What will it take to make you seriously consider an EV?

Not going to consider it when half the population think ICE is the only way to go and the federal government keeps flip flopping depending who is in charge. One Chinese province (Guangdong) has more EV charging stations than all of USA (no wonder China dominate EV market outside of US).

 

Consider it when you're ready. Its not for everyone but EV's are here for good. I find driving ICE vehicles a chore now. I am spoiled by all of the tech.

 

My sister got a Tesla and love it, but I am thinking about getting a plug in hybrid this year, if the US have millions of EV stations all over the country, I would switch to an EV.

 

Rivian says it will offer hands-off autonomous driving later this year, with eyes-off coming in 2026

Rivian’s founder and CEO, RJ Scaringe, has revealed that he plans to launch a new Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) that will allow hands-free driving in its vehicles… and it could be here before the end of the year.

The system, which will work much like Tesla’s Full Self-Driving functionality, will effectively allow R1T and R1S owners to take their hands off the wheel (where permitted) while the vehicle navigates pre-mapped routes using a suite of on-board cameras and sensors.

Just last year, Rivian updated its R1T and R1S models with the next generation of its camera technology, improving the resolution and adding in a new sensor suite and processing units to handle more data.

Thanks to this fact, it is still unclear whether the first generation Rivian vehicles will receive the next generation driver assistance systems, or whether it will only be possible with the aforementioned upgraded sensor suite.

Speaking at the opening of a new Rivian Space in San Francisco last week, the CEO hinted that the recently-updated matrix LED headlights and full-width light bars could also be used to inform fellow road users that the vehicle is operating in an autonomous mode, according to The Verge.

What’s more, Scaringe says that he hopes to expand the offering to a fully SAE Level 3 “eyes-off” system by next year, which would put Rivian on a par with Mercedes-Benz, which remains one of the few manufacturers (BMW is another) to offer motorists the chance undertake side-tasks under extremely strict driving conditions in certain US states and European regions.

Currently, Rivian’s autonomous offering is similar to the most basic Tesla Autopilot package, offering a smart cruise control function that enables the car to automatically speed up and slow down in highway traffic, as well as stay in its lane.

But the recent announcement would crank Rivian's autonomous driving offering up a notch and enable customers to sit back and take hands off the wheel, so long as they are ready to take over driving duties as soon as the vehicle requires it.

However, drivers wouldn’t legally be allowed to read a book, answer emails or take eyes off the road during "hands-off" modes, as this is only reserved for those SAE Level 3 systems that have been legislated for use.

Tesla is currently receiving a lot of flack from its customer base that opted for the “Full Self-Driving package” under the premise that one day, they would be allowed to operate the system without supervision at all times, according to Electrek.

The company has been gradually upgrading its autonomous driving hardware and many of the original FSD customers are worried that the package they paid for (some of the deals date back to 2016) won’t actually work with their older vehicles if and when Musk’s team cracks it.

Disgruntled customers are now calling out for Tesla to transfer any pre-existing Full Self-Driving packages over to the driver, allowing them to transfer it to newer vehicles, rather than tying it to the car. Tesla has previously honored this, but only for limited windows of time.

Promising Full Self-Driving capabilities, as Musk has been doing for years, is just plain wrong, because the vehicles blatantly aren’t capable of doing so.

Instead, Rivian has chosen to play it safer, offering “hands-off” driving capabilities that it knows already exist and are already in use by rival manufacturers. But it will still have to make sure the systems work (and are legal) before thinking of demanding customers hand over money for them - especially where "eyes-off" promises are made.

What’s more, only offering the latest technology to owners of the newest Rivian models is a surefire way of alienating all of those early adopters that bet big and supported the company in the early days.

After all, the dream we are all being sold of the software-defined vehicle states that cars only get better with time. But as we are so often seeing, this is not always the case.

 

I agree, at this point until I can charge anywhere I go at any time I won't do it. As dumb as it sounds, I know I can fuel up at any time, night or day 24/7 365 and I don't feel comfortable if I am constantly wondering where the hell, I will charge this thing. I`ve driven in a Tesla and absolutely loved it, but to be honest, knowing what I know about Elon now, I would never buy a Tesla or anything associated with him. I do like the Ford F 150 hybrid

 

There was already some chatter that most foreign car companies (except for some special niches) would eventually be forced out of the Chinese market.

China's BYD cuts entry price for smart EVs to below $10,000

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China's BYD on Monday started offering advanced autonomous driving features on most of its models including ones priced as low as $9,555, far undercutting competitors such as Tesla in a move analysts say is set to start a new price war.

The electric vehicle giant has equipped all of its BYD-branded models priced above 100,000 yuan ($13,688) with the company's proprietary "God's Eye" advanced driver-assistance system, BYD founder Wang Chuanfu told an event livestreamed from Shenzhen.

It has also installed the system in three models priced below 100,000 yuan, the cheapest being the Seagull priced from 69,800 yuan. It began sales of those models, 21 in total, immediately after the event. Wang said these would be the "first batch".

BYD had previously only offered such features, which enable cars to navigate highway traffic autonomously under human drivers' supervision, in models priced from $30,000. Tesla has these features available in China in its EVs priced from $32,000.

While some Chinese EV brands such as Xpeng's MONA and Stellantis' partner Leapmotor have also rolled out affordable EVs with smart driving features, the cheapest then was SAIC-General Motors-Wuling's $15,000 Baojun Yunhai.

"The biggest revelation from BYD is that they want to equalize the right to technology. Technology does not need to be high-end and they can fight a price war here," said Yale Zhang, managing director at Automotive Foresight.

"It's a little like DeepSeek," he said, referring to the Chinese artificial intelligence startup which shook global markets last month by revealing that it had built its AI models at a fraction of the cost of Western tech giants.

