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Honda is killing its EVs

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Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#651

Post by Vespasian »

mjcarden wrote: post #221
parl_match wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm convinced that the Japanese government is terrified of EVs because all the small and medium-sized businesses which support the Japanese auto industry will be absolutely gutted when vehicles contain drastically fewer parts. For what it's worth, this theory is blown up by hydrogen based vehicles, which Japan has gone heavily in on. Yes, slightly more parts than an EV, but not a ton. And the drivetrain is electric…

Is there a place somewhere in the world where Hydrogen powered passenger vehicles are a success? I know that the one Hydrogen filling station here in Australia's Capital City has shut down after opening with great fanfare a few years ago. And the approximately 20 or so Hydrogen cars it supplied are no longer being used.

I just looked it up for Germany[0] and there were a whopping 3 (0.0%) new hydrogen fuel cell cars registered in Februrary 2026. Even LPG cars were more with 397 registered.

For comparison 21.9% were BEVs, 11.5% Plugin hybrids, ~51% pure petrol or non plug-in hybrid, and 14.8% Diesel.

[0] https://www.kba.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/Fahrzeugzula...

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#652

Post by pharrington »

small_model wrote: post #317
thelastgallon wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spot on, except for the part about Tesla. Tesla shut down production of Model S & X. Coming up next: 3 and Y. Also, Tesla has YOY decreasing revenue and sales. Pretty soon, they will go pre-revenue and embrace what they are: A NFT traded on the stock market for bragging rights.

I'll just leave his here, "Tesla achieved a record-breaking third quarter in 2025 (Q3 2025), delivering 497,099 vehicles". It's expected that to be exceeded most quarters going forward

Fat chance Elon!

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#653

Post by dzhiurgis »

carefree-bob wrote: post #649
neya wrote: post #453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people including the author think more software = premium/better. But as software engineers, we know better. That's not the case at all. More software = more control by everyone else except you. Manufacturers. Governments. For this reason, I always avoid cars with big flashy LCD screens that are central to controlling the cars accessories like sunroof, AC and other electricals. The other issue is support. So man…

There is also the issue of longevity. Most people don't expect 20 year old laptops to keep working, but they expect 20 year old cars to keep working. The software defined vehicle is a disposable vehicle, and that means it better be cheap or someone is taking a depreciation bath.

Cars with 20yo computers do work tho.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#654

Post by 28304283409234 »

TrackerFF wrote: post #85

I live in a top EV market, Norway. ICE cars have been planned out for years now, and something like 96% of all new cars in Norway were EV last year. Basically, if you plan on keeping selling ICE cars, you're removing yourself from the market here. There's no future for new personal ICE cars here. I figure most other countries will be the same.

You live in the HackerNews of the real world. Not at all representative for the rest of the world. ;-)

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#655

Post by carefree-bob »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #653
carefree-bob wrote: post #649

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is also the issue of longevity. Most people don't expect 20 year old laptops to keep working, but they expect 20 year old cars to keep working. The software defined vehicle is a disposable vehicle, and that means it better be cheap or someone is taking a depreciation bath.

Cars with 20yo computers do work tho.

The older modules were more durable, but even those start to fail after that much use. In the past, you could go to a junkyard and pull a new module, but now everything is vin-locked to the car, so you need to buy a new module from the manufacturer, but oops, they are no longer selling them. Now what do you do? It's a real problem.

Some shops try to reverse engineer the modules and create clones, and that works a little bit, but it's a real problem. But that was for modules made in the early 2000s.

Now fast forward to today where the electronics is completely different and much less durable. You have basically PC motherboards being inserted into cars. I think people have not yet understood the implications of this in terms of their car's durability.

I've been talking to a guy with a 2007 Volvo and the upper electronics module failed -- it's in the rear-view mirror. Now, you can still drive that car, but he pulled one from a junkyard and tried to replace his -- now the CEM wont recognize the module. OK, with Volvo, you can crack the CEM pin and get it to accept the new module since the reverse engineering community has managed to figure that out.

But with modern cars? With the "software defined vehicle"? You are S.O.L.

When a mechanical part fails, you can fabricate a new part, and aftermarket vendors come and make replacement parts. But with software? The vendor isn't releasing the code. You can't make a replacement.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#656

Post by jonasdegendt »

patmorgan23 wrote: post #348
blargey wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Norway switching from ICEs to EVs objectively reduces global oil consumption+burning by exactly that much. Norway exporting oil increases oil supply, but doesn't increase consumption. The world's oil consumers are not supply-constrained; the producers are not running at 100% capacity, and they'll happily pick up the slack if Norway just stopped exporting oil for no reason. And there's a large amount of consumption th…

Increases in supply also increase consumption, we use lots of cheap stuff, but not very much of expensive stuff.

This would be true but you're not accounting for OPEC and other groups (e.g. historically the Texas Railroad Commission in the United States, not sure how relevant they still are) to balance production and price per barrel to what they think is agreeable.

Oil hasn't been supply constrained since the 50's, it's price is largely based on what producing countries agree on, as well as geopolitics.

Additionally, governments levy a decent amount of taxes on certain end products such as gasoline. They might very well, as they have in the past, decide to simply up their tax revenue as prices of crude and derivatives go down.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#657

Post by 28304283409234 »

Honda did not invent ICE cars. They do not need to invent EVs. I reckon they will wait until the dust settles and then leapfrog all the rest. As they have done so in the past.

Of course, I drive a Honda that I will be buried in. So I may be biased.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#658

Post by IrishTechie »

WalterBright wrote: post #594
neya wrote: post #453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people including the author think more software = premium/better. But as software engineers, we know better. That's not the case at all. More software = more control by everyone else except you. Manufacturers. Governments. For this reason, I always avoid cars with big flashy LCD screens that are central to controlling the cars accessories like sunroof, AC and other electricals. The other issue is support. So man…

I was told by a car dealer service guy that if the touch screen went on the blink, the car would be totaled. (Since replacing it cost more than the car was worth.) I've often thought the touch screen should be replaced by a socket that accepts an iPad, and put the auto custom software on that. Why reinvent the hardware?

€1500 or so for Tesla to replace the screen, cheaper in many other cars.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#659

Post by blkhawk »

orthecreedence wrote: post #644
abhinavk wrote: post #631

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which are a lot more efficient than an ICE.

Is burning the coal, delivering the electricity, and storing it in a battery that's then converted to mechanical motion more efficient than an ICE? What are the losses in delivery and storage?

there are yes, but it is still more efficient than an ICE engine. Not going to enumerate that here because that was a discussion to be had in 2010 and I am bloody tired of it.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#660

Post by Mashimo »

sigmoid10 wrote: post #51
GianFabien wrote: post #30

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 an…

Consumers have very little power in this space. Have you tried buying a non-premium car with physical buttons instead of touchscreens in recent years? There used to be hardly any option because carmakers all somehow decided this was the way forward, even though science clearly said it was making cars less safe. So if you needed a car and didn't have a ton of money, you could merely accept it. Only now that safety rat…

> Have you tried buying a non-premium car with physical buttons instead of touchscreens in recent years?

They are coming back! Next VW ID generation will have them again :)

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