Anyone On Here Own A TESLA

mrhotdice

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Ridden in one. The technology is scary and awesome. Not sure how long it would take me to trust it driving down the road going 75 without my hands on the wheel.

With that said. I have proclaimed since I rode in it that the minute they figure out how to charge those batteries in the same amount of time it does to fill a tank with gas, gas cars will be obsolete.
I think the gas companies will be ahead of you. Why. Because it would take decades just building charging stations. EV have their place but hard to convince a trucker that delivers most good consumed by Americans that drive 24-7 that some type of fuel source Other than batteries will work.
 

Dore95

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I'm not sure why truck drivers' preferences would have anything to do with this. They can continue to drive their diesel trucks. We are talking about regular consumers who largely drive close enough to home to just charge at at night. I do not know why it would take "decades" to build enough charging stations to accommodate those who need to charge on the road or at hotels. That is already being done in fact.
 
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Fact_Checker

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Ridden in one. The technology is scary and awesome. Not sure how long it would take me to trust it driving down the road going 75 without my hands on the wheel.

With that said. I have proclaimed since I rode in it that the minute they figure out how to charge those batteries in the same amount of time it does to fill a tank with gas, gas cars will be obsolete.
Exactly. In 15 years electric vehicles already do everything better than a gas auto except for refuel and tow. That's it.
 

Dore95

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What exactly do they do "better"?
How about allow you to operate a vehicle more cheaply?

Or is the idea of an electric car too much of a "lib" concept for you? Are you against fuel efficiency in general or do you look down on people who try to save money on gas? How about people who put solar panels on their home?
 

Tskware

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How about allow you to operate a vehicle more cheaply?

Or is the idea of an electric car too much of a "lib" concept for you? Are you against fuel efficiency in general or do you look down on people who try to save money on gas? How about people who put solar panels on their home?

One thing I discovered while researching the Tesla is how little on going maintenance they require, no oil changes, transmission fluid, etc. I know my hybrids hardly ever needed brake work, because of the technology, I assume Tesla works the same way. Thus, in the long run, they can cost a lot less to maintain than your typical high end Mercedes or BMW. Maybe I am wrong and someone can correct me, but that is what I was told.
 
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How about allow you to operate a vehicle more cheaply?

Or is the idea of an electric car too much of a "lib" concept for you? Are you against fuel efficiency in general or do you look down on people who try to save money on gas? How about people who put solar panels on their home?
All that money you saved on gas will likely be put to your electric bill now. Especially if you have 3 or 4 cars to charge. Then you will probably have to have a special charging station wired into your circuit breaker box. I'm sure 4 cars would be to much of a load on one outlet. Also what do you do if you have no garage or an outside outlet? There's another expense with adding them.

Just wait until there are millions of cars being charged at night in the summer with everyone running their air conditioners. That's when the power plants normally can ease up a bit after taxing them hard all day. Now you put all that extra wear and tear on them. Some states already struggle with keeping the power on. Now you likely have to build more power plants.

As bad as the economy is right now and will continue to be with all of the big spending going on, you probably won't see as many people out buying new vehicles. I'm about to pay off my car this year and it only has 70k miles on it. I sure as hell am not going to go buy something electric and have to start all over with another 5 to 6 years of car payments. I'll likely drive it until it falls apart years down the road.
 

DSmith21

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How about allow you to operate a vehicle more cheaply?

Or is the idea of an electric car too much of a "lib" concept for you? Are you against fuel efficiency in general or do you look down on people who try to save money on gas? How about people who put solar panels on their home?
Currently electric vehicles are about $650 per year cheaper to operate (fuel, maintenance and insurance) than conventional gas powered cars. Unfortunately, EVs are $10,000 to $15,000 more expensive to purchase than comparable gas cars. EV makers have to make a big dent in that gap for most people to want to switch. I am sure that can be done over time.
 
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Currently electric vehicles are about $650 per year cheaper to operate (fuel, maintenance and insurance) than conventional gas powered cars. Unfortunately, EVs are $10,000 to $15,000 more expensive to purchase. EV makers have to make a big dent in that gap for most people to want to switch. I am sure that can be done over time.
Probably going to get even more expensive to buy them with the prices of everything going up. I'm sure the people making the electric vehicles won't like that minimum wage jobs are starting to get $15+/hr. They will want their increase to. That of course will get passed down to the buyer. The cost of going green is getting more expensive by the day.
 

rick64

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No interest. Nearest dealership is Cincinnati. No one here in Louisville knows how to work on them. I’ll pass on Tesla.
 

