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The first EV startup that emerges with a dumb EV (minimal software to actually operate) for around $30K will have a best-seller. Nobody actually wants the subsc
by vannevar 3y ago
The first EV startup that emerges with a dumb EV (minimal software to actually operate) for around $30K will have a best-seller. Nobody actually wants the subscription-based car, it's gradually being forced on consumers via industry collusion.
- rootusrootus 3y agoWhy does it have to be a startup? You can buy a dumb EV for under $30K today from GM. And yeah, it does sell pretty well. The vast, vast majority of EVs sold today are not forcing subscriptions of any kind on their customers. A couple minor carmakers are trying a new business model.
- mikestew 3y agoThe vast, vast majority of EVs sold today are not forcing subscriptions of any kind on their customers. It's funny that you mention GM, because guess what GM wants to do with EVs starting next model year? https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a43488135/gm-apple-carplay-discontinued-future-evs/ https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a43488135/gm-apple-carplay... (Last line of the article if you want to jump to the spoiler.)
- rootusrootus 3y agoWe can worry about that next year. I fully expect GM to walk back some of it's recent announcements based on strongly negative feedback from customers.
- mikestew 3y agoFair enough, let's not reverse-Osborne a company that, as you say, stands a good chance of walking back their announcements (despite having already lost a sale at our house). If GM is axing the Bolt, though, I hope they hold to their word at keeping the Equinox close to the same price point.
- vannevar 3y agoIt doesn't have to be a startup, no. But GM is discontinuing the Bolt, which I assume is the car you're referring to. And as far as I know, most EVs are evolving in the direction of more software complexity, not less. When I say a dumb EV, I'm talking analog knobs and buttons, no touch screen, no over-the-air updates. A disconnected vehicle.
- rootusrootus 3y agoYou're asking, then, for something that really no longer exists at all, and it is not an EV thing.
- vannevar 3y agoI'm asking for something that never existed---an EV that has the UX simplicity of ICE vehicles of the past.
- mattlondon 3y agoMG in Europe are like this - cheap and cheerful and minimal software beyond android auto/car play etc
- ericpauley 3y agoToyota already sells that. They even include a gas range extender for free with purchase! In reality the CO2-adjusted eMPG of most EVs purchased today won’t outpace the Prius for the expected life of the car.
- Dylan16807 3y ago* and has more than 25/40 miles of range.
- ericpauley 3y ago“Range” is a euphemism for wasted lithium, cobalt, and/or copper that could be better used elsewhere (I.e., building more PHEVs). If your grid is natural gas you may as well bring your fuel with you.
- Dylan16807 3y agoWhen you say subscription-based car that just sounds like a lease, which is fine.
- vannevar 3y agoSure, if you want to lease a car, lease a car. But the idea that I can buy a car but have to pay a subscription for heated seats is ridiculous. Not everything in our lives needs to be a subscription.
- Tade0 3y agoThat would be the humble Dacia Spring: https://www.dacia.de/modelle/spring.html https://www.dacia.de/modelle/spring.html It's actually $25k before incentives. One doctor in my clinic drives this. Fun little car for daily commutes. Range and power are uninspiring though.