USian cars in particular also suffer from unnecessary weight from oversized engines, and weighty safety features of dubious value, and these things snowball a bit. For instance, because of all the extra weight, the car needs powerful power steering, which adds even more weight. In the US, a 2 liter engine is regarded as kinda shrimpy. In South America, 2L is a big engine,

It's ok, you can call us by our preferred and time honored name..."Americans".

and in some South American country, I'm guessing they don't need 0-60mph times up there to get on the highways, nor do they tend to haul boats on trailers and drop then in the lake on weekends...etc.

No...2L engines aren't gonna cut it in the US.

This statement makes no sense. People who "can't even get a parking spot" don't own cars.

For those that don't have off street parking...they park on the street....and whatever space you get often is a bit random as that it's first come first serve.

Example, in New Orleans, old city...most homes here do not have off street parking, no driveways....so, you park where you can on the street you live on.

People that live in large apartment complexes...very common....have vast paved areas for parking, but there's no such things as individual chargers at each spot to "fill up" your EV overnight...just doesn't exist and I don't know of any apt complex owners running out to spend a lot of $$, and tear up these parking lots to redo them....especially since hardly anyone here has an EV to need one....

Chicken and egg thing.

So several houses can use one charger. Yes, this can lead to some disputes and issues from time to time when people behave badly, but so what? It's still way better than having to go to a gas station.

Surely you didn't just post that and still be able to keep a straight face, right?

Fights between neighbors...not uncommon and not something I'd want to have to deal with to ensure I could DRIVE my car....

I don't think anyone in the last 100 years or so has thought going to the gas station was that much of a PITA....and in your scenario, I'd definitely prefer it to having to deal with neighbors on who plugs in what on a nightly basis....

You're not going to push EVs to the majority of people unless you can make it as convenient and painless as it is now or better.

And with at least 1 in 3 households in the US not able to charge at home...that's going to be a hard sell to a significant number of people in the US.

This isn't rocket surgery. How about someone invents a device whereby they can put a car charging port into the lamp posts so that people can charge. They could use names like "ubitricity" for "ubiquitous electricity" or "chargy" which is cute and lets you use a domain like char.gy. To make life easier registered the domains for you:

How many lamps do you have on your street exactly?!?!

Here I see 1 maybe 2 on each block.

How is that going to service all the cars parked nose to tail the whole block (in some areas)? Are you going to have power cords running all over the sidewalks (places that have side walks) where people can trip over them, etc?

The reality is infrastructure is growing very rapidly, and every day I see more and more places where I can charge my EV that is not my house / not a supercharger, but ultimately don't have to simply because my employer signed a deal with a company to have a bunch of charging points installed in our parking lot.

If I recall...you do not live in the US.

What you describe is simply not the case here at all by a long shot over this vast country.

And with all the WFH going on....who's in the office to hit that charger?

I jest a bit at that last one, but I guess it actually may be a concern....but in that case, it cuts your driving down so....tradeoff.

But last figures I got this weekend showed that about 1 in 3 households in the US, have no access for "charging at home".

That's not an. insignificant number.

And where I life..there are precious few public chargers anywhere around here.

"Many people have to park on the street" This is a tiny minority

Last figure I saw this weekend listed approx 1 in 3 US households do not have the ability to use or install charging....these people rent houses or apartments with either off street parking, or vast parking lots...or rent houses where the owner wont' allow them to install chargers or reroute power for higher powered chargers.

I'm not sure where you got the idea this was so uncommon.

Not everyone owns a home with off street parking.

The saving is just one benefit. Others include:

Quieter, smoother ride

Convenience of charging at home

Better technology

Actually useful remote control features

Free charging at malls and other places

Hmm..

1. Don't care...I actually LIKE the sound of a well tuned high performance engine.

2. Per the OP, not everyone CAN charge at home, last figure I saw was the 1 in 3 US households don't have the option to charge at home. Without this, EV is a pain in the ass given the dearth of public charging and how long it takes.

