Followupquestion @ Followupquestion @lemm.ee

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2 yr. ago

Not all cheap cars lack in luxuries let alone normal things like space for luggage; bad cheap cars do which is why I keep harping on the Bolt in particular. There are good electric vehicles out there, I’m sure, they’re just not in every price range, as an average new car price of $40k is beyond what most people can actually afford when inflation’s been hammering their food and housing expenses. The Bolt’s niche, at roughly $20k after tax credits, means it’s competing with lightly used Civic/Corolla/Mazda3 vehicles, all three of which are much better cars overall, and have decades of reliability. If you can’t depend on a Bolt and it feels cheap when it works perfectly, what working class person is going to want one?

My relative with the Bolt was literally warned to not drive it until they could get parts to deal with the seat belt fire (yes, that’s one of the two fire related recalls), which took almost a month. You tell me how that’s not a problem for, say, working people.

It’s indicative of the quality, or lack thereof, or a Bolt. Imagine having a vehicle literally declared non-operational for that nonsense and how long some customers had to wait for a fix. That’s time they don’t get to use the car they paid for, and I doubt their bosses are going to blame GM when they can’t get to work on time. Yeah, I stress about a recall like that, a car you can’t use is worthless.

I compared a sedan and SUV because they both will fit a family of four and their suitcases for roughly the same price.

I can only speak as somebody who has spent some real time in one, I’d never buy a Bolt. They’re well liked, but as the very cheapest electric vehicles, not just as vehicles. In other words, compared against actually good ICE or hybrid vehicles, the Bolt has zero appeal aside from being electric. That makes us a passable electric vehicle but an overall crappy car to drive. Also, for $850 a year I’d take the Mazda in a heartbeat. Sure, that’s a “privilege”, but it’s also a proven reliable, quality vehicle that will absolutely positively not feel like a tin can that rattles when you shut a door. If somebody spends real time in their vehicle, as I have at various points in my life, I wouldn’t take the Bolt.

Right, and since profits are king, the affordable electric cars will stay terrible because an ICE is $1k or so to manufacture while an electric power train including battery is at least five times that in cost. When you look at a $27k car, tax incentives excluded (especially because some people will be unable to use them), the electric car has to be cheapened, every corner cut, or the profits just won’t be there.

Again, it’s dollar for dollar, when you sit in a $20k Mazda versus a Chevy Bolt that will cost the same if the full $7k tax incentive is realized, the quality difference is tangible. Until that’s addressed, there won’t be people wanting to buy that car.

More like, “Hey kids, do you want to be in a vehicle that filled with plastics that happens to catch fire?”

https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/recall-all-chevy-bolt-vehicles-fire-risk

https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/consumer-alert-important-chevrolet-bolt-recall-fire-risk

Electric vehicles could be good, the cheap ones , specifically the Bolt, are not.

Plenty of electric cars under $40k? Name five good ones, ones where they don’t rattle incessantly and when you shut the door you don’t feel surrounded by a sea of the cheapest plastics (offgassing the whole time naturally). I can tell you from personal experience the Bolt isn’t a good one. And just to be clear, my standard isn’t Lexus or Maybach, I’m comparing with Honda Accord/Toyota Camry/Mazda CX-5 for interior and overall quality.

The Chevy Bolt is cheap and feels it. Read my other comment on it; I have driven one more than a few times, ridden in one even more often, and it’s absurdly bad compared to even a base level Mazda3 in interior quality. It honestly feels cheaper than my my first car, an early 90’s Toyota Tercel, let alone compared to a modern import. If the Bolt is the future of EVs, we’re doomed, because it’s not fun to drive and every moment in it is a reminder that it’s cheap for a reason. It may be better than the Prius C due to being an EV, but that’s not exactly a high bar to clear, and I’m pretty sure it will lose where it counts, customer satisfaction. I can’t imagine someone with the money to buy something better puts the money down for a Bolt and is happy with their decision after six or 12 months, let alone the decade plus that we all should be keeping our vehicles to defray the environmental cost of their construction.

