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

Honda is killing its EVs

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 919 posts

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#21

Post by epolanski »

I hate those narratives that if you don't jump on EVs, your future is doomed.

The last 5 years just don't show it. The EV market is still small and infrastructure missing in most of the world.

Toyota played it safe and made bank when everybody was saying they were doomed.

German automakers went hard on EVs. VW group sold 1 million fully electric vehicles in 2025, they will probably overtake Tesla in a couple of years for the biggest non-Chinese EV automaker by sales, but is it paying off financially?

At the same time german premium brands have a very hard time differentiating when Chinese cars offer similar quality at half the price even after tariffs.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#22

Post by seanmcdirmid »

epolanski wrote: post #21

I hate those narratives that if you don't jump on EVs, your future is doomed. The last 5 years just don't show it. The EV market is still small and infrastructure missing in most of the world. Toyota played it safe and made bank when everybody was saying they were doomed. German automakers went hard on EVs. VW group sold 1 million fully electric vehicles in 2025, they will probably overtake Tesla in a couple of years…

Is your point that the western car companies are doomed no matter how aggressively they jump into EVs now, and that Chinese EV producers have too much of a lead for them to recover, or that they have time to catch up later and can take it slow for now?

China is already selling EVs to countries that haven’t even had many cars before, like Nepal. Is 75% of the world car market just going to be there’s because western auto manufacturers overfixated on their own very mature car markets?

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#23

Post by twelve40 »

johanvts wrote: post #15
nytesky wrote: post #6

Honda is an engine company at its heart. It makes very reliable, long lived engines. They refine technology not really invent it (maybe invented VTEC). The transition to EV will be very gradual, I don’t even think we have enough rare earth metals and electrical grid capacity to go even twice as fast in adoption? Honda is waiting for the standards and technology to settle out and become commodity technology, then they…

Once EVs are economically attractive the transition can be very fast. I live in Denmark so I have seen it, it took 7 years to go from ~5% to 90+% of new cars sold. Both EU and US are now relying on trade barriers to keep Chinese EVs away from consumers.

well China debate aside, where are they? i've been dabbling in electrics for over a decade now, on the lower range they are still 30% more expensive than gas cars. Surely someone, anyone outside of China could have done one cheaper by now? Leaf came out 16 years ago and they still can't get it under $30k?

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#24

Post by mindslight »

badpun wrote: post #14
ta9000 wrote: post #5

Ironically, Trump attacking Iran and closing the Strait is a boon to China and EV makers. Once the car is produced, aside from lubricants, it’s completely independent of oil. Heck you can put panels on your rooftop and slow charge it during the day.

Car tires are made with synthetic rubber, which is made from oil.

With where the Trumpists want to take us, tires made out of carved stone will suffice. Non-EVs will be retrofitted with a hole in the floor for your feet.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#25

Post by thebruce87m »

jerlam wrote: post #9

Do people really want "software defined vehicles"? People keep repeating how Tesla keeps upgrading their software, but I don't really want my car to change every time I step into it. The person I know who loves FSD has soured on updates since the last one changed how the car handles simple things like intersections, and it's added a lot more stress. Cars should be appliances, boring and reliable, not something to ama…

All the updates (so far…) have added features that I actually like. Things like Apple Music integration and even safety things like cross-traffic alerts when reversing.

Even today my wife left her phone on the charge pad and the car beeped as we walked away to alert us - a feature that didn’t exist when we first got it.

Enshittification may come, but maybe there will be an Apple-like benevolent dictator that keeps it mostly clean.

Edit: I should say that I will never trust any “self-driving” at all based on cameras alone. It can’t even do Autopilot without me intervening on most trips.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#26

Post by johanvts »

twelve40 wrote: post #23
johanvts wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once EVs are economically attractive the transition can be very fast. I live in Denmark so I have seen it, it took 7 years to go from ~5% to 90+% of new cars sold. Both EU and US are now relying on trade barriers to keep Chinese EVs away from consumers.

well China debate aside, where are they? i've been dabbling in electrics for over a decade now, on the lower range they are still 30% more expensive than gas cars. Surely someone, anyone outside of China could have done one cheaper by now? Leaf came out 16 years ago and they still can't get it under $30k?

I assume you are coming from a US perspective, because smaller economical EVs are available in europe and dominate in asia. America car companies have managed to make a 50k+ truck the average new car purchase. They aren’t going to kill that golden calf voluntarily. Instead they have managed to lock out the competition. Why Musk elected to build another truck instead of the promised model 2 is beyond me. Besides, with EVs you really have to consider total cost, they are still slightly more expensive to buy in the EU as well, but you quickly make it back on fuel.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#27

Post by gorgeWashington »

vrinsd wrote: post #16
jerlam wrote: post #9

Do people really want "software defined vehicles"? People keep repeating how Tesla keeps upgrading their software, but I don't really want my car to change every time I step into it. The person I know who loves FSD has soured on updates since the last one changed how the car handles simple things like intersections, and it's added a lot more stress. Cars should be appliances, boring and reliable, not something to ama…

1000% agree. Sadly, this view is considered antiquated and anti-technology by a younger generation of people who think what we see in sci-fi shows should be reality (good or bad). And if you don't get that vision then you're some dumb luddite who should be banished from society. What's kind of remarkable is the onslaught of vehicles, many EV, which have critical functionality issues that are being ignored, but they h…

[dead]

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#28

Post by Spivak »

spicybbq wrote: post #17
jerlam wrote: post #9

Do people really want "software defined vehicles"? People keep repeating how Tesla keeps upgrading their software, but I don't really want my car to change every time I step into it. The person I know who loves FSD has soured on updates since the last one changed how the car handles simple things like intersections, and it's added a lot more stress. Cars should be appliances, boring and reliable, not something to ama…

> Do people really want "software defined vehicles"? Absolutely, the sooner the better. The truth is, auto companies can track you, show you ads, and otherwise jerk you around without going all the way to having a "software defined vehicle." You just get a worse user experience.

If it doesn't have a screen or a network connection it can't do either of those things. I'm very eagerly awaiting the Slate truck for exactly this reason. A cheap barebones EV meant for hauling stuff and people locally.

The thing can't even do OTA updates without you connecting your phone to the car's bluetooth.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#29

Post by ikr678 »

ta9000 wrote: post #5

Ironically, Trump attacking Iran and closing the Strait is a boon to China and EV makers. Once the car is produced, aside from lubricants, it’s completely independent of oil. Heck you can put panels on your rooftop and slow charge it during the day.

The suuply chain for repair parts is still supported by oil (freight, packaging, any plastics).

Better hope your vehicle is never damaged.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#30

Post by GianFabien »

Smart doorbells and thermostats that upgraded in the night often became a nuisance or an expensive brick. But a faulty software upgrade on a car can kill you and others.

Car company execs need to take a chill pill followed by a reality serum. Monetizing subscription based basic features and delivering in-car advertising is the absolutely worst way to go.

As consumers we need to stop buying into the bells, whistles and trinkets and demand essential and safe transportation.

Post reply on HN