J
@nostrildamus said in Electric Vehicles:
@JC said in Electric Vehicles:
@nostrildamus ... and yet, they can't make a car that I'd actually want to drive. Sales in America are of course important for their profitability but the US has honestly given us very little in the way of decent cars. Sometimes iconic, sure, but not often objectively good.
Toyota you mean? Yep, not known for the driving experience.
No, Tesla.
@NTA said in Electric Vehicles:
@dogmeat said in Electric Vehicles:
So, while the technology may become available I can't really see them taking off.
It needs to be in every car - simultaneously communicating with every other car - to eliminate the human error across the board.
Have you been following developments in that area Nick? There is a consortium of (I think 11) manufacturers who have developed standards for swapping packets of information about congestion etc using a virtual WLAN. It's been running for over 10 years and is now used pretty widely. The concept is you don't need huge data centres to process the information, the effort gets distributed between all the cars' simpler CPUs and the ones with dedicated SIMs upload the data.
@dogmeat said in Electric Vehicles:
@MajorRage I think driverless cars are a chimera. They increase congestion not reduce it. So, while the technology may become available I can't really see them taking off.
The technology isn't all that far away right now. The main constraint is in fact the infrastructure. For example in NZ there are still shedloads of roads that don't have clear markings for cameras to read. You also have weird non-standard road rules at specific locations that cars' technology can't anticipate, like in an intersection not far from me the council has decided that cars opposite each other both get a green filter light at the same time so the ones turning to their own right no longer believe they have to give way to their opposites who are turning to their own left (who in reality ALWAYS have right of way). Carparks are a nightmare too, because people act like complete arseholes. The number of people who will blow past a car reversing out of a parking space because they believe their right to do so trumps any need to exercise common sense is a never-ending source of rage for me. Modern cars will intervene in that but only to an extent.
@nostrildamus ... and yet, they can't make a car that I'd actually want to drive. Sales in America are of course important for their profitability but the US has honestly given us very little in the way of decent cars. Sometimes iconic, sure, but not often objectively good.
There will never be a Tesla in my garage because they bore me shitless.
@NTA The iX is a lovely car if you’re on the inside. Because then you don’t have to look at the front. Not sold on the vegan leather option though, it looks to me like it will go baggy and shapeless pretty quickly. I would consider one in future if the facelift does something about that nose, but not the current one.
@MajorRage said in Electric Vehicles:
@JC did you try the e40?
Naturally I lean to the M50 but literally all the reviews say the e40 is the better car.
Gran Coupe perfect for me. Kids stuff plus room for golf clubs.
No I didn’t try the e40 sorry. I have the hybrid X5 for sensible and was looking for something a bit more fun. I tried an M4 but I have a feeling the arse will fall out of the resale market for them in the next few years.
@MajorRage I picked up an i4 M50 just last year. It's a good all round car but the throttle response is brutal. I'd have preferred a true 4 series shape rather than the gran coupe but there doesn't seem to be any prospect of them making a two door version so I figured there's not much point waiting for something that won't necessarily happen.
The one thing I don't like is the move away from physical buttons for some of the functions. Soft controls for the climate controls don't really add anything except being more like a Tesla. The older iDrive in my X5 has the programmable shortcut buttons that I find very handy too.
Also not 100% sure about the Hans Zimmer acceleration noises in Sport mode. They're a laugh when you're by yourself but I always feel vaguely embarrassed when they kick in if somebody else is in the car.
Edit: BTW, they're a lot more than 60k quid over here!
10 to 2 in no particular order
My heart will go on - Celine Dion
Wind beneath my wings - Bette Midler
I go to Rio - Peter Allen
Party like a Russian - Robbie Williams (seriously though, just one of many options from him)
Shotgun - George Ezra
I gotta feeling - Black Eyed Peas
Never enough - Kid Rock
Leader of the Gang - Hulk Hogan. Dreadful AND Gary Glitter got money from it. Inexcusable.
Take your pick of any song from Metallica’s Lulu album. Dross.
Number 1, no question, is Mariah Carey’s version of Without You. It’s just ear cancer.
