I have a concrete and very stupid example.
We got a large gift card as an incentive to renew our lease at our current apartment vs moving. The format they sent it in had no physical card and would only work on either online stores or through a service like Google Wallet AKA a banking app on a mobile device as you mentioned.
So to get groceries while waiting on a tax refund (thanks crappy American economy and taxation methods) we had no choice but to connect and use it that way.
Closest on the market in the USA but price is high (at least range is also excellent) however it doesn’t have the sliding doors.
I have five kids. While I absolutely do make it work with SUV doors it is such a stupid feature to miss out on. Sliding doors are an absolute miracle in terms of practicality by comparison.
The other is the huge SUV nose. While it has a number of other issues that made me cross it off my list, like lack of bi directional heat pump, look at the ID.Buzz for proof of how short you can get the nose while meeting crash standards. They do cheat a bit by having a very long slope on the inside of the windshield but it is massively shorter than almost everything marketed as SUVs and with far better visibility to kids potentially running in front of the vehicle.
I want something like the Staria or the PV7/PV9 available here. I do expect that if the USA doesn’t fully collapse we will get the PV7/PV9 eventually but I wouldn’t be surprised at all on a 5-6 year delay and small shipping numbers.
I would kill (not literally) to have an EV or PHEV minivan. My household is currently a PHEV Mitsubishi Outlander and an old Toyota Sienna.
It is amazing being able to plug in at my rental townhouse even with just a basic 110v outlet and have it charged overnight.
Oh I have lived outside the USA at one point and I’m well aware electricity isn’t magic. There were other places too but Guyana most definitely doesn’t have a stable power grid.
I’m not going to starve my kids over that kind of stance on cash only either though.
I can’t understand why banks are as stupid as they often are. Why would you refuse money from the federal government. What do you think we successfully stole money from the IRS through a direct deposit?