There Are Still Ways To Get Your Kid Into Cars In The EV Era: COTD

For generations, kids have learned the basics of wrenching through working on small engines. Often, these would be attached to something like a lawnmower. Then, the kid might have an appreciation for basic mechanics and maybe even grow to love cars from this humble launch pad. This might seem hard in the EV era, as small engines like the ones found in garden equipment are going electric, but not all hope is lost.

David Tracy wrote about how he went electric for his lawnmower, and now he’s feeling sort of guilty about how his son Delmar (not his real name) might not be able to learn to love cars by spinning wrenches on a broken lawnmower. Some kids have even started their business careers by fixing small engines or by using their repaired mowers to care for lawns. V10omous says fear not, because there are still other avenues:

Get the kid a go kart or something fun with a small engine.

Fixing a lawn mower means its time to do work.

Fixing a kart engine means it’s time to have fun.

The incentives alone make the latter a better play to get a kid interested in wrenching IMO.

I wholeheartedly agree with this take. I never fixed a lawnmower as a kid, but I did do some serious backwoods racing in a 5 HP off-road go-kart that I maintained myself. I have a feeling that my need for speed today came from my shenanigans with a kart as a kid.

Also, maybe your kid will learn to love EVs, and that’s great, too!

Today’s Morning Dump was anchored around a story about how the crossover saturation point may have been reached. Crossovers are generally hated by enthusiasts, but I think Davey has a good take:

I’ve never understood the hate for CUVs. There are different vehicles for different people and their different needs. I have owned wagons, BOF SUVs, sedans, hatchbacks and now a CRV.

My CRV is better in the winter (Ontario) and for camping than our wagons were; it has higher ground clearance so when you load them up with gear and people, they weren’t 2 inches off the ground. It’s good on gas and easy to park.

I would love to have numerous vehicles for each thing, but since the price of vehicles is very high, having a single CUV is better (in my use case) than a single wagon, or sedan for that matter. Again, I’m active and have lots of stuff (crap) for my activities so I need space. It’s so much easier to load my CRV with the seats flat than any sedan or hatchback and not worry about bottoming out on a tree root or pothole (again, Ontario).

We need more small (affordable) trucks* like the Maverick. Hybridize everything.

Then, there’s Drew’s response: