6 ms·
A few decades back, EVs were little econoboxes. Has anyone considered making an inexpensive, reliable, simple EV for commuters?
by RecycledEle 3y ago
A few decades back, EVs were little econoboxes.
Has anyone considered making an inexpensive, reliable, simple EV for commuters?
- JoeAltmaier 3y agohttps://microlino-car.com/en/microlino https://microlino-car.com/en/microlino
- uxp100 3y agoThe Chevy Bolt?
- bhpm 3y agoThe Chevy Bolt EUV is to my mind the perfect little city car. It’s not really “little” by most standards but if I were buying an EV today this is the one I’d go with. I love my Teslas and will keep them for many years to come but I’m happy that Chevy has this one.
- canadianfella 3y ago[dead]
- happyopossum 3y agoThe Bolt is discontinued, and they’re using the factory to build electric trucks.
- bhpm 3y agoI heard :(. It’s weird to say, but I think Chevy is moving too fast. The Volt should still be around, it’s a great “starter” car for the EV shy. Now they’re rushing headlong into trucks when I think there’s a real market for the compact crossover EUV. I suppose trucks are high margin and now that “little” trucks are back they can take part of that segment.
- fooblaster 3y agoThe volt is also dead, which is a shame.
- mach5 3y agono it isn't, they reversed the decision thankfully (we own a 2017 bolt, it's great) https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/24/general-motors-chevrolet-bolt-ev-ultium.html https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/24/general-motors-chevrolet-bol...
- happyopossum 3y agoThey didn't 'reverse the decision' - the current Bolt is dead, and the factory will still be switched over to producing electric trucks. They announced that they are going to redesign and relaunch the bolt at some undetermined future date, and have not announced where it will be built.
- infecto 3y agoI wish it was not true, same with the Nissan leaf. I know the leaf was never a great seller but it seems that now the EV market is getting hot, these cool compact EVs are being discontinued. The Chevy volt was also ahead of its time and a shame they got rid of that so quickly.
- BizarroLand 3y agoMy friend bought a used Honda Clarity last year. It is a hybrid but all electric for the first 30-odd miles, which doesn't seem like a lot but he runs a roadside assistance company and that 30 miles is his typical range, it's saving him 1-4 gallons of gas a day depending on the timing of his calls. He really likes it and would consider a new one when he's done with this one but they quit making them.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago> Has anyone considered making an inexpensive, reliable, simple EV for commuters? These have been around for awhile, they aren't really suited to the American market though; e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuling_Hongguang_Mini_EV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuling_Hongguang_Mini_EV
- vel0city 3y ago> propelling the car to a stated top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph) Yeah, definitely not many American markets. Several highways around me have posted speed limits of 75MPH, traffic often flows even faster than that. Driving in a car that can barely reach 60mph would often result in a speed differential of like 15+mph with the rest of traffic. I'd feel extremely unsafe going almost 20mph slower than the surrounding traffic while in a subcompact car.
- nonethewiser 3y agoId go further than that. A car with 62 mph max speed should not be highway legal.
- bhpm 3y agoFor which market? China has many like that. Americans don’t tend to favor small vehicles. The EU is better suited for it.
- jupp0r 3y agoSure, there are plenty. Nobody is buying them.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- speedgoose 3y agoYes of course. In which market are you?
- davmar 3y agoVolvo EX30 is looking interesting https://www.volvocars.com/us/cars/ex30-electric/ https://www.volvocars.com/us/cars/ex30-electric/
- reducesuffering 3y ago> Inexpensive > Starts at $35k
- bdcravens 3y agoAverage new car transaction price in the US is $48k. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a43611570/average-new-car-price-down-still-high/ https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a43611570/average-new-car-...
- reducesuffering 3y agoAnd the average new home in the US is $480k, but at a median income of $31k I would never call it inexpensive. Let’s save it for the truly high value purchases like $90 espresso machines, $400 phone, $400 PC, and $300 TV. Maybe a $10k 10 year old Toyota with 150k miles left?
- throwaway-blaze 3y agoMedian household income in the US is more like $70k. Median individual income is $40k. Median household also varies tremendously by state, Mississippi is around $44k and Maryland/DC area is $90k.
- ClumsyPilot 3y agoMean or median? You should not use mean for things like this, if 3 guys buy a Ford for 33k and 1 guy buys a Ferrari for 300k, average price is 100K If 1 guy is dead from hypothermia and the other guy is on fire then on average they have a healthy body temperature
- krastanov 3y ago
- daliusd 3y agoCitroen Ami
- riffraff 3y agoand the FIAT Topolino and Opel Rocks-e, which are all built on the same platform, and in the same factory, I think.
