101–110 of 555 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Aren't max speeds limited all the time on vehicles, with state mandated governors? I know some countries require them on all automobiles. Even the US requires them on ebikes.
It's not a legal requirement but most cars AFAIU are electronically limited to about 115 mph
I don't think this is legislated anywhere (legal limit is 70mph anyway...) - some have higher limits for example.
The best EV is an electric bus with trolley lines or a tram. I hate that I have to own a monstrous depreciating asset to have reliable transportation. If you think people are buying this to drive on a track you are naive. They are paying $60/month to make their already unsafe overweight vehicle even more unsafe. I hope they go bankrupt.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is there a smog exam in California for electric cars? Honest question, as it wouldn't surprise me if there was due to complicated legislation.
As of now, no. But I wouldn't be surprised because the smog exam doubles as a road safety check, and as more EVs are on the road that are getting old, they're gonna want a way to verify road safety. Probably a state battery exam or something.
I want to see this legislated out of existence. To be clear, because every time this comes up some dickfucks come in here and start making excuses about how it's better to rent in some cases and that this is just amortizing the whole payment, and there are some people who want this: No. This is a fucking terrible deal even just using mercedes numbers. It takes a whopping 30 months (2.5 years) for the monthly payment…
That's not rent seeking. Rent seeking is when an entity has control of something that can't be traded in a liquid/efficient way (this part is important!) and tries to leverage this uncompetetive situation into revenue that isn't subject to market forces.
Cars are pretty liquid. Subscription products are very liquid. If people don't want this they won't buy it. If they don't want cars with this subscription model they'll buy a Tesla[1] or VW. That's exactly the opposite of rent seeking.
That's not saying it's good (or bad) for consumers. But it's not rent seeking.
[1] Tesla also sells over-the-air performance upgrades, but it's a fixed price and goes with the vehicle after purchase. They do have subscription fees for data access features, and for FSD though.
I've had this (cough) "opportunity" in my Tesla for as long as I can remember. (Dual-motor Model 3, it's well-known that it's mostly software differences to make it the performance version.) Guess what: My Tesla is fast enough. I don't feel any need to pay more money to make it go faster. (I'm not going to whine about rent-seeking or how I own it and I should be able to do what I want with it. Instead, I'm going to p…
Or to join forces in a cartel.
This was the reasoning behind the Phoebus Cartel[0], although in the business of incandescent lamps not car manufacturing. Osram, Philips, Tungsram, Associated Electrical Industries, ELIN, Compagnie des Lampes, International General Electric, and the GE Overseas Group were part of this organization to reduce the longevity of lamps to increase sales. It is a fascinating story :(
It won’t be my interest in saving the planet that stops me from buying cars, it’ll be bullshit like this. I want to own my car. I don’t want it to be connected (beyond acting as a hotspot) to the internet or to some central service. Have we not learned anything?
Really? No remote access, security notifications, navigation facilities? No watching TV while charging? No OTA updates that obviate the need to take it to the dealership for routine fixes? No open source location analytic API?
I mean, I'm sure there's some bad stuff that happens too. But this is very much throwing out the baby with the bathwater. I won't tell you what you, personally, want in a vehicle. But the market as a whole absolutely wants their cars on the internet.
I want to see this legislated out of existence. To be clear, because every time this comes up some dickfucks come in here and start making excuses about how it's better to rent in some cases and that this is just amortizing the whole payment, and there are some people who want this: No. This is a fucking terrible deal even just using mercedes numbers. It takes a whopping 30 months (2.5 years) for the monthly payment…
The intel chip example has already been mentioned in comments. The general idea of "Damaged Goods" (and how this can benefit consumers) appears here (at Preston McAfee's site).
The old "Download more RAM" meme is feeling less funny and more prophetic these days
RAM Doubler or something like that was an actual working thing back in the days, that worked by (IIRC) transparently zipping/unzipped data on its way to/from memory. But yes, I agree.
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20211111-00/?p=10...