Electric and Hybrid Car Thread

[bcrdukes]

Lexus

[AstulzerRZD]

u know how we make fun or shit like the MY24 Solterra / EQB? it blows right?
well, weird car shape & wheels are worth 70-100 miles of range.
the hvac, motor thermal management, navigation, etc all have to talk to each other
and you can only improve quickly if all the the software/screens are combined to help ship faster and save money for other things

the dubious shit?
Shifter is supposed to save space but few of them do
HVAC vents are all motorized: might be more efficient?
Steering wheel weird shape: yeah...

[JDMDreams]

I really don't know why manufacturers are walking back on EV considering they've dumped so much money into them, just to go back to hybrid platform, that I can't see will be cheaper to develop or make as there still twice the motors, gas tank, complexity.

I feel that this is the turning point for western companies, if they decide to go back to older tech, this is just the nail in the coffin, Chinese EV their worse nightmare will just come true as they continue to be more efficient, cheaper to make, build, more reliable with better performance. I don't see why anyone would want to deal with ice maintenance and gas prices if EV has already been so proven.

[noclue]

Does funky wheels and design really help with the range if all you do is city driving which is what most EV are delegated to?

[RabidRat]

They should just make versions of EVs with chopped-down batteries, and pop in a little ICE generator.

Slap a "Plug-in Hybrid" label on the car and call it a day.

[JDMDreams]

I'm sure it does cuz aerodynamics, every bit helps just like heat pump. They do have those in China lots of phev to cut range anxiety

[Badhobz]

I really like the golf mk7 EV. Too bad the range and charging speed was so abysmal. Otherwise it would have been the perfect EV. No weird quirks, great mk7 build quality, and solid handling.

[JDMDreams]

Do they even make e golf anymore or was it a one hit wonder, I wonder why they discontinued it

[AstulzerRZD]

Originally Posted by JDMDreams

I really don't know why manufacturers are walking back on EV considering they've dumped so much money into them, just to go back to hybrid platform, that I can't see will be cheaper to develop or make as there still twice the motors, gas tank, complexity.

I feel that this is the turning point for western companies, if they decide to go back to older tech, this is just the nail in the coffin, Chinese EV their worse nightmare will just come true as they continue to be more efficient, cheaper to make, build, more reliable with better performance. I don't see why anyone would want to deal with ice maintenance and gas prices if EV has already been so proven.

Well from product planning perspective, there are 3 exceptions to the global car market - China, EU, and North America.

North America is different in two ways.

1) SUPER brand sensitive, super incentivized leases - especially for cell phones and cars.

China is clearly leading in EVs and yes, they are affecting legacy and western automaker profitability.
Even if Chinese OE push the price super low, can they really compete with $250/mo GLC350e lease?
Can they make it 10k cheaper than a Ford Maverick, upcoming Ford T3 pickup, and the new Envista/Encore/Trailblazer/Trax doing 5-600k units?

Our buyers aren't just fiscally conservative, they're politically conservative.
top 2 selling brands GM and Toyota are favs of blue collar/right-wing immigrant in US.
It was so important that Akio donned full Trump outfit for NASCAR race; could you imagine Mary Barra donning a full Sanae Takaichi / Sanseito outfit?

2) Crazy different preferences - where else do cars average 60k MRSP, where most families think pickup truck/escalade or bust?
It's ok for our market and manufacturers to operate differently as long as they're not totally falling behind in tech.
Ford's China arm now leads their infotainment/interior design and GM's also making big moves.

EU market is mostly fleet sales - richest economies of Ireland and Germany sell most of their cars via company fleets to help reduce employee taxation. CO2, insurance rate tiers, are all public and used to calculate tax.

[twitchyzero]

Originally Posted by noclue

I think BMW is going the right way, no more bespoke EV platform like the iX.

i think it's the other way around
existing CLAR was a gas platform that then supported ev (think no frunk and trans/cat floor hump in the i4)

the upcoming NK will be battery platform first then accomodate gas variants



ah stand corrected: iX is its own EV platform like the og i3

wow that's kind of crazy how many EV platforms they've designed in the past ~10 years

[AstulzerRZD]

Originally Posted by JDMDreams

Do they even make e golf anymore or was it a one hit wonder, I wonder why they discontinued it

Mk8 was called the "ID.3".

Next year we will see Mk9.
Mk9 will be called the ID.Golf and built on Rivian architecture.
MK8 will continue to be manufactured in Mexico.

Neither will see a hybrid option.

[JDMDreams]

Yea but how's BMW VW Subaru making any money on $400 a month lease? I thought that's the point of EV, simple skateboard platform just slap a body on top.

[AstulzerRZD]

Originally Posted by JDMDreams

Yea but how's BMW VW Subaru making any money on $400 a month lease?

BMW/MB/Porsche through super strong CPO sales because, again, buyers are hyper brand conscious in US.
They're going to finance/sell warranties on the same car up to THREE times.

On the mid/high end, they gotta have more brand cachet and be cheaper than:
- $430 C300
- 500 530/i5
- 550 RX350
- 759 GLS
- 899 S class
- 1500 G580

and that's before we get into any loaner or CPO deals ...

- $275 C300
- 321 A5
- 650 Macan (Loaner)
- 698 Cayenne S (CPO Lease)
- 720 Macan EV (Loaner)

I thought that's the point of EV, simple skateboard platform just slap a body on top.

If this is the case, shouldn't be hard for Ford/GM to drop a 27k EV right?
Ford is already moving like the Chinese with 30k Maverick and soon, 30k midsize EV truck.
Chinese EV gotta be cheaper than $105 Elantra, $219 Jetta, $229 Crosstrek, $275 Camry Hybrid.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/08...and-30k-truck/

[twitchyzero]

will believe it when i see it, maverick was supposed to be mid20s then it blew past $50k

where's this $100 elantra

[AstulzerRZD]

https://forum.leasehackr.com/t/pmi-h...-5k/534676/223

[twitchyzero]

chinese ev doesnt have to be cheaper than that because those leasehacks arent available here

[JDMDreams]

Yea besides China hobz no one is getting cheap leases here, apparently $60000 cyber truck won't be delivered until like July 2027. Then it just sounds like you attracting the 300 credit score Altima buyers who can't make their payments if it's too good to be true. $400 USD is $543 cad today.

[AstulzerRZD]

Yes but Canada sells less cars than all of California so success in Canada doesn’t mean much imo.

VW actually shut down their Canadian HQ.

[twitchyzero]

sigh ill even take an Ami for $100