Thoughts about Tesla vehicles?

[Iowanian]

Are you planning to smoke a fatty with Musk?


I don't see me ever having a Tesla, but I should probably get a hybrid at some point. I spend a lot of weeks driving 500-1000 miles in a 3/4 truck.

[FAX]

I have a question.

Electric automobiles are supposed to be environmentally friendly ... that's the appeal, right?

Yet, the electricity used to charge the batteries has to be generated and there is an environmental effect to that, correct?

Do you guys know of a study that compares the impact of electric vehicles vs. gas in respect to total environmental impact?

FAX

[Donger]

Originally Posted by FAX

I have a question.

Electric automobiles are supposed to be environmentally friendly ... that's the appeal, right?

Yet, the electricity used to charge the batteries has to be generated and there is an environmental effect to that, correct?

Do you guys know of a study that compares the impact of electric vehicles vs. gas in respect to total environmental impact?

FAX

That's part of the appeal, yes. Some people aren't aware that the majority of electricity generation comes from burning fossil fuels still.

[FAX]

Originally Posted by Donger

That's part of the appeal, yes. Some people aren't aware that the majority of electricity generation comes from burning fossil fuels still.

Well, the government isn't offering incentives based on the computer chips included in the car ... or its stylish lines ... at least, I don't think they are.

For the owner, the total cost of ownership over time is attractive, obviously. If, that is, it ultimately shakes out that way.

I suppose it boils down to how much coal you have to burn in order to generate the electrical equivalent of a tank of gas.

FAX

[Donger]

Originally Posted by FAX

Well, the government isn't offering incentives based on the computer chips included in the car ... or its stylish lines ... at least, I don't think they are.

For the owner, the total cost of ownership over time is attractive, obviously. If, that is, it ultimately shakes out that way.

I suppose it boils down to how much coal you have to burn in order to generate the electrical equivalent of a tank of gas.

FAX

I suppose the argument is that it is in our national interest to become less dependent on foreign sources of crude.

[Kiimo]

Originally Posted by Donger

That's part of the appeal, yes. Some people aren't aware that the majority of electricity generation comes from burning fossil fuels still.

That's not a reason to not do everything in our power to reduce emissions. The unfortunate part is that there aren't more options for hybrids. There also needs to be more charging stations. We'll get there.

Remember when nobody wanted an electric car because they were slow? lol

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Kiimosabi

That's not a reason to not do everything in our power to reduce emissions. The unfortunate part is that there aren't more options for hybrids. There also needs to be more charging stations. We'll get there.

Remember when nobody wanted an electric car because they were slow? lol

I fully support the attempt to make E-vehicles and hybrids more mainstream.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by FAX

I have a question.

Electric automobiles are supposed to be environmentally friendly ... that's the appeal, right?

Yet, the electricity used to charge the batteries has to be generated and there is an environmental effect to that, correct?

Do you guys know of a study that compares the impact of electric vehicles vs. gas in respect to total environmental impact?

FAX

When you do things at an industrial scale, they tend to become much more efficient. In other words, a car-sized internal-combustion engine wastes a lot of energy to heat loss and such than an electric power plant - even a coal-fired one.

Couple that with the existence of alternative types of fuel that are far cleaner (e.g., nuclear, wind, solar), and e-cars are cleaner and will become even more so as technologies advance.

Here's a pretty good, in-depth article about it.

https://www.theguardian.com/football...-electric-cars

[FAX]

Originally Posted by DaFace

When you do things at an industrial scale, they tend to become much more efficient. In other words, a car-sized internal-combustion engine wastes a lot of energy to heat loss and such than an electric power plant - even a coal-fired one.

Couple that with the existence of alternative types of fuel that are far cleaner (e.g., nuclear, wind, solar), and e-cars are cleaner and will become even more so as technologies advance.

Here's a pretty good, in-depth article about it.

https://www.theguardian.com/football...-electric-cars

That is a good article, Mr. DaFace. (Slow reader, here.) Thanks. (Answers my question without raising additional issues such as aids or ebola.)

I thought it was interesting to learn about the amount of Earth destroying emissions generated when actually manufacturing automobiles. (Seems like a lot, to me.) Now I find myself concerned about the total environmental impact of trains.

