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Volkswagen unveils the ID.3, its first affordable long-range electric car

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Re: Volkswagen unveils the ID.3, its first affordable long-range electric car

#91

Post by enragedcacti »

vitaflo wrote: post #63
herodotus wrote: post #46

> The central focus is a new 10-inch touchscreen that sits in the middle of the ID.3’s dashboard. But VW has also opted to rely on touch-sensitive buttons throughout the cabin. In fact, the only things that are controlled through physical buttons, VW says, are the windows and the hazard lights. I don't understand why big touch screens in cars are seen as a step forward. To me, they raise safety issues, and they lack…

You also can't use them with gloves on, and at least where I live, I'm always wearing gloves in the winter.

Some companies (at least some Hondas from personal experience) use electrostatic screens that fix that problem. Resistive also works but they are SOOO mushy and scratchable.

Re: Volkswagen unveils the ID.3, its first affordable long-range electric car

#92

Post by radium3d »

jwr wrote: post #3

European here, trying to actually buy the thing. You can't. The first reservations will be fulfilled in the middle of 2020, but those will only be the mid-sized battery versions. If you want the version with a larger battery, there is no firm ship date, but it is expected in 2021. What I find somewhat amusing is that for the past months we've been bombarded by a huge marketing campaign advertising a car that doesn't…

I'm surprised they're advertising. They should just reveal more details slowly like Tesla. It should sell itself as they become available for test drives.

Re: Volkswagen unveils the ID.3, its first affordable long-range electric car

#93

Post by romwell »

Angostura wrote: post #75
tomxor wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> While many many of the big players (VW, Toyota, Honda, etc.) are going to match specs when it comes to battery range and whatnot, I haven't seen any indications that any of them intend to follow suit with the software. I'm hoping for the opposite, a return to basics, reliability and separation of concerns, not 3 billion lines of code running every single part of the car with a transistor - sure electric engines nee…

I’m hoping for twisty knobs and flicky switches

They will come.

In a the world of music equipment (synths in particular), it went like this:

--70s: twisty knobs and flicky switches.

--80s: We got CPU's now! Forget knobs, we got button arrays now.

--90s: We got LCDs now! Forget buttons, here's one rotary control and menus on menus.

--00s: If you pay us a lot, your menus will be on a touchscreen! Neat? No?

.....No?

:(

--10's: twisty knobs and flicky switches.

Walk into Guitar Center synth section, it's all about spaceship-kind of controls (one physical component for one parameter, and tons of blinkenlights).

It turned out (suprise!) that all those menu-driven controls are cheaper and easier to make, but were not what the users needed nor enjoyed.

These days, it's all about the analog equipment having digital control with a physical, tactile user interface (and no menus except for some niche parameters).

It really looks like cars are following the same path.

Re: Volkswagen unveils the ID.3, its first affordable long-range electric car

#94

Post by taf2 »

drcongo wrote: post #60
herodotus wrote: post #46

> The central focus is a new 10-inch touchscreen that sits in the middle of the ID.3’s dashboard. But VW has also opted to rely on touch-sensitive buttons throughout the cabin. In fact, the only things that are controlled through physical buttons, VW says, are the windows and the hazard lights. I don't understand why big touch screens in cars are seen as a step forward. To me, they raise safety issues, and they lack…

A thousand times this. I recently bought a Toyota Vellfire which has a touch screen ICE and I find that annoying enough on its own, I'd _hate_ to have to fiddle around on a screen to operate other car functionality.

IMO the difference here is like comparing early versions of blackberry around 2008 that tried to compete with the iPhone. They were really bad too...

Re: Volkswagen unveils the ID.3, its first affordable long-range electric car

#95

Post by taf2 »

vitaflo wrote: post #63
herodotus wrote: post #46

> The central focus is a new 10-inch touchscreen that sits in the middle of the ID.3’s dashboard. But VW has also opted to rely on touch-sensitive buttons throughout the cabin. In fact, the only things that are controlled through physical buttons, VW says, are the windows and the hazard lights. I don't understand why big touch screens in cars are seen as a step forward. To me, they raise safety issues, and they lack…

You also can't use them with gloves on, and at least where I live, I'm always wearing gloves in the winter.

