Didi To Deliver First BYD Electric Cars to Drivers Within Months (bloomberg.com) 17
Didi Chuxing will begin rolling out an electric vehicle developed with BYD to its drivers in coming months, aiming to reduce costs throughout the world's largest ride-hailing network. From a report: The D1, the first model to have been built with ride-hailing in mind, will ship to the startup's leasing partners across several Chinese cities, according to Didi. Made by BYD, in which Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is the largest shareholder, the vehicle has power sliding doors and a driver-assistance system. Didi flagged as early as 2018 its intention to team up with car manufacturers to produce customized EVs for its ride-hailing service. The Chinese company that defeated Uber Technologies in China is hoping the EVs present a more efficient option than traditional fuel-guzzlers. It already hosts about a million electric vehicles, which can take advantage of a growing nationwide charging network, and operates as many as 60 million rides every day.
First people stopped owning houses... (Score:2)
Now they are trying it with cars...
And soon...?
Of course, each time, because it will be more profitable (=more expensive) in total, but people cannot afford to pay it in total anymore.
This is why being poor is not only a lot of work, but also very expensive.
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Now they are trying it with cars...
Pretty sure car leasing has existed for quite some time.
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The OP is saying people stopped buying homes because it cost too much. The people can't afford to own so they continue to rent which is more expensive, on the whole, than owing a home.
Now, the OP is saying, people can't afford to buy cars so they'll "rent" them out every time they need to go somewhere which will inevitably cost more to the person than owning a car. Thus, being poor is expensive because you are nickel and dimed to death.
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Big european cities: no cars (Score:2)
Now, the OP is saying, people can't afford to buy cars so they'll "rent" them out every time they need to go somewhere which will inevitably cost more to the person than owning a car.
This mostly depends on where you live (and to some extent what is your lifestyle).
Of course, in the US where "fetching groceries from the shop" involves driving for half an hour to some out-of-city giant mall centre, and where going to works involves being daily stuck in 3 hours long traffic jams (In each direction), then yes, owning a car is of prime importance, anyone who wants to be active in life in the US absolutely needs one, and everyone is expected to drive a large amount of miles every single day.
P
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Owning a car is expensive between insurance, gas etc. Sure BYD makes electric cars, but in populous cities, owning a car, even electric is expensive.
Parking can be wildly expensive to say nothing of finding a parking space.
Thus, owning might not be worthwhile, especially in cities that ahve a functioning public transit system or alternative means of transport (e.g., bicycle). In this case, cars might be needed by a good chunk of the population so instead of owning, you just use them for few times you need t
BYD taxis (Score:2, Interesting)
I've used BYD taxis, there are pretty good. Well made, reasonably quiet, comfortable.
MG, now a Chinese brand, is already picking up a lot of momentum in the UK and makes decent, affordable EVs. Just like with Japan after years of dismissing Chinese cars we are about to be flooded with them.
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My city bought some electric buses from them. BYD's producfs were terrible. Every bus had serious defects. To add insult to injury all of the operation and maintenance manuals were in Chinese.
Eventually, the mayor gave up on their bullshit and bought diesel buses instead, but not before we wasted millions trying to accommodate them. The city sued and settled out of court.
https://www.abqjournal.com/124... [abqjournal.com]
https://www.abqjournal.com/132... [abqjournal.com]
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I've used BYD taxis, there are pretty good. Well made, reasonably quiet, comfortable.
Searching for the Didi D1, if the image I found is correct, it actually looks like a decent looking car. At the very least, much better looking than the BMW i3 monstrosity.
Electric Taxis would be a bad use case (Score:2)
Taxis need to run continuously, 18 hours per day. When do you recharge them?
I would think the more obvious niche for early electric would be commuter vehicles where they can charge overnight, or even during the day if charging is available.
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Around here they used to use original Nissan Leafs as taxis. Super reliable and very low maintenance. Then BYD started supplying taxis on a pilot scheme.
I guess charging wasn't an issue. If they were doing that much mileage and 18 hour days the fossil cars would probably have died pretty quickly anyway.
Electric Taxis (Score:2)
When do you recharge them?
Probably the plan is to use fast-charge to top-up while the taxi and driver are waiting at a taxicab stand for the next ride.
Taxis need to run continuously, 18 hours per day.
Driving for 18 hours without a break would be absolutely illegal in several jurisdiction (at least here around in Europe).
Professional drivers (and this is a type of licence which is required not only for taxi but even for ride sharing drivers) have mandatory breaks.
Plugging the taxi into a fast charger for some topping while having a break is a no-brainer. Same also during the short
Bad line (Score:2)
Should have used :"Driver-less cars delivered to first drivers!"
"ride-hailing" x EV (Score:1)
Good stuff (Score:2)
Re: Good stuff (Score:2)
made in What? (Score:2)
Thanks, but I'll wait till the explosions stop before even considering one.