Are Electric Vehicles the New Quartz Watches?
So, a series of awful circumstances lead me to owning a Tesla. The INSANE rebates and Tesla's discounts made this car cost me less than $24k new. Honestly, I think that is exactly what it is worth. For note: Elon is awful and I kind of hate myself for owning this car. However...it is amazing. I am not a car person. I don't drive fast. I just need a reliable way to get to work. There is no romance about cars for me...usually. This basically runs on a upscaled version of my toothbrush. It runs on software that looks like my 2017 Android. But it is an amazing car. I love my Speedy, but it makes no sense as a watch if you don't love watches. A smartwatch costs 1/10th the price and is massively more functional for most people. A Timex is 1/100th and equally functional. Are we about to enter a period where EVs become stupid cheap to build (Imagine a car version of a $500 Amazon Ebike. $7-8k easily.)? Will we romanticize a gas engine the way we do a mechanical watch? My thoughts? Absolutely.
Interesting to think about how ICE cars' marketing could shift to focus on the romance/longevity of mechanical operation. Maybe they will transition completely away from the use of electronics in order to appeal to owners who want to be able to tinker.
Unfortunately, that would be impossible due to safety and emissions regulations. That would also set them back immensely in terms of reliability.
Good point, it'd probably have to just be faux low-tech, all analog dashboard gauges and such.