3. Meh.

4. I really don't want more remote control of my car, by myself and especially not companies and law enforcement.

5. What malls and such do you shop at that offer free anything? I don't even see chargers at malls, or other places.

I've seen about 2 in front of a Whole Foods here locally, and I think I saw 4-5 chargers (Tesla) at the side of a Winn-Dixie grocery store...but that's it in the New Orleans area.

I imagine he was talking about the original roadster with the chassis done by lotus.

Yup...that's the one!!

Military overmatch trumps everything else because the alternative is relying on the kindness of your enemies.

Europe tried that experiment at Munich but selling out Czechoslovakia didn't work. Then it chose to greet Putin legs akimbo with predictable results. That Putin invaded Ukraine reflects failed deterrence.

AI is a military necessity so it will must and will be used. The world was, is and will remain a very bad place where the only security is ability to apply decisive violence (this is often delegated hence US hegemony) directly or by proxy.

Law relies on violence to enforce it because violence trumps law. AI offers precise violence vs. the sloppy violence of previous wars where a thousand bomber raid in WWII often missed most of the target.

This UBI exists today already and it brought the civilization to a halt. I am talking about millions upon million of people who depend on the government one way or another. I include government employees into this category, not just people are simply receiving all forms of welfare, be it actual welfare, social security payouts, unemployment insurance, disability insurance, you name it. It is not all, I include all government contracts into this, all companies that are one way or another receiving money from governments, so this is money that was either taken away by taxation or borrowed or printed and given to the government to bury itself and the larger society with itself. All of these things exist today, all of it is happening, AI is not the catalyst for this, the amount of real productivity that AI allows us to have is negligible compared to the enormous layers of automation that we have in infinite forms. Machines, transport, computers, robots, we have all of this today. AI is not changing the equation, the equation was and is and will go like this: I am unable to do better for myself by myself (regardless of the reasons, real or imaginary) and I demand that others take care of all my needs and more and we must have government provide this (through the government power and force and just basic rule of violence - he, who can deliver the most violence wins, until recently governments were the ones capable of delivering the most violence, I am actually rooting for this equation to change, I would prefer that private individuals manage to deliver more violence than the government, I am just not interested in this type of societies we built here).

UBI exists already, taxation and borrowing and printing money and credit expansion allows for it to exist, of-course the increasing money supply is inflation and it reflects in the rising prices but this has never stopped us for real.

Mommy, sorry, it is not a matter of price for me at all. I will not buy an electric car because I don't want to plan my day around charging stations, that is all. I have an electric monowheel, that is for fun and I have to admit, it is useful for short store trips not too far from me, but it is not a car, it is just a convenient small mode of transportation.

It is not even about accessibility to a charging station, we have many around, I don't want to bother to think about them. When I need to add fuel I will find the nearest gas station and be in and our in 5 minutes and forget about it.

How about an electric Karmann Ghia?

Or resurrect the old VW "Thing"...?

I know the bug seems obvious....but I was thinking right now in the EV market...there's nothing but fscking "family trucksters"....4+ seaters that make sense for a family.

Put out at least ONE EV that is fun...a 2 seater sports car, that is affordable.

I still can't figure out why Tesla won't put out the roadster again....

But really if VW could do something on the Karmann idea...something that maybe looks like a cross between that and maybe an old Porsche 356 type cars (convertible)....

Since EVs can have extremely good performance numbers...it would be a blast to have one of these to run around in.

Go at it with the mindset of Datsun back in the early 70's when they had the 240-280Z cars. Great, dependable cars with some decent performance, stylish and AFFORDABLE...

Do something like that and you might have me as a convert....

Seems like we now have Arizona woman in addition to Florida man.

I hope they throw the book at this cunt.

Send a VERY strong message that this shit will not be tolerated.

It should but the same judge refused him release while appealing. In a no-bail state where real criminals walk same day.

Wow...that's amazing.

Sounds like a constitutional crisis/showdown in the makings.

I feel sorry for the guy caught in the middle.

I'd like to see nothing other than 'go to the polls and have ID'

I would too...but for some reason in the US, there are enough voices out there shouting that "ID's for voting are racist"....and they try to block what should be a common sense thing.