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Devyl posted:Be careful what you say. Every time we get close to a golden age of muscle cars, it has to get ruined by gas skyrocketing to ridiculous prices. Maybe not this time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMd0iy8JkKI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qodSfhk360
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Aug 30, 2013 21:44
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Franco Caution posted:If and when the ZR1 does get announced, I cant wait to read Corvette Forum That's the same place where people brag about their cars never ever ever seeing rain (you know, other than the firehose they all get at the factory to make sure it's not leaking) and freak out because the brake fluid in the clutch system gets a little dark. Cockmaster posted:Maybe not this time: Too bad there's the whole range problem still to be solved, especially if you actually try to drive them hard. But I suppose it's better than the only option being the Leaf.
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Aug 30, 2013 21:53
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IOwnCalculus posted:Too bad there's the whole range problem still to be solved, especially if you actually try to drive them hard. But I suppose it's better than the only option being the Leaf. Didn't the SLS e-drive they showcased on the last series of Top Gear die after like 15 minutes of flogging around the track? Still a pretty awesome step forward, though.
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Aug 31, 2013 03:07
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IOwnCalculus posted:Too bad there's the whole range problem still to be solved, especially if you actually try to drive them hard. But I suppose it's better than the only option being the Leaf. Well the big three are probably range, price, and infrastructure. Of those, if we're talking about potential track toys, the big one is probably price. But basically all of those issues are almost entirely dependent on batteries, and I don't see batteries improving significantly in the next few years.
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Aug 31, 2013 03:11
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IOwnCalculus posted:Too bad there's the whole range problem still to be solved, especially if you actually try to drive them hard. But I suppose it's better than the only option being the Leaf. I'm rather startled they exist and can drive at all - not just lovely city cars but honest hypercars that are paving the way. I've always decried the Prius and other hybrids as marketing crap but we're seeing the beginning of electrics that are genuinely as good or better than petrol in many areas. Plus we're also seeing companies getting quite detirmined to solve issues as there's clearly money to be made. Sure, most of us thought the original Tesla was kinda interesting in a flawed way but now frankly Tesla may well be the real pioneer of where cars are genuinely going, especially the Model S proving to be in many way a genuine leap forward - not with it's technology but in that now we have a executive class electric that not only works but is selling AND it's actually better than most of it's competition. The speed electrics are evolving too is startling, what with the fact now the research into the problems and solutions are moving from poorly funded labs to big corporations with money and desire to crack solutions. Fuel cells / hydrogen might work but they have always been "It'll be solved in 10 years" technology. Electric? The problems are being solved now. Plus you now have Tesla becoming not just a curiousity but a genuine car maker with the potential and desire to expand beyond the quite remarkable 500 cars a week they build now. That's a small drop overall is true but could you have imagined that even in 2010?
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Aug 31, 2013 14:22
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Electrics really haven't evolved much at all, though. And they've been worked on in giant corporate labs for decades. The biggest change these days has been in financing and subsidies, and even then electric cars are still really expensive and likely to stay that way for a very long time so long as battery technology develops at its current extremely slow pace. Basically none of the major barriers to the widespread adoption of electric cars have actually been solved and they probably won't be anytime soon.
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Aug 31, 2013 15:16
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Cream_Filling posted:Electrics really haven't evolved much at all, though. And they've been worked on in giant corporate labs for decades. The biggest change these days has been in financing and subsidies, and even then electric cars are still really expensive and likely to stay that way for a very long time so long as battery technology develops at its current extremely slow pace. I dunno, the fact that I regularly see electric cars driving around now as opposed to even 2 years ago has to count for something.
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Aug 31, 2013 19:29
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Residency Evil posted:I dunno, the fact that I regularly see electric cars driving around now as opposed to even 2 years ago has to count for something. They've been in development for far, far longer than two years, though. The sudden growth of electric vehicles is arguably driven by trends in finance and politics more than the sudden appearance of new technologies. Gas prices had a lot more to do with it than some scientific breakthrough.
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Aug 31, 2013 19:47
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I think it somewhat depends on whether this can be produced on an industrial scale: http://gigaom.com/2013/04/29/holy-graphene-giving-batteries-a-boost-with-graphene-and-tiny-holes/ quote:A startup spun out of Northwestern University, called SiNode Systems, is building a lithium ion battery using a piece of graphene drilled with tiny holes. The unusual structure can boost the amount of energy that a battery’s anode can hold by ten times, and can also enable the battery to be charged much more swiftly than conventional lithium ion batteries.
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Aug 31, 2013 19:49
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Disgruntled Bovine posted:I think it somewhat depends on whether this can be produced on an industrial scale: Not necessarily making GBS threads on battery technology, but it seems like every new breakthrough offers "TEN TIEMS THE POWER" of existing technology. In my mind, it's rapidly becoming the FAHV HUNNERT HORSEPOWER of the engineering world.