DSmith21

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Probably going to get even more expensive to buy them with the prices of everything going up. I'm sure the people making the electric vehicles won't like that minimum wage jobs are starting to get $15+/hr. They will want their increase to. That of course will get passed down to the buyer. The cost of going green is getting more expensive by the day.
Lawmakers in DC are also looking at taxing EV mileage since they are currently free riders on our nation's infrastructure . Conventional cars pay the gas tax which maintains our roads and bridges.
 

BlueRaider22

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You’ll also likely be able to make money off of your vehicle in the future. Your vehicle will drop you off at work, then become an autonomous Uber/Taxi carting people around town while you work. Then it’ll pick you up and take you home.
 

Tskware

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Lawmakers in DC are also looking at taxing EV mileage since they are currently free riders on our nation's infrastructure . Conventional cars pay the gas tax which maintains our roads and bridges.

They have been talking about that for years with hybrids as well, and as I said, I have owned three hybrids, but can see why it is fair that there should be a road tax, in addition to the gas tax imposed on gas vehicles.
 

rqa

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Ridden in one. The technology is scary and awesome. Not sure how long it would take me to trust it driving down the road going 75 without my hands on the wheel.

With that said. I have proclaimed since I rode in it that the minute they figure out how to charge those batteries in the same amount of time it does to fill a tank with gas, gas cars will be obsolete.
Back in the early days of Tesla on their website they claimed that once their network of dealers were established that they would be able to swap batteries in the time of a fill up.
If all EV makes standardized on 2 or 3 batteries and mounting then in the not to distant future you could have stations that allowed you to swap in quick order.
 

rqa

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No interest. Nearest dealership is Cincinnati. No one here in Louisville knows how to work on them. I’ll pass on Tesla.
Good thing that they rarely need to be worked on. Anything likely to break isn’t really different than any other vehicle.
 

Tskware

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Back in the early days of Tesla on their website they claimed that once their network of dealers were established that they would be able to swap batteries in the time of a fill up.
If all EV makes standardized on 2 or 3 batteries and mounting then in the not to distant future you could have stations that allowed you to swap in quick order.

Batteries are still the biggest issue with hybrids, in that eventually they are expected to go bad. I had to replace one in a Prius (owned for 15 years though) but owned a Lexus ct200h for almost ten years, 100K miles, and never replaced it, in fact, local Lexus dealer said they had never replaced one. I sold it and gave the buyer a one year warranty on the battery in January, so I am half way in the clear, need it to last six more months. 🤞
 

rqa

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Batteries are still the biggest issue with hybrids, in that eventually they are expected to go bad. I had to replace one in a Prius (owned for 15 years though) but owned a Lexus ct200h for almost ten years, 100K miles, and never replaced it, in fact, local Lexus dealer said they had never replaced one. I sold it and gave the buyer a one year warranty on the battery in January, so I am half way in the clear, need it to last six more months. 🤞
Son has a ct200h…they really like it.
 
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Tskware

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Son has a ct200h…they really like it.

It was a great car, gave me almost no trouble, unbelievably economical, got 45 MPG in town, but after 10 years, was just tired of it. I was surprised to learn Lexus quit making it a year or two ago.
 

cole854

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Drive better, have better options, way less maintenance, cost less to operate, cost less to fuel.
Drive better and have better options than what? Keep it apples to apples and we'll see how you rate.

Less maintenance/operation costs, fuel....well, are you comparing a $50K German car against an $80K Tesla? I guarantee you I won't come close to the $30 diff w/ a German model, for example.
 

BlueRaider22

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Drive better and have better options than what? Keep it apples to apples and we'll see how you rate.

Less maintenance/operation costs, fuel....well, are you comparing a $50K German car against an $80K Tesla? I guarantee you I won't come close to the $30 diff w/ a German model, for example.


At this current time there are some things that EV's do better, but really the biggest change will come in time.

-Noise - It's like driving a golf cart.....they're very quiet.

