Looking at the new deals with BYD (Atto 2 for around $25,000), it looks like electric are the cheapest cars to buy at the moment.
Say you drive under 5000km per year.
I heard electric insurance is double (around 2K) and there are other fees and charges. So when comparing small petrol, the fuel savings are offset with other charges on electric.
Read The Passengers, by John Marsden
John Marsden has not written a book called the Passenger. I've read all his books
British author John Marrs.
Electronic Vehicles for adults do not currently represent good value in our current lives.
I notice that you used the phrase "electronic cars" - is that a typo and you meant "electric cars," or was it deliberate?
Assuming it wasn't an accident, and you actually meant "cars with electronics"….
Every car built in the past 40 years has relied on at least one electronic module for engine monitoring, fuel and ignition control. More electronic modules have steadily been added over the years to deal with things like anti-lock braking, stability control, safety restraint systems and airbags. And more recently, computers are being used for steered headlights, radar cruise control, lane guidance, automatic collision avoidance and now we're seeing rapid development towards fully autonomous navigation and self-driving.
Whilst technologically advanced, they are just one more step towards overreaching government control and manipulation and miminising our autonomy to enable others with nefarious intentions to hold us and our government(s) hostage.
In your opinion, where is the line when vehicles become more a device for coercive control than a tool for personal transport?
Imagine the day when fully automated vehicles are able to respond to inevitable accidents and using their algorithms to determine who's life has more value to society
While it's an interesting thought experiment in both practical and moral terms, I'm really struggling to see the relevance to this topic. It's certainly not a problem that we face today, or even in the foreseeable future.
@Satchimo: I thought it was out of character compared to your previous contributions.
But while the story is a little far-fetched from today's perspective, it's still an interesting thought experiment.
@klaw81: Absolutely. I enjoyed quite a few of John Marr's books. What I wrote was the underlying plot in his book The Passengers.
I haven't started buying tinfoil hats for my underground bunker where the moon landing was faked just yet.
OMG. They are just cars. Yes, theres a bit extra electronics in them, but its virtually the same for modern ICE cars. Unless you are buying a car witg autonomous driving capability its will have no control from the government or china or be hackable.
The gpvernment doesnt have the resources to 'control us'.
it will have no control from the government or china or be hackable
Rule number one of digital devices, assume they are hackable.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-21/byd-hacked-by-cyberse…
Note that this also applies to all modern ICE cars.
The details of that BYD "hack" are now clear. The guy who did it has a far more detailed, less click-baity article.
The actual attacks were as follows:
Crucially, despite having 2 weeks of full access to attempt it, the attackers were not able to access the secure module that controls vital vehicle functions like motor, battery, steering or brakes, nor could they unlock the doors or authorise addtional keys. Attacks via OTA were not successful. The attacks only work if the attacker has physical access to the car's cabin, and has access to the vehicle's keys….at which point they can obviously just steal the car anyway.
The BYD held up better than Jeep or Toyota vehicles subjected to similar attacks. The Toyota's CANbus security can famously be breached from outside the car.
TLDR: BYD owners can completely prevent hacks of this nature by not giving random people your keys or physical access to your car.
That isnt a great example. Yes, it can be hacked but it took a couple of weeks of free access to the vehicle to then be able to listen to you. It wasnt a case of some random logging in from overseas and ramming you into a wall.
If you are worried about that sort of thing, stick to a vehicle over about 10yo.
That sounds like a quote from iRobot
Electric Vehicles are a good choice to reduce reliant on fossil fuel which is why China go all out on EV. In most cases electricity is easier to produce and obtain locally compared to fossil fuel.
Other than that, I prefer the precisely controlled explosions of direct injection fuel at 2000-5000 PSI. The orchestra of the exhaust pipes, the hot air spooling up the turbo and fresh air being sucked through the intercooler is what makes it so exciting. The mechatronic wonder from years of technology refinement is not to be forgotten.
why China go all out on EV.
It virtually has already. Laat record i saw was that china has reduced fossil fusl consumption by 9% and has a massive fleet of EVs. We are so far behind its not funny.
Wrong account?
@Satchimo: So did the cooker bullshit, apparently.