this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2023
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Honda says making cheap electric vehicles is too hard, ends deal with GM::The platform was to use GM's Ultium batteries.

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[–] franklin@lemmy.world 131 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (9 children)

As trade with North America and China degraded that was one of the worst casualties.

China has a booming market for small EVs. It is not an understatement to say they are years ahead of us in that regard.

What is it North America? Because you said I'm not allowed to have public transit and now I'm not even allowed to have the type of car I want.

Oh boy do I love freedom.

[–] dangblingus@lemmy.world 65 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Oil companies invented a psyop in North America centered around male insecurity with their masculinity. That's why the best selling vehicle in North America is a massive gas guzzling pickup truck that the average person can't come close to affording but drives anyway.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 36 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They've also targeted maternal instincts. You can't get a mother to look at a car unless the hood is taller than someone else's child.

[–] lvl13charlatan@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Also car seats are enormous and don't fit well into compact cars unless the passenger side seat is all the way up and maybe not even then. Good luck if you have more than one kid that needs a car seat too.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Who said anything about compacts? A modern station wagon would work great inplace of an SUV.

[–] lvl13charlatan@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm just explaining why parents might opt for a larger car especially if they have multiple children. It used to be mini vans, now it's SUVs or crossovers which are probably not much bigger than station wagons.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

They're needlessly taller. That's why I mentioned the hood height. You lose fuel economy and you make it more dangerous for kids crossing at cross walks.

[–] SilverFlame@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I like when people drive lifted pickups without a speck of dirt in the bed. I call those vehicles the Pedestrian Killer 9000

[–] CADmonkey@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago

Pavement princess

[–] Not_Alec_Baldwin@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Small dick emotional support

[–] mohammed_alibi@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

The male safe space? :-)

[–] pinkwerdo@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

I call them small dick compensators

[–] banneryear1868@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

Emissions regulations apply differently to vehicles of different sizes.

[–] Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Remember Hummers? I swear it was mostly moms who'd buy it

[–] PlasticExistence@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I remember hummers, but then I got married

[–] Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

Is this innuendo? XD

[–] banneryear1868@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

I forget which gen we were in, but once I was a passenger with a driver who worked sales a Hummer dealership. We were driving back to a summer camp, and as we're passing the top of what in the winter is the tobogganing hill, he goes "guys hold on, check this out." He goes offroad down a significant incline, mowing down saplings and dodging trees, rocks, etc, with all of us kids just trying to hold on in the back because the seats lack bolstering. We get to the bottom and he's just like "cool right?" It was kind of cool, and it's also what made it the perfect karenmobile.

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[–] ComradeWeebelo@lemm.ee 51 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You don't sound like you're from NA, but here in the US we have trucks that are colloquially known as "Child Killers" because when you're driving them, you literally can't see what's in front of you. They are all over the roads, and make for an extremely bad experience for people in smaller vehicles, people on bikes, and pedestrians. Not to mention, they're often driven by people that lean heavily into road rage.

[–] crozilla@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] TheBeege@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That whole culture is cancer. A lot of Koreans here think country music is typical American music, and i have to explain to them how that whole culture is super, super fucked and how they need to turn off that fucking music

[–] CatfishSushi@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

they need to turn off that fucking music

Can I keep Bluegrass music and older country artists like Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash?

(Modern Country sucks.)

[–] TheBeege@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Good point. That stuff is chill. I dig me some Johnny Cash now and then, too

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Yes and you can also enjoy anyone modern who plays in that style. So many nights me, whiskey, and Johnny Cash. Somehow that multimillionaire loved by all gets me.

[–] RedAggroBest@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

My brother drive a 2500, guess it checks out. Huh.

[–] Pxtl@lemmy.ca 22 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Imho, the problem is that North American roads are not safe for small vehicles. If you're a suburbanite who spends an hour in your car every day on expressways full of trucks and SUVs, you don't generally want to be in a slow, tiny, short, vulnerable vehicle where you're beneath the consideration and sightline and possibly wheels of traffic.

[–] Halosheep@lemm.ee 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Seriously, in Texas even a full size 4-door sedan feels small compared to all he lifted oversized pickups all over.

[–] ratman150@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 year ago

Am in Texas (Dallas area) I commute 33 miles each way in an electric Fiat 500. I actually do feel plenty safe (car is insanely stable but also far safer than my other commuter which is a klr650 motorcycle) but do have issues with road rage. I legitly don't care if someone hits me in this car as it wouldn't be the first time and I have full confidence I'll be safe.......on the other hand I don't appreciate how unsafe large vehicles tend to be nor how difficult they can make visibility.

I used to drive semi trucks for a living and I'd personally pick the Fiat over the Freightliner every time.

[–] Pxtl@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Right? And sane laws about safe vehicles that would clamp down on these land-tanks would never pass because muh freedoms.

If your vehicle represents a higher risk to other people around you, then there should be firmer laws about driving it safely. Give Miatas a higher speed limit, and F-350s firmer penalties for dangerous driving and speeding.

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Ever seen a honey badger?

[–] ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

There's also the matter of snow in a large part of the country. Any car with less than 6" of ground clearance is going to get stuck all the time. AWD or 4wd saves a you a lot of grief too.

[–] Pxtl@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I drive a Prius and I live in Canada, a vehicle with like 3 mm of ground clearance. The trick is to live in a place with actual civilized government that plows and salts.

[–] ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I live in Chicago. They are good at clearing the main streets, but they don't do the alleys. They also can't help burying cars parked on side streets. On top of that the wind causes huge drifts.

[–] marx2k@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Wisconsin here. I drove a dodge shadow, a grand am and then a civic. Only the grand am sucked in snow and that was due to garbage tires.

Where is this winter hellscape you speak of

[–] ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Chicago. The wind off the lake blows huge snow drifts and the city doesn't have the manpower to clear the side streets or alleys. If you park off the alley, you will get stuck. If you park on the street, you will get buried by the snow plow and you will get stuck.

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[–] nutsack@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

they make them in Vietnam too but nobody cares because they're still expensive and they suck ass

[–] PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Making a cheap car isn't rocket science, but Americans unfortunately get all this cheap credit and blow it on luxury SUVs/crossovers

[–] clegko@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because Americans spend WAY more time in their cars than most other countries and I'll be fucked if Im spending an hour+ each day in a cheap econo-car.

[–] orrk@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

look, if your car is the backup house wouldn't you spend more on it?

[–] clegko@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

With the way the economy is going, it may well be many people's primary house.

[–] KuroiKaze@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Having spent a lot of time in China, I have not seen a huge uptake on electric vehicles because they don't have the infrastructure or charging stations for it. That said, I haven't been there in the last three years or so but I don't expect that to be changed radically.

[–] franklin@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I know that the Chinese government has spent a lot of money trying to entice people to buy electric cars by allowing civilians to use the coveted green parking pass that is good anywhere if their vehicle is electric.

This led to some major expansion of their electric vehicle brands. I don't know what kind of percentage change it is but it's big enough to shake up their automotive industry.

Although it seems a bit of a weird move to me considering how good their public transport is.

[–] KuroiKaze@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

The bus and train in China can be pretty wildin so I get why a lot of people hate using it. That said Guangzhou subway is pretty nice and Japanese like.

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