[Captain comic]

Maybe a silly question, but I can see electric cars overtaking roads in our lifetime. Tesla Model C coming out soon and it's same price that average BMW. Slowly becoming more and more affordable. Still some years to go until the final blow will be delivered to the petrolheads, but time is ticking

On the other hand autopilot cars are becoming a reality. Not only Tesla and Goolge, but a bunch of brand names such as Ford, Toyota, even BMW itself. Apple just got a permit to test self-driven autopilot cars in California. Again there's plenty of time left, but inevitably the moment will come...

Do you think we live in a probably last decade or two at the very max left to enjoy cars like e9x? Should we make every effort to buy that special e9x that we always wanted or made that special mod that we always wanted but never had time or money to do it? Isn't today a perfect time to push ourselves a bit and devote some time to finish that mod, or buy that performance part or finally buy that car we wanted to until it's too late?

I think current kids will probably live in a different world and drive different cars. I may be wrong

[dancing__narwhal]

I agree that electric powertrains and autonomous technology will absolutely take over the automotive world on our lifetime. This is inevitable.

However, I think there will still be a place in the world for driving enthusiasts. There are quite a lot of people who love the thrill of driving as evidenced by the success of shows like Top Gear and the gazillions of car YouTube channels. Perhaps in the future we will be forced to pursue our passions only in sanctioned areas (e.g. tracks, remote backroads), but I'm sure there will always be a place for us.

Regardless, I expect "human driving" to be legal for at least another 15-20 years as it is. Think about all the new cars being bought today that don't include self-driving capability. The government can't just force all those people to stop driving or else buy new cars.

[AlpineBoost]

Based on absolutley nothing, my guess is more like 3-4 more decades at least. Even still, as long as gasoline exists and is readily available I don't see what would stop you from enjoying it long after alternative means of powering the automobile have "taken over".

But to answer your question, yes, you should buy all the e9x's you like

[ctuna]

Do you really like to drive in Traffic I don't .
If the roads where clear it would be nice but urban
area traffic is a grind 99 percent of the time now .
I have to look at Waze every time I leave the house now
to find a reasonable route and after 3 o clock its next to impossible
to go 5 miles in 30 minutes in certain directions every day of the
week.

Robot Cars could solve some of the Traffic problems for awhile
if they were networked. But nobody may be going to jobs
when the Robots replace us all and that will help with Traffic to.

I am watching Elon change the future and if you read the Specs for the Model 3 it will be faster than an M3 in some configurations at about half the price .

[John 070]

Yes. I have heard through the grapevine that those in the auto business (you know, the dudes that own 25 dealerships etc.) are transitioning out. They want out by 2030 or so, as they know their business is in decline. The new generation does not even want to own a car, it used to be only those say in Manhattan, etc. But there is this new mentality that in a way isn't stupid--why pay for a car, when it sits 12-14 hours a day in a parking garage at your office? You just want to pay to get from home to work, then back.

So what we may have known, dreaming about cars since we were 8 y.o., that is likely to be gone. C'mon now, there are folks who get E9x cars and think the steering is too hard and it's broken!

[NitroKing]

Gasoline cars are here to stay for a long, long time.

[Captain comic]

Originally Posted by NitroKing

Gasoline cars are here to stay for a long, long time.

As a mainstream you mean?

[John 070]

Originally Posted by the storm breaks

Based on absolutley nothing, my guess is more like 3-4 more decades at least. Even still, as long as gasoline exists and is readily available I don't see what would stop you from enjoying it long after alternative means of powering the automobile have "taken over".

But to answer your question, yes, you should buy all the e9x's you like

On my Lexus forum, there are guys who have 3-4 of the same car. They think that the cars will last forever, they like V8's and those are going away (new Lexus LS is a twin turbo V6), and are at a sweet spot for price. I've never heard of hoarding cars. Can you imagine owning 4 of the same car? Even if you are rich, have the garage space, it's kinda extreme, and very American!

[NitroKing]

Originally Posted by Captain comic

As a mainstream you mean?

I mean, the oil companies are not going down without a fight. As well as the enthusiasts like ourselves that enjoy the good ole oil and gas engines.

I don't think gasoline cars will completely go away anytime soon.

[yipronny]

It is an interesting topic but like others have said, probably not in our lifetime. Too many issues have yet to be solved, such as the safety aspects, social aspects, financial feasibility and most importantly laws accommodating these changes. Technology is changing so fast that often times law fall behind due to the lengthy process.

With that said I'm going to drive my e92 till the wheels fall off

[Captain comic]

Originally Posted by ctuna

I am watching Elon change the future and if you read the Specs for the Model 3 it will be faster than an M3 in some configurations at about half the price .

Elon did a great job starting Tesla.

P.S. You do know tho, that some of his projects are a pure scam aimed to gather money for his other projects? One example of such scam is a Hyperloop

I'm not saying he is a scam artist (tho he is), but some of his projects i woudn't touch with a 7 ft pole

[NitroKing]

Tesla has certainly raised the bar in the electric car game. It amazes me when I watch those autopilot videos.

[Kevinl]

No E9x will be on the road in 20 years they are built to be disposible

[Mayuri Krab]

Down in the rural areas of Australia (particularly the state of mostly empty western Australia) where everyone is still driving 20+ year old local cars or old land cruisers and patrols and the nearest town is some good 200 kms away, I don't expect to see any modern electric cars coming in any time soon.

