Comment on A 2014 Ford electric with dead batteries is only worth 500$, even if you spent 20/30k on it

• iamtanmay@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago

  As much as I hate Tesla for its Apple like, everything closed mindset... at least you know the batteries will be there to swap out in some years

  Maybe non US makers like Toyota or Nissan would be better for getting replacement packs

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• squashkin@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago

  its best to usually not be a early adopter

  pinephone has entered the chat (lol)

  yeah I have been interested in the DIY EV route, basically just get batteries and hook them up to a motor system (there's more but that's the summary).

  ICE (gas) vehicles are already bloated, EVs look bloated and probably will have trash proprietary software hooked up to them.

  probably our main problem is we need major deregulation of car industry so more cars can be made by more companies.

  there's also ICE DIY car kits you can build. all this costs more tho. ebikes are good for smaller distances.

  also the OP brings up an interesting point, I guess EVs are kind of different, I mean some parts can be stolen off ICE vehicles and some gas. But with EVs people could steal batteries. idk if there is more of a theft issue. Instead of filling up a little gas like ICE cars, EVs are often basically like hauling tons of gas with them in a way (with all the batteries they bring).

  Another route I'd consider is like a bigger e-velomobile (they're like cars you can pedal like a bicycle), like bigger or more car sized.

  We'll figure out a way to navigate the coming mess

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  • iamtanmay@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago

    There's regulations around chassis for safety reasons. You can build on top of existing chassis, but otherwise it won't be street legal

    That said, DIY car.... its gonna look ugly... and its a crazy amount of work

    I would rather buy an existing hybrid which uses a generic battery supplier, so I can replace it myself even if the manufacturer is gone.

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    • Spotted_Lady@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago

      I've heard of folks 3D printing cars. That's only the body. The chassis is another matter.

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      • iamtanmay@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago

        Maybe there would be a service where you could print large metal parts , but its a safety risk and a huge amount of work for most people who are not engineers.

        It would be more mangeable to convert gas cars with a kit

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    • squashkin@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago

      otherwise it won’t be street legal

      velomobiles, some diy EVs, car kits, I think these things are legal. Also maybe we can change the law. but yeah there are legal limitations to work through.

      I like the hybrid idea too or a gas car for long trips (or rent one) and EV for shorter.

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      • iamtanmay@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago

        Saw it on Top Gear, when they built their own EV car from scratch. They said only existing chassis are highway legal. Not sure what the car kits are, but the rest are probably classified as something else, like e-bikes, carts or something. Highway legal chassis require a lot of paperwork, crash testing and so on.

        I also saw this girl on youtube who made a EV Pickup out of her Tesla. It was months of work with a team of technicians... its really hard

        Rather than making your own car, it would be more practical to put together a replacement battery pack yourself. You can see Linus Tech Tips video on making packs for cameras... the car packs use the same cells, just in much higher quantities.

        I wouldn't do it myself, because its still a lot of work for just 1 replacement pack. I would buy a generic one and adapt it to my car.

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