Yeah, the obvious answer to the barnacle question is that the airplane piece was not stable in the water so no side stayed submerged consistently enough to get barnacles on it. And then at some point a piece broke off or water entered a new part of the piece, and it then stabilized it’s orientation in the water.

According to the configurator, the 500e qualifies for the full $7500 tax credit, which is pretty dang exciting for a relatively cheap car.

I have a friend who was in a similar situation back in 2004. He had a new job, was flush with cash and was thinking about buying an exciting fun car. In fact, he was actually trying to choose between a 350z or spending $40k on the Google IPO.

> That’s just a little over 2 miles per kWh, which puts the Cybertruck’s efficiency numbers just a bit higher than the Hummer EV’s estimated 1.48 miles per kWh, and just shy of the F150 Lightning’s 2.29 miles per kWh.

> or used as daily drivers for multi-vehicle households

EV’s really change the calculation of what’s sporty. My Bolt EUV has a 0-60 time of 7.1 seconds, so that somehow checks the sporty box. You can get a fully optioned out premier for $35k before the tax credit. The ventilated seats will be great for the Florida heat.

Sabine Schmitz taking a diesel Ford Transit van around the Nuremberg ring trying to beat a 10 minute lap time is top Top Gear for me.

I feel like I’ve become boring, because my answer for any commute car is to get a Bolt. Price, range, and even comfort features, it is such a no brainer. I bet the ventilated seats in a premier edition would be great in Texas.

> just for owning a Kia

If you get just 3 more cars, I believe Jalopnik is contractually obligated to offer you a job.

With the tax credit, the Chevy Bolt EV should really be on this list.  MSRP starts at $26,500 or $19,000 after tax credit (granted, this is it's last year, but to have an EV be the fourth cheapest new car in America, that is really notable)

The most confusing part is the 30 minute limitation.  I've been on boats before, barring something unexpected, they just keep on floating.  Is there just some sort of slow leak slowly filling the engine compartment or something?  What happens in the 31st minute?

And basically whenever they passed a car, it was a Chevy Bolt.

It is true that steel bodied cars crack too, but if you get a crack in a suspension mount, the fix is to replace the suspension mount.

If your car’s unibody is a single cast and you get a crack in it, the fix is to replace the car.

Is it sad that I take this as a sign that Hertz is improving?  Not that long ago, they would have just reported them for car theft and called it a day.

> According to Cobgill, the TRX owner reached out to share a video of the aftermath, as a group of people scraped mud from the rented RV. Since there was no damage, the RV’s owner was pretty stoked about the video.

Can this video also be supplied? Twitter refuses to let me search for it without an account.

Also, small…

I agree with the tax (and point out Texas should raise their gas tax and that EVs weigh considerably more than equivalent ICE cars, so they wear down roads more), but Low to moderate income people can buy used EVs and they still have to pay the $200/year. Especially with the $4k tax credit on used EVs under $25k, that…

I had a 2016 Fiat 500e and I absolutely loved the car. It still had 80+ miles of range in nice weather when I traded it in last summer (2022) for a new Bolt EUV. If Fiat had committed to bringing back the 500e to the US at that time, I probably would have waited to buy it, since it improves on everything my Fiat…

You are slightly wrong. You can only get the credit against taxes, but it can be a rebate of taxes you’ve already paid via paycheck withholdings.

My only continuous problem with my bolt is that the adaptive cruise control will only regenerative brake up to 11kW, beyond that it uses the friction brakes.