Like the title says, are there any EVs that just have a Bluetooth radio and that’s it? Like a normal car, not a smartphone on wheels? If not, do you all think that this will actually happen at some point? This is the main reason why I can’t (and will never) buy an EV. I like to have actual buttons everywhere on my car. I think those massive tablets on these cars with all the touch buttons are very dangerous. I like an “entertainment system” that only connects to my phone with either a headphone jack of or Bluetooth. It’s a car, not a PC.
Not that I know of. Let smaller automakers make EVs and we might get something like that.
But with the federal government mandating that all cars must have automatic braking after a certain date in the future I guess we’re never going to get away from tons of sensors and computers in cars.
They also mandate a backup camera, so that means they need to have a screen.
Could put in a Polaroid exposer instead
Automatic braking doesn’t require the level of tech that’s being packed into EVs these days
You could make automatic breaking without a full blown computer, but it’s so much cheaper to put a full-blown computer than it is to do it all in hardware. Everything uses turing complete equipment now, it’s actually less expensive at this point.
There’s absolutely no reason not to put multiple computers in the car I think the real win is not surfacing it to the end user.
“Tech” is a conflated term. The way I read OP is that they don’t want their cars main user interface to be a smartphone app. Doesn’t mean the car can’t be technologically advanced.
Chevy Bolt EV and EUV have buttons for everything you need to do while driving. It does have android auto/apple carplay but you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to.
Just get a Detroit Electric Model 82.
Man, I love this. It’s so cute.
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I have a 2016 Hyundai Tucson that is almost paid off and works flawlessly. I actually never thought of conversion. I’ll have to look into that. Thank you.
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Any good choices? Been thinking of getting an old civic and seeing if anyone local can do it.
If you’re going to go to all the trouble of an EV conversion, I’d suggest getting something stylish or with a nice interior (or whatever you prioritize) but a shitty/unreliable stock drivetrain, since you’re ripping it out anyway. In a sense, making a reliable Honda into an EV is a waste of a reliable Honda.
Also don’t touch our beloved nsx or integra. Unless it’s cooked then go right ahead!👍
Do you really think somebody would pay $300k+ for an NSX and convert it to EV?
I thought the same thing when someone converted a classic 911 into an ev. I mean they probably sold the drivetrain to other people but still.
I always liked the idea of converting an old e30 BMW
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You should probably mention your jurisdiction ,but I’m in EU and have a Dacia , pretty goood lack of stupid/unnecessary features and the console is mostly optional to use. Physical buttons for important stuff and music/calls. Mine is a LPG/gasoline hybrid but most is similar to the EV models.
Least bad in Mozillas privacy review as well. Plenty of electronics still ofc it is needed in any car today EV or not.
Probably not available where you are but there are lots of Chinese options that are exactly this.
Some names would be appreciated
eBikes
While an amazing option for city commutes, mine is close to 100km daily. I have no idea if it’s possible to use an e-bike for that, but it would certainly take up even more of my limited free time to do so.
That’s pretty extreme commute, a deeply unsustainable one regardless of the type of power system in your car.
Yup, it is. Unfortunately, I had to endure that for close to a year (I will be assigned somewhere else this summer) and me and my colleagues had to carpool. Public transport would have been the best, but for that route the bus only goes twice a day.
Nevertheless, e-bikes are great if your commute isn’t that long!
So, you want them to sell their house now? Lol
Had a 1998 Citroen Electrique once. Not much fancy electronics there…
I don’t think you can easily find new thermal cars without technology, so EVs
Mitsubishi has been selling one for nearly a decade. It’s not great.
Toyota has a Corolla hybrid that seems pretty close.
The issue is that why would they build a budget EV when they can sell an expensive, high margin, EV? The batteries are low supply, high demand so they should be wringing every dollar possible from it.
Things where federal and California regulations step in and force these vehicles into market.
