ProDarwin said:Knurled. said:And I felt weird today when I realized that the CD playing in my car (the actual media) was old enough to have gotten married, had two kids, and a divorce, all after acquiring a degree in college.
(and that I was in high school when I got the CD)
The cheat code on your license plate will be 25 on Monday. Think about that.
I smell a new video coming on. Didn't realize the anniversary was coming, thanks!
After driving the Volt I can confidently say that regular people aren't going to want to go back to ICE cars once they get a taste for electric driving. There is a place for ICE cars in the future, but it's not for around town daily commuting.
mazdeuce - Seth said:After driving the Volt I can confidently say that regular people aren't going to want to go back to ICE cars once they get a taste for electric driving. There is a place for ICE cars in the future, but it's not for around town daily commuting.
Something interesting to think about, and I'm not sure what it means.
I drag raced a P90D once. It was a end of year test and tune day, a bunch of people just having fun. Place was PACKED, I think I got maybe two runs total. The way the lanes moved, I was lined up against the electric wundercar. "Neat", I thought.
With a crappy launch, on 15 year old all seasons, I got my best time and MPH to date. 13.6 at 104mph. (This is the same car in largely the same state as it was at the RallyCross Nationals in '12 and '14. I was still in 3rd gear through the traps)
The Tesla ran a 12.66.
However, it passed me just after the 1/8mi. My rear drive, no-traction, "OMGZ theres no torque lol" rotary wasn't passed by an "OMG teh TORQUEZ" all wheel drive until the top end.
What does it mean? I have no idea.
Guess I better start planning a career change. I don't see this being popular in this area for a long time anyway. Farmer brown isn't trading his old gas 4x4 for an electric truck
Funny that Germany made a big show about planning to 0shut down all their nuke plants to focus on renewables, and as a result they have an electric grid more dependent on fossil fuels, so these battery powered VWs will pollute at the coal burning power plant instead of from the tailpipe.
I am not against electric cars. They make a lot of sense for some people in some places, but I don't understand the idea of no ICE powered cars at least with today's technology.
In reply to Knurled. :
It means you treed him.
I think one of the main issues here is that VW, like several other manufacturers, actually sell a huge number of cars in countries that are not in N.America and Europe. And while NA and Europe may be putting some amount of money into the electrical grid, charging stations, whatever - there is no way in the next couple decades that South/Centra America, Africa, South/Southeast Asia, and probably Russia are going to be able to do this on a significant scale (nor do they have the emissions regulations requiring it, for the most part). So, what company is gonna say "yeah, we'll keep making gas/diesel cars for the rest of the world..." ?
Just a thought.
You can’t get caught cheating on emissions if your cars don’t have combustion engines. Smart!
Will the solid state batteries work in extreme cold? A gas engine starts and runs fine, with some starting help, at -40 without any significant range reduction. Electrics, not so much.
I think electric has its place but I’ll keep my ICEs for as long as possible. I love me some burning dinosaurs.
The technology is rapidly evolving. It wasn’t that long ago the Prius was a novel idea. It’s been even less time since Tesla came on the scene. When the full force of an OEM like VW gets behind electric cars the tech is going to improve even faster. If the infrastructure can keep up and the prices can stay reasonable I see no reason why electrics won’t be the primary vehicle for most people.
I really like the time I’ve spent in a Volt. If only the ICE was a little bigger... the Tesla I drove was massively entertaining in a straight line. Pretty dead in the turns though. Eh, I’ll end up with an EV one day.
Javelin said:Furious_E said:What the hell kind of name is 'Taycan'? Porsche should go back to numbering their cars instead of naming them.
It's a riff on the Taychon, a theoretical particle that can travel faster than light.
Are you sure you're not talking about a Tachyon? Which rolls off the tongue rather differently... Anyhow, the Porsche newsroom says "The name can be roughly translated as 'lively young horse'", though they don't specify in what language...
In reply to T.J. :
Are you thinking about another country? Germany’s solar and wind power is close to 50% last I checked and nuclear was never that high even if you go back a couple of decades...
And shouldn’t the answer be to wean off fossil fuel electrical generation as well by going to renewables? Imagine that - no more cost to power outside of capital to deploy! Imagine the competitive advantage we could gain as a country if all the money now going to oil and gas and coal is freed to invest in productive ways rather than on consumables for power?
In reply to Javelin :
Exactly. P90d has an 11.x 1/4 mile unless it had ludicrous mode in which case it’s a 10 second car. So he was a bad driver, and there’s nothing to be learned about the car from that.
I think electrics could be cool but really the power comes from somewhere and its usually not green power
Years ago i read an article about how electric cars produced more pollution because its less efficient to produce power miles away and send it to your car vs burning gas or diesel in your car. Not sure about how true it was but its food for thought.
