Quote:
Originally Posted by Truenorth00
Practically read the fear in this post. "I really hope this doesn't happen."
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Your processing of this discussion seems really strange to me. What fear? What's to be afraid of? I don't understand.
If there is something to be afraid of, IMHO, it is purchasing a VW electric vehicle that was rushed to production in order to improve the 'green' reputation of a company that was recently busted for cheating on their emissions testing of their diesel-powered vehicles. I won't be buying one from VW, but I do look forward to buying an electric vehicle once they become mainstream and the bugs have been worked out by the manufacturers.
That's usual for me because I always prefer to let the early adopters experience all the actual real world problems with new designs (automotive R&D divisions love early adopters to help discover problems with new designs on their dime). Once electric vehicles are perfected I will be more than happy to own one - they are quiet, have all their torque available at 0 rpm (i.e. can be fun to drive), have instant heat in the winter thanks to electric heating elements (rather than waiting for engine coolant to be heated by all the wasted thermal energy created through combustion), will be simpler to maintain because you don't have fuel systems, exhaust systems, valve clearances, multiple mechanisms to optimize cam timing, intake runner length, etc etc. You will still have a cooling system (electric vehicles still generate waste heat) but it will all be simpler than ICE systems.
They are going to have to solve the range/recharging issues before they are widely accepted though. And even then there are still issues with battery life and ability to recycle used EV batteries. But, I'm confident that it will all be worked out and in mass production in 10 years time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Truenorth00
Companies don't commit to spending tens of billions of Euros (60 billion in the case of VW) on a whim.
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Well-run companies don't do stupid things like getting cute with emissions testing to attempt to convince the public that their diesel engines are low emission. This
30 billion Euro mistake (
which translates to $44.6 billion Canadian dollars) -though "mistake" doesn't really cover this foolhardy dishonest business decision- has put VW in a precarious position, and one would think that one more huge financial hit could put them on the brink of extinction (though one would also expect the German govt. to bail them out).
So for anyone to have blind faith that anything VW is doing now is 100% in good judgement, you have to seriously have the rose coloured glasses on. That said, I hope it works out for them. There are a lot of VW diehards out there and it would be sad to see their favourite car company die a death at the hands of fools. Their concept cars look great though (as concept cars are supposed to).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Truenorth00
And I think you don't yet understand what Europe's emissions mandates mean. There's billions in fines to be paid if they don't meet targets. Better to invest that in product development than to boost government coffers.
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From what I've read of your posts, I get the impression that you don't have a great understanding of how the auto industry works. It's all good, though, we can't all know everything. Keep learning, but in the mean time don't embarrass yourself by pretending you know everything there is to know - others can see right through it (a tip). I'll still read your stuff, but the inflammatory comments and such (that you tend to default to) are quite unnecessary, and thus it's really hard to take you seriously.