Take a car with an internal combustion engine and replace everything that is needed for an electric car. Now you have a no-nonsense car.
Instead, we have a rolling data center that feels like a smartphone.
Because cars, and especially evs, are units of luxury. Luxury don’t have to be reasonable or convenient - au contraire many luxurious items were made inconvenient on purpose.
Automakers just don’t build cheap, reliable, serviceable cars.
Well, there were attempt of this like VW e-golf for example. Not really a terrible car, but due to limited battery space and EV knowledge at the time its range was abysmal (like 100 miles), charging speed was atrocious and it still cost way more than ICE variant. It’s a pretty good car for city commute, but nothing more as highway speed range is even worse due to power draw…
So, it’s not enough to take ICE and do simple “conversion”. But I’m all for dumber EVs!
Because the modern electric car is from an era where laws mandate technology in cars that can surveil the occupants and shutdown the vehicle.
You can swap electric drivetrains into existing cars. Companies such as Felten offer kits for classic Mini’s, Porsche’s, Defender’s. This is likely your best bet.
If emissions is your concern rather than other aspects that electric cars can deliver then look into retrofitting an ICE engine with a thunderstorm generator
The trick is to drive a 20 year old car. I’ve got zero interest in new cars - I wouldn’t want one even for free. Every time I have to drive one I get extremely frustrated by all the pointless features that I have no use for and are just acting as a distraction. Hell, I almost hit a cyclist once because the car wouldn’t let me cross the centre line.
The day my truck dies I’ll just buy another identical one and keep the old one as parts truck. It has everything I need and nothing I don’t… …except automatic wipers.
Because 99% of car buyers want gimmicks. I’m driving a 2014 with manual trans, manual windows, and no cruise control.
What market exists for this?A ford lightning is almost identical to a f-150.
Shame they discontinued it.
Yeah, the Silverado EV is pretty similar. Shame it costs an insane amount of cash.
My family has a 2019 Nissan leaf and the infotainment center feels like it’s from 2012, so I wouldn’t say it feels like a smartphone.
OP is drinking the oil industry Kool Aid. All cars come with the same sensors and send the same data home. It has nothing to do with the engine.
We should have laws against it, but it certainly isn’t limitteed to EVs.
All cars come with the same sensors and send the same data home. It has nothing to do with the engine.
You wish to elaborate on that bold claim a little? Because there’s a ton of sensors that are present in combustion engine but not in EVs and they have everything to do with the engine.
You completely missed the point. OP made a claim “EV cars have lots of gimmicks”, this comment is saying “so do non EV cars”.
this comment is saying “so do non EV cars”
It’s not though. Perhaps that is what they mean which is why I asked for clarification but it sure is not what they said.
You must be invulnerable to arrows, with your ability to miss the point.
If only I had asked for clarification to better understand the point.
Others mentioned it too, but a nissan leaf is as basic a car as it gets. There used to be many of them on the roads. I guess people who can afford having a car with a limited range that can only be charged in a facility or a garage (which excludes long range commuters and apartment dwellers), want to get a truck or a cool car with gimmicks, not a basic car.
I think that that’s kind of a problem with almost all new cars, not just EVs.
Slate’s a pretty stripped-down EV. It’s got a mount where you can stick a phone or tablet if you want, but nothing built-in.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slate_(vehicle)
No cell radio. Doesn’t even have power windows in the base configuration; it comes with air conditioning and air bags and that’s about it.
Note that the range is shorter than, say, a Tesla Model 3 or something.
See I like this but man is it expensive. It fits every category I need, well except range.
Give me AC, A heat pump, 300 miles of range. And two basic speakers. If it doesn’t make the 1998 beater i got when i was 19 look fully loaded it aint basic enough. I need to not die from the elements and for it to go from A to B while blasting low quality buttrock.
Well, that’s the Slate with a couple addons
It’s got a mount where you can stick a phone or tablet if you want, but nothing built-in.
I’m not sure how that will be road legal in the USA because after the passage of a law in 2018 all vehicles under 10,000 lbs require a backup camera.
“Today’s final rule requires all vehicles under 10,000 pounds, including buses and trucks, manufactured on or after May 1, 2018, to come equipped with rear visibility technology that expands the field of view to enable the driver of a motor vehicle to detect areas behind the vehicle to reduce death and injury resulting from backover incidents. The field of view must include a 10-foot by 20-foot zone directly behind the vehicle. The system must also meet other requirements including image size, linger time, response time, durability, and deactivation.”
they can put the backup camera display integrated into the rear view mirror, many models of cars had this before the built in tablet computer became ubiquitous.
This is stupid design. When I’m going backward it’s always better to have more view angles: rear mirror, side mirrors, backing camera, all of them have different view angle and their use. Blocking mirror with camera display is like losing an eye.
The range is shorter than a Tesla but the price is about a third so it’s not so bad when you factor that in. I wish Slate success I really like their approach to the automobile, they remind me of Framework computer on wheels.
Yeah I might get a used slate someday.
Estimated range: 205 miles.
It’s got a mount where you can stick a phone or tablet if you want, but nothing built-in.
I believe that is a mistake, carplay and android auto are designed to work well when driving, my phone automatically removes all text message notifications and makes me not even notice getting texted to prevent me from getting distracted.
I would like a stripped down car that still has Carplay/Android Auto.
This would be solved by putting space in the dash for people to install their own head units.
You can install head units into older cars easily to do this. Did it with my old Ute. Android auto for a song.
Interesting. Android auto always makes me more distracted vs if the phone was just normal.
Once you understand how cheap the components (battery, electric motors, some servos, some steel, a LOT of plastic…
If they don’t make them fabulous the fabulous people won’t buy them. As it is some wide track golf cart/pickup trucks would be far superior than any of the sleek stuff turned out. Better “volt” mileage too.
