It cost me $38,000 to rebuild my F355 engine a decade ago.....so I don't see a $20,000 battery pack in a car that gets 0-60 in 3 seconds "all that bad".
It's all relative I suppose. What's the multiplication factor for how many more people own Tesla's or EV's over a Ferrari? And how many of these people use their EV as a daily driver? Required to commute to work, get the kids, go to the grocery store, go on trips, etc etc. I know several people with EV's, and most are making payments they can barely afford. $20,000 to these folks will hurt a lot more than to those than can afford a Ferrari.
The average car duration in the European Union is 12 years, I read. Of course there are many exceptions. But increasingly tighter emission controls tend to make many good cars redundant. Scrappage is encouraged here. Trying to pass a 50 years old engine through any European emission control could be quite challenging! True that 200 000 miles isn't that much, but it contradicts the doom-sayers who predicted the demise of electric cars on the ground of battery unreliability. Taxi use is one of the harshest test for a vehicle. I would personally by-pass hybrids that have the weight disadvantage of carrying 2 systems. They use a loophole to avoid higher road tax: most of them run permanently on thermic power !
I have to say, some of the absolute toxic hatred from some Leclerc fans towards Sainz makes it hard to be an open supporter of the former. All they do is hate on Sainz. I've heard some of Leclerc's most rabid supporters call him a "fraud" and accuse the team of vast conspiracies. It's frankly toxic and disgusting, and it's bad for Ferrari. Leclerc is a good driver, but he's not the Ferrari messiah. I'm tired of certain fans saying "IF this" or "IF that", or worst "Leclerc is soooo unlucky". Leclerc makes his own luck 50% of the time at least. Australia? Crashed out. Miami? Crashed twice in qualifying and ruined his race. Barcelona? Couldn't score a point. Zandvoort? Crashed out. Hungary? Sped in the pits, got a penalty. That's not luck, that's him just driving over his head and costing himself a boatload of points. That's why he's in the situation of being behind his teammate with one race to go.
Some valid points I have to say. Nevertheless some, including me, are juste hoping for a stable and competitive Ferrari car next year to really judge Charles about his abilities..
Leclerc and Sainz have their strong points. Leclerc is a great charger, has more raw pace, and is a great at overtakes when the car works well. Sainz conserves his pace better, has a better sense of strategy, and is a great defensive driver. It's actually a good pairing. It just needs some coaching. Leclerc needs to work on conserving more of his pace, while Sainz needs to learn how to get that last extra tenth out of a car more often. Both have shown signs of doing just those things since the summer break. The toxicity of some fans is just tiresome.
This, Well said. Chuck is fast an normally Carlos is smart. Im an employer. I play my guys to the strengths, Not pitting one against the other. Ferrari needs a car that is consistent at minimum. They need to both race for Ferrari.
I don't think there is a weight advantage with full electric. Production cars use large heavy motors with very heavy batteries. Many Tesla cars are over 5000 lbs! There are plenty of compact hybrids that are around 3000 lbs. Up in Canada, charging stations are few and far between, so I would take a hybrid any day so i could still make long distance trips. I'm not saying electric doesn't have their place. Taxi's as you mention is a good one.
I don't know why so many crap on Sainz. He's underrated IMO. He makes mistakes, he isn't the outright fastest guy, but he gets results. He is able to compete with one of the fastest drivers in F1, and has now outscored Leclerc 2 out of the 3 seasons he's been at Ferrari. Give the guy some credit.
The Sainz brigade on full swing here again, unsurprisingly led by Kimi2007... You can't say one bad thing about Sainz around here apparently. I promise Leclerc has had way more crap thrown at him in FChat than Carlos this season, but that's always ok I guess No one has said Sainz is as bad as Sargeant or even Perez, valid critiscm is healthy though. Maybe there would be less "toxicity" if some would not write essay length arguments about how great Sainz is with...let me check...luck and "smartness", while putting Leclerc down.
Concur fully. Objectively we have 2 good drivers. Both are fast and can win. Charles marginal faster but poorly timed mistakes that have not really stopped. Qualifies well but fails to win via car or his own mistakes. We should be happy with both. Sainz the better tactical thinker with Charles a touch faster.
huh..what are you talking about. EV sales are falling most of the places. USA/Europe, and soon to follow Asia.
