It is likely that new models had higher costs, including maintainers becoming familiar. Long-term, electric is unquestionably cheaper to fuel and maintain, assuming they are built to the same standards and scale as outgoing diesel models

We are already on the path to have the grid converted to majority green energy over the next decade. Solar is by far the largest of New deployments and growing annually.

Grid batteries are just starting to scale up.

These are cheaper than any other option by far, with the shortest payback period.

The Falcon 9 is a SpaceX rocket

That was the joke. They are making their main product obsolete

If you are traveling and need to deal with something that happens at home, too bad. There are plenty of timezones that make it quite difficult to manage, especially if they have phone wait times that exceed 30min.

> [...] especially if they have phone wait times that exceed 30min.

Sorry, what does that mean? What are phone wait times, and what do they have to do with time zones?

It would cost money, but could be done more cheaply at scale and if amortized.

Start by spacing them mostly near housing, and spread them to replace more parking meters as usage increases.

It is also expensive to not switch off of ICE vehicles.

BYD also charges ~double the price in other markets, including Mexico, compared to China. That makes it very close to a base Model 3, for much less car.

This seems like doing a lot of +++ on one side and --- on the other, to say "its cheaper, for a cheaper car"

1) it's not as expensive as a model 3 in mexico

2) it's not as much lower end, when it comes to what drivers want, noting FSD is not actually on anyones radar, or "free" with the low end models

3) it's cheaper by a margin most people on rational incomes close to average would say is a LOT of money.

1) It is about 30% more, rather than 150% more, as suggested here. Very different.

2) Agreed, that it is a car for much cheaper. However, it will likely not last as long. Excluding FSD, Autopilot is free and a better comparison.

3) Again, simply pointing out the discrepancy in claimed cost vs actual.

Even worse, many states are more than double charging EVs for the comparable average mileage that determines gas tax.

Working a minimum wage could buy a starter home "back then". It now can hardly pay rent, and starter homes essentially no longer exist, even if someone wanted one.

It is also the second largest consumer of them (making local production a good option). Excluding Tesla's in house production, all other battery makers of any scale are foreign companies.

Aren't Tesla batteries made by Panasonic (inside Tesla factories)?

Yep, Tesla uses Panasonic's NCA-90, but Tesla now makes 4680 in-house, but without all that fancy dry processed cathodes that promises up to ~20% reduction in cost.

LG should be mass-producing 4680's by now (and dry battery electrode by 2027). Panasonic is still working on 4680. Maybe soon, but dunno when.

Not the newer 4680s.

I agree mostly, but you'll find that we don't want a lot of those things here, especially in chemical and raw material extraction + production.

Places that used to do this in the U.S. have left major scars and real human impact. The lack of regulation and enforcement mean they are causing the same (or worse thanks to scale + neglect) in China.

We don't need the raw material extraction and that's why I didn't mention it in my comment. Raw material extraction doesn't happen in Shenzhen and for some materials it doesn't even happen in China. You can get a shipload of cheap sodium sent wherever you are. All you need is a few companies to store a bit so it's readily available.

None of the things I listed have to have a large environmental impact. We have huge warehouses and same-day logistics in the US, they're just for consumer goods. Making PCBs or coating electrodes or working metal can all be very low-impact processes. Shenzhen isn't Bhutan but it certainly isn't a chemical waste pit. Most Chinese pollution comes from coal or resource extraction, not manufacturing.

It's the sudden shutdown that gets you.

Like how people don't get married because divorce is such a big risk. Or people don't drive too fast because it's not speed that kills but the sudden stop.