EVs

[CaminoRacer]

Should I trade my 330i for a Polestar 2 RWD? 2024 models with RWD bias sound greatly improved over the previous FWD bias.

[veeman]

Should I trade my 330i for a Polestar 2 RWD? 2024 models with RWD bias sound greatly improved over the previous FWD bias.

I would not own two EV cars at the same time for a single driver. You have a Bolt, right?  Unless you're comfortable taking the El Camino on long distance driving.

[CaminoRacer]

My wife drives the Bolt to work. 6 mile roundtrip commute

I'm driving 60 miles a day so it'd be nice to have an EV for that, could save $100 in gas each month. Roadtrips might be a bit more tricky, but I've rented cars for trips before and it's not a big deal. With Tesla superchargers opening up next year, I don't think I'd even need to do that.

[MrH]

Should I trade my 330i for a Polestar 2 RWD? 2024 models with RWD bias sound greatly improved over the previous FWD bias.

Used? New?

I haven't seen great deals on Polestar 2s. They depreciate like mad though, so you can get some killer deals.

If you're shopping for new, I would probably try and snag a Mustang Mach E GT for a massive discount.

[CaminoRacer]

I'd probably want new, since they updated it for 2024. But yeah, no screaming deals for a new one.

I might be disowned by relatives if I bought the Mustang SUV

[SJ_GTI]

My younger brother has a Mach E. Its AWD but not the GT.

I don't like sitting up so high but it drives and handles pretty good...better than my other brother's Lexus ES350 as an example.

The Polestar's look weird to me. I wouldn't say I am a fan of the Mach E but it looks pretty good for CUV.

[r0tor]

Isn't servicing a Polestar extremely problematic?  To my knowledge you can't take them to a Volvo dealership for some reason and they only have like a dozen dealers nationwide

[MrH]

I'd probably want new, since they updated it for 2024. But yeah, no screaming deals for a new one.

I might be disowned by relatives if I bought the Mustang SUV

He's a timely collection of vehicles.  They picked some terrible examples, but it gives you an idea of how brutal the depreciation is right now on certain models.  No idea what your budget is, but AWD polestar 2, Mach E GT are both viable under $30k.  IF you step up to $50k, you can get into some really crazy things.

https://www.theautopian.com/these-used-luxury-evs-are-nearly-new-yet-brutalized-by-depreciation/

[MrH]

My younger brother has a Mach E. Its AWD but not the GT.

I don't like sitting up so high but it drives and handles pretty good...better than my other brother's Lexus ES350 as an example.

The Polestar's look weird to me. I wouldn't say I am a fan of the Mach E but it looks pretty good for CUV.

I think the Mach E is ugly and the Polestar looks great.  For enough of a discount, I can easily ignore the looks.

[veeman]

My wife drives the Bolt to work. 6 mile roundtrip commute

I'm driving 60 miles a day so it'd be nice to have an EV for that, could save $100 in gas each month. Roadtrips might be a bit more tricky, but I've rented cars for trips before and it's not a big deal. With Tesla superchargers opening up next year, I don't think I'd even need to do that.

In that case, yes, get an EV. I think the Polestar 2 looks really good. No overwrought styling and good proportions. I'm not sure which is best of these three (they tested AWD version of Polestar 2) and which can be had for cheapest price:

https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2024-tesla-model-3-highland-awd-vs-hyundai-ioniq-6-awd-polestar-2-awd-comparison-test-review/

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[CaminoRacer]

The Polestar's belt line is a bit high (especially in person) but otherwise a very clean design.

I wish Ford would have called the Mach E a Fusion or Galaxy instead, and toned down the Mustang details. It'd look much better without some of the forced Mustang stuff.

[AutobahnSHO]

The Polestar's belt line is a bit high (especially in person) but otherwise a very clean design.

I wish Ford would have called the Mach E a Fusion or Galaxy instead, and toned down the Mustang details. It'd look much better without some of the forced Mustang stuff.

YES.

I can't understand why they wanted to alienate a bunch of long-term fans to try to market a new vehicle. They had ALL the car names available:
-Fusion
-Taurus
-Galaxy
-Probe
-Escort
-Flex

[Morris Minor]

It was spelled "Galaxie" for some reason and IMO would have been a better name. 

[CaminoRacer]

Seems like most of the used Polestars were rental cars. Bleh

[MrH]

Seems like most of the used Polestars were rental cars. Bleh

You can thank the Hertz CEO for driving Polestar prices into oblivion

He gave up his job for you!

[veeman]

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/04/business/ford-delays-electric-vehicles.html

Came on way too strong and too fast without doing their homework. And now they have to walk it back.

[r0tor]

Enginerd head spin... Crazy how many details that generally never get discussed with real world implications.  I'd love to see how different makes/models compare on some of these things.

