Live data from Hacker News

Honda is killing its EVs

techcrunch.com

831–840 of 919 posts

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#831
post #743

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get the trucks and SUV's where you need them. I live in a rural area and without ground clearance and 4x4, I literally wouldn't be able to visit my parents. But my daily driver is a Honda Civic. Because 75% of my driving is done on paved roads that are well maintained (except in the winter). What kills me are the MASSIVE vehicles in the suburbs though. Why do you need a 3 ton suburban to drive around 2 kids on very…

Towing a boat or camper is quite common - not gonna get a second vehicle just for that.

Something like 10-15% of US households own a boat or camper. Over 60% of cars sold today are SUVs, and a ton of those would not be great to tow a boat or decent sized camper.

The vast majority of people I know who daily drive SUVs and trucks do not own either a boat or camper.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#832
post #749

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AFAIK, beyond a certain speed (~25km/h?), EVs make just as much noise as ICEs, since the noise is then mainly generated by the tyres hitting the road. So I'm somewhat sceptical about this claim. Dutch city centres can be really crowded and yet actually quiet, because there are practically no cars. It's probably not Shenzen-level crowded, but I'd bet that the number of people that are being transported at busy locatio…

Source? That sounds dubious. Here in USA you hear blazing engines constantly, I’m skeptical a rubber tire is louder than that

Not just bikes did collect some data for a youtube video here: (Skip to 13:03 for EVs specifically)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTV-wwszGw8

In summary, ICE vehicles are louder, but not by as much as you might guess.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#833

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US car culture has been dead for a long time, at least internationally. People like big American cars made in 50s - 70s for their looks, but since then all I can think of are oversized pickups, Nascar and Tesla which is getting eaten alive by Chinese competitors.

That is unfortunately not the case - see all the ridiculous ginormous American pickup trucks invading Europe as a "look at me, I'm rich" or "look at me I'm (local equivalent to) MAGA" signifiers.

Do most European cities allow those?

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#834
post #737

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This could be but in practice it doesn't work. Both the governments and the manufacturer benefit from you driving a newer vehicle instead of keeping your old car running. Topics like environmental impact safety etc. are higher priority compared to repair-ability. Additionally most people don't care. Additionally there is the issue of licensing and regulation around the hardware and software of a vehicle. The regulati…

In my experience, it does actually work. Tesla model s had an issue with the flash memory endurance, and the NHTSA made them replace it. Which they did, and upgraded the 3G modem to LTE while they were at it. My 2013 Model S is still going strong, still gets software updates.

> the NHTSA made them replace it

They forced them to replace it because it was recognized as a manufacturing/design defect. This is a very different scenario from "normal wear" replacement.

Additionally the Tesla model S is still in production with only a facelift. Therefore the parts that are produced are not unavailable (or not supplied).

I think you can't replace/upgrade the flash and modem yourself without the assistance of a Tesla dealer.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#835
post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Norway is a very special case in that it has massive hydro energy resources and nobody lives there.

There must be more to it than this, or we'd have fantastic EV uptake here in New Zealand (we don't - EVs currently only have a 6% market share).

The funny part is, given the geographic proximity and free trade relationship with China, New Zealand could become EV-dominant pretty much as quickly as they want. And as the infrastructure allows - is that a limiting factor?

Without tariffs, the excellent and inexpensive Chinese electric cars might be an attractive option.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#836
post #534

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...are there 300k mile Priuses out on the road and being used?

Oh yeah. There is a famous one in austrian taxi service with over 600k miles. https://www.electricbike.com/the-curious-case-of-the-600000-...

A 2004 Gen 2 Prius used as a taxi in Vancouver was still going on the original traction battery at 1.5 million kilometres without any failures.

https://driving.ca/vehicle-types/hybrid-vehicles/hybrid-high...

https://vanmag.com/city/people/vancouver-taxi-driver-worlds-...

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#837
post #14
post #5

Ironically, Trump attacking Iran and closing the Strait is a boon to China and EV makers. Once the car is produced, aside from lubricants, it’s completely independent of oil. Heck you can put panels on your rooftop and slow charge it during the day.

Car tires are made with synthetic rubber, which is made from oil.

The big concern is burning oil products into the atmosphere: that means fuels. Using oil to produce rubbers and plastics is less of a concern.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#838

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PHEVs when you already own them cost vastly less in electric mode. That people don't bother plugging them in is because they don't care about cost enough to bother to see if there is a difference.

It’s also because most PHEVs sold are terrible EVs. Weak, short range, cut to gas all the time. Impractical to use as a pure ev. This style of phev is greenwashing and should be sold as a gas car for emissions rules. EREVs are a different story, and have a place in the transition for awhile.

> Weak, short range, cut to gas all the time.

This doesn't make them terrible! This makes them great. That means they can run 80% of the time as an EV, yet use the ICE just enough to not ever have stale gas in the tank. As a driver you barely notice, and someone outside will have no clue what mode it is operating in. (wind noise is louder than the ICE)

When there are fast chargers on every corner like gas stations are PHEV will make less sense. However in the world I live in today an EV can do a road trip but it forces you to plan your stops around where there is a charger, while with gas can still assume it will be close when you need it. This will change over the coming years, for now I won't take my EV on a road trip, but my PHEV has done it several times.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#839

OTOH, it really looks like Toyota is Goldilocks. Most companies invested too much too early and had to write off a substantial amount, but Toyota is rolling into 2027 with a small but nice selection of EV's. Over 25% of vehicles sold world-wide were electric in 2025, and that percentage is steadily increasing. So VW & Ford were "too hot", Honda is looking like "too cold" and Toyota might be the "just right" of the th…

Observers and technologists have also consistently failed to appreciate the continuing value proposition of hybrids, and Toyota makes some of the best, top selling models.

Hybrids are kinda the worst of both worlds though - you have all of the disadvantages of a internal combustion engine (maintenance costs, carbon footprint, fuel dependence), and all the disadvantages of a battery (car is more expensive, battery can die) and the only advantage is range.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#840

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>Auto start is pretty much universally hated especially since it's ubiquitous and can usually only be turned off for a single ride. Which I absolutely don't understand. It's a fantastic technology and I wish I could retro-fit them to some of my older cars too, it's literally fantastic. Like, who likes sitting in standstill traffic and listening to their 4 cylinder rambler working when they are just standing still???…

Great. Leave it on. I want it off, and I want it to stay off when turned off. The start delay is not a big deal in traffic that's stop-and-go. But I have a poor-visibility situation at the end of my street, for which the only solution is "move away". There was a light indicating if a car was approaching over the hill, but when it was damaged the city didn't replace it. So when I hit the accelerator, I need the car to…

>>I need the car to go right then.

And again, in modern cars with IGS systems the engagement is literally instantaneous. I really recommend trying it, it's pretty neat.

Post reply on HN