331–340 of 650 posts
My opinion is that the industry has gone in the wrong direction with batteries. Cars should use swappable rechargeable batteries swapped by robots at the charging station. Faster pit stops and simpler batteries (no need for water-cooled, etc) and cheaper cars. And elimination of concern of battery warranty.
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Yea, I had a ID.4 pre-ordered but canceled it after I realized how absurd the price is. I bought a utility e-bike instead and that was probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I barely use my car anymore and biking is way more fun and greener than any car.
Regular bikes have the benefit that they improve your health, it's not exhaustive once you get a better stamina. E-bikes are a bad product I think in todays society
I feel like the prices on electric vehicles are starting to become their biggest hurdle (instead of range, availability, or charging which are solved enough). If you're from California or New York, I'm sure $40K starting for this or a Model Y seems complexly within your means, but there's a large chunk of the US (by population AND land) where People love to spam $40K US "average" while entirely ignoring that the aver…
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Poorer countries in Europe tax fuel more. If you raise fuel tax, people will find ways to buy less fuel. Generally this means more efficient (often smaller) cars, and perhaps prioritizing living more near to jobs etc. The main problem is that fuel tax should be increased slowly so people can change their consumption accordingly.
The difference is, even the poorer countries in Europe have a better bus and train system than the majority of America. Now, granted, America is much larger so I hate these comparisons. Many European countries are the size of an American state, but compare any US state and the bus and train system will almost certainly pale in comparison. I'm all for a fuel tax, but I'm also a huge proponent for a decent alternative…
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I think you are being a bit overly negative but you do have a point. Where I live (northern Europe) I could never get by with any kind of "open" vehicle (i need a roof and heating) and snow tyres.
You can get snow tyres fitted on a bicycle (I had some as a youth) but bicycles are still quite horrible in the winter. I remember biking home from school during the winter when it was snowing heavily. The sidewalks were completely snowed in with heavy snow so the bike just really went where it wanted to go and very slowly. I eventually decided to move over to the road but I was soon tailgated by a bus. Since the bus…
My opinion is that the industry has gone in the wrong direction with batteries. Cars should use swappable rechargeable batteries swapped by robots at the charging station. Faster pit stops and simpler batteries (no need for water-cooled, etc) and cheaper cars. And elimination of concern of battery warranty.
Besides, Tesla now spends about $250K to build a supercharger. A robotically-operated battery-swapping station would probably cost 10x as much both in initial capital and in maintenance costs.
[0] https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/ample-ev-startup-swappabl...
[1] Although it might be the perfect solution for some drivers. Uber drivers maybe, who Tesla doesn't allow to use superchargers and who need to recharge as quickly as possible.
My opinion is that the industry has gone in the wrong direction with batteries. Cars should use swappable rechargeable batteries swapped by robots at the charging station. Faster pit stops and simpler batteries (no need for water-cooled, etc) and cheaper cars. And elimination of concern of battery warranty.
Guessing you're a non-EV owner. I've owned a Tesla for the last 6 months. Here's my experience: * It charges at home, begining the charge at 12:30AM just after the rates drop. It charges to ~240 miles of range. * For the 4 days I've wanted to go futher, charged upto 100% and that solved my problem 2 of the 4. * Other 2 days, I stopped at a charger along my way on a road trip. there was a place to grab food and take a…
Here is a great no frills review of the ID.4 https://youtu.be/3oC9sUiwyL8 The TL;DR is even if its electric its not a serious competitor to tesla. The UI is terrible as the drive is unable to find a charger while navigating to their destination. Electric car charging stations are going to look completely different the gas stations as they costs a few thousand dollars to install rather than a cool million for a gas st…
UBS estimated USD250,000 per station in 2017 (unclear how many actual chargers per station).
Slow chargers aren't remotely comparable to gas stations.
(Of course, I understand that, for people who can charge at home, the picture is very different - we own two EVs and no ICE cars and are lucky enough to have charging in our garage.)
I'm puzzled why EVs are so expensive when they have simpler design and parts. Is it because of the battery? Also, isn't EMF radiation an issue for you?