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There won’t be flying cars until Autonomous Vehicles have a perfect self driving score.
Joe Average Potata-brain can’t drive as it is. Now they want to add the extra chaos of multiple tons of debris falling from the sky after minor crash bends one of the stabilizer ports out of alignment?
No, we need more rail. Enough with cars.
And dedicated bike lanes.
I walked past a Tesla showroom recently and they had one car on the floor that they still sell, one that they haven’t sold in decades, a frame to a car that’s out of production, and a robot they still don’t produce. They used to have more cars out then they stopped producing them. The stock is still high somehow.
The original roadster is still so cool to me. I wish a small relatively light ev sports car was sold in the US. I don’t want a barge with 800 HP I’d much rather have something nimble with a quarter of the power.
There was very little original with the roadtser. The chassis is just a Lotus Elise that they stuffed an EV drivetrain into.
And there are some small ones. The Kia EV3 is 201hp and under 30k.
What’s annoying is people hyping up these “cheap” Slate trucks because they don’t realize they don’t even paint the fucking things so you’re replacing a $3k wrap every three years and calling yourself frugal and environment friendly.
The wraps are dirt cheap. They start at $500 for a basic color.
And you don’t have to do anything at all to them. You could leave them with the base coat. They’re a composite panel so it wont rust or degrade.
They’re one I’ve priced out is a gloss purple wrap and that’s $670.
The whole point of the slate is getting as bare bones as possible and being able to do it all yourself. That’s the selling point.
You don’t have to wrap it if you don’t want to
Yes, you do, because wraps are the default “paint”
The default body they ship if you don’t pick up a wrap will degrade over time and cost you even more if you like that “ugly gray plastic” look.
Ah ok it looks like you’re right. I thought I’d seen a video where they said they designed the panels to be able to withstand the elements. Full wraps start at $500 though.
No shit. I feel like this company has enough money they could produce a $10k Electric car that is basically sold at cost.
Tesla refuses to even develop a compact 20k car they could sell at a profit. Instead the new developments focus on wankpanzers and sports cars with party tricks.
I think it’s because they know they can’t compete with quality or specs at the low end. They’d much rather get customers with gimmicks and “controversial” aesthetics. Chinese cars would eat anything they could build for that price for breakfast but even legacy brands like Hyundai and VW have been able to make good EVs far cheaper than Tesla.
Well, if Hyundai, Kia, VW, Renault and others can compete on reasonably priced compact cars, Tesla should be able to do so too. They do not only produce in the US after all. If they can’t that would be just an admission that their future is that of a niche highend producer. But for that, they are a bit too cheap on the inside.
Why would any company sell anything at cost? The point of a company is to make money
I was checking out used 2023 EVs recently, and some models were in the low 20 kUSD range. Accounting for inflation, that’s less than I paid when I bought my used ICE car (17 kUSD) in 2014. The main detractor for me is that level 3 chargers degrade the batteries, and as a renter, I don’t have a place to charge at home. But if you own a home and can charge an EV there, there’s really no reason to buy an ICE car these days if you just want a commuter vehicle.
I live in the US and I would love to buy an electric vespa-style scooter that can do 45 mph. They are virtually non-existent here (there is something called the Aventura-X which costs $5000). Even if I could get one, there are no places around that could service it. And it’s not like I live in rural South Dakota or anything - I live in a Philly suburb.
My understanding is the level 3 battery degradation is overstated, and even with heavy use, the battery will stay in pretty good shape.
-an EV owner
Agreed. From what I’ve looked up, it’s going outside of 20ish-80ish% charge frequently that’s degrading the batteries quickly. Or fully charging and then leaving out in the hot sun.
The demo had to be AI slop.
It’s supposedly not, but even then, why should we give a shit about this stupid demo? They basically dressed a SpaceX rocket up like a car. That’s it.
None of what is shown here is ever, and yes, I absolutely mean EVER, going to make it into a production car. Why? I can boil it down to 3 reasons.
