Nostr

I think the problem on a whole is the battery technology across all devices, including cars. That technology must advance. Solid state is coming.

At least Tesla has a battery recycling programme, but there is so much FUD around that which is unjustified. Just like Apple does for their devices.

However, in saying all that, they do solve many issues, including maintenance. There are few parts in an EV that require maintenance. As well as being able to have features added via software updates and making it even more efficient.

Not to mention the future of self driving advancements.

Sovereign Being 2y ago

Some good points there.

So, self-driving tech isn't exclusive to electrics - although they have been leading the way so far - there is nothing that prevents existing cars from adopting the same, at least not that I'm aware of.

The promise of battery technology improving has been there for a while now, I am yet to be convinced that this is something that will be solved anytime soon. I almost bought a Tesla in 2015, but I am really glad they wouldn't finance me, in hindsight.

The build quality for the money just isn't there, but that's a personal take and not really all too relevant here.

I still feel that electrics are on the whole rather wasteful on resources. Range is a problem unless you spend a significant amount on a car with a large battery, and depreciation is completely ridiculous on new models. I would never buy a new car, but a 5 year old ICE is likely to have lost less value than an electric, at least last I checked.

That said, I don't want to shit on Teslas in general. Many people really like them, and have bought them repeatedly. There are certainly positive aspects such as updates, but to me from a purely automotive point of view, I do struggle to justify it when weighing up all the aspects of having to choose a single car. That definitely changes if you already have a regular car; for a local run-around and city driving, it is very compelling, even ignoring the environmental aspects - which I consider to be a net negative.

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Caleb ☧ 2y ago

I think the biggest mistake, and I do not know who to pin this on, Elon, the government, climate alarmists (etc), was to link the advancement of EVs to being beneficial to the climate/environment etc.

I personally am not excited about EVs (i.e. Tesla's or the sort) because you'll be "saving the planet", but because it's an amazing piece of technology. The same way I enjoy my iPhone. The last phone that wasn't an iPhone for me was a Sony Ericsson 'candy bar' phone. Never looked back. That is how I view EVs - which is why I often say the Tesla is the iPhone of the car industry. And it has been proven to be so (IMO) since the whole industry is changing to compete with them.

The range debate I think is unwarranted, as the majority of people are not travelling across the country all the time. One of the biggest benefit of an EV is that you wake up everyday with a full tank (no ICE can do that). And sure, there are issues relating around that, the stress on the grid etc, but just because that 'may' be an issue, it's something that should advance along with EVs, and not just stay stale. I compare this to the phone lines and the internet. The web was advancing so fast that it was moved off of phone lines and onto coaxial cable, and now onto fibre (if you're lucky) and/or satellites (thanks to Starlink).

And when someone is needing to travel across the country, there are charging stations, and I'm not sure about you, when when going on a long trip, stopping every couple of hours for a snack and a drink is standard practice for our family, and that is enough time to keep you going to the next stop.

Hope that brings more context, at least to where my headspace is at, and why I personally am behind EVs.