First gear: The order now, get it in 2023 thing is maybe the biggest issue I can see killing these new EV brands. Many people who want a discretionary purchase like a Rivian probably want something closer to instant gratification. Large manufacturers with a track record of making lots of cars in multiple locations may…

First Gear: I rented a new Golf when I was in the UK in October. It was actually nice to drive, but the software interface is just horrible, regardless of how speedy (or not) it is. It would 100% stop me from buying the car, it’s that bad. Just so confusing to navigate between the different menus, and the touch…

Maybe, but I think the self-driving thing is so far away from reality that we won’t really be facing it for a while. I’d love to see the numbers on OnStar - how many people are actually renewing their subscription vs. how many are just getting the included subscription for 12 months when they get a new vehicle.

First gear: It just seems so unlikely that automakers will capture the subscription revenue that will exist. Almost certainly it will be Apple, Google and maybe Amazon and Microsoft. The idea that car makers will get this money is a helpful delusion for public company CEOs facing massive existential challenges with…

He has the top spec technik 55, with the largest wheels. Those really low range numbers are probably when the weather is cold, but he says he barely made it from Toronto to Brantford and back on a full charge (about a 230 km round trip). He has a bit of a lead foot, so that likely doesn’t help either.

Yes, if anything the Tesla example validates what he’s saying. Tesla’s investors subsidized loss-making vehicle production for years and years, based on the promise of future profitability. That future profitability, at the scale that would justify the market value of Tesla, seems highly unlikely, and even today Tesla…

Yea, I have a friend who owns one and the range is really terrible. He is saying he’s lucky to get 250 kms, let alone 250 miles.

Yea, this just seems like a lot of noise about nothing at all. Odds of anything remotely resembling these vehicles (Ariya aside) is pretty much zero. Below is Nissan’s EV sports car concept from... 2011. And it’s as close to production now as it was a decade ago. 

Sort of, but Ferrari has been walking a fine line with this strategy, and may now be burning some of these customers by releasing too many new / “special” models too quickly. Likely not the case with this specific model, but they are in the classic conundrum of being a public company needing to show constant growth…

How do you like the 2? What are you seeing for typical range? I’m waiting for an Ioniq 5, but it won’t be here until March and I need a daily driver now. Looks like I can get a polestar 2 as soon as December. I love the looks but haven’t driven one yet.

What is your proposal for large-scale infrastructure projects that are time-sensitive and very capital intensive then? Wait for multiple levels of government to get their collective acts together and do it? I would love to believe we live in a world in which governments are competent and agile enough to get these…

Third gear: Not sure if this was sarcasm, but were there ever any “mom and pop” fast DC charging offerings? It seems very unlikely that a capital-intensive business that makes more sense the larger its network gets would ever be dominated by anything other than large corporations.

Full disclosure, a Taycan Turbo and a manual 997.2 GTS both live in my garage, so I’m pretty invested in this discussion.

Volcano Grey. If I order the GTS, I’ll go with Neptune Blue.

There’s already an EQE in the pipeline - as you’d expect, it’s a slightly shrunken but otherwise identical version of the EQS. The EQC is on sale in other markets but it’s a GLC-sized SUV, so they’re already straying from the consistency of their ICE naming convention.

But isn’t that the point about self-driving? If 99.9% of the driving is uneventful drudgery and the remaining 0.1% is fiery death, the 0.1% is the relevant part.

We’ve driven our Taycan Turbo for about 7,000 kms now. Honestly I was a little underwhelmed when I first test drove the car, but it really grows on you. It is incredibly refined and comfortable, but also mind-bendingly fast. We only got the Turbo because we got a pretty good deal on a leftover 2020, but the 4S would…

From personal experience, what happens exactly two weeks after you sell a 911 is you start looking for a different one. I sold my manual 991.2 GTS before the market went insane, for all kinds of vague reasons such as not driving it enough, and then promptly regretted it. I’ve since overpaid for a manual 997.2 GTS,…

But the chart shows people who are considering an EV, not people who don’t care about EVs. Who is considering an EV but doesn’t know that Tesla makes one?

Sounds like they just can’t make them fast enough. I ordered in June and won’t see mine until late Feb / early March. New orders now are looking at June / July according to my dealer.