Make a dumb EV and you immediately get a lot of clients.
An EV doesn’t need internet access, doesn’t need mics and cameras inside, doesn’t need a touchpad or a big screen.
Just give me a damn conversion kit… I love my current car and like none of the modern ones, with useless features and annoying stuff like the mandatory lane assist, but I’d gladly stop polluting if I could.
The sad truth is that 99.99% of customers (citation needed) don’t give a shit about getting tracked or having stupid “smart” features
I need a golf cart that can go 80+mph and passes us safety standards.
Agreed. Where’s the modern equivalent to my 95 honda civic? Zero smart features and it was the cheapest AND best car I’ve ever owned.
Renault Twingo EV. <$20,000. Not with US tariffs.
But Americans don’t buy small cars.
Geez, that looks nice. And the green is really a pretty color.
I wish we got small cars again. I’m going to be really sad when I have to give up my MR2 spyder. Fortunately, with an average of 1 to 2 mile a day, I think it’ll hang on a while.
I wish we got small cars again.
US vehicle weight tracks with the US obesity rate last 20 years. Maybe Ozempic will turn people back to smaller cars.
The US needs Ozempic for cars.
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The problem is tracking you provides them revenue since they can sell the data, so they make more money with a vehicle that tracks you vs one that doesn’t. A non-tracking vehicle is less competitive if it has to be sold for the same or less money than one that tracks you.
Someone on here turned me on to removing the sim from my electric. Gonna take 15 minutes when I remember to do it when I have time.
Now do it with the new ones that have eSim
Just find the antenna and clip it.
I’d recommend foiling it, rather than clipping. A grounded (0V) metal wrapping will become a Faraday cage. It’s a bit more effort, but is reversible, if you so choose. E.g. when selling it. It is also less likely to trigger a fault sensor condition, and doesn’t void the warranty if the computer craps out.
Then fire him and hire someone with a plan to match.
The problem is Japan doesnt refine any materials while China refines all the materials, and electric vehicles are relatively simple relative to combustion engines so theres less barrier to entry. The largest barrier is the battery, which is also manufactured in China.
This article seems to be focused on manufacturing for the Chinese domestic market, not the export of cars. They are worried about being shut out of the Chinese market.
And they are 100% right about their assumption. China isn‘t letting anyone in anymore. They use their entire state capitalist machine to reject foreign companies completely. Global companies should forget about China and decouple.
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I am genuinely shocked reading this from a Japanese car CEO. A German or an American, well they suck in terms of quality (yes also German cars, read the tests, very bad performance in repairs/km driven). Japanese cars usually score high in quality and innovation.
Japanese companies cornered precision manufacturing which is really useful when producing reliable and efficient internal combustion engines. Electric cars are less dependent on precision manufacturing which is probably why Japanese companies failed to invest in them. They wouldn’t have any strategic advantages in the EV market. It was a total lack of foresight on their part. Chinese companies invested so much in battery and electric motor research and manufacturing that they now have a pretty sizable advantage over everyone else.
