"Lame Duck" means unable to get one's agenda passed; Trump is absolutely a lame duck. We can have a "do nothing" government for two years if no cooperation can be found, but that's how the system is supposed to work. No consensus, no new laws. Divided government that does nothing is often better than letting either extreme have its way.

"Laws" that have no presidential signature, or no veto override, are not laws.

Voters are extremely pissed at both sides. Independents more popular and more influential than ever. Wild 2-year swings a distinct possibility for any party that thinks an agenda, rather than results, will get votes. As Trump just learned.

Biden's Border Crisis was entirely self inflicted. As was half of the 9% inflation of his last year. The half that was covid related was unavoidable but then there was an awful lot of gratuitous spending after that. And as AOC pointed out, the woke stuff got a little crazy.

If the Dems continue to let an extreme DSA minority lead them, then things will set up extremely well for.a republican candidate less polarizing than Trump. This election was nothing more than a protest vote against Trump, the far left is as hated as Trump. Far left overreach, led to Trump's second term. It can lead to 2028 republican victory too. It's be easier for Republicans with a saner candidate than Trump.

From what I've seen, BYD is pretty good for the price. The fit and finish is solid. I've seen a Mexican BYD Shark in the area on occasion, and if those were sold in the US, people would definitely buy them.

I really doubt Chinese vehicles will ever be sold in the US, unless they are rebranded by a US company. However, on the other hand, maybe it will allow us to keep our car industry going which will be critical come wartime, while Europe is starting to lose ground to Chinese vehicles. Citation here.

I expect datacenters and regular users would be using different tape. As we saw in the 90s with QIC-80 which was more a professional or small business thing.

If I were to place the smaller, turbocharged engines on a balance versus a bigger, normally-aspirated engine that used more fuel, I'd say the larger engine would likely be the winner, if only because replacing parts like turbos or even engine assemblies takes a lot more energy in making the steel, forging it, etc... than what was spent in gas.

Almost all Ford mechanics I know recommend the 5.0 Coyote for the F-150. The smaller, turbocharged engines are better for gas... but replacing a turbo more than compensates for all the fuel saved.

There is no substitute for cubes. The high revving engines work great for small cars, because there is less mass... and they work for race cars because the engines are essentially disposable. However, a larger engine that does its work at lower RPMs wears out slower, assuming sane engineering [1].

Turbos are fun though, but they do shorten engine life. The exception are turbo diesels, but that's a different bird altogether.

[1]: It would be nice to go back to non-interference engine designs and gears for timing, as opposed to engines that have more chains than a Cenobite inside, which stretch and wear out relatively quickly.

I like the idea of an EREV, and have championed it. However, it combines the best of both worlds... and the worst. If the generator drivetrain could be simplified into something really easy to replace and maintain, where the engine can be yanked and dealt with, the generator head be pulled and windings serviced, as well as the subsystems like oil, radiator coolant, etc... this may be a very viable option.

The advantage of an EREV is that the engine can be designed just to run at a single RPM, or a narrow band. This means a smaller engine that has better MPG, maybe even higher compression.

Using electric motors for the actual drivetrain is a plus. You may not even need a transmission or transfer case with a dual motor system, which saves heavily on moving parts. Just a gearbox to change the motor RPM, and differentials.

I worry about passing laws willy-nilly. It can be heavy handed, and because a lot of poorly thought out laws are on the books, companies rather just pay the court costs and ignore them, or pay to fight the law all the way to SCOTUS than do it.

Instead, I'd look at tax breaks, and carrots, and ease off on the sticks and pricks. There will be pushback, because people were tired of poorly functioning toilets, no light bulbs, and half-broken clothes washers. Instead, we need some tax breaks, perhaps even having the utility offer power at reduced cost for chargers as an incentive for EVSEs to be installed en masse. Maybe other ways to encourage businesses to do this?

It may be that AC power, like 240 volts, 40-60 amps might be good enough. I know that in some regions of Alaska, one plugs in their car so an external engine heater can keep the block warm. It wouldn't be too far-fetched to upgrade that system with NACS cords, 240 VAC, and 60 amps.

