parad0x

There’s zero benefit to going portless. That was always a silly rumor. USB-C makes sense if you look at the iPads that have been going. The greatest "advantage" of going portless (extra space for the battery) would be better achieved by removing the wireless charging coils instead… If you think UBC-C is bulky connector, wait until you see Qi.

I’d agree that you don’t know what the pot calling the kettle black is. Elon says a ton of stupid things, but I’m not seeing the connection you’re trying to make here.

I’d be more worried about us not having planetary defense capabilities right now than potentially missing something we can’t stop anyway. Starlink sats have about a 5 year service life, after which they quickly de-orbit even if nothing is done, simply because of air resistance at their altitude. SpaceX is working to minimize the impact on astronomy, and honestly the problems that have been brought up are largely inconveniences to work around, not true threats to astronomy.

Lack of universal access to broadband is a major driver of inequality in the world right now. Impacting the social and economic well being many, many families in the US and abroad. The astronomy concerns brought up to date don’t outweigh that. Not remote close imo. If they ever do, all that needs to happen is to stop permitting spacex to launch starlink sats and the skies will clear themselves up with in a decade.

I understand why astronomers would express their concerns, as it can have an impact on their day to day work, but I’ve yet to see a convincing argument that those concerns outweigh the good.

The range on the Lightning is the lowest of Silverado EV, R1T, Hummer, and Cybertruck. I consider it acceptable, but it is not "excellent" in the company of its peers. At least it’s not a bad as the Transit.

Knowing the price ahead of time without visiting the back room in several different dealer lots is incredibly different.

Yeah, that’s not working out, and was never a good system. Dealers haven’t spent all those lobbying dollars on laws mandating their existence because it is good for the consumer. Adding middlemen generally adds cost (their margin) and cross-shopping dealers is a terrible experience at the best of times (even if you do snag a deal). It’s far better to just know what the prices are and cross-shop brands.

With the current market it’s not even possible to cross-shop dealers anyway. If the Lightning pre-order experience is anything like the Silverado experience; your reservation is with a specific dealer and you have no idea what they are going to do once they get their allocation for your truck. You basically have to pay what they ask for or go to the back of a multi-year line with another dealer.

To address the original question, the van almost certainly has a carbon monoxide detector and documentation saying you shouldn’t operate the stove without proper ventilation. Propane appliances are still the standard for most camping builds, but I agree electric shouldn’t be a huge hurdle.

I agree with the idea that it’s not made specifically for hybrid work. It just has a table that makes work with a laptop possible.

It has nothing to do with the kitchen though. The kitchen can be used both indoors and out, and you can use an outdoor kitchen basically anywhere you park outside. I don’t think many places have bylaws specifically prohibiting it. I’ve travelled in camper vans and rooftop tents and have definitely cooked in parking lots and street parking. Furthermore, if you’re in the office two days a week, you could just eat out or bring a pre-made lunch. Some offices have their own kitchens and showers (a more important consideration) too…

It included a picture of a nice looking, VW based camper van. That, unfortunately, is your big fat warning label. VW is convinced that the NA market for these vans is too small because we like big, fat RVs. The chicken tax for commercial vans doesn’t help the value proposition either.

Before including a warning label, The Verge should first do an article about why the US (and consequently Canada) can’t have nice things, and link to it every time.

GM, VW, and Hyundai/Kia all have next gen EV platforms that will allow them to electrify their whole lineup. As far as I can tell Ford is still doing one-off models (Mustang Mach-E) or retrofitting ICE designs (e-Transit and Lightning). This has allowed them to get out of the gate quickly, but will delay them later on. That said, they have covered off the vehicles responsible for most of their sales with the current strategy.

Does The Verge have a source saying that they are going into production in fall 2022? All I see is an announcement that they will make an announcement in fall 2022.

RAM is exclusively trucks and utility vans. How are they going to release a car first?

From a point of sustainability, getting an ICE truck off the road is worth more than a car. You could argue that they should be plug in hybrids, given the limited battery supply, but they absolutely need to be electrified.

There are a growing number of EV cars/crossovers on the market and next to no trucks. A truck was not GMs EV, nor was it Ford’s. Pickup truck EVs are late to the market, not early.