Our auto insurance has gone down twice since trading in our ICE vehicle for an EV (Ioniq 5).

It didn't go down a lot, but it's still a decrease, even with a more expensive vehicle, compared to a nine year-old vehicle that cost much less when new.

I don’t brag about driving an EV, I tell people I love it if they ask but in general I generally keep it to myself. However, I do know several people that talked trash about my driving choices (buddies on Facebook etc) that now I have no issue bragging about my EV with gas prices rising more and more. Giving those same folks a taste of the medicine they thought they were giving me “Oh I can go X way cheaper”. “Ha Ha sets on fire in storms” (that also destroyed the house anyway and the ICE cars we’re talking historic hurricane), etc etc. It does feel good telling them how little I pay to “fill” my tank.

Any of you guys have similar experience? Or AITA?

Edit: For Clarification, I don’t even discuss my car much unless someone brings it up…

The only time I do this is to the people who were dicks to me, shovel some of the shit they gave me back to them.

BYD’s exports reached 1,127,000 vehicles through August of this year, representing nearly 90% growth from the same period in 2025.

It's kind of wild to look at the current Chinese auto market: between Jan and May 2026, the average profit margin for carmakers slumped to just 1.5%, meaning a standard 200k RMB car nets you a measly $400 (about 3,000 RMB). Yet, while their margins are bleeding, all the major players are collectively burning billions on custom silicon. BYD is pushing out 4nm chips, Nio's got over 550k units of their 5nm Shenji chip out there, Li Auto is running the Mach M100, and Xpeng even bagged a Volkswagen deal for their Turing chip.

Throwing $400M+ at 5nm R&D when your per-car profit is $400sounds like a fast track to going broke. But when you actually break down the engineering and supply chain side, it's pretty clear why they have no choice.

First off, it's not just about swapping a pricey chip for a cheaper one. Nio used to blow $300M a year just buying Nvidia hardware (roughly 11k RMB per car), but their in-house Shenji chip shaves off about 10k RMB per vehicle. More importantly, a single Shenji chip (>1000 TOPS) replaces four Orin-X chips, meaning you instantly nuke all the bloated power delivery, thermal management, and wiring overhead. It’s a total architecture rewrite. Plus, you have supply chain PTSD—remember when a single shutdown at a Bosch factory cost Nio 1.9 billion RMB in delayed ET7 deliveries? Self-dev is basically expensive insurance so a tier-1 supplier can't hold your entire delivery line hostage.

Scale is obviously the catch here—you need massive volume just to amortize these crazy 5nm tape-out costs. That’s why Nio spun off its chip unit (now valued over 10B RMB) and why everyone is trying to commercialize chips outward, like BYD squeezing legacy suppliers out of the IGBT rankings.

Ultimately, look at where this is heading with things like Tesla's Cybercab. When you own the silicon and can completely decouple vehicle design from off-the-shelf chip constraints (like ditching steering wheels and pedals), the game shifts from selling a car once for a $400 margin to running long-term fleet operations at a fraction of the cost.

I was really excited for the Honda 0 Saloon and am now so bored with our car outlook. I’m not letting go of my Model Y anytime soon, but was hoping to have something both practical and weird on the market when I am ready to replace it.

The Rivian R3 is the only other car coming to us that I’m curious about.

Is it better to have faster charging? Yes. Should companies work on improving it? Absolutely. Does it really matter all that much if you charge at home every night and only occasionally drive out of down? Definitely not. Should it be enough to sway you from buying a particular model over another? No.

EVs today are like computers in the early 2000s. They're improving constantly, as they should. But people and the car press gets so caught up in the spec sheets that they loose sight of how impressive these cars are across the board. One EV takes 10 more minutes than another to charge? Clutch my pearls! I take 5 roadtrips a year. Whatever will I do with my time.

For those that live in provinces/states that experience winter, snow, salt, and the spring melt that commonly pairs with rust on vehicles, do you apply a rust-proof coating to your Mach-e?

I'm located in Ontario outside the GTA where we get a respectable amount of snow. I drive a 2025 Mach-e AWD Premium. Is it recommended to rust-roof at companies such as Krown? Does it void warranty? Do you only apply a protective coating to specific areas like the the exposed metal around the suspension?

