Re:I don't want to go back to social media
by rglullis on Sunday November 20, 2022 @10:15AM
(#33681503)
That market only exists now, way later in the adoption curve of a new technology. I am far from a Tesla or Musk fan, but even I can recognize that without Tesla showing up in the market, the best we had was Toyota's hybrid system - which is also still more expensive than regular ICEs and never meant to become a mass-market product.
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Re:I don't want to go back to social media
by ZeroGravitas on Sunday November 20, 2022 @10:27AM
(#33681621)
There's some really good interviews with the actual founders of Tesla, talking about how when looking for a market they found lots of silicon valley types with Porsches and Prius's and realised they could sell them one car that met both needs.
Re:I don't want to go back to social media
by makeitdouble on Sunday November 20, 2022 @10:48AM
(#33681831)
If we read “that market” as the category inbetween walking and a full car, it exploded way before. I’m thinking rental bikes fleets (which later got electric assist) provided and maintained by cities for instance, with heavy investments in the infra that started in the 2000s, not far from when Tesla Inc. saw the light.
Re:I don't want to go back to social media
by rglullis on Sunday November 20, 2022 @11:09AM
(#33682039)
No, we are talking about actual cars, with proper mileage capacity and that can carry more than one person and a purse.
Re:I don't want to go back to social media
by makeitdouble on Sunday November 20, 2022 @12:08PM
(#33682817)
Fine, but that market is going to be less and less relevant outside of sworn car centric places.
Most major cities outside of the US have been moving towards walkable/bikeable designs, and cars just don’t fit well (delivery and maintenance cars being the exception). I wouldn’t expect a ton of innovation on a segment that officials are openly fighting to reduce.
Re:I don't want to go back to social media
by rglullis on Sunday November 20, 2022 @01:43PM
(#33683862)
Even if everybody lived like people live in Amsterdam/Berlin/Copenhagen, cars are not going to go away.
We can (and must) strive to get rid of car dependency and we will certainly can reduce the amount of car trips in the year, but this is not going to happen overnight. Amsterdam was also a very car-centric city in 70's, and it took them at least a generation to reduce their dependency. Even if tomorrow all US politicians started pushing for laws that made it easier to move away from the suburban model, the US would still have decades of heavy car usage.