Sales of electric cars up by 43% in 2020

Post by gonehome » Mon, Jan 25, 2021, 5:07 PM UTC

foepys wrote: post #421

gonehome wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sure how bad a deal that would have been for the legacy companies - I’d guess most of their patents are worthless (maybe good for defense). The legacy car companies are held back by the dealer model and failing to execute for ten years giving tesla a massive head start. I’m not sure they’ll be able to survive the transition. Refusing to support superchargers just makes whatever EVs they do come up with a non-…

Those "legacy" companies are already selling more EV than Tesla in Norway. Norway taxes ICE to an extreme and was Tesla's PR example where they claimed to be the front-runner. In 2020 from January to October the Model 3 was behind the Audi e-Tron, VW's aging e-Golf, the VW ID.3, the Hyundai Kona, and the Nissan Leaf.

Post by bluGill » Mon, Jan 25, 2021, 5:13 PM UTC

throwaway2a02 wrote: post #75

acomjean wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have a solar array on the roof. It’s great. But the dc->ac converter needs the grid to be active to do its conversion, so when the power goes out no solar. (I suspect it syncs with the grids 60hz...) If you include a battery backup in your system, you can run without grid power. When I worked at a power monitoring start up we had a demo house that was charging an electric rav4, so it’s possible.

I understand why grid-tied systems are built this way, but from an engineering standpoint this is really inefficient. Converting from DC to AC and back to DC, for no reason. In fact, most solar controllers are already designed to use and charge batteries. It doesn't help that most car manufacturers use locked battery charging protocols that don't allow you to easily change this process.

Post by djrogers » Mon, Jan 25, 2021, 5:13 PM UTC

Mauricebranagh wrote: post #287

r00fus wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An EV inverter for $200 can allow your car to power your refrigerator + router/phone/laptops for many hours (days for a LR Tesla).

Why would you want to stress a very expensive and hard to replace car component - reducing its life. Just put some solar panels on your roof

Post by brianwawok » Mon, Jan 25, 2021, 5:16 PM UTC

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #415

brianwawok wrote: post #413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Cheapest Honda 21k https://automobiles.honda.com/tools/build-and-price#panel-so... Cheapest Ford $19,995 https://shop.ford.com/showroom/?linktype=brand&intcmp=hp-sho... Those budget brands generally don’t have dealers here. Like I said you can maybe find a weird budget dealer somewhere, but it’s well under 1% if sales volume. Low budget people typically buy 3-15 year old versions of these cars (which is easily u…

You picked a brand that is a hallmark of upper middle class conspicuous consumption and a brand that doesn't make economy cars (for the North American market) anymore. The Mitsubishi Mirage, Nissan Versa and Chevy Spark (hatchbacks comparable to the small European cars the GP mentioned) MSRP at under 15k.

Post by djrogers » Mon, Jan 25, 2021, 5:18 PM UTC

akgerber wrote: post #393

nelsonmandela wrote: post #273

Man I wish they'd sell an electric car without all the cameras, tracking and self driving stuff.

You can buy a Kandi in the US today, often for under $10,000 after subsidies. https://www.kandiamerica.com/ It does have a backup camera, as basic camera modules and screens are essentially free now. If you're in an urban area, consider an ebike for a light electric vehicle without unnecessary frills that you can store in your home.