...as opposed to California. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/automobiles/stalled-on-the-ev-highway.html
Tesla in the real world...
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BlackICE
GT Owner
Tesla is a joke. When I saw them on the track during the TX rally running with the FGTs, I just laughed! Electric sports car, yeah sure.
Of course its a joke that I am p***** for. :thumbsdow
Of course its a joke that I am p***** for. :thumbsdow
GTJack
GT Owner
The article pretty much says it all. At some point, I expect to read about owners having battery problems.....like the groundeded 787s. I wonder how well the A/C works and how much charge drainage that causes on a hot Texas summer day?
I'm surprised to read an article critical of Tesla. They seem to be the darling of the automotive press right now. Musk has a lot of juice providing the right environment to get journos to kiss him and his company's ass. Electric cars are just not ready for prime time, and barring a series of major, major breakthroughs in battery technology, I don't know that they ever will be. It's not like these battery technologies are completely new and foreign. The known limits of battery chemistry, physics, etc have yet to make them vehicle friendly and the pace of progress has been sloooooow.
I've been driving around a Fusion Hybrid lately. It's another car that has caught hassle for the EPA mileage estimates. Hey, Ford doesn't make the test, they just provide the result. These things vary way, way more wildly than any gas car. When the temperature is 50+ degrees out, from the moment you turn the key on, the gas engine won't come on until it needs to. I was able to easily crush the 47 mpg estimate on journeys of around 15-20 miles. I'm talking like 60-70 mpg. And this isn't some bullshit stripped-out death trap; it's what used to have been called a full size sedan with every heavy electronic gadget known to man. But that's with me consciously driving to maximize battery usage as a sport (which is oddly amusing in its own way). If I drove normally, I tested it in around 100 mile increments and returned about 42-45 mpg average. If you want to have a laugh just seeing the readout, start it off at the top of a trip that occurs on a long, slow decline. It's amusing to take 6 mile trip from the grocery store and get 542 mpg.
Then the temperature dropped. The battery can't operate alone from a cold start condition in a 20-30 degree temp, so you spend 10 minutes warming the car up to get the battery ready to go. If you're doing short trips, this makes they battery function nearly useless. The car still returns 36-37 mpg, which is by no means, bad, but over the course of the year in a cold climate, you will not average 47 mpg. If you didn't have a gas engine to provide the backstop for these conditions, the car would be a conversation piece, not a daily driver. This leads back to the Tesla. If you live in California, maybe. If you have to commute a decent trip on the East Coast, good luck.
I will say though, it is nice to think "I can't even remember the last time I filled this thing up" when it finally warns you to refuel.
I've been driving around a Fusion Hybrid lately. It's another car that has caught hassle for the EPA mileage estimates. Hey, Ford doesn't make the test, they just provide the result. These things vary way, way more wildly than any gas car. When the temperature is 50+ degrees out, from the moment you turn the key on, the gas engine won't come on until it needs to. I was able to easily crush the 47 mpg estimate on journeys of around 15-20 miles. I'm talking like 60-70 mpg. And this isn't some bullshit stripped-out death trap; it's what used to have been called a full size sedan with every heavy electronic gadget known to man. But that's with me consciously driving to maximize battery usage as a sport (which is oddly amusing in its own way). If I drove normally, I tested it in around 100 mile increments and returned about 42-45 mpg average. If you want to have a laugh just seeing the readout, start it off at the top of a trip that occurs on a long, slow decline. It's amusing to take 6 mile trip from the grocery store and get 542 mpg.
Then the temperature dropped. The battery can't operate alone from a cold start condition in a 20-30 degree temp, so you spend 10 minutes warming the car up to get the battery ready to go. If you're doing short trips, this makes they battery function nearly useless. The car still returns 36-37 mpg, which is by no means, bad, but over the course of the year in a cold climate, you will not average 47 mpg. If you didn't have a gas engine to provide the backstop for these conditions, the car would be a conversation piece, not a daily driver. This leads back to the Tesla. If you live in California, maybe. If you have to commute a decent trip on the East Coast, good luck.
I will say though, it is nice to think "I can't even remember the last time I filled this thing up" when it finally warns you to refuel.
Wwabbit
GT Owner
In fairness, it takes years of real world use, failure and development for new technologies like these to mature. Consumer participation provides an important funding source to make it all happen. Marketing will always lay claim to the moon, but this stuff is here to stay and it's coming on fast.
FikseGTS
GT Owner
I've got one, so far so good.... ran 12.3 @ 110.8 MPH, 0-60 in 3.9 seconds on the VBOX, also took down a Viper..... 
Put 1200 miles on the car so far consuming 460 kWh @ 11 cents, so $50 worth of electricity.... It's without question ready for everyday use, just not long trips unless you plan carefully... AC is just as cold/effective as any other car I've had. I've had my share of BMW/MB cars and I would pick this car any day over the equivalent....
[video=youtube;_eECP9hnLlI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eECP9hnLlI [/video]
[video=youtube;VLCdP6sMN9k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLCdP6sMN9k[/video]
Put 1200 miles on the car so far consuming 460 kWh @ 11 cents, so $50 worth of electricity.... It's without question ready for everyday use, just not long trips unless you plan carefully... AC is just as cold/effective as any other car I've had. I've had my share of BMW/MB cars and I would pick this car any day over the equivalent....
