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Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

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Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#441

Post by prepend »

mcot2 wrote: post #425
nine_k wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But frankly, it's a light truck . It's contractor's vehicle, or farmer's, but it's hardly a commuter car. It may be reasonable for countryside, like a boat may be reasonable for seaside. Nevertheless, just googled it: --- People also ask: How much does a 2020 F-150 cost? From $28,745 2020 Ford F-150 / MSRP ---

lol if you think trucks are primarily driven by contractors or farmers. You should visit the south, trucks are most definitely used as commuter cars.

They are, but the reason they are mostly sold is contractors and farmers. And work fleets, etc etc

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#442

Post by bobthepanda »

xbmcuser wrote: post #432
kleiba wrote: post #385

Earlier quoted context omitted.

range, availability, or charging which are solved enough But are they really? Especially for charging, I'm still not convinced. The articles makes a case that you can go and grab a coffee while your ID.4 charges in 30 minutes at a high-speed charging stations. Sorry, but "30 minutes" and "high-speed" in one sentence seems somewhat misplaced. Who can afford to just waste 30 minutes for charging on a regular basis? I c…

Apart from at night the other long period a car is not used is when people are at work. I hope governments give tax incentives for companies to install chargers in their parking lots as this is also the time where solar power is abundant so the electricity used for transport would be cleaner compared to night charging in most cities and countries.

Most big garages, unless built recently, probably don't have the power required to make a substantial amount of spots with chargers, and parking garages are generally so optimized it's hard to run more.

I know that at my work, which is in a fairly modern office building meeting all the latest hotness in LEED and whatever, there are basically just a handful of spots with electric and there is so much demand for those spots that you're not allowed to park there for more than two hours at a time.

---

Parking has the double whammy of being entirely an expense, and possibly being outmoded. If you buy the electric autonomous fantasy of people no longer owning cars and relying on Uber-like shared fleets, that basically makes the vast majority of parking spaces obsolete, and so developers understandably are trying to make their parking lots easy to tear down and redevelop. (You can't really reuse the sloped floor plates of a parking garage for much else since all other building uses tend to need flat ground, and in any case the runoff from parked vehicles is quite nasty stuff.

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#443

Post by URSpider94 »

holoduke wrote: post #285
foepys wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People buying cars for $20,000 are generally not people who can invest twice upfront for lower maintenance costs over the next ten years. Being poor (relatively speaking) is expensive, especially when you are financing.

I an in a fortunate position to earn much more than a average salary. Yet our family car is a 2005 10k infinity fx35. Car is reliable and modern enough. A perfect fit for my family of 4. I considered buying a 80k Tesla model X, but went for a 15 year old Ferrari f430 (same price). Still have the practically and a lot of extra fun. I never understood why people would buy a car younger than 15 years old.

The difference in safety between a 15 year old car and a new car is breathtaking.

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#444

Post by ihsw »

flurdy wrote: post #157
rsync wrote: post #142

Is it their electric car or is it their car, electric ? I don't want your electric car. I don't want your e-initiative i-mobile green-tech tron-car. I want one of your actual cars, just electric . I don't want an ID.4 - I just want a Passat. I don't want the polestar e-initiative i-concept - I just want a V90 wagon. I don't want a future space truck, I just want a Silverado - but electric. God. Dammit.

I see what you mean, but that is not always going to be a good idea as electric cars is more than a change of motor. Much more aerodynamic, lighter, different frames for lower centre of gravity, different controls, dashboards, etc. (I am not a car designer). So a car designed from scratch will complete these much better than a simple conversion.

The issue is psychological -- the Toyota Prius is perceived to be underwhelming compared to the Toyota Camry.

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#445

Post by Sleepytime »

mcot2 wrote: post #425
nine_k wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But frankly, it's a light truck . It's contractor's vehicle, or farmer's, but it's hardly a commuter car. It may be reasonable for countryside, like a boat may be reasonable for seaside. Nevertheless, just googled it: --- People also ask: How much does a 2020 F-150 cost? From $28,745 2020 Ford F-150 / MSRP ---

lol if you think trucks are primarily driven by contractors or farmers. You should visit the south, trucks are most definitely used as commuter cars.

Trucks as commuter vehicles in the south generally still get used as trucks. You're more likely to see trucks with perfect paint out west.

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#446

Post by extrapickles »

intrasight wrote: post #426
extrapickles wrote: post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of the problem is accounting. Since the value of a battery pack is highly variable depending on its remaining life, the only way it would work is if you subscribed/leased the battery so it didn't matter what the delta in value of the packs are. Without that, you have to return to the exact same swapping station and pickup your original battery.

You missed the key point of swapping batteries. You don't own the battery nor did you pay ($16K) for the battery. So there is no "original battery". I assume that in ten years we will have "standard units of power" - the equivalent of a large "D" cell battery.

That is an option I kind of outlined as leasing/subscribing to the battery back are the easiest mechanisms to do this.

If the car owner only charged via swapping you could do a system where the cost of the pack was part of the electricity cost (eg: like a propane/co2 tank swap). The downside to this specific one is that you would have to either prevent charging or charge a fee if they did not swap in a specific time period as the battery is a significant capital expense.

Swapping is getting more unlikely as car makers are switching over to structural battery packs which makes swapping the pack non-trivial.

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#447

Post by kfarr »

stefan_ wrote: post #354
mullingitover wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're from California or New York, I'm sure $40K starting for this or a Model Y seems complexly within your means Not for regular working class people, far from it. A car that costs more than your gross annual wages isn't anywhere close to being within your means. Los Angeles median income in 2019: 28,072 USD NYC: 32,320 USD Nearly half of Los Angeles residents pay more than 50% of their income on rent[1]. In N…

That's true, but then Americans also famously pay much more than they can afford on car loans for cars that they don't need.

Exactly. All this hullabaloo about the f150 being too expensive for the average american is ignoring the fact that the average american is in debt up to their eyeballs.

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#448

Post by martinald »

closeparen wrote: post #431
martinald wrote: post #399

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't really true. My experience in Europe is that cities over 500k population generally have decent public transit systems that you can use all the time. Below 100k population they are likely terrible, infrequent and not enough routes (there are exceptions, but it is rare). In between 100k and 500k it's a coin flip whether they are good or bad. Regardless it is definitely not the case that people drive less in…

Does the European everyman get a 2400sqft detached house on a quarter acre? Whether American urban design is "inefficient" depends on the value you place on mass-affordable spacious housing. I personally think this is a dumb thing to optimize for, but a lot of people are really attached to it. I think they'd look at a European transit-centric home as ideal for a group of college friends, but balk at the idea of raisi…

Again, I'm not talking about transit oriented. Most Europeans live in suburbs with poor transit and drive.

The difference is European suburbs tend to be much more densely populated so commutes are less in distance.

Instead of 2400sq ft houses, you're probably looking at 1500sqft with some garden space but far less than a US one. Tbh they are totally fine for raising a family.

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#450

Post by Ma8ee »

RamRodification wrote: post #213
Koshkin wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, California is one of the very few places on Earth where you can do that.

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.

I’ve bicycled as my main mode of transportation for thirty years, all year round, in Stockholm and in Umeå. They sell excellent studded tires for bicycles.

I’m not saying it’s possible for everyone. I would probably not do it if my commute was longer than 20 km one way. But many more people can define do it for the benefit of their health and the environment.

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