Volvo says the EX30's carbon footprint is 25 percent smaller than the C40 or XC40.
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Driving the Volvo EX30, a $36K EV that prioritizes sustainability
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I've driven a number of cars with center-mounted speedos and other screens mounted centrally, but high on the dash, and I actually don't think that's much of a problem - it's different but once you get used to it, it's pretty natural. It's a lateral rather than vertical glance, but I think it's much more of an issue if you're looking significantly below the natural sightline, to lower on the dash.
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Also:
There's no need for the author to justify Volvo/Geely's attempts to increase their profit margin. I'd guess the cheap cup holders and lack of buttons decrease manufacturing costs by a couple of hundred dollars, maybe less. Is there anyone would would notice that money when buying a car $36,245+?
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"I see no real need to discuss at length...'
Replies seem to indicate otherwise.
Again, the article made it a point to use the term "superfluous." I assumed that Ars readers would understand. I began with "On repeat:" because manufacturers apparently continue to insist that consumers want touch screen interface only.
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I don't repeat them in every thread, droning on at length, and "I know you are but what am I" stopped being a good retort when we got out of third or fourth grade, so.
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ColdWetDog
Ars Legatus Legionis
I'm not sure that commuting is any easier than mountain driving. Denver in the snow is really more of a challenge than the approach to Eisenhower tunnel in an ice storm. At least in the latter, the majority of people really are trying to go in one direction.
In Denver traffic, that isn't a given. Nor is much else.
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Lol
Actually, that's not the case, but I can see how it might seem that way.
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I for one most certainly intend to continue to complain about cars that skip a minimal set of physical buttons, and indeed any additional similar newly-invented stupidity that comes up. Silence might give the appearance of acceptance, and I place value on an internet mob calling for change.
If the author had called out the stupidity in the article, then I suppose I could have let it go this time round.
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I would imagine it is similar to mid-engine ICE (though not quite as tricky) which means probably better than front engine RWD but takes some getting used to.
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15 years old? Yeah, that is 8-9 years past the expiration date for any tire. Buy new ones and you'll be even more impressed with winter tires compared to all season. Because the rubber is rock hard compared to a new winter tire by now. And rubber that stay soft in freezing temps is part of why winter tires is as good as they are for the correct conditions.
Any tire should be considered past it's expiry date at around 6 years old. I agree 100% that 15 years is properly old and crusty. Not sure I agree with your statement that all season tires can match a winter tire of any price range. Unless you buy some "winter tires" meant for low temps and nothing else. In Europe we have winter tires, then we have three mountains snow peak (it is a symbol on the tire wall) spec winter tires. First one is sort of between all season and proper winter tires.
Technically speaking only the different tread depth is mandated by law. Tire compound have to match the current driving conditions. So you could put on summer tires on a hot and dry sunny day in January. But why anybody would bother to change back and forth just for a day or two makes this a very hypothetical situation. And, for the same reason, people have to put on winter tires outside of season sometimes. Because you can find icy/snowy driving conditions in some places for most of the year. Always interesting to watch the news when the inevitable first snow in October lands too. People are in ditches or causing collisions all over the place. Every damn year!
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If you want other people to stop discussing it, engaging in the discussion has the opposite effect. Unless what you're really mad about is that people won't let you be the last word on the topic.
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Looks like a great package. I have but one quibble: the rear visibility isn't great. What's with modern car design and really high rear ends, leaving very little window room out which the driver might see?
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Define handling. If you mean traction starting from a standstill, then the weight distribution will be better than front engine, rear drive, but less good than front-front. If you mean ability to corner, I suspect the handling will be more neutral than a typical ICE car. Front-front tends to understeer, front-rear tends to oversteer but with the handy bonus of being strongly self-correcting under deceleration.
If the height of the center of mass is a problem, you'll be needing a tow truck, at the very least.
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This seems like a poor use of AWD if I'm understanding it correctly. Electric AWD has a few advantages over ICE AWD, and it's a requirement for a lot of people who live in places like I do.
