Hyundai Kona electric, Kia Soul EV second gen, or Kia Niro EV is fairly modern, but not too “smart”. There’s no reason EVs need to be connected to the internet

Hyundai Kona electric, Kia Soul EV second gen, or Kia Niro EV is fairly modern, but not too “smart”. There’s no reason EVs need to be connected to the internet. While the newer lines of Hyundai and Kia EVs can connect to the internet, that’s only for remote control and updates for the infotainment system. The engine control software is still updated off-line if needed. Unfortunately I’m not aware of any EVs made from the ground up as an EV that is also super simple. Not any that are mass produced in large quantities, in a popular form factor, and easily available in a western market at least. I think the problem now is such an EV - if it was really optimised for low cost - would be too popular. There isn’t enough battery factories to satisfy the potential demand. So car companies would rather use the battery production capacity they have access to for selling expensive high margin vehicles. As long as that market isn’t fully saturated that’s how they get the most money out of the available capacity. And honestly I think it’s a good thing for this part of the EV transition. It’s good that car companies can actually make some money on EVs for a while as it incentivises continued investments in EV R&D and more battery factories. We just gotta hope that we get a smooth transition into the design and production of more affordable models.