The batteries aren’t cheap. That’s still the expensive part of an EV, even though it’s nowhere near as expensive as it used to be.
But overall, the same issue plagues all new cars. There have been very few great innovations in the last decade or so, so now they just have to cram more techy tech into cars to get people to buy a new one. I mean no real innovations aside from the electrification itself of course.
Go look at high-end cars in 2016. Carplay/Android Auto was already a thing, though optional in most cars, and not available in all yet. Safety features like automatic braking, adaptive cruise, lane keep assist were already available. Massage seats were old news. There was just nothing new to add to a car to differentiate it from others. Tesla had just come along a few years ago with a slick UI and over the air updates, and people were blown away with it. What do you do? You start imitating the success of Tesla, going too far (too much tech) instead of integrating only the good things (actually responsive screen, for example).
Hell, I maintain that you can get 90% of what you’d ever want from a car, if you’re willing to own ICE, from a well-equipped 2005-2013 Mercedes S-Class by upgrading it with a AA/Carplay module. There’s little in its 2014-2020 successor that makes it truly a better car - only a slightly nicer infotainment system, better transmission (even that only in the facelift) and different (some better, some worse) engine options. So in 2020, with the new model, they went crazy with screens, making the interior actually uglier than the old ones. The electric equivalent, EQS, was even more screen-focused, only because it came out a year or 2 later, not because it’s electric.
Once we get to cheaper cars, however, it’s even harder to add any real new innovations. MB’s Magic body control (camera controlled hydraulic suspension that knows when to soften up for a pothole) is super expensive. 4 wheel steering is expensive. A large touchscreen is not expensive. A sim card for online services is not expensive.
I think that’s part of the reason BYD does so well in Australia.
Their cars look like normal cars.
I’m not sure I’d want a BYD either…
Yeah I will admit it’s a problem, and it’s my complaint as well
Many aren’t going to look twice though
Be nice if we could access a choice of EVs without all this crap. That said it isn’t confined to the chinese makes either, they’re all doing it
The cheapest car in australia is a byd. It’s like 20k. Like it is cheapest out of all ice and electric cars
Yes and it’s really hard for the right people not to look favourably at it
We’re in a pretty good space with it all tbh…the only issue we have of course is making both EVs and solar more accessible to more people.
My issue is that a lot of manufacturers have tried, incorrectly, to mimic Tesla in ways they don’t understand.
Tesla have a 16" screen in their car.
Ford: We put a 17" screen in our car!
Tesla: You can watch movies, play video games, browse the internet, etc. when you’re charging (as it used to take a long time - but we’ve kept the big screen).
Ford: You’ve got a bit ole screen! It’s bigger than a Tesla’s! Your driving map is huuuge. When you’re charging you can watch it charge - in HD!
I can say coming from a Tasla in 2018 to Polestar, and then a bunch of various EV rentals while that was being “repaired” (and ultimately returned as a lemon)… To ending up with a Honda Prologue (actually a GM)…
None of the legacy automakers have any idea what to do with EVs, and they aren’t even trying to figure it out. They always just take the ICR out, stick a generic EV powertrain in and basically call it a day.
No attempt to take advantage of the fact they have power always available. Still keeping the engine Start/Stop button despite there being no reason for it. Requiring lock/unlock buttons on the exterior handles despite the car already knowing whether you’re in proximity via the fob, to let those buttons do anything in the first place.
And the complete lack of things like YouTube/Netflix, etc. when needing to charge at public chargers on long trips in more remote areas with limited infrastructure.
They could just copy Tesla and no one would complain, because the product would actually be good. As it is currently, all of the legacy US manufacturers fucking suck. The only ones that seem to have figured it out are the new players that haven’t had the same Boomers running the show for the last century.
Buttons and dials are coming back, at least.
Not sure where I read it, but the story goes that loads of manufacturers used touch screen controls “because Tesla” but Tesla didn’t do it because it was cool and fancy, they did it because it’s cheaper. Spinning up entire supply lines to get plastic buttons and switches just wasn’t feasible for them in the startup days.
It’s literally the opposite of premium.
There aren’t no nonsense gas powered cars anymore. Everything is computer controlled.
Anti lock brakes, collision avoidance, controlling the fuel injections. You have to go back to the models that used carburetors to get what you want. Then the federal goverment requires tons of expensive safety equipment and testing to keep new companies from entering the market.
But to answer the question, profits. The production line for low price gas cars are already built and optimized with statistical process control. There aren’t high profits in the low priced autos. They will only switch when nobody buys their current models.
Just look at the big three turning their nose up to electric.
Meanwhile Hyundai is rolling out a super cheap model in china. https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/hyundais-new-ioniq-v-undercuts-the-cheapest-ev-in-america-by-over-10000/
FYI: Companies are getting your message and vibe. But so far it’s just for farm tractors.
https://wheelfront.com/this-alberta-startup-sells-no-tech-tractors-for-half-price/
There aren’t no nonsense gas powered cars anymore. Everything is computer controlled.
Anti lock brakes, collision avoidance, controlling the fuel injections. You have to go back to the models that used carburetors to get what you want. Then the federal goverment requires tons of expensive safety equipment and testing.
I don’t think OP is referring to any of that. More so the infotainments systems, touch controlled dashboards etc.
Idk, just because a car doesn’t have a touchscreen doesn’t mean the computers aren’t tracking you. Anything with ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) is going to phone home, and vehicles are required to have a lot of the systems now.
For sure, but blaming that on computers in general is a bit dumb
It’s all cars. It’s more profitable to sell fewer cars at a higher price. The tech bloat is used to justify the high price. Regulations requiring the tech bloat are designed to keep competitors from entering the market. Regulations are paid for by
bribeslobbying.
