The transition

This is why the Chinese will destroy every other auto company in the world:


The Bestune Pony costs $4800 and has a 200km range. Yes, that might seem small but it is cheaper and has far better range than a lot of e-bikes.

And yes, it is kind of cheesy and inadequate and to build one that met US safety standards (mostly airbags but also side collision protection) would likely double the price. For a two-car family it seems like a decent enough city commuter or city errands car. At that price you could trade in a used Honda rice rocket and buy it outright and probably save yourself $2000 per year in fuel and maintenance costs. Which would be worth it for a lot of people.

Yes, I can see a lot of people criticizing that car. But it is a gawdamned new car for $4800.
 
Upway Certified Pre-Owned E-Bikes Upway E-Bikes Mobile
Mr. Coffee said:
This is why the Chinese will destroy every other auto company in the world:


The Bestune Pony costs $4800 and has a 200km range. Yes, that might seem small but it is cheaper and has far better range than a lot of e-bikes.

And yes, it is kind of cheesy and inadequate and to build one that met US safety standards (mostly airbags but also side collision protection) would likely double the price. For a two-car family it seems like a decent enough city commuter or city errands car. At that price you could trade in a used Honda rice rocket and buy it outright and probably save yourself $2000 per year in fuel and maintenance costs. Which would be worth it for a lot of people.

Yes, I can see a lot of people criticizing that car. But it is a gawdamned new car for $4800.
Click to expand...
Well of course thats why we are in tariff wars.
 
Urtopia E-Bikes Urtopia E-Bikes Mobile
Economics 101 teaches us that the only cases where sellers can past 100 percent of a cost increase onto buyers is if (1) there is zero competition, (2) the demand is 100 percent inelastic, or (3) the product is so cheap nobody really cares about a price increase.

  1. If there is an otherwise identical competing product that doesn't raise its prices, you'd expect that nobody would buy from the seller who did raise their prices.
  2. If the product is somehow essential to someone's existence, you'd expect that people would just eat the cost and pay more no matter what. Kind of what happens with medication prices in uncivilized countries like the Untied States.
  3. If the product is really inexpensive even a 100 percent tax is a trivial total amount of money. Historically the classical example of this is taxes on salt. Most people don't consume very much salt and salt isn't very expensive so even very high taxes on salt are tolerated and don't effect the cost of living very much.
 
Its clear that reducing packaging has reached the point of little return.
A bag of candy is pretty well as low as you can go, but six mini apple pies each in a foil cup in a plastic tray inside a box.
Still, we are basically gluttons, and the pile of packaging is just a symptom of our gorging on foods that are presented as family portions and eaten by individuals.
Ive eaten all 6 easily watching a movie and then started on a family bag of MnMs.

Theres a box of the bstrds in the cupboard and just one is a federal offence.
 
Chargeride said:
Its clear that reducing packaging has reached the point of little return.
A bag of candy is pretty well as low as you can go, but six mini apple pies each in a foil cup in a plastic tray inside a box.
Still, we are basically gluttons, and the pile of packaging is just a symptom of our gorging on foods that are presented as family portions and eaten by individuals.
Ive eaten all 6 easily watching a movie and then started on a family bag of MnMs.

Theres a box of the bstrds in the cupboard and just one is a federal offence.
Click to expand...
London hit 95 Fahrenheit today.
 
Mr. Coffee said:
This is why the Chinese will destroy every other auto company in the world:


The Bestune Pony costs $4800 and has a 200km range. Yes, that might seem small but it is cheaper and has far better range than a lot of e-bikes.

And yes, it is kind of cheesy and inadequate and to build one that met US safety standards (mostly airbags but also side collision protection) would likely double the price. For a two-car family it seems like a decent enough city commuter or city errands car. At that price you could trade in a used Honda rice rocket and buy it outright and probably save yourself $2000 per year in fuel and maintenance costs. Which would be worth it for a lot of people.

Yes, I can see a lot of people criticizing that car. But it is a gawdamned new car for $4800.
Click to expand...
The Chinese are methodically playing the long game and the a_hole we have in charge is serving up instant gratification to the ignorant
We deserve everything that's going to happen.
 
Last edited:
PedalUma said:
London hit 95 Fahrenheit today.
Click to expand...
I keep mentioning that its over, the Guardian today.
I appreciate this is a political move because the present sicislist party is on the brink of collapse, but it proves how fickle they are and why the IPCC says never listen to politicians or the media

Screenshot_20260527-091222-181.png
 
Fucken Blair. Never recovered from Iraq invasion. Total irrelevant now and he can't stand it.
 
