OT: Electric vehicles
- Thread starter BellyFullOfWhiteDogCrap
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Electric Boat has been around for a while.
Whether one likes or dislikes Tesla, what they have done is impressive. Do their cars have shortcomings or things some people don't like? Of course, all vehicles have issues, fans and haters.
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I think it’s smart for Tesla to make up with CA. It’s the biggest market in the US for EVs.
Not to take away from the strong decision-making from either Musk or Gates, but the timing in both cases was everything. MSFT ‘s timing was perfect. TSLA’s timing was perfect.
Good stuff.
That depends.
Don't think Austin gets snow like northern Texas.
The two biggest pluses are no income tax and a much lower cost of living.
Some who live, breathe and wear their politics on their sleeve may not like living in Texas. Same for many who were happy to leave California for Texas. That stuff does not matter much to us, and we will wind up living with the best balance of stuff we like to do, proximity to family, cost/taxes and entertainment options. Have not been to Austin, and it is on our list to visit, but not live.
It got cold in Austin last week and a quarter of the city was dark for more than a day.
I prefer places where the lights stay on.
California may not be the place either.
For all the complainin' people do about NJ, we are pretty good on that front as well as many others. I like it here.
They're hybrids. Always have been.
Diesel powered - mostly. A few nuclear subs, too. None, to my knowledge, are battery-electric.
Your post piqued my interest. Blame the tree-huggers!!!! Probably the ones moving in from California.
BUCHELE: But as rare as ice storms like these are, they do happen. To answer why this time was so bad, some point to a change in city policy around 15 years ago that relaxed rules for tree trimming around power lines. Michael Webber is a UT mechanical engineering professor who served on Austin's utility commission back then. He says the change came after politically connected neighborhoods complained that the city was too aggressive when it came to vegetation management.
MICHAEL WEBBER: They didn't want their pretty trees in their yards touched by the city.
BUCHELE: For years, the utility let trees grow much closer to lines that is industry standard. Finally, in 2019, it reversed course. Elton Richards, who runs the utility's vegetation management program, says it will take years more to go back and clear overgrown lines. But lax trimming standards don't explain the extent of the damage.
Small research subs are battery-only, but EB doesn't build those.
There's also been some small-scale experimentation with closed-cycle stuff, but the fuel (hydrogen peroxide) is much too volatile.
Don't hate Texas for the politics, hate it because Texas.
Not sure about Sedona, but Texans are like the obnoxious New Yorkers of the Rockies, CO in particular. Ski bennies, if you will.
Californians are quickly catching up, though, so it's really a nonpartisan issue that can bridge the divide and bring together both sides of the aisle.
Funny thing, locals in Sedona don't seem to like the invasion of Californians and their "ways." Sort of much like shore people grousing about the bennies down the shore. We are not there enough to notice, and we do our best to blend in when in Sedona (putting away our leather jackets, hair gel, NY sports gear, etc)! Spent some brief time in Dallas and liked it a lot. Seemed like a city I could live in, but the ice storms are worse up there. Texas not on my radar screen. I forget the issue, but some guy got in my face in a restaurant over something stupid, and he said, "let me guess, you are from California." I laughed at him and almost said "No. Much worse. Jersey, baby." Not even sure what that was supposed to mean, but whatever.
Colorado not on my list.
Utah seems interesting, but not sure about the religious influence there.
Sedona works for us, as it is a fairly apolitical place. People are there to enjoy the scenery, the views, the wine, the vortexes, etc.
My brother-in-law's place in Copper has a lift about 50 feet out the back door. Last trip out there my nieces pointed out that you can spot the Texans because they all wear camo ski outfits. And all are called "Tater".
Copper was the first place I skied out west and first taste of obnoxious Texans I got. Half-drunk yokel didn't like that I had a "SuperBee" lift ticket that bypassed the main "line," which was nothing on that particular weekday. Told him, "Take it up with Copper or come jump that big single spot and sit with me instead of your family." He sat with his family, who were trying to shush him and explain the concept.
I don't ski, but I do love the enjoyment of sitting on his back deck, drink in hand, yelling "Hey Tater!" as they wait in line.
I mentioned in another thread but UT governor recently straight up told Californians to stay in CA.
'We would love for people to stay in California instead of coming as refugees to Utah."
Didn't much like him before but gained some respect.
He's apparently good friends with Murphy, who was right next to him begging Californians to come to NJ instead.
Oh Lordstown, just pack it in already.
He did single out Californians, but also said that Utah has no more room for anyone.
Not a great quarter for Lucid either. Why 5 trim levels of the Lucid Air? Simplify the manufacturing of ONE trim level, drive costs down, and sell a ton of them. Then add complexity hoping you've learned from your mistakes.
Yeah, Californians are really just the biggest single-state group.
He should have added Texans, just cause nobody wants Texans. And ... circle closed.
Well he's certainly not wrong about that. I don't think too many people were lining up to buy a Hindenkar.
Interesting idea, but I wonder if a heat pump would be a simpler solution. Manufacturing efficiency needs to be considered.
Ford chose to go with resistive heating rather than a heat pump in both the Mach E and Lightning. Based on the winter range loss @jtung230 and @Knight Shift have shared, it probably wasn't the best choice.
Does Tesla use resistive heating?
Probably has patents out there, but wonder why some sort of solar storage solution on the roof (or integrated with the sunroof) could not be used to capture and deploy heat in the cabin?
Yeah, starting with the model Y in 2020, and the S and X in 2021. Prior to that, they used resistive heating.
During their most recent earnings call, Ford spent a lot of time talking about exactly this:
"I think we should expect all brands to protect growth when it comes to EV. And that we have to expect negative pricing. And that means software and other items like that becoming even more critical. I can't wait to show you our new electric architecture. That's to me, that's the most critical strategic investment the company is making, not our batteries, not the EV platforms, but our new fully updatable electric architecture because what we've learned on Pro is we can make real money on software."
https://s201.q4cdn.com/693218008/fi...q4/q4-22-earnings-transcript-2.2.23-final.pdf
Toyota and Honda kind of bet the farm on fuel-cell vehicles a decade ago. They may never catch up on the EV front. We may see some inroads on fuel-cell trucks. I just don't see them in the passenger car market. Maybe South Korea, but doubtful elsewhere.
Let's not get too carried away, there, tiger.
Well sure, anything can happen. Tesla may wind up being sued into bankruptcy by thousands of grieving families over crashes caused by their flawed software. Aliens might land with a book entitled "To Serve Man" that winds up being a cookbook.
Who can say what the future holds. What I want to know is, when it comes to automotive companies, why would anybody actually care?