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Voltswagen of America

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Re: Voltswagen of America

#581

Post by recursive »

carabiner wrote: post #579
scythe wrote: post #577

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's from an old parable, also called Parkinson's Law of Triviality . Basically, simple things get discussed more because everyone can understand them. It goes something like this: "If a committee designs a bikeshed, they will spend five minutes discussing the structural requirements, half an hour on the size, and the rest of the available time arguing about what color to paint the shed."

Oh ok. I wonder why he didn't just say "bikeshedding."

It wouldn't fit grammatically.

Re: Voltswagen of America

#582

Post by WorldMaker »

kelnos wrote: post #563
WorldMaker wrote: post #545

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course just scrapping diesels on the road isn't the best/most efficient idea. We have the technology to do EV conversions, we just need to make that more cost effective. Volkswagon has talked about shipping a mass produced "crate" system that could fit into older VW vehicles' engine blocks. Though if we are talking *trucks* the big player that should be building an EV conversion kit yesterday is Ford, who still se…

Right, but the parent's point is that these things do not actually exist. VW "talking" about doing something or Ford "should" have done something does not describe things that are actually available on the market today, regardless of whether or not the technology is within our capabilities.

They do exist in small shops that are doing EV conversions every day (and have been for years).

The thing missing is mass production to drive costs down from it being an artisanal thing with used Tesla and pinball machine parts to being a reliable mini-industry. Those artisanal projects are on the market though, and have been for some time. They have a market price, it's just that that price isn't as cheap as we would all like it to be, hence the emphasis on mass production being a currently unfilled need and that it is on at least one manufacturer's stated roadmap and should have been on at least one other's. The flipside is already happening "while we wait". Some of those artisanal shops are standardizing their own tools and producing their own kits, and speeding up their processes and building on economies of scale to get those things cheaper, and if the manufacturers won't officially support it, the aftermarket will, as it often does.

Re: Voltswagen of America

#583

Post by tchalla »

fermienrico wrote: post #561
tchalla wrote: post #517

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ghandi is common pronounciation even in Germany. I don't think it is an unreasonable expectation to write the word "Gandhi" as "Gandhi". That's how he wrote the name, that's how he signed it and that's the actual spelling. I can understand the difficulty in pronunciation but getting the name right while typing it out is unforgivable in this century.

I meant the pronunciation, not the spelling. Also, learning to forgive is a rare virtue these days. Entitlement and expection creates conflict. Learn to forgive others and you'll have a better time with everyone else. No one who even spells it as Ghandi means any malice or offense. So, it is a matter of technicality. Let go.

I agree - learning to forgive is rare virtue. For example, I think we should also "learn to forgive" to people who point out that Gandhi is the right spelling. It's not meant as many malice of offence. So, it is a matter of technicality. Let go.

Re: Voltswagen of America

#584

Post by ninechars »

carabiner wrote: post #579
scythe wrote: post #577

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's from an old parable, also called Parkinson's Law of Triviality . Basically, simple things get discussed more because everyone can understand them. It goes something like this: "If a committee designs a bikeshed, they will spend five minutes discussing the structural requirements, half an hour on the size, and the rest of the available time arguing about what color to paint the shed."

Oh ok. I wonder why he didn't just say "bikeshedding."

Spot of literary flair

Re: Voltswagen of America

#585

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

wongarsu wrote: post #564
headmelted wrote: post #467

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m sure it’s awful for normal folk like us but in his case (and again this is uninformed speculation), where he’s essentially the fall guy for a scandal that was supporting one of the world’s largest economies (and a large component of several others), it’s not that hard to imagine his experience being just a bit different than what a normal inmate should expect. He also likely knows a lot about how many of his supe…

He was in "Offener Vollzug" (~open prison). That means he sleeps in a normal prison cell (that usually looks like [1], so not all that bad) in a regular prison, gets breakfeast, leaves prison to go to work, then goes straight back to prison to participate in the prison's evening activities (sport, recreational, educational, etc). He might get vacation (from staying in prison), and can visit his family on weekends. It…

Meanwhile we hear how abusive and inhumane American prisons are. If we had these country clubs in America, what would happen? (Serious question)

Re: Voltswagen of America

#586

Post by chki »

sillyquiet wrote: post #548
titzer wrote: post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well you claimed that Americans are pronouncing it "perfectly correctly," and Germans might disagree. It's a German word which has been Americanized. The company mostly doesn't care, but there is a single correct pronunciation in their native language. Insisting you are correct mispronouncing a foreign word because the letters look a certain way is just hubris.

