Battery based electric vehicles of today and tomorrow.

Gale Hawkins · Nov 24, 2021

Sandy's views on EVs.

California · Nov 24, 2021

80+ percent of the US population is urban. And I expect some percentage of 'rural' would also use Uber etc when too young, tired, poor or old to drive. So over 4 out of 5 Americans are the potential market for ride-hailing soon, and eventually for autonomous transport. What's needed is to show everyone the large cost savings when a family doesn't need more than at most, one car.

When wife and i worked downtown we rented then bought, near city bus lines. While we mostly drove, the bus was backup that made unnecessary an expensive ultra-reliable new car for each of us. I figure we saved $thousands starting out that way and beginning to grow the savings we enjoy today. It wasn't until our first baby that we bought a new car. And paid cash. Never have had car payments.

cqaigy2 · Nov 24, 2021

GPS works well out where we live, it's just that people think they've driven too far and turn around. I've gotten to telling people that haven't been here, if they think they've gone too far, that they are half way here.

California · Nov 24, 2021

Google maps Directions works ok here until the final quarter mile. But Google looked at the easement in from the county road and named it for the name of some other road. So there are three names: county tax records, Google's name in as far as my mailbox, and then a third name beyond me to the house at the end of the easement. The lane is un-named, at the address post out at the county road.

A while back I got a pizza delivery intended for the new neighbors across the lane. I met them for the first time in near pitch black darkness when they followed the Domino driver into my driveway.

PuffyC · Nov 24, 2021

The problem with all the “gps don’t work here“ and “we got no grid” and “people want to drive because freedom” arguments is that you’re trying to view the future through the lens of today. That’s not how the future works.

GPS and mapping in particular grow at an exponential rate, and with always-on satellite Internet and other tech advancements it will continue to do so.

We’re stuck in the mindset of a centralized grid because that’s how it’s always been, but distributed generation as well as advancements in grid storage is where we’re going and it’s hard to reconcile that with our past.

People assume human piloted cars are a must for many of the same reasons. It’s all we’ve known and it’s hard to imagine anything else, but one day the thought of allowing accident prone humans to pilot automobiles will be seen as not only oddly quaint but also incredibly dangerous and irresponsible. You drive today because you have to, tomorrow you won’t.

No, we’re not there yet, we’re at the very earliest stage in what will fundamentally change how humans live their lives, and everyone from richest to poorest will be better off for it. It’s good to ask the important questions now, but you also have to be careful in saying it’s impossible and we shouldn’t try because of todays limitations. If we did that we’d never progress at all, although I’m sure that would suit a lot of folks just fine.

California · Nov 24, 2021

PuffyC said:
The problem with all the “gps don’t work here“ and “we got no grid” and “people want to drive because freedom” arguments is that you’re trying to view the future through the lens of today. That’s not how the future works.

Exactly. it wasn't that long ago that IBM expected a dozen or so huge data centers worldwide could serve the computing needs of the whole world. No need for an individual, local business, or even a state government to own its own computer. The IBM megacenter could do it all for you. In their marketing planning. ... Today, they no longer are the only player in town.

Then along came the PC. Bill Gates - who wrote the software that made the PC universally owned - made a huge error. He didn't expect the Internet would be of interest to PC owners. Remember MS Encarta, the worldwide encyclopedia on a single CD? What else could you need?

These stories may be relevant to EV and autonomous vehicle uptake ....