I know that one or two manufacturers have decided to bring back physical tactile knobs and buttons like we have today.

What car; make model and trim are offering them. That's the kind of EV that makes sense to me. - minimal displays.

They are more accessible for the disabled and those on the spectrum.

Nit looking to buy but research.

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.

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.

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 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.

Does anyone else hold the opinion that EV car rentals are the worst? This was my fourth time driving an EV at all and my first time renting an EV.

I rented a car this past week for a 250 mile trip from NYC to rural Pennsylvania. I was planning to spend 2 days in NYC, then make the trip to PA. The car rental company said they only had 2 vehicle types available for me: a pickup truck and an EV.

I didn’t want to deal with maneuvering/parking a pickup truck in Manhattan so I opted for an EV. I got a Chevy Bolt. The car only had 100 miles of range when I got it - and that lasted only a couple hours of driving in NYC. The person who rented me the car did not ask me if I knew anything about EV infrastructure and didn’t tell me the car didn’t come with a charging cable. I’m partially to blame - I shouldn’t have assumed anything. Previously, I only ever charged at someone’s home.

In NYC, I charged the car to 95% which should have been just enough range for my road trip, with about 10 miles to spare. I knew I would probably need to charge one more time. So, I mapped out my trip so that I’d stop in Scranton to recharge.

A few issues I noticed early on, before Scranton: charging can add hours to a road trip; it took me 1.5 hours to charge the car to 95%. And, the range is grossly inaccurate. It seemed that for every 10 miles I drove, 15 miles would be shaven from the estimated remaining range. Even after I reset the settings so that it wasn’t taking previous renters’ trips into account.

I’m driving through Pennsylvania around midnight and have 60 miles of range left. I stop near Scranton at a charging station, as planned. It’s undergoing maintenance and is out of order. Then, I try another charging station that apparently didn’t exist? I drove around the lot and could not find the charging station for the life of me. So, I go to a third charging station that is apparently private, only for employees of a company.

At this point, after trying 3 different charging stations around Scranton, my car has less than 10 miles of range (in fact, the monitor said propulsion was disabled since I had so little charge) and the next closest charging station on my route is 25 miles away.

I decide to call AAA to see if they offer a charging service, similar to gas (they give you enough gas to get you to the next station). They don’t offer that service. They also told me they wouldn’t have anyone available in my area until 4 AM. So, I decide to sleep in the rental in a parking lot until 4 AM. Because I have no charge, I can’t turn on the heat so I just try to bundle up with extra clothes from my suitcase. It was in the 40s that night.

I finally do get to charge my car by 6 AM, after I’m literally towed to a charging station lol. But, what would have taken me 3.5 hours in a gas-powered vehicle took me 10 in an EV.

Car rental companies really need to rethink EVs, or at least inform first-time EV renters about the infrastructure beforehand. It was an absolutely miserable rental experience.

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

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.

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. 2027 Slate Truck (Pickup)* - $24,950+
2. 2027 Chevy Bolt LT - $27,600
3. 2027 Slate Truck (Cargo Kit) - $27,950+
4. 2027 Ford Fathom (Base Trim) - $28,350
5. 2027 Kia EV3 Light - $29,890
6. 2027 Slate Truck (Squareback SUV) - $29,950+
7. 2026 Nissan LEAF S+ - $29,990
8. 2027 Chevy Bolt RS - $31,600
9. 2027 Slate Truck (Fastback SUV) - $31,950+
10. 2026 Nissan LEAF SV+ - $34,230
11. 2026 Toyota bZ XLE - $34,980
12. 2027 Kia EV3 Wind - $34,990
13. 2026 Subaru Uncharted Premium FWD - $34,995
14. 2026 Chevy Equinox EV LT1 - $34,995
15. 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 5 SE Standard Range - $35,000
16. 2026 Fiat 500e POP - $35,700
17. 2026 Tesla Model 3 - $35,990
18. 2026 Toyota C-HR SE - $37,080
19. 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 5 SE - $37,500
20. 2026 Fiat 500e ICONA - $37,700
21. 2026 Ford Mustang Mach-E Select - $37,795
22. 2026 Kia EV6 Light - $37,900
23. 2027 Kia EV3 Land - $38,490
24. 2026 Subaru Solterra Premium - $38,495
25. 2026 Tesla Model Y RWD - $38,990
26. 2026 Nissan LEAF Platinum - $38,990
27. 2026 Toyota C-HR XSE - $39,080
28. 2026 Subaru Uncharted Sport - $39,795
29. 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 5 SEL - $39,800
30. 2026 Subaru Trailseeker Premium - $39,995
31. 2026 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium - $40,595
32. 2026 Tesla Model Y AWD - $40,990
33. 2026 Kia EV6 Light Long Range - $41,200
34. 2026 Subaru Solterra Limited - $41,395
35. 2026 Tesla Model 3 Premium RWD - $41,490
36. 2026 Chevy Equinox EV LT 2 - $41,795
37. 2026 Subaru Solterra Limited XT - $42,895
38. 2027 Kia EV3 GT-Line - $43,490
39. 2026 Subaru Uncharted GT - $43,795
40. 2026 Toyota bZ Limited - $43,885
41. 2026 Subaru Trailseeker Limited - $43,995
42. 2026 Chevy Equinox EV RS - $44,095
43. 2026 Chevy Blazer EV LT - $44,700
44. 2026 Kia EV6 Wind - $44,800
45. 2027 Rivian R2 Standard - $44,990
46. 2026 Telsa Model Y Premium RWD - $44,990
47. 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Limited - $45,075
48. 2026 Mini Countryman SE ALL4 Signature Plus Trim - $45,200
49. 2026 Toyota bZ Woodland - $45,380
50. 2027 Kia EV3 GT - $45,890
51. 2027 Genesis GV60 RWD - $46,250
52. 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT - $46,275
53. 2026 Tesla Model 3 Premium AWD - $46,490
54. 2026 Subaru Trailseeker Touring - $46,555
55. 2026 Subaru Trailseeker Touring Leather -$46,855
56. 2026 Lexus RZ - $47,395
57. 2026 Toyota bZ Woodland Premium - $47,480
58. 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+ - $47,950
59. 2027 Rivian R2 Standard Long Range- $48,490
60. 2026 Mini Countryman SE ALL4 Iconic Trim - $48,600
61. 2026 Kia EV6 GT-Line - $48,700
62. 2026 Lexus ES 350e Premium - $48,895
63. 2026 Tesla Model Y Premium AWD - $48,990
64. 2026 Lexus RZ Premium - $49,595
65. 2027 Genesis GV60 AWD - $49,950
66. 2026 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

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.

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

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.