There is huge ability to ramp lithium mining further and domestic options. See, for example:

You certainly know a lot of disinformation and FUD about EVs. There are no doubt there are drawbacks, and certainly no transport is environmentally neutral. But none of these issues live up to the hype.

They will indeed be the last adopters of EVs.  But that will be satisfied by widespread destination charging and eventually street chargers like parking meters, backfilled again by widespread level 3 charging.

Yes, it’s not today. Even in 1915, cars were  mostly for the wealthy. It wasn’t until the 1920s that they really became widespread. That’s why I think we are in a situation analogous to 1905. 

Density is fine. It’s mostly just a cost issue. You don’t need a change in thermodynamics to change the cost equation. We really haven’t come close to realizing full economies of scale in battery manufacturing and the mining for the necessary metals.

There are pluses and minuses of course,  it EVs are quieter, easy to use, can run climate control unattended (no more waiting for your car to heat up or cool down), and faster in most road use scenarios. They aren’t the revolution in transport that cars were, but they have enough fundamental advantages that if cost…

I don’t think fundamental thermodynamic limits are the issue here. It’s much more cost and infrastructure, neither require any fundamental engineering breakthrough to solve.

I’m guessing if you did a survey in 1905 of why people weren’t trading in their horses for the new horseless carriages, you would have gotten similar responses.

Indeed. New paint with rust bubbles = danger Will Robinson! The mechanicals on these cars are all pretty cheap and easy to fix (though the SPICA is a PITA due to a limited number of rebuilders). 

Low miles is not a plus on these cars. It’s a negative if anything. 

Shifter position on these cars is actually awesome. It means you never have to take your hand far from the wheel to shift during aggressive driving. 

I always want to NP an Alfa, but this one is a reluctant ND.

It’s easy to forget that Japanese cars followed a similar trajectory. In the 60s and early 70s, Japanese cars were mostly considered miserable economy cars you only bought if you had to. Think cars like the Subaru 360. It wasn’t until the 80s that they started being viewed as high quality. Early Korean cars were a bit…

I think of Monaco as a really cool place for a time trial, followed by a celebratory parade. 

Last season was excellent until the end of the last race. Every season has a boring race or two. This just happened to be one. 

Of course Lucid posted a loss. In no universe would a start up at Lucid’s stage be expected to be profitable. Tesla had been making cars for around a decade before it broke even. 

So we can agree that the only good crossover is a dead crossover?

Citroen 2CV?

Sounds like a Lada trouble. 

I have to believe the circumstances where a 6 point harness would kill you in a rollover are pretty narrow. If the roof comes down on you, it’s not going to be a good time whether you have a 3 point or 6 point on. I don’t buy there are many circumstances where you could successfully “duck” with a 3 point.