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Honda is killing its EVs

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Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#911

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looking into this a bit more, it seems that 20% of the total number of registered vehicles in Beijing are NEV vehicles, but that a far larger percentage of cars on the road at any given moment are NEVs. That's because almost all taxis (and buses) are NEVs. By the way, NEVs might have only reached 50% of new registrations across all of China in late 2025, but in Tier-1 cities, it has been far higher than 50% for years…

It's extremely difficult even to get NEV license plate, trust me I talked with many of those taxi drivers who drove me every single day during those 3 weeks about how much they paid for car, how long it took to register it. The benefit of NEV passed years ago already, even for NEV license plate you have to wait years.

It's still massively easier to get a license plate for a NEV than for an ICE car.

Beyond that, I think the issue with long wait times for NEV license plates is unique to Beijing.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#912

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. I too have no idea. I searched some FOIA sites but of course "lead" the element has the same spelling as "lead" the verb and noun, so e.g. in documents about fuel "Lead counsel" and "Lead role" aren't about the chemical additive. Maybe somebody asked but I didn't find it, and maybe nobody asked.

The permits are technically called "leaded petrol permits". Unlike "lead", I don't think "leaded" is commonly used with alternative meanings. Another useful search term is "tetraethyl" – the compound in leaded petrol is "tetraethyl lead" (also spelt "tetraethyllead" or "TEL") – while "tetraethyl" can occur in non-lead compounds, in practice the lead-based compound is mentioned much more frequently than other tetraeth…

Good idea on "leaded".

> also exempt military vehicles, but I'd be surprised if there was any remaining use of leaded petrol in the UK military.

Modern tanks are diesels yeah. However the UK has a lot of enthusiasts who own (obsolete and of course also de-fanged) tanks. And I can totally believe some of the archaic designs used leaded petrol. On the other hand, even a brand new production tank is very thirsty so realistically if you aren't trying to do a "Brewster's Millions" you would not actually drive your tank very far.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#913

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People have been distracted while driving manual transmissions for ages too Of course, but it's definitely worse now that people have devices designed to grab attention within arms reach constantly. > How distracted a driver is with phones/etc is up to them And many people choose to be quite distracted. I would love it if they had less ability to make that choice when it comes to endangering other people's lives. I…

> The number of people I see scrolling through short form vídeos while going full speed on the highway is shocking Then what would change? Highway driving in a manual is essentially no different than an auto. The problem is people are choosing to be distracted drivers, not that driving is so easy that they choose distractions as a result.

Let me rephrase my point:

1. Some people choose the maximum amount of distraction they can while still being able to operate their car at a basic (unsafe) level.

2. Manual transmissions allow for less distraction (not zero distraction, of course), because they require more frequent use of both hands, and more engagement of the body in general.

3. Therefore, manual transmissions, if they were widely used, would result in less distracted driving

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#914

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The number of people I see scrolling through short form vídeos while going full speed on the highway is shocking Then what would change? Highway driving in a manual is essentially no different than an auto. The problem is people are choosing to be distracted drivers, not that driving is so easy that they choose distractions as a result.

Let me rephrase my point: 1. Some people choose the maximum amount of distraction they can while still being able to operate their car at a basic (unsafe) level. 2. Manual transmissions allow for less distraction (not zero distraction, of course), because they require more frequent use of both hands, and more engagement of the body in general. 3. Therefore, manual transmissions, if they were widely used, would result…

I hear your points, but don’t think I agree.

All it takes is someone to have their phone mounted on a stand near their wheel (one of the vent mounted ones would be what I’m thinking), and then they could scroll to their hearts content. You only have to pause temporarily to shift gears, and even then I don’t think it is making you any less distracted. You’re just now distracted by shifting gears too, which takes your focus off the road to some extent as well.

The “distraction” is taking your eyes and mind off the road. A car that has an automatic is inherently less distracting overall. It has a higher tolerance for people to scroll or distract themselves in another way such as their phone, yes, but the amount of focus needed to not veer off the road or crash into something is the same regardless of how much baseline focus is needed to generally operate the car.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#915

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me rephrase my point: 1. Some people choose the maximum amount of distraction they can while still being able to operate their car at a basic (unsafe) level. 2. Manual transmissions allow for less distraction (not zero distraction, of course), because they require more frequent use of both hands, and more engagement of the body in general. 3. Therefore, manual transmissions, if they were widely used, would result…

I hear your points, but don’t think I agree. All it takes is someone to have their phone mounted on a stand near their wheel (one of the vent mounted ones would be what I’m thinking), and then they could scroll to their hearts content. You only have to pause temporarily to shift gears, and even then I don’t think it is making you any less distracted. You’re just now distracted by shifting gears too, which takes your…

