Rick, the Canoo is designed to meet all crash standards globally and unlike the old VWs, you are not sitting in front of the front axle, you are above the skateboard chassis so it should be able to work
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Thanks for the reply, makes me wonder what all those Tesla owners who were promised full autonomy will say.
I appreciate your thoughts â although I do have to say thereâs not really much useful in the upper half of the screen. Just three bars saying something like âNavigation using CarPlayâ, âBluetooth using CarPlayâ, âPhone using CarPlayâ (from my aging memory.)
Big fan @samabuelsamid even though I drive very little. (I bought a 10 year old Jetta three years ago and have put maybe 3000 miles on it since 
) Since I drive so little, and mostly around town for groceries, an EV would be great for that, but there arenât really any 10 year old ones (that would put them in my price range) yet.
I have been seeing here in Canada that PetroCanada is running new ads advertising their âtrans-Canada electrified highway.â In poking around learning what the ads are trying to promote, it got me curious where one would start with planning an EV road trip. Do you have any recommendations for people new to [thinking about owning/renting/using] an EV for road trips? Is there apps, websites, etc that people in the know already know about⌠or is it something that comes âin the boxâ with your new EV?
Cool,
Thanks !
Richard
Hi PHolder,
First up in finding EV charging (or any alternative fuel for that matter) is the US department of energy alternative fuels data center https://afdc.energy.gov/stations/#/analyze?fuel=ELEC&country=CA&show_map=true
The AFDC web site actually includes data for canada as well and you can filter by location, charging type, network etc. You can find stations in the areas you want to travel to. You can also check the sites or apps of individual charging providers like PC, Electrify Canada and others.
Since you drive so little, the cost premium for a new EV would make it prohibitively expensive since the savings in energy costs would take forever to recoup. for around town driving though, you can get some great deals on early Nissan Leafs other EVs prior to 2015 but keep in mind that they will all have a range significantly less than 100 miles / 150 km which makes them unsuitable for road trips. for longer trips you might want to look into a rental.
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I think our $30K Chevy Bolt is the perfect getting around town car. 250 mile range. And remember, the savings on EVs also comes from reduced maintenance costs. Itâs unknown how long the batteries will last but given the simplicity of the drive train, I believe weâll get much more than 100K miles on our little blueberry!
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As a truck driver, I am just wondering about your opinion on automated trucks and realistically how long until drivers start losing their jobs because of the technology?
Trucking is probably a very good application for automation, but we probably wonât see highly automated trucks (no driver, level 4) for long haul until towards the middle of the decade. still lots of challenges to overcome.
hi sam
i am visually impaired and my question is i cross the street by listening to traffic patterns EVâs are silent have the care companies even considered the risk to us when EVâs are mixed with ICE on the roads today
Hi Iltcna, many EVs already make sounds at lower speeds (<20 mph) and others are adding sounds with new regulations coming into effect that mandate them to make sounds that alert pedestrians. These are usually something sci-fi like, like a space ship although some automakers are looking at allowing drivers to pick their sounds
Sam, appreciate your contributions. We subscribe to your podcast.
QUESTION: Why canât we expect car companies to provide a power source at the rear view mirror for dash cam, radar detector or cell phone?
What kit is best for running such a cable from the always on port (OBD) to a dash cam. Who is best to install this for us?
Thanks.
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Thanks Ray,
Thatâs an excellent question that I havenât really looked into but Iâll make some inquiries. My guess is that part of it has to do with safety and liability concerns. I doubt that automakers actually really want stuff hanging from the top of the windshield because it can become a projectile in the event of a crash. Putting an outlet near the mirror would potentially encourage the mounting of devices there. There are also some states where itâs illegal to mount anything on the windshield.
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Ray, I reached out to a couple of automakers and as I suspected, they choose not to put power outlets near the mirror for safety reasons. While there are typically power lines available in that area for functions such as auto dimming mirrors, garage door opener buttons and cabin lights, they donât encourage placing foreign objects on windshields because they can become projectiles in the event of a crash.
Gâday Sam. Do you think discussions about cars will ever be about things like big motors, superchargers, exhaust systems, etc. again? I have a hard time imagining the discussions late at night watching or participating in the illegal drag racing, boasting about âmy 48 inch monitor dashboardâ. And, where is the fun of revving the electric motors if there is no noise?
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Electric cars are interesting. But, I just drive too much. The range is not far enough for me. I put about 33,000 miles a year on my car.
Bgeeoz, those sorts of conversations are still a major part of my life and you just have to hang out with the right crowd. You can check out my writings on this stuff at https://www.forbes.com/sites/samabuelsamid and hear Rebecca Lindland, Dan Roth and I talk about it on our podcast at Wheel Bearings https://wheelbearings.media/
@Mistershipwreck how many miles do you drive every day? and where do you drive? Depending on your patterns, an EV may actually be the better solution, especially when you factor in operating costs as part of your total cost of ownership. If you live in a place like California where fuel taxes are higher and you drive a lot, the difference between paying for gas and electricity may actually make an EV a better choice
It is true that I probably drive less than 150 miles on any 1 particular day. But, I go see my girlfriend on weekends⌠And, that is about 210 miles away. Sometimes I take long trips too. I would likely have to have 2 cars for the times I take long tripsâŚ
I love in Texas. Gas is fairly cheap. $2.10 a gallon right now.
In that case, you probably are better off with a gas vehicle for now.
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