Electric cars.

On the 29th October 2024 the EU imposed tariffs on all EV manufacturers based in China, which was anywhere up to 45%. Tesla also had tariff's imposed on them as many of their cars manufactured in Shanghai are sold to the European market, the tariff was initially going to be set at 20.8% but it was then set at a rate of 9% before being lowered to 7.8%

So, the cost of EV's made in China for the EU would inevitability increase, including Tesla. You could say it was the new EU tariffs then reciprocal tariff's would increase EV cost's.

From 2026 the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism will come in to force where carbon intensive goods imported in to the EU will be taxed, so no real surprise in the reciprocal tariffs imposed by Trump.

 

Space x works differently to nasa, they prefer real world testing instead of in the lab testing. This is partly why they have had so much fast progress, rapid iteration as they call it, compared to a normal space programme but they have taken it a bit far of late and would be better to slow down. They believe in simplicity and look to remove as many parts as they can and not overcomplicate anything, which is the opposite of nasa.
The Falcon 9 rocket has been proven and is the most reliable rocket ever. Some of the booster sections have flown nearly 30 times, which is more than the shuttle and at a far far lower cost.


I'm not defending the man at the top but the company is run by a lot of not political guys and girls that are leaders in their field.


The astronauts were also never stranded, thats political madia talk, there have been numerous resupply missions with dragon capsules coming and going from the space station. They could have come back months ago if that was the plan but it wasn't. The Boeing capsule would have been safe but they obviously didn't want to risk the astronauts.

 

Yes I guess the word stranded is not entirely true but it's a case of everyone knowing that situation and having to use a different means to return.

There seems also to be a lot of media attention about how they will need to acclimatise now they are back.
It's nothing new, but makes news.

 

Have they found a way of lowering EVs?

I've recently noticed that some Teslas are lower and not so high, and saw a Peugeot that actually looks fairly well proportioned.

For me the high design of EVs has always made me not want one.
Jaguars in particular look pretty awful, too high for the width.

 

EVs are not all designed high, just like all cars are not high. I have one of these, do you consider this high?

 

How old is that, Its just that only recently that they appear to be coming down in height. What is it BTW.

There has been a trend for all cars to get higher in recent years but EVs were getting really ugly, IMO, and out of proportion.

 

I actually prefer a slightly higher seating position. Better view of the road ahead, plus easier to get in and out for old farts like me.

 

it’s a Cupra Born, basically a VW ID3, that’s been around since 2021. The height thing affects all cars as it’s what people seem to want so that’s what manufacturers build. I do agree that many EVs can look….well, like an EV. My wife has a Hyundai Inster that looks like any other small, boxy car IMO, EV or not.

 

@Emptyheadtime , I agree, yours looks like what I consider a normal compact car, Dont tell the wife,, but there is just something about hers that looks like its been made out of bits they had left over and on a Friday afternoon decided to put them all together.

 

EV fires are harder to extinguish compared to a petrol car fire but are much less likely to catch fire in the first place (20 times less according to the link below) I am sure when ICE cars first came about there were similar concerns about driving around sitting atop gallons of a highly flammable liquid etc etc.
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/my...s-are-electric-cars-susceptible-catching-fire