this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2026
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I think there's also a problem with the kinds of EVs everyone tried to sell.
Tesla has seen legitimate success in making EVs a desirable luxury item. The Prius became something of a fashion statement among kale chip eating Californians in the 2000s because of its alleged economy, but it was still an economy car. It wasn't that nice or luxurious. Tesla made cars people wanted to drive and be seen driving, with an all-electric powertrain.
Pretty much everyone tried to copy that business model, making excessively fast luxury sport sedanover blobs with price tags that make car shoppers start muttering the word "depreciation."
Meanwhile, EVs tend to be the breeding ground for shit features everybody hates, like touch screen HVAC controls. Nobody wants to make a normal car that happens to be electric, which is what a lot of the buying public wants, but can't find.
Very, very fair points. I wondered sometimes why no enterprising manufacturer simply took an existing ICE car and made an EV conversion kit. Like a conversion kit for a 2010 Honda Civic, take out the ICE engine etc. and replace it all with electric. That's the car we want.
Don't forget the obsession with having any way to open a door except a boring normal way.
I'm really really hoping EVs get over the Tesla envy and just make sensible cars with EV drivetrains.
It's probably a wildly unpopular idea, but I personally would love a Miata with an H shaped battery pack to let the passengers ride low in the car at the expense of some range, with the traditional driveshaft tunnel becoming battery.
But failing that, straightforward door opening, actual buttons and knobs for HVAC and volume, and a reasonable expectation of serviceable battery pack over time and I'm totally there for it.
That miata concept sounds fun. But would it be more fun than one that has revs and gears, even though it would be way faster?
Honestly the ideal in my case might be like 2500lbs and 300hp but only like 100 miles of range to keep the battery size down. But I don't think that's gonna happen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changan_Lumin
It exists (50 ho though). I drove it yesterday
The closest to that I can think of is the Tesla Roadster. Which IIRC was basically an electric Lotus Elise, rather than a Mazda Miata. I wonder how popular electric Miatas would actually be, without a manual transmission.
The most "normal car that happens to be electric" I can think of is the Slate. With the exception of the powertrain and complete lack of a radio, the controls and mechanisms look like they're from 20 years ago. The more I look at it though the more I think that car is DOA.