forums

Off-Topic The Car Thread

S

SpikeUM

Head Meshuggah
Premium
Joined
Nov 3, 2011
Messages
14,881
Advertisement
SpikeUM said:
I am a car buff, and I suspect a number of you are here. I wasnt interested in buying this car, but curious to see why they think they can get $300K for it.

www.wsj.com

WSJ News Exclusive | Cadillac Plans to Price Its Future Celestiq EV Around $300,000

General Motors’ luxury brand looks to jump-start electric-vehicle push with high-end sedan produced in the hundreds a year.
www.wsj.com www.wsj.com
Click to expand...

I think that’s outrageously priced. Plus version 1.0? That’s always a huge risk.
 
Advertisement
SpikeUM said:
A hybrids range sucks, and the technology will be outdated in the not too distant future, so unless you get the $7500 credit, I would stay away.
Click to expand...
I have a hybrid Sienna. It gets 35 mpg and has a range of 550 miles on gas. It would be nice if I could charge it overnight and increase that.
 
Advertisement
SpikeUM said:
I generally lease, because I like to have a new car every few years. In fact, I often take over a lease so that my holding period is much less than 3 years.
Click to expand...

Yeah as soon as I posted that I thought maybe you had leased it. Since I have zero experience in buying/leasing from Tesla, I didn’t know what they had available in terms of purchase/lease.
 
OriginalCanesCanesCanes said:
Yeah as soon as I posted that I thought maybe you had leased it. Since I have zero experience in buying/leasing from Tesla, I didn’t know what they had available in terms of purchase/lease.
Click to expand...
As I indicated, prices are up 50%+, so I would wait for the recession at this point.
 
Advertisement
Can small be beautiful for EV batteries?
Spurred on by Tesla, most rich-world electric vehicle makers have been competing to squeeze more driving range out of their battery packs. The $87,400-and-up Lucid Air luxury EV has a top range of 520 miles between charges - currently best in the business, unless Mercedes delivers a production version of the 600+ mile prototype it has been driving around Europe. A more affordable Tesla Model Y Long Range is rated at 318 miles between charges.

A range of 300+ miles serves as the benchmark for being taken seriously in the United States and Europe and for more affluent consumers in China - because combustion vehicles offer that much range, and usually more, between fill-ups.

But what if battery makers and EV manufacturers came up with a different way to skin the range-anxiety cat – designing vehicles around smaller, much less expensive batteries that could be recharged very quickly? That is the concept that a number of battery and EV companies are pursuing, especially in China, but in Western markets as well.

The quest for cheaper, faster-charging batteries drove a surge in investment in battery technology during 2021 compared with the year before, according to data compiled by Pitchbook.

Smaller, cheaper, faster-recharging batteries would make sense. Auto industry executives know from market research that most people in the United States drive fewer than 30 miles in a day, and in Europe and China the normal daily drive is even shorter.

The caveats: Most markets are a long way from having ubiquitous fast charging stations.

Then there’s that old devil, consumer psychology. Logically, most of us do not need a battery pack designed for 300+ miles of range. But most car buyers are not Mr. Spock, making decisions without emotions.

Instead, Americans have the Bruce Springsteen Complex - they want to believe they could, on any given day, take a wrong turn and drive all night down Thunder Road. The new twist on this is the Indiana Jones Adventure fantasy that sells desert-ready Ford Broncos and Jeep Wranglers and Rivian RT1’s at ionospheric prices to people who never leave the pavement. (Bruce Springsteen brought these two streams together when he made a Jeep ad.)

Could cheap, fast-charging EVs break through? Bet on commercial fleet buyers - who care only about total cost of ownership - making the switch first.​
mail
Downshifting in China
China’s Association of Automobile Manufacturers trimmed its 2022 sales forecast for the world’s largest vehicle market to 27 million cars and trucks, down from 27.5 million earlier this year. The cut was mainly due to anticipated slower sales for commercial vehicles. However, the Chinese market is still expected to grow 3% compared with 2021. Beijing is trying to help, cutting taxes on vehicles priced below $45,000.

Chinese consumers are still eager to buy Teslas. Tesla hit a new monthly sales record in China last month.​
mail
Used car prices throttle back
Wholesale prices for used cars dipped by 1.3% in June compared with May, according to Cox Automotive’s Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index. Used vehicles overall are still more expensive than a year ago, but prices for pickup trucks are down 2.5% year over year. Could it be…..gas prices?

Supply chain pain
Supply chain bottlenecks keep hobbling the industry - or, perhaps, continue to save automakers from reckoning with the impact of rising rates and inflation.

Mercedes reported a 16% drop in second-quarter sales, which the company blamed on COVID in China and supply chain snarls. The luxury automaker said demand remains strong and stuck to its full year forecast. BMW blamed similar factors for a 13% decline in its Q2 sales.

In the United States, inventories of unsold vehicles are edging above last year’s levels, but are still at an unusually low level of around 40 days’ supply, according to Cox Automotive.

Automakers (and retailers) are keeping watch on labor negotiations at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where workers are working without a contract.​
 
Advertisement
Advertisement
Back
Top