Harry's Garage - YouTube

Author
Discussion

DonkeyApple

55,402 posts

170 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
suffolk009 said:
If the car has a 15-20 year life span - does the touch-screen? I've never seen a piece of C21st electronics last that long - and that's without the harsh environment of being bolted into a car. How long will Tesla be supplying those touch screens? I'd be surprised if anyone is going to make a "pattern" copy screen to keep them running on the cheap in 20 years time.
Touchscreens cost 5p and China bangs them out for pretty much everything that was ever made to use them.

It's why they're used by manufacturers and why they bolt them on to the dash like a static caravan TV. They're infinitely cheaper than buttons and switches. Hence why more premium builders embed these screens so as to not look phenomenally Bulls Eye star prize but why they also use buttons, switches and dials where they're superior to the super cheap 'on screen' solution because their customers can afford to prioritise functionality, convenience and safety over the monthly cost.

If planning on helping a Tesla to live 20 years the dirt cheap, generic touchscreen would be the least of anyone's worries. The pertinent worries would be everything that the screen is attached to as historically it all starts falling off and peeling off early doors. Stick your typical consumer gibbon inside one for any period of time and the damage they can do is immense. These are cars that require keeping gibbon free if you want it to last.

DonkeyApple

55,402 posts

170 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
dvs_dave said:
And new cars aren’t for them, and never have been. Let alone EV’s. Good job then that by the time they have to switch in 2050 simply due to the lack of serviceable used ICE not being around anymore, they’ll have a dearth of ratty old EV’s to choose from and a charging network as convenient as todays filling stations.

Options for poor people are of zero relevance at this juncture. They can carry on as normal for the next 25 years tipping around in their 750 quid zafiras, or equivalent, like they always have done.
Nationally that is very true. EVs today are not aimed remotely at that end of the market. They're a premium spend for those with easy home charging and whose demand will build out the national infrastructure and used fleet over the next 20 years so that other people can switch when they wish without ever having to do a single thing.

However, all that logic and social morality goes straight in the bin on land under the control of devolved power bases where it is almost the reverse and the poorest are being specifically pushed out of private car ownership altogether by the use of EVs today when they won't be available to that target demographic until tomorrow.

That's the issue in the U.K. We have a very logical and sound national policy of everyone just switching when they want to and can afford to, where the infrastructure will be created by the more wealthy for the less wealthy over the next 20 years as will the used fleet. And a policy which plays to huge strengths of the U.K. being a very small land mass but with very robust average population density and very high wealth. The U.K. is pretty much the easiest developed nation to switch to EV. But, the local political policies of the regional barons is almost 100% at odds with both the national policy, basic morality and common sense. Their environmental policies precisely target the poor and wholly absolve the affluent. We can switch to EV without giving a second thought, we have driveways and private parking. We are solvent and can borrow what we want at fair rates. We live close to the amenities and public transport services because we can afford to. We can simply pay whatever money is needed to operate any alternative such as paying for people or goods to come to you. Those with low incomes can't do any of that and nor should a civilised society ever be pushing such burdens onto that segment of its society but that is exactly what local policy is doing, it is specifically targeting the poor and inhibiting their economic mobility and running financial charges that are prejudicial.

We are a nation split by logical and fair national policy and inequitable, immoral local policy. Ergo, where you live and where you work and how much you earn has a huge potential impact on millions when it absolutely should not and they should be left well out of the switch for years to come yet.

732NM

4,559 posts

16 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
The issue will be the lack of independent small garages to keep the shed EV going. These places are dying out as the current owners retire, they wont invest in EV specific equipment or staff, so you will be in the hands of the large franchises that charge a fortune. Then when something does go wrong it's a scrapper due to cost of parts and labour.

Blackpuddin

16,555 posts

206 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
suffolk009 said:
DonkeyApple said:
I think that one genuinely impressive aspect of the whole brand is that they can build almost as cheaply as a Chinese brand, what is obstensively a white goods, stripped down product but with brand cache. Genuine cache rather than gold painted plastics. There are very few cases in history where a brand has managed that. Brand premium and cheap manufacturing. Arguably that is their true advantage over the incumbent, similarly premium/mid level brands.
May be odd here but I don't see Tesla as a premium brand. Not with that quality. At the risk of coming across all xenophobic it feels like you have to go back to the days of Duesenberg to find a premium US car brand.

millik

80 posts

62 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
SWoll said:
And if not, here are England's rapid charger locations.

