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I have a 2013 Nissan Leaf. If I could shove a Tesla Model 3 sized battery in it I would drive it until every last molecule dissociated. I dread the expensive, s

by api 6y ago

I have a 2013 Nissan Leaf. If I could shove a Tesla Model 3 sized battery in it I would drive it until every last molecule dissociated. I dread the expensive, spyware riddled, buggy, and probably shorter lived future of the automobile. Same goes for appliances, which are becoming encrusted with features and less reliable.

drh 6y ago
I have wondered for a while if there is a market for a no-frills vehicle. A modern engine and chassis, etc. but with minimal, tactile, and easily serviceable controls.
- api 6y ago
  There absolutely is. Here is what I want: An EV with great range (e.g. 300mi), good performance (doesn’t have to be a sports car), and classic controls. You could go real minimal on computers. You’d just need a microcontroller to monitor speed, temp, charge, battery health, etc. Basic cruise control of the 1990s type would be nice but not essential. A radio with a USB plug for a phone to play music and good speakers is all you need for an entertainment system. Basically I’m describing an electric 90s Civic with mid range options. Oh and no cellular modem or spyware. Put all the money into drive train, battery, and reliability. Design it to have easily swappable and upgradable batteries and to last for 25-35 years. You’d have one customer at least. You could probably make a pickup version with killer torque and be like Tesla for red states. Rednecks will be sold on the electric thing once they see what instant full torque means.
  - totalZero 6y ago
    So what exactly are the frills that you're setting aside? XM radio? Regen, DC-DC converter, all of these things require more than just a single microcontroller.
    - tw8345 6y ago
      Some speakers and a standard DIN slot for a stereo. A another slot for DC power.
- tomcam 6y ago
  Somewhat difficult to do with California emission requirements, I think
  - toast0 6y ago
    Modern engine should meet California emissions. It might require a modern engine control computer and all that jazz; which may be less serviceable but whatever. I'd take a modern computer controlled fuel injected what not over my old carburated v8 that was easy to adjust, but needed adjustment all the time. Just starts every time for me thanks. But, ignoring engine adjustments, what I'd love in a car is things like using the most common lights; and making the lights easy to access. Because changing the lights is a normal and necessary thing to do. Don't make it take 30-45 minutes to change the (12V) battery, because changing the battery when it dies is a normal and necessary thing to do. Basically, design around ease of maintenance, more than making it look cool and hip. I'm not necessarily going to do all the maintenance, but if important things are easier to get to, it saves me money, because it saves my service shop time. I'd love it if it wasn't 2 cm off the ground, so you could get under it to change the oil; but I'm not going to win that, because I'm exaggerating a bit, but low clearance helps fuel efficiency, and fuel efficiency is required. I'd also love less of the under body panels to help with airflow that get banged up and then fall off or drag and cause terrible noise.
    - tomcam 6y ago
      Well I would totally buy that car myself. I love the vision of course.
      - toast0 6y ago
        Well, I can only hope someone other than me builds it. Cause if I build it, it'll be terrible. Vision for free! ;)
paulcole 6y ago
A snappily branded, advertised on podcasts, D2C dumb-fridge, dumb-oven, dumb-washer-and-dryer, and dumb-TV company aimed at YoPros would be well positioned to make a mint. I strongly believe this will happen soon and as a consumer I can’t wait for it. Especially once it turns into a gold rush like the D2C mattress space and everyone is competing to see how much money they can lose to acquire a customer.
- api 6y ago
  21st century mattress and pillow capitalism is a real WTF for me. What set that gold rush off and why is that market so weird? It reminds me of the audiophile market. Also: a pillow mogul attempted to incite a fascist coup a few weeks ago.
- dhd415 6y ago
  Some of these already exist in certain niches. For example, there are a fair number of "chef-style" ranges with no smart features. I have a gas unit with all analog controls and its only electric features are the oven light and the piezoelectric igniters for the gas burners. I expect it will last close to forever though, somewhat ironically, it did cost more than the smart-feature-laden ovens you'll find in most consumer stores. There are also commercial fridges without lots of extraneous features though they're often not ideal for consumer applications due to the way they look, the amount of noise they make when cooling, and their size. I'd love to see more such "dumb" options in the TV and auto markets but I suspect we overestimate the demand for such things because we HN readers are largely tech-savvy. I think the ideal would be dumb devices with open APIs so that third-party smart features could be added, but that's of negative benefit to manufacturers (lack of vendor lock-in, potential for brand damage due to poorly-implemented third-party features, etc.), so I'm not optimistic about that happening.

