Hyundai price gouging new EV battery, or so it seems??

That's what I just said. The Hyundai was scratches and an overreaction from the dealer. Dings and scratches are one thing. I'm talking about actual accidents that bend the crash structure. Now if you took an actual hard hit to the battery pan running over something, that would be different.

The battery by default is going to have to be structural due to its size. There has to be crumple zone in the vehicle and most EVs it takes up the complete floor side to side and for the full area of the occupants. It bolts to the structural part of the car. Even if you super reinforced the car before adding the battery, all it would do is make the car more rigid and the battery would still end up being structural.

What you're suggesting for EVs to make it like an actual body on frame vehicle with current ones available would only really cover the Lightning. It's not exactly an efficient design anyway and an actual heavier body on frame design wouldn't benefit range in small cars anyway.

It could easily be built with a one time common perimeter frame with some reinforcing under the battery without adding too much weight or cost. that would take the battery out of the structural equation.
 
It could easily be built with a one time common perimeter frame with some reinforcing under the battery without adding too much weight or cost. that would take the battery out of the structural equation.
Possibly, but it would still be in the crumple zone in a size impact accident, be a smaller battery to get off the frame rail, and have to bolt to something solid enough to hold 1,000lbs. I could see it happening if we actually could get smaller batteries without affecting range.
 
Tesla's structural battery pack design is very strong; an accident bad enough to damage the pack would likely total the car anyway.

BMW will use structural battery packs in the Neue Klasse platform. They are planning to integrate the batteries into the installation space, which the company is calling “pack to open body”. This is like Tesla’s structural batteries which are cylindrical and epoxied offering superior strength, weight and cost savings. BMW thinks their EVs could come into line cost wise with their ICE vehicles with this design. They are also trying to leap frog Tesla in battery efficiency.

Volvo is also copying Tesla with structural battery packs (and giga casting) in future EVs.
The MBZ AMG EQS uses a structural battery pack; the battery is embedded in the body shell structure.
Rolls Royce, GM, BYD and others are either using structural battery packs or planning to do so. Expect others to follow.
 
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To be fair, in my case it’s more H/K rage than EV rage. When cheap Chinese small EVs finally arrive, I’ll likely buy one. It won’t be Hyundai nor Kia, though, and it won’t be $50K+!
I’d rather have a quality product, but do what works for you.
 
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Since the subject came up and I've not looked at these before, I thought I would check out one of these allegedly "low quality products" at the dealer in the next town. I'll note that Chinese-designed and built models are flying off the shelves here in NZ at 3/4 the price of base-spec mainstream EVs.

This is the GWM (great wall motors) Ora Cat, a new arrival and a price leader along with MG's offerings. I checked out all the features, under the hood and trunk, and a brief look underneath. What I see are a high quality of materials and design layout equal to my Hyundai but the interior was big step up. Lots of room, really nice soft materials everywhere and styling that would not be out of place in a European car. The screens were sharp and responsive. The only feature it didn't have compared to H/K EVs was a charge timer but it did have the all-important heat pump. The smaller 48kWh battery model was LFE and the larger 63kWh NMC chemistry.

It drove super smooth and quiet ride with several levels of regen plus one-pedal as you'd see on a H/K EV. Way quieter than my Kona.

I didn't see anything that would put me off in the design or build quality.

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ORA standard range - NZ$47,990, ORA long range - NZ$52,990, ORA GT - NZ$58,990
The Hyundai/Kia EVs start at around NZ$80k. Tesla Model 3/Y start at about 70k.
 
Since the subject came up and I've not looked at these before, I thought I would check out one of these allegedly "low quality products" at the dealer in the next town. I'll note that Chinese-designed and built models are flying off the shelves here in NZ at 3/4 the price of base-spec mainstream EVs.

This is the GWM (great wall motors) Ora Cat, a new arrival and a price leader along with MG's offerings. I checked out all the features, under the hood and trunk, and a brief look underneath. What I see are a high quality of materials and design layout equal to my Hyundai but the interior was big step up. Lots of room, really nice soft materials everywhere and styling that would not be out of place in a European car. The screens were sharp and responsive. The only feature it didn't have compared to H/K EVs was a charge timer but it did have the all-important heat pump. The smaller 48kWh battery model was LFE and the larger 63kWh NMC chemistry.

It drove super smooth and quiet ride with several levels of regen plus one-pedal as you'd see on a H/K EV. Way quieter than my Kona.

I didn't see anything that would put me off in the design or build quality.

View attachment 194010View attachment 194011

View attachment 194013View attachment 194014

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ORA standard range - NZ$47,990, ORA long range - NZ$52,990, ORA GT - NZ$58,990
The Hyundai/Kia EVs start at around NZ$80k. Tesla Model 3/Y start at about 70k.
That's kind of neat, but you better get that off the road and out of the massive trucks way. It's your fault when you die behind the wheel of a small car from an inattentive driver in a 6k lb+ vehicle.

Just paraphrasing the pro-Merica truck yeah! crowd here. Get your Chinese crap out of my way!(ignoring their own parts content)

At least some parts of the world seem to realize there is more to the world than the smell of their own farts.
 