John Zeng, head of market forecast for China at London-based consultancy GlobalData, said the move towards smart driving was probably a recognition by BYD that its sales, which hit 4 million units last year, had plateaued and that it needed a breakthrough.

He said smart driving "is set to bring its sales to a new level".

"Other automakers including Xpeng will be under tremendous pressure from BYD’s ADAS-powered affordable EVs, but it would be difficult for them to follow suit with similarly affordable ones," he added.

AI DRIVER

Anticipation over how BYD's smart driving plans could shake up the already highly competitive automotive market has built up since last week, sending the firm's shares up by 16% since Thursday when Chinese media reported on plans for the event.

The company has already in the past two years been a large driver of a vicious price war in China, the world's largest auto market, by relentlessly discounting its cars including ones in its best-selling Dynasty and Ocean series of models.

Wang during his presentation predicted that smart driving features would become an indispensable feature of cars akin to seatbelts and airbags, and that he saw BYD's move as aiding the AI shift in China. The company has also integrated DeepSeek's AI models into its Xuanji smart car architecture.

"As more and more people use smart driving, it will form a 'flywheel effect' on Chinese smart driving technology as the speed of data accumulation and iteration accelerates," he said.

"I believe smart driving will become a new calling card for Chinese cars."
($1 = 7.3060 Chinese yuan renminbi)

 

I've had a PHEV for years. I still recommend it over an EV. The only thing to note is that not all PHEVs are equal. Some cars stay in EV mode only at low speeds so you're really driving a glorified hybrid while others can sit in EV mode at highway speeds (which feels more like an EV).

 

Thanks for the information.

 

US car manufacturers have been losing money in China for years. They should have called it a day much earlier.

It's not even about producing cheap cars. The Chinese want Mercedes, BMWs, and economy cars from VW.

https://carnewschina.com/2025/01/26...nese-passenger-vehicle-sales-revenue-ranking/

Europe is the biggest exporter of cars to China.

 

Why we can't have nice things.

Thieves are targeting charging stations and stealing the cables. This can mean the loss of $1,000-plus cables - but there is an even bigger knock-on effect.

In late May, copper hit a record high of nearly $5.20 a pound, a result, in part, of rising demand resulting from efforts to cut carbon emissions with EVs that use more copper wiring.

The price is up about 25 percent from a year ago, and analysts envision further increases.

Charging companies say there is not actually very much copper in the cables, and what copper is there is difficult to extract.

Carson estimates that criminals can get $15 to $20 per cable at a scrap yard. But the cables cost around $1,000 to replace.

 

SMH.

Some people are just a cancer to society.

For level 2 charging, I feel it should be a "bring your own cable" situation. Only stations like parking meters should be installed...
https://electrek.co/2023/04/18/hyundai-itselectric-test-curbside-ev-charging/

 

The thought of 2.5 ton e-waste terrifies me if there were ever another GM bailout situation where a president wants it "all to burn."

Can we go back to the days when we could pretend we could repair everything in our own garage?


*totally didn't cost him "$100 to fix"...

 

according to the Chinese social media Sina Finance

Which is in no way, shape or form connected the the Chinese Government

 

That's right, this is a plug-in hybrid. The EPA estimates the Revuelto delivers five miles of battery-electric driving

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a63738645/2024-lamborghini-revuelto-test/

 

At top speed, you'll get to run out of juice 10 miles from the next charging station 1 minute and 17 seconds sooner!

 

Videos are at the bottom.


BYD beats Tesla Cybertruck with a 20-degree rear steering on Denza EV that can crab walk and park itself in tight spaces

After demonstrating how its electric hypercar can briefly fly over potholes or spike strips, BYD is now showing an EV that can crab-walk around obstacles or parallel-park itself in tiny spots.

Daniel Zlatev, Published 02/10/2025
E-Mobility

While Tesla's Cybertruck might have rear steering to turn on a dime, the BYD Denza Z9 GT shooting brake can parallel park itself in impossibly tight spaces nearly its length thanks to its crab walking rear wheels.

BYD just demonstrated the Denza Z9 GT abilities again, to remind everyone what the car is capable of on the cusp of its global release in Europe and other regions.

The Z9 GT, which is available in both electric and plug-in hybrid powertrains, is equipped with a steering motor in each rear wheel that allows for some impressive turning, handling, or parking maneuvers.

BYD's industry leading 20-degree rear wheel steering puts the Cybertruck to shame as Tesla started it with 3-degree steering, then said it is unlocking a 10-degree upgrade. The Denza shooting brake, on the other hand, while larger than a Porsche Panamera, has a turning radius of just 4.62 m (15.2 ft), and can crab-walk through at a 15-degree angle to slalom between obstacles.

Perhaps the neatest party trick that the impressive Sanfang drivetrain with three independent motors brings, however, is the ability to parallel-park in extremely tight spaces almost as big as its length.

The system spins the right rear wheel forward while doing the reverse with the left rear wheel, and the car simply slides into its space with the touch of a finger on the central console display. Needless to say, this looks like it is goring to be rather taxing on the tires, but could get an inexperienced driver out of a situation now and then.

Despite the impressive performance of the 965 PS powertrain, the dual-chamber air suspension, the pillar-to-pillar display, or the two refrigerators, it's precisely a trick like this that is bound to resonate with car enthusiasts as BYD tries to establish its new premium Denza brand.

BYD is no stranger to such stunts, either, as it recently demonstrated how its Yangwang hypercar can use the dual-chamber air suspension to briefly fly over potholes and even spike strips, if the need arises.


___________

The sliding will cause additional wear on the tires.

 

If BYD ev tech enters the US market it'll probably be under Toyota.

 

So green!

I got a creeping feeling of them transforming into killer robots.