There's a lot to like, but also a lot of frustrating stuff. We have a EV9 gt line. The paddles to change regen breaking is nice, but it doesn't save the setting in between sessions for some fucking reason. It also doesn't seem to save a lot of personal preference to the driver profiles, it saves mirror and seat positions, but not audio or temp/fan settings. The drive settings (snow mode, etc) doesn't persist for some reason either. It fishtails constantly if its remotely slippery out in the winter. It feels like it's trying to throw me off the road. And there seemingly no options to use regular cruise control and only has adaptive cruise, which I fucking hate.

i wish their shareholders would fire the CEO or whoever was behind this decison. I get their justification but thats how disappointed I feel

Pretty sure it's the EV Blazer.

Aw man, I was looking forward to seeing that infinity mirror concept on the road late at night

Hybrids are perhaps worse than both ICE and EV. More complex, burns more than the other two, still consumes a shit ton of oil and pollutes a lot. Ethanol has also its problems, like how does one get it in enough quantity. Why do you think we are not driving ethanol cars today?

Why is ACC worse than regular cruise control?

Hybrids are perhaps worse than both ICE and EV.

EV with range extender is not hybrid. You keep confirming that you don't really know what you're talking about.

I get this actually. I don’t always trust ACC; sometimes I just want to set a speed and know the car isn’t going to mess with it, and get me rear-ended.

All very annoying sounding issues.

…But to be fair, these have little to do with the actual EV drivetrain. They’re ergonomic or handling issues an ICE card would have too. Or, in the case of fishtailing, just the choice of stock tires the car comes with.

Yeah, I know all about the Slate. It’s a very cool concept.

Also see this Scottish EV: https://www.munro-ev.com/

I wish more manufacturers would take those ideas, though.

That the thing. I hate real trucks. And I definitely dislike people who disparage others for the car that they drive with the exception of cyber trucks, of course.

Micropenis energy wave emitter source identified. Scan complete.

What was the risk? It’s an up-badged Accord V6. Sedans that are sportier than Toyota is a core competency.

Accord never had a turbo V6 with AWD, and it's a performance luxury sedan in the age where the market looked like it was gonna disappear. We know now that Dodge are bringing the V8s back and Cadillac is gonna keep the blackwings going, but that's a different price bracket so less of a surprise there

edit: also stretching the definition of up-badging there, entirely new chassis, interior and drivetrain isn't an upbadge

Ok, my bad, but also doesn't pollute, right?

The Prologue may not be as advanced as you would like relative to other EVs, but for those who leased one last year before the credit went away... they got an insane deal. Less than $400/mo with nothing down, for the Elite (top trim level) AWD. Some got them in the $200/mo range.

I'm hoping the lease buys some time in the US market, and in 3 years there are new options that are neither Tesla (the Apple of the EV world) nor Chinese companies. Polestars are expensive and I have heard about the same service issues you mentioned. And I don't like the idea of trading one set of spyware for another.

The Rivian R2 Standard could be a compelling (cheaper) option when it arrives. Or if nothing else there should be a lot more low-mileage used EVs coming off lease around that time. They could be cheaper and still have a lot of life left.

Its personal preference. It make the drive a lot less smooth for me. It always slows down way too early and has me brake for things that I don't need to brake for. It slammed the brakes for someone in a turn lane and people braking and moving over where I can move over a little and be fine. I don't passively drive and notice the unnecessary slow downs constantly.

If it is a risk, it’s not a very good risk then? Like the Prelude is a risk and it just seems like a bad decision.

What do they gain by making a new car that sits in the luxury midsize sedan segment? Is it really selling better than upgrading the Accord would have?

Also it seems Acura has been mismanaged for years, and investing their limited resources on a sedan seems kind of silly.

Sure that's fair, and I can't even say that's because they're a legacy car maker, but my polestar has that shit locked in. I think some of that is because they're legacy, and some are just stupid decisions or lack of respect for the driver. I just wanted to highlight some things I personally fine "wrong" with Kias in my experience. I won't get one again

At this point a no frills, low cost EV or even ICE vehicle would be innovative but they'd rather do a shitty job copycatting other models.

The EU can't get enough BYD vehicles and conversely wouldn't be caught dead in a Tesla. Some EU cities, maybe countries, won't even allow our stupid ass mega-trucks either.

Ah I stand corrected. I see they never sold them globally outside the local & American markets. And eclipsed by Toyota by about 20x.

Again, playing devil's advocate:

it saves mirror and seat positions, but not audio or temp/fan settings

This is kind of standard for cars, isn't it?

The drive settings (snow mode, etc) doesn’t persist for some reason either.

And this makes sense because Kia wouldn't want the car to be unintentionally stuck in snow mode by default. Folks who don't pay attention to settings wouldn't know what was wrong, and it follows a golden rule of software: 99% of users will use the defaults.

It sucks that it isn't configurable, but most everything you listed is just infotainment software issues, and part of the "car software shouldn't be so complex and proprietary, and rely more on physical knobs" general issue. We should be able to configure stuff it like we want, but for some reason car software dev is particularly awful, and here we are.

It fishtails constantly if its remotely slippery out in the winter.

And again, I'd guess this is from stock, low-friction EV tires. Which are awful in winter. This is just a guess though.

