Book Review: Sixty To Zero
Michael Karesh lives in West Bloomfield, Michigan, with his wife and three children. In 2003 he received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. While in Chicago he worked at the National Opinion Research Center, a leader in the field of survey research. For his doctoral thesis, he spent a year-and-a-half inside an automaker studying how and how well it understood consumers when developing new products. While pursuing the degree he taught consumer behavior and product development at Oakland University. Since 1999, he has contributed auto reviews to Epinions, where he is currently one of two people in charge of the autos section. Since earning the degree he has continued to care for his children (school, gymnastics, tae-kwan-do...) and write reviews for Epinions and, more recently, The Truth About Cars while developing TrueDelta, a vehicle reliability and price comparison site.
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- MaintenanceCosts Nobody here seems to acknowledge that there are multiple use cases for cars.Some people spend all their time driving all over the country and need every mile and minute of time savings. ICE cars are better for them right now.Some people only drive locally and fly when they travel. For them, there's probably a range number that works, and they don't really need more. For the uses for which we use our EV, that would be around 150 miles. The other thing about a low range requirement is it can make 120V charging viable. If you don't drive more than an average of about 40 miles/day, you can probably get enough electrons through a wall outlet. We spent over two years charging our Bolt only through 120V, while our house was getting rebuilt, and never had an issue.Those are extremes. There are all sorts of use cases in between, which probably represent the majority of drivers. For some users, what's needed is more range. But I think for most users, what's needed is better charging. Retrofit apartment garages like Tim's with 240V outlets at every spot. Install more L3 chargers in supermarket parking lots and alongside gas stations. Make chargers that work like Tesla Superchargers as ubiquitous as gas stations, and EV charging will not be an issue for most users.
- MaintenanceCosts I don't have an opinion on whether any one plant unionizing is the right answer, but the employees sure need to have the right to organize. Unions or the credible threat of unionization are the only thing, history has proven, that can keep employers honest. Without it, we've seen over and over, the employers have complete power over the workers and feel free to exploit the workers however they see fit. (And don't tell me "oh, the workers can just leave" - in an oligopolistic industry, working conditions quickly converge, and there's not another employer right around the corner.)
- Kjhkjlhkjhkljh kljhjkhjklhkjh [h3]Wake me up when it is a 1989 635Csi with a M88/3[/h3]
- BrandX "I can charge using the 240V outlets, sure, but it’s slow."No it's not. That's what all home chargers use - 240V.
- Jalop1991 does the odometer represent itself in an analog fashion? Will the numbers roll slowly and stop wherever, or do they just blink to the next number like any old boring modern car?
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As a novice writer I've learned access is important, whether it's access to engineers and executives or access to test vehicles. Without access you're just another guy with an opinion about cars. Farago pissed off a lot of people. It helped build TTAC's brand and credibility with readers, but it impaired TTAC's access with the car companies. Remember the Lutz press event for automotive bloggers where GM's communications guy didn't even want to let Robert in the room? Hell, when I get credentialed to the Detroit show I usually get them issued for another site that I write for. If I say that I write for TTAC, I'll get a smirk and have to end up describing myself as the site's "unofficial Detroit defender". There's a saying that family therapists use, "Is this the hill you want to die fighting for?" You want to get the truth, and ask sincere, probing questions. At the same time, if you get known for negativity, you're not going to get many interview opportunities. So you try to balance fair criticism with sucking up. My approach is to not be openly confrontational, and to work hard at coming up with questions that the interviewee hasn't heard a million times. I've found that a unique question isn't usually answered with a sound bite. If that unique question is thoughtful, that goes a long way towards establishing credibility.
CJinSD - you are SOOO right!