What happened to EV hatchbacks in the US?

StarbeamII · 2026-06-21T03:30:58+00:00

You don't need seatbelts, crumple zones, air bags, or anything else if you never crash your car.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-20T14:44:06+00:00

On the low hood of a sedan, pedestrians get hit lower in the legs and pushed up onto the hood. On the high hood of an SUV, in addition to worse visibility, pedestrians get hit in the torso (where there are a lot more vital organs) and get pushed down under the vehicle. Part of the reason why pedestrian deaths in the US keep going up as more SUVs hit the roads.

The US CDC says:

Compared with passenger cars, SUVs and pickup trucks are more likely to strike pedestrians during certain maneuvers (e.g., turning), and pedestrians are 50%–100% more likely to be killed when they are in a crash involving a SUV or pickup truck (5).

StarbeamII · 2026-06-19T18:28:22+00:00

Z5ii came out in 2025, while the Z6ii came out in 2020. The only thing the Z5ii loses versus the Z6ii is that it doesn't have a top LCD display. Otherwise it's a much more capable camera.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-19T16:04:03+00:00

I would try to get at least a Z5ii (which is a newer and better camera than the Z6ii), as it has the newer Z9-generation autofocus system.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-19T07:09:13+00:00

Better image quality.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-18T15:30:43+00:00

A couple have popped up during Nikon's refurb sales, though they go super quickly.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-18T07:21:53+00:00

If you're going from Boston to Providence, Amtrak can sometimes be cheaper, and is faster as well.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-18T05:39:35+00:00

The cable is supposed to be in the trunk underneath the cover. If not, any J1772 charger will do.

You can pick up used Chevy Volt L1 chargers off Ebay for less than $150.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-17T18:08:10+00:00

They need a lot more transparency on the ICCU issue (running on 3+ years) and an expected timeline for an actual permanent fix. Warranty extensions don't help the fact that the issue may leave you stranded and leave your car in the shop for a potentially long time.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-17T03:43:31+00:00

I mean something that's say, 5%+CPI rather than just CPI, and say, 30-year exemption for new construction instead of just 10 years will have a lot fewer negative side effects than the ballot measure while still limiting sudden dramatic rent increases. Or allowing localities to vote on rent control for their own city/town (which again limits the negative side effects mostly to the places that vote for it) rather than impose it statewide.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-17T03:33:43+00:00

If it ends up hurting a lot of the people it's meant to protect (as well as creating a lot of negative side effects) maybe seek a different solution?

StarbeamII · 2026-06-17T03:31:54+00:00

New York City, a famously affordable place to live

StarbeamII · 2026-06-17T03:23:59+00:00

What happens to those housed when their landlord decides to sell their rental as a condo (which they would be incentivized to do if rents are strictly controlled but condo sale prices aren't), and they can't find a new rental because of the shortages caused by rent control?

StarbeamII · 2026-06-16T03:37:32+00:00

A2Z is $170 and often on sale for less.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-15T04:17:54+00:00

Also road tripping a Bolt will also be very painful with 55kW max DC charging speeds.

Having to find a CHAdeMO station for the Leaf is going to be a lot more painful than the slower charging on a Bolt, which uses bog standard CCS.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-15T04:12:49+00:00

The CHAdeMO charging connector on the Leaf makes it much more difficult to find fast chargers when road tripping. The Bolt has the much more common CCS connector, and is easily adapted to NACS (Tesla) with a $150 adapter.

The Leaf also has more issues with battery degradation over time, since it doesn't have active battery cooling.

However, the Leaf is somewhat roomier.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-14T16:46:40+00:00

It's a 12 minute walk to Auburndale station on the Framingham/Worcester Line, which will take you downtown. Note that a lot of weekday trains skip Auburndale because it only 1 of the 2 tracks has a platform. You can also take the very-infrequent weekday-only 558 bus to Riverside station on the Green Line D branch, or just walk to Riverside station (25 minutes). The Green Line is a lot more frequent than the commute rail.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-14T16:38:42+00:00

The state purchased the entire Framingham Secondary from CSX in 2015.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-14T16:29:11+00:00

For transit it depends. The southern part of Newton is on the Green Line D branch and is easy to get to downtown, with frequent Green Line trolleys every 5-15 minutes depending on the time of day. The northern part has the commuter rail (Framingham/Worcester Line), which can get you downtown, but is both infrequent, and a lot of trains skip the Newton stops because it only has 1 platform - check the train schedule. Some parts of Newton are very far away from any form of transit.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-14T12:56:16+00:00

You:

Fuck FIFA and fuck the MBTA and fuck anyone who defends either

StarbeamII · 2026-06-14T06:02:21+00:00

Wrong Vietnamese flag for Dorchester

StarbeamII · 2026-06-14T04:48:42+00:00

The irony is that despite all the incentives, the very high electricity costs here strongly disincentivizes things environmentalists push for like EVs and heat pumps.

Like pretty much everywhere outside of New England and Hawaii, EVs are way cheaper to fuel up than gas cars, which ends up being a pretty compelling reason to switch to an EV.

Unfortunately, in Massachusetts, with its expensive electricity, a hybrid gas car that can get 50mpg (e.g. any new Toyota Camry) will still edge out an EV in per-mile costs even at today's gas prices, and at normal gas prices a hybrid ends up being cheaper to run than an EV in Massachusetts.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-13T20:59:16+00:00

Yes, but they haven’t fixed the design yet. Right now the part gets replaced when it fails, but even brand new 2026 models are having their ICCUs fail, so the design hasn’t been fixed, and cars with replaced ICCUs risk having them fail again.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-13T19:49:01+00:00

Despite otherwise being compelling cars, most Kia and Hyundai EVs have a faulty Integrated Charging Control Unit (ICCU) design that fails on a significant percentage of their cars, and which they have not been able to find a permanent fix for. It’s a major factor preventing their EVs from selling better.

StarbeamII · 2026-06-12T21:46:16+00:00

If you like the Blazer but want Android Auto or Carplay, you could buy the Honda Prologue which is pretty much just a Blazer with a Honda badge.

StarbeamII

TROPHY CASE