-EV's are wicked quick. Electric motors yield near instant torque. That's why you can get supercar 0-60 times in even Tesla's cheapest models. The Model 3 can do 0-60 in 3.1 seconds.....and they have models that can get there in under 2 seconds.



-Due to the instant torque, EV's are great at towing.




-Infrastructure and size - Electric motors and components are much smaller and can be configured in various forms. For example, since electric motors are smaller than ICE engines, you have more flexibility on cabin interior, steering mechanisms, etc. Batteries can be dispersed along the floor of the vehicle yielding a very low center of gravity....which helps in handling, etc. Also, it reduces the need for gas tanks, etc......which can lead to more interior/cargo space.

-Lower maintenance - No need for regular oil changes, etc. Theoretically less moving parts and components to break which theoretically means less can go wrong.......theoretically.

-Lower cost to operate - Yes, you eat the cost on the sticker....so, you don't really save much, but you don't have to worry about paying for gas, etc.







But there are plenty of downsides......


-No mechanics - Who can work on them? And how expensive is it to fix something?

-Reliability - And you're absolutely going to need mechanics....because EV's are not great right now. (mainly Tesla) Tesla routinely ranks at or near the bottom in brand reliability.







-Towing - When you tow with a ICE, your MPG's decrease. The drop can be a little or it can be substantial. Obviously this depends on what you're towing and what with. This is not anything new. This happens to EV's as well.......but the effects are much, much worse. Driving ranges absolutely tank on most EV's with towing.

-Cost - Right now, EV's are more expensive to purchase from the dealer. Sure, they may cost less to operate, but you pay it up front.

-Range - Right now, it's not much different than most ICE ranges.

-Charging - not many charging stations and it often takes a while to charge.






Much of the issues with EV's will be worked out in time. That's why the move away from ICE will take a while........it'll transition slowly over the next 10-20 yrs. Think of how things were circa 1900. Automobiles were just being introduced. People were wondering what they do that's better than horses.......and at the time, there wasn't much that they did do that was better than horses........but it changed the world none-the-less.
 
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All that money you saved on gas will likely be put to your electric bill now. Especially if you have 3 or 4 cars to charge. Then you will probably have to have a special charging station wired into your circuit breaker box. I'm sure 4 cars would be to much of a load on one outlet. Also what do you do if you have no garage or an outside outlet? There's another expense with adding them.

Just wait until there are millions of cars being charged at night in the summer with everyone running their air conditioners. That's when the power plants normally can ease up a bit after taxing them hard all day. Now you put all that extra wear and tear on them. Some states already struggle with keeping the power on. Now you likely have to build more power plants.

As bad as the economy is right now and will continue to be with all of the big spending going on, you probably won't see as many people out buying new vehicles. I'm about to pay off my car this year and it only has 70k miles on it. I sure as hell am not going to go buy something electric and have to start all over with another 5 to 6 years of car payments. I'll likely drive it until it falls apart years down the road.

Texas is experiencing exactly that. Collapsed under a rare cold, now struggling under heat too.

The existing infrastructure isnt ready. Plus it's just swapping oil at the tank for oil at the outlet. Nothing changes with the environment. Of course people always pretend that isn't the case.
 

ukalum1988

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All that money you saved on gas will likely be put to your electric bill now. Especially if you have 3 or 4 cars to charge. Then you will probably have to have a special charging station wired into your circuit breaker box. I'm sure 4 cars would be to much of a load on one outlet. Also what do you do if you have no garage or an outside outlet? There's another expense with adding them.

Just wait until there are millions of cars being charged at night in the summer with everyone running their air conditioners. That's when the power plants normally can ease up a bit after taxing them hard all day. Now you put all that extra wear and tear on them. Some states already struggle with keeping the power on. Now you likely have to build more power plants.

As bad as the economy is right now and will continue to be with all of the big spending going on, you probably won't see as many people out buying new vehicles. I'm about to pay off my car this year and it only has 70k miles on it. I sure as hell am not going to go buy something electric and have to start all over with another 5 to 6 years of car payments. I'll likely drive it until it falls apart years down the road.
^^ Still the post of the thread right here.

