China is in a unique position- they've done a good job on grabbing all the technological advancement already out there, using their massive amount of people, and the willing consumers all across the globe.

I wonder if they will have any sort of worker revolution in the next decades- but their very effective censorship of outside influences has been pretty impressive.....

Quote from: veeman on May 20, 2024, 10:50:18 AMI just don't see how the public electric grid would be able to accommodate a busy holiday travel weekend on our interstate highways with near 100% EV cars.

Especially if you include semi trucks.

Beef it up. Build it out to meet demand. 

Well wife has been driving truck (Maverick) on the tire for more than a week, we'll probably just leave it.

I know that some transmissions (expecially AWD) don't like size differences on the tires- can create extra wear.

For now, tire is on rear anyway- no problem at all since it's FWD.

8mm tread depth is about when I start thinking, "damn, time for new tires before next winter."

Trumps renegotiated NAFTA deal sealed the deal for a Chinese EV invasion from Mexico and the death of the American auto industry.

Only American car buyers can stop it but not buying cheap shit... which means they won't

As is always the case, tariffs are a terrible idea, and it will hurt the US in the long run.

Owing to this last round of strikes and nonviability of EVs as a business, the end of the US auto industry is cemented irregardless.

I think Biden has recently imposed a 100% tariff on Chinese EV cars. I am sure Trump, if he becomes the POTUS again, will increase it further. I doubt there will be any significant incursion of Chinese EV, outside of already existing Volvo and Polestar which are sorta Chinese, on U.S. soil. I predict they will be novelty sightings in the U.S. for the next few decades at least.

If the Chinese were allowed to put an EV car for sale in the U.S. which undercut the Tesla Model 3 (which currently starts at $38990) it could potentially be disastrous for U.S. automakers.

This is not a purely generalized economic policy decision. It has very significant social and political implications. The number one "threat" for the U.S. on the world stage is China both economically and militarily. No other country is close to second. They are gunning for a take over of Taiwan and hence the urgent need and massive spending (both public and private sector) to start building advanced computer chips on U.S. soil which are currently mostly made in Taiwan. 

The U.S. holds immense pride in it's car culture and there is a massive number of jobs tied to U.S. auto manufacturer success. One of the main reasons the Japanese and Koreans have been able to make in roads is because they have built auto plants on U.S. soil thereby providing American jobs. Japan and South Korea are strong American allies and America provides for a large part of their military protection. China is not an American ally.   

I doubt Chinese companies would be allowed to start making massive auto plants on U.S. soil.  As it is we currently shoot down Chinese spy ballon drone incursions over U.S. soil. Putting a big auto plant in Mexico is probably their game plan but large, and I predict down the road even larger, tariffs will prevent any significant incursion. 

Quote from: mzziaz on May 20, 2024, 12:38:30 PMYeah, we have exactly the same experience with the 300 (drove the V6).

This time it is only me and my wife, so rear room doesn't matter. Hope I get the V8 though,...and the Challenger.

I'm renting the "sporty" car from Enterprise and it seems to be mainly Challengers, but there is of course the "or similar" caveat

Just beware the Chevy Camaro poor sight lines if they give you that. It's got a great ride and handles fantastic for such a big car but dang, sightlines from the driver's seat really sucked. Made it a chore to park and I had to leave extra space to the car in front of me in stop and go traffic because I had poor vision directly in front of the car.

Quote from: veeman on May 20, 2024, 12:24:47 PMI've rented both several times.  Chrysler 300 is a sweet rental as it's interior is surprisingly nice, it's big, it's quiet, it's got plenty of oomph even in V6 rental spec, and it looks cool.

Dodge Challenger I liked as well because the exterior and interior give a strong 70s muscle car vibe. The rear is kinda cramped and being a coupe, getting to the rear is a bit of a hassle. It's also not as quiet.  It looks really cool though if you're into that 70s muscle car look (which I am).

As a novelty I liked it but going forward I'd always prefer a Chrysler 300. I recently rented a rental spec Cadillac CT4 and I liked it even better than the Chrysler 300. Suprised they gave it to me under the "premium" options and not requiring further upgrade to "luxury" but maybe that was because they were out of stock of their normal premium cars or maybe because the rental agent was being nice. 

Yeah, we have exactly the same experience with the 300 (drove the V6).

This time it is only me and my wife, so rear room doesn't matter. Hope I get the V8 though,...and the Challenger.

I'm renting the "sporty" car from Enterprise and it seems to be mainly Challengers, but there is of course the "or similar" caveat

Quote from: Laconian on May 18, 2024, 09:58:17 PM

It is positive that you can build an EV that isn't soul draining... and at a decent price