3 ms·

As someone who has had several cars like that (built in the late 70s and late 90s), I'll note that operating costs get much harder to quantify with an older car

As someone who has had several cars like that (built in the late 70s and late 90s), I'll note that operating costs get much harder to quantify with an older car... I suppose it depends on your maintenance philosophy and risk tolerance, but the cost per distance goes up dramatically for infrequent use and as the car ages. Many fluids and components don't just wear out by distance driven, but also by time since manufacture or time exposed to the environment. I keep wondering how EVs might behave in this regard. Can they be effectively parked to defer their useful lifetime, or will batteries and power electronics also degrade whether you drive or not? Imagine power electronics succumbing to "bad capacitor" fiascos like other consumer electronics, or batteries being cooked by poor charge controllers when a car is constantly on standby. But I also wonder this about the ever growing informatics systems, regardless of whether it is EV or ICE. Will modern cars be able to be used 10-20 years later, or will some crucial systems fail with no cost-effective service option because manufacturers have moved on to completely different tech? I'm very disheartened to see the smartphone obsolescence mentality seeming to infect car designs. I followed the "buy and hold" strategy for the past 30 years, but I start to wonder if I'll be forced into leasing due to these concerns about the practical longevity of all the newer tech. It seems the only way to make the manufacturer somewhat responsible for the residual utility of the car after its prime years.

ghaff 3y ago
I'm also guessing that, whether or not there's something at least very close to self-driving under many conditions in ten years, unless you really like being in full control, I'm guessing in ten years, you'll be looking enviously at those cars that can drive themselves around on the freeway most of the time.
- saltcured 3y ago
  I understand what you mean. I'm a bit of an ideologue who would rather sacrifice some comforts or conveniences in order to reject the plan marketers are trying to force onto me. I am disgusted by the cynical vertical integrations which are trying to shorten the lifecycle of mechanical equipment by conflating it with the life of digital systems and software. If I were King of the World, modular construction and operation would be mandated as a philosophical extension of "right to repair" into "right to retrofit". The core electro-mechanical car-as-transport would have standardized mount points and interfaces to allow sensor-suite, processing, and driver-automation to be upgraded. A bit like the DIN car stereos of yore, the fancy driving modes or infotainment systems should be field replaceable bits that can be added to an older car to prevent its obsolescence. And conversely, the new car should be able to be bought and used in an old fashioned manner without all those add-ons, if desired by the buyer. I don't want the car manufacturer to limit me to one and only one automation or infotainment suite that they can force into obsolescence. I feel similarly about the actual EV traction bits, but realize current packaging is at its limits to squeeze sufficient battery into the chassis. If battery chemistry ever permits, I would hope that traction batteries can eventually be a smaller modular unit to swap in or out of a car again, more like the conventional 12V battery in standard forms shared by many car makes and models.

ghaff 3y ago

I'm also guessing that, whether or not there's something at least very close to self-driving under many conditions in ten years, unless you really like being in full control, I'm guessing in ten years, you'll be looking enviously at those cars that can drive themselves around on the freeway most of the time.

saltcured 3y ago
I understand what you mean. I'm a bit of an ideologue who would rather sacrifice some comforts or conveniences in order to reject the plan marketers are trying to force onto me. I am disgusted by the cynical vertical integrations which are trying to shorten the lifecycle of mechanical equipment by conflating it with the life of digital systems and software. If I were King of the World, modular construction and operation would be mandated as a philosophical extension of "right to repair" into "right to retrofit". The core electro-mechanical car-as-transport would have standardized mount points and interfaces to allow sensor-suite, processing, and driver-automation to be upgraded. A bit like the DIN car stereos of yore, the fancy driving modes or infotainment systems should be field replaceable bits that can be added to an older car to prevent its obsolescence. And conversely, the new car should be able to be bought and used in an old fashioned manner without all those add-ons, if desired by the buyer. I don't want the car manufacturer to limit me to one and only one automation or infotainment suite that they can force into obsolescence. I feel similarly about the actual EV traction bits, but realize current packaging is at its limits to squeeze sufficient battery into the chassis. If battery chemistry ever permits, I would hope that traction batteries can eventually be a smaller modular unit to swap in or out of a car again, more like the conventional 12V battery in standard forms shared by many car makes and models.