Featured EVs are not for everyone

Powerwall?

 

If I do grid-tied solar at scale I will probably DIY a LiFePO4 power bay - essentially the same as a Gen3 Powerall without the overhead - and with more flexibility...

 

Good thing Bush bailed out GM, otherwise that ZR1 probably wouldn't have been an option.

I'll just wait until the government starts incentivizing EVs again.

 

Bush and Obama bailed out the Unions, not GM.

I would not have done so.

As far as Corvettes and my beloved Sierra - you would still be able to buy them today had we not bailed out GM.
I'm old enough to remember when idiots were buying Twinkies at inflated prices because Hostess was swirling the drain in 2012 and their union didn't understand what happened to Eastern Airlines.
I don't know what happened to their pensions.....but I KNOW what happened to their jobs.

Either way?
You can still buy Twinkies today.

Be not afraid, Jar-head.
I'm going to be replacing my roof this month - and it might be the last one I have to do.
Or not.
Storms can be tough on roofs.....

Then my intentions are to start cash flowing what will eventually be a grid-tied solar system.
I have to not only deal with inverter losses but also RFI so the "power wall" will come last.
I already use LiFePO4 batteries for other hobbies.
I've had conversations with people who actually brag about the 'efficiencies' of their solar panels recharging their cars without understanding the DC-AC-DC thing.
We're still in early days.....


I'm "NOT" an early adopter.
I let other people pay those taxes.
All this will come eventually OR? since the runway is getting shorter for both of us maybe never.
Right now, it's a tinker project/hobby.

For storm power I use what works.
Propane.
Generator.
The advantages of Propane over NatGas are the same as those with my Starlink for Comms.

No 'last mile issues' for delivery and it's PAYGO.

 

I'm pretty sure that in 2008 Bush loaned $13.4 billion dollars directly to GM and Chrysler that would eventually expand to $17.4 billion.

Whether or not the Corvette would still be here today doesn't take away the fact that the government incentivized something important to them at the time. What gets incentivized and what gets disincentivized changes with every change in government. This isn't really a free market where companies are allowed to grow or collapse on their own. I'm not saying what the government does is bad, but you can't point fingers and say this president is bad for incentivizing EVs, for an example, because the next president gets in there and will incentivize something else.

 

.....GM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (again) in June 2009, receiving further funding from the Obama administration to restructure and exit bankruptcy in July.
The "repayment" is often debated because, although the loans were paid back, the taxpayer ultimately lost money on the overall rescue package because the government sold its remaining equity shares at a loss compared to the initial injection.
ALSO.....The Obama regime violated bankruptcy laws during the 2009 auto bailouts by (paying back) the UAW and screwing over secured creditors.

Like I said.....
I would have let them go under.

 

I'm not saying one side is better than the other. Both are accused of violating laws. Both try to make certain cars more affordable and certain other cars less affordable or completely impossible to buy.

That can be a good thing. Emissions, safety, jobs, etc. are all important. National security is important. But what bothers me is how much the focus swings one way and then the other. And then people blame the citizens and consumers for not working hard enough to keep up with the back and forth changes imposed by the government.

 

If people would just stop buying cars, the price would drop

 

You needed a PHEV. My son commutes with his RAV4 Prime on EV but regularly uses a bit of fuel for his dog hobby trips.

 

I am still using my 2000 Toyota Tundra pickup truck (purchased new), along with my 2025 Camry Hybrid. The TCO on the Tundra is definitely lower for me.

 

That would be true for a short while. But what has been happening as people buy fewer cars (which is the case now) is that manufacturers stop building as many cars, and the cars they do build tend to be more of the expensive luxury cars. The econo car market only makes money if manufacturers can sell a lot of volume. So, there has to be 1) a high demand for cheap cars and 2) those potential customers who'd buy those cheap cars are also impossible to convince to buy anything else.

But yes, consumers are also to blame here. The reason expensive ZR1 Corvettes exist is because there are people who will buy them. If more people bought Nissan Versas, Toyota Yarises, Mazda 2s, Honda Fits and Mitsubishi Mirages, those cars would still be around.

But then again, manufacturers, along with dealers, are the ones who try to push more expensive vehicles onto consumers. And since the majority of consumers take the bate, that makes building and selling cheaper cars unprofitable for manufacturers.

Investors are also part to blame. They want to see products that make a lot of money. And cheap cars with small profit margins aren't what investors want to see.

And, like I said, the government is also to blame as it is always going back and forth on emissions, drive types, safety, security, and what sometimes seem to be personal preferences. It makes planning for a high-volume, affordable little car extremely hard to plan. Slate, as an example, was going to attempt to take a swing at it with the incentives and disincentives of the time. But those have changed, and now the vehicle will be closer to $30,000 instead of under $20,000 like initially planned. And the same could go the other way. Any company could try to make a $20,000 gasoline car, but that could end up being a huge loss when the next president steps into office and changes everything all over again.

YESSS!!! When I decided to get a newer car for the first time in my life I really tried to figure out how to get the just released Prius Prime. I ended up getting the Nissan Leaf and then a year later traded for the Avalon Hybrid. But I really would like to be able to drive around on electrons for several reasons. And having a gasoline engine as backup would seal the deal if I could find one for a price I can afford.

 

My son has been happy with his 2023 RAV4 Prime. Perhaps you can find one used.

 

Yeah, that's not going to happen anytime soon.

I've been pricing used Toyotas for quite some time, and they make zero sense right now. If you go back 5 years or even more, they are usually just barely cheaper than MSRP compared to a brand new one. So, it's either one with very high mileage or a salvage title, or a brand new one, neither of which make sense when I got two vehicles that work, albeit they're getting up there in miles and years and their interiors are starting to crumble.

 

Another reason car prices keep going up. When predatory lender will finance ANYONE and just 'churn' the car. The new business model that puts 'banksters' to shame. There was regulations in the pipeline, but that was killed. De-fund CPB; consumer protection bureau.

FWIW: beware of those payday advance 'fees' too. if they called it 'interest', that would make it illegal under current US laws.

 

what we need is a government sponsored car for the minions

 

You trust any government FAR more than I do. You can be sure it will overall cost you more and have less privacy. Just look at how Virginia is supposedly getting "more affordable" with 50 new taxes.

 

That was the VW bug in the day. Then came the Yugo and most recently a car from India that never made it here. Some "cheaper" cars carrying US nameplates are actually from China (Buick) and another GM nameplate was from South Korea. Trax and Trailblazer I believe; out of the old Daewoo plant.
I believe the Nissan Versa was cheap and I liked the 5-6 speed manual box they used to have - you really don't want an automatic on that under-powered car.

 

Don't forget the Trabant.