Musings/Ramblings/Opinions on the EV push
- Thread starter 69hurstolds
- Start date
I recommend retirement on a farmhouse porch among Iowa cornfields. Set up a big still in the barn and brew potable 108 octane.
There's no more dysfunctional place on earth than Kalifornia. You would think that after all the decades of problems they would implement better forest management practices both via selective logging and, I dunno, installing an ACTUAL utility easement regime. In most normal states you don't see anything taller than 6 inches within a couple hundred feet of a high tension line. Yet, somehow, in California they have not just trees but weak and diseased ones close enough that a normal wind during summer storms can knock enough into the lines to trigger wildfires.
By now I'd have perhaps even transitioned to ground based distribution cables if it was such a problem, but, as we all know they like their drama. I guess the wildfires satisfy their latent desire for the experience of riot smoke without all the work and effort of actually rioting.
I heard one of the solutions they have is that they will drain power out of parked EVs during peak draw times. Its not a joke either.
I wonder if the recent EV push combined with the high gas prices is an effort to train the little people to get used to not traveling as much?
I lean to the non-ownership model of subscription payment only in the long term
Honestly, I think GM's approach is by design here. It's been long opined that GM has way too many dealers, but the legal ramifications of them cancelling and closing dealers is way too expensive. So I'm guessing they're using this as an opportunity to flip the script and cause dealers to quit (supposedly) absolving them of any legal obligation for closing the dealer. Though I'd also guess that there's more than a few deep pocketed dealers with good lawyers that will claim GM is doing this with the sole intention of forcing them to close. Let's not forget that Cadillac has really struggled with it's identity for several decades now. Cadillac is no longer the 'Cadillac of automobiles'. They're a wanna be luxury marque that would really really like to play in the same league as BMW, MB, Audi etc., and even have made some significant strides in doing so, but just can't get past the elephant in the room of GMs reputation built during the '90s and '00s malaise era.
Frankly I think the autonomy and subscription based services are fully decoupled from EV vs ICE argument at this point. Self driving will take longer, simply because of the legal liability ramifications. But the subscription model is coming to cars, and it's coming faster than we might have thought. Multiple manufacturers have already begun talking about this, and even with the predictable public backlash. But I think the public will eventually accept it. Hell, approximately 25% of vehicles in the US are leased. That's just a whole car subscription. Why not take it to the microtransaction level are charges for each individual feature? Manufacture of goods with big one time up front payments is brutal for a companies revenue streams and it can be unpredictable. But a subscription model with consistent predictable revenue that isn't necessarily tied to making the current quarters sales numbers? That's gold! The software market went through that transition years ago. One no longer 'buys' a copy of Microsoft Office and then uses it until obsolescence forces them to upgrade. It's all Office 365 where you pay XX$ per month per subscriber. The automotive industry is just starting down the same path now that remote connectivity to the vehicle and software control has become ubiquitous.
Further to my previous comments, there's also the point that manufacturers are taking the stand that, while you may buy the physical 'thing' (car, mobile phone, tractor, etc) all the software and everything that makes it works is still oned by the manufacturer and is there own IP. You as the consumer do not own that. It will be very interesting to see how these right to repair legal battles turn out. In my opinion it seems like the EU may save the consumers' *ss here as they've shown evidence of forcing manufacturers to adopt common standards and be more protective on consumers' right to repair.
That's a very interesting point. Given that At least half of the worlds most valuable companies are considered 'media' companies in some way shape or form, the push for autonomous driving all the sudden opens up a couple more hours a day where you could be consuming media. We'll ignore the dying radio industry in that respect. Your subscription to autonomous driving in your leased car while you sit there for a 1-2 hours per day on your commute consuming Twitter/Facebook/TikTok media and being served ads generating multiple revenue streams for the car manufacturers sounds amazing. For the car makers.