[ctuna]

Well how does he gather any money from the idea of the Hyperloop
which he has let go as an idea for other people to develop.
He is to busy already re landing rockets on platforms in the Ocean.
And there were a lot of people that said that could not be done.

A hyperloop is something that might actually get used as opposed to the
high speed train to nowhere whose speed isn't all that high in California.

It might be awhile before electric cars are good for the boony's
but what were doing right now in the US isn't working to well for the populated area's.

[Efthreeoh]

Until someone can replace jet fuel with electrons at the same BTU per volume jet fuel has, gasoline will be with us as an inexpensive, excellent fuel for transportation. Replacing jet engines on commercial aircraft with ion motors is eons away from now. The same infrastructure that produces jet fuel makes gasoline and diesel fuel. Unless gasoline and diesel engines are regulated out of existence, petroleum-powered vehicles are here for a good long time.

I don't think autonomous driving will ever be implemented. The cost to convert from a human-driving transportation system to an autonomous system that can really prevent accidents is far too expensive. There are cost limits to every technology. Too many people look to the smart phone as the blueprint for the pace of all technological advancement, which it's not.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

I don't think autonomous driving will ever be implemented.

hehe I take it you're not following the transportation industry, where there is a shortage of drivers. We could also get into what it actually is--folks routinely interchanged VoIP with IP telephony 20 yrs. ago. VoIP was already used for the backbone, even when the endpoints were not IP, i.e. digital or analog.

In my analogy, autonomous driving is the backbone, the endpoints are coming.

There's no question "our way" of thinking will be different. Again, oversimplifying, people are into this why pay for something you don't need, i.e. a car sitting more than the majority of time that you possess it, when there is a way to simply pay for what you use. Look at all the non asset based business models.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by John 070

hehe I take it you're not following the transportation industry, where there is a shortage of drivers. We could also get into what it actually is--folks routinely interchanged VoIP with IP telephony 20 yrs. ago. VoIP was already used for the backbone, even when the endpoints were not IP, i.e. digital or analog.

In my analogy, autonomous driving is the backbone, the endpoints are coming.

There's no question "our way" of thinking will be different. Again, oversimplifying, people are into this why pay for something you don't need, i.e. a car sitting more than the majority of time that you possess it, when there is a way to simply pay for what you use. Look at all the non asset based business models.

LOL. I'm in the transportation industry. I know how the DOT operates very well. Thinking that the DOT is going to allow the automotive manufacturers and Google dictate how the autonomous transportation system is going to be implemented and work without any governmental oversight is foolish.

Okay, not sure what you analogy VoIP is trying to say. All VoIP is is using the internet as the to make phone calls; the internet already runs over the "phone system". So not sure why you think "IP" is a different technology. I think what you are trying to make a point about is VoIP vs. the MA Bell copper wire analog system developed 100 years ago. But whatever... people don't crash into each other and die over the phone system. The digital data packets that now make up the internet i.e. transported over the "phone system" don't run into each other. When the tech fails, and it does routinely, worst case is you lose data, or transmission speed. When the autonomous transportation tech fails, and it will, people in pods will run into each other, and F=MA being what it is, someone will get hurt. The government (DOT) doesn't like people getting hurt...

[401FlaGATOR]

Rush - Red Barchetta

My uncle has a country place
That no one knows about
He says it used to be a farm
Before the Motor Law
And now on Sundays I elude the eyes
And hop the turbine freight
To far outside the wire where my
White-haired uncle waits

Jump to the ground as the turbo slows
To cross the borderline
Run like the wind as excitement shivers
Up and down my spine
But down in his barn
My uncle preserved for me
An old machine
For fifty-odd years
To keep it as new
Has been his dearest dream

I strip away the old debris
That hides a shining car
A brilliant Red Barchetta
From a better vanished time
We'll fire up the willing engine
Responding with a roar
Tires spitting gravel
I commit my weekly crime

Wind
In my hair
Shifting and drifting
Mechanical music
Adrenaline surge

Well-oiled leather
Hot metal and oil
The scented country air

Sunlight on chrome
The blur of the landscape
Every nerve aware

Suddenly ahead of me
Across the mountainside
A gleaming alloy air-car
Shoots towards me two lanes wide
Oh, I spin around with shrieking tires
To run the deadly race
Go screaming through the valley
As another joins the chase

Ride like the wind
Straining the limits
Of machine and man
Laughing out loud with fear and hope
I've got a desperate plan

At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded
At the riverside
Race back to the farm
To dream with my uncle
At the fireside



*

[scanspeak]

Lets say 90% of consumers switch to electric cars in the next 20 years.
They will all need to charge them which means electricity costs will skyrocket (supply and demand).

At the same time gas demand will plummet meaning that gas prices will fall drastically.
In the end a balance will be found and there will be a place for both, with mainly country folk and old-school enthusiasts sticking with the ICE.

[ctuna]

Don't know what they charge for electricity in Australia but they
have plenty of Sun. And the new model for electricity is distributed
power generation not the centralized stuff, Think going from
mainframes to PC's as an analogy. I imagine there are a lot
of isolated area's in Australia adopting this model already.

The amount of job displacement by this trend will be scary
though. Mechanics , Drivers and dealerships, parts companys.

There are quite a few Electric Plane startups right now done by some pretty cutting edge people which hints that battery breakthroughs may not be that far away. Solid state electrolyte or lithium air battery could double the range of E cars rather soon still not enough for something that flys though.

[STR8-6IX]

you can only enjoy an automatic, xdrive BMW so much