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It would be unsafe as shit for any car to have the capability of doing any of this. I’m sure everyone here can agree that most drivers are fucking stupid and are a danger to everyone around them. Now give them the ability to drive like they’re in fucking GTA.
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It’s expensive as shit.
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Most importantly. It is fucking impractical and stupid. Not only is most of the space in the car wasted on rocket parts. How much energy does it take to do something like this? How much energy is stored in a Tesla battery? Anything short of a small nuclear reactor inside the car, would make the ability to do this, at best, impractical. It’s just so unfathomably retarded to want a car that can do this, because it shows a basic lack of understanding of the laws of physics.
This is a media stunt, made by the biggest egotistical piece of shit in history, nothing more.
Some points:
Falling is not the same as flying
The car, by the looks of it, is probably just a very lightweight body with some thrusters and gyroscopes. Meaning, it’s not a full car like we’re used to, but rather just a plastic replica made specifically for this demo. Add some thrusters, make sure it looks ok. There you go.
Do we trust the company that pretended to have fully autonomous robots that were clearly being piloted backstage? The company that has lied about ‘self-driving technology’ for decades, which has already killed dozens of people because it’s complete dogshit at what it does.
I don’t feel inclined to believe them here either lol
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I was fully convinced this was the case but I think they might have actually done it for some reason. There’s no fucking way that you’ll be able to buy a car that does what they did in the demo. I think it’s safe to assume the car that flew doesn’t have a full sized battery and was probably missing some of the other heavier components. It’s really fucking stupid but I think that car actually did all that crap.
USA must funnel cash to Elmo at all costs… smh.
Looks at long list of EVs that don’t rhyme with Besla
Car sizes will continue to increase until morale improves.
I just want public transit…
Here you go:
Oh, did you mean in the US?
I would ride this just to ride this
The interior design is rather bland or let’s say functional, but I think the exterior looks great. It is not crazy like some of the French trams of the “Flexity”-family but quite elegant I think.
I work on those, they are pretty nice to work on when compared to the previous ULF trams, but nothing beats the old E2 trams
The current administration is in the process of abolishing what little we have. And they will.
Public transit is mostly at the city and state levels. Amtrak is the only exception I can think of.
A lot of systems get federal money, or did.
I bought a used 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5 for $25k. 30k miles. I know its still not cheap, but the ask the batteries have a 100k+ warranty.
77kW 220-280 miles at 100% (though I rarely go beyond 90% for battery life). 0-60 in 4.5 seconds, all wheel drive, CCS charger with NACS adapters available. Tesla chargers max at 96kW just fyi, idk why. But a lot of quick chargers work better, there’s 2 65xkW, 4x180kW near me. There’s a 4x375kW and a 4x400kW on a regular distance trip I take. Those are stupid fast charging.
A standard 120v is 1.4kW max, and it works out to about 10%/11hrs. A 240v is much better (i can’t remember maybe its like 10kW) charges fully in about 8 hours.
Kia and Hyundai are awesome EVs. I’ve heard good things about Subaru’s. The Chevy Bolt I’ve heard less good about. Toyota’s EVs are disappointing. Avoid Polestar - they aren’t allowed to sell in the US anymore anyway, but the car has a fancy interior and is fun to drive until the AC stops working. And it’s got weird software license gates for hardware it has.
Also don’t find reasons to funnel money to Musk.
2027 Chevy Bolt driver here 👋. Urban car-dependent locale unfortunately.
Freaking love the Bolt. Got some good incentives and bought new, which felt sorta foolish at the time. Never ever bought new before. (But there were no used models under like 100,000 miles around us, and they were old ones with slow charging.)
It is a touch smaller than our CR-V, but they vastly improved this model and I enjoy it a lot. The LT was quite affordable, and I don’t ask for much luxury. (IMHO my Honda Element was the best car ever.)