Personally im driving an 180 mile round trip to work now in the woods in freezing temps, its not ideal for electric cars
irish44j said:I think one of the main issues here is that VW, like several other manufacturers, actually sell a huge number of cars in countries that are not in N.America and Europe. And while NA and Europe may be putting some amount of money into the electrical grid, charging stations, whatever - there is no way in the next couple decades that South/Centra America, Africa, South/Southeast Asia, and probably Russia are going to be able to do this on a significant scale (nor do they have the emissions regulations requiring it, for the most part). So, what company is gonna say "yeah, we'll keep making gas/diesel cars for the rest of the world..." ?
Just a thought.
They don't plan to stop selling ICEs for a very long time, they just won't be developing brand new ICE engine platforms after 2026. They'll continue to refine the next generation of ICEs as long as they can, and will still sell ICEs in markets where electrics don't make sense. They'll just be ICEs that are old at that point. They're predicting there will still be ICE VWs sold in various markets beyond 2050.
From the article:
"VW will continue to modify its combustion engine technology after the new platform is introduced next decade. After 2050, there may still be some gasoline and diesel models in regions where there is insufficient charging infrastructure, according to Jost."
David S. Wallens said:And, seriously, yeah, just reading the news. Will more companies follow? Will it actually happen in the first place?
Mary Barra thinks so:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scek4oBwZMI&t=295s (starts at 2:53)
20 EV's by 2023?
irish44j said:I think one of the main issues here is that VW, like several other manufacturers, actually sell a huge number of cars in countries that are not in N.America and Europe. And while NA and Europe may be putting some amount of money into the electrical grid, charging stations, whatever - there is no way in the next couple decades that South/Centra America, Africa, South/Southeast Asia, and probably Russia are going to be able to do this on a significant scale (nor do they have the emissions regulations requiring it, for the most part). So, what company is gonna say "yeah, we'll keep making gas/diesel cars for the rest of the world..." ?
Just a thought.
They also sell a lot of older generation vehicles in same countries.
I'm not reading the announcment as they are stopping production of internal combustion vehicles, just that they are going to stop designing new ones.
mazdeuce - Seth said:After driving the Volt I can confidently say that regular people aren't going to want to go back to ICE cars once they get a taste for electric driving. There is a place for ICE cars in the future, but it's not for around town daily commuting.
Having owned a Leaf, I agree with this. VW certainly has the financial resources to make their announcement happen. However, there's just something inherently wrong about a car known for electrical...uh...challenges...going to an all electric fleet.
Yeah, I'm reading a lot of "soft" words here. Plenty of wiggle room. "As much as possible" and "The bare minimum", etc etc. All professional bullE36 M3.
We'll be able to buy new ICE cars for a long time to come.
Car companies (like every corporation) are driven to create value for shareholders. That is every corporation's #1 goal, no matter what.
Value of a stock is affected by telling potential shareholders what you're doing now to create value in the future.
Shareholders think electric and autonomous are the future, because that's what every car and tech company is talking about, therefore any company not investing (or claiming to invest) in that tech may not create value in the future.
No matter what a carmaker actually puts out over the next few years (or 5 or 10 or 20), they have to at least be talking about electric and autonomous right now to keep investors happy.
That is what you're seeing today.
Just because a motor doesn't spew out noxious gases, doesn't mean they can be hotrodded. Automobile manufacturers will always leave performance on the table for better reliability, constructability, or some other tradeoff.
How is the coming technology going to address those driving conditions where spontaneous torque is not your friend. Driving last night in a mix of rain and slush on our 2005 3.0i X3 with fresh snow tires reminds me that car control is ultimately the responsibility of the driver.
Yes, I was enjoying the drive. I am one that wants to be engaged in the act of transferring myself from point A to B. If this makes me a dinosaur, I will add it to the list of things I embrace. Along with my flip phone so my friends cannot send me stuff that my wife and kids might find childish.
Regenerative braking on snow/ice sucks. I think you are supposed to set the car to the lowest setting but the range is greatly diminished. EVs work well in warm places but the manufacturers have a long way to go with cold weather usability.
The0retical said:Out of curiosity (since I don't watch much OTA TV) has anyone else seen the video of the Subaru with the tree hugger stickers pulling up to the Bolt that VW paid for? That was a little weird.
Part of the penance for the deisel scandal.
In reply to bcp2011 :
Renewables without some sort of energy storage capacity mean more carbon producing plants because to have a stable grid there needs to be enough non-renewable power available when the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining. Typically, at least in the US, that means natural gas plants since they can respond quickly to provide the needed capacity. Germany now relies more on coal than they did since they started phasing out their nukes and their push for green energy has resulted in not meeting their stated CO2 reduction goals (so far). Nukes used to supply about a third of their energy, but now are closer to half that and coal has picked up the slack.
It may work out in the end as technology keeps advancing, but for now their nuke phase out has not been a win in terms of minimizing CO2.
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