by api 6y ago

drh 6y ago

I have wondered for a while if there is a market for a no-frills vehicle. A modern engine and chassis, etc. but with minimal, tactile, and easily serviceable controls.

api 6y ago
There absolutely is. Here is what I want: An EV with great range (e.g. 300mi), good performance (doesn’t have to be a sports car), and classic controls. You could go real minimal on computers. You’d just need a microcontroller to monitor speed, temp, charge, battery health, etc. Basic cruise control of the 1990s type would be nice but not essential. A radio with a USB plug for a phone to play music and good speakers is all you need for an entertainment system. Basically I’m describing an electric 90s Civic with mid range options. Oh and no cellular modem or spyware. Put all the money into drive train, battery, and reliability. Design it to have easily swappable and upgradable batteries and to last for 25-35 years. You’d have one customer at least. You could probably make a pickup version with killer torque and be like Tesla for red states. Rednecks will be sold on the electric thing once they see what instant full torque means.
- totalZero 6y ago
  So what exactly are the frills that you're setting aside? XM radio? Regen, DC-DC converter, all of these things require more than just a single microcontroller.
  - tw8345 6y ago
    Some speakers and a standard DIN slot for a stereo. A another slot for DC power.
tomcam 6y ago
Somewhat difficult to do with California emission requirements, I think
- toast0 6y ago
  Modern engine should meet California emissions. It might require a modern engine control computer and all that jazz; which may be less serviceable but whatever. I'd take a modern computer controlled fuel injected what not over my old carburated v8 that was easy to adjust, but needed adjustment all the time. Just starts every time for me thanks. But, ignoring engine adjustments, what I'd love in a car is things like using the most common lights; and making the lights easy to access. Because changing the lights is a normal and necessary thing to do. Don't make it take 30-45 minutes to change the (12V) battery, because changing the battery when it dies is a normal and necessary thing to do. Basically, design around ease of maintenance, more than making it look cool and hip. I'm not necessarily going to do all the maintenance, but if important things are easier to get to, it saves me money, because it saves my service shop time. I'd love it if it wasn't 2 cm off the ground, so you could get under it to change the oil; but I'm not going to win that, because I'm exaggerating a bit, but low clearance helps fuel efficiency, and fuel efficiency is required. I'd also love less of the under body panels to help with airflow that get banged up and then fall off or drag and cause terrible noise.
  - tomcam 6y ago
    Well I would totally buy that car myself. I love the vision of course.
    - toast0 6y ago
      Well, I can only hope someone other than me builds it. Cause if I build it, it'll be terrible. Vision for free! ;)

paulcole 6y ago

A snappily branded, advertised on podcasts, D2C dumb-fridge, dumb-oven, dumb-washer-and-dryer, and dumb-TV company aimed at YoPros would be well positioned to make a mint. I strongly believe this will happen soon and as a consumer I can’t wait for it. Especially once it turns into a gold rush like the D2C mattress space and everyone is competing to see how much money they can lose to acquire a customer.

api 6y ago
21st century mattress and pillow capitalism is a real WTF for me. What set that gold rush off and why is that market so weird? It reminds me of the audiophile market. Also: a pillow mogul attempted to incite a fascist coup a few weeks ago.
dhd415 6y ago
Some of these already exist in certain niches. For example, there are a fair number of "chef-style" ranges with no smart features. I have a gas unit with all analog controls and its only electric features are the oven light and the piezoelectric igniters for the gas burners. I expect it will last close to forever though, somewhat ironically, it did cost more than the smart-feature-laden ovens you'll find in most consumer stores. There are also commercial fridges without lots of extraneous features though they're often not ideal for consumer applications due to the way they look, the amount of noise they make when cooling, and their size. I'd love to see more such "dumb" options in the TV and auto markets but I suspect we overestimate the demand for such things because we HN readers are largely tech-savvy. I think the ideal would be dumb devices with open APIs so that third-party smart features could be added, but that's of negative benefit to manufacturers (lack of vendor lock-in, potential for brand damage due to poorly-implemented third-party features, etc.), so I'm not optimistic about that happening.