re: Would you buy a new car if you knew the engine would only last about 10 years?

I think in the next few decades the switch is going to happen because

1) cost of gas will likely continue to rise, making the electric cars more appealing cost wise

2) insurance on non self driving “regular” cars will skyrocket, while self driving car insurance will be same or cheaper than current rates

Eventually gas engines and regular “human driven” cars will be considered luxury items

the transition will be interesting, I’m envisioning a cash for clunkers type program where the government will give big rebates for people to switch and/or retrofit their cars to self driving

So the takeaway here is it takes a $2.4mm supercar to beat a $129,000 electric car in a race?

Why does it bother you that people want cars that you don't want?

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Maybe this is how the carb sniffer felt when EFI showed up, to a lesser degree.

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I lived through that shift and their wasn't too much backlash on the production side, they just worked better. On the drag racing side it stayed carbs for a LONG time, even through today, aside for the impossible to setup mechanical FI we had no way to tune an EFI. That was the days of TRS80 and Commodore computers the concept of plugging a computer into a drag car and doing simple things like adjusting fuel air mixture was like space flight, maybe somebody could do it but ti wasn't us.

I think the closest thing I have seen is the manual vs the various automated gear boxes. It has a similar level of passion just in a much smaller subset. I still have a 3 pedal car and will probably keep it running as long as I can because it is still loads of fun but I seriously doubt I will ever buy a NEW one. Unless you are channeling Senna if you are in a "fast" modern car most people are going to get that feeling of always being behind the car when you are going near 9/10ths. As I get older I oddly get less entrenched 10 years ago I wouldn't buy a automated box but know I think the PDK is the best thing since barely legal rubber.

I change vehicles every few years so not really worried about it. I drive a lot. The truck I’ve had for six years but that is not driven much so would damage a Tesla engine either with how little I use it now.

EV’s are for soys and climate-change zealots.

So you're buying american?

If you’re following this generations trends and whims, then that’s the pattern you need to avoid.

I am an early adopter, love new tech, I've been following EV's for years looking for the right stuff. Self driving technology is just not ready for prime time, if you have to sit there the whole time waiting to take control, you might as well drive.

I can see EV's as a second, "around town" car, but if you travel distances, I don't see the benefit. Suppose you're on the I-10 between BR-Lafayette, the typical tie up and you can be sitting there for hours, if you don't have a full charge what happens? A hurricane is coming, you want to evacuate your $80K beauty to high ground, but the roads are a parking lot, are you going to haul around a diesel generator?

Gov't needs gasoline taxes, so EV's are going to have to be hit with road use taxes once the numbers start to make a difference, can the grid support it?

I wish there were better answers than the ones I get, but for now I'll stick to my high mileage IC.