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

Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

abc7.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

541–550 of 650 posts

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#541

Post by rswail »

martyvis wrote: post #207
plorkyeran wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see power cables running out to a car parked in front of a house fairly regularly.

In inner Sydney suburbs with terrace houses, the 2sigma distance to your street parked car might be 100 metres. You can't run an extension cord that far

The government/local councils seem to be able to work out how to power the parking meters. There's no reason why each parking spot couldn't have a charging pole installed with smartcard or NFC via mobile app registration and payment.

There are plenty of solutions, what's needed is the will of government to deploy those solutions.

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#542

Post by NathanielK »

Hamuko wrote: post #216
RamRodification wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are being a bit overly negative but you do have a point. Where I live (northern Europe) I could never get by with any kind of "open" vehicle (i need a roof and heating) and snow tyres.

You can get snow tyres fitted on a bicycle (I had some as a youth) but bicycles are still quite horrible in the winter. I remember biking home from school during the winter when it was snowing heavily. The sidewalks were completely snowed in with heavy snow so the bike just really went where it wanted to go and very slowly. I eventually decided to move over to the road but I was soon tailgated by a bus. Since the bus…

I've found similar. Clearing all paths is not always a priority. In the winter it is was necessary for me to find alternate routes for my bicycle commute.

Single lane roads with no shoulder can be very dangerous in the winter. Fortunately where I am in Canada, there's adequate space for cars to pass on the roads I take.

> bicycles are still quite horrible in the winter. I find the opposite. The activity itself is fine, but the winter is quite horrible on bicycles. Salt and slush can really make a mess of the mechanisms.

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#543

Post by pram »

woeirua wrote: post #417

The ID4 is a nice car, and definitely on our radar after our Nissan Leaf lease expires. If you regularly take long road trips you’re going to be disappointed in the user experience with an EV. But EVs right now are perfect second cars. If the average American family replaced one of their cars with an EV it would drastically reduce emissions without requiring people to totally sacrifice the benefits of gas.

I was planning on buying an EV, until I lost power for a week in Texas. My car was the only thing that saved my bacon. Really made me lose faith in being so dependent on electricity for everything lol. Very third-world feelings, but there you go.

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#544

Post by paganel »

Someone1234 wrote: post #62

I feel like the prices on electric vehicles are starting to become their biggest hurdle (instead of range, availability, or charging which are solved enough). If you're from California or New York, I'm sure $40K starting for this or a Model Y seems complexly within your means, but there's a large chunk of the US (by population AND land) where People love to spam $40K US "average" while entirely ignoring that the aver…

This electric car "revolution" is also a very good way to keep the poor people firmly in their place, at least here in Europe.

As a low-income single-mom you might have used to drive your kid to a better school in a 15-year old 1.2 Opel Corsa while living just outside Paris, where rents are cheaper and the social environment is better (i.e. no gangs) Tough lock, that's hardly allowed anymore. It doesn't matter if that means that your kid you'll have to attend a worst school or that you'll have to move closer to the city (and to the gangs) in order to get some chance at public transportation, that car is a threat to society.

Also, gently look away while the government fills the pockets of middle-class people with thousands of euros (even more) representing electric-car "subsidies".

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#545

Post by tonyedgecombe »

axaxs wrote: post #9
black_puppydog wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think if there was a perspective to upgrade to a more modern battery later on, that would make a huge difference for these decisions. I wonder how much the actual battery contributes to the production costs. It can't be trivial, right?

Absolutely. If the battery were easily swappable, either by me or a low cost service center, AND a promise of bigger batteries was made, I'd probably bite. But as it sits, it seems like batteries are very central to the car and rather cost prohibitive to swap out.

There are companies upgrading the batteries in early Leafs. This seems to work because the newer model batteries are similar enough that they can be made to work. They aren't re-celling the originals.

My guess is as the market grows this will become more common.

