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Not too shabby... Still couldn't be my only vehicle, but I would have been able to do all my running around today with that type of range.
Yup. Even 200 miles in the most adverse conditions would be a good thing. If Tesla could figure the range anyone would get point to point and then go out from there say from San Francisco and at those points put extremely fast chargers there, they could really create a sort of hub albeit costly to them.
Then take that Roadster and instead build a true mid priced car and make as many as they could, they'd sell them all.
There is a 2008 roadster for sale on fleabay with 2k miles on it for around $70k...
A $30k mid size sedan with that kind of range would be nice. WIth twin chargers so I can plug in to two 12AMP 110V outlets, as well as, handle the 220V and 480V 3-phase stuff and we are set. Doing all that for $30k range and still being able to make a profit is the tough part. Maybe Musk can pull it off.
What I have learned with the volt is that most of the time the car finishes charging on 110V, 12A setting between 1a-3a, leaving the potential to 110V charge another 4 hours before leaving for work... So during the week I could add more power than I use on a daily basis. And that is in cold weather and the car coming back basically completely depleted of usable charge. (the volt only lets you use 60% of the battery pack).
This still doesn't negate the need for out in the public charging stations though.
Musk might be a really smart guy but it seems he can't hold a candle to Henry Ford. For all the innovation of the Tesla cars, they are a blip in the market and more of a PR stunt than anything else.
How the braintrusts in givernment ever allowed so much public monies to flow into private pockets without requiring at least one design that most people could afford is amazing.
Innovation would have been a sub $20k EV car that is really useful, not something that costs over a 100k and shuffles around people who care more about their image than the environment.
I applaud the upgrade, it shows some loyalty to owner but then there is always more loyalty to high spenders.
Somehow I always what goes into the cheering at so many "green" seminars and conferences when a Tesla shows up knowing 99.9% of the people cheering can't and never will be able to afford one. Most will die and never see any trickle down of the tax gifted technology.
Tesla was very upfront about their business model. Their goal is to sell large volumes of mass produced
affordable EVs. To get to that point they would be starting with over priced luxury models that would appeal to the rich. The fact that they are selling the fastest production cars in the US does make them a niche market. Their R&D and production facilities are being partially subsidized by the wealthy.
Their next model is projected to be in the $30k range with 300 mile range.
The US missed a great opportunity to develop an affordable EV when they did the auto bailout and the "cash for clunkers" fiasco. Government fleets and quasi government fleets could have provided a very large guaranteed market for an affordable no frills EV. Most fleets are ideally suited to EVs in that they do not require oversized vehicles, many never do over 100 miles in a day and they are almost all parked for 12+ hours over night when the grid has excess capacity. Combining the extremely low fuel costs with the equally low maintenance costs and fleets could have saved millions.
Saw an interesting article about range anxiety that pointed out many US made ICE cars only have about
250 +/- miles range, yet no one says limited range is a problem with ICE's. I believe we will see improvements in both range and affordability in the next decade that will pretty much make ICE vehicles mostly obsolete.
The reason no one generally has problems with a 250 +- range for ICE vehicles is because you can refuel them in mere minutes and drive for another 250 +- miles.
The swappable battery was the way to go IMHO. Then you could get a fresh charged battery in less time than it takes to refuel an ICE. No we're talkin.
Mere minutes for a refuel vs hours for a recharge unless you just happen to be near a super-charger but first you have to find one or be near one and even then, it isn't like you can be going somewhere, notice low charge and conveniently get a charge.
Quite a difference.
Teslas are not the fastest production cars in the US, in acceleration and surely not top speed. They are more expensive though, than the cars and can beat it. The other cars can also take any public road route across the country, turn around and do it again.
The Tesla is a good EV but it ain't all that. Would I pass up on a free one? Not a chance.
I do hope they can actually get to an affordable Ev that has a really useful range.
Last edited by Mack Knife; 12-31-2014 at 03:09 PM..
Musk might be a really smart guy but it seems he can't hold a candle to Henry Ford. For all the innovation of the Tesla cars, they are a blip in the market and more of a PR stunt than anything else.
As they say, Rome wasn't built in a day. While Tesla's offerings today are limited, I would argue that Tesla's impact on the industry as a whole has been huge. They've brought back a lot of attention to electric vehicles and validated the concept of a desirable electric vehicle. I don't think BMW and other companies would be investing as much as they are into the technology if the Model S wasn't around to get people salivating.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mack Knife
How the braintrusts in givernment ever allowed so much public monies to flow into private pockets without requiring at least one design that most people could afford is amazing.
Innovation would have been a sub $20k EV car that is really useful, not something that costs over a 100k and shuffles around people who care more about their image than the environment.
I applaud the upgrade, it shows some loyalty to owner but then there is always more loyalty to high spenders.
Somehow I always what goes into the cheering at so many "green" seminars and conferences when a Tesla shows up knowing 99.9% of the people cheering can't and never will be able to afford one. Most will die and never see any trickle down of the tax gifted technology.
Never thought of comparing Musk to Ford... Hmmm... Ford wasn't making a better horse, but an entirely new transportation model. Not sure the market conditions are the same to even do a comparison, but I need to think about this more before I form an opinion one way or the other.
I do agree with Mack Knife on this point : Until charging stations are as quick and common as gas stations, a pure EV is going to induce range anxiety. Or until all quasi public parking lots must have plugins for EVs. Battery swap was interesting as well.
Another thing about EVs, right now, I can bring extra gallons of fuel with me if I know I am going on a long trip with fueling stations few and far between (or expensive). How do I bring extra power with me?
Remember that I own an EREV too. And I would seriously look at a 300-400 mile range BEV as our main around town vehicle if it where priced right.
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