• DragonBallZinn [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        3 months ago

        I use protectionism as a huge talking point so much.

        “We like to claim we’re all about free market, but the US is a very protectionist country and even then only to capital, the idea of protectionism for workers like affordable college or stopping companies from shipping jobs overseas is seen as profane but workers are not allowed to outsource where they consume.

      • btfod [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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        3 months ago

        Real talk, I’m strongly considering buying a used EV on the cheap. Trying to suss out which platforms are the likeliest to have a longer lifespan. I think circa 2019 Bolts are in my sweet spot of affordability and best chance of holding up longer term. I’d love to find one with 20-40k miles on it.

        • Assian_Candor [comrade/them]@hexbear.netOP
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          3 months ago

          The problem with buying a non Tesla EV is that the charging infrastructure is nonexistent. Like you might have one station on a 300 mile stretch and find that it’s out of service when you get there

          If you’re only doing local driving it’s a nice little car.

          • btfod [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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            3 months ago

            Agreed … and the problem with buying a Tesla is I want me, my family, and the people around us on the road to stay alive. But in our case local driving is good enough for us.

            • PauliExcluded [she/her]@hexbear.net
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              3 months ago

              I have a relative that owns a Tesla Model 3 because there is no other charging infrastructure in his part of the country and he bought before everyone knew Elon was a right wing asshole. He let me drive it a couple times. If you don’t use the self driving, a Tesla drives like any other EV. Though, I wouldn’t get in any Tesla if the driver intended to use the self driving.

        • Chronicon [they/them]@hexbear.net
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          3 months ago

          I’ve driven a lot of Bolts (but not owned one, I don’t got that kind of money and detest modern vehicles with their snitching electronics), they feel a lot more solidly put together than the nissan leaf, for whatever that’s worth. I don’t have any special insight on the longevity, but short of a major electrical component failing prematurely, or another battery recall type issue with individual cells, the longevity will mostly be down to how it’s been driven and charged.

          • Assian_Candor [comrade/them]@hexbear.netOP
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            3 months ago

            My 2013 volt is an absolute tank. I had to replace a cell at 100k miles. I bought it at 60k and besides that have only had to change the oil and put new tires on it. The GM electric drive train seems really well designed, unless ofc it was enshittified.

            • Chronicon [they/them]@hexbear.net
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              3 months ago

              the volt and the bolt are pretty different ofc but yeah. GM is seemingly fully capable of making a decent electric drivetrain, and besides the battery cell recalls and general software bullshit I haven’t heard anything bad about the Bolt yet

        • graymess [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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          3 months ago

          I bought a used 2017 Nissan Leaf in 2019 because it had one of the best battery warranties on the market. Good thing, because I had to use that warranty this year when the capacity dropped a bunch and they upgraded me to a 40 KWh kit.

    • sewer_rat_420 [he/him, any]@hexbear.net
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      3 months ago

      Imagine the horror of having a safe, affordable, and environmentally friendly way to traverse our countries hellscape of freeways. Nope, you are gonna want a powerstroke diesel 6-wheeled truck with king cab and automatic trailer parking. you might need to tow something one day after all.

        • Assian_Candor [comrade/them]@hexbear.netOP
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          3 months ago

          Probably not, no, I think you could just drive it across the border, if it’s only one. The Chinese cars aren’t illegal here they are just subject to a 100% tariff. I’m talking out of my ass though so take it for what it’s worth

          Edit: I forgot about the safety standards. Wouldn’t want anyone getting hurt. Better stick to the cybertruck for now

          • Chronicon [they/them]@hexbear.net
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            3 months ago

            I’m talking out of my ass though so take it for what it’s worth

            yeah. From what I know about japanese imports even if you can get them to the US you can’t register them if that model of car was never sold here (and maybe even if it was, idr), since technically it never passed various US safety tests that are mandatory. There have been lots of exotic cars crushed for trying. If it’s older than 25 years though you get an exemption from the safety standards.

              • Chronicon [they/them]@hexbear.net
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                3 months ago

                I don’t think they are, and honestly I think it has to be a VIN that was actually manufactured for US market even then, but I’m not certain. Their USA site only lists one model and has no indication that you can buy it: https://www.byd.com/us/car/han-ev

                Edit: some JDM forum guys claim you have to get it in writing from the manufacturer that the imported model is the same (or “substantially similar”) as the one sold here, for the purposes of not needing to re-pass safety testing. Which, good luck with that unless you’re Bill Gates (okay he actually ended up directly lobbying the government for a carve out for rare supercars, but still)

              • miz [any, any]@hexbear.net
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                3 months ago

                to the best of my knowledge the tariff was raised to make the investment in crashing a bunch of cars to satisfy NTSB standards less attractive. cost to consumers is doubled shrinking the potential market (even if they would still be competitive with basic econoboxes sitting at $38,999, the market shrinks considerably compared to a car that would fly like hotcakes at $14k but has to be sold at nearly $30k due to tariffs.)

          • LaGG_3 [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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            3 months ago

            You’d probably have to pay a fuckton of fees to get it registered at one of the state DMVs in the US. Sadly probably too expensive/ too much of a pain in the ass to be worth it

            • smokebuddy [he/him]@lemmy.today
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              3 months ago

              I knew someone about a decade ago who made a business of buying used Dodge Caravans (built in Canada) from the US then bringing them back into Canada to resell, the import and brokerage costs were thousands of dollars but the profit in the difference was still worth it because our prices for our own cars are that inflated.

              There was a lot of paperwork and a few modifications that needed to be made… seemed like a lot of work, wasn’t exactly easy money.

          • blame [they/them]@hexbear.net
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            3 months ago

            you’ll need to import it in order to get it licensed. But they probably treat an individual importing a single car differently than a company importing thousands of cars. Also iirc you get like one “free” (as in you dont have to pay tarrifs) car import every 5 or 10 years.

        • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
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          3 months ago

          It’s state specific. You’ll want to first check that you can get it registered with your dmv. Some places do have vehicles you can’t get registered because they wouldn’t meet safety or other standards.

    • Boredom [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      3 months ago

      The only issue is that American mechanics apparently overreacting on those scanner things and don’t actually know how to fix electric vehicles that don’t use our same blueprints.

  • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    3 months ago

    USA finding out that for as much as it used capitalism to advance the USA’s interests capitalism was using the USA to advance capitalism’s interests just a little bit more.

    Dang, sorry dudes. ancrap

      • D61 [any]@hexbear.net
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        3 months ago

        I never looked into it… but now I’m wondering if there are POV style vehicles that you legally aren’t allowed to get registered at the DMV?

        Could there be a federal regulation or 50 states worth of state regulation that prohibits the import, sale, and registration of certain makes/models of vehicles?

      • JayTreeman [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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        3 months ago

        This is the likely outcome. China would still make most of the parts, and they’ll be assembled in Mexico. It’s going to destroy US and Canada auto manufacturing. … I live in Canada, and the writing is on the wall. Our entire economy relies on housing market go up. Canada is going to be ‘third world’ in 20 years. Pockets of good services surrounded by utter poverty… I had brown outs this weekend. I live in a population center.

      • Alaskaball [comrade/them]@hexbear.netM
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        3 months ago

        It’s more of a “it’s cost-prohibitive to ship something we can’t price gouge the shit out of and there’s a lack of infrastructure to support it” deal.