Too Many Cars Are Too Fast

[anders_nor]

How many Audi SUV owners ever tow a trailer? Honest question, never seen one. Range is a bigger issue. Interesting how they designed the heating system. Tesla used to have resistive heaters, which sapped the battery, now is a heat pump, supposedly better.

here in europe? most of the q7 owners does for sure.

I use my cayenne for towing all the time, honestly I've towed with it, more than I've driven it when we look at miles. both Q7 and cayenne is rated 3500KG here aka 7700lbs

I have a cayenne diesel, even towing 10000lbs its got tons of power, and good chassis to control it, mixed with good brakes. Also its the favorite when we go skiiing. more of my friends has x5 & cayenns than audis though, the ones that has audis often has the e-tron (the bigger one) but its shitty on range, so we rarely take it for round trip skiiing.

 

[cantunamunch]

, now is a heat pump, supposedly better.

Heh. If Audi and VW are smart they won't put that in their marketing in the NE.

'Heat pump' n. "Device that makes you feel cold when outside air is below 25F and runs up your electric bill to be way more than a natural gas bill"

 

[anders_nor]

heat pumps on EV's does NOT WORK when its cold, they work very good just above zero though

 

[Alexzn]

here in europe? most of the q7 owners does for sure.

Anders- let’s be real here. A Q4 is not a solution for Q7 owners. Q7 is also twice the price of the Q4.

Q7 is huge especially in Europe). Even here in the US it’s a decently big car. I suspect you buy a Q7 in Europe if you need to tow or if you drive very long distances. Otherwise a Q5 is perfectly fine and is much less of a pain to park in the crowded cities (maybe not in Norway; I’ve been to Norway, Norway is special; breathtakingly beautiful as well).

The only comparable electric to Q7 right now is either TeslaX or an upcoming Rivian SUV, both are 2-3x more expensive than Q4. Q4 served a different market, most likely a typical Subaru owner looking to trade up and electrify. Last thing they want is to tow a horse trailer or a big boat. Maybe three bikes in the back or a kayak in the roof. Q4 will do that just fine.

 

[anders_nor]

hah, everybody where I live buys SUV's like range rovers, cayenne, x5, q7 etc to flex, it has 0 to do with need. we call them "husmortanks" feel free to try to translate

but... we also do tow, its very normal for people to use trailers for everything here as pickup trucks are unusual.


the e-tron 55 is like a q6/q8 size'ish. there are thousands of them around here, its as normal as a tesla model 3 (very normal) we have 0 tax and 0 VAT on EV's so even an audi e-tron is very cheap compared to other cars.

Latest rage is taycan CT, popping up like crazy. you will se people have the taycan CT to match their 911, cayenne/panamera...

even in our little household we have more cars than people. I drive the A3 for smaller stuff if I need to go in city center (and I know it will be hit by someone who cant park), but honestly cayenne will fit in all parking garages here, as will q7. then you have the sports car and long range beater, and workcar etc...

q5 is never fine, i'd rather drive the a3, its for the "look at me I have a SUV" crowd, ... no you dont, you got an a3 with worse handeling and the same space.

 

[Seldomski]

I am getting really confused with the way audi names it's BEVs...

etron and etron sportback now. The etron is a BEV. The "etron sportback" is a hybrid?
etron GT RS (BEV, audi take on a taycan, or electrified RS5/RS7)
next up 2022 is q4 etron and q4 etron sportback?

I test drove the etron last year. The handling and ride quality was pretty bad compared to a Q5. It drove sort of like a Q7, but you can feel the awkward stiffening of the chassis from the battery pack.

 

[Alexzn]

Anders-

Norway is the Texas of Europe in many ways;-).

Of topic, but I have never seen a country with such a high standard of living. Every family has a big car and a “cottage” in the countryside. And lots of “toys”. And every major highway is essentially underground, it’s like driving in a subway. I envy you, it’s a great example how a country can use its natural resources wisely.

 

[anders_nor]

cottages are very very importnat to us, and people USE them, we have sevral within the family but its not the same as your own, and I'm looking to buy my own but buying a new house first now. Will downsize the carpark, we currently own 5 cars + company car. and yes I haul boats/cars around, but the most normal trailer people use are just for moving stuff around, since we dont have pickup trucks. we have grown to 5 million people, but most of the country is still just woods, we produce more hydro & renewable power than we use, and could double it easy if we wantd. so yeah we have it good. but I do pay close to 44-45% of my income in taxes, then "you own stuff tax and have money in the bank tax" and now more and more counties are putting taxes on houses & cottages, then I'm hit with 25% vat, not to mention horsepower tax etc.. but yeah cant complain



during covid a lot of the places people had cottages didnt want people going there.. and shit ensued. then they were brutally reminded that people going to their cottages... is how they make their living, and were more welcoming when season hit a year later, even though covid was still a thing.

The brilliant move done by mostly a single guy when oil was discoverd here was that it and its income would benefit the government and the peple, not companies or indviduals., the oil income is saved up & invested, and think we have a few hundred thousand $ per citizen now. washing or makeing food for an oil rig is still a a very good income here.


