[JamesNoBrakes]

Originally Posted by Spurshot

IMO, Tesla cars are “feel good” cars for the wealthy.

Like sports cars?

They are not truly practical replacement cars in that traveling long distances is either a pain or a no go. Also, if everyone were to run out and get a plug-in car, the grid couldn’t support it. Everyone I know that has one has multiple vehicles. The others being liquid fueled...big BMWs and Benz’s mostly.

I know this is how you feel, but this is not reality for many people that own these cars. They do drive them long distances. The grid may not be able to support everyone owning one at this time, but it can support some and that's the beauty of it, there is already some infrastructure in place and it will continue to be improved and extended. Unlike hydrogen, which requires huge amounts of energy to extract, has no distribution network, no tanks constructed to hold it, no tanker trucks to move it, and all the energy associated with doing so. People can, and do, operate these cars, driving them every day as their main vehicle. Compared to our history of 115 years of combustion-engine only cars on the road, that's damn impressive.

To me, the plug-in car is a technology stepping stone. The drivetrain development is crucial. Next step will be the energy source pack. Maybe the hydrogen fuel cell/battery regenerative hybrid.

Unless some big breakthrough allows extraction and STORAGE of hydrogen in ways that beat what we know and foresee, I don't see this happening. It takes a huge amount of energy to extract and store it, which compared to an EV, is a waste of energy. That energy could have been beamed out to electric cars. The beauty of the EV is that it doesn't care what the power source is, coal, natural gas, fusion, fission, wind, tides, solar, geothermal, etc. We do know and foresee battery energy density getting better, with multiple technologies that will increase the density more than 5x over what we currently know.

Tesla didn’t come out with revolutionary technology. Musk put out a car that would sell by putting luxury and performance together, and went after the deeper pockets.

The fact that he was able to get cars out on the road with reasonable ranges was pretty revolutionary. How many other start-up auto companies do you see with cars on the road from the last 15 years? I see model S and X vehicles operating even up here in Alaska, not to mention all over the place when I travel down south for work. I see as many of those as I do other high end autos, which says they are out there and the technology works. Seriously, it's like you are waving the flag "IT'LL NEVER WORK!" when the cars are already out there driving day to day. I think some people are afraid of the future. Mercedes just released their new E53 cars with the starter/alternator that provides an extra 180lb/ft of torque during acceleration. Expect to see more. BTW, there are some key applications of technology that do make the Tesla possible, there's a good movie I watched on the company and factory start up that explains this.

I think history will reflect on the Prius as being the pivotal car that moved the public toward lower emissions, and that Tesla opened the eyes of the public to the notion that an electric car could be big, fast, good looking, and luxurious (adequately excessive for the wealthy).

I remember when cell phones were a symbol of the wealthy.