12-31-2017, 01:06 PM | #29 | |
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I agree with most of this. When I was growing up, electric vehicles were a "pie in the sky" concept, a couple manufacturers tried to initiate this, but they fell flat on their face. To start up an entire automotive company, as an EV company, and actually get cars out on the road that are practical, is an absolutely monumental feat IMO. How often do we see a brand new manufacturer start up with any kind of production capability? It's almost unheard of. The most we usually see is some shop hand-crafting a couple cars a year or something like that, not a full-scale production. And the cars are practical. This doesn't mean they are for everyone, as a Mercedes S65 isn't for everyone, but these Tesla EVs can be daily driven, have enough range to work for most trips, can be recharged in many locations, have gotten out of the "science fiction" stage and landed squarely in the "reality" stage. That, in my opinion, is simply amazing. The best part is that the car doesn't care what kind of fuel is used at the power plant, whether it's coal, or natural gas, hydroelectric, wind, tides, solar, fusion, fission, etc. A short aside about natural gas, it's one of the fastest growing sources due to how scale-able it is, how little infrastructure it needs, and how it's surpassed 65% efficiency. You cut out having to ship fuel around everywhere to holding takes with vehicles that in turn use fuel and that required fuel to build in the first place. Delivered to your EV without all the energy-wasting middle-men required to refine and transport gasoline all over the country, it's far more efficient and easier to control the efficiency/pollutants. All of these reasons are why it's a far better idea than hydrogen or any other alternative source. Undoubtedly, we'll still see gas engines for years, we'll see hybrids more and more (especially in the sports-car world, where you can recover braking energy to slingshot out of turns), but we'll also see a gradual shift to EVs. Battery technology in the development phase right now will be offering many times more storage capacity than the best that Tesla currently offers, around 15 years down the road. Naysayers always seem to try and throw up some kind of argument that the proponents are going to "flip" some giant switch somewhere in 2020 and all of a sudden the government is going to come and confiscate your gas engines and there will be infrastructure. The thing about electric is that there already IS infrastructure (as opposed to hydrogen) and it will continue to get upgraded through the years as more and more EVs are built, there will not be some date where all of a sudden everything is EV, it will just be a gradual change that is likely to not finish through any of our lifetimes, due to many industries and applications where it will take significant further technology and development. I think a lot of it also has to do with fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of something different. Who knows what the future holds exactly, maybe we'll be able to download new maps to increase performance, or have some kind of safe over-charge function, or whatever, we really don't know, but I think this lack of information/knowledge really scares some people and makes them hold on more tightly to what they know. Tesla will most likely survive, but they are facing a big challenge. They have made practical EVs reality, but they are balancing spreading themselves too thin (to generate investment revenue) with meeting their production goals for what they have agreed to. Elon has his hands in so many things that he can likely shift enough around to keep Tesla on a lifeline, but the delivery of the model 3 needs to happen before we see too many of these truck, roadster and other Tesla ideas. Tesla is following the same basic steps that any technology manufacturer has followed bringing new technology to the market place. The idea that they are not turning a profit on a specific line at a certain time is not new, it's what has brought you all sort of technological gifts from incorporated companies, but it's subject to that same playing field that can collapse if you spread yourself too thin and can't follow through with your production. |
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01-01-2018, 11:30 AM | #30 |
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Too bad he is struggling to get manufacturing up to snuff....Any former Big3 personnel available to help him out?...lol...He needs to poach a Lee Iaccoca type to crack the whip perhaps and get things going ...lol...
Would be a shame if something with a demand and following like this fizzles out and the US can't step up to the plate and produce a new car line, with potential jobs and economic activity going to waste....I hope he gets it together and his car company is a success. |
01-14-2018, 04:59 PM | #31 | |
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You gotta be able to create , be great and innovate GM does it best ! |
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01-15-2018, 07:17 AM | #32 |
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IMO, Tesla cars are “feel good” cars for the wealthy. 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.
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. 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. 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).
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01-15-2018, 10:59 AM | #33 | ||||
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Like sports cars?
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Everything happens for a reason, except when it doesn't, but even then, you can, in hindsight, fabricate a reason that satisfies your belief system.
2018 2SS 1LE 2023 Colorado ZR2 2022 Stinger GT-line AWD |
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01-15-2018, 11:29 AM | #34 | |
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“The Eagles and the Captain and Tennille ruled the airwaves, and we were the answer to it.” - Joey Ramone
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01-15-2018, 11:41 AM | #35 | |
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01-15-2018, 11:48 AM | #36 | |
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Reports range from 27 to 180 deaths as a result of rear-impact-related fuel tank fires in the Pinto, but given the volume of more than 2.2 million vehicles sold, the death rate was not substantially different from that of vehicles by Ford's competitors. The far more damaging result for Ford was the PR disaster.
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“The Eagles and the Captain and Tennille ruled the airwaves, and we were the answer to it.” - Joey Ramone
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01-15-2018, 12:55 PM | #37 |
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JNB,
My post was not intended to incite an argument with you. I’m not waving any “no way” flags. I’m just not convinced Musk and his car are the “second coming” and I’m not willing jump into the end to end economics of the Tesla ownership experience, even though one his Model S cars would fit within my budget and within my daily commute needs. I do know several people that own Model S cars and some have gotten out of them. There are a number of them coworkers drive to my work. All have brought up the issues of “refueling” on cross country trips and the economics. All had gasoline cars in addition to the Tesla. All can afford all the gasoline a 7 Series could burn. A few weeks ago, I watched as a couple waiting for the charge to come up on their Models S at the charging station at Harris Ranch halfway between LA and Frisco. They were there when we arrived for lunch and gas and when we left. I think the one of the more significant contributions Tesla made is building attractiveness to an electric car. Electric cars have been around for near 100 years. Musk neither invented the electric car, electric motor, nor the lithium battery. All of it was being used in toy cars before he used these components and if he was the first, good on him. But it was going to happen with or without him. In contemporary times, Ford had the EV. It was a bottom feeder econo car. Musk took a different tact and went for the money. He made an electric car cool to own. He’s doubling down on investing in the cool factor by building the proposed roadster. I think it’s a smart move. But really....Tesla stock has a paper a-hole at this time. I’m not buying his cars or his stock. If you like the Tesla, I wouldn’t think less of you for purchasing one. And yes, I do think they are “ like a sports car”. That’s not a bad thing.
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02-11-2018, 12:26 PM | #38 |
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A few more recent articles about our friends at Tesla...
https://www.dailybreeze.com/2018/02/...odel-3-delays/ https://www.dailybreeze.com/2018/02/...ears-report-2/ |
02-11-2018, 01:38 PM | #39 |
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What I love is you got a company that is supposed to be a "green" company. What do they do? Burn up tons of rocket fuel just to dump their garbage into space to end up lord knows where. Good job. They are posers just like everyone else claiming to be saving the environment.
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02-11-2018, 01:49 PM | #40 | |
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https://electrek.co/2016/11/01/break...le-bottleneck/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/graph...m-ion-battery/
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“The Eagles and the Captain and Tennille ruled the airwaves, and we were the answer to it.” - Joey Ramone
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02-11-2018, 03:09 PM | #41 | |
I used to be Dragoneye...
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I thought the exact same thing when I saw all the news articles. |
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02-11-2018, 09:33 PM | #42 | |
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I haven't heard a single treehugger complain about this. |
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