We now know that the data collection in modern cars is out of control -- The question is, how does that data even leave your car? And what, if anything, can you do to stop it?
Right, like if I want a tablet in my car I will just get a dash mount arm and throw whatever current gen tablet on it. I don't need it as a part of the car.
Someone is bound to start selling conversion kits for regular cars eventually - turn your 20 year old gas dinosaur into a zippy EV or hybrid, no spyware required. We can already do it with two-wheelers, and Edison Motors is well on their way to making kits to turn big trucks into hybrids.
Ive been fixing and repairing the same 04 Ford Focus for over 6 years. Its been legally totaled over 6 times, if you can find a hybrid that would be as easy to repair I'd love to see it.
Yes you can re-fuel it, ever heard of a gas can? While you're waiting for your EV to charge on the side of the road I'm already off driving. I should have specified old dumb cars are more repairable.
As an owner of a plug-in hybrid this is patently incorrect. Most electric car owners have at most of 240 volt outlet (in the US), which while can fill your battery in a few hours from home, still falls short of the half hour round trip to gas station and back. Maybe with time our infrastructure and technology will get to that point though.
People are aguing about the reparability thing a lot. Current electric cars are less reparable, but that is by design. Car manufacturers are using electric as an excuse to make cars harder to repair. The reality is that electric motors and batteries are dead simple, they just add a bunch of techno bullshit to make them worse. Charging is bad right now, but that will improve with time, just like gas did when gas cars were new. I like cars, and hate seeing them being turned into what they are today, but there is nothing fundamentally different about electric cars to make them the piles of absolute garbage they are, (apart from battery technology not being great right now). 90% of the problems with electric cars are there by design, and I think everyone should buy a car that isn't designed to suck, whether it's gas, electric, steam, or fart powered.
Exactly right, they are all extremely complex mechanically and electronically. Engine and transmission technology have come a long way, and I guess the absurd complexity is the trade-off we got for the improvements
The complexity does no necessity locking diagnostic code away from consumers or small shops. The complexity does not necessity creating increasingly granular parts that don't work between close models. The "improvements" are often just marketing hype or incremental nonsense. The infotainment centers on cars are a great example.
Right, those are the bullshit complexities that we don't need. I'm glad to have the beneficial ones like direct injection, advanced turbos, and variable valve timing (etc)