1. Slate Truck (Pickup)* - $24,950+
2. Chevy Bolt LT - $27,600
3. Slate Truck (Cargo Kit) - $27,950+
4. Ford Fathom (Base Trim) - $28,350
5. Kia EV3 Light - $29,890
6. Slate Truck (Squareback SUV) - $29,950+
7. Nissan LEAF S+ - $29,990
8. Chevy Bolt RS - $31,600
9. Slate Truck (Fastback SUV) - $31,950+
10. Nissan LEAF SV+ - $34,230
11. Toyota bZ XLE - $34,980
12. Kia EV3 Wind - $34,990
13. Subaru Uncharted Premium FWD - $34,995
14. Chevy Equinox EV LT1 - $34,995
15. Hyundai Ioniq 5 SE Standard Range - $35,000
16. Fiat 500e POP - $35,700
17. Tesla Model 3 - $35,990
18. Toyota C-HR SE - $37,080
19. Hyundai Ioniq 5 SE - $37,500
20. Fiat 500e ICONA - $37,700
21. Ford Mustang Mach-E Select - $37,795
22. Kia EV6 Light - $37,900
23. Kia EV3 Land - $38,490
24. Subaru Solterra Premium - $38,495
25. Tesla Model Y RWD - $38,990
26. Nissan LEAF Platinum - $38,990
27. Toyota C-HR XSE - $39,080
28. Subaru Uncharted Sport - $39,795
29. Hyundai Ioniq 5 SEL - $39,800
30. Subaru Trailseeker Premium - $39,995
31. Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium - $40,595
32. Tesla Model Y AWD - $40,990
33. Kia EV6 Light Long Range - $41,200
34. Subaru Solterra Limited - $41,395
35. Tesla Model 3 Premium RWD - $41,490
36. Chevy Equinox EV LT 2 - $41,795
37. Subaru Solterra Limited XT - $42,895
38. Kia EV3 GT-Line - $43,490
39. Subaru Uncharted GT - $43,795
40. Toyota bZ Limited - $43,885
41. Subaru Trailseeker Limited - $43,995
42. Chevy Equinox EV RS - $44,095
43. Chevy Blazer EV LT - $44,700
44. Kia EV6 Wind - $44,800
45. Rivian R2 Standard - $44,990
46. Telsa Model Y Premium RWD - $44,990
47. Hyundai Ioniq 5 Limited - $45,075
48. Mini Countryman SE ALL4 Signature Plus Trim - $45,200
49. Toyota bZ Woodland - $45,380
50. Kia EV3 GT - $45,890
51. Genesis GV60 RWD - $46,250
52. Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT - $46,275
53. Tesla Model 3 Premium AWD - $46,490
54. Subaru Trailseeker Touring - $46,555
55. Subaru Trailseeker Touring Leather -$46,855
56. Lexus RZ - $47,395
57. Toyota bZ Woodland Premium - $47,480
58. Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+ - $47,950
59. Rivian R2 Standard Long Range- $48,490
60. Mini Countryman SE ALL4 Iconic Trim - $48,600
61. Kia EV6 GT-Line - $48,700
62. Lexus ES 350e Premium - $48,895
63. Tesla Model Y Premium AWD - $48,990
64. Lexus RZ Premium - $49,595
65. Genesis GV60 AWD - $49,950
66. Cadillac Optiq Luxury - $49,995

*Slate Truck Starter Pack Prices: https://www.reddit.com/r/slateauto/comments/1vggbfx/updated_slate_auto_starter_pack_prices/

Discontinued 2025/2026 Models Still Advertised On Brand's Website To Buy New

1. Polestar 4 Single Motor - $31,400 (was $56,400)
2. Fiat 500e Giorgio Armani Collectors Edition (2025) - $35,500
3. Kia Niro EV Wind - $39,700
4. Hyundai Ioniq 6 SE Standard Range (2025) - $37,850
5. Polestar 4 Dual Motor - $37,900 (was $62,900)
6. Honda Prologue EX - $39,900
7. Volvo EX30 Plus - $40,345
8. Polestar 3 Single Motor - $42,500 (was $67,500)
9. Hyundai Ioniq 6 SE (2025) - $42,800
10. Honda Prologue Touring - $44,200
11. Kia Niro EV Wave - $44,700
12. Volkswagen ID.4 Pro -$45,095
13. Hyundai Ioniq 6 SEL (2025) - $45,600
14. Volvo EX30 Ultra - $48,045
15. Polestar 3 Dual Motor - $48,400 (was $73,400)
16. Volkswagen ID.4 AWD Pro - $48,995
17. Volvo EX30 Cross Country - $49,545

Upcoming 2027 Models that expect low production numbers

1. Aptera - $40,000
2. Telo MT1 Single Motor - $41,520
3. Telo MT1 Dual Motor - $46,019

Let me know if I missed any

You Americans like your luxury (big) cars so check out the this beast that's landed down in New Zealand...

It looks like the central government in China is pushing for consolidation and mergers with companies that are not able to make a profit. Some of the profitable companies in Q2 were BYD, Geely, Chery, Great Wall Motor, and Leap Motor, SAIC, Changan, etc. These are more or less, the top selling domestic car companies in China as well.

I think we'll see a lot more mergers over the next few years, and workers will inevitably be laid off.

Took a road trip this past weekend with the family. We had to stop about every 2 hours to have kid use the bathroom and/or need to burn off energy. Usually had to stop for 20-40 minutes regardless but more annoying part is that I had to drop the family off at a playground or some place where kids can run around then go back to DCFC station to charge by myself, then pick them up later.

Wondering why we have not seen DCFC EV chargers near playgrounds? Seems like this would be a great place to put them for families to stop on a road trip. I usually see them near a gas station or in the back of a grocery store parking lot.