CEO of Tesla and acting President-elect Musk is going on a neo-Nazi binge endorsing far right candidates instead of properly running the companies he’s involved in such as Tesla.
In addition Tesla is considered one of the most unreliable car brands according to: https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-placed-bottom-consumer-reports-reliability-rankings/
Moreover Tesla has the highest fatal accident rates of all car brands according to: https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a62919131/tesla-has-highest-fatal-accident-rate-of-all-auto-brands-study/
Also there are privacy implications with using a car that could in theory spy on you: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/05/massive-trove-of-tesla-files-contains-thousands-of-safety-complaints/
Now that more competent and establish brands are making EVs there’s no reason to buy a Tesla if you want an EV. I’m not here to recommend another brand, I’m just here to tell you that your next EV should be anything other than a Tesla.
whats a good source of info for purchasing US-available, non-tesla evs?
Pretty much go for only Hyundais or Kias. They’re all in on EVs and they’re fantastic. I have an Ioniq 5 and while it does have issues, every car does, and it has a tenth the issues that teslas and others do.
What are some of the issues they have? Pretty much the only thing I know about the ioniq 5 is that it won EV of the year so it’s gotta be pretty decent!
I think it varies. I’ve owned a Volt, Bolt, two Teslas. My friend has two Rivians. My other friend has a Bolt. My manager has an Ioniq 5.
None of us have had any issues at all. Obviously YMMV.
Save some EVs for the rest of us, damn. I’ve owned two cars in my life and I’m 41.
I’m 28 and on car #5, but most of them were beaters.
Both of mine were used when I bought them but I’ve got a lot out of them. I still have one. I guess to be fair I should mention there was about eight years in there where I had no car because I couldn’t afford one.
can visit https://www.reddit.com/r/Ioniq5/ and you’ll see
so far i’ve seen older models are vulnerable to being easy to steal, smaller 12v battery drain issue if you don’t drive the car for a bit, the even older models have a water coolant recall, etc
I think non-full ICE cars in general have a big 12v drain if not driven for a while. My 2018 Prius does this and it’s just a mild hybrid.
yep was surprising to see, one guy mentioned he didn’t drive it for a full week and it got drained and required a jump start :/
My issues aren’t anything like the major issues that others are mentioning. I’ve never heard anything about it being easy to steal, I haven’t had the 12v issues. No, mine are just minor annoyances.
I think there’s like one or two more things, but overall the car is fucking fantastic so I love it. But like I said, every car has things you don’t like about it.
I also don’t like that the backup “lights” are… not lights. They don’t help you see what’s behind you at all, they just kinda sorta indicate that you’re going to be backing up.
They are cartoonishly easy to steal, which has been my only hesitation in buying one.
Where did you hear that?
Any insights on the Kona EV? It’s the only actual affordable aka less than 35k option that’s not a sedan or micro car.
Eu kona 64 kwh here, very nice car imo. Fast chargers hit 30-50kw, altthough I usually charge at home. No range issues so far, but no big roadtrips. Check if you need the 3 phase one for faster charging without DC.
I just got a Kona last month. Top of the range so not sure what is an option on other models.
No idea about fast charging as only use it for 60 mile runs, 120 there and back. Charging at home is trivial, but the charge port is at the front so either buy a longer cable or get ysed to reversing out of the charging bay (I have to reverse onto a relatively busy road, I do wish the charging port was at the back.
Easiest car I’ve ever had to drive. The one pedal driving took about a week to adjust to. The speed limiter is perfectly placed, buttons for most things but the touch screen is actually decent, unlike every other car I’ve seen them in.
However it beeps alot. There is a camera on the steering wheel which beeps if you aren’t paying attention to the road, like when you look at the blind spot or check to come off a roundabout. It beeps I’d you go 2 miles over the speed limit. It beeps if you have something in the back seat and the seat belt isn’t plugged in. Mostly I can’t complain about these, they are legit safety features.
Boot space isn’t huge eg for air port runs but if there are two and a kid the cars fine. Can take a weeks shopping. Space under the boot and in the front for a few things ie emergency supplies and spare clothes.
There was a 0% APR offer when I got mine. Between that and electric tariffs the net monthly cost is lower than any other vehicle I could have bought.
In the UK they are selling really fast and I van see why. If the furthest round trip one does is 150 miles in winter there aren’t really any major drawbacks. But residuals are likely bad so be prepared to either take a hit or hand it back at the end of the pcp IMO.
Any idea what the hacking scene is like for these cars? From something as simple as stopping the beeping to stopping all the spying?
No idea on the hacking. Most of the beeping are safety features which can be turned off, but it’s less beeping and more a quick chirpy to alert the driver to a change in speed limit or upcoming speed camera.
In terms of data collection don’t live in the US? The only secure way way to block it is remove internet access which doesn’t exactly help: the information on the modification will likely lead to insurers refusing cover and warranties being voided.
