I mean... A more accurate description might be, "They had already taken one step in the right direction, 15 years ago, all they had to do was make any further steps in this direction any time since then!"
I don't think people realize just how much thoughtful design went into the original Nissan Leaf and just how well designed it was. Sure, it's ugly as sin and a glorified golf cart with respect to it's range but it's also a rock solid EV and very forward thinking EV.
In terms of safety, it came standard with backup cameras and low speed noise features that are now mandatory on all EVs in the US. In 2013 they introduced a heat-pump option and had features like heated seats and steering wheel to reduced the climate control draw on the meager battery.
The Tesla Model 3 that came out 5 years later didn't have low speed noise, heat-pump, or heated steering wheel. Though they were added later.
In terms of reliability, it just works, so many other EVs are completely unreliable and suffer from numerous issues, many of which have nothing to do with the EV platform. Tesla, Lucid, and VW all have or had issues with door handles. GM couldn't seem to make water proof batteries that didn't explode. Kia's EVs go through 12v batteries faster than a vibrator goes through AA batteries. BMWs are great right up until you DC Fast Charge them, at which point they like to go into limp mode and throw faults.
more like culture problem per se, this is what happen to (almost) all of CE automaker seriously, EV is more like electronic on wheels rather than "traditional cars"
I kind of see many people that already have work there that have decade experience don't or can't "changes"
If those patents hadn't been, or had they been shorter lived, or if antitrust law was more robust, we might have seen a lot more investment in optimizations on and variations of the NiMH chemistry.
I guess part of the reason is that the "M" in "NiMH" stands for Lanthanum - a rare earth element which happens to be used in catalysts facilitating oil refinement.
Of course catalysts are consumed slowly, but you still don't want any disturbances in the supply of a key element.
I did this myself and it was some fundamental experiences of my life so from that point of view I'd say definitely go for it. Life is short.
On the other hand... Now older I see the financial/compounding aspect more clearly.
Specifically, you mention you have "savings for some years". If you stick at that, continuing to save and benefiting from compounding, you could reach financial independence, a magical point after which any work you do will be entirely optional, at your own discretion, and decoupled from what earnings it brings. For the rest of your entire life. Hard to overstate the freedom that entails.
So is it worth jumping off that trajectory early, squandering the savings, and pushing financial independence much farther back?
I love that in the listing every keyword is abbreviated, even F. for FOR!
I lived through the era of type-in BASIC games, and had an 8-bit micro whose BASIC also had abbreviations, but I don't recall seeing magazine listings so vehemently abbreviated!!
To save bytes? To save typing? Or... just to seem more l33t ^_^
I know the author in the sense that I know who it was written by, I don't know his reputation or how credible he is and where it was published does matter. If this Stephen Hawking published in the National Enquirer people would justifiably be wondering if it was a joke.
"Love and belonging" is the third in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
It's difficult to feel a sense of belonging if all your peers have access to something you don't, even worse if that something is your social space itself.
(Full disclosure: I am rampantly anti smartphone. But I understand kids' need to have it.)