PedalUma said:
An arena is being setup at the white house for outdoor fighting matches. It is all so insane. Instead of reaching for higher ground it has fallen to the lowest common vulgar.
Click to expand...
In keeping with the thread topic, helping people transition to a more well-rounded life.
 
Gionnirocket said:
The Chinese are methodically playing the long game and the a_hole we have in charge is serving up instant gratification to the ignorant
We deserve everything that's going to happen.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but most Japanese, European, and Korean automakers are also screwing up the transition to electrics.

This is ironic because nearly all of the engineering problems that would be a barrier to widespread adoption have been solved. And all of the "issues" the FUD-mongers push are rapidly turning into non-issues.

The real problems left to be solved are:
  1. Charging at home for the 35 percent of the US population who probably can't right now. Either because they live in multi-family housing, have on street parking, or a non-cooperative landlord who won't let them install a decent charging station. Since at-home charging is far cheaper and far easier on the grid (you are charging at night when both electric rates and grid usage are already low) not being able to do that makes owning an EV questionable.
  2. Once you get off of the interstates and major US highways, the fast charging network gets pretty thin in much of the country.
  3. Related to the above, a lot of the existing charger networks are unreliable and have horrible user experiences and basically are unusable. I'm looking at you,RED E and EVCS. Although Electrify America is also worthy of the hatred too. This is related to #2 because you are more likely to see the crap charger networks in remote areas.
But all of those problems are both solvable and are being solved. So it is really just a matter of time.
 
I tried to buy an electric F150 for ~$47000 in 2025. Something that would carry a 24" extension ladder, or a 4x8 sheet of plywood that would not blow away. Like an Amazon delivery truck maybe. Not available. 6.5' bed only electric F150. Zero in stock. Tesla's truck is a fashion statement, not a work truck. I have never seen one with a ladder rack or a trailer hitch. This month I will rent a 36" chain digger to replace a rotted power pole with 200' of buried 8w/gUG. Try to fit that in your Tesla truck. A rental trencher comes on HD's own trailer. Or Suncoast will deliver a digger, for $500 over the $1000 weekly rate.
Besides home improvement, the F150 got me to my brother's house in Texas at 23 mpg and 55 average mph. Now that US 59 is closed for replacement Texarkana-Nacogdoches , I drove a lot of Farm roads and State highways parallel. I don't think I saw a single charging station, Omaha-Daingerfield-LoneStar-OreCity-Diana-Judson-Longview-Kilgore-Henderson-MtEnterprise-CentralHeights-Nacogdoches. There might be one in Longview and Nacogdoches, but not on the bypass.
The solution to the vandalized charger situation is so obvious I will give it away. Put a 480 vac to 48 vdc transformer on the end of the cable. No 8 ga wire to be stolen and hauled to the scrapper. 18 ga wire from the armored control box to the end device. Scrap transformers go for $300 a ton, just like junk cars contaminated with copper, zinc, lead. My burglar hauled off all my transformer collection to the scrapyard in 2020. He got $200 a ton for scrap steel. He stole $45000 of tools, instruments, sound equipment, 2200 LP's. He did not make enough money to redeem his Jeep Cherokee from the tow lot. I saw him riding a bicycle 2 weeks after his arrest in my attic.
 
Last edited:
indianajo said:
I tried to buy an electric F150 for ~$47000 in 2025. Something that would carry a 24" extension ladder, or a 4x8 sheet of plywood that would not blow away. Like an Amazon delivery truck maybe. Not available. 6.5' bed only electric F150. Zero in stock. Tesla's truck is a fashion statement, not a work truck. I have never seen one with a ladder rack or a trailer hitch. This month I will rent a 36" chain digger to replace a rotted power pole with 200' of buried 8w/gUG. Try to fit that in your Tesla truck. A rental trencher comes on HD's own trailer. Or Suncoast will deliver a digger, for $500 over the $1000 weekly rate.
Besides home improvement, the F150 got me to my brother's house in Texas at 23 mpg and 55 average mph. Now that US 59 is closed for replacement Texarkana-Nacogdoches , I drove a lot of Farm roads and State highways parallel. I don't think I saw a single charging station, Omaha-Daingerfield-LoneStar-OreCity-Diana-Judson-Longview-Kilgore-Henderson-MtEnterprise-CentralHeights-Nacogdoches. There might be one in Longview and Nacogdoches, but not on the bypass.
Click to expand...

. . . and you don't think that the local government's in that part of the country are doing all they can to keep that a reality?
clubself.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back