The Canadian Electric Vehicle thread

[urbandreamer]

^Actually he didn't, which is why dumb ppl dumped their shares (although from a TA pov, a pullback to $160 is due.)

Hyundai/Kia makes flashy cars that are fundamentally flawed. They look cool but there's a reason Uber drivers buy them. The only Hyundai I'd buy is the Korean market Casper.

[theman23]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

^Actually he didn't, which is why dumb ppl dumped their shares (although from a TA pov, a pullback to $160 is due.)

Hyundai/Kia makes flashy cars that are fundamentally flawed. They look cool but there's a reason Uber drivers buy them. The only Hyundai I'd buy is the Korean market Casper.

An Uber drive would want a vehicle that's affordable and reliable, so I'm not sure how that's a bad thing. Anyways, like most of what you post, that's probably bullshit. I'm fairly certain most of the Ubers I've taken have been Toyotas.

[urbandreamer]

The Uber standard in the GTA/KW seems to be the current ugly Elantra, mostly driven by a South Asian guy in his 20s. The older wiser Uber drivers prefer Camrys. The smartest ones drive hybrids. I've even seen many Model 3s which has cheapened their brand image. I was somewhat surprised to see a white girl in her early 30s doing an Uber Eats McDonald's pick-up tonight at Queen and Roncesvalles - maybe an unemployed realtor?

Like Nissan, Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep, Hyundai/Kia will finance/lease a car to those with poor credit because they know they'll make a killing on repairs (although Hyundai engines need to be replaced every 30k lol.)

[theman23]

Thanks for the story.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by theman23

Personally, I'm holding off until there's a BEV sedan/wagon/hatchback that doesn't look like complete dog shit or costs six figures. The Ioniq6 was a big let down after the Ioniq5. Perhaps the Kia equivalent might be the answer?

The problem is that we're not getting the sedans wagons and hatchbacks in North America. I'd buy an ID3 tomorrow if Volkswagen offered it. It's more than adequate as a daily driver for most people. The better version, the Cupra Born, is actually nice.

[goodgrowth]

After watching Tesla's investor day presentation I think they are maintaining their lead over other automakers. This isn't just about electric vehicles anymore but also about how to efficiently produce vehicles in general. Near complete vertical integration.

Morgan Stanley agrees:

[Truenorth00]

I bought back into TSLA at 120. But I do think some of their investor day talk is overhyped. Robotaxis have been around the corner for half a decade. And will probably be around the corner for another two decades. On the other hand, their projected improvements on production and their growth in the energy business, are what interest me. Much more realistic goals. Albeit, still exaggerated in typical Musk fashion.

I'm also excited by what this does for EV competition as a consumer. Not going to be good for some carmakers though. I think a few legacy automakers will not exist by the end of this decade.

[goodgrowth]

I don't even think Tesla needs Robotaxi to be successful though. Pretty much everyone is bounded by advances in AI and I suspect Tesla will just as competitive as anyone else in that area.

I suspect some legacy automakers will go bankrupt and there will be consolidation to pool resources.

Watching this presentation I got the feeling when you combine all the efficiencies they talk about plus the fact that the factory will be in Mexico that their next gen vehicle is going to be around $30k.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

I'm skeptical EVs are any more sustainable than ICE. For example, reading about the tremendous amount of dump truck loads needed for the new Windsor EV plant was shocking. Dump trucks and construction equipment are probably the biggest carbon emitters along with flying, which is certainly what Canada's doing flying 500,000+ immigrants here every year. Climate change is just another excuse to enable the wealthy and educated to get wealthier at the expense of poor people.

Dump trucks are the problem? No idea where you're coming from.

30-40 year old cars aren't the solution. I see a small fraction on the roads here in Vancouver.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by theman23

An Uber drive would want a vehicle that's affordable and reliable, so I'm not sure how that's a bad thing. Anyways, like most of what you post, that's probably bullshit. I'm fairly certain most of the Ubers I've taken have been Toyotas.

Toyota Prius (and the plug in model) are the #1 Uber vehicle by far. The rest are other hybrids and Tesla 3s in my experience.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

The Uber standard in the GTA/KW seems to be the current ugly Elantra, mostly driven by a South Asian guy in his 20s. The older wiser Uber drivers prefer Camrys. The smartest ones drive hybrids. I've even seen many Model 3s which has cheapened their brand image. I was somewhat surprised to see a white girl in her early 30s doing an Uber Eats McDonald's pick-up tonight at Queen and Roncesvalles - maybe an unemployed realtor?

No problems with your imagination, but your generalizations are pretty awful.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

I bought back into TSLA at 120. But I do think some of their investor day talk is overhyped. Robotaxis have been around the corner for half a decade. And will probably be around the corner for another two decades. On the other hand, their projected improvements on production and their growth in the energy business, are what interest me. Much more realistic goals. Albeit, still exaggerated in typical Musk fashion.

