Fisker Pear EV SUV is supposed to seat 6 and start under $30,000.

[redpoint5]

Better, how?

BTW, I'm not dismissing the comment. I wanted an R1 terribly when I was in high school. One kid had one, and I thought that was insanity.

I have a high regard for all the Japanese brands except the ones that rhyme with Ritsubishi. I have medium-high regard for that brand. Same for Mazda I suppose.

It's insane the number of successful automotive companies a country the size of California has.

[Piotrsko]

Mitsubishi heavy equipment builds pretty much everything from electronics to housewares. Just different labels and trim doodads.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

IMO everything Yamaha makes is better than Honda. Honda is overrated, good, but overrated.

I was thinking about it yesterday, while I spotted a first-generation Yamaha YBR 125. It was already OHC while the Honda CG 125 still resorted to a pushrod engine, which I don't hate, but the Yamaha was surprisingly modern by the standards of that time in Brazil... Not to mention Yamaha had been so closely tied to "ancient" yet reliable (as long as it can be said about 2-stroke engines) motorcycles, and it still holds for a long time to some engine designs, with few improvements once in a while. The 250cc which used to be fitted to the XT 250 Serow is still soldiering on in Brazil for instance.

[redpoint5]

Yamaha doesn't make cars, so my only frame of reference is motorcycles. As far as bikes go, the Big 4 all seem to be at about parity as far as I can tell.

The first bike I rode was my dad's CB750, and a friend a few years older had a Honda CBR600 that looked amazing to me, so I followed suit and bought a Honda F4i. I'm probably never going to sell it.

...my to-do list includes the many minor things I need to replace on that CB750. That was a sweet ride.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

That fulfills my requirement of 6+ seating. Always hated that practically all cars waste space by putting an electronic shifter and electronic parking brake in the center console instead of just having another seat available there. Make it like my truck where you either get a middle seat, or you fold the back down and have an armrest and cup holder.

Don't know why the description of all these EVs refer to how it compares to the "Ocean", as if anyone knows what that is. I've never seen an Ocean on the street, and only heard about it here.

The hatch looks awkward and inefficient. Hatch openings need to be as big as possible, even if that means it isn't exactly a square.

Finally, I've never heard of this car company. Didn't know the company that makes gardening tools also makes cars. Guess that's not so strange because a piano company makes motorcycles.

It's FISKER, not FISKAR.
Henrik Fisker in a pretty big deal in design circles. He co-designed the 2004 Aston Martin DB9 with Ian Callum. He's done a stint as designer with VLF Automotive. I saw one of his Fisker Kharma on the West Coast a few weeks ago. Steyr MAGNA of Austria is helping with the manufacturing side of design.
The PEAR will go head-to-head with Chevy's upcoming Equinox BEV. The affordable Tesla that never materialized. Yet.
The OCEAN is to be the lowest drag SUV ever sold. The PEAR may have some aero bragging rights. We'll see.

[redpoint5]

Chevy beat Tesla to the $35k EV back in 2017.

Tesla had a $35k Model 3 off-menu for about a year or so.

The price of everything is dismaying to me.

[freebeard]

The price of everything is dismaying to me.

That Creature from Jekyll Island, inflation is the cruelest tax of all.

The Arcimoto FUV is up $2K. It was one half of $35K.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by freebeard

That Creature from Jekyll Island, inflation is the cruelest tax of all.

Inflation is an excellent tool for the redistributionists. It takes from careful savers like me, while rewarding those who have spent everything and gone into debt.

While fast food workers pay nearly doubled, most other working fools (myself included) haven't seen their pay adjust for inflation.

The middle-class; the group most often paying for political malfeasance and ineptitude.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Yamaha doesn't make cars

Yet it co-developed engines with Ford and Toyota, including the last V8 used by Volvo.

[redpoint5]

Engine building is arguably what comprises an automotive company.