Quote:
Originally Posted by mkoesel
Efficiency is most important. Hyundai actually has the most efficient motors IIRC - I think they and Tesla are somewhat neck and neck.
Another important upcoming factor will be number of moving parts in the drive system. This one has four:
https://lordstownmotors.com/pages/tech
Of course, hub motors are far from proven in the real world in car/truck applications, and they have the drawback of increasing unsprung weight (by more than 100% using current state of the art tech). But if this type of system proves to meet customer demands, continues to be refined, and proliferates, well, you can also count single speed step-down transmissions, differentials and half shafts among your mechanical casualties as well.
All of this, by the way, is happening for the same reason that your phone went from being a messy keypad with a bunch of buttons you don't care about and a postage stamp screen to just screen with no buttons (almost - they'll all be gone soon) - humans want shit to be simple because we hate f**king around with fiddly nonsense that has forty ways it might break at any moment. That desire - which really is rooted in increasing quality of life - for the vast majority of us, trumps any nostalgia for obsolete technology.
There will be fewer USPs as time goes on, yes.
Still, even if we took every ICE vehicle on the market and gave them all the best engine/transmission in their class, consumers would find plenty of reasons to prefer one make/model over another. Expect that to continue to be the case in the era of electric and increasingly automated vehicles.
Even if we are saying the industry is shifting toward appliances, plenty of folks are going to want the appliance with the BMW badge, right? |
Thanks for the reply.
As for efficiency, once range is acceptable for what I need, not sure why I care if one motor is more efficient. Refueling cost is irrelevant, performance for both is close. Going 0-60 in 3.5 seconds in my family SUV or 3.2 seconds?
You said Hyundai has the most efficient motors, not sure why the average buyer cares, hopefully range is better?
With the phone analogy, you're correct, phones made rapid developments to where we are now but at this point I don't care nearly as much who's phone I buy or care that much about the latest and greatest. Phone manufacturers are finding it harder and harder to get people to upgrade with new models.
As for the "plenty of folks are going to want the appliance with the BMW badge". Badge buyers will always be there but if you are looking for substance the differentiation continues to drop. My wife cares about all the features a car has and her Acura TSX (new at $32k) has more than most BMW's so she it out. I like RWD cars (requiring luxury cars) because of the driving dynamics, I won't be stepping into a BMW dealership just for the badge. Each time you make two vehicles closer to the same (a BMW/Hyundai/Honda) the differentiation goes down and it becomes more difficult to sell them. I think BMW makes the best 2.0T available, good luck on the next electric motor (if I can tell).