Is there a future for the Mach-E?

[SonicBlue]

I disliked Musk long before he made political statements. Have you read Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson? I found his car designs lacking and unimaginative, his statements of timelines that he continually violated laughable, etc., etc. Has nothing to do with a political bent.

I won’t argue with you on this. You know your own beliefs. But I also think you know what I’m saying is likely to be true for a great many “PEVs.” Deranged whackjobs were torching dealerships, keying cars, and defacing (er… “debadging”) their own Teslas over his acquisition of Twitter and involvement with DOGE.

The American Petroleum Institute and others have spent billions against EVs. Fact.

I’ve googled this but I don’t see the evidence. Either of “billions” or of lobbying directly against EVs. Seems like their lobbying is aimed more broadly against green subsidies and mandates - not for restricting production of EVs. But maybe you interpret being opposed to subsidies as being anti-EV?

I didn't say anything about a conspiracy to keep gas prices low.

Agree. As I said, my response above wasn’t aimed just at you.

My EV focus has little to do with my political views. I can tell you that I'm not close to "progressive". When we moved, we ensured we didn't move into the boundaries of the college town we live next to because some of their policies / thinking are ridiculous in our view. We went EV because of many reasons, starting with our concern about the environment. Our first hybrid was cheaper than a gas equivalent to buy due to rebates, a no-brainer. Then PHEV also cheaper. Then EV for power and quiet. Finally, dropped gas. Dropped gas engines on things like weedwacker due to ease of starting and maintenance. Still have a gas rider.

Good to know. But again, just like the Musk stuff, I think my observations are generally true.

As far as politicians being anti-subsidy, you can't possibly say that with a straight face. They're only anti-subsidy-that-they-don't-like. Politicians love subsidies that benefit them and the companies that line their pockets.

No doubt all politicians favor some subsidies of one stripe or another. All politicians have their preferred “special interests.” That wasn’t my point. My point was simply that many politicians view green energy subsidies as a stupid waste of money. If you think that’s hypocritical, maybe it is, but that’s a different discussion.

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[Jimrpa]

They've developed an entirely new platform, assembly process, team, facilities, and vehicle development process. You can't get more committed that that.

And just offloaded a bunch of brand-new infrastructure they invested in, that was meant for the manufacture of this new magic car (err… truck).

 

[RickMachE]

What?? Really?? Shoot, I thought Pelosi was just a brilliant investor....

Anyone that tries to lay a bent to profit from being in Congress on the feet of one party is being disingenuous.

There are about 70 members of the house that have signed a petition to get this into a bill. That leaves 100s, on both parties, looking to continue to profit off the American people.

It's not a party thing, it's a pig in the trough thing. No members of Congress should be allowed to hold anything but the Total Stock Market and Total Bond Market mutual funds, and money markets, and it all has to be in blind trusts. PERIOD.

 

[Jimrpa]

They've developed an entirely new platform, assembly process, team, facilities, and vehicle development process. You can't get more committed that that.

Oh? Do tell. Seriously, do tell last I heard, Ford jettisoned one new facility and is trying to repurpose the other to build serial hybrid pickups (to cash in on all that demand the people over at RAM were too stupid to recognize).

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

found his car designs lacking and unimaginative

The post Roadster designs were driven by the perceived need to get the lowest possible coefficient of drag. Hence, the ugly ass teardrop design. Lacking and unimaginative is an understatement.

his statements of timelines that he continually violated

It makes our soon™ look like an ironclad guarantee.

EV focus has little to do with my political views.

Ditto. While my politics are well left of center on a world wide scale, let alone by U.S. standards. I bought the EV because of the styling, handling, and quiet. Our absurd gas prices had literally nothing to do with it.

As far as politicians being anti-subsidy, you can't possibly say that with a straight face. They're only anti-subsidy-that-they-don't-like. Politicians love subsidies that benefit them and the companies that line their pockets.

Fact.

 

[dalola]

Anyone that tries to lay a bent to profit from being in Congress on the feet of one party is being disingenuous.

There are about 70 members of the house that have signed a petition to get this into a bill. That leaves 100s, on both parties, looking to continue to profit off the American people.

It's not a party thing, it's a pig in the trough thing. No members of Congress should be allowed to hold anything but the Total Stock Market and Total Bond Market mutual funds, and money markets, and it all has to be in blind trusts. PERIOD.

Completely agree. Some are just much more egregious than others.

 

[SonicBlue]

The post Roadster designs were driven by the perceived need to get the lowest possible coefficient of drag. Hence, the only ass teardrop design. Lacking and unimaginative is an understatement.

You know, I think the S and the X look pretty good. It’s the cheaper 3 and Y that look super Prius-y.

 

[phil]

The post Roadster designs were driven by the perceived need to get the lowest possible coefficient of drag. Hence, the ugly ass teardrop design. Lacking and unimaginative is an understatement.

I always thought the Model S looked mostly fine, for its time. Which was about 15 years ago.

The later models are all pretty dull.

 

[Jimrpa]

If Ford’s skunkworks wanted to learn something interesting, they could have done so with a 1st gen Model Y back in 2019. They didn’t need to wait till 2025 to tear down a BYD. The BYD will be inferior from a tech and performance perspective to a Tesla.

Actually, if you’ll recall, ford SAID that they bought the Mustang Mach-E team Teslas (Model 3? Model Y?) during development, specifically so they could benchmark the market leader.

 

[Jimrpa]

You know, I think the S and the X look pretty good. It’s the cheaper 3 and Y that look super Prius-y.

I find all teslas to be ugly, but looks are subjective.

 

[phil]

But I also think you know what I’m saying is likely to be true for a great many “PEVs.” Deranged whackjobs were torching dealerships, keying cars, and defacing (er… “debadging”) their own Teslas over his acquisition of Twitter and involvement with DOGE.

Yes, most of the people who used to love Musk now hate him. And most of those who hated him now love him.

I'm with Rick on this. Never liked the guy, and still don't, mostly because he's always been a con artist.

 

[AZBill]

Ford introduced LFP batteries in the 2024 model year. You should google the changes / improvement in the 2024 model year

LFP is not a tech improvement, it is a cost reduction exercise. The Bolt improvement was going from 55kw charge rate to 150kw charge rate, with an identical battery capacity. Ford did very little improvement to the charge rate for the LFP.

 

[dalola]

I find all teslas to be ugly, but looks are subjective.

lol... nothing looks more "unfinished" than a white Tesla.....

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Actually, if you’ll recall, ford SAID that they bought the Mustang Mach-E team Teslas (Model 3? Model Y?) during development, specifically so they could benchmark the market leader.

So what do they expect to learn from the Chinese? Nothing. The Chinese build their cars in a very conventional manner. They load them with sensors and screens. If Ford wants to benchmark competent software development, Tesla and Rivian are ahead of the Chinese.

Plus, Ford didn’t implement what they benchmarked from Tesla in terms of body build, which offers a significant cost and weight savings. Instead, they built the mache as a traditional body-frame integral build.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

I find all teslas to be ugly, but looks are subjective.

Model 3 is nice in my opinion and well put together. I couldn’t care less for the others, esp the dumb truck.

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