Americans are pronouncing the English word Volkswagen perfectly correctly yes. BECAUSE THEY ARE SPEAKING ENGLISH

I would follow your logic if the english pronunciation of the word Volkswagen was actually phonetically consistent. But while "Volks" is pronounced in an english way, isn't the word "wagen" pronounced in a weird German way?

"Wagen" on its own would probably be pronounced like way-gen, if my english intuition is not fooling me. Instead it is pronounced like wuh-gen.

I don't really care about this either way but if you are bothered by something the weird mixture is.. a bit annoying.

Re: Voltswagen of America

#587

Post by apsurd »

carabiner wrote: post #579
scythe wrote: post #577

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's from an old parable, also called Parkinson's Law of Triviality . Basically, simple things get discussed more because everyone can understand them. It goes something like this: "If a committee designs a bikeshed, they will spend five minutes discussing the structural requirements, half an hour on the size, and the rest of the available time arguing about what color to paint the shed."

Oh ok. I wonder why he didn't just say "bikeshedding."

because art

Re: Voltswagen of America

#589

Post by bonestamp2 »

dawnerd wrote: post #543
manigandham wrote: post #519

Confirmed fake: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/30/volkswagens-name-change-of-u... "Media outlets ... reported it as news after it was confirmed by unnamed sources within the company, who apparently lied to several reporters."

But... they literally put it as a press release on their site with a date of today. Then again, VW knows a thing or two about faking reports

I happened to still have it in my browser so I took a screenshot for anyone who missed it.

https://i.imgur.com/kJLMX5L.png

Re: Voltswagen of America

#590

Post by WorldMaker »

Syonyk wrote: post #566
WorldMaker wrote: post #545

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course just scrapping diesels on the road isn't the best/most efficient idea. We have the technology to do EV conversions, we just need to make that more cost effective. Volkswagon has talked about shipping a mass produced "crate" system that could fit into older VW vehicles' engine blocks. Though if we are talking *trucks* the big player that should be building an EV conversion kit yesterday is Ford, who still se…

> We have the technology to do EV conversions... "We" do? If you know of any, please, share. I know a lot of people out here who own trucks who would absolutely love a reasonably priced ($20k or so?) conversion kit for a truck that would leave you with 100 miles or so of range with a 10k lb construction trailer (fully enclosed) or similar. I'm aware of the old electric Rangers one can find on rare occasions (swap the…

Yeah, EVWest has been doing the work for a while now. You are correct that it currently isn't cheap, and is more complicated/DIY than anyone currently wants to call "easy", but that's the definition of "we have the technology". The next steps are productionizing it/industrializing it, which I also pointed out in my comment.

It exists as an "artisanal" option today. Per VW's roadmap they expect to have more "off the shelf" components in the near future. Ford doesn't have it on their radar at all it seems, but as I point out that's likely a blindspot on Ford's part that should be addressed (and if they don't do it, the aftermarket will, even if it starts "bottom up" from the "artisanal" shops).

> The problem is that competent electric pickups have been "coming soon now" for most of a decade

Beyond the ones you mentioned (Via Motors, Tesla Cybertruck):

Rivian have been taking preorders and are expected to deliver some of the first ones this year.

While Ford don't have EV conversions on their radar, they do have new purchased trucks. The electric version of the F-150 is supposed to be their second EV following this year's Mustang Mach-E. Rumors are that the official launch and some very early presales could start as soon as the end of this year (though most analysts are expecting Ford is likely more serious about a 2023 model year).

GM has been relatively cagey what they have planned for the big spectacle 2023 model year, but many indications are that among the "12 currently unannounced EV models" for 2023 at least three or four of them are going to be trucks across the Chevy and GMC brands, on the "Ultium" platform they beta-tested in the 2021 Hummer EV.

Lordstown Motors has seen some fraud concerns and stock shorting controversies, but is entirely focused on EV Trucks right now (similar to Rivian) and were expected to have deliveries of their first model (the Endurance) start last year, but are seemingly delayed to at least "late" this year/early next year.

(Fwiw, the "coming soon now" for the Tesla Cybertruck is also "late" this year/early next year, with delays noted due to pandemic reasons and usual Tesla timeline slippage.)

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