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I think your #1 is especially true. Almost every car company seems to be nothing but Branding + Internal Combustion Engine expertise. Almost everything else get
by simonsarris 10y ago
I think your #1 is especially true. Almost every car company seems to be nothing but Branding + Internal Combustion Engine expertise. Almost everything else gets farmed out (brakes, steering wheels, seats, windows, most of the car).
Until recently every electric car they made and sold would be at the expense of an ICE car they were not selling, while devaluing their ICE expertise and team. I can understand the reluctance, though I don't like the end result.
That is changing as Tesla and others are (hopefully) eating into ICE sales and they have more, um, incentive to get into the electric pipeline.
Aside but the US could help push this along by increasing the gas tax, since the gov hasn't done that since 1993. It would be cheaper than continuing the subsidy, but hopefully help future tech. (And I guess it wouldn't hurt to maybe fund some infrastructure.)
- mikeash 10y agoIt's worth noting that the US gas tax is an absolute amount per gallon, not adjusted for inflation. In terms of real value, the gas tax is substantially lower now than it was in 1993.
- toomuchtodo 10y agoIt is, which is why the federal highway trust fund is broke.
- mikeash 10y agoNot only does it fail to adjust for inflation, but it also doesn't account for the huge increases in average fuel efficiency we've seen in that period, so it's a double whammy.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- agumonkey 10y agoAlso the amount of money due to parts profits. Everything is expensive, even the slightest piece of plastic.. because it's proprietary so if you're not into hardware hacking you bleed. They've been ignored by mass DIY movements since forever but in these arduino / 3D Printing days they'll have to cut that fat off.