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Golf carts are not street-legal in most places. E-scooters are essentially street-legal golf carts, and they are exploding in popularity. Unfortunately, US re

Golf carts are not street-legal in most places. E-scooters are essentially street-legal golf carts, and they are exploding in popularity. Unfortunately, US regulations and road behavior make small cars unprofitable to sell over here. See: the Ford Mustang EV, which is an SUV with a muscle car's name. Or VW, who will only sell the ID.4 in NA, no electric hatchbacks. Or the Chevy bolt, another SUV with sedan lineage. IMO, plenty of people would jump for cheap small EVs if they could buy them, but nobody will sell us one.

rglullis 4y ago
> cheap small EVs if they could buy them Cheap, Small, Large Production Volume. Pick two. Companies can not sell you something they can not make.
- b112 4y ago
  Ah, the infamous "pick two from three", with the choices thrown together to win a point. But... there are plenty of cheap, small, large production ICE cars. And we've been told that EVs are less complicated, with the president of Ford, last week, claiming they take 1/2 the labour to build. There is no reason this three cannot exist together. None.
  - EvanAnderson 4y ago
    I assume there isn’t enough gross margin on small cheap cars and consumers have shown they’ll just buy the larger, more margin-filled alternatives.
  - rglullis 4y ago
    > there are plenty of cheap, small, large production ICE cars If there are, then why are you complaining that they "won't sell them to you"? > There is no reason this three cannot exist together. None. Mineral resources to make the batteries? Why do you think that Tesla has a waiting period of months.
    - b112 4y ago
      If there are, then why are you complaining that they "won't sell them to you"? I complained about no such thing. Mineral resources to make the batteries? Why do you think that Tesla has a waiting period of months. Certainly not for this reason. Telsa has always been months, even years behind on deliveries.
  - SyzygistSix 4y ago
    I agree but they are two very different products despite both being cars. And expecting a new company to scale to the size needed to produce cheap vehicles en masse in an economically sustainable way is unrealistic and unfair as a criticism. Even the largest car companies are finding it difficult. The three will exist together, like the Corolla, Camry etc. But it will take a while to scale up to that. People are expecting Rome to be built in a day and whining because it isn't.
- zappzoom 4y ago
- carapace 4y ago
  Those three things go together, there are no trade offs. "And therefore your answer is a charade." Smaller is cheaper is easier to produce in large volumes, yeah? You can buy small, cheap, mass-produced EVs in most of the rest of the world today, just not in North America.

rglullis 4y ago

> cheap small EVs if they could buy them Cheap, Small, Large Production Volume. Pick two. Companies can not sell you something they can not make.

b112 4y ago
Ah, the infamous "pick two from three", with the choices thrown together to win a point. But... there are plenty of cheap, small, large production ICE cars. And we've been told that EVs are less complicated, with the president of Ford, last week, claiming they take 1/2 the labour to build. There is no reason this three cannot exist together. None.
- EvanAnderson 4y ago
  I assume there isn’t enough gross margin on small cheap cars and consumers have shown they’ll just buy the larger, more margin-filled alternatives.
- rglullis 4y ago
  > there are plenty of cheap, small, large production ICE cars If there are, then why are you complaining that they "won't sell them to you"? > There is no reason this three cannot exist together. None. Mineral resources to make the batteries? Why do you think that Tesla has a waiting period of months.
  - b112 4y ago
    If there are, then why are you complaining that they "won't sell them to you"? I complained about no such thing. Mineral resources to make the batteries? Why do you think that Tesla has a waiting period of months. Certainly not for this reason. Telsa has always been months, even years behind on deliveries.
- SyzygistSix 4y ago
  I agree but they are two very different products despite both being cars. And expecting a new company to scale to the size needed to produce cheap vehicles en masse in an economically sustainable way is unrealistic and unfair as a criticism. Even the largest car companies are finding it difficult. The three will exist together, like the Corolla, Camry etc. But it will take a while to scale up to that. People are expecting Rome to be built in a day and whining because it isn't.
zappzoom 4y ago
carapace 4y ago
Those three things go together, there are no trade offs. "And therefore your answer is a charade." Smaller is cheaper is easier to produce in large volumes, yeah? You can buy small, cheap, mass-produced EVs in most of the rest of the world today, just not in North America.