<pedant mode on >

Not all those rapid charger locations indicated are in England.

<pedant mode off>




Mammasaid

3,855 posts

98 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
millik said:
SWoll said:
And if not, here are England's rapid charger locations.

<pedant mode on >

Not all those rapid charger locations indicated are in England.

<pedant mode off>

<pedant mode back on >

Not all of England is displayed

<pedant mode back off>

SWoll

18,437 posts

259 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
millik said:
<pedant mode on >

Not all those rapid charger locations indicated are in England.

<pedant mode off>
I didn't suggest that they were, just that the image shows the ones that are. smile

Unreal

3,420 posts

26 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
DonkeyApple said:
Touchscreens cost 5p and China bangs them out for pretty much everything that was ever made to use them.

It's why they're used by manufacturers and why they bolt them on to the dash like a static caravan TV. They're infinitely cheaper than buttons and switches. Hence why more premium builders embed these screens so as to not look phenomenally Bulls Eye star prize but why they also use buttons, switches and dials where they're superior to the super cheap 'on screen' solution because their customers can afford to prioritise functionality, convenience and safety over the monthly cost.

If planning on helping a Tesla to live 20 years the dirt cheap, generic touchscreen would be the least of anyone's worries. The pertinent worries would be everything that the screen is attached to as historically it all starts falling off and peeling off early doors. Stick your typical consumer gibbon inside one for any period of time and the damage they can do is immense. These are cars that require keeping gibbon free if you want it to last.
One of my better investments was in early combination boilers which local authorities stuffed into their properties in the hundred of thousands in the 80s.

My recollection is that replacement PCBs cost us around £20 and the firm knocked them out at £500. No chance of cheap generic replacements.

In my recent experience that kind of mark up is still around (check out an ecu for any modern car) and I don't think car manufacturers will miss that little trick with EVs. If anything, they'll exploit it even more.


Edited by Unreal on Tuesday 23 April 13:10

Muzzer79

10,043 posts

188 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
I like Tesla tech - the minimalism, the way they do things differently, the way they have the best battery tech.

What prevents me from getting one is the ubiquity. The fact that there's only a small handful of colours and now only 2 real specs.

I don't like driving a car that looks the same as everyone else's. That difference can come from a colour that most people don't pick, or a spec that some people don't have.
German cars are great for this - there's varying spec levels and a plethora of choice.

But with Tesla you get what you're given and there's a high chance that the neighbour around the corner may have the same car.

If Tesla allowed more configurability and therefore built some individuality and desirability into their cars, I may be interested.

greenarrow

3,600 posts

118 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
I don't see lack of cheap EVs for the second hand market being a problem as some people are suggesting. Based on the depreciation we've seen on stuff like the Nissan Leaf, by 2035 people should have no problem picking up a 10-15 year old Corsa EV (or equivalent) for £2-3£K. Perhaps more of a concern is the longevity of the batteries on this class of car. We know Teslas can go past 100K miles usually without issues, as there are plenty of high milers out there, but I've seen horror stories where Renault Zoes for example have needed replacement batteries on 60,000 miles and 5 figure costs have been quoted. At least your old fashioned ICE petrol car can breeze past 100K miles usually not throwing up a major bill of more than £500 at a good independent.


SWoll

18,437 posts

259 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
Muzzer79 said:
I like Tesla tech - the minimalism, the way they do things differently, the way they have the best battery tech.

What prevents me from getting one is the ubiquity. The fact that there's only a small handful of colours and now only 2 real specs.

I don't like driving a car that looks the same as everyone else's. That difference can come from a colour that most people don't pick, or a spec that some people don't have.
German cars are great for this - there's varying spec levels and a plethora of choice.

But with Tesla you get what you're given and there's a high chance that the neighbour around the corner may have the same car.

If Tesla allowed more configurability and therefore built some individuality and desirability into their cars, I may be interested.
As most are company cars, and therefore come with the base spec paint and interior, a red one with the white interior is actually quite a rare car. An AT of the 1000+ use Model 3s for sale, only 7 have that spec, all of them 3+ years old.

ChocolateFrog

25,464 posts

174 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
Unreal said:
One of my better investments was in early combination boilers which local authorities stuffed into their properties in the hundred of thousands in the 80s.