I'm also excited by what this does for EV competition as a consumer. Not going to be good for some carmakers though. I think a few legacy automakers will not exist by the end of this decade.

Originally Posted by goodgrowth

I don't even think Tesla needs Robotaxi to be successful though. Pretty much everyone is bounded by advances in AI and I suspect Tesla will just as competitive as anyone else in that area.

I suspect some legacy automakers will go bankrupt and there will be consolidation to pool resources.

Watching this presentation I got the feeling when you combine all the efficiencies they talk about plus the fact that the factory will be in Mexico that their next gen vehicle is going to be around $30k.

Yes, I think this presentation seemed to focus more on improving efficiencies, minimizing waste, continuing to scale up sustainably. The presentation itself was quite dull and technical. But overall the idea is to continue to solidify Tesla's future viability. I think there were a lot of people here 2-3 years ago that were predicting Tesla would be bankrupt by now, and in fact there were people here as recently as Dec 2022 predicting Tesla would be bankrupt by March 2023.

I think a lot of people were expecting some sort of big announcement (Model 2, Cybertruck imminent), so that's why the stock went down initially. I think the overall outlook is still quite strong though looking at the bigger picture. When they do decide to make the Model 2/gen 3 platform announcement, I'm sure the stock will rebound even more. Perhaps it also signals some maturity in Tesla's approach which used to be overpromise and underdeliver, if they're waiting until the project is actually ready.

[lio45]

I feel like I’m wasting my time addressing this, but dump trucks here have nearly all switched to running their diesel engines on natural gas. Still not perfectly clean but they went from “totally negligible part of the problem” (back when running on diesel) to “even much more negligible one now”.

Trucks on freeways delivering inter-city loads are more of an issue. Electric trains make more sense than EV big rigs as the ideal long-term solution. Too bad we here in Canada were stupid enough to dismantle so much of our railway network.

[urbandreamer]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

No problems with your imagination, but your generalizations are pretty awful.

I just got back from the barber, and decided to play a game: check every Elantra I saw (5.) Yep every single one driven by a young SA guy, 3/5 with an Uber sign displayed.

NG dump trucks ok, but apparently brake dust and tire wear contribute most to low quality air pollution in cities.

[DoubleK]

Meanwhile in Texas...

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by theman23

An Uber drive would want a vehicle that's affordable and reliable, so I'm not sure how that's a bad thing. Anyways, like most of what you post, that's probably bullshit. I'm fairly certain most of the Ubers I've taken have been Toyotas.

In Vancouver the top 4 Uber seems to be : Corolla Hybrid, Camry Hybrid, Elantra and white Tesla Model 3s.

[mapleleaf66]

I am looking to rent a car this fall in Nashville for about 15 days to do a tour of the southeastern states. Needless to say car rentals are pricey these days with most near the $100/day mark. But at a couple of the rental agencies they have a Nissan Leaf for about 30% cheaper. With the savings on fuel it would likely be more than twice as cheap.

However I have never driven an EV and the last thing I would want is spend a bunch of extra time charging and worrying about range. I assume most hotels have charging spots nowadays and the range on the Leaf looks to be about 300km(?). We would probably be averaging 3-400 per day.

Just wondering if any posters have advice on this.

[Innsertnamehere]

if you are road tripping I wouldn't bother, not worth the charging time issue to me, particularly since it's a Leaf which has a pretty low range.

In terms of rental cars, I always use Kayak which I find usually delivers the cheapest rental car price that I can find. Right now it's giving me a sub-compact rental for $58/ a day for two weeks in May for Nashville. I used it in Vegas in December and got a Jeep Renegade for $56 a day.

[Truenorth00]

If you're road tripping and want to try an EV, check out the Tesla rentals at Hertz.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by mapleleaf66

I am looking to rent a car this fall in Nashville for about 15 days to do a tour of the southeastern states. Needless to say car rentals are pricey these days with most near the $100/day mark. But at a couple of the rental agencies they have a Nissan Leaf for about 30% cheaper. With the savings on fuel it would likely be more than twice as cheap.

However I have never driven an EV and the last thing I would want is spend a bunch of extra time charging and worrying about range. I assume most hotels have charging spots nowadays and the range on the Leaf looks to be about 300km(?). We would probably be averaging 3-400 per day.

Just wondering if any posters have advice on this.

I don't know this for sure, but I'm guessing the charging infrastructure outside of California is not great, and if we're talking about the southeastern US, probably even bad. Given the Leaf has short range, you'll be at the mercy of public charging stations, which may or may not be working. There's a good chance you could find yourself stranded. I would stick to a traditional ICE car, or a longer range EV where you can be certain to charge overnight at a hotel, for a road trip.