401–410 of 519 posts
The next step is to work on cleaner electricity. While most EU got the message long time ago, eastern bloc countries are much behind. Currently in Poland it is better for the environment to drive a diesel VW Golf than Tesla, as the electricity is produced from brown coal.
The EV market in Poland is extremely small for a 38mln country, so I believe that by the time it reaches appropriate size the scale will tip in favour of EVs - after all we're bound by EU emissions targets and the associated CO2 market. Brown coal has been declining in Poland faster than anticipated: https://wysokienapiecie.pl/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/polish... It is being replaced by imported hard coal, but that's…
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China is a country lead by engineers with unlimited power to do whatever they want. If they want all cars to be electric, that will happen. If they want a 5 million person city just there because it's logistically advantageous, then that will happen. The good thing is that they can make decisions like this. The bad thing is that they can make decisions like this.
Autocracies seem to be the most efficient form of governance. It's a shame that this also means that they can do evil things very efficiently, given no one can stop them.
China is an extreme outlier in that respect. What they've done the last 40 years is unparallelled and very hard to explain.
The next step is to work on cleaner electricity. While most EU got the message long time ago, eastern bloc countries are much behind. Currently in Poland it is better for the environment to drive a diesel VW Golf than Tesla, as the electricity is produced from brown coal.
Man I wish they'd sell an electric car without all the cameras, tracking and self driving stuff.
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I suspect the bottom end of the market is going to disappear. Right now I could buy a car for £1000. It won't be great but it would be good enough to get somebody too and from work and the shops. That won't be feasible when a new battery costs £5000 or more.
New or used? In the US the realistic floor for a new car is 20k. A few smart cars and such for less, but not anything sold seriously.
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This is unnecessary though. You just plug your car in every night like a cell phone and you have full charge every day. Tesla's supercharger network is plenty fast for long trips and adds a nominal amount of extra time.
Do you not travel and or enjoy road trips fairly frequently where you must re-fuel? I personally do(southern PA to central/Northern New York)! Also, can I charge a Nissan Leaf and or Chevy Volt using all the Telsa charging stations? IF I can great if not still these cars aren't for me or people who enjoy frequent road trips. Especially those who expect the same UX as a gas car. In time sure, but not there yet!
On a typical trip from SF to LA in our Model 3 with 300 miles range, you would think you would stop once “for gas” and charge to 100% as that is the mental model coming from a gas car. However, it takes ~45-60 mins to charge to 100% and only ~10-12 mins to charge to 50%, so the much better option is to make 2 stops along the way and only charge to 50% each time.
When you look at it from that perspective, you need to take 10 mins to stretch your legs every 2-2.5 hours of driving or so, which really isn’t a big deal at all and probably good for you. Using that strategy an indefinitely long road trip in an EV really isn’t a burden at all.
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> It is totally uneconomic to scrap a car only because one part broke. When the battery replacement cost outvalues the cars price, it is uneconomical to repair.
Everyone is always so hung up on the value of the car when it comes to repairs. The value of the car is only what someone would pay for it. If you're planning to keep it, then that value is only an insurance number. A car is potentially worth a lot more if you keep it, especially if the car is low maintenance. With electric cars you trade some value up front (they are typically more expensive) to reduce the maintenan…
I’ll be interested to see the lifespan of EVs for “normal” people. I’ve got a 2012 Nissan LEAF we bought post-lease in 2015. I love it still, and don’t have any plans to replace it. The battery is not in great shape, but it gets me where I need to go. I am genuinely considering replacing the battery rather than buying another EV when the battery finally fails.
I've got a 13 year old Prius and its battery is still working! I did have to replace its coolant pump a few years back, but it's still working after 174k, and it's a 2008 battery.
Basically things that regularly need changing, although the hand brake cable is probably the exception to that.
Most reliable car I've ever owned.