Since the subject came up and I've not looked at these before, I thought I would check out one of these allegedly "low quality products" at the dealer in the next town. I'll note that Chinese-designed and built models are flying off the shelves here in NZ at 3/4 the price of base-spec mainstream EVs.

This is the GWM (great wall motors) Ora Cat, a new arrival and a price leader along with MG's offerings. I checked out all the features, under the hood and trunk, and a brief look underneath. What I see are a high quality of materials and design layout equal to my Hyundai but the interior was big step up. Lots of room, really nice soft materials everywhere and styling that would not be out of place in a European car. The screens were sharp and responsive. The only feature it didn't have compared to H/K EVs was a charge timer but it did have the all-important heat pump. The smaller 48kWh battery model was LFE and the larger 63kWh NMC chemistry.

It drove super smooth and quiet ride with several levels of regen plus one-pedal as you'd see on a H/K EV. Way quieter than my Kona.

I didn't see anything that would put me off in the design or build quality.

View attachment 194010View attachment 194011

View attachment 194013View attachment 194014

View attachment 194015
View attachment 194016
View attachment 194017

ORA standard range - NZ$47,990, ORA long range - NZ$52,990, ORA GT - NZ$58,990
The Hyundai/Kia EVs start at around NZ$80k. Tesla Model 3/Y start at about 70k.

American consumers aren't allowed to buy these cheaper EV's made out in China because it would undercut the cost structure of domestic automakers. Hence a 25% import tariff would be applied on these vehicles. I imagine this is happening elsewhere in the world where domestic auto workers are trying to be protected from cheaper imports. Mercantilism at its worst.
 
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American consumers aren't allowed to buy these cheaper EV's made out in China because it would undercut the cost structure of domestic automakers. Hence a 25% import tariff would be applied on these vehicles. I imagine this is happening elsewhere in the world there domestic autoworkers are trying to be protected from cheaper imports. Mercantilism at its worst.
Yeah, the US has done this everywhere. That's why most foreign made vehicles tend to focus more on the luxury market and why the perception of Mercedes is a premium brand. We never got the small cheap A class here because of it. If you're going to be stuck with tariffs your product better be higher end where the cost to make can pad the overall cost of the vehicle.

Market here then rams trucks up our hind ends because the tax structure to squeeze out foreign trucks when they can't build a good car to compete is a market they can own. Our roads get more dangerous while our vehicle prices go through the roof and we're supposed to embrace it. It worked though, have you ever met someone more anti small car and anti EV than a truck owner? Fooled them good, didn't they?
 
American consumers aren't allowed to buy these cheaper EV's made out in China because it would undercut the cost structure of domestic automakers. Hence a 25% import tariff would be applied on these vehicles. I imagine this is happening elsewhere in the world where domestic auto workers are trying to be protected from cheaper imports. Mercantilism at its worst.
I, personally, don't have an issue with considerable tariffs placed on goods dumped by The Empire on foreign soil. The currency games they play to manipulate valuation are simply part of their very well-planned "long-game" for global domination, part of which is driven, and enabled, by them having considerably more people than the West.

China has no plans to bend a knee to the US. Their goal is simply to continue to play the game they've been playing successfully for decades. To diminish the role of the West by inserting themselves and undermining Western support, growing their own. Once their economic advantage and presence is large enough, they will focus on exceeding the US in military capacity and usurping the US as the defacto global superpower. All this can be done without a single shot being fired because it's all economic and so much has been outsourced to China that a conflict with them would devastate the West, and they know that.

The west is an addict and China is our dealer. There's no quitting this cold turkey, the withdrawl would be fatal. We pretend we want to quit, and we say we want to quit, and maybe we think we do, but we are so deeply addicted that our actions always betray our words. The question is whether we allow this to reach its natural conclusion, the death of the West and the American Empire, like so many before it, or if we take the difficult and uncomfortable steps necessary to wean ourselves off this intoxicating poison, struggle through detox and recovery and ultimately come out the other side. I have little faith that we'll be able to achieve the latter.
 
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I, personally, don't have an issue with considerable tariffs placed on goods dumped by The Empire on foreign soil. The currency games they play to manipulate valuation are simply part of their very well-planned "long-game" for global domination, part of which is driven, and enabled, by them having considerably more people than the West.

China has no plans to bend a knee to the US. Their goal is simply to continue to play the game they've been playing successfully for decades. To diminish the role of the West by inserting themselves and undermining Western support, growing their own. Once their economic advantage and presence is large enough, they will focus on exceeding the US in military capacity and usurping the US as the defacto global superpower. All this can be done without a single shot being fired because it's all economic and so much has been outsourced to China that a conflict with them would devastate the West, and they know that. The west is an addict and China is our dealer. There's no quitting this cold turkey, the withdrawl would be fatal. We pretend we want to quit, and we say we want to quit, and maybe we think we do, but we are so deeply addicted that our actions always betray our words.
We have an unaffordable car market making oversized vehicles. That’s better to you?
 
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