Being an American wanting an electric car must be a nightmare!
Not many options, and all of them are too expensive, because competition is stifled by keeping competition out with insane tariffs.In Europe we are spoiled with choice, lots of European brands with lots of models, and we even have American although we don’t want them, but we also have Chinese although they do have an EU import tax, to compensate for the Chinese subsidies.
But several Chinese brands are becoming quite popular, especially BYD and XPeng have become popular here in Denmark.
It’s gets better. Even if you find an EV, the states tax you more than an ICE car. Texas has a $200 yearly fee to supposedly make up for lost gas tax revenue. But at 20c/gallon and assuming 30mpg, I’d have to drive 30,000 miles to offset that cost (only drove about 8,500 miles per year).
And now they want to do the same at the Federal level with another $150 tax (federal taxes are 18c/gallon), which would be another 25,000 miles.
So I would be taxed $350/year to offset “gas tax losses”, which would only even out for me if I were to drive 55,000 miles in a year.
I heard about that, and that’s crazy. You gotta love all that freedom. 🤥
I don’t drive nearly that much either.
I understand the logic of the tax on gas to pay for roads, but here an EV is taxed less because it pollutes less. USA needs more of that.Realistically we should be taxing by weight and miles driven as the former causes the most damage to the roads. At that point the propulsion type and efficiency don’t really matter. EVs actually would be taxed more given that they’re heavier, but it’d also proportionately tax trucks and larger vehicles correctly at that point.
You could easily implement it with a yearly odometer reading with your registration or inspection and every car has a GVWR registered with it.
Yes that would be fair, but IMO there should be an environment tax on gas.
…vehicle registration taxes should be based upon ton-miles driven and speed limits should be based upon kinetic energy…
I understand the logic of the tax on gas to pay for roads
But even that doesn’t really hold up. Gas tax depending on state, generally covers less than half of road maintenance and is already unfair because of hybrids and other efficient vehicles.
And the bulk of the damage is probably from big trucks anyway
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It’s almost as though Tesla is being granted a monopoly.
Hey just a friendly reminder those Chinese EVs are backdoored with an Elon style god mode like Tesla. Lots of modern cars have a similar issue but EVs get it bad. Tl;dr rip out your car’s modem.
I bet all the new cars are unfortunately, my VW is also constantly connected to VW.
We need to make that shit illegal. Until then we have to live with it, just as with our smartphones.
I know I can install AOSP and get rid of it, and I did use that for years, but I just want the hassle anymore.Not ALL but most yeah. It’s partially just for data mining to make new cars more profitable but is also an easy way for spooks to RC a car
I’m interested to see how the low-cost Chinese brands do on longer-term reliability. Their initial build quality is generally good, but their product cycles are so short that I don’t see how they can capture knowledge that leads to them correcting design defects. To me, it looks like too much churn. But maybe they’ll be fine. We’ll have to see.
This is absolutely an issue, having used many 2nd hand cars for decades, most of them Japanese but also French because they were cheap, I was extremely astounded when we bought a 14 year old German built Opel Vectra, we had it until it reached 20 with next to no repairs, before it finally gave in mostly because of a legal technicality.
When we had our new (used) car at the shop, and borrowed an only 8 year old mid range car, there was no doubt that compared to that, our 20 year old Vectra was still a way nicer car, faster, smoother, more powerful and better comfort, and also better looking IMO, and would absolutely be worth the repair that was only a sixth of what that 8 year old car cost on the free market!
Problem is that our old Vectra is $850 in taxes per year, because the fuel economy isn’t as good as newer cars. And that $850 per year tax kills the economy of keeping it.
Our new car that is heavier and way more powerful is only $100 in taxes per year!! Because it’s an EV.I’ve got a bad feeling about overall repairability. Glue and potting used throughout.
In Europe we are spoiled with choice
Even more so in Australia, as we have zero tariffs, as the new EU trade agreement removed the small tarrif that was on EI cars, none on Chinese cars.
I have a BYD and charge off solar panels on my roof
Awesome, we do that too, and haven’t felt the increased oil/gas prices at all. 😎
Being an American wanting an electric car must be a nightmare! Not many options, and all of them are too expensive,
Chevy Bolt MSRP is $28,995.
I’m waiting to see if Slate can hit their crazy $24,950 target base price. With a 65kWh battery, that’s a pretty great price. That’s almost cheaper than buying batteries alone. I’m wondering if it will be able to do home backup power.
Just looked it up, GM claims it has a 65 kWh battery, and 150 kW DC charging rate. That’s not bad.
But it’s only 1 option. Where in Denmark we have 16 options below $25,000.
While it could be better. There’s a lot of great deals on used EVs around 20k. Plus we have Lucid, which has the longest range of any ev in the world afaik.
If we had the Chinese EVs then the prices would be a lot more reasonable.
I think the Mercedes beats it:
The Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+ Sedan. Thanks to a massive 122 kWh (usable) battery pack and ultra-aerodynamic design, it achieves up to 926 km (575 miles) of range on the WLTP cycle.
But IDK for sure, because they use different measurements.
Slate Auto.
So close…
AFAIK Slate auto is a cheap piece of crap. But AFAIK it’s not available yet, so we don’t really know.
In Denmark we have 16 car models available below $25k USD. None of them as ugly as the Slate.
To be fair, Chinese EV’s should have tariffs also because they use virtual slave labor.
