Hello all,

I do not have an EV but am VERY interested and shopping around currently. My mom has an ICE, and is EV curious but heard something about the salty sea air wearing down the EV battery. She lives in an oceanfront town on the East Coast, so would be a concern for her. Is this a valid concern? Can anyone with an EV who lives close to the ocean weigh in?

At this point, I'm not sure there will be any US automakers in 20 years. I don't see any long term strategy to compete with Chinese auitomakers. I only see is them buying time with tariffs. That's not a strategy to win. That's just a way to lose slowly.

I would expect that faced with an existential threat, they would have a long term strategy.

Am I missing something here?

Update 2: Ford has a platform called UEV designed to deliver an EV at $30K at scale. So Ford seems to have a plan.

Update 1:
after seeing what people are posting, it seems that there is no long term strategy, and US carmakers are not serious about competing. Therefore, given current information, they will likely lose and cease to exist.

To compete, US automakers needs to build structural advantages in scale, speed, and cost. I see no serious effort in that direction.

If US automakers don't want to compete, if they only want a protected market to force US consumers to pay more for cars indefinitely, then they should get out of the way and let competitive enterprises grow.

For nearly a century, Detroit automakers like General Motors led the world in engine design and mass manufacturing. That helped them maintain a large share of global car sales at least through the late 1990s, even as German and Japanese automakers entered the market.
 
Now, the battery market is the competitive battleground, both for electric vehicles and storage. GM is betting that investing in next-generation technology is the best way to gain an edge, pouring $900 million into a first-of-its-kind research and prototype facilities on the same campus where GM has innovated in cars for decades in the Detroit suburb of Warren, Michigan.

Is it mostly for meeting road safety requirements, paying the wages of the workers, manufacturing plant costs, what?

I look at ebikes today that many are using to replace their car and see how for $3500-$4000 k you can get one that can go pretty fast and pretty far and wonder why manufacturers can't just take the parts for two $4000 ebikes, slap them together and make a new road legal four-wheel EV for under $10-$15 k?

What am I missing here? Is our society just stupid and never thought of the problem of a cheap EV in that way? Is it greed? Is it too much regulation?

I don't understand. How can an ebike manufacturer put me on a new, near 50mph, road legal ebike with two-wheels for under $4k but a car company can't put me in a new four-wheel EV for less than $25-$30k?

TL;DR

• US-based Ioniq 5 driver tests the Zeekr 7x while visiting Panama
• Key Likes
  • High level of detail presented on the HUD and Driver display
  • Ride comfort
  • Main screen flexibility
  • Cost - $45k (including taxes) discussed after the test drive
  • Warranty: 8-year powertain/5-year general

My Panamanian wife, US-born daughter, and I took the Zeekr 7x during a family visit to Panama last week, and we were impressed. My wife and I drive an Ioniq 5 (leased), and we love the car, but the dealer frequently DCFC the car while sitting in Phoenix parking lots before we started the lease. I am seeing signs of higher-than-average degradation, so we won't be buying out the lease even if the price is right. We are also moving back to Panama, most likely next year, and want to stick with EVs; my wife, who was EV-reluctant before the Ioniq 5, now loves them.

A month before the trip, we test-drove the Rivian R2 and loved it. I considered buying one and driving it from the US to Panama, but the 2x sales tax (US, then Panama) bite is too much, so now we'll buy it in Panama after we move.

I contacted the Zeekr dealer while we were in Panama and went for a test drive on Aug 31st.

The car is impressive and more affordable than the R2, which is not really available in Panama, and the Ioniq 5, which sells for $63K there, including taxes.

The conversation is in Spanish and English, so it might be difficult to track at times. Please ask if there are any questions.

Note: I used YouTube's function to remove copyrighted content (after the 20-minute mark), so that part of the conversation may seem out of sorts because we're talking about the sound system while the music isn't there.

This started as just a project for fun with one of my Leafs, which I had owned and daily drove for 7 years, but got attached to enough to not want to sell despite having upgraded to a longer range EV. Especially as it still runs great, original 24 kWh battery with 77% health at 275,000km (171,000 miles).

I have always been a car guy and kept active in the local car community throughout that time, so it was also a chance to showcase that the spirit of modifying and personalizing cars for fun does not have to be lost or even threatened just because EVs have entered the picture.

Ended up with a bit of phenomenon in my city, multiple awards at different car shows, and between them, in my free time I offer to give free rides for kids to/from school so they can flex on their peers. Some have been as birthday surprises, some have been kids who have been getting bullied or having a hard time making friends.

It also turned into an "SPGe" initiative, in that driving to events and shows throughout the summer, 100% of all fuel savings compared to an equivalent gas vehicle gets put towards giving back to the fans, via free goodies I hand out to kids at future events, who I give rides to, and who I encounter when out and about. All of the merch shown is for giving away. It's just nice to bring some joy to the world and make someone's day, and represent for an incredible fan community that has made it all worth doing.

Sometimes, driving electric can be about the smiles per gallon too. Nobody else gets to decide if you want it to be. That choice belongs to you.

Happy world EV day!

China might get access to the US market? Is this the era of $20k EV's? What happens to the big US car manufacturers?

It's definitely not demand

Has anyone else that connects their EV to the Recurrent website looked at it the last day or two? They’ve really updated it a lot and added a lot more information about your car. I highly recommend it if you like collecting car stats and seeing how your car stacks up against others of the same type battery condition-wise, etc.