- the_mitsuhiko 3y agoIn Europe there are a lot of choices these days for small electric cars.
- izacus 3y agoStill quite expensive though - e.g. Renault Zoe is over 30.000EUR
- the_mitsuhiko 3y agoThe Zoe is not Renault's cheapest. The Twingo E-Tech starts here (Austria) at 26k.
- izacus 3y agoAh, wasn't aware of that one.
- namdnay 3y agoFrom the Renault group the cheapest is the Dacia Spring, which is below 20k I think?
- FirmwareBurner 3y agoDacia Spring is still a Chinese car that's got nothing to do with the Romanian brand, it's just a rebadge to a brand the EU consumers are familiar with.
- fh973 3y agoAt least in Europe, the industry has lobbied away the possibility of cheap cars. From 2024, "Intelligent Speed Assist" and data recorders are mandatory for new cars.
- izacus 3y agoEquipment for those costs like 500EUR. Where does the rest of 20.000+ increase of car prices come from? ;)
- stefan_ 3y agoYou mean the cars that had GPS maps and cruise control anyway will have to take the speed limit from the GPS map and apply it to the cruise control? Horror, the cost!
- petre 3y agoChinese manufacturers are going to obliterate the EU auto industry. I saw Nio break the 1k range mark on a single battery charge the other day. That and their battery swapping stations. Now this. Meanwhile BMW is still making a diesel X5 with colorful lights for about >100k in 2023 and also a diesel series 7. The exhaust on these stinks like the one in a VW from 2004. Their electric and hybrid offerings are also a joke. Another player, Daimler, put a washing machine sized electric motor coupled onto the automatic gearbox into some of their hybrids, along with a underpowered 1.6L engine. The tumble dryer engine is powered by a 20kW battery, wasting juice as drag and heat in the gearbox. They had the gearboxes lying around from start/stop ICEs and found a use for them: dumping them onto an unsuspecting public. That is their idea of a hybrid. Of course it's underpowered and burns gas like there's no tomorrow the moment that you stop driving like grandma. Renault is possibly the only brand with decent offerings. Everybody laughs while Dacia Spring, another Chinese built car, is leading the EV sales this year. Dacia is the budget brand in Renault's portofolio.
- bb123 3y agoYes. In Europe there is the Corsa-e and the e208. Both have >200 mile range and can be picked up less than 3 years old for under 10k.
- yurishimo 3y agoNot in NL they can't... the cheapest I can find is 18k for either model. Some of them appear to be still eligible for a subsidy, but that only brings it down to 16k. Not bad honestly considering that taxes are about to go up for EVs in the Netherlands in 2025. No more subsidization when a 30% of people own an EV!
- sbierwagen 3y agoMitsubishi sold the i-MiEV in the US for years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_i-MiEV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_i-MiEV I knew a guy who had two of em. Nobody else bought them and eventually they gave up. There's just no market for EVs with a 60 mile range.
- notatoad 3y agoThere's tons of simple, reliable EVs on the market for under $5000 and they're selling at rates that vastly outpace all these premium EVs. It's just that they have two wheels and no climate control.
- jerlam 3y agoWhat does a "car for commuters" imply? Most of the previous comments take it to mean a small car that doesn't need to travel very fast or far, perhaps in a city where parking is scarce. But some of my commutes have been very long, or very far, or very fast. If I'm going to spend three hours, or 100 miles, or average 80+ mph on it every single day, I'm not going to get a small econobox. We all know commuting is an awful, awful experience; but when people spend a lot of time in their car, it's no surprise that they're spending more money to make that experience slightly less awful.
- fooblaster 3y agoWhy exactly do you need an enormous car to feel comfortable on a commute? This attitude is frankly leading to an enormous ballooning in the size of vehicles on the road, which is having tragic consequences for pedestrians. As somebody in the 98% height, and who is perfectly comfortable in well designed "econo-boxes" (vw seems quite good at this), I find the desire to get enormous SUVs for a highway commute terribly unfortunate.
- throwaway-blaze 3y agoA lot of families in the US are forced to larger vehicles (minivans or SUVs) when they have a second child -- my wife and I greeted twins and had to get rid of our VW Jetta because it could _barely_ fit 2 car seats in the back.
- RecycledEle 3y ago> Why exactly do you need an enormous car to feel comfortable on a commute? Someone with a bad back and other chronic pain issues does not just feel every bump, they tear up with pain at every bump. Someone with those medical issues also can not squat down to get into a compact car or climb up into a truck. For those people, large, American-made, V8, rear-wheel-drive cars are a blessing. I do not have those issues, but I know several people who do.
- fooblaster 3y ago
- eunos 3y agoBYD Seagull costs 12k only