If you have an old truck, Edison Motors has preorders for the Pickup Truck conversions. The kit will only have the drive train stuff in it and anything else is not something they’re interested in. They are working with autoshops to do the conversions, so it’s not a DIY thing.
Nice. I don’t have a truck, I was just wondering in case I want to replace my car in the future.
Well, another thing that’s nice about Edison Motors is that they’re the Engineers, Mechanics and End Users for the kits. It all started because they wanted a Tesla Semi Truck to try for their logging company, but got snubbed by Tesla. It should have much higher usability then a truck designed by someone who’s never driven a truck before.
This isn’t like a Prius where the Engine, Electric Motor and Tires are all connected mechanically at some point. The Diesel/Generator unit is only connected to the E-Axle via electrician power. Because the company supported open standards and open documentation, you could just get the e-axle, ESC, and battery pack and build a pure EV around it. They need to focus on a simple product line with the broadest use cases for starting though, so I’m not surprised they aren’t talking about pure EV trucks.
There’s also strong community and wealth of information on swapping EV guts into older cars. You get the benefits of EV without the spyware and info-distractions. These are all custom jobs though, so a cost estimate is impossible. Deboss has a very interesting EV project going on right now. Edison says the total cost of their kits should be around 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of a new truck
I have an old Scottsdale truck I’m eyeing for a Edison conversion. The juxtaposition of a modern diesel/EV hybrid drive train combined with an 80’s square body truck with manual crank windows it too irresistible. All running on biodiesel as well.
My 2017 Chevy Bolt is fully electric and has less fancy integrations than most cars sold today. It’s got Bluetooth and aux audio in but you have to connect a phone with a cable for Car Play or Android Auto, it’s got normal buttons and switches for all the car stuff too. It had a remote start until I ran out of free On Star months.
I mean, gasoline-powered cars are headed the same way. manufacturers realize they can make more money by forcing us to pay for software.
I know that Edison motors up in Canada makes conversion kits so you can turn your pickup truck or 18 wheeler into a hybrid. I’m sure there are people out there putting electric motors in regular cars, I’ve seen them do it with Porsches and mustangs
Fiat 500e first gen and Nissan volt first gen.
Pretty much it unless diy
I think we need a car that “weeds out” all the shitty tech that has been integrated and comes “standard” now.
Let’s take my partner’s 2021 Honda Civic for example.
Lane Keep Assist (LKAS) - it’s garbage. The car does not recognize construction zones, and it will actively fight you if you are in those zones, or if you have to make an emergency lane change without signaling, like if a deer, or child runs in front of your car. We turned this feature off.
Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) - This system legit tries to wreck the car. We’ve had it flag and even slam the brakes dozens of times in non-emergency scenarios. It was so bad we took it back to the dealer to have the software updated (which changed nothing) and considered returning the car. The system has to be manually disabled every time we drive the car, we cannot permanently disable it. Slamming your brakes at highway speeds when someone makes a close merge is a real good way to wreck your car and the 6 or so behind you. The risk of causing 12+ accidents to avoid or mitigate 0 is not worthwhile, and it needs to go.
Adaptive Cruise Control - A great way to make idiots fall asleep, and causes left lane lollygagging. I tried using adaptive cruise control for a few long trips, and what I noticed is that there are long lines of cars driving 4 under where they are all using ACC. When the car automatically adjusts it’s speed, you lose feedback on the speed you are actually going, because you never get into that “decision zone” behind a car where you either slow down, or pass the other car. It also makes people feel more confident to let the car drive, so they’ll fuck around on their phones. Get rid of it, you’ll get where you’re going faster and safer if you do.
Auto Dimming Headlights - Turns on by accident all the time, and very hard to turn off. Works ~50% of the time. Could be good, but really sucks right now.
Here are some features that rock, and should stay in.
Keyless entry
Remote start and push button start
Apple / Android phone integration
Brake hold
Backup camera
Thanks for attending my rant.
That was actually an awesome rant. Enshitification is rampant