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Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

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Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#111

Post by roel_v »

gambiting wrote: post #98
chewyland wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uh, I must politely disagree. The wireless charging on my beloved Nexus 7 was a technological marvel. I dropped it and bought a Tab S2 that I now have to plug in like a pleb.

YMMV. I personally don't know anyone who uses wireless charging for anything, and I work in IT.

"and I work in IT."

Yeah that's probably the problem. I mean, fuck dropbox, because ftp mount filesystem and use svn/git, right? Wireless charging is a great improvement over fiddling with cables several times a day. Anyone who's gotten used to it doesn't want to go back.

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#112

Post by mywittyname »

alkonaut wrote: post #26
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plugin hybrids do seem to offer the best of both worlds right now.

My problem with them is that they don't offer the greatest benefit of electric: the simple drive train. No thousands of moving part kept moving by a handful of fluids and rubber pulleys all needing meticulous care. With the hybrid you get the best of both worlds in convenience and range but the worst in maintenance. Battery aging? Check. Expensive combustion engine service schedules? Check.

"Meticulous" is a bit of an overstatement,. I've had a Prius for about five years now and I've changed the oil a few times and put in windshield washer fluid. And most of the accessories are electrified anymore, so the only belt is for the water pump.

I wonder how many EV drivers end up in the dealership only once a year.

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#113

Post by infecto »

dayjah wrote: post #106
jdietrich wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Can we please standardize charging stations to not require a person to manually establish a connection? It seems that it would pose such an awkward and unnecessary hurdle. It's a total non-issue in practice. Inductive charging has barely made an impact for mobile phones, because plugging in a cable just isn't a big chore. It very quickly becomes an automatic habit that requires no conscious effort.

Part of the appeal of automobile revolution is how it'll empower folks with motor control issues to become a bigger part of society versus being home bound; so I think this request has merit.

Honest question. Can a person who has trouble plugging in a car do a reasonable and safe job at driving?

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#114

Post by Pica_soO »

worldsayshi wrote: post #6

Can we please standardize charging stations to not require a person to manually establish a connection? It seems that it would pose such an awkward and unnecessary hurdle. Especially in the coming age of self driving cars. Every time you arrive or leave you have to remember to (dis-)connect the charger. Why not just have some kind of inductive energy transfer or I dunno... something. Edit1: Heh, this could work I gue…

What if the charging station could roll to your car and plug in while its parking? Basically a cable drum drone, with a little lair somewhere below the street.

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#115

Post by Pica_soO »

gutnor wrote: post #7
hjalle wrote: post #4

Almost 3 years ago the CEO (Håkan Samuelsson) said that he did not believe in pure elecric cars but rather hybrids[1]. Will be interesting to see if that still holds or if he has changed his beliefs. [1] http://www.dn.se/ekonomi/rena-elbilar-tror-vi-inte-pa/ (translated, https://translate.google.se/translate?sl=sv&tl=en&js=y&prev=... )

3 years ago was also before the diesel gate. Here in Europe, we moved from Diesel is king to the specialist press running article on why you can still consider buying a Diesel car in 2017 in some condition. That triggered countries like Germany to announce plan to ban gas car sales in a decade. Regardless what Volvo CEO thought 3 years ago, the market has shifted in a clear direction and it is his job to adapt. In a…

Also, new core-tech, new game - especially for those car manufacturers beaten at the market by the great three, this is a chance to recover lost ground.

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#116

Post by Ygg2 »

icebraining wrote: post #44
Ygg2 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Storing that many batteries in one place... Seems dangerous.

Now imagine they'd store thousands of gallons of a liquid that produces flammable vapor :)

It'd take flammable vapor over explosive pack of batteries :)

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#117

Post by abakker »

infecto wrote: post #113
dayjah wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of the appeal of automobile revolution is how it'll empower folks with motor control issues to become a bigger part of society versus being home bound; so I think this request has merit.

Honest question. Can a person who has trouble plugging in a car do a reasonable and safe job at driving?

I think the idea was that the car would be self-driving. So, Auto charging would also be important for them.

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#118

Post by rsync »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #16
geff82 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He does not want to go 100% electric, but 100% hybrid AND electric.

Plugin hybrids do seem to offer the best of both worlds right now.

"Plugin hybrids do seem to offer the best of both worlds right now."

Yes - absolutely. If you are a legacy car maker. You get all the benefits of the halo of "modern" technology and "green" initiative but you still get to hang on to your very lucrative ICE maintenance business (oil changes, fluids, complicated mechanicals, etc.).

As a consumer ? You get none of the technological benefits (dramatically lowered center of gravity from "skateboard" designs and all wheel drive coming from multiple motors, to name just two ...) but you get all of the logistical and aesthetic penalties that come from running a shitty little lawnmower engine inside your fancy new car.

I think the BMW i8 is a perfect emblem for this kind of flawed thinking. A beautiful, modern (looking) "luxury" car that has a 3 cylinder ICE hidden inside.

If I could say one thing to all of the legacy car manufacturers pinning their strategy on hybrids: Don't piss on my head and tell me it's raining gold.

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#119

Post by devy »

While Tesla's leading a electric vehicles revolution and having an immense success in introducing the mainstream consumers to it, majority of the traditional big automakers are getting it and aggressively shifting their production plans to EV: BMW, Volvo, Mercedes, GM, Nissan. BMW's plan is even to go all-in on EV[1] and will compete with Tesla head-to-head. [2]

[1]: http://www.thedrive.com/sheetmetal/10002/bmw-going-all-in-on...

[2]: https://global.handelsblatt.com/companies-markets/bmw-set-to...

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#120

Post by rsync »

hjalle wrote: post #4

Almost 3 years ago the CEO (Håkan Samuelsson) said that he did not believe in pure elecric cars but rather hybrids[1]. Will be interesting to see if that still holds or if he has changed his beliefs. [1] http://www.dn.se/ekonomi/rena-elbilar-tror-vi-inte-pa/ (translated, https://translate.google.se/translate?sl=sv&tl=en&js=y&prev=... )

From the article:

"Today’s announcement shows how quickly the market is shifting as Volvo prepares to replace gasoline- and diesel-only models with a mix of full-electric, plug-in hybrid and 48-volt mild hybrid variants starting in two years."

Translation: Sometime in the forever-three-years-from-now future we will offer our existing cars in half-assed hybrid form (loud, high vibration 3 and 4 cylinder ICE with 16-18 mile electric only range and no center of gravity benefits since there won't be a "skateboard" design) and we will begin to offer one or two cutesy little electric only vehicles, on a new platform that won't be sold in the US.

We've seen this same press release over and over from BMW/Merc/Audi/etc. - always the same 3 year horizon, always the same mild-hybrid flavors of existing models, and always the same oddball electric model (i3, Merc B series).

Volvo had over ten years to respond to Prius and the market and consumer signals it was clearly showing. Volvo has had five years to respond to Tesla (who erode their highest margin vehicles and represents a big chunk of their consumer base in the US). What did they do with all of that time ? They released a brand new fleet of vehicles with beautiful exterior styling and laughable little ICEs inside (and some token mild hybrid models).

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