There’s also third party module to get Android auto to work, I’m considering that.
I can say one thing though, even though having a payment sucks, I feel vindicated every time I drive by $6 gas.
I really like my '23 Bolt EUV. I bought it when it was new, and it’s been perfectly reliable ever since. Like you, it was the first time I ever bought new. I’ve got no regrets!
I recently heard that Honda might be bringing the Element back in a few years. I hope it’s true. I really wanted an Element when they were still in production, but couldn’t afford one back then
I’ve had a polestar for a couple years now, and it’s by far my favorite vehicle. It has quirks, but most I can get past. I also have a kia EV and I fucking hate it. It forces you to get handheld through everything and it has some really dumb software choices. Everything I hate about then could be changed with a software update to give options, but I don’t foresee that happening ever.
Subaru and Toyota’s EVs are the same cars with mild restyles, both should be similar mechanically and reliability wise. The Uncharted is definitely the nicest of the bunch in my mind, though.
For 240V most people use a dryer outlet which is 30 amps. 30A x 240V = 7.2kW before resistance and conversion losses, etc. Use a 50 amp circuit and outlet and you can achieve 12kW with the same stipulations.
240V can vary depending on the amperage and what the individual charger can handle. Power = Voltage x Current. I ran a 60A line, but for continuous loads you can only do 80%, so I get 240V x 48A which is about 11.5kW. There are always losses, so 10ish is a fair guess for real world time expectations.
As a Bolt EUV owner, I’m very envious of your charge speeds on the road, even though I wouldn’t make much use of it.
Here’s the thing everyone seems to be forgetting. Once a motorized vehicle leaves the ground under powered flight it is no longer under DOT’s domain it is now under FAA’s domain. FAA licenses are way harder to get and way easier to lose. They also require annual tests to keep. This is why flying cars are a non starter, because to pilot them you need a general aviation license.
There are exceptions but it’s always in the ultralight or experimental categories. A release of this car will fit neither of those categories.
They also require annual tests to keep
No they don’t. Good for life, although I do need to do a flight review every 24 months
Flight reviews are pretty chill, juat do a flight with an instructor (or anyone else certified to sign off on it). We should require these for drivers too on license renewal
Yeah this car will never be for sale. There will be the $50,000 version which has none of the compressed air loaded into it, and a tuned up version with some boost for the 0-60. The flying car they showed yesterday was the only one that will ever do that, because it was a literal stunt for the shareholders.
Note that even the lowest even described model (50k just to reserve a spot for unspecified price and based on Tesla historically, unknown delivery date) there are issues.
They claim the active down force fan will be on that, but I hear that even on tracks they frequently aren’t allowed. It’s not likely to be a street legal thing, given what happens with road debris in such a scenario.
They saw the McMurtry Spéirling and got jealous, how cute 😂
(The Spéirling can hold itself upside down on a flat surface)
Correct. There is zero chance they ever come out with a flying car
New planes are fucking expensive. Hundreds of thousands of dollars. 50% of the cost of those planes is airframe certification and insurance for the manufacturer
Planes used to be war cheaper, but liability and bureaucracy has slowly been killing GA for a few decades
From my memory, it’s just a $50k reservation, and if that’s the case, it’s going to cost a lot more than that in actuality.
I think you’re correct
To be fair, with teslas track record we’d be lucky if a production “flying” car like this could achieve more air time than my Subaru when I go ditch banging 😂
Not to mention insurance.
Also, don’t pilots need to take annual physicals?
Even funnier, you’re generally not allowed to land on roads so once you take off you have a problem with that flying car. Debris flying around will also be fun.
You can land on roads. It’s just rare it would be safe and a good idea
Big tire super cubs do it pretty often in rural Alaska
Biggest problems landing on roads is power lines and traffic. If either are present, it’s emergency only
What will be even more fun is getting eviscerated by an exploding pressurized gas tank they use to do that shit, in the tiniest crash known to man.
