Car ?'s

The automaker's reveal of 15 upcoming electric vehicles last week was no joke, but it hid one.

Among the concepts was a tiny city car called the Micro Box that was shaped like the name suggests and had a QR Code embedded in its front.

Toyota didn't release many details about the vehicle, but the code could be used to enable a car-sharing scheme or other fleet management system. However, it has a very different use for now.

While it's not easily scannable from the images that Toyota released, The Drive was able to manipulate one to make it work. It may wish that it hadn't.

Turns out the code "Rickrolls" the user by opening up the video for the Rick Astley's song "Never Gonna Give You Up" rather than providing any useful information.

This won't get abused. Nah.


Applicable to vehicles manufactured after 2026 with exemptions given to cop cars and ambulances

Section 24205

mandates that the motor automatically shut off if left in idle after a certain period of time
then technology to prevent the movement of a vehicle when NOT in park setting....
the time for idling prior to shut off will be determined by the secretary of transportation and may vary on type of vehicle and type of fuel used by the motor
The maximum speed for engaging in a "kill switch" is also to be determined by the secretary of transportation
vehicles in which the seatbelt is unbuckled for the driver will shutdown or when the door is open

Not even the EU is pursuing things like that, and that is the biggest collection of clueless idiots in the world.

Borzak said:

Law Will Install Kill Switches In All New Cars

Once again, drivers get screwed by politicians in DC…

autos.yahoo.com

mandates that the motor automatically shut off if left in idle after a certain period of time
vehicles in which the seatbelt is unbuckled for the driver will shutdown or when the door is open

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A cold driver is an alert driver; fuck all the yankees and their remote start car warm up in the morning, I guess!

Regardless of it's a abuse potential, it's a problem, as it is written. As I'm sure you already know(the oil industry is probably one of them), a decent amount of businesses have frequent stops or need a vehicle in idle to keep the battery charged while using it for power.

This will probably make such companies use more fuel, not less, as starting an engine uses more fuel than idling for (X) amount of minutes. It would be interesting to see what (X) is, for 2022+ engines. Also, I hope they have a huge alternator, as starting the engine is a large drain on the battery.

Borzak said:

Toyota 'Rickrolled' everyone during its massive electric vehicle reveal

Toyota pulled a classic prank during its reveal of 15 upcoming electric vehicles by placing a QR Code on one that "Rickrolls" anyone who tries to use it.

www.foxbusiness.com

The automaker's reveal of 15 upcoming electric vehicles last week was no joke, but it hid one.

Among the concepts was a tiny city car called the Micro Box that was shaped like the name suggests and had a QR Code embedded in its front.

Toyota didn't release many details about the vehicle, but the code could be used to enable a car-sharing scheme or other fleet management system. However, it has a very different use for now.

While it's not easily scannable from the images that Toyota released, The Drive was able to manipulate one to make it work. It may wish that it hadn't.

Turns out the code "Rickrolls" the user by opening up the video for the Rick Astley's song "Never Gonna Give You Up" rather than providing any useful information.

Click to expand...

I love tiny cars, so if that ever becomes a real thing I may end up getting one.

Punko said:

Also from 2026 on every car needs to be electrical.

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Can't happen. Not enough infrastructure and most people simply can't afford it. Will be an amusing and tragic shit show.

Euro 7 is due to come in effect in 2025 which has lower emissions standards. Initially they the EU set them up in a way that would them effectively impossible to meet (not allowing adequate time for catalysts to warm up etc), it's probably going to be adjusted somewhat to make it feasible. The regulations we have are having an effect already because 6 cylinder cars have becoming eyewateringly expensive in recent years. Long gone are the days of every half-decent BMW having one.
Not sure if I should swallow my pride and buy a 4 cylinder one, go for an electric one or just stick to old cars.

Foler said:

The fuck? 6 cylinders? I don’t buy any vehicle that had less than 8.. I can’t imagine only having 4…

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You're gonna be spending 6 figures on a BMW with a V8 in Europe these days. I'm not spending that kind of money.

