What kind of car do you drive?
In my experience, it's a good way to get people talking. But it's changing. Also...oh, you know, 7 other things worth your time.
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There’s a fairly consistent conversation-starter in the Murphy household these days. Well, consistent in terms of conversations started by me, as opposed to those started by my wife.
It goes like this: What do we do about the car?
You must understand. We live in a near-NYC suburb that bills itself as the suburb for people who don’t want to live in suburbs. Many of our neighbors have similar origin stories, stretching back a few generations. They go like this:
People come to NYC from all over the US and the world.
They build careers. They have a lot of fun.
They meet their future spouses and get married.
They have a child or two, and their NYC apartments start to feel a bit crowded.
They think: You know, we should stay kind of close to the city, but it might be nice to have a backyard for the kids.
They join the parade of Honda CR-Vs and Toyota RAV4s parked outside open houses in towns like ours, with baby seats and license plate frames reading: “Bay Ridge Honda” or “Hudson Toyota of Jersey City.”
It’s interesting to look around at the life you’ve built, and enjoyed, and are proud of—only to realize there’s a bit of cliché involved. Because not that long ago, we were that young family with the CR-V.
We’re a bit less young now, but we still have the Honda. And so, every once in a while, more frequently as the miles accrue, I find myself thinking about switching sides— going from:
Team: Isn’t It Nice to Have Only One Car, and It’s Paid For!
over toward …
Team: Since We Only Have the One Car, It Might Be Nice to Get Something Really Cool.
Which brings us to the Tesla Y, or even the 3. Or the Mustang Mach-E, or waiting around for the Volkswagen ID.4, or whatever others you’d want to add to the mix. Heck, even the Ford F-150 comes in an electric model now.
Because if Justin Rowlatt, chief environment correspondent for the BBC, is anywhere close to correct, this would be the time to seriously consider an electric car if you’re going to consider a new car at all.
As he writes:
We are in the middle of the biggest revolution in motoring since Henry Ford's first production line started turning back in 1913. And it is likely to happen much more quickly than you imagine.
General Motors says it will make only electric vehicles by 2035, Ford says all vehicles sold in Europe will be electric by 2030, and VW says 70% of its sales will be electric by 2030.
…
Like the internet in the ‘90s, the electric car market is already growing exponentially.
Global sales of electric cars raced forward in 2020, rising by 43% to a total of 3.2m, despite overall car sales slumping by a fifth during the coronavirus pandemic.
You can read more about what he has to say here, including what I think is a fairly convincing S-curve referencing new technology adoption: flat growth, followed by exponential growth, eventually followed again by flat growth.
Now, I’m not here to convince you one way or another.
Sure, if I could go back in time to the ‘90s, as he talks about, and really drum into my head what technology was going to be like 20 years hence, I’d probably do it.
Instead, I’m writing about this because it’s timely and futuristic (and also because I’m trying to stick to organizing this newsletter a bit more thematically—welcome to the unofficial Tech Tuesday, everyone!), but also because it’s a legitimate debate in our family.
What do we do about the car?
Last year, even during the pandemic, Tesla sold almost 300,000 electric vehicles. All the other electric vehicle manufacturers sold even more. I’m sure some of those buyers are among our readers.
In my experience, it’s never a bad conversation starter to ask a bunch of people: What do you drive and why? I’d love for you to share what you think in the comments.
P.S.: Do you know how psyched I am to include these stills from the movie Swingers, which is now (trigger warning) 25 years old?
7 other things worth your time
Amazon’s billionaire founder Jeff Bezos said on Monday he and his brother Mark will fly on the first crewed space flight by his rocket company Blue Origin next month. "Ever since I was 5 years old, I've dreamed of traveling to space. On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother," Bezos, who is one of the richest people in the world, said in an Instagram post. (Reuters)
The Department of Justice announced Monday that it had recovered $2.3 million in cryptocurrency from criminal hackers who compromised a major US pipeline in mid-May. (Yahoo Finance)
If you’re a teenager, there has never been a better time in 68 years to get a summer job than now. (WSJ, $)
Canada says it’s finally going to ease restrictions on cross-border travel. Details still to be worked out, eh. (Reuters)
The first new drug for Alzheimer's disease in nearly 20 years received approval from government health officials on Monday. The decision disregarded warnings from independent advisers that the much-debated treatment hasn't been shown to help slow the brain-destroying disease. (CBS News)
Apple kicked off its annual Worldwide Developer Conference the same way it does each year: a keynote jammed to the brim with all the new stuff coming to its various devices. There are a ton of things, but for some reason, the fact that you can now store your driver’s license virtually (and eventually get rid of the physical one, I assume, if you like) was striking to me. (TechCrunch)
NYC says it’s planning a Welcome Back to New York party to put all other parties to shame on August 21: organized by mega-promoter Clive Davis, it’ll feature eight “iconic” acts and a three-hour show for 60,000 people in Central Park. (Showbiz 411)
Signup form for the video call with Dr. Bruce Greyson will come tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.
Thanks for reading. Photo credit: Well, fair use. Again, I’m glad to have an audience that will recognize Swingers. Want to see all my mistakes? Click here.
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It's a Tesla Model 3 dual motor for us. We got on the pre-order list the day after it opened and we were already about 100,000 back in the list. We swore to never again pollute the air with a petrol unit. We took possession almost three years ago now, and we LOVE our car. NO GAS, we've saved thousands of dollars (our estimate is $25 per month for electricity charging at home from our dryer outlet). NO maintenance costs (the one time Tesla wanted to replace our computer with a better one to support the newer driving options, the technician came to our house and installed it in the driveway - at no cost).
After all this time we still get a huge kick out of hitting the "gas" ( we call it the speed modulator pedal), and feeling our heads smoosh back into the seat. It's a sports car masquerading as a sedan. The performance can't be beat for anything near the price, and it just brings a smile to our faces each time we drive it. Besides all that, it is one of the safest cars available. Of course, back then it was the only reasonable choice, and choices are blossoming now, so more options available. You should go for it - you won't regret it for even a second.
No Musk trashing here - he's the reason electric cars are available in reasonable and fast growing quantity, with range and performance necessary for most everyone driving today (well, maybe not in NYC - but in most places). So he's a little weird - more power to him!! He works hard, has a vision and pursues that vision, and he's successful. The world could use more of that!
Good morning Bill!
We have a Tesla and it is my primary car because my husband is reliving his youth with a fancy gas guzzling sports car. So we are not as altruistic as we could be. I pray this is a short lived fantasy and he will switch over to a safer vehicle. One can only hope.
As a woman I find an electric car an additional benefit because I never have to stop for gas never putting myself at risk. This may not be a reason for most of your readers, but for me it is a wonderful gift of security.
So our lease is coming up and we are having the discussion about what do we want next. Thank goodness Tesla is allowing its users to extend the lease one month at a time for 6 months. This is another huge gift since the auto industry is experiencing a chip shortage. Battery efficiency and Range distance is our discussion every time the conversation comes up.
When choosing an electric car the thought is getting from A to B and home again with out freaking out or having to stop (risk) to recharge.