Are you gonna get an electric car anytime soon? (Or do you already have one?)

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Yea, make sure you have the "Full" rental car insurance!!

[Randy Stankey]

Oh! By the way... As most people know, Jay Leno is an avid car collector with something like 150 vintage and antique cars in his garage.

He also holds the dubious distinction of driving the oldest car to get a speeding ticket on California highways:
https://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/28/...er-than-yours/

"I have the record for the oldest vehicle to be done for speeding. It was a 1912 Stanley Steamer, and I had it cranked up to 75mph on a freeway. ..."

"I'm kind of proud of that, especially considering the engine is steam-powered and makes less than 10 bhp. The cop who issued the citation was remarkably straight-faced and unimpressed with my feat, which I thought was a little unimaginative of him. How could you seriously issue a speeding ticket to something with the same engine as a small steam locomotive?"

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Yes! Jay has one of the few drivable Stanley Steamers left...

[Randy Stankey]

Well... It sure does run, all right!

[Gordon McLeod]

As the Ford Pinto episode demonstrated, ICE-powered vehicles have the potential to do that as well. The difference is that we have a century and a quarter's experience of mitigating and managing down the risk (of uncontrolled ignition) incurred by sitting in close proximity to up to 20 gallons of gasoline. We're still at a much earlier stage with BEVs, and I suspect that the risk won't be managed down to a level that most would be comfortable with until li-ion and li-poly are in the rear view mirror, and more stable battery chemistries have gone mainstream.

What Lyle saw explains, I suspect, why insurance costs for EVs are so much higher than those of their ICE-powered equivalents: accidents involving them tend to be a lot more pricey.

Actually at the end of the day the Pinto was not the fire trap that the book Lemonade claimed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orM-EExql24

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

My sister had a Pinto. She never had a problem with it.

[Jason Speers]

Post deleted

[Leo Enticknap]

I'm sure that the Pinto was a wonderful car, as long as (a) no-one rear ended you in one, and (b) you didn't try to turn it into an airplane:

Shortly after this film was made, it disintegrated in mid-air during a test flight, killing both of its inventors.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

I'm surprised it could do 80 mph with all that extra weight strapped on. It wasn't exactly a representation of real automotive power. I like the music score too, I know I heard that live at the CSO in my younger years, but can't remember what it is...

Also, let us not forget the Chevy Vega Wagon!! If they had used this car there would be no explosion hazard, plus they'd have a cargo bay! It was of the same automotive time period...

[Ryan Gallagher]

I'm really tempted by the Aptera concept. But still a little too early in their production maturity to feel like I should bite. That and my studio apartment did not come with parking in the garage... although maybe that would not matter cause I'd want to park it outside for the solar recharging anyway!

Most of their information out there is still trying to drum up their final rounds of investment capitol. But they do have nearly 50k reserved orders already, people definitely want them, if they ever manage to get them into production.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvma9paBrh8

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

How does it charge on a cloudy day, or if you travel at night? Just curious...

[Ryan Gallagher]

How does it charge on a cloudy day, or if you travel at night? Just curious...

It charges via normal Tesla charge stations... the solar is just an "option" that will permit 40mi/day additional charge in relatively sunny conditions. The battery packs are far too large to rely strictly on solar charging... but at urban commute distances, many would almost never need to plug it in. (if you feel fine parking it outside in the weather)

[Ryan Gallagher]

Actually, considering their 4 battery size choices... the smallest urban commuter designed one (250mi range) would only take approx a week to charge via solar, if it was not an every day vehicle. So how much you would need to plug it in really depends on your driving habits. That and the 110v/15A charger is enough to fill the smaller battery up overnight... no need for expensive charger/electrical installation at home.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Reminds me an awful lot of Mr Bean's car... the Regal Reliant!!

[Lyle Romer]

I'm really tempted by the Aptera concept. But still a little too early in their production maturity to feel like I should bite. That and my studio apartment did not come with parking in the garage... although maybe that would not matter cause I'd want to park it outside for the solar recharging anyway!

Most of their information out there is still trying to drum up their final rounds of investment capitol. But they do have nearly 50k reserved orders already, people definitely want them, if they ever manage to get them into production.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvma9paBrh8

I'd be very interested to see how that does in a crash test!

The 50k reservations is BS marketing. It's only $100 to reserve one. Chevy has over 100k reservations for the Silverado EV. They'll be ecstatic if 15k of those convert to sales. As of the end of Q2 last year Ford had sold fewer than 15k total F150 lightings.

The main reason that Tesla became successful was that they produced an EV that for all intents and purposes was a normal car with some added perks like the frunk. I don't see a big market for an electric trike with an aerodynamic shroud over it.