But we have snow, texas does not...so I love Norway! I love snow, I'm old now, but still get all stoked when it snows.

 

[geepers]

Irrelevant - possibly; misinformed - definitely.

Kind of puzzled by this reply. What, exactly, is misinformed about quoting achieved lap times in a racing class at the Isle of Man TT?

Ok, laps around the TT course are one thing. How applicable is electric power to sports bikes for the general public? Well, I don't see myself ever throwing a leg over a really fun road bike ever again so the next best thing is a user review.

This guy reviewed one after owning it one for a year. Which is much better than a 20 minute demo ride.


Take-aways for me on this:
1. Performance wouldn't be an issue - it's may be a little behind liter bikes but the guy says it's a match for 750s. MHO is that if a 750 doesn't do it for you on a public road then it's time to have a good look in the mirror.
2. Range would be fine for the sort of commutes and weekend fun riding I used to do. It would easily cover the commutes and I for one would be happy to take a coffee/burger break after 100km of scratching on the windy bits on the weekend rec riding. Be fine for track work as well - most racing I did was short distance sprints, although there would need to be some improvement in track infrastructure from my day - there basically wasn't anything. Further the next model of that bike supposedly has better range.
Not so sure on the longer rides. This guy has a vid on a 700km trip with a lot of recharge stops. That may be ok in New Zealand where there's plenty of scenic interest along the way. In Oz there's plenty of long straight bits between towns. (Then again a sports bike is probably not the right tool for that job.)
3. The weight thing would likely make it harder work on the tight sections. And it sure wouldn't be an easy pickup if it fell off the stand.

Also interesting to see a sense of community in the owners of this bike. Different vibe than HD but some commonality.

Would I buy one if I was still into bikes? Well, not before that 20 minute demo ride.

 

[geepers]

The brilliant move done by mostly a single guy when oil was discoverd here was that it and its income would benefit the government and the peple, not companies or indviduals., the oil income is saved up & invested,

The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund was indeed a brilliant move. It's hard to believe that other countries saw that and didn't copy it. I suppose the idea was just too mind blowing - using the natural resources of a country to better the lot of all citizens.

 

[scott43]

The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund was indeed a brilliant move. It's hard to believe that other countries saw that and didn't copy it. I suppose the idea was just too mind blowing - using the natural resources of a country to better the lot of all citizens.

So you're a communist apparently....

 

[cantunamunch]

The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund was indeed a brilliant move. It's hard to believe that other countries saw that and didn't copy it.

Eh, the Saudis did, the Nigerians did, the Mexicans did, the Iranians did, Brazil liquidated theirs and are setting up a new one, the Venezuelans set up two. (I expect I know which countries you're thinking of, tho, and that's a fair point).

 

[Tom K.]

I personally still prefer road-tripping in our old diesel SUV because it’s range allows me ....... the convenience of road tripping with a 600 miles range that you can refuel in 5 minutes.

OG Ford Excursion?

Do tell!

 

[Alexzn]

OG Ford Excursion?

Do tell!

Nope. A diesel BMW X5 . In addition to torque and range it is also fun to drive.

 

[bbbradley]

Kind of puzzled by this reply. What, exactly, is misinformed about quoting achieved lap times in a racing class at the Isle of Man TT?

The comment was made days ago to rebut claims that EVs did not benefit from ICE development.

 

[cantunamunch]

The comment was made days ago to rebut claims that EVs did not benefit from ICE development.

Yep, I understood it in that context.

(You didn't mention that
a) EV only startup firms have access to capital on a basis no existing ICE maker operates on, which in itself is going to make a difference
b) EV firms very definitely hire ICE-trained engineers for everything from suspension to aero to lighting
, but otherwise it was a reasonably complete response to the preceding assertion)

 

[Tom K.]

If you think the BRZ and GT86 need more power, here you go!

Chevy Corvette-powered Subaru BRZ on Cars & Bids is sheer insanity - Autoblog

One way to extract more power from a Subaru BRZ is to put a turbocharged Chevy Corvette V8 between its fenders. This heavily modded car is up for auction.

www.autoblog.com

V8 FTW!

 

[scott43]

Yep, I understood it in that context.

(You didn't mention that
a) EV only startup firms have access to capital on a basis no existing ICE maker operates on, which in itself is going to make a difference
b) EV firms very definitely hire ICE-trained engineers for everything from suspension to aero to lighting
, but otherwise it was a reasonably complete response to the preceding assertion)

Pretty sure Brembo is supplying most calipers for Teslas...well established conventional brake maker..

 

[geepers]

The comment was made days ago to rebut claims that EVs did not benefit from ICE development.

Well, nothing like creating a strawman - who the heck claimed EVs were developed in a vacuum?

 

[James]

Well, nothing like creating a strawman - who the heck claimed EVs were developed in a vacuum?

That whole line of reasoning in this thread is a barnful of straw men. Makes a very good inferno.