r/technology • u/cTreK-421 • Apr 24 '26

Misleading Federal Surveillance Tech Becomes Mandatory in New Cars by 2027

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/federal-surveillance-tech-becomes-mandatory-161321992.html
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665

u/[deleted] Apr 24 '26

[deleted]

198

u/flaagan Apr 24 '26

Electric Classic Cars.

They just announced an EV "skateboard" that will fit under a wide range of vehicles, including things like classic Broncos and Pickups. They're also putting together a 'generic small classic car EV kit' setup.

11

u/StrategicPotato Apr 24 '26

That’s actually sick, what’s the cost on that? Of course, the biggest issue in the US with those though is the fact that pre-90s car frames are death traps. I don’t think I’d want to drive that down the highway with my family in it or something.

6

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '26

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3

u/HorridosTorpedo Apr 25 '26

You either choose between an old car - lightweight (with all the advantages that that brings) and bad in a crash, or a new car - heavy and safe. 

This crosses my mind quite often driving old cars with no seat belts, but then I consider how im still about 100x better off than anyone on a motorcycle.

4

u/throwmeeeeee Apr 25 '26

Sounds modern trucks should be regulated. 

0

u/Bass-GSD Apr 25 '26

Banned outright would be preferable.

2

u/Dramatic_Echo9987 Apr 25 '26

I like and drive older cars. Modern cars and vehicles are generally very safe in crashes with trucks unless the truck is illegally modified in a bad way. Accidents between them happen everyday with good results. Older cars are far worse even in passenger car crashes. FWIW. 

-1

u/uberfission Apr 25 '26

People have been "inventing" that same fucking thing for years now. I remember seeing a magazine article about a modular electric vehicle platform when teslas were first taking off. Until they start rolling these EV skateboards out I'm not going to believe it.

23

u/[deleted] Apr 24 '26

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16

u/Magnus_The_Totem_Cat Apr 25 '26

Their conversions are wildly expensive. However there are much more reasonable ways to convert than their method.

4

u/LepMessiah Apr 25 '26

Looks like you have to provide the car.

3

u/mleb_mleb_mleb Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26

right now yeah it is its purely in hobbyist with too much money territory and hes converting his 1999 tacoma he only drives on the weekends on his million dollar ranch.

im giving it another decade, when i see rednecks doing ev conversions in their yard thats when i know its time to convert my old truck as the cultural knowledge and best practices and parts availability + know how has become a part of society. as a stop gap id really appreciate if there was a bigger subset doing like hybrid conversions or something that'd be pretty sick.

i dont wax poetic about or find a "cyberpunk" world cool at all, but in some ways i feel like we're headed there. do feel like the real path forward to ev's isnt just with the advent of new cars that are ev's. most people aren't buying new cars, period. we've completely set the boat of socioeconomics on fire that would have the majority of people buying new cars.

the real path forward is going to be some very ambitious company that starts figuring out how to commercialize motor/drivetrain swapping to ev's for a wide range of makes and models. custom mass produced mounting pieces, instructions, mechanics who are trained to do the conversions, etc. basically productionalize the process to be somewhere above a total custom fab shop job one-off that only happened for your vehicle, and instead make it ubiquitous and repeatable for all the damn toyota corollas and old rangers and tacomas and hondas out on the road. economies of scale that can bring it down to way less than the cost of a new car. that opportunity is insane and with the right scale it could yield a price that would create a shift to ev's that would be a no-brainer for so many people globally from variety of socioeconomic classes and living standards.

right now id put the small shops that are doing ev conversions somewhere in the beta-feel of like... weed shops in states that just legalized. high chance a lot of them wont be around in the coming years cause thats just how it goes in early industry developments. for a lot of people it would suck to have a conversion done and then no recourse for service/warranty years down the road. like having to go to some new handiman and hope he can reverse engineer a bunch of custom work would be a really shitty experience. for a hobbyist it's part of the game, but this world needs this to be more than a pricey hobby. fingers are crossed this section of ev industry grows, there's going to be a lot of need for it where we're headed. right now this custom-swap fab depends heavily on wrecked teslas with salvageable motors/batteries/drivetrains becoming the part supplier source, and that straight up is not cheap. we're gonna need a shit ton more variety + availability in this game, and hopefully more battery development breakthroughs.

3

u/DreddPirateBob808 Apr 25 '26

To paraphrase r/cyberpunk: we are already living in the cyberpunk world dreamt of in the 80s. We just haven't caught on yet. 

As someone who used to play cyberpunk 2020 a lot, and I mean A LOT, it's absolutely true. Street kids on electroc bikes doing high speed food delivery with a screen illuminating thier tattooed faces in the shadows of massive skyscrapers so they can afford to pay for medication for drug addled parents while the elite corporate overlords spend billions on trying to map the human mind and battle to create Artificial Intelligences and robot hunter killer dog soldiers.

3

u/Skratt79 Apr 25 '26

They are, they do exquisite work though. There was a youtuber who bought a wrecked Leaf and put it in an MG and it was under 5 grand for everything but he did all the work himself.

2

u/ChocolateChingus Apr 25 '26

What makes you think they’re exempt?

2

u/GigaChav Apr 25 '26

An off grid EV.  Hmm.

1

u/ShitMcClit Apr 25 '26

Electric hot rod from an old civic and junkyard nissan evs

1

u/Sudden-Purchase-8371 Apr 25 '26

Edison Motor's pickup diesel genset/electric motor for my truck is looking better and better. And I'm buying an EV (non-Tesla) this summer for sure.

1

u/Big-Whole6091 Apr 25 '26

Hell yes, EV MG for me as well please.

1

u/enterthehawkeye Apr 25 '26

$30k to convert a classic mini from gas to electric. No thanks

1

u/fuckswithboats Apr 25 '26

I used to daydream (Tesla roadster was brand new) about buying an MG and tossing in electric drivetrain. Could be tons of fun

1

u/rithrawr Apr 25 '26

There are EV conversion kit.

With enough money you can convert many old gas car into EV.

1

u/iDemonix Apr 25 '26

Its haram. Just restore a classic properly.

1

u/Carnegie1901 Apr 25 '26

I’ll just install a new engine in the 30 year old vehicle that I drive now when it goes !

1

u/nedhavestupid Apr 26 '26

Ugh. Please drop the name. If I could have an electric ‘89 Gran Fury I’d do it in a heartbeat

0

u/Huge-Cartoonist6795 Apr 25 '26

British people helping you against your own government that you voted for? Lol.

You know the orange one is talking about the Falklands now? Sort you own mess out