a 62 kWh battery pack (such as that in a tesla 3) would theoretically come out to $8,600 using this figure

right in the equivalent ballpark range of putting in a new ICE motor

hopefully costs of reman/refurb battery packs will become even cheaper than $139/kWh

in terms of car brands in general, lexus has been leagues ahead - much, much better than toyota (and toyota isnt too bad)

but the rz450e is getting less than stellar reviews - not from build quality/reliability, but stuff like range, performance, bang for buck

i dont have experience with german premium brands sucu as merc & porsche to compare lexus against

i was inquiring local chevy dealers in my area (regarding the bolt EUV) but it seemed lackluster - this was back when new EV inventory were starting to sit, and GM announced they’d kill off the bolt, but hadn’t walked back on their decision - so the mood was in a “get rid of the '23 stock”

idk if hyundai/genesis improved the quality of their dealership network since releasing their BEVs, but the last time i interacted with them for their ICE/HEV vehicles was like pulling teeth

it wasn’t just the ICE drivetrain issue, but their service center & staff, the corporate (warranty/claims), not to mention the horrid sales experiences across 3~4 of their dealers back in the mid-2010s - enough to leave the brand & not return, regardless of how good their various ioniq lineups claim to be

i feel like their sales staff are on a whole new level of unprofessionalism

as a “light” example, one sales guy lost the keys to a car i was interested in, and i see his manager berate him over losing the keys abt ~20 yards away, and then the manager walks over to me & offers to sell me the car, all w/o me having had the chance to turn the ignition. wtf??

if this level of incompetence spills over to their BEV sales, i can’t imagine what that’d be like

i would rather suck on tailpipe exhaust or grab the HV battery contactors than deal w hyundai again

ended up just getting a tesla, no complaints, nothing to write home about

is it sacrilege to want it in rwd? fwd was a necessary holdover from the ICE era for fuel efficiency

and people who live with lots of snow aren’t exactly lining up to buy fwd golfs anyways

Lexus. Always.

anybody know who worked on the air’s suspension?

or any technical development history videos/articles?

idk what electricity prices are like in the UK,

but in the states (california, where electricity is $$), there are a loooot of guys who own older, pre-refresh model S’s that seem to predominantly supercharge at night instead of home charge

this is a supercharging lot near me - in a commercial complex’s parking garage structure, 2nd or 3rd floor

the guys only show up during “off-peak” (~22¢/kWh) charging after ~10-11pm-ish, and the app indicates its very busy between ~10pm-2am (busier than daytime)

at ~10pm+, every single stall is occupied, and there’s a line/“waiting” area. the supercharger caps you to ~80% SoC to manage the congestion.

this is when most of the office workers, retail workers, and retail customers at the complex have gone home for the evening (it’s not a “nightlife” area) - so the model S owners are only there to charge while waiting in the car & go

the math must be working out if the charging schedule & off-peak works out for you

the demographic looks like the folks who drove e46 bmws back in my school days, when f30 bmws were just coming out - its like they all received a memo to switch from bmw 3 to tesla S