Cars & Bikes, Driving & Riding

Postby **NTP66** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 8:52 am

@RonnieFranchise: Did you ever settle on a new car?

Postby **dodint** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 8:53 am

Yeah. I want EVs. Preferably autonomous. Just isn't there yet for me.

2017 Chevy Volts are down to like $12k with modest mileage. Wish my wife were interested in those, great compromise.

Postby **NTP66** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 8:55 am

I don't think I could bring myself to ever buy another Chevy after seeing how quickly my mom's old Cruze deteriorated. Build quality overall was just trash. I'm actually surprised that you would consider one.

Postby **NTP66** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 9:12 am

Holy **** **** was this a wild ride:

Postby **dodint** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 9:31 am

A buddy of mine in Wisconsin had one, it's an outlier in the Chevy lineup for me.

Worst modern car I have ever driven was an Aveo.

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 10:17 am

Friend of mine had a Nissan Leaf, which was great for around town. With a range of 100 miles or so, it's useless on the highway. When they moved to CT last year, he had to have it hauled up there.

Postby **offsides** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 10:54 am

Didn't I read that California passed a law that after the year 2025 no new gas powered cars are allowed to be sold? Seems pretty quick to me but guess they will find out. Betting they sell a lot of 2025 gas cars.

Postby **AuthorTony** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 11:13 am

Didn't I read that California passed a law that after the year 2025 no new gas powered cars are allowed to be sold? Seems pretty quick to me but guess they will find out. Betting they sell a lot of 2025 gas cars.

2035

Postby **offsides** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 11:28 am

Didn't I read that California passed a law that after the year 2025 no new gas powered cars are allowed to be sold? Seems pretty quick to me but guess they will find out. Betting they sell a lot of 2025 gas cars.
2035

OOps. thanks for setting me straight. That makes more sense and probably very doable.

Postby **RonnieFranchise** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 1:29 pm

@RonnieFranchise: Did you ever settle on a new car?

Probably in the Spring. Want to drive the Type S, see some info on the 21 A6 (the 20s got poor reliability ratings) and check out the 21 G80 which has not arrived yet.

Also Mrs. Franchise wants a new bathroom putting my car at risk....

Postby **NTP66** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 1:40 pm

I’ll likely check out the Type-S once it’s released, as well.

Postby **RonnieFranchise** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 1:55 pm

I’ve always really wanted an Audi but the TLX is a great drive and seems like the better value and I really think the photos of the G80 are nice looking.

Kind of eliminated the ES and Avalon since Toyota doesn’t want to put a 6 in their AWD sedans and the 4 that’s in them is underwhelming.

Postby **NTP66** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 1:59 pm

My wife may kill me if I get the Type-S.

Postby **faftorial** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 2:02 pm

I’d swap “electric cars” with “Tesla” specifically. I’m not sure how any other automakers compete at the 30k-100k price range. There’s differentiation at the high end with Porsche and Jaguar but and at the low end you have affordable but boring options like a Chevy Volt. But in the middle there is nobody even on the horizon primed to compete with Tesla. And that’s not even mentioning the proprietary super chargers, which are essential for road trips.

Eventually, I could see Tesla selling a cab-less electric power train to other manufacturers and leasing out their self driving software, while Ford, GM, etc keep their branding. I’m not sure there’s any other way from preventing a virtual monopoly in 10 years.

...and in that time, I think the F150 Is going to become a virtue signal for climate change deniers but I’ll take that to the PDT

The VW group looks like the only existing big company that will be able to take on Tesla anytime soon. They will dominate the EU market in a few years and they also have a deal with Ford to provide their MEB platform for Ford vehicles.

Postby **shmenguin** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 3:10 pm

I’d swap “electric cars” with “Tesla” specifically. I’m not sure how any other automakers compete at the 30k-100k price range. There’s differentiation at the high end with Porsche and Jaguar but and at the low end you have affordable but boring options like a Chevy Volt. But in the middle there is nobody even on the horizon primed to compete with Tesla. And that’s not even mentioning the proprietary super chargers, which are essential for road trips.

Eventually, I could see Tesla selling a cab-less electric power train to other manufacturers and leasing out their self driving software, while Ford, GM, etc keep their branding. I’m not sure there’s any other way from preventing a virtual monopoly in 10 years.