[video=youtube;_eECP9hnLlI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eECP9hnLlI [/video]
[video=youtube;VLCdP6sMN9k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLCdP6sMN9k[/video]
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BlackICE
GT Owner
I believe that a substantial funding came for sources other than the consumer!
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Wwabbit
GT Owner
No doubt, but not many commercial enterprises invest for long without sales. The consumer side not only provides cash but also some pretty important real world testing.
ByeEnzo
GT
Time for confession...since it's Sunday morning. Despite being a total petrol head (10+ cars)...I will be taking delivery of a Performance S here in a couple of weeks. No intent of making it a long distance car here in TX since the supercharging infrastructure doesn't exist yet. Should work fine in the DFW area. I'm going in open minded, much like a Beta test crash test dummy. Don't mind being an early adopter. The technology intrigues me. The car is wicked fast off the line as the above videos show. I'm not doing it to feel warm, fuzzy and "green" since TX uses nat. gas and coal for most of it's electrical production, not renewable sources like solar, wind, or nuke. I have a fairly big carbon footprint with a pickup truck, Ford GT's and vintage cars that run on 110 leaded gas.
The NY Times article points out the temp. sensitive issues with current battery technology. Should not be an issue here in TX in the winter. Summers may be another story. The regenerative braking also doesn't work till the battery pack warms up. Can lead to some surprises when stopping in cold weather.
The NY Times article points out the temp. sensitive issues with current battery technology. Should not be an issue here in TX in the winter. Summers may be another story. The regenerative braking also doesn't work till the battery pack warms up. Can lead to some surprises when stopping in cold weather.
fjpikul
GT Owner
ByeEnzo
GT
DakotaGT
GT Owner
FBA
GT Owner
I saw that video on YouTube a few weeks ago. That was pretty slick eating a Viper with an electric car. I love the configurable drag and drop dash on the Tesla...way too cool. Only thing I noticed last month when I saw one here (lots of snow and salt), was very bad corrosion under the front hood. Not sure if it was a battery venting issue or salt...but it was brutal. 0-60 under 4 seconds in that car is serious!I've got one, so far so good.... ran 12.3 @ 110.8 MPH, 0-60 in 3.9 seconds on the VBOX, also took down a Viper.....
Put 1200 miles on the car so far consuming 460 kWh @ 11 cents, so $50 worth of electricity.... It's without question ready for everyday use, just not long trips unless you plan carefully... AC is just as cold/effective as any other car I've had. I've had my share of BMW/MB cars and I would pick this car any day over the equivalent....
[video=youtube;_eECP9hnLlI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eECP9hnLlI [/video]
[video=youtube;VLCdP6sMN9k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLCdP6sMN9k[/video]
gtinmyblood
GT Owner
Actually the Tesla is a very neat car with an incredible technology. I get the whole "Petrol Head"thing, I've been one my whole life long. But if we get past our built in prejudices and actually look at the technology behind this it is very fascinating. Just MHO
BlackICE
GT Owner
Can you enumerate the 3 most incredible technologies used in the Tesla, or is that something you read in a marketing brochure?
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Yes, it is fascinating. I'm sure it was fascinating in the early 20th century too. Unfortunately for batteries, they haven't evolved much since then, as compared to efficiency gains in internal combustion.
I can see pulling up to one of the "fill up stations" on the Interstate, psychologically prepared to hang out yet again for 45 min after only another 200 miles driving, at a place I would otherwise cringe to take a leak, and...find another EV pulling in ahead of me to the electron pump.
These cars would not exist without government subsidies. Even hybrids, which work sort of ok, make no economic sense with subsidies. You'll never make back the extra cost in fuel savings. Take away tax support and they collapse too.
I can see pulling up to one of the "fill up stations" on the Interstate, psychologically prepared to hang out yet again for 45 min after only another 200 miles driving, at a place I would otherwise cringe to take a leak, and...find another EV pulling in ahead of me to the electron pump.
These cars would not exist without government subsidies. Even hybrids, which work sort of ok, make no economic sense with subsidies. You'll never make back the extra cost in fuel savings. Take away tax support and they collapse too.
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I think the car is interesting, but I think it's going to be a long time (if ever) before we see an electric car that is sub $40k, fulfills all the reasonable expectations of current gas vehicles, and actually makes someone money. Every major company has big electrification strategies, and all of them involve what looks like losing huge sums of money in perpetuity. It will be interesting to see the Tesla quarterly results on the 20th.
Personally I'm a road tripper. I don't like the thought of having to make a fairly meticulous plan of where I'm going and where I'll need to be to charge my car for however many hours. When they have quick charge stations that juice the car in 30 minutes in bumble**** Wyoming on I-80, then I'll get on board! :lol
Personally I'm a road tripper. I don't like the thought of having to make a fairly meticulous plan of where I'm going and where I'll need to be to charge my car for however many hours. When they have quick charge stations that juice the car in 30 minutes in bumble**** Wyoming on I-80, then I'll get on board! :lol
BlackICE
GT Owner
PL510*Jeff
Well-known member
A few years ago, Tesla did an endurance trip from L.A. to Seattle.
Chase vehicle had diesel gen. set. Trip north took 2 days, which is pretty normal for 1,200 miles.
w/o generator "on board", that trip would have taken 4 days. Using household 110v. to re-charge is very time consuming.
Chase vehicle had diesel gen. set. Trip north took 2 days, which is pretty normal for 1,200 miles.
w/o generator "on board", that trip would have taken 4 days. Using household 110v. to re-charge is very time consuming.