You can buy touch screen friendly gloves... I always keep a pair in my car... nice thing about an electric car is you pre-heat without burning gas and being generally evil to the environment:)

Re: Volkswagen unveils the ID.3, its first affordable long-range electric car

#96

Post by beefalo »

14 wrote: post #51
justin66 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For the masses? My family is doing fairly well for people in my generation and I've never ever briefly considered buying a car for more than 10k. Identify your reasons for that and ask yourself if they're representative of how "the masses" tend to think about their purchases. (the average used car price in the US is over $20k)

This was my thoughts exactly. I am fairly well off comparatively I make way over minimum wage and there is no way I would consider a car that expensive. Affordable to the masses is more like $20,000 Canadian. That would be the price I could call affordable to the masses. Even a 20,000$ purchase would be hard for most people in my town. As someone who has not looked at EV car prices if this is what they call affordabl…

EVs will not be affordable for the masses even if they are able to get under $20k since home ownership is still effectively a prerequisite for owning an EV right now.

Re: Volkswagen unveils the ID.3, its first affordable long-range electric car

#97

Post by Gibbon1 »

javagram wrote: post #73
ex3ndr wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should to look at hardware buttons as often as on software ones. Just try to turn heat on in latest MB.

Large dials are the best. For instance the GE8 Honda fit has 3 huge dials, a lever, and 2 huge buttons that control the climate. It's extremely easy to adjust by touch without looking. https://imgur.com/a/V2yhIi6

The looks a lot better than the utterly stupid climate control interface on my Prius.

Re: Volkswagen unveils the ID.3, its first affordable long-range electric car

#98

Post by WorldMaker »

kwhitefoot wrote: post #57
everdrive wrote: post #8

I'm really excited for more viable electric vehicles. But, the claim that this is the first car for the masses when it's simply 2-3k (~33k to ~35k in USD) cheaper than a Tesla model 3 is discouraging. That said, I do understand that the total cost of ownership does catch up if you keep the car long enough. I would just love to see something in the 20s, or even lower. (Further, I'm very sympathetic to the argument tha…

Why does everyone always compare with Tesla when Hyundai, Kia, Renault, and Nissan already have cars that are either cheaper than the VW or very similar in price? The Zoe is surely an electric car for the masses and is the best selling electric car in Europe measured over the period 2010 to 2017. And you can get one for about EU 25 000, at least in the UK. See https://www.exchangeandmart.co.uk/new-cars/renault/zoe/re…

US-centrism is a part of it. Renault don't sell anything in the US. Nissan America may as well be called Datsun [1] for how well it currently reflects Nissan's fleet in Europe and Asia. The Leaf is Nissan America's ugly stepchild that they barely advertise, were forced to sell by "dad" (Nissan Group), and most Americans probably don't remember exists. Similarly Hyundai and Kia have much different overall US fleets than European ones, and have been slow to bring their EV options to US markets. (Just as VW is targeting 2020 for Europe ID.3 sales, but has made no word of when US sales might start. Or Honda America is entirely ignoring the Honda e.)

As far as most of the US is concerned it really is just Tesla to compare with for EV sales. (GM's Bolt maybe the only other footnote to that.)

[1] At one point Ghosn even tried to rebrand most of Nissan America's (gas guzzling, oversized) vehicles directly to Datsun in a strategy to make them easier to sell off/kill once EVs actually catch on in the US. No idea if that sort of plan still exists at Nissan Group post-Ghosn.

Re: Volkswagen unveils the ID.3, its first affordable long-range electric car

#100

Post by Gibbon1 »

turtlebits wrote: post #34
everdrive wrote: post #8

I'm really excited for more viable electric vehicles. But, the claim that this is the first car for the masses when it's simply 2-3k (~33k to ~35k in USD) cheaper than a Tesla model 3 is discouraging. That said, I do understand that the total cost of ownership does catch up if you keep the car long enough. I would just love to see something in the 20s, or even lower. (Further, I'm very sympathetic to the argument tha…

I feel like everyone overlooks the Chevy Bolt (probably because of all the Tesla hype). At the dealer (w/ bargaining and/or discounts), you can get one for 30k USD. This is before the US federal tax credit, so you'll get some money back.

Friends comment about his Bolt. It's a car. Thats what I wanted, a car.
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