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Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV

gizmodo.com

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Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV

#61

Post by apparent »

dsr_ wrote: post #47
floxy wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you own more than vehicle. Plenty of families own multiple vehicles, and they don't all need to have tons of range.

At $8500, I could justify having a 77 mile range electric car with a top speed of 30ish mph. That would take care of every in-town trip, but I couldn't do a full commute to work with it because the most sensible way of doing that involves a highway. If it could manage 50mph for 15 minutes, it could go on the highway and I could recharge at or near the office. The cheapest EV currently available in the US is the Chevy…

> The cheapest EV currently available in the US is the Chevy Bolt, at $29000, about three times the price.

You can also get used EVs/PHEVs. We got a PHEV with 20 miles of EV range for $14k, and you can get used Leafs for under $10k.

Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV

#62

Post by loloquwowndueo »

petcat wrote: post #59
loloquwowndueo wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Luckily it was not designed to be used in the US.

Well I'll be surprised if it's ever actually used anywhere.

Dunno man, once you’ve seen a family of four plus cargo riding a moped you’ll realize people will use anything that gets them where they need to go.

Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV

#63

Post by conk »

triceratops wrote: post #56
cucumber3732842 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>This is one of those "the internet is a fad, it'll never catch on" moments. EV's are here to stay. Not saying you're one of them (there are other people here who fit the bill much better) but like with anything else the people on the internet peddling grand narratives lacking of nuance are delusional fanboys, malevolent liars or some combination of the two. EVs are absolutely going to win certain market segments and…

> there will likely be a whole bunch of heavier use cases where [EVs] just can't pencil out Do the big Detroit automakers also build a lot of semis, garbage trucks, snow plows, and fire engines? I can see those types of vehicles being ICE holdouts. But certainly not anything you can drive with a regular driver license.

I’d argue that garbage trucks, snow plows and fire engines are candidates for EVs. They are large and heavy with plenty of space for batteries. Typically used in predefined routes, traveling less than 100 miles per day.

I would gladly vote for a bond to fund electric trash trucks if that resulted in quieter weekly trash service.

Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV

#64

Post by FlyingSnake »

gwbas1c wrote: post #3

> It remains to be seen whether the Olinia One will face similar pushback from the U.S. once it goes on sale. > can travel up to 125 kilometers (77 miles) on a single charge The US market generally rejects small-range EVs, except in very niche markets. In order to succeed in the US, it will need roughly 3-4x the range. In order for this to succeed in Mexico, their market will need different driving habits than the ty…

> can travel up to 125 kilometers (77 miles) on a single charge

This would be a big hit in European cities. I own VW e-Up! and it's a perfect EU city car. With it's 375KM range, I rarely charge it more than once a month.

Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV

#65

Post by stvltvs »

lentil_soup wrote: post #35

I think people are misunderstanding. This is a car for Mexico, nothing to do with the US. On the website it says it's a car "designed in Mexico for Mexico" https://www.olinia.auto/

It's funny how we Americans jump to judging this vehicle by our own needs.

Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV

#66

Post by GenerWork »

hmm37 wrote: post #55
bruce511 wrote: post #15

The Ford CEO is not wrong. Allowing foreign imports into the country at prices far below what US producers are able to make will decimate the local car industry in the US. There are 4 possible solutions to this problem; a) convince Americans that it's worth paying more for a locally built product. This is the simplest approach, but there's only so much margin here that the consumer will tolerate. At the moment this g…

The tariff route is what happened in the 1970s under the "chicken tax", which still exists today to protect the US light truck industry, and is pretty much the reason why SUVs reign supreme in the US market. SUVs are classified as "light trucks", which has caused a Galapagozation of the US car industry/market.

I see this take on SUVs all the time, and I can't help but think it's wrong. Americans just like bigger vehicles and will downsize if gas gets too expensive. There's a reason almost all electric car companies start off with a CUV/SUV/truck, and it's not because they're allergic to sedans or coupes.

Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV

#67

Post by 01100011 »

bruce511 wrote: post #15

The Ford CEO is not wrong. Allowing foreign imports into the country at prices far below what US producers are able to make will decimate the local car industry in the US. There are 4 possible solutions to this problem; a) convince Americans that it's worth paying more for a locally built product. This is the simplest approach, but there's only so much margin here that the consumer will tolerate. At the moment this g…

Why is decimating our local car industry a problem? Why not build something else with the resources if cars are now a cheap commodity?

Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV

#68

Post by Symbiote »

conk wrote: post #63
triceratops wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there will likely be a whole bunch of heavier use cases where [EVs] just can't pencil out Do the big Detroit automakers also build a lot of semis, garbage trucks, snow plows, and fire engines? I can see those types of vehicles being ICE holdouts. But certainly not anything you can drive with a regular driver license.

I’d argue that garbage trucks, snow plows and fire engines are candidates for EVs. They are large and heavy with plenty of space for batteries. Typically used in predefined routes, traveling less than 100 miles per day. I would gladly vote for a bond to fund electric trash trucks if that resulted in quieter weekly trash service.

More than half of the garbage trucks I see in Copenhagen are EVs. The first was introduced in 2022.

https://www.volvotrucks.com/en-en/news-stories/stories/2025/...

I haven't seen a fire truck EV, but those exist in other cities.

Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV

#69

Post by bruce511 »

cucumber3732842 wrote: post #54
jshier wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like many things, it seems like a combination of all of those would work better than any single one, depending on the actual goal. If the goal is to help drive EV adoption, tariffs that raise foreign prices to the desired price point, rather than simply being more expensive, would provide competition to the America companies, perhaps driving improvements. Subsidies would help with labor and ensure the company keeps d…

Part of the point of historical import taxes/tariffs was to get them to build it here, invest in facilities, train the local workforce, etc.

But is "it" in this context EV's or just protecting ICE production? That's the real heart of the issue.

Building EVs would seem to be a logical goal. But is that what the policies are promoting?

Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV

#70

Post by scythe »

bruce511 wrote: post #15

The Ford CEO is not wrong. Allowing foreign imports into the country at prices far below what US producers are able to make will decimate the local car industry in the US. There are 4 possible solutions to this problem; a) convince Americans that it's worth paying more for a locally built product. This is the simplest approach, but there's only so much margin here that the consumer will tolerate. At the moment this g…

None of these strategies seem to address the other technological issue hiding beneath the surface, which is that EVs are fundamentally simpler (electric vs combustion motor) and hence should be cheaper than ICE cars when manufacturing pipelines are mature. This would result in lower profits across the car industry even in the absence of international competition. No US manufacturer so far has actually tried to build EVs cheaper than gas cars at scale (Tesla made a little noise and then got distracted), while Chinese manufacturers have no need to worry about cannibalizing the comparatively small domestic ICE market.

Letting the industry guide policymaking seems like it could lead to regulatory capture preventing EVs from reaching the (low!) price points that they should reach. Already the two-track emissions standards and chicken tax make cars too big and the "arms race" of having a bigger car than everyone else to stay safe (at the expense of others) prevents meaningful reform.

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