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That was true then and true now, but it doesn’t change that we are where we are today.

If we had lots of money and two EV’s I would still have one be short range.

I’m seeing a future where the EVs in our driveway play a much more important part of our home electricity storage. Depending on the scenario, two EVs with large-ish batteries may be more advantageous. I’ll admit the stars would have to align for this, but its a possible future.

I’d say it comes in three different forms:

• Manufacturer provided - As poster irk pointed out, they have a Hyundai and as part of the purchase it includes this service. I believe Tesla provides it for free during the warranty period. Ford gives it for free for 12 months from purchase. etc
• Auto club/subscription - This would be like AAA (or CAA in Canada). You pay an annual fee and get the service
• Car insurance provided - Lots of auto insurance companies include this in their policies or offer it for a substantial discount. Some auto companies operate their own fleet of roadside assistance vehicles (I think I’ve see Progressive trucks do this at one point). Other auto insurance companies will contract with a fleet management company. They’ll give you a number to call and a technician will be dispatched to your location and the insurance company takes care of the bill. This is what I had at one point and I think it costs me something like $20/year.

Maybe this is just another poverty thing because I only drive beaters and have the absolute cheapest insurance.

Until a few years ago, I always changed and maintained my own tires. A $10 tire plug kit saved me hundreds of dollars over replacing tires whenever I had a flat.

This is probably regional/country term. In the USA it means calling for a technician to drive a vehicle to your location and service the flat tire (or provide a replacement) at the roadside when you find you have a flat. What would the term be for that in your region?

They didn’t say they never had a flat. They said they never used the spare. For many, calling roadside assistance is the solution to a flat tire. @[email protected] it sounds like that has been a workable solution.

I’m glad to see this movement.

On a visit to India I saw how many tuk-tuks were in use, how they really formed a crucial portion of the transportation infrastructure, and how dirty (polluting) they were. It always struck me that these were ripe for electrification.

While the article is talking about new units designed from the ground up as EV, I wonder if there is a viable retrofit option. Seeing mechanics work on Tuk-Tuks in India was very impresssive. The parts are so common and interchangeable, and the tools and equipment needed to work on them were common. The body separates fairly cleanly and quickly away from the drivetrain giving, in my mind, the opening for a retrofit. As in, remove the petro drivetrain, reuse the body, and drop it on an EV drivetrain.

The article, again referring to the high end EV units, talk about extensive range with LFP batteries, but also cites the barrier to entry is the cost of these new EVs being prohibitive. I wonder if a less efficient/less powerful drivetrain could be introduced perhaps even using commonplace lead acid batteries and relying more on battery swaps for range extension.

The LFP batteries are made in China, and while Pakistan enjoys good relations, India and China’s relationship is a more tumultuous. Lead-acid batteries can be remanufactured domestically with limited infrastructure (and the input of cheap abundant domestic labor). I was introduced to this concept from this video showing a complete rebuild of a lead-acid battery with very simple tools on dirt ground.

There a number of arguments as to why this is the case and the article touches on these:

• One could make an argument that most drivers don’t use their spare (or don’t know how) and would call for roadside service anyway.
• Another argument is that the extra weight of the spare has to be hauled around for months or years before it gets used, if ever, and fuel is used for that extra weight costing the owner and increasing carbon emissions.
• More pragmatically the most likely answer is the auto makers found out they could simply stop giving out spare tires and it doesn’t cost them any customers, and increases the auto maker’s profits. Some will even sell you a spare tire at an extra fee meaning even more revenue.

My guess is of all these reasons, the third answer, cash grab is the real answer. The author gives us one sentence, but agrees with me.