Robustness is critical when developing new battery cells. In the automotive industry, companies shoot for no worse than a 20 percent capacity loss after 700 charging cycles....
Really need to hand it off to other makers. VW is just scandal. It lies on its emissions reports. Has a history of abusing workers. All round a shell of it's former self
From what I've seen, some family owned ones do, as they're run for the long term (rather than by CEOs with an average tenure of less than 2 years and who thus are fine with damaging long term prospects for short term profit boosting as its the latter that dictate the size of tbeir bonuses) so don't want to damage the name of the company and sometimes are even run in a way that reflects the owner's morals and principles.
Market listed companies or even private ones with lots of "investors" as owners (such as the bigger startups) almost never have any morality or, in the case of the latter, reflect the typical morality of the kind of people who are good at getting investors, which tends to be the in the area from the "flexible with the truth" salesman all the way to outright fraudster.
Investment nowadays is pretty short term, amoral and fickle, and this ends up indirectly leading to overwhelmingly certain kinds of personalities ending up leading companies and certain management styles being used, both high on the more sociopath end of the spectrum.
I think the bigger a corporation is, the more shitty things it had to do in order to reach that status.
There are some good companies with a moral code, but they'll never become competitive with the big dogs in our current capitalist system.
the 1.4 introduced somewherein the 2000s was their last "good" engine. newer models just suffer from downsizing, constant engine problems after around 80K km.
buy a used honda or a toyota. might even be fuel efficient if you buy a prius for cheap and replace the battery.
or, you know... buy a small car. the 1st gen aygo easily does 40-50mpg and cost 10K BRAND NEW. but then toyota made it a crossover which uses more fuel and is almost 20K.
160K km is indeed quite an amount, my 1SZ-FE Yaris has done just over 100K now, and similarly has had zero incidents after 20 Years and me being it's 4th owner. doesn't use oil, doesn't burn coolant, no unusual rattles, everytime we change the oil it's still very translucent.
they don't make them like they used to, not even the toyotas.
If you're speaking on the 1.4l turbo, that was introduced in 2012. Have one in my car and it's a great little engine. Lots of extra room in the engine bay left over though.
It's aluminum block though. Only so much that little guy can take. I honestly have never looked into many performance upgrades for it outside a new air intake because that giant fuck-off box that's under my hood needs to go.
It's common knowledge? It's literally the second paragraph in its Wikipedia article. Volkswagen means "the people's car" and was founded so that people in Germany could afford a car.
Here's the summary for the wikipedia article you mentioned in your comment:
Volkswagen (VW; German pronunciation: [ˈfɔlksˌvaːɡn̩] ) is a German automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand after World War II by the British Army officer Ivan Hirst, it is known for the iconic Beetle and serves as the flagship brand of the Volkswagen Group, the largest automotive manufacturer by worldwide sales in 2016 and 2017. The group's biggest market is in China, which delivers 40 percent of its sales and profits. Its name is derived from the German-language terms Volk and Wagen, translating to "people's car" when combined.
Founded by the German Labour Front, the Nazi party’s national labour organization.
In 1934, with many of the above projects still in development or early stages of production, Adolf Hitler became involved, ordering the production of a basic vehicle capable of transporting two adults and three children at 100 km/h (62 mph). He wanted a car every German family would be able to afford.
It soon became apparent that private industry could not turn out a car for only 990 ℛ︁ℳ︁. Thus, Hitler chose to sponsor an all-new, state-owned factory using Ferdinand Porsche's design (with some of Hitler's design suggestions, including an air-cooled engine so nothing could freeze).
The beetle having a rear mounted air cooled engine was Hitler’s design.
Here's the summary for the wikipedia article you mentioned in your comment:
Volkswagen (VW; German pronunciation: [ˈfɔlksˌvaːɡn̩] ) is a German automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand after World War II by the British Army officer Ivan Hirst, it is known for the iconic Beetle and serves as the flagship brand of the Volkswagen Group, the largest automotive manufacturer by worldwide sales in 2016 and 2017. The group's biggest market is in China, which delivers 40 percent of its sales and profits. Its name is derived from the German-language terms Volk and Wagen, translating to "people's car" when combined.