You're right, it is standard for cars in general, but that's my point. I can't say it's the case for all modern makers, but the one reference I can go off from is polestar and it has all that shit figured out and it's a new EV company (mostly/kind of at least). I don't know if its the same for companies like Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, etc. There's no reason not to change the dash settings when that's all stored in a computer now unlike back in the day where the head unit and heat controls with separate entities entirely from the seat settings. It just seems like a hold over from how things used to be done.

I know the shit I laid out are all updatable with a software update to add toggles and I've heard guesses that that fishtailing is an issue with torque vectoring or something (bad tire choices could be part too, but it drives fine in snow). Its still a problem for a legacy vehicle maker that should have it more figured out than they do right now.

Batteries used to kinda suck, and there are still issues Like weight and scarce minerals

also doesn’t pollute, right?

You make no sense. Of course a range extender pollutes but it's an edge case only for very long distance drives.

Manufacturing hydrogen is way more energy intensive and pollutes much more.

If it doesn’t have an actual frame, it’s not a real truck. I don’t care what size it is. As a former Honda tech, a Ridgeline is a modified Odyssey van.

Oh definitely. That's why I ended up with a Prologue Elite before the credit expired, even though I've still had to pay for the Polestar this entire time (still am technically since the lemon stuff hasn't been finalized yet).

My plan was for the 3 year lease to do exactly that. Be a bridge to good EV options at reasonable prices.

We have a hard enough time selling people on the idea of electric cars here in the US. I mean, you can charge those anywhere. But hydrogen??? Yeah, good luck with that.

In what way hydrogen manufacturing pollutes much more assuming we are talking about green h2? Sure renewables have a pollution cost associated with manufacturing but I really don't think the end result is much more pollution. Even less so in the cities in resulting co2 and pmN emissions.

If it is a risk, it’s not a very good risk then?

That's... what I said? Not a huge risk.

What do they gain by making a new car that sits in the luxury midsize sedan segment?

I'm talking about the Type S specifically. A car in a (mostly) dying segment when it comes to american manufacturers. One that might not sell in huge numbers but if received well would become an instant future classic, as the Blackwings but cheaper and more honda-like.

Normal TLX is as safe as the previous generation, and it's still not an Accord. You're comparing Toyota to a Lexus.

investing their limited resources on a sedan seems kind of silly.

Why? They already make SUVs that sell well, might as well keep the sedans alive for their customer base, who want something Honda-sporty but more comfortable and presentable. It's not like they have to make an entirely new platform, the new Integra is basically a Civic underneath down to the engine

Makes sense. Never thought about it that way

Makes sense. I guess it also depends on which manufacturer

Hydrogen as vehicle energy storage is about 30% efficient. Terrible.

It is useful for producing green fertiliser though.

You loose ~50% of electricity in transport.

Hydrogen isn't great, but synthetic methane is much more efficient to store and transport

I meant the risk has a poor chance of return.

One that might not sell in huge numbers but if received well would become an instant future classic, as the Blackwings but cheaper and more honda-like.

What does Honda have to gain for this? Car manufacturers don’t get huge benefit for used car sales. If they cared about that, they’d offer a manual version.

The Lexus up badging strategy works though. Lexus is far more successful than Acura.

Why? They already make SUVs that sell well

Except that’s not true anymore. The MDX hasn’t been updated and the RDX is basically cancelled and it’s reflected in sales numbers. That’s where they should’ve invested instead of into a low volume sedan.

Yes a hybrid is more complex but less so than hydrogen because the engineering problems of hydrogen haven't yet been fully solved (storage that doesn't use more space than battery or tank).

It's an upgraded ice.

Range extender doesn't make sense which is while serial hybrids died out for cars. At the rpms where gas is most efficient, it's better to drive the wheels directly with the ice than waste energy converting it to electricity with a generator and back into motion with the ev motors.

That's what all hybrids do today.

Making a hot version of a car drives sales of regular versions, idk how else to put it. You build something cool and desirable but slightly unreachable and people will want to have the next best thing. Eg Maserati MC20, Giulia QV, AMGs and M cars of all sorts

edit: also you're misunderstanding what "up badging" means, it refers to people putting sti stickers on their WRXs and other trim fuckery like that, not coming up with entirely new models on new platforms that share some components with your lower tier brands

Slate trucks are DOA with their current specs. They can’t tow on par with any truck or EV, they have sub 200mi range which makes road trips impossible, and they’re so bare bones that it’s not worth the trade offs. My cellular remote lock/unlock/climate/location in my current EV is the most useful and favorite part of my EV. I’d never buy an EV without them, no matter how enticing it is that I can put my own infotainment in the Slate truck.

170mi of range is asinine. Considering battery losses, only charging to 80%, and needing to charge at 10%, you’re lucky to get 100 miles. No one can drive on the highway with that little range.

TIL about up badging.

I get the point of making a hot version. The Civic Type R has been pretty successful. But again, it’s a dying segment. They’d be better off with a more successful SUV.

I dunno... my sibling can make it a long way on a single charge, all the way to me and back. They haven't had to use a fast charger yet. But if they do, my understanding is that Hyundai optimized the battery for charging speed instead of capacity.

Surely no true Scotsman would drive anything less than the purest of trucks. Thank you for being an exemplar of the trope.