Do I really need to be Performance mode in the winter just to get the front end to engage in the slippery stuff?
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AWD in an EV means sticking another motor on the other axle. So you're going to get enhanced performance with your AWD whether you like it or not.
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I'm basing it on things like Tyre Reviews data. For example here where the Hankook Kinergy 4S2 all season does better than some of the dedicated snow tires under test. It gets even worse when you look at the comparison of the Hankook between other all seasons and realize it is in the bottom half of all season tires for the snow tests.
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I've done a few WOT pulls on very powerful EVs that were fun and disturbing and made me want to shit, but it's really just too much performance for a daily driver, and it's not a car for which that level of power makes any sense in the first place. I get that there's no real efficiency advantage to limiting motor output or size, and the battery can sling all that power with no real issue, I just think I could probably get along just fine if the front motor kicked out a "mere" 80hp. I'm sure that can be done with software, just a "Low Traction" mode with lower maximum output and a softer throttle map.
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Interestingly, it's perfectly legal to drive on winter compounds in summer here. It's not really recommended, though, as winter tires are usually far worse at draining water than a half decent summer tire, and they'll wear out much faster due to the temperatures making softer than they're meant to.
Often times, people use them for one summer season after they've gone below 3 mm (or are about to), just to get a bit more bang for their bucks. They'll generally be too worn to be used for a second summer.
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Auto think goes like this.
- Tesla does it.
- We are competing with Tesla
- Copy Tesla
I recall when the high-model Prius suddenly went to a really large screen as an option. I though it was great, but I didn't want a Prius, so I tried to find it in another Toyota/Lexus of the time... one of the models I wanted. I couldn't.
Toyota/Lexus, it seems, had no idea who would or would not consider the big screen a selling feature. They saw people move from the Prius to Tesla, saw the big screen on the (Model S at the time), and copied it. At least, that's the best I can guess.
I see a lot of industries do the same thing... copy something in a success without understanding how or even if it relates to the success (Fantasy movies failed, no one made them. The HP and LotR, and everyone made them. Most still failed because the problem was never "fantasy" and always "not great movie".)
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Also, it's a little thing, but that little plate showing the dimensions of the cargo space? Brilliant. Should be standard on every car with five doors, and there's kind of an IKEA vibe to it that's funny.
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It's not just the buttons. It's the wiring loom, and the controller, and the distinct dash panels and trim pieces for right and left hand layouts, and the manufacturing of multiple different versions of the button for different languages. Simplifying the assembly is at least as much the goal as eliminating the materials.
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Here's the Chinese (which is also more upscale, and IMO, a significantly better value proposition) version of this car:
The Zeekr X, or Zeekr 003:
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I can pretty much guarantee there are there are no 50+ engineers in the team that built this.
Age related presbyopia causes nearsightedness. Older drivers wear bifocals because their distance vision is fine, but they need some power for in-cabin displays. The rear-view display is up high in the uncorrected area of vision so it ends up that the driver can't focus on it.
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Same. I need actual tactile feedback and for things like cameras, purely electronic controls, or the touchscreens on phones are merely an annoyance. In cars, the inability to do everything by feel alone is dangerous.
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Statistical
Ars Legatus Legionis
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People complain BEVs are too expensive. Volvo makes cost cutting moves to bring BEV costs down so people complain about that too.
Batteries are expensive while they are getting cheaper they aren't going to be cheap not for years maybe decades.
Batteries are expensive while they are getting cheaper they aren't going to be cheap not for years maybe decades.
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I think most people wildly overestimate the degree to which they actually operate entirely by feel.
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You're arguing against many of the current implementations, most of which are poor. It will get solved, whether with touch, voice, or something else.
Of note, many, many button implementations suck and are really hard to operate. I drive rental cars several times per month. It's fairly common for them to make the buttons and knobs complex and unintuitive.
