Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 43 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars?

#31

Post by Kirby64 »

The real answer: the actual cost to manufacturer vs the value perceived by consumers is skewed.

Would you pay $1000 less for a Tesla that is otherwise equal, but has a crummy old school infotainment screen? Even if you would, I guarantee 99.9% of people wouldn't.

By giving you fancy infotainment features, most consumers perceive the value as much higher than the marginal cost to the OEM, so they're more likely to buy it vs some barebones device that just has a battery, motor, and basic radio.

Re: Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars?

#32

Post by moqmar »

jqpabc123 wrote: post #22
squarefoot wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am old school and I prefer the analog style; however, it is fairly easy to simulate analog instrumentation on a digital display and some manufacturers are doing it very well. I'm old school as well and although I love the feel of a real indicator, screens can be effectively used as really good output devices if well designed, but touch screens? Just no: they're fragile, slow, and don't give any feedback; if I had…

Almost all cars that I have seen still have analog controls for driving *inputs*. Digital/touch screen is mainly limited to entertainment, phone, setup, and GPS/mapping. A lot of touch screen functions are often intentionally made inactive while the vehicle is moving.

It depends, many cars put things like windshield wipers behind a touch menu, which I'd argue is a security-relevant feature when you drive your car into sudden heavy rain at 120 km/h. It seems to depend more on what's regulated, and less on what makes sense.

Re: Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars?

#33

Post by jqpabc123 »

moqmar wrote: post #32
jqpabc123 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost all cars that I have seen still have analog controls for driving *inputs*. Digital/touch screen is mainly limited to entertainment, phone, setup, and GPS/mapping. A lot of touch screen functions are often intentionally made inactive while the vehicle is moving.

It depends, many cars put things like windshield wipers behind a touch menu, which I'd argue is a security-relevant feature when you drive your car into sudden heavy rain at 120 km/h. It seems to depend more on what's regulated, and less on what makes sense.

windshield wipers behind a touch menu

Are you sure you didn't mean a *safety* relevant feature?

Sometimes I have to wonder if some of the designers actually drive. If they did, I would think some of the worst mistakes would be blatantly obvious.

When in doubt, see Hyundai/Kia. They ain't fancy. For the most part, they just seem to take a consistent, practical, subdued, utilitarian approach that gets the job done on an everyday basis.

Re: Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars?

#34

Post by gumby »

This problem goes way back. I bought a sport car back in the 80s and got the fancy package. Unfortunately that came with leather seats and I wanted cloth (leather is hot and sweaty in summer). Had to make a special order because "who wouldn't want the more expensive leather seats?"

Re: Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars?

#35

Post by speedgoose »

I go through this list of cars on the Norwegian market and here are the brands selling low tech electric cars in the order of appearance:

Maxus, Toyota, Subaru, MG, Kia, Peugeot, Hyundai, Opel, Citroën, Fiat, Mazda, Seat, Nissan, Renault, Volkswagen.

https://elbil.no/elbiler/

Re: Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars?

#37

Post by EspressoGPT »

schwartzworld wrote: post #30
EspressoGPT wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I would imagine the venn diagram in the us of people with electric cars but no smartphone is pretty small. So you do need proper route planning, charging point information and range prediction anyway. What would be the benefit of completely outsourcing this to a smartphone? Is having one additional device really going to make things easier and less brittle? Why shouldn't this be done by the car if it can be done by…

> What would be the benefit of completely outsourcing this to a smartphone? I already have a smartphone, which I chose and replace when it stops getting security updates. Additionally I already essentially use my smartphone to find gas stations in unfamiliar areas. Why does the source of power necessitate IOT? > You need the app on the smartphone. That's your remote starter. I worked for a company that made an ebike…

> I shouldn't need a phone to start my car.

And neither should you need one for finding a charging point.

Re: Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars?

#38

Post by panxyh »

Kirby64 wrote: post #31

The real answer: the actual cost to manufacturer vs the value perceived by consumers is skewed. Would you pay $1000 less for a Tesla that is otherwise equal, but has a crummy old school infotainment screen? Even if you would, I guarantee 99.9% of people wouldn't. By giving you fancy infotainment features, most consumers perceive the value as much higher than the marginal cost to the OEM, so they're more likely to buy…

I’d pay $2000 more.

Re: Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars?

#39

Post by mwint »

matthewmcg wrote: post #28
mwint wrote: post #18

I have a 2014 Nissan Leaf S (the lowest trim). It’s refreshingly simple, it has a screen but it’s only for the radio and it’s not a touch screen. Tactile controls for everything. It has an 80 mile range, which is fine for everything around the region, and my family has a gas car anyway. The 80 mile range keeps the prices pretty low, too. Highly recommended for a nearly free-to-use EV without the techno stuff. (We als…

I got an SL and regret that I can't now replace the fancier touchscreen with an aftermarket unit. I'd get CarPlay, but I'd lose the 360 camera view and EV-specific features (charge timer, range estimates, etc.)

Charge timer is the only thing other than the backup camera that is materially improved by the larger touch screen. The charge timer is moved to the little dashboard LCD in the S model, and it’s a bit janky.
Post reply on HN