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FTR_1077 t1_iyedd0f wrote

>EVs were really looked down on back then, even if they could have worked.

That has never been true, electric cars have always been the "future". The problem has always been the batteries. Tesla just came at the time when the right technology/price point came to market.

I was there, 3000 years ago.. Ok, I'm not that old, but old enough to remember electric cars in the 80s and 90s, concept cars that is.

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CaptainLockes t1_iyf9hkv wrote

A technology doesn’t just get better on its own. There has to be some driving force pushing it forward. Auto makers could’ve been investing and researching more to make better battery, but they decided not to because it wasn’t profitable enough.

And battery technology alone isn’t enough. You have to take into account thermal and weight and all sorts of things to make the vehicle as a whole as efficient as possible. Not to mention mass production and cutting cost wherever you can. It requires a whole new mindset and going all in. Doing things half-heartedly would not have worked.

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moofunk t1_iyext4t wrote

> old enough to remember electric cars in the 80s and 90s, concept cars that is.

I remember the Hope Whisper from 1983. It really ruined a lot of the reputation of EVs and never made it to the production stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVYX80ZfeU8

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