Ruth MottramIt appears that I'm not the only European cross about the German car lobby...
Germany needs to get a grip, the curve has been bent, EVs are basically inevitable now.
Pusher of PixelsThe future is EVs. The future structure of current car companies is...problematic.
An average EV will legitimately last 20 years, probably see a good number past 30. A business that struggles when avg lifespan starts pushing 12-15, isn't capable of that transition.
Add in the almost complete drop off in maintenance needs and it's a financial death spiral.
And a problem we need to figure out b/c we need to be in EVs.
Barney Dellar (he/him)@pixelpusher220 @Ruth_Mottram We don’t need to be in EVs. We just need to be out of petrol/diesel cars. There are plenty of other options that don’t involve heavy industry and energy uses. A huge percentage of journeys done in cars are very short, and would be walkable or cycleable if we didn’t have cities dominated by cars.
Sam 
@BarneyDellar @pixelpusher220 @Ruth_Mottram A good few years ago now, I attended a meeting where this was discussed (I can't say by whom or what the meeting was, but it wasn't as exciting as that makes it sound), and people involved in transport policy were making the same point. Replacing every ICE car with an EV may solve *some* of our problems, but it will create new ones. We need more people to change transport mode. Active travel for short trips. Mass transit. Car share clubs.
Steve Hill 🏴🇪🇺@pixelpusher220 @Ruth_Mottram I'm unconvinced that an *average* EV will last that long. My ICE cars have always been written off because of body rust, the majority of their maintenance has always been stuff like suspension components - all of that is essentially unchanged on an EV. Comparatively, my EV seems to have a large number of extremely expensive to replace electronic modules which could easily write off the car (I have seen figures such as £6k to replace a module, which is nuts).
metalfabs@steve @pixelpusher220 @Ruth_Mottram I wonder if suspension and tire wear is actually worse on EVs as they are heavier than fossil fuel cars.
@metalfabs @pixelpusher220 @Ruth_Mottram you say they are heavier than fossil fuel cars, but the heaviest cars on the (UK) roads are diesel, not EV.
@metalfabs @pixelpusher220 @Ruth_Mottram yes, but the heaviest cars are ICE (and I'm talking popular stuff like rangerovers).
Diane@steve @pixelpusher220 @Ruth_Mottram
According to a mechanic who fixed the suspension on my EV the suspension parts wear out faster on EVs because the car is heavier.
The core powertrain of an EV is fairly simple, but western vendors then added a bunch of extra complexity in other areas. To pick on Tesla the reason it's hard to get out of a Tesla in a fire is they need to use electric door locks because they wanted the glass window to be flush with the car body.
That adds a whole bunch of expensive complexity that could be avoided with a door that has a window frame.
I bet avoiding things like that is part of the reason Chinese EVs are so much cheaper than western.