maintain highway speed limit up a modest grade), I am not sure this extra horsepower is such a good thing. The thing I really notice when driving lower usable power-to-weight vehicles like a heavy truck or an unpowered bicycle or a car with a dying clutch or is this: they force you to think further ahead, work harder at predicting the possible movements of all other road…

It is much more fun driving a lower powered car at the limit than an overpowered on at 25%. (source -- owner of 1990 miata. 120hp, 2000lbs. Steer the front with the wheel, the back with the throttle.)

>It is much more fun driving a lower powered car at the limit than an overpowered on at 25%.

Motorcycle enthusiasts understand this concept. Driving an overpowered (for your experience) bike isn't fun compared to throwing a smaller bike around.

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#400

Post by exprA »

stupidhn wrote: post #388
chrisseaton wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the UK people are told to change their oil once a year or 10k miles. If you do it every 3k miles in the US, which of us is doing it wrong? Either we're damaging our cars or you're wasting money and oil. They're the same cars doing the same distance, and parts of the US are similar climates.

> Either we're damaging our cars or you're wasting money and oil. The latter. Most manufacturers recommend 10,000 miles now, some as high as 15,000 (Jaguar, known for being unreliable): https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/tips-advice/stop-changing-y... Being as how manufacturers have to cover the warranty issues that could be related to lack of oil changes, I go with what they recommend.

I guess I'm at the other end of spectrum by simply following what the manufacturer proposes: I change my oil along with the filter every 18,000 miles, and so far, after 100,000 miles (and then some) have not had any issues. (My car is rather cheap, or in EV sense practically free, so I'm not all too concerned, either.)

The engine does not consume too much oil, either, so a single 4L bottle – about a gallon I think – is easily all that the oil I need between changes. With European prices, that is the equivalent of a single refill (even with my modest tank size), which makes you simply laugh and wonder at all the people that (always) bring up oil changes in the discussion of ICE vs EV. I can't but wonder how many of those actually own and maintain a not-imaginary vehicle.

Post reply on HN