Same theme, different holiday - I think it counts!

I think the Model Y will help to change the Telsa demographic since it really will be their first pragmatic car.

Counter-counterpoint: Utility trailer.

We don’t live near the best part of town so my wife would prefer to only be out and about in public when there are a large number of other people around as well. It is a cautious perspective which many women share. Something like 1 in 3 women have said that they felt they were being followed and around 1 in 4 have…

She bought a 2014? Leaf for like $7k. Definitely not a new car, but it was in really good condition and the battery had been replaced in 2017. The last time I talked to her she said the car has ~85 miles of range with the current degradation level of her battery. She lives in a city and really only needs to drive 10…

Exactly. My FIL was recently looking to buy a new car and he really wanted to get a PHEV. His commute is ~40 miles one way and he would be able to trickle charge from a 110V outlet when parked. But, all of the PHEV options were either too expensive or didn’t have enough range (or had lost their tax credit and were now…

200 miles of winter range, so ~300 miles of summer range. The 'winter package' for an EV might just cost $5 more because it's just a larger battery pack. 

My wife has relayed these concerns to me. She doesn’t even want to even go and buy gas for her current car at night.

Oh come on, those SUVs totally drove out into the country and visited the dirt / grass parking lot of a pumpkin patch. 4WD and locking hubs were absolutely required. /s

I think there is time yet for a dedicated article! 

3 hours. 3 hours is the amount of time I think the average person is willing to sit in their car before they need to get out and stretch or take a leak. On the highway that amounts to around 200 miles of range. So, at a minimum, a car for the everyperson needs to have 200+ miles of range.

I don’t know enough about BMW chassis codes (my interest in BMW models falls off severely after the ‘E10'), but did BMW have variant codes for their wagon/convertible/2 door models of each chassis code? Ie, E30-A? It seems like they just maneuvered the variant code into the primary chassis number.

If this baby truck from Hyundai has the same suspension as their Kona it's going to be tough to sell the thing. That Kona is so stiff and harsh going over potholes it is a terrible city car. The dimensions are right, but when a teeny tiny Fiat 500 has a better ride than a lift Kona, you've done a terrible job…

Bitchin'

Neutral: The women at my wife’s work all are buying EVs. There is a Bolt, a Volt, a Leaf ($15 per hour kid bought that as her first car), and an Insight. The other cars are F150s and RAMs, but that is because they use those things on the daily for hauling.

I think the problem is in the chassis codes. BMW used to just used the same chassis code for every 3 or 5 series car that they built. But now many variants get an individual code. If you were to chart the number of active chassis codes by year, you would definitely see an explosion in codes. But compare that to body…

I have an Ioniq, so I am completely aware of its wonderful potential. It really does need to be offered with a larger battery pack, but I don’t think it was designed to include a pack quite that large.

You still want your head to be touching the head restraint when driving. Reducing the space for open-air acceleration and then a subsequent collision with the restraint is not good for your brain. Strap your head to the head restraint with a XXXL headband if you can.

I think the Niro is probably the best implementation of the HEV / PHEV / EV combo car. The Ioniq, even with the refreshed larger 38kW battery, just doesn’t have the range to convince people that it is OK for them. You need 200-250 miles of range in order to do that.

I am in Seattle and many of my friends drive ‘luxury’ cars. They either have a Subaru / Rav4 / Tacoma OR they have a 3 series / C Class / Model 3. A couple have an S or an X too. I, personally, am a fan of the S interior. I like having all of the classic controls and standard gauge cluster in addition to the GIANT…