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Aug 31, 2013 20:10
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MrChips posted:Not necessarily making GBS threads on battery technology, but it seems like every new breakthrough offers "TEN TIEMS THE POWER" of existing technology. In my mind, it's rapidly becoming the FAHV HUNNERT HORSEPOWER of the engineering world. True, and as I said it remains to be seen how practical this technology will be, but you'll notice they only claim 10X the charging speed and anode capacity. That does not mean 10X the total capacity, probably no where near that. But I think the biggest barrier to electric car proliferation currently is infrastructure and charging speeds. This could solve the charging speed issue if the infrastructure was there to support it (IE: High voltage charging stations). If this really increases charging speed as much as they're claiming you could park your drained 2020 Tesla model S5 at a charging station, go eat lunch, and have a full 300+ mile capacity by the time you finished. That may be wishful thinking, but it sounds pretty drat good if they can pull it off.
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Aug 31, 2013 20:28
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MrChips posted:Not necessarily making GBS threads on battery technology, but it seems like every new breakthrough offers "TEN TIEMS THE POWER" of existing technology. In my mind, it's rapidly becoming the FAHV HUNNERT HORSEPOWER of the engineering world. What are you basing this extremely ignorant opinion on? SA forum paraphrasing?
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Aug 31, 2013 20:29
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Bob NewSCART posted:What are you basing this extremely ignorant opinion on? SA forum paraphrasing? Based on the articles I see every three to six months regarding new research in battery technology, that's where. By the time the news of the discovery filters its way into the media, its basically dumbed down to "this new technology has ten times the power of existing batteries!", which may or may not be true, but the general public is so stupid that is the only way they'll ever understand it. As for being "extremely ignorant", I can't really see where you got that from in my comment.
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Aug 31, 2013 20:43
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The problem with research blurbs is that they're not interesting to the general public so they get spun with those kinds of titles, otherwise they'd never get reported.
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Aug 31, 2013 20:48
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Cream_Filling posted:They've been in development for far, far longer than two years, though. The sudden growth of electric vehicles is arguably driven by trends in finance and politics more than the sudden appearance of new technologies. Gas prices had a lot more to do with it than some scientific breakthrough. That and Elon Musk got the bright idea to market quality electric cars to people who can actually afford them. Disgruntled Bovine posted:This could solve the charging speed issue if the infrastructure was there to support it (IE: High voltage charging stations). If this really increases charging speed as much as they're claiming you could park your drained 2020 Tesla model S5 at a charging station, go eat lunch, and have a full 300+ mile capacity by the time you finished. Existing lithium phosphate batteries already allow for that kind of charge rate (30 minutes or less). The limiting factor there is the charging hardware - putting 300 miles' worth of power into a battery pack that quickly would mean putting out fuckloads of power (probably well over 100kW). Though if any of that nanotech voodoo ends up improving the overall lifespan (such that replacing the pack wouldn't wipe out whatever you saved in gas money), that would be nice. What's really holding electric cars back is the price of the batteries. To be cost effective for average people, the cost per kilowatt-hour would have to drop by about 80% or so. Or gas prices would have to go up to well over $10 a gallon.
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Sep 1, 2013 01:17
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Cockmaster posted:What's really holding electric cars back is the price of the batteries. To be cost effective for average people, the cost per kilowatt-hour would have to drop by about 80% or so. Or gas prices would have to go up to well over $10 a gallon. What's holding electric cars back is the recharge time & distance. If I could travel for 1,000 miles on a charge that took overnight, I would buy that car. If I could travel 200 miles on a charge that took 5-10 minutes, I would buy that car. However, current electric-only vehicles have a really short range and long charging time. Both of those are cons and that's why you won't get Joe Schmoe to buy an all-electric car when they find out about both of those.
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Sep 1, 2013 02:25
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Gasoline has another massive advantage, in that it's easily carried in a container, so if you run out, it's relatively easy to get someone to bring you enough to limp to the nearest gas station. What's the equivalent for electric vehicles? Batteries with a 50 mile range that can be plugged into the system in an emergency? That's going to be pretty expensive.
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Sep 1, 2013 03:31
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Cockmaster posted:That and Elon Musk got the bright idea to market quality electric cars to people who can actually afford them. No, boutique electric cars were a thing before Tesla. Musk's bright idea is to aggressively hype himself so investors will give him money on the premise that they're investing in the next Big Thing and not just a niche coachbuilder making luxury goods. The real question is whether Tesla can one day sell cars without constant cash infusions by actually making a profit: http://seekingalpha.com/article/1622992-teslas-non-gaap-fairy-tale OXBALLS DOT COM fucked around with this message at 03:58 on Sep 1, 2013 |
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Sep 1, 2013 03:55
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You guys do know that there's an EV discussion thread, right?
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Sep 1, 2013 05:30
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PT6A posted:Gasoline has another massive advantage, in that it's easily carried in a container, so if you run out, it's relatively easy to get someone to bring you enough to limp to the nearest gas station. What's the equivalent for electric vehicles? Batteries with a 50 mile range that can be plugged into the system in an emergency? That's going to be pretty expensive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Sujv90PLLY
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Sep 1, 2013 09:15
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"gently caress the world auto!"
