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

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

#91

Post by rsynnott »

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…

> but there's a large chunk of the US (by population AND land) where A Dacia Spring seems to be generally in the 10-15k EUR range after incentives, in most countries. A Renault Zoe is about 20-25k.

The US does seem underserved in terms of low-end electric cars, tho.

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

#92

Post by Already__Taken »

foepys wrote: post #68
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…

Not only that, there are entire continents where electric vehicles are simply not feasible. You cannot drive an EV 100km through mud and forests to get to a town just to charge it. Those EVs are not only very heavy and will sink in mud, they turn into bricks when empty. Have fun getting electricity into the jungle. A gas canister can be brought by anybody and filling the car up is quick. So most likely you will be ha…

How many of these places drive 2021 model cars right now?

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

#93

Post by admax88q »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #66
axaxs wrote: post #5

I'm kicking around the idea of an electric car, but the ranges of these things just utterly disappoint me. With some companies offering, or planning to offer 500ish mile ranges, it would feel immediately outdated to me to throw 40k on something with a ~200 mile range. Is battery tech that different between companies, is it cost prohibitive?

VW is pretty far behind Tesla in battery technology.[0] Still, this seems like a good car for a large number of drivers. The VW charging network is building out rapidly (I've noticed that VW's chargers are largely in the same locations as Tesla's superchargers. Wonder why?) The Tesla Model Y Long Range is rated at 326 miles and in my experience that's accurate and completely practical. As to your criterion of "500ish…

> If, OTOH you are able to switch to a mindset where you keep your energy status in the back of your mind (and an EV car helps you with this a great deal) then you might be ready.

Honestly that's a huge turn off for me. I have enough things on the back of my mind, tracking my "energy status" would have a significant opportunity cost by displacing more productive things.

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

#94

Post by aaronbrethorst »

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-t...

[2] https://www.autoweek.com/news/trucks/a32945300/ford-averages...

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

#95

Post by agloeregrets »

foepys wrote: post #68
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…

Not only that, there are entire continents where electric vehicles are simply not feasible. You cannot drive an EV 100km through mud and forests to get to a town just to charge it. Those EVs are not only very heavy and will sink in mud, they turn into bricks when empty. Have fun getting electricity into the jungle. A gas canister can be brought by anybody and filling the car up is quick. So most likely you will be ha…

Yup! Plus in the US the majority of all cars are not parked in a garage or driveway. How do those charge?

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

#96

Post by Hamuko »

mhh__ wrote: post #46
rorykoehler wrote: post #10

I saw one in the wild last week and I am very happy to see that they look great and normal.

On the subject of styling I still find these electric cars slightly off with the plastic where the grill normally be. It just seems wrong - especially with a company like Tesla which has no design heritage to be bound to, one expects better. The Taycan doesn't have this issue at the front, and I think it's a good looking thing.

Porsches have never really had prominent grilles, not even when the engine was up in the front, so that helps. The Panamera has a very slick front-end despite having the engine in the front.

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

#97

Post by rsynnott »

varjag wrote: post #84
dreamcompiler wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

VW is pretty far behind Tesla in battery technology.[0] Still, this seems like a good car for a large number of drivers. The VW charging network is building out rapidly (I've noticed that VW's chargers are largely in the same locations as Tesla's superchargers. Wonder why?) The Tesla Model Y Long Range is rated at 326 miles and in my experience that's accurate and completely practical. As to your criterion of "500ish…

ID4 has 310 miles on its 77KWh, I dunno what "pretty far behind" here is supposed to mean. It's not like Tesla uses some hitherto unknown cell technology…

"Has not been blessed by St Elon of Car", I assume.

In reality, while many manufacturers have grandiose claims of amazing magical batteries Any Day Now (TM) the battery tech being used in real life cars that you can buy today is all fairly similar.

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

#98

Post by kingsuper20 »

rorykoehler wrote: post #51
mhh__ wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the subject of styling I still find these electric cars slightly off with the plastic where the grill normally be. It just seems wrong - especially with a company like Tesla which has no design heritage to be bound to, one expects better. The Taycan doesn't have this issue at the front, and I think it's a good looking thing.

Why would you have a grill when you don’t have any need for it?

Battery cooling? Cabin ventilation? A/C condenser? Front brake cooling?

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

#99

Post by redisman »

mhh__ wrote: post #50
edhelas wrote: post #39

SUV…

Hopefully (particularly from the French car companies, as they have some interesting little designs from the past to draw from) EVs can provide a kick up the arse for manufacturers to lead rather than shit out SUV after SUV - particularly given that they are using new propulsion that can't afford unnecessary weight and drag.

I’d imagine this is mainly for the US market.

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

#100

Post by dreamcompiler »

idiotsecant wrote: post #73
CameronNemo wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I don't think people understand is how quick these batteries can be charged. It is a plug in, get lunch, go to the bathroom, maybe stretch a bit, and get back on the road type of deal. How long does somebody really want to be driving/sitting in a car non-stop?

Just because you can doesn't mean you should . DC high current charging is pretty rough on the expected lifetime of that pack.

The damage caused by DC charging is not huge. If you supercharged your car every day in lieu of home charging (i.e. because you can't home charge), then the effect is bigger, but Tesla superchargers (can't speak for the others) are very careful about how much charge they dump into the battery at any particular instant given the battery's current state of charge, temperature, age, etc. They do this specifically to preserve the health of the battery.

https://teslatap.com/articles/supercharger-superguide/

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