Electric cars and the impact on the environment


BtwoG

GT Owner
Dec 8, 2013
1,039
Atlanta, GA
https://carbuzz.com/news/ford-mocks-tesla-model-3-production-milestone

In 4 hours Ford produces more cars than Teslas all hands-on deck production blitz. And they dont need to work 24x7 in a tent and skip safety testing the vehicles.
 

Brombear

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
May 16, 2013
1,396
Frankfurt Area, Germany
And I own a 2013 Model S.

And I thought running a coal burner is mandatory in Texas :party
 

FENZO

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 7, 2008
1,518
Lafayette, CO
:)
 
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FENZO

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 7, 2008
1,518
Lafayette, CO
:)
 
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MTV8

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 24, 2010
1,017
Houston Texas
Omitting 300 welds? Beyond scary, kind of begs the question, if this is public information, at what point does NHSTA have a fiduciary responsibility/obligation to perform testing on cars where this change has been implemented?

It's a big risk for the Tesla group, and if I were their head of vehicle technology, I'd resign on that note too. Although he will likely be back one day in Washington to testify. Ask the guy from VW.

The more likely scenario is that the chassis had 300 unnecessary welds that have now been removed.

If you go back and look at the recent independent tear down analysis that was posted in this thread, it showed that the Tesla chassis was needlessly overbuilt using excess steel and welds in close proximity.
 

djs

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Mark IV Lifetime
Jun 7, 2007
2,082
 

KennethClay

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Oct 15, 2012
860
New York
Imagine if the CEO of any company ran by adults that wasn’t selling unicorn farts came out and told everyone how tough it was on HIM while running a crematorium for other people’s money.

Came across an interesting article from Fortune, entitled "For investors, Tesla is a Bad Bet". The math is pretty sobering.

The full article can be found at: http://fortune.com/2018/08/28/investors-tesla-bet/ but for those not inclined to click through, here are some highlights:

— Assume investors will require a 8% return on their Tesla shares — which is probably a bare minimum given that this is the epitome of a high-risk stock — Tesla would need to grow its value by 51% by the end of 2024. By the end of that five year, four month period, Tesla's market cap would need to reach $88 billion.

— Today, the world's most profitable major luxury car producer is BMW, which posted after-tax margins of 8.8% in 2017. The view of many analysts is that Musk can advance not only automotive technology, but profitability, and they forecast net margins of 10% — which is a full 14% above BMW. In that case, Tesla would be generating sales of $53 billion in a little over five years. That's an annual growth rate of 31%.

— To achieve that $53 billion goal, Tesla would need to grow its sales by $40 billion, and grab 30% of the premium car market. It would absorb no less than 54% of the category's total growth over that period, leaving less than half for its competitors.

— As it stands today, a trio of luxury brands from three German carmakers BMW, Mercedes-Benz (Daimler), and Audi (Volkswagen), control almost 80% of the premium market, each holding between 23% and 26%. Tesla would need to steal around 14 points of share from the three German companies, or almost five points each.

"Tesla's road to success also requires by 2024, something like half of all the premium cars on the road are electric vehicles, a multiple of today's number," Tully writes. "Elon Musk wants his investors to believe in miracles. He'll need one to make his stock anything but a creaking jalopy in the years ahead."
 

dbk

The Favor Factory™
Staff member
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jul 30, 2005
15,187
Metro Detroit
 

BtwoG

GT Owner
Dec 8, 2013
1,039
Atlanta, GA
The chart is reminiscent of lemmings walking off a cliff.
 

PeteK

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Apr 18, 2014
2,268
Kalama, Free part of WA State
The chart is reminiscent of lemmings walking off a cliff.

Especially if you expand it to show more than one month!
 

twobjshelbys

GT Owner
Jul 26, 2010
6,053
Las Vegas, NV
Was in Colorado last week and a long time friend and technoweenie took me for a ride in his model s. Build quality was excellent. range great for city commuting. Sporty handling neck breaking acceleration. He did a long road trip with charging waits I wouldn't tolerate but then I drove 800+ miles straight through twice in a week.
 

Stef

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Apr 5, 2009
1,082
Southern California
 

KennethClay

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Oct 15, 2012
860
New York
Well anyone who thinks a flamethrower is a good idea...

I never wanted a Tesla...but I did seriously consider getting one of the flamethrowers. You know...for the house.
 

Stef

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Apr 5, 2009
1,082
Southern California
I never wanted a Tesla...but I did seriously consider getting one of the flamethrowers. You know...for the house.

I like this version much better!
Ingenuity in it's best form
https://youtu.be/oCbwX2NsxE0
 

Kayvan

GT Owner
Jul 13, 2006
4,782
You don’t have to worry about the Model 3; the Model is going to be successful.
 

texas mongrel

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
May 3, 2009
1,661
Houston Texas
Seems Elon is clutching at straws - reducing the availble colours in an attempt to “streamline” production. Good to see him following HF1s philosophy tho’ , soon it will be any colour so long as it’s black!
 

dbk

The Favor Factory™
Staff member
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jul 30, 2005
15,187
Metro Detroit
You don’t have to worry about the Model 3; the Model is going to be successful.

Where is your God now?

SEC Sues Elon Musk for Fraud, Seeks Removal From Tesla
 

texas mongrel

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
May 3, 2009
1,661
Houston Texas
A friend got his Model 3 this week. When you calculate how much it costs to fully charge it at home, it’s like filling up a tank of gas, I don’t get it. I’m guessing the SEC is going after Musk on the advice of other Tesla stakeholders - they normally take years to bring charges; this was done in a couple of months. Stupid texts about rescue divers, smoking weed during interviews, and all his other weird behaviour are probably making investors nervous.
 

Awsum GT

GT Owner '18
Mark IV Lifetime
Sep 17, 2005
3,985
Carmel & Cntrl Ca
A friend got his Model 3 this week. When you calculate how much it costs to fully charge it at home, it’s like filling up a tank of gas, I don’t get it. I’m guessing the SEC is going after Musk on the advice of other Tesla stakeholders - they normally take years to bring charges; this was done in a couple of months. Stupid texts about rescue divers, smoking weed during interviews, and all his other weird behaviour are probably making investors nervous.

That's not really correct on the cost to charge unless he charged it during the day and not after 11pm when the rates drop. At least that’s what happens in California. If my Model S P100D is empty and needs a full charge it would cost around $15 to full charge after 11pm and if done during the day it would be around $50. But remember most Tesla's get free super charging.

I don't agree with Musk's tweets and a lot of what he does but the 4 Tesla's we have had have all been great fit and finish and have needed next to nothing as far as service goes.
 

KennethClay

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Oct 15, 2012
860
New York
But remember most Tesla's get free super charging.

Someone's paying for that--just not the Tesla owners. No such thing as a free lunch, as the ol' saying goes.

Teslas have to be heavily subsidized to sell because people don't want to pay the true cost to build/buy/own/refuel. The WSJ reported that in Hong Kong, zero new Tesla Model S sedans and Model X SUVs were registered with the transport department in April 2017, after the vehicle-registration tax waiver for electrics was discontinued at the start of that month. Zero!!! Following that, just five privately owned electric cars were registered in May.

So it's not that they're not good, it's that most good things sell pretty well when they're heavily discounted!