Posted on 11/13/2012 6:20:23 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
Motor Trend magazine has named the Tesla Model S its Car of the Year. The magazine's staff selected the all-electric plug-in luxury car out of a field of 11 finalists that included models such as the Ford Fusion, Porsche 911 and Hyundai Azera.
It is the first time the magazine's Car of the Year award has ever gone to an all-electric car.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
which almost no one can afford and here in the west will not even make it between towns on one charge.
The Tesla Model S that burst into flames when flooded with salt water? That Tesla?
‘02 911 Carerra coupe. Seal gray/black leather. AC, sunroof, 18” mags.
16,700 miles when I bought it from an American Airlines pilot this past spring.
320 horsepower (I’m doubtful it makes 320 since 91 octane is all that is available here) but it still has plenty of scat. Rear tires had been replaced at about 12,000.
I’d been looking for a very good example without 4 WD and no turbo. Original owner looking at his airline job turning upside down and had to sell his dream car.
Since it’s one of the most expensive cars out there, then no. It’ll go 160 miles on a charge which is better than other electric cars but still has the same problems. As with any “your mileage may vary”, I wouldn’t trust it getting me much more than 100 miles down the road and then without the lights or A/C turned on. Sure it seats as many people as an SUV if those 7 people didn’t weigh more than 90 pounds each. Ok, I’ll play... me, my better half, the 4 kids and dog are headed over the hills and through the woods to grandmother’s house for Christmas and granny lives 1000 miles away. So, say we have to stop 9 times to recharge it and it takes 3.5 hours to charge with a special docking doo hickey, how many days will it take before Suzy breaks down into a flood of tears, Billy shoves Betty Ann out the door as we’re going 85 (um, 93 to keep up with the traffic on Texas’ new high speed highway). Little Kerry gets bored and pulls the dog’s tail 56 times causing the dog to bite him on the 57th time. And my better half found a divorce attorney at the 4th recharge stop when the special docking doo hickey broke upping the recharge time to 8 hours.
If it’s a good car and a good idea, it will sell.
I have a family member that wanted to buy solar panels, very liberal. I basically told him if they were such a good idea, they would be on every other house here in FL, so I’m not sure they’d be profitable in the north.
Here in the sunshine state very few houses have them, which makes me think they just aren’t as wonderful as touted.
I have a family member who is a mechanic, he’s intrigued by these cars, but wonders how safe they really can be. They carry a HUGE amount of electricity, much more than people realize. The PC correctness of the media makes him concerned that even if bad things happen they may not be printed.
No, it was Fiskers that burst into flames. That's not to say that a Tesla wouldn't do that, but I'm not aware of any than have been flooded.
That is just as funny as can be.
Are we talking about a Porsche?
Yup.
It all depends on how you look at them. If you pay a lot in income taxes, the tax credit is handsome. If you're handy, you can do a lot of the installation yourself and save thousands.
Where I think people get off the mark is when they say things like "it'll take years to make back your money." That is certainly true.
Lets just use $25K as a variable up-front cost by way of illustration. What else are you going to do with the money? Suppose you buy blue chip stock X that pays dividends. You don't get a tax credit for that. Right off the bat, you are out, say, by way of illustration $10K. Your investment in the panels is really $15K.
You have to pay taxes on that dividend. Do you worry about how long you will take to "make back your money" on stock X?
The dividend on X is less than what you start getting every month from not having to pay for home electricity. And you don't have to pay tax on that, so you are really "making" 25% more every month.
Now, if you had to pay for electricity, you must pay for it with after-tax dollars. Add another 25%. (all these figures are just for illustration.)
You are always going to want to be comfortable in your own home, so you might look at it as a retirement investment.
Solar panels are a fantastic deal, at least until 2016 when the credit wears out. And the panels are sinking rapidly in cost.
I think you don't see them in FL because solar panels are a big upfront expense for those with a long term vision. We know that there aren't many people like that around. And solar panels work very well in cold weather.
And Osama Bin Laden was Time’s Choice in 2001.
I thought you had a Tesla.
Oh, and I am NOT green. I don’t buy into that co2 crap. But can you think of a better investment in retirement if you expect to stay in your home? A *safe* investment, since the electricity generated does not vary with the market.
Naah !
The Vega was a pretty good car after you replaced the engine and transmission with one out of a wrecked Camaro.
LOL assuming it was in a desert climate.
Mine had the fenders and cowl rust thru in 18 months in Cleveland.
Front brake problems.
Head gasket blew.
Rear differential bearings failed.
Valve stem seals got hard, sucked oil like crazy.
This is nothing but PC nonsense... its a fun toy, but as others have stated, it costs 60k and can only go 120 miles at best before needed to be plugged back in.
This is not remotely the best care of the year.. this was political correct nonsense.
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