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#546

Post by JohnJamesRambo »

Someone1234 wrote: post #62

I feel like the prices on electric vehicles are starting to become their biggest hurdle (instead of range, availability, or charging which are solved enough). If you're from California or New York, I'm sure $40K starting for this or a Model Y seems complexly within your means, but there's a large chunk of the US (by population AND land) where People love to spam $40K US "average" while entirely ignoring that the aver…

I used to think a Tesla was beyond my reach completely but then I started doing the math on how much gas I was buying per month with a regular car, how much I was spending on repairs and oil changes etc. All my time working on the cars. Driving old run down pieces of crap until the inevitable head gasket failure that costs more than the vehicle is worth to fix. I said enough is enough I’ll get a damn car without a head gasket!

I live in a state with some of the cheapest electricity in the USA, the Tesla Model 3 is almost free for me to drive and I can charge in off-peak times for truly mind blowing MPGe values. I also hadn’t thought about how the car retains its value. My gas cars depreciate rapidly. My brand new Tesla cost 40k when all is said and done and used Teslas several years old were going for 38,500 or so. The test drive of the Tesla sold my girlfriend and I on it completely. It was the first car I’ve ever driven that felt like what the future should and could be like.

http://chooseev.com/savings-calculator/

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#547

Post by tooltalk »

mullingitover wrote: post #330
Someone1234 wrote: post #62

I feel like the prices on electric vehicles are starting to become their biggest hurdle (instead of range, availability, or charging which are solved enough). If you're from California or New York, I'm sure $40K starting for this or a Model Y seems complexly within your means, but there's a large chunk of the US (by population AND land) where People love to spam $40K US "average" while entirely ignoring that the aver…

> If you're from California or New York, I'm sure $40K starting for this or a Model Y seems complexly within your means Not for regular working class people, far from it. A car that costs more than your gross annual wages isn't anywhere close to being within your means. Los Angeles median income in 2019: 28,072 USD NYC: 32,320 USD Nearly half of Los Angeles residents pay more than 50% of their income on rent[1]. In N…

hate to nitpick, but NYC's median household income is ~$58K -- nearly double the figure you cited.

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#548

Post by tonyedgecombe »

grecy wrote: post #24
axaxs wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget the higher end monstrosity of a cybertruck. Looks aside, something like that would interest me but I don't need the extras. I don't need extra motors and 4wd. Why not just offer the base version with the bigger battery?

> Don't forget the higher end Cybertruck will have 250+ miles of range for $39,900, which is the same as the ID.4 this article is about. what about it is "higher end"?

Interestingly the average car price in the US crossed $40K last year.

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#549

Post by eps »

rsync wrote: post #142

Is it their electric car or is it their car, electric ? I don't want your electric car. I don't want your e-initiative i-mobile green-tech tron-car. I want one of your actual cars, just electric . I don't want an ID.4 - I just want a Passat. I don't want the polestar e-initiative i-concept - I just want a V90 wagon. I don't want a future space truck, I just want a Silverado - but electric. God. Dammit.

Audi is that way.

But they have a different problem - they are now making some "trendy" design changes that are screwing all their models equally. No physical buttons, virtual cockpit, "futuristic" styling of the dashboard that makes it look like a glossy fridge door, the replacement of B&O with Sonos, etc.

Re: Volkswagen launches its first all-electric SUV, the ID.4

#550

Post by eptcyka »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #94
Someone1234 wrote: post #62

I feel like the prices on electric vehicles are starting to become their biggest hurdle (instead of range, availability, or charging which are solved enough). If you're from California or New York, I'm sure $40K starting for this or a Model Y seems complexly within your means, but there's a large chunk of the US (by population AND land) where People love to spam $40K US "average" while entirely ignoring that the aver…

The best-selling[1] vehicle in America, the Ford F-150, had an average sale price of $47,174 in 2018[2]. I'm sure it's only gone up since. Also, the latest version of the map you shared shows the F-150 being the most popular vehicle in 18 states, none of which are California or New York: https://insurify.com/insights/most-popular-cars-in-america-2... --- [1] https://www.autobytel.com/ford/f-150/car-buying-guides/why-…

Trucks can be used for towing or hauling large and heavy goods. I am yet to see an electric vehicle do the same and retain any notion of a practical range.
Post reply on HN