Hacker News Reader

Comment by brtkdotse | Hacker News Reader

> 500hp SUV

Environmental issues aside, this sounds like a comically impractical vehicle.

I mean......I find that you can have both power and practicality, but you don't get there by buying a massive V8 SUV.

I got a Volvo XC60 T8 last year, a plug in hybrid. Rated at 400bhp total. Silly amount of power, way more than anyone needs. But.....I very rarely use it. The electric range of about 25 miles means I complete 95% of my daily journeys on electric power alone. My long term efficiency is about 120mpg(imperial). But that power is still there if I need it - it had absolutely no problems accelerating to and going 140mph on the autobahn, it was great for a 800 mile drive across Europe. It's spacious, comfortable......and the fuel economy is great in daily use.

But I feel like I grew out of a stage where a supercharged Range Rover V8 or a GLE63 AMG would have been the dream - my next car will be full EV if anything.

You are the exception. A ton of these cars are hybrids for nothing more than tax reasons and returned to the dealership after a 3y lease with the charging cable still wrapped in the back.

I know, it's shocking. According to Volvo's own statistics something absolutely insane like 70% of all owners never even plug them in. You should lose the tax exemption entirely if you do that if you ask me. Funnily enough I didn't get any tax benefit as it was a private purchase, but here in UK if you buy it as a company vehicle the taxes on it are very low(used to be zero I think).

It's not just tax, of course - we can't excuse Volvo either, they make these cars for regulatory credit knowing fully well people won't use the electric part.

(And of course we need to blame the regulators that allow this, also knowing fully well what is happening.)

This combo has its pluses. I used to have a 5l x6 (550hp or thereabouts?) and its 0-60 kmh time from a red light was a very big bonus in the morning rush traffic ^__^

It seems exceedingly dangerous to be going from 0-60 form stoplights in morning rush traffic. It’s fine if it’s a danger to you, but you would eventually kill someone who didn’t sign up for that.

60 kilometers per hour, the posted speed limit. Look both ways, then gradually accelerate, but at a slightly faster rate than the most.

Pray tell why you think that I “would eventually kill someone”.

By accelerating from 0-60 quickly in your 500hp vehicle in rush hour traffic. A vehicle with high horsepower means you can do that very quick, and rush hour traffic means there are lots of people around. Lots of acceleration + lots of people around means significantly higher risk of grevious injury or death. It’s irresponsible and I don’t mind if people disagree with that.

I'm not sure I agree with you about this - I think your absolute speed is the main safety concern. If you're accelerating hard to the same speed, I don't see much added danger to that. You reach the road speed earlier, but you'd be traveling slower than someone going through the junction on a green light. The danger is people doing slightly higher than the speed limit in residential areas, which makes accidents harder to avoid and the speed of hitting a pedestrian higher increasing their risk of death.

The only situation where I see fast acceleration being dangerous is where other cars are pulling out and seeing you are traveling slowly but not expecting you to accelerate fast. They are likely to pull out on you. I think if you're accelerating hard you have to be aware of this and not do it before junctions or be prepared to ease off.

60 _km_/h

Correct. And Tesla's Plaid is twice as comical.

The Model S Plaid features Tesla's first-ever triple-motor system, producing a staggering 1,020 horsepower and 1,050 lb-ft of torque.

https://www.motortrend.com/cars/tesla/model-s/2021/2022-tesl...

Plenty of SUVs tick the 500hp checkbox such as BMW X6, Land Rover Sport, Mercedes GL63 etc.

Where I live they're almost exclusively leased for a period of 12 months or less and are used mostly in large cities.

I can only speculate that it's a status symbol, which for some is more important than small details such as miles per gallon.

Mine looks unassuming, nearly the same as the 4 cylinder model. ‘Status symbol’ is too close to ‘me first against the wall in class war’ for me.

It’s smaller than the minivan it replaces and is more comfortable with less road & wind noise. It often switches to four cylinders for whatever effect that gives.

The electric F150 Lightning puts out over 500hp, and I think the Cybertruck is expected to as well. Are these vehicles also comically impractical?

Apples to oranges.

For the vast majority of people, yes.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com