I'd like to see three phase installs be cheaper, so one could run "supercharger" tier DC EVSEs at home, or small businesses can install them without too much money spent in a parking lot.

A videocall window can pop out while you go hunting for a different tab. That's the usecase I see.

tbh I feel most workflows involving the browser suck really bad, from email to code review. And all that comes from having a single "presentation layer" - no windows.

Whenever I have people gripe at me for driving an EV, I ask them why. It means more gas/diesel for them at the pumps.

The irony is with regenerative braking, brake pads can last a long time. This means a lot less brake dust coming from EVs.

As for weight, my EV weighs less than my half-ton pickup. Neither are featherweights.

If the US could throw money at adding chargers into rural areas, and more charge capacity to existing areas, this would go a long way. People drive on roads that are not major highways, and it would be nice to see those on byways. Just having chargers somewhere near a rural destination could greatly encourage EV use.

I'm not for taxing an ICE vehicle, but getting more EVs on the road means less gas used, and with the AI craze starting to peak, maybe all the added grid capacity can be used for EV charging.

I live in Texas, and there have been occasions where people have flipped their lids, and started hoarding gasoline, especially if there was a rumor of a gas shortage. This means people will come out and fill up garbage cans, even garbage bags full of gasoline, to sell it for $50/gallon down the road. This year was lucky with no hurricanes in the Gulf... but if the normal pattern resumes, it isn't uncommon for people to flip out and leave the pumps dry for days to weeks. Of course, if one is smart, you drive to another small down and fill up, maybe getting gas in 1-2 five gallon cans to be safe, but you never know if the gougers might have spread to those areas, magnifying the shortage.

With Middle East tensions high, it wouldn't take much to damage refinery or production capacity, and all our oil refineries are operating at near capacity. Knocking one offline can mean real shortages a la 1973.

Nothing wrong with an EV or an ICE vehicle, but the ideal might to have one of each, or a PHEV, so if gasoline can't be found, the vehicle is still usable, although 40 miles isn't that much range... but better than zero.

Maybe a year or two ago, I would assert this, because people are clamoring for V8s and larger ones for their vehicles. Especially that many people live in apartments where a parking spot isn't guaranteed, much less a charger.

However, I'm seeing Tesla get swamped with orders, with build times extending until next year. I'm also seeing people who don't have home chargers buy EVs, because there are enough DC chargers in an area where it is usable.

Charging times are not too bad. I can wander into a nearby store and after a bathroom break, and some snacks, I usually return to a vehicle near 80%, if not more than that.

I just wish Ionna would get more of their sites across the US, especially in rural areas (and I mean areas 20-50 miles away from an interstate.)

I would say both arguments, pro and against are valid. For an urban runabout in Austin, an EV is good enough, especially if one has a home charger. But there is nothing wrong with a PHEV or hybrid. I keep wondering about EREVs, but in some ways, they combine the worst of both worlds, but also the best, where one can plug in, or if no plug is available, just go get gas.

My biggest gripe was concern about attackers near the charging port, preventing one from driving off. However, there is a spring loaded device that will throw the charging cable back, if one ejects it, and Tesla pushed out firmware that will allow a drive-off... but it will lock out charging until the vehicle is serviced because of likely damage to both the vehicle and the Supercharger. There is also another model which will destroy itself making sure the charging cable is separated from the car (without damaging either). Those may be worth having because one can just remotely unlock the charging cable, the cable gets thrown out, and one can drive off should an emergency arise.

They've not joined us. Trump can still rule by veto. He can continue to ignore Congress and start new wars and continue with Iran. If anything given the only thing he has any control over is foreign policy things are going to get worse in our relationship with the USA with only Israel, North Korea and Russia benefitting.

Those of us outside of the USA who Trump has spent this term abusing, mocking and punishing for no good reason are continuing with our decoupling from it. Unfortunately for Trump and you that basically includes every other first world economy.

The national debt is, the amount of Americans going bankrupt from medical bills is, the amount of American farmers going bust is, the amount of fentanyl zombies is, the amount of American citizens murdered by US law enforcement is, the amount of children some barely out of daipers being put before a court with no legal representation is.