Are we being forced to go electric?

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Ming the Merciless

There is no mercy
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I had a drive of my mother‘s ID3 this week. Very weird not having a gear stick and the way you select drive, neutral, reverse. Disappointed it had manual seat adjustments and not electric. Certainly has plenty of torque.
 

CXRAndy

Guru
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Lincs
My Model S has all the hardware including HW3 computer for FSD. Its fully paid up, way cheaper than $10k
Just awaiting government approval ;)
 

CXRAndy

Guru
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Lincs
I had a drive of my mother‘s ID3 this week. Very weird not having a gear stick and the way you select drive, neutral, reverse. Disappointed it had manual seat adjustments and not electric. Certainly has plenty of torque.

Different, I agree. The butter like acceleration and regen are a delight.

I would never ever buy an ICE car again.
 

MrGrumpy

Huge Member
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Fly Fifer
Apparently Which? think otherwise. If I owned a Tesla I'd read that report pretty quickly.

I'd love a Tesla, they are truly ground-breaking, and represent a massive (and overdue) paradigm shift in the car industry.
But the various stories of paint issues, rust, poor assembly quality and poor reliability need to be addressed. All those things will improve, every new model will be better, but some of the press reports are absolutely shocking for a premium brand.
read a news article on that , software seems to the the biggest gripe. Ctrl alt del in most cases! Unsurprising really considering the amount of guff going on , some of it I’m sure is nothing to do with the actual driving of the car and more to do with the user “ experience” I’d be pretty pissed at spending a load of cash for software to be a wrecking ball !
 

lazybloke

Ginger biscuits and cheddar
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Leafy Surrey
read a news article on that , software seems to the the biggest gripe. Ctrl alt del in most cases! Unsurprising really considering the amount of guff going on , some of it I’m sure is nothing to do with the actual driving of the car and more to do with the user “ experience” I’d be pretty pissed at spending a load of cash for software to be a wrecking ball !
Some manufacturers have been looking at a subscription model for car features.
How are the features enabled - over the air update?
Fine, but what if the model you bought is replaced a year later - how long will the manufacture keep the backend infrastructure running to support the older model?

And what will the insurers think of you running an obsolete car. Higher premiums to begin with, then a refusal to cover?

Long-term use of an obsolete car could become impossible when software goes out of date.
Just try using Windows 7; you can't even open a Google search page.
 
Some manufacturers have been looking at a subscription model for car features.
How are the features enabled - over the air update?
Fine, but what if the model you bought is replaced a year later - how long will the manufacture keep the backend infrastructure running to support the older model?

And what will the insurers think of you running an obsolete car. Higher premiums to begin with, then a refusal to cover?

Long-term use of an obsolete car could become impossible when software goes out of date.
Just try using Windows 7; you can't even open a Google search page.
Just don't buy from anyone who tries that then. A car should last a long time. It's not a reason to avoid EVs - have you seen how many ICE cars have stopped production due to lack of chips already ?
 

lazybloke

Ginger biscuits and cheddar
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Just don't buy from anyone who tries that then. A car should last a long time. It's not a reason to avoid EVs - have you seen how many ICE cars have stopped production due to lack of chips already ?
Have you see that EV production is also affected by chip shortages? Not sure what your point is.




Anyway, I never said "don't buy an EV" - I'm probably in the market for one myself in the next 6 months. And yes, I'd look to buy/activate features outright, not by subscription. Let's hope the manufacturers don't all go to subscription plans only, eh?

The point I was making is that the increasing computerisation of cars (which especially applies to EVs) has potential pitfalls. Yes, a car should last a long time, but it's in the manufacturer's interest to artificially reduce that time in as many ways as possible.
 

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
Considering legacy manufacturers never offered upgrades for any model of car they sold-

Until Tesla appeared offering OTA service and feature updates -free of charge.

Yes their premium features are payable, but at least the car is fully equipped from day one of manufacture to run the extra driving aids.
 
A friend of mine ordered an electric MG about five/six months ago and was given an April delivery date but was contacted by the dealer on Friday and told that because of supply problems with silicon chips (I believe) delivery would be delayed to September.

He said he has gone off the idea and told them to stuff it, so sticking with his three year old car for another couple of years.
 

vickster

Squire
A friend of mine ordered an electric MG about five/six months ago and was given an April delivery date but was contacted by the dealer on Friday and told that because of supply problems with silicon chips (I believe) delivery would be delayed to September.

He said he has gone off the idea and told them to stuff it, so sticking with his three year old car for another couple of years.
They had a few at the local dealer. Still don’t want one though
 

gzoom

Über Member
He said he has gone off the idea and told them to stuff it, so sticking with his three year old car for another couple of years.

Financially that decision makes little sense. We are on the edge of a massive inflation jump but its very unlikely we'll see wages/spending power keep up.

Consumers goods (like cars) will also remain supply-constrained for the foreseeable future. Governments are now building tanks again and global trade is very fragile.

All of this means only one thing for prices going ahead. If you need/have the means to make a big purchase, now is the time to do it. Otherwise things may well become totally unaffordable going fowards.

Remember money has no real value, its worth is decided by politics and human actions. Stuff/things (commodities) have real value and are not subject to the potential of becoming 'worthless' overnight like money can (Look at the Rubble).

On the whole consumer goods prices haven't seen their costs rise in line with everything else......yet, but you can be sure its coming. Its a matter of when not if.
 

icowden

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