Also they are mobile surveillance devices for the chinese government. Unlike american cars which are rolling surveillance devices for the lowest bidder.
Are these cheap european electric cars with us in the room right now?
Personally I drive a VW ID4 which is a midrange car in Europe starting at $42,000 USD.
This Citroën ë-C3 is currently the cheapest at $17,218 USD excluding VAT.
https://www.citroen.dk/modeller/e-C3.html
DKK 139,900 kr. incl VAT is 111,920 kr. Excl VAT = $17,218 USD.Here’s a recent list of alternatives:
https://bilmagasinet.dk/guides/billig-elbil16 fully electric BEV car models all below $24,500 USD. 5 of them from China.
Denmark is traditionally a pretty expensive country to buy anything, we have the highest average price index in EU.
So I bet other European countries have even better prices.
This is proof that you should never bend the knee or try to appease that facist state. Polestar moved production to the US and still got banned. They don’t believe in non-zero sum economics, you will always be the loser even when both party’s could win.
I’m getting so tired of reading fucking “that should terrify you!” In headlines. We are all sufficiently fucking terrified shut the fuck up.
Just that type of headline that tells you how you should feel period. Thank you headline, I’m now annoyed. It’s never any other emotion youre trying to force on me, just irritation or rage. That and the whole ‘read that again’. Fuck off.
Exactly. Just give me the fucking facts and I’ll decide how I feel about it.
In our reverse world, the more hyperbolic the title is the less worthwhile content the article contains. Use this to filter out content that can be safely (ironically) ignored.
Arbitrary actions are arbitrary.
I’m not terrified by that, just disgusted.
My guess is that the ulterior motive is to protect Tesla. Their competitors almost all offer better quality, and increasingly there are entrants to the market that produce those higher-quality vehicles at far lower cost. Musk seems unable or unwilling to take corrective actions, instead trying to buy the regulators.
It’s not arbitrary, as your second paragraph suggests there are other reasons. Someone didn’t pay off the administration. It really is like that.
Why in the fuck can’t I purchase a non connected vehicle?
Slate Auto next year. Don’t get the telematics module.
Start selling Volvo’s newest model… The Volvo Polestar
Yep, time to rebadge.
Me looking at my 2023 Polestar 2 LRDM:
“It’s ok. They can’t hurt you. You parked next to a 240i and you felt superior remember?”
That’s me looking at my BST 270 😂
Cant they just sell them as Volvos?
But they want to make money off the days from the network. Think about the shareholders value!!
Purchase car abroad then have it imported. How feasible would something like that be?
You can’t license an imported car for US roads. At least not in any practical way. If you had unlimited funds it is possible, but not really worthwhile.
So the thesis of this piece is the government picking winners and losers in the auto industry through opaque mechanisms should terrify you because you should believe in total free market capitalism.
There’s plenty I don’t agree with regarding this administration’s trade or industrial policy. This reasoning though, ain’t it. It ain’t even new with this administration. I’m not getting the vapors over corrupt auto industry protectionism. And I’m certainly not concerned about whatever lib shit this guy is wound up about.
It’s because it’s not transparent and seems arbitrary, this isn’t mentioned but these are the perfect conditions for corruption or simple stupidity.
not transparent and seems arbitrary
Opaque regulatory inertia favoring established players could be the story of the American auto industry for the last century.
Yes, there has absolutely been some crazy situations in the past.
I’D be fine with that. Even with all the offshored parts and supply chain, the auto industry is still a huge part of the American economy, with a lot of related jobs. I want it to continue doing that
However excessive protectionism isn’t a viable strategy when there’s also a renewed commitment to obsolete technology and cancelling anything that would have encouraged change. I suppose this favors established industry in the short term but it really seems like forcing them to buy a shovel to dig their own graves.
The problem is if this is a payoff to musk, helping Tesla succeed at everyone else’s expense. Favoritism toward one specific person or company is never the right choice
this isn’t mentioned but these are the perfect conditions for corruption or simple stupidity
At this point, I think it’s safe to assume corruption and stupidity are the default, much to everyone’s chagrin.
They are the default, that’s why public services need transparency.
That’s not unique for USA, USA is just bad at doing these things right.
So the thesis of this piece is the government picking winners and losers in the auto industry through opaque mechanisms should terrify you because you should believe in total free market capitalism.
Those are not the only choices. For example, a rules-based and facts-based system of regulation is another possibility. But the current system’s rule appears to be that the spoils go to whoever got a slice of Trump’s goldfish-like attention, or wrote him a fat enough check.
And you might well get the vapors the next time one of the US automakers receives a massive government bailout because their having been protected from competition left them unable to compete in the global market, or possibly even in the time before that when US consumers are being forced to buy sub-mediocre products in order to fatten the bonuses of non-performing parasitic executives.
And it’s good to remember that free markets are a myth, and that real capitalists love anything that shelters them from having to compete, even if it’s protectionism.
Don’t mistake my lack of sympathy with the authors diagnosis with my actual diagnosis. Dude literally complains about government picking winners and losers as the main reason you should be terrified in conclusion. That’s a remarkably naive thing for an auto industry editor to write with a straight face, to the point that it breaks credulity. You should hate the entire system, not just Trump, is my conclusion.
Its a rolling spy vehicle from China and Russia. Hard pass
Citation needed
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Prove me wrong.