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Sep 1, 2013 10:12
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Cream_Filling posted:No, boutique electric cars were a thing before Tesla. Musk's bright idea is to aggressively hype himself so investors will give him money on the premise that they're investing in the next Big Thing and not just a niche coachbuilder making luxury goods. The real question is whether Tesla can one day sell cars without constant cash infusions by actually making a profit: Elon's big thing is selling battery and electrical motor technology to all the other big automakers, as well as other companies dealing with electrical systems. Tesla doesn't just make custom coaches; most of their support seems to come from being the innovator pushing everyone else along and getting paid to do it. I know Mercedes pays them a buttload of cash for parts.
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Sep 1, 2013 11:06
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Drove a TSX wagon today. Loved it except the mandatory 5 speed auto, which didn't shift that smoothly for me - slightly better when I used the paddles but not great. Turning radius was sharp, nice ride, very good visibility for a new car. Would be great with more power but the 2.4 was fun enough and essentially free of torque steer. Wasn't crazy about the 5,000 buttons on the center stack that all modern cars have. Hopefully they're not super rare on the used market in a few years and depreciate enough for me to afford (although I doubt they'll depreciate much at all). I also think it's handsome.
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Sep 3, 2013 03:31
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blk posted:I always wondered what IS was supposed to refer to at Lexus. I always imagined something like the following Intermediate sedan. Seriously.
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Sep 3, 2013 07:16
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smooth jazz posted:Intermediate sedan. Seriously. Indeterminate Sportiness.  (I'm kidding, I actually really like the IS -even the new one with predator face).
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Sep 3, 2013 09:42
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So what's the IS F then? Intermediate Sedan... Faster? Speaking of which, what the hell is going on with Lexus grilles? It looks like the "PHOOOONNEEE" face.  
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Sep 3, 2013 17:17
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Disgruntled Bovine posted:So what's the IS F then? Intermediate Sedan... Faster? Hey. Stop complaining. It's better than lexuses literally being looking identical to Toyotas so don't jinx it.
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Sep 3, 2013 17:20
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Disgruntled Bovine posted:So what's the IS F then? Intermediate Sedan... Faster? It's short for IS loving UGLY.
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Sep 4, 2013 03:55
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smooth jazz posted:Intermediate sedan. Seriously. Incredible Suction. Because as Top Gear said, the front looks like a vacuum cleaner (and I can't unsee it now).
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Sep 4, 2013 04:04
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It (Was) Sarcasm Inexplicably Selling Idealized Sentra In Sororities I'll Sleep It's a Solara Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Sep 4, 2013 |
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Sep 4, 2013 04:11
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Bob NewSCART posted:Hey. Stop complaining. It's better than lexuses literally being looking identical to Toyotas so don't jinx it. The immediately preceding design language (I forget the codename) did a decent job of looking appropriately luxe and different from Toyota yet not offensively weird like the current "spindle" grille.
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Sep 4, 2013 04:27
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L-finesse? I think?
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Sep 4, 2013 04:33
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Whatever it was, it didn't really tie the line together like this pinch-grille stuff does. Audi's shown that the market's highly tolerant of Billy Bass grilles.
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Sep 4, 2013 04:36
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Honestly, the grill isn't what bugs me. It's those ugly headlights and the loving Nike swoosh running lights that I can't stand. The whole thing is a mess, but those are what get me the most.
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Sep 4, 2013 06:39
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The new IS is better than the box-assed swoopy front of the old IS.
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Sep 4, 2013 07:14
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The front of the last IS had a trying-too-hard-to-be-classy thing going on. Pic of the Jag CUV concept released:  er, wait, not that one.  I guess I'm OK with anything that helps keep them alive.
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Sep 6, 2013 18:02
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I like the look of Mercedes in general but think they can be bland. Well yesterday I saw a brand new CL63 AMG in the parking lot of the grocery store I was going to. It looks okay in pictures, but I was absolutely FLOORED at how beautiful it is in person. I wish I had gotten a picture, but I was too busy staring. I know it's not technically a "new" car but I just had to share.
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Sep 6, 2013 18:07
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Headlight design by 
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Sep 6, 2013 20:00
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Is there some sort of incentive on Range Rover Sports as they gear up for the new model? They're popping up like bodies in the bayou all of a sudden where I live, a traditionally non-Land Rover area.
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Sep 7, 2013 05:45
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Somewhere, Muffinpox is bawling his eyes out:Autoblog posted:As promised, Audi has unveiled its Sport Quattro Concept here at the Frankfurt Motor Show, which takes inspiration from the 2010 Paris Motor Show debut known simply as the Quattro Concept. Both cars clearly seek to draw upon the company's legendary 1980 Ur-Quattro and its closely related Sport Quattro short-wheelbase rally special, yet this concept car looks more production-minded than the 2010 starlet. Sorry Audi, while I appreciate your fascination wih V8s, anything but a turbo I5 in a car called Sport Quattro is insulting to your own heritage.
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Sep 11, 2013 01:25
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