I'll also point out that I don't think everything should move to a different interface. I actually think that turn signals, headlights, wipers, front/rear defrost, and other components that may need to be toggled while driving should be standardized. The left stalk for turn signal is nearly universal. Headlights, for some reason, are not. It sucks to be driving a rental car and realize it not only doesn't have automatic headlights (or that the morons at the rental company turned them off), but that the car maker decided to come up with some novel implementation of the headlight switch.
As I've mentioned elsewhere, most people gripe about the AC controls, but just having the car's autoregulation to a set temperature or range solves 99% of the need to interact with AC controls. If I have to do anything more than bump it up or down a degree or two, your AC implementation is a failure, regardless of whether the controls are tactile. I'm driving a car, not functioning as a human thermostat.
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Yeah I'm pro-button, but for me, that list is pretty much composed of just the volume knob and (not very much anymore) the radio scan button.
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Personally, while I think it looks sharp(ish) on the outside, the interior is well below "meh". The exterior brings the impression that it's either a Prius' older brother, or Son Of Prius. Only more SUVy and not quite as hatch-backy.
The interior would make a Buddhist happy. A car enthusiast, or even someone who's used to more controls to play with in their own unique places that make them simplicity itself to find by touch ALONE, will weep Big Car Play (or whatever OS they use) tears in memory of what has been taken away.
[ rant ]
I despise touch screens in cars as a driving experience so much I will instantly scratch every vehicle off my list that has one that does NOT have a manual control to do the same thing (redundant? Yes. Safer? Oh, FUCK yes. I'd hate my gravestone to read "Died finger-painting while driving a car".
I'd love to see the statistics on that from the NTSB, but I don't think they keep them yet. It's still thrown in under "distracted driving", which is still increasing. They could just make the manual controls out of something recycled and sustainable, instead of throwing touch screens at everything.
[ /rant ]
I like that these are coming down in price. I don't like that they're still almost twice as expensive as the cheapest ICE for sale these days. At that price, I'd expect manual controls, too.
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I agree with you 100% and ihni how these tires aren't falling apart yet. I have gone thru 3 sets of all-seasons for this one set of winter tires. The winter tires are still soft and pliable and not rotting. It probably helps I keep them in a cellar during the summer, shielded from sunlight and ozone. And winter tires don't really wear if you're rolling on actual snow. These aren't cheap tires, they're Blizzak DM-V1 (or something very similar to that).
My point is that once you've experienced the grip difference between proper winter tires and all-seasons they simply are not optional any more. I'd rather drive a clapped out 90's Escort with good winter tires than a brand new Jeep with mud-tread tires.
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Does anyone know if these made-in-China cars have tariffs coming into the US? How about the future Belgium-made ones?
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De gustibus non disputandum, but it looks absolutely nothing whatsoever like a Prius, either in proportions or in details.
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Clicky buttons on my steering wheel are fine, too, but sometimes I get the volume and cruise increase/decrease buttons confused in my 2017 Buick Enclave.
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Might check out the following. The VinFast VF3 should hit next year at around $12,500 (after incentives).
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq0pMrGwBM4&t=135s
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I'll believe that when I lay my own two eyes on one and get a sales quote.
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This is 'inexpensive' like my cappuccino that averages about $5.70 in my city.
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There is absolutely zero value in an internet mob calling for change. None whatsoever. Carmakers pay attention to buyers, who vote with dollars. VW buyers have absolutely affected how VW designs cars, by complaining loudly - to VW - about the software and hardware issues they experienced. If you want to register your complaint, call your Volvo dealer, or email corporate, and tell them precisely why you would not consider this vehicle. And then, don't buy it. We can't do shit about it, Volvo isn't reading the comments on the reviews, and nobody who makes these decisions will ever register your post, so if you think comments on these forums have value or weight that will change how cars are designed, you are wildly naïve. You are venting your spleen and absolutely nothing else, right now. Do not try to bullshit yourself or me into thinking it's anything more than that.
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One pedal driving is a persistent setting (per user even) in our Mach-E. That's the way it should be in every single EV, no exception. There's no reason for it to not be configurable.
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