Lambourne said:

You're gonna be spending 6 figures on a BMW with a V8 in Europe these days. I'm not spending that kind of money.

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Could import many cars from US or UK for cheaper than that. Maybe just not a BMW or Merc.

According to the internet search on imports:
Germany has a 10% import tax and the EU has a 19% import VAT.
So, for example, you could import a new, base model Chevy Corvette to Germany, with taxes paid, starting at ~$82,467 (72.583€).

If you "moved" out of the EU for at least 12 months, it looks like you could import a new car with your return of residence, and avoid all tax on it.

Burns said:

Could import many cars from US or UK for cheaper than that. Maybe just not a BMW or Merc.

According to the internet search on imports:
Germany has a 10% import tax and the EU has a 19% import VAT.
So, for example, you could import a new, base model Chevy Corvette to Germany, with taxes paid, starting at ~$82,467 (72.583€).

If you "moved" out of the EU for at least 12 months, it looks like you could import a new car with your return of residence, and avoid all tax on it.

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Yeah there's ways, even some places that specialize in grey market imports. I don't need a V8 though, I've driven the current turbocharged BMW 6's, at 330+ HP they're more than fast enough. Just very expensive new or nearly new. Already own a few older cars so I don't need more of those. TBH this is a Foler-induced discussion so I've spent more time on this already than I should have.

What does need have to do with anything? I have a LOT of things I don't need, but rather I wanted them.

Burren said:

Can't happen. Not enough infrastructure and most people simply can't afford it. Will be an amusing and tragic shit show.

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At this rate of cost increases, even regular cars will be too expensive for a lot of people.

Punko said:

You underestimate road taxes.

I did the simulation on a BMW M8 coupé, 4.4l.

View attachment 391997

11.5k to put one on the road, near 3k yearly to keep it on the road. This is probably one of the cleanest and most modern V8s on the market. (257-260g/km co2).

A chevy with a larger engine and higher emissions could easily go over 5k a year in taxes.

All this is for brand new cars, used cars are even more expensive.

Ain't noone buying a chevy to pay 15-20k / year on it.

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For the yearly car registration tax, I find paying $120 car tax irritating (when I already payed sales tax), let alone huge yearly $3000 tax to drive to the store. So, if I somehow found myself living in the EU, I would be driving a 2 stroke death machine because paying such a tax would offend my sensibilities.

On your figures, that looks like 3k Euro per year (after the first year), not 15k?

The website on importing to Germany gave the impression that the "import" taxes include the initial registration. That 11.5k figure should be the VAT?

Regardless, the carbon tax on a V8 is going to be (fairly) close to the same, among the various makes. So, if a V8 BMW is 120k Euro and an imported Corvette is 80k Euro, that's over 10 years of driving a light weight 495 HP vehicle, before it costs the same amount just to drive the BMW home.

Reference for V8s MPG (was curious, so here are some models I looked up):
2021 G15 M850i = 24 MPG combined
2021 Corvette = 19 MPG combined
2021 AMG C63 = 20 MPG combined
2021 Aston Vantage = 20 MPG combined
2021 Ferrari Roma = 19 MPG combined

Punko said:

No the 11.5k is to put the vehicle on the road. It has nothing to do with VAT.

You pay the initial 11.5k to put it on the road + the yearly 2.8k to keep it there, which is 14k+ in your first year.

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With costs that high, it looks like it would be beneficial, if you were really into collecting cars (or just want to own two nice, high HP cars), to buy some cheep land in a non-EU country, just to keep the cars registered there.

What is that Tax called? Here, the big payment when you initially register your car is sales tax plus one year of registration. Both are set by the state. Some states of 0% sales tax, and the highest is 9.55%. Registration varies as well, some states have an extra tax on the first year, and Oregon looks to be the highest annually, up to $306/year.

I looked at multiple sites for German import info; you would think that it would mention such a large tax. Maybe that is a Belgium only thing? Here are the two sites I primarily read over:

Looks like Germany needs to get the band back together.