Well, I suppose we can agree to disagree, I guess. Frankly you sound like someone who hasn't driven manual transmissions much, though I'm sure you'll tell me you have. I just find it hard to believe that someone could really believe they don't reduce the opportunities for distraction by a significant degree

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#916

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hear your points, but don’t think I agree. All it takes is someone to have their phone mounted on a stand near their wheel (one of the vent mounted ones would be what I’m thinking), and then they could scroll to their hearts content. You only have to pause temporarily to shift gears, and even then I don’t think it is making you any less distracted. You’re just now distracted by shifting gears too, which takes your…

Well, I suppose we can agree to disagree, I guess. Frankly you sound like someone who hasn't driven manual transmissions much, though I'm sure you'll tell me you have. I just find it hard to believe that someone could really believe they don't reduce the opportunities for distraction by a significant degree

I used to own a manually transmission sports car as my primary car, in fact. Trust me when I say I’m aware how much more engaged you can feel with the road if you use one. Emphasize is on can, though.

On the other side of that coin though, if you’re just driving a crappy car that has a manual, and commuting in traffic, it becomes a burden and certainly is more taxing mentally.

Maybe that alone makes you tired enough to not be distracted on your phone, and I’m sure that’s true of some people, but frankly with how hopelessly addicted some people are to their phones I don’t really have any faith that would be enough for people who are careless enough to text/scroll and drive already.

As a point of reference, I knew someone who literally veered into oncoming traffic, more than once, nearly avoiding hitting another car, in the same singular drive, and they continued to scroll on their phones (despite me loudly protesting) after this happened. I didn’t give this person the opportunity to be a passenger in their car any further after that. Some people just can’t help themselves despite the risk, even if the risk is really, really high. Turns out (you’ll be shocked to know), this person had gotten in quite a few accidents over the years…

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#917
post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you doing the maintenance yourself? I guess at some point the yearly maintenance costs exceed the value of the car itself.

I did a from-the-ground-up rebuild (including the engine) just after buying it. That cost an arm and a leg but all in (including the original car) it still came to ~half of what a new one would cost. Anything that had been 'improved' on it was brought back to stock. It's been super reliable, I've had it since jan 2020, put a considerable number of kms on it and it hasn't let me down (so far :) ). As for doing the mai…

The car of Theseus. Glad it's working for you! I hope you get many, many kms out of it!

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#918

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really shows the bias in Honda’s management here. They’ve also spent years trying to develop and promote their hydrogen fuel cell cars and it’s just as much of a failure as their EV division yet they aren’t axing that golden child.

That's a fundamental misunderstanding of why they're going in on hydrogen so hard - it's something they can generate domestically and without geopolitical implications. If there is a war with china or in the middle east, hydrogen vehicles are somewhat immune to oil or rare earth spikes. They will likely never roll out hydrogen power in any large capacity but the capability will be there if they need it

They can also generate electricity domestically. In fact, that is much, much, much, much easier then producing hydrogen.

Its an idiots version of geoplitics to bet on hydrogen just because you can produce it from electricity.

Because factually speaking nobody produces it from electricity, and its never competitive. So it would never be used by most people over natural gas produced hydrogen.

> hydrogen vehicles are somewhat immune to oil or rare earth spikes.

They would not be immune to rare earth anymore then EVs. In fact, it requires more complex supply chains an more exposure to more stuff.

> but the capability will be there if they need it

No it isn't. They do not have the capability to role it out. Producing a few prototype vehicles an a few fuel stations isn't really relevant to the question of can you produce 10 million of them, and fuel them reliably and cheaply. And Japan has no capability to do that.

Re: Honda is killing its EVs

#919

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve never had a software-based danger on my hardware-based vehicles. As such, there is a whole class of recalls that I never needed: all the ones you tell me I’m missing out on.

I'm impressed that you're daily driving what must be a 30+ year old vehicle. What model? Most enthusiasts have another vehicle to keep the miles down and use when the antique needs maintenance.

I own and drive a 2015 and a 2017. Each of them undoubtedly has software onboard. But I've never had a vehicle that had a recall for software reasons. So now you imply I'm (driving) an antique because I haven't turned over every aspect of driving to software, which is the only reason I can imagine needing constant OTA updates to address recalls. I mean, if you enjoy having daily alerts about needing to update your vehicle, random restarts, random bricking after updates, changes to the vehicle without your consent by third parties, etc. then I guess good on you. I still don't feel like I'm missing anything.
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