My recollection is that replacement PCBs cost us around £20 and the firm knocked them out at £500. No chance of cheap generic replacements.

In my recent experience that kind of mark up is still around (check out an ecu for any modern car)and I don't think car manufacturers will miss that little trick with EVs. If anyhing they'lm exploit it even more.
Gledhill are still in that racket.

The PCB in their Boilermate seems to have a built in self destruct.

millik

80 posts

62 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
SWoll said:
I didn't suggest that they were, just that the image shows the ones that are. smile
Must make time to read things properly ! getmecoatsmile


otolith

56,198 posts

205 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
Unreal said:
One of my better investments was in early combination boilers which local authorities stuffed into their properties in the hundred of thousands in the 80s.

My recollection is that replacement PCBs cost us around £20 and the firm knocked them out at £500. No chance of cheap generic replacements.

In my recent experience that kind of mark up is still around (check out an ecu for any modern car)and I don't think car manufacturers will miss that little trick with EVs. If anyhing they'lm exploit it even more.
Probably for the best that electric cars have less complex electronics than ICE cars then!

Forester1965

1,535 posts

4 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
Not especially excited by their product, but the job Tesla have done in such a short time is amazing. Makes a mockery of the legacy manufacturers and kind of disappoints at how far cars could've developed by now if they'd all had the same outlook.

ArgonautX

176 posts

52 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
DonkeyApple said:
Touchscreens cost 5p and China bangs them out for pretty much everything that was ever made to use them.
A friend was quoted several thousand euros when a screen failed in his last gen Audi A6 hybrid. Honestly, I don't know if you can find third party replacement ones, he managed to have them replace it under warranty. It's a totally crazy price for a part you just know they're probably paying few euros in quantity.

SWoll

18,437 posts

259 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
ArgonautX said:
DonkeyApple said:
Touchscreens cost 5p and China bangs them out for pretty much everything that was ever made to use them.
A friend was quoted several thousand euros when a screen failed in his last gen Audi A6 hybrid. Honestly, I don't know if you can find third party replacement ones, he managed to have them replace it under warranty. It's a totally crazy price for a part you just know they're probably paying few euros in quantity.
The touchscreen in a car does need to be of considerably higher quality than what you would get on a home device, and not sure whether the tesla item is purely an output screen or also houses all of the other components needed to function much like a tablet PC or laptop.

I've seen quotes of around £1500 for a new Model 3 screen including fitting (which take 15 minutes apparently) direct from Tesla, and there are numerous available on eBay for around £300.

DonkeyApple

55,402 posts

170 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
732NM said:
The issue will be the lack of independent small garages to keep the shed EV going. These places are dying out as the current owners retire, they wont invest in EV specific equipment or staff, so you will be in the hands of the large franchises that charge a fortune. Then when something does go wrong it's a scrapper due to cost of parts and labour.
Most service work is computer diagnostic and the replacement of the same sort of mechanicals that still exist on EVs so it's not that big an issue. Plus, it's going to take nearly three decades for the switch so more than enough time for existing mechanics to retire and the new ones to leave franchises and set up independently with the correct skill sets.

The larger threat of EVs is that with fewer mechanical moving parts there is clearly going to be a natural decline in the amount of work, which again would just be dealt with by natural retirement. Then on the flipside there will be growth in areas like cell replacement and battery refurbing/upgrading etc along with updating BMS systems etc.

ArgonautX

176 posts

52 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
SWoll said:
The touchscreen in a car does need to be of considerably higher quality than what you would get on a home device, and not sure whether the tesla item is purely an output screen or also houses all of the other components needed to function much like a tablet PC or laptop.

I've seen quotes of around £1500 for a new Model 3 screen including fitting (which take 15 minutes apparently) direct from Tesla, and there are numerous available on eBay for around £300.
This wasn't the touchscreen, rather the screen that acts as an instrument cluster. Which made me think will it be even possible to keep those cars on the road in 10-15 years if there are no cheaper replaceemnt displays...

EddieSteadyGo

11,976 posts

204 months

Tuesday 23rd April
quotequote all
ArgonautX said:
This wasn't the touchscreen, rather the screen that acts as an instrument cluster. Which made me think will it be even possible to keep those cars on the road in 10-15 years if there are no cheaper replaceemnt displays...
In 15 years time literally tens of millions of these Tesla screens will have been made. That means there will an endless supply of replacement/2nd-hand-parts to keep older cars on the road.