Is anyone else interested in cars and motorsport?

[azurbanclucker]

Autopilot, as expected.

Model X, that is unacceptable.

I was having a conversation with my neighbor (gearhead, has a Z06 C6 as his daily) the other day about EV's and he made an interesting comment that was super insightful to me. Paraphrasing a bit, He said "Tesla isn't really a car company, it's a patent and development operation working on EV's and building cars to showcase the tech. The actual car companies who are in the EV market make better all-around cars, because that's what they've been doing for sometimes a hundred years or more They are sourcing parts or licensing tech to fit into their own cars, but at the core, the finished product will be a better car due to their expertise."

I think that makes a lot of sense and explains why some of the newer startups into the EV space are struggling (Tesla is not unique there, a number of the new EV companies are having issues with mass production gremlins and quality control).

Hopefully over time they'll get it down. Cars started life as EV's, and I think the mass market viability will really solidify in the next 10 years or so. There are a couple of major hurdles left:

1. Pricing. EV"s are still 5-10k more than a comparable gas car and that prices a lot of people out of them.
2. charge time needs to be much closer to the time it takes to fill a gas tank, (Ideally 5 minutes or less, 10 minutes tops)
2a. MUCH more public charging infra. Needs to be EV "pumps" at every gas station to really drive adoption.
3. Affordable conversion/replacement parts need to hit the market en masse. Have an old car that needs an overhaul? How about an EV conversion? Have a classic car you want to keep enjoying? How about converting to EV power? The tech is on the market today but 5-10x the cost of rebuilding or replacing a gas engine. Example, to EV convert my 1966 bug is 15-20k USD today. The car isn't worth that. I'd be in at 3-4k because to me that would be an acceptable spend, but because almost every company that does those kinds of conversions is bespoke and there's no competition, the cost is crazy high.


Sorry, kinda wandered off there.

 

[K1TT]

I was having a conversation with my neighbor (gearhead, has a Z06 C6 as his daily) the other day about EV's and he made an interesting comment that was super insightful to me. Paraphrasing a bit, He said "Tesla isn't really a car company, it's a patent and development operation working on EV's and building cars to showcase the tech. The actual car companies who are in the EV market make better all-around cars, because that's what they've been doing for sometimes a hundred years or more They are sourcing parts or licensing tech to fit into their own cars, but at the core, the finished product will be a better car due to their expertise."

I think that makes a lot of sense and explains why some of the newer startups into the EV space are struggling (Tesla is not unique there, a number of the new EV companies are having issues with mass production gremlins and quality control).

Hopefully over time they'll get it down. Cars started life as EV's, and I think the mass market viability will really solidify in the next 10 years or so. There are a couple of major hurdles left:

1. Pricing. EV"s are still 5-10k more than a comparable gas car and that prices a lot of people out of them.
2. charge time needs to be much closer to the time it takes to fill a gas tank, (Ideally 5 minutes or less, 10 minutes tops)
2a. MUCH more public charging infra. Needs to be EV "pumps" at every gas station to really drive adoption.
3. Affordable conversion/replacement parts need to hit the market en masse. Have an old car that needs an overhaul? How about an EV conversion? Have a classic car you want to keep enjoying? How about converting to EV power? The tech is on the market today but 5-10x the cost of rebuilding or replacing a gas engine. Example, to EV convert my 1966 bug is 15-20k USD today. The car isn't worth that. I'd be in at 3-4k because to me that would be an acceptable spend, but because almost every company that does those kinds of conversions is bespoke and there's no competition, the cost is crazy high.


Sorry, kinda wandered off there.

A ZO6 as daily driver? wow...

 

[Sussex19]

2a. MUCH more public charging infra. Needs to be EV "pumps" at every gas station to really drive adoption.

With this point, there goes another one imo. (coming from a more rural background)
With diesel or petrel cars, if you run out on the road you can generally find some. Many farms will have diesel, and quite a few people carry some spare petrel. As long as you have some cash to pay for it, one can usually find a way.
With EVs, this won't be an option.

 

[K1TT]

Anyone notice that single gills are coming back, like the C5 Corvettes had? I passed a new sports car (Don't know what kind) on the road today and it had a single gill.

 

[azurbanclucker]

A wild Huracan appears.

 

[azurbanclucker]

A ZO6 as daily driver? wow...

When you're retired and your house is paid off, you have some disposable income.

 

[AMM10]

I’ve been shopping around for a new car and a dump truck lately and I feel like kicking some people in the face cause their asking prices are just so ridiculous and unrealistic nowadays.

…Guess I’ll have to snatch a few up from auctions sometime.

 

[azurbanclucker]

I’ve been shopping around for a new car and a dump truck lately and I feel like kicking some people in the face cause their asking prices are just so ridiculous and unrealistic nowadays.

…Guess I’ll have to snatch a few up from auctions sometime.

Even the secondary (AKA used car) market is stupid right now. 40-50% markups in private sale, and forget about a dealer resale.

Definitely a seller's market. Used prices are coming back down at least, but stealerships aren't backing off their "market adjustment" nonsense. We walked from one dealer last week who had put a 25k market adjustment premium on a model they had 20 of sitting on the lot. They clearly didn't want to sell us a car, so we took our money 20 minutes down the road and got what we wanted. Perk of a large metro, there are multiple dealers for the same brand an easy drive from each other.

 

[Ifitaintbroke]

I’ve been shopping around for a new car and a dump truck lately and I feel like kicking some people in the face cause their asking prices are just so ridiculous and unrealistic nowadays.

…Guess I’ll have to snatch a few up from auctions sometime.

Auctions would be a much better option. People are out of their minds with what they think a car is worth these days. And trucks? Don't even get me started...

 

[sdm111]

Stay away from electric vehicles as in keep your regular vehicle parked way away. Especially in a parking garage due to the fire hazard. Also something to think about, what about weight in parking garages? What if electric vehicles become somewhat of the norm for the pipe dream folks? Parking structures aren't designed to handle the weight. What happens when a garage gets a good bit parked above ground level. Collapse? It's something to think about along with the damaging of roads that's quite possible due to the immense weight.