FAX

[sd4chiefs]

Looks like Tesla is going to have some competition.

https://robbreport.com/motors/cars/p...ember-2850462/


Porsche’s newest model, the 2020 all-electric Taycan sedan, will make its showroom debut later this year to an expectant general audience and, likely, a nervous Tesla boardroom. The Taycan has the Model S squarely in its sights, promising a more than competitive range of 310 miles and offering 600 lithium-ion-generated horsepower providing a reported 3.5-seconds-to-60-mph thrust. Other six-figure Tesla challengers are in the works, including Porsche’s sister-company effort, the Audi e-tron GT.

[Eureka]

Originally Posted by sd4chiefs

Looks like Tesla is going to have some competition.

https://robbreport.com/motors/cars/p...ember-2850462/


Porsche’s newest model, the 2020 all-electric Taycan sedan, will make its showroom debut later this year to an expectant general audience and, likely, a nervous Tesla boardroom. The Taycan has the Model S squarely in its sights, promising a more than competitive range of 310 miles and offering 600 lithium-ion-generated horsepower providing a reported 3.5-seconds-to-60-mph thrust. Other six-figure Tesla challengers are in the works, including Porsche’s sister-company effort, the Audi e-tron GT.

There is going to be more competition for Tesla in the next few years. I think most consumers are going to think “Tesla” when it comes to electric vehicles on the forefront of technology. Tesla’s auto pilot is the most advanced available and they recently made a big jump in improvements.

Think how consumers think. Would you buy an iPhone 6 for the same price of of an iPhone X? Both are great products but if you were spending your own $$ you would choose the X.

Tesla future is kinda blurry though as they don’t have the history of a manufacturer like Porsche. Also Tesla is not turning a profit and lost 770 million in the 1st quarter this year. I think they just turned their first profit the end of last year (22million).

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by sd4chiefs

Looks like Tesla is going to have some competition.

https://robbreport.com/motors/cars/p...ember-2850462/


Porsche’s newest model, the 2020 all-electric Taycan sedan, will make its showroom debut later this year to an expectant general audience and, likely, a nervous Tesla boardroom. The Taycan has the Model S squarely in its sights, promising a more than competitive range of 310 miles and offering 600 lithium-ion-generated horsepower providing a reported 3.5-seconds-to-60-mph thrust. Other six-figure Tesla challengers are in the works, including Porsche’s sister-company effort, the Audi e-tron GT.

The problem with the way most of the media seems to interpret "competition with Tesla" is that they act like the EV market is a zero sum game. New entrants aren't competing with Tesla as much as you think. Tesla's biggest competitors are gas cars - not other EVs.

[Miles]

Originally Posted by sd4chiefs

Looks like Tesla is going to have some competition.

https://robbreport.com/motors/cars/p...ember-2850462/


Porsche’s newest model, the 2020 all-electric Taycan sedan, will make its showroom debut later this year to an expectant general audience and, likely, a nervous Tesla boardroom. The Taycan has the Model S squarely in its sights, promising a more than competitive range of 310 miles and offering 600 lithium-ion-generated horsepower providing a reported 3.5-seconds-to-60-mph thrust. Other six-figure Tesla challengers are in the works, including Porsche’s sister-company effort, the Audi e-tron GT.

Will be interesting to see how this plays out since Porsche has been developing the use of electric cars in its flagship cars for years and typically a great engineering company. Porsche is impeccable in the areas like build quality and reliability but likely going to lag on tech stuff inside the car.

[Dayze]

my car is only about 15 months from being paid off; only paid like $5500 and financed for 3 years. Gonna drive it until it dies.
at that point, I'm seriously considering some sort of hybrid. I don't have the $ for a Tesla, but I think i could get on board with something that gets amazing mileage and don't need to shell out a few hundred a month on gas just to get to and from work.

I agree with the post made by wutamess. If I'm going to have a car payment (which I always try to avoid at all costs, but sometimes shit happens and you need to carry a payment for a bit).

Hopefully by the time I'm ready for a different vehicle, there will be an even larger market/inventory of used hybrids etc for a reasonable price. I drove my car prior to my current one for 8 years, and I'm hopeful to drive this one for about the same.

I had been out of the market for a long time a few years back and thought i wanted a truck . Jesus...the prices of trucks is just pure insanity. Used, and especially new.

[Zebedee DuBois]

What does it cost to recharge - 'fill the tank' - when on a trip?
I understand from skimming the thread that the range is 300 - 500 miles per charge.