Another big picture consideration are the minerals that are used to make EV batteries - cobalt, manganese, lithium, nickel, etc. and the energy and environmental impact necessary to extract, process, and refine these minerals into battery-ready condition. Cobalt is particularly problematic because 60% of the world's supply in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

With respect to the power grid issues that KyCatFan mentions, just wait til the green knuckle-draggers get their way and force more electric power to be sourced from renewable sources. Brownouts and other problems like what has been experienced in CA and TX will become more commonplace as supply and demand get pinched due to more EVs getting on the road.

You can take my spark-ignition, gasoline-powered vehicle when you pry my cold dead hands from the steering wheel.
 

rqa

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What exactly do they do "better"?
You like performance? How many production gas powered vehicles you know that will do 0-60 in under 2 seconds? …and give you the cost equivalent of about 120 mpg.
Using national average electric pricing it costs about $7 to fully charge from zero. The KY/TN region has 25-30% lower pricing on power than that average meaning a fill-up would be about $5 around here.
 

rqa

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No interest. Nearest dealership is Cincinnati. No one here in Louisville knows how to work on them. I’ll pass on Tesla.
Only thing you need the dealership for is to buy the vehicle. We have a Tesla dealership across from our office and they do almost zero service work. Most of the “service” is done via a satellite link, doesn’t matter where the vehicle is.
 

BlueRaider22

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Only thing you need the dealership for is to buy the vehicle. We have a Tesla dealership across from our office and they do almost zero service work. Most of the “service” is done via a satellite link, doesn’t matter where the vehicle is.


I wonder how they do that? Tesla is known for having a TOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNN of quality issues. The computer parts sure, but how can they work on much of the car without being hands on?
 

420grover

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You like performance? How many production gas powered vehicles you know that will do 0-60 in under 2 seconds?
You can't make the Tesla go faster though. There's no upgrades available. You can't put in a bigger motor or anything like that.
 

BlueRaider22

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You can't make the Tesla go faster though. There's no upgrades available. You can't put in a bigger motor or anything like that.


You actually could. It's mainly just a computer programming upgrade. I don't know if they're out yet though. The computerized traction control actually slows acceleration times to 2-3 seconds 0-60. If it didn't, you'd roast the tires every time you breathed on the gas pedal.
 
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420grover

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You actually could. It's mainly just a computer programming upgrade. I don't know if they're out yet though. The computerized traction control actually slows acceleration times to 2-3 seconds 0-60. If it didn't, you'd roast the tires every time you breathed on the gas pedal.
Drag strip, sticky surface, the right tires, traction control off, it's only going to go so fast and that's it. You can always make a gas powered car faster.
 

Rebelfreedomeagle

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You actually could. It's mainly just a computer programming upgrade. I don't know if they're out yet though. The computerized traction control actually slows acceleration times to 2-3 seconds 0-60. If it didn't, you'd roast the tires every time you breathed on the gas pedal.
I listened to a podcast with one of the drivers from a car magazine. They asked him about exotic cars but none were as big a deal with the staff as the awd S. He said the accountants, legal staff, etc all wanted to ride in it since it had ludicrous mode and they thought it was funny. The people with motorsports background loved it because of the constant torque, but the others weren't prepared, and some even got sick. He described it as brutal, and the lack of noise makes it weirder.

I seriously wonder what traffic is going to be like in 20 years when the equivalent of a Nissan Versa can do 0-60 in 3 seconds and everyone has one.
 
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BlueRaider22

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As it should. But we should be beefing up our energy infrastructure not weakening it.

We are. Biden is looking to dump billions into infrastructure. And the US has been working on it since 2007.





Also, much can be improved just by improving efficiency. Which is being worked on.






Also, Nuclear.

There are 98 reactors in the US......with 2 more being built right now.. And they just approved a new fuel that makes nuclear even more efficient.




And 52 being constructed world wide





Most of the US's clean energy comes from hydro. And they're looking to build more.





Wind......and average of 3,000 more are added to the grid every yr





Solar......








What about the future? Fusion anyone? While this company is shouting that they'll have a viable consumer reactor by 2030, most experts say that fusion power is more likely around 2040 or 2050.

 

BlueRaider22

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Drag strip, sticky surface, the right tires, traction control off, it's only going to go so fast and that's it. You can always make a gas powered car faster.


You're right. You can always make a gas powered car faster because it has a margin to make faster. Electric acceleration is almost instant.....can't get faster than that.