Also that suspension is amazing.  Looks like banned F1 tech from a long time ago

[shp4man]

I am part of the used car department at work. Many, a disproportionate number of current trade ins, are EVs or hybrids.
The general public here in California are beginning to reject these type of vehicles. For many reasons.

[veeman]

I am part of the used car department at work. Many, a disproportionate number of current trade ins, are EVs or hybrids.
The general public here in California are beginning to reject these type of vehicles. For many reasons.

Why hybrids? Gasoline in California is expensive.  The Toyota Hybrids are reliable I thought.  Maybe the other brands are not. 

[giant_mtb]

Why hybrids? Gasoline in California is expensive.  The Toyota Hybrids are reliable I thought.  Maybe the other brands are not. 

He works for Ford, IIRC. Toyota hybrids were the answer 20 years ago.

[shp4man]

Why hybrids? Gasoline in California is expensive.  The Toyota Hybrids are reliable I thought.  Maybe the other brands are not. 

Complicated technology that the average independent shop can't fix. They botch many repairs, and the hybrids end up getting towed to the dealers. Now we have to figure out what they screwed up and figure out what the actual problem is.
The EVs are a different story. Range issues, charging failures, some significant faults with Chinese made Lithium Ion battery arrays. Endless software updates.

[veeman]

He works for Ford, IIRC. Toyota hybrids were the answer 20 years ago.

My parents have a Ford Fusion Hybrid and a Ford Maverick Hybrid. My sister used to have a Ford Escape Hybrid. The Fusion and Escape have had some reliability problems. The Fusion Hybrid has gotten towed to the dealership a few times for battery related issues. Each time fixed under warranty. My parents still like it though as it drives really smooth and of course gas mileage is great.  Maverick Hybrid, a much newer car, has been flawless.

[CaminoRacer]

Enginerd head spin... Crazy how many details that generally never get discussed with real world implications.  I'd love to see how different makes/models compare on some of these things.

Also that suspension is amazing.  Looks like banned F1 tech from a long time ago

That's nuts, I love it. Wish I could afford it.

[Morris Minor]

Porsche is a wonderful (& profitable) company. I really admire it.

[AutobahnSHO]

Our Hybrid Maverick had a strut replaced under warranty (rattle over bumps), but otherwise is worry-free 7600 miles and a year after delivery.

There ARE stories though of several trucks shutting down in traffic after a recall software update. And some people with the first year trucks STILL have issues with "deep sleep" warnings- the 12v small battery doesn't have enough juice to keep the remote start function available.

[ChrisV]

I am part of the used car department at work. Many, a disproportionate number of current trade ins, are EVs or hybrids.
The general public here in California are beginning to reject these type of vehicles. For many reasons.

I can't find ANY stats to back that up. Do you have more than a "feeling" about a one-dealership observation available to share? I mean even in California, EV sales are increasing at about 30% per year.

https://calmatters.org/environment/2024/02/california-electric-cars-industry-slowdown/

Yes, growth is slowing as a percentage of the previous year, but still growing.

And a lot of that has to do with the entire automotive indi8stry growth slowing, mostly due to still high interest rates keeping people from financing new cars (the average new car price is down a bit from $48k to about $45k, due to pressure on price reductions across the board to move inventory now that manufacturers have solved supply chain issues and are producing at pre-pandemic levels)

[r0tor]

1st quarter EV sales are pretty ugly... Interesting to see how the rest of the year plays out

https://apnews.com/article/auto-sales-strong-electric-vehicle-sales-slow-70a663fbc0719ebda7a4ca814c2827d2

[Rich]

I wish there was a small, cheap, RWD electric the size of a cooper. With ~150miles of range. If it had knobs and buttons I'd be in

[MrH]

Basically a Honda E?

[SJ_GTI]

1st quarter EV sales are pretty ugly... Interesting to see how the rest of the year plays out

https://apnews.com/article/auto-sales-strong-electric-vehicle-sales-slow-70a663fbc0719ebda7a4ca814c2827d2

Tesla's sales were pretty bad (an actual decline in sales, and those sales were ~10 below their production quantity). The fact that overall EV sales were still up overall is pretty surprising. I figured Tesla was still big enough to point the overall direction.

I couldn't find any breakdown by in looking at some other manufacturers it seems like a mixed bag:

Ford: EV sales way up
Hyundai: Ev sales way up
GM: EV sales way down (worse than Tesla as a %). Despite no production in the quarter I think the now cancelled Bolt it was still their best selling EV.
VW: EV sales way down (ID.4 down ~37%)
Rivian: Way up (although they are shutting down production in Q2 apparently, so for the year they won't be higher than 2023).

If I had to summarize I guess I'd say the companies will to cut prices seem to be doing well, but the ones wanted to keep prices high are taking a hit.