That leaves people with limited financial options, the people forced to buy either a used ICE vehicle or the cheapest EV when their old car dies; you’ll probably recognize them as the working poor (and their ranks are growing thanks to runaway capitalism). If the solution is to force them into terrible vehicles, perfect; the Bolt should serve as a wonderful reminder that profits are valued above them at every step.

A close relative of mine has one, so I can speak specifically to my problems with it. It’s a tin can and feels it every time you open or close a door, let alone when you use the interior compartments. It doesn’t have power nor heated seats and the manual adjustments are frustrating at best, and the cloth doesn’t clean easily from children’s snacks. Also, it makes a high pitched noise inside the cabin at low speeds that’s absolutely aggravating. Finally, the “trunk” is smaller even than another relative’s Mazda3 Hatch, even including the compartment underneath the main area in the Bolt. It cannot fit four carryon sized suitcases and maintain rear visibility.

Re-read the comment I replied to and my own. I want an electric car, they’re just not economically feasible for most people, and will likely remain that way for the foreseeable future. People can’t afford electric cars with reasonable seating for a family and space for their stuff.

My gas powered car is paid off, any electric car isn’t, and any electric car with equivalent space for my family and bimonthly Costco trips and equipment to make the ride comfortable would run me $50k. Guess which one I’m driving for the foreseeable future.

Years ago the US Air Force commissioned a study on what would be the stealthiest color for planes during daytime, visually obscuring them in an infinite sky as it were. Pink, it turns out, was likely the best color family to draw from. The US did not, to my understanding, go with pink. At night, however, black might not be the best color to use, as the night sky isn’t usually true black. Do you think the Russians are using trial and error or is there some department of the Russian MOD recreating research the US did decades ago and then ignoring the conclusions?

Is this the climate conference led by an actual oil tycoon, or the one where they all fly separately in private jets and nothing actually comes from their promises? I can’t keep track of the BS get-togethers, I’m too busy going to the beach in North America in late November because it’s so warm.

Their pensions/salaries need to get hit for this before it will affect anything. Also there needs to be some kind of National law enforcement accreditation standard and training. I’d also like an independent review and oversight commission that allows zero current or former police, but I recognize all of this will never happen. Instead we have an occupying force ostensibly for our protection.

“Taxpayers on the hook for innocent man assaulted and framed by police and DA.”

Fixed that for you.

And do you trust the GOP, or even the Conservative Party known as the Democrats, holding the reins of all the people with guns? I, for one, do not.

We’re coming up on a holiday celebrating one of the times Jews were forced to take up arms and defend themselves from violent antisemitism, and it’s hardly the only such occurrence in Jewish history. I would argue that even through a “history is written by the victors” lens, there are pretty good reasons to stay armed and vigilant, no matter which party currently has a majority. Neither party has my safety as their priority, and they’ll both happily sacrifice my entire family and millions of others to “keep the peace”. If you’d like more historical examples, let me know. I spent quite some time studying various genocides during my undergrad time at University.

Antisemitism is already here, and never really left. Voting only does so much, and the government we have sure AF is not going to protect us. Pogroms were, and will be, carried out by paramilitary groups. Guns don’t solve every problem, but they’re unparalleled for the problems they do solve. When the time comes, better to have an AR and not need it, than need one and not have it.

I’m Jewish, and having lost far too many relatives to centuries of bigotry in Europe culminating in the Holocaust, you can bet I’m not giving up my weapons. I don’t care what anyone says, I won’t vote for a single Dem because any compromise puts my family at further risk. It doesn’t take a history degree to look at the world and see that having limited methods of defense is all but guaranteeing another pogrom starts claiming my family. Heck, the police are all very cozy with the groups spouting Great Replacement propaganda and the Dems want me to believe the police will keep my family safe? How’s that working for other minorities?

Offbeat or beat off?

Sorry, I’ll leave quietly.

Spoiler: that whole movie existed to get to the scene where Maverick gets back in an F-14 with Goose’s son. Yeah, the whole movie was essentially Maverick getting closure. Also, I miss Danger Zone.