Also Kona owner here (EU), I dont get a lot of beeps. I think you can turn some of them off in settings. No clue what the hacking is like.
I like my MachE.
It’s not for everyone, but it rides nice, is great to live with, doesn’t cost me a fortune to run. I’m pretty happy with it.
PSA: Some years of Kia and Hyundai cars have known vulnerabilities that resulted in many thefts.
Has nothing to do with being a Kia or Hyundai. All car brands that use wireless key fobs are vulnerable. Ionia 5s and ev6s are just highly desired.
Not in-depth, but a complete list with some specs to get you started. https://evadoption.com/ev-models/bev-models-currently-available-in-the-us/
https://electrek.co/ is a decent source for EV news. Beyond that most of your typical car sites have a halfway decent reviews section.
If you are on the market now, I can recommend the BMW i4. They are desperately trying to get their name in the game and are offering ridiculous discounts, before the end of the year.
I recently leased a BMW i4 M50 and absolutely love it.
My impression of BMW is that they’re cars for people who want to look rich but aren’t. Then the endless repairs keep the buyer broke. Maybe the EVs are different?
My BMW story is when I worked a shitty as fuck management job and my boss loved his BMW. His job was shitty as fuck too. He told stories about how all his life he wanted a BMW and he could finally afford one- ten years old. It would regularly stall out at idle if you didn’t give it a bit of gas.
Never buy used “luxury” vehicles. Never ever buy an “entry level” luxury brand vehicle. Cars like this are meant to be leased (100% tax write-off) or owned for six years, tops. In my experience the fully loaded BMW cars, like most luxury vehicles, offer a wonderful and unique driving experience. That said, having driven many dealer loaners, I’d say that the small, entry level models offer little more than a badge to show off. The biggest gap between entry-level and top-tier has to come from Mercedes Benz. They really should split into three separate brands.
PS: I am not trying to sound like a shill or elitist, I’m just sharing my experience after having owned or driven dozens of cars throughout the price spectrum.
I appreciate you sharing your knowledge. The idea of building an entire fucking car to be owned for six years tops is disgustingly wasteful. Imagine building a house that fell apart after twenty years?
That’s the ethos of most luxury brands. Watches might be the only exception.
Look at the specs. Charging speed, range, cost. Go feel how they feel to drive. There’s not that many options so easy to see them all.
Go to Autotrader, advanced search, fuel type: electric.
Now you can see all the available EVs from all brands.
GM was an early alternative choice, but I don’t have much but anecdotal evidence that they’re good. I’m looking at a Hyundai, electric Silverado, or Rivian to replace my 10yo pickup sometime in the next 2-5 years.
Of all the ones I’ve test driven, none of them meet or exceed Tesla’s “Supervised FSD”, but that’s a non starter because fuck that guy.
There’s a reason for that. The FSD is what’s killing people. It’s not that it’s impossible, it’s that it’s not mature yet.
It’s also that Tesla is attempting to do it all without radar or LiDAR scanners, I think now only using cameras. The company that used to develop their systems even dropped Tesla because it didn’t agree with this approach.
An ironic twist is that the company that was developing it said they didn’t want it referred to as autopilot, and they were also Israeli, which would have added another reason to boycott for many.
That’s also making it impossible for me to find their name at the moment because both Tesla and Israel have done so much stupid shit in the last few years it’s drowning out the older news items.
You gotta use news archive searches at that point.
As little as I want to defend Tesla, and I’m not. People get way more worked up when a computer kills someone versus a distracted driver.
Yeah but computers are supposed to reduce fatalities. Instead Tesla has the highest fatalities.
It might as well be an infinitely complex question to me. Do Tesla drivers have poor motor skills because they’re dumb? Do motor skills even have a correlation with general intelligence? Or does it skew this way because people who have more money (age) have poor motor skills?
I don’t know I’m definitely not a statistician.
You’d have to prove there was something different about the drivers. We’ve got evidence of a defect in the cars.
The YouTube channel “Out of Spec Reviews” is pretty solid, they have a suite of other channels where they show real world road trips and more in depth videos about what it’s like to live with the cars.
I have Genesis GV60 and love it. I bought my son a Kona Electric. It’s also great. Agreed that Kia, Hyundai, Genesis have good things going on right now
Out of Spec Studios. Mostly youtube videos. They have a solid and consistent range testing methodology if range is a concern. But also deep technical understanding of more nuanced things like fast charging curves, battery management system quirks, which regions have good charging infra or not, and so on.
Kyle Conner with Out of Spec is the guy to pay attention to for all things EV. An actual expert with real passion. That and the rest of the good people he works with there.
About a year old, but: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5bzd_JTB_w
I also recommend his much more recent guest appearance on that same podcast, just a week or two ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng-aK_oAsSY