I drove an electric Chevy at a dealer’s a few years ago just as EV cars were coming onto the scene. The drive was impressive but, as it was early days, the range and cost to buy were big negatives.
I still don’t get the need to fill the cars with extra tech other than as enticements or playing Top Trumps with competitors as seems to be the case with ICE cars. Even those with cut back basic entry level models could be further refined. Dacia have such cheap to buy cars so if all you want is a basic A to B car that moves, steers, stops carries what you need, fits the majority of your needs why pay out for the unwanted toys? Mind you the Dacia cars seem to have lower Ncap crash ratings.
I remember an engineer I worked with buying Ladas and running them to death, basically throw away cars.
I bought a Proton once as a car for sospan jnr to use on a placement year during his degree course. I ended up using it and he used our Focus instead. A basic, very reliable commuter/ runabout with a basic radio/cassette playeras the only “toy”. Manual windows, two door, cloth interior, great Mitsubushi 1.3 engine ( not high power but good).Bought for £600 and sold for £600 a year later. I regretted selling it. Not a chic, stylish image creating car but what a good workhorse! A couple of oil changes, brake pads and fluid, tyres is all the expense for 25k miles.
