Posted on 07/07/2013 9:36:14 AM PDT by ckilmer
When you pull up at a light...
I mentioned what vehicle I was driving.
I think it is worse than that. As I read it you have to return and get YOUR battery back. So how many will be in storage?
Is Telsa paying you to spew this crap?? Actually the car to be is Hyrdrogen Fuel Cells..
My Dad’s new 2013 MB C300 4-Matic does that; gives me the creeps and makes me nervous in heavy traffic. That option can be turned-off on the car’s menu.
Perhaps you’re addressing another hypothetical arrangement, but in this situation they’re referencing a class of battery pack that is identical and you never own your own battery. You continually have a leased battery in your vehicle.
Now all I need is someone in a chase vehicle to follow me around with my fresh battery and install it when I’m out of juice, so I can get back home.
If I’m wrong and you’re right about that, it certainly would make things worse.
“I was trying to point out (apparently not very well) that most people who are in the Tesla range of income see the Tesla as a status symbol, that buying one has nothing to do with the price of gas.”
It may be that currently, Teslas are more of a status symbol than a means of transportation. I don't know. No one has ever accused me of being a slave to fashion. I have suits in my closet that are twenty years old.
However, what I was trying to point out is that many people who buy expensive cars actually DO care about the cost of running and maintaining them, and that fuel cost is a consideration.
This is especially true for folks who, like me, drive a lot of miles every year. In fact, one of the things that motivated me to buy a Mercedes diesel was 1) I could keep the car for a very long time, and put a lot of relatively trouble-free miles on it, thus seriously mitigating the high initial cost of the vehicle and 2) the very low cost per mile, fuel-wise. I have a nice, comfortable, mid-sized luxury car that is peppy, fun to drive, carries a fair amount of luggage, and gets 30 mpg mixed driving, and 40 mpg on the road on long trips. AND, I don't have to replace a multi-thousand-dollar battery every 100,000 miles (which, at this point, I'd have to have done about twice).
As well, even though the car is getting older, and even with 200,000 miles, it feels, runs, and rides like new. If I can get the leather upholstery to hold up, or if I can do some minor restoration relatively inexpensively, I can give it to one of my sons in a couple of years, when my driving requirements will be dramatically lighter, and HE can run it for another couple of hundred thousand miles.
sitetest
“This kind of thing works well on the golf course but nowhere else.”
Living in a two golf course community, I can attest that golf carts fail on a regular basis, sometimes right in the middle of an intersection.
If all of the Federal and state subsidies to this company were removed, I wonder just how long Tesla would continue as a viable business. I for one, sure have my doubts.
I wonder how stressed out drivers and passengers get on a long trip hoping they will make it to the next charging station. Just because a vehicle is supposed to go X number of miles between charges does not mean that it will.
Ditto. Incredible car. This is not a Prius or a Volt.
You are a courteous and considerate driver. You’re getting the hang of it. Good for you.
You mean like you’re a shill for GM.
Nobody needs to buy the electric car. You don’t need to certainly. So don’t worry about it.
Diesel is a very efficient option. They are known for longevity and high mpg. The VW mid-sized cars get very good mileage.
Cars are coming with more and more speeds in their transmissions in order to keep a more constant (and optimal) engine speed. It seems to me that if a car was equipped with a diesel powered generator, powering electric motors on the wheels, it should be very efficient. The transmission would be eliminated, there would be no need for a large battery, and the engine would operate at a constant speed.
Actually the car to be is Hyrdrogen Fuel Cells..
.......
You might be right about this one. However, the sales are not going to Hydrogen Fuel Cells.
I like this stuff even though I have no plans to buy to buy an electric car or a hydrogen fuel cell car. Why? Rising electric car sales will —eventually— put pressure on the price of oil...because of falling demand for oil.
The only thing that will make Tesla a viable company without subsidies is repeal of the laws of thermodynamics.
Well I will be the first to admit that I LIKE expensive things.....but we keep them forever. We are also at the point in our lives where we have almost no bills. We, like you, have been fortunate as well as very smart and frugal with our money. The only other thing we could do with it is bank it all so our 1 and only daughter gets it all when we die. No fun it that, I intend to enjoy all that is left of my life, while I can.
Good luck to you sir and I hope your son enjoys the car.
I know. Just a little joke based on a typo - and not intended to be at your expense. “Light”en up. :-)
You’re thinking of another immorally subsidized vehicle, the volt.
Diesel-electric hybrid cars already exist, just not offered here. Citroen most notably, but also VW getting into it. Hybrid electric systems are expensive, diesel engines are expensive. Combine the two and the market just is not there in the US, or so goes the reasoning.
Mercedes could probably pull it off if they cared to do so, being already perceived as a premium luxury marque, the cost penalty wouldn’t be quite such a game killer. It would have to be a status symbol even among Mercedes and competing vehicles, though. The ground that Tesla has staked out, essentially.
Would you believe......
Rolling blackouts?
Tried to fit "Missed it by that much" in here, but had to settle for this.
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