...and in that time, I think the F150 Is going to become a virtue signal for climate change deniers but I’ll take that to the PDT
The VW group looks like the only existing big company that will be able to take on Tesla anytime soon. They will dominate the EU market in a few years and they also have a deal with Ford to provide their MEB platform for Ford vehicles.

Tesla is building their Berlin factory now. They’ll be dominating Europe soon enough. Brand loyalty would be the only reason to go with VW. The tech isn’t going to be comparable.

Postby **offsides** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 4:14 pm

Thanks, nice pic. It looks like changing a battery when it wear out is pretty involved.

Postby **faftorial** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 4:57 pm

Tesla is building their Berlin factory now. They’ll be dominating Europe soon enough. Brand loyalty would be the only reason to go with VW. The tech isn’t going to be comparable.

We'll see. I still see Tesla as luxury product that only the deep pocketed can afford to soothe their conscience.

Postby **Shyster** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 5:09 pm

Elon Musk has said on multiple occasions that Tesla needs a cheaper/smaller model to be fully competitive in Europe and China, and they're supposedly already working on it. The Model 3 is still too big and too expensive to be a volume car in either country. If Tesla does something like a Golf-sized hatchback with 250 miles or more of range, I'd be all over that like stink on a skunk.

Postby **dodint** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 5:24 pm

Yeah, discounting the biggest auto group in the world against Tesla has a hint of fanboyism to it. Which is cool, love people loving their cars.

I have always assumed when the big manufacturers figure out EV Tesla will thrive in their self-created minimalist-luxury niche. They're basically Apple except they actually innovated something.

Postby **shmenguin** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 5:48 pm

Yeah, discounting the biggest auto group in the world against Tesla has a hint of fanboyism to it. Which is cool, love people loving their cars.

I have always assumed when the big manufacturers figure out EV Tesla will thrive in their self-created minimalist-luxury niche. They're basically Apple except they actually innovated something.

Tesla is the most valued auto maker in the world, by market cap, right? But I see your point.

As far as cost goes, is VW poised to make a mode cheaper than a model 3, that also has similar battery life and torque? I haven’t seen, but maybe they’re tackling the cheap mini?

Postby **Shyster** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 6:02 pm

As far as cost goes, is VW poised to make a mode cheaper than a model 3, that also has similar battery life and torque? I haven’t seen, but maybe they’re tackling the cheap mini?

VW has the ID.3 coming, which is Golf-sized and varies from 205 to 340 miles of range, depending on model and battery size. WV isn't selling the ID.3 in the US and instead will be giving us a larger SUV version, because Americans are stupid. I'm sure that's the car that Tesla is aiming at with its talks about a new model.

Postby **dodint** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 6:03 pm

Apple is the most cash rich company in the world to my knowledge, it wasn't a put down. Just saying there is a similarity in the minimalist faux-luxury branding.

If you look at EVs as inevitable in our lifetime it's hard to see a group like VAG not leveraging their existing infrastructure to be as prolific as they are now. We might just be thinking on different timelines.

Tesla struggles to sell cars in individual states in the US, like Michigan, because of red tape. Just hard to see how that scales to all of Europe without hiccups. All the while VAG has everything but the tech in place.

Postby **NTP66** » Sun Dec 13, 2020 6:10 am

Also like apple, Elon Musk is a massive NTP66.

Postby **NTP66** » Sun Dec 13, 2020 7:27 am

TOYOTA MAKING ELECTRIC CAR WITH “GAME-CHANGING” SOLID STATE BATTERY

Japanese carmaker Toyota is set to unveil what the media is calling a “game-changing” solid state battery as soon as next year, Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei reports.

Such tech could allow electric cars of the future to drive over 300 miles on one charge and completely recharge in just ten minutes.

Toyota isn’t the only company investing in developing solid state batteries. Japanese carmaker Nissan is also planning to release a vehicle using the tech by 2028. And German automaker Volkswagen is also teaming up with a US startup to develop its own take on the batteries.

Postby **shmenguin** » Sun Dec 13, 2020 8:01 am

I’m revealing a similar battery next week. No other details available. But I promise it’s true.

...this seems like the standard “we’re gonna make...something. Stick with us” fudgy kind of announcement. Teasing a prototype like this is a plea to investors.