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Dare I say it's ill-advised to seek automotive opinions on a scale-model web site?  Try Edmunds or Car&Driver or Motor Trend or Road & Track or even You Tube.  I'm sure there are Tesla forums where you can find out ALL the good and bad about those cars.  I don't have a Tesla or have any interest in owning one besides the ridiculous acceleration mode but do know some batteries have burst into flames and destroyed the cars.  And their self-driving mode that is probably still not ready for prime time.

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The Tesla is a good product although the lack of a dealer network is an issue if you live outside the USA.  But to be fair to Tesla, electric cars really don't need much in the way of repairs like cars with internal combustion engines.  Also you can only get parts from Tesla directly and you need to give the VIN when you order parts.  If you car is in an accident and written off then it is not possible to buy parts from Tesla to repair that car as the VIN is on Tesla's list of cars they will not sell parts for.  Again...not a big deal and I do see Teslas point of view on this.  There is a huge network of owners that buy wrecked Teslas (crash or flood damaged cars etc) and rebuild them.  Tesla will not sell parts for these cars so the owners sell parts to each other from non-repairable cars.  Electric cars are the future, but for now I will cling to my older ICE cars although an electric car would be much welcome as a daily driver.

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There is quite a few of them here in Austin. One fella was using his Tesla for Lyft rides and as a customer just trying to get somewhere I was impressed with it. Like a lot of things though I do not like the price tag on it and in my opinion it falls into that "entitled" category as it comes across that only the wealthy can afford it. If Tesla, or any manufacturer, really wanted to start a electric car revolution make a quality vehicle at a more affordable price range that the majority of working class people can buy at.

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3 hours ago, Whiskey said:

...... in my opinion it falls into that "entitled" category as it comes across that only the wealthy can afford it. 

 

You must be thinking of this electric car....

 

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/amp26551509/pininfarina-battista-ev-photos-info/

 

Makes the Tesla - any Tesla - look like an affordable bargain. 

 

.

 

Edited by habu2
I kant speell
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As a northeastern Wisconsin resident, I do wonder how our sub-zero winters would affect the battery and range of the vehicle.  I love the concept of the electric vehicle but, until technology catches up, they only seem practical under certain conditions and/or geographical regions.

 

Eric

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16 hours ago, habu2 said:

 

You must be thinking of this electric car....

 

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/amp26551509/pininfarina-battista-ev-photos-info/

 

Makes the Tesla - any Tesla - look like an affordable bargain. 

 

.

 

 

I'm thinking that when I see an electric car on the streets in the same quantity of brand new Altimas, Camrys, and other typical sedans, then a revolution will have begun.

 

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Honda offered two iterations of its Insight and Chevy sold the Volt, all of which required government subsidies to make "affordable" to the Joe Bagofdonuts they targeted.

 

Europe and Japan make realistic small local run abouts that I could find useful but I'll never see because of American NHTSA and local regulations.

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5 hours ago, echolmberg said:

As a northeastern Wisconsin resident, I do wonder how our sub-zero winters would affect the battery and range of the vehicle.  I love the concept of the electric vehicle but, until technology catches up, they only seem practical under certain conditions and/or geographical regions.

 

Eric

 

 

Substantial drop in range. I’m from that part of California where Tesla’s are everywhere and they make complete sense. Having lived in Colorado, Missouri, and Kansas for the last eight or nine years.....I think the tech needs to make some huge leaps in range before you can build a case for them in the flyover states or harsher climates. 

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My stepfather had a Model S P90D for a few years and just upgraded to the Model X.  I have spent time driving both.   I can answer a few questions if needed.  

 

We live in the North East (long island) and my folks do regularly take the Tesla up to VT on ski trips.  They have not experienced any performance issues with the batteries.  There is a dip in range in cold weather, but not too dramatic.  

 

 

@Whiskey  The model 3 currently starts at $42K and that figure is shrinking.   There is a $35K version that is in the pipeline and will allegedly be available once production of the model 3 reaches some set of milestones.  Considering the average American consumer spends $34K on a car, that's right in line with a car for the every-man, especially when you consider the savings on fuel and maintenance.  

 

@Slartybarfast  Chevy Bolt starts at about $36K.  We do have a few small electric runabout type cars available in the states.  Don't recall the makes and models off the top of my head, but, we've had them for quite some time.  One is sort of like a glorified golf cart... not approved for highway use, but you can drive it anywhere else. 

 

Autopilot works well.   It is not antonopilot, it is autopilot.  Just like in an airplane, it is meant to supplement the pilot (or driver) not replace them.   If used as intended, it is perfectly safe.   If you lay back and watch a movie and snooze out... yeh, you may end up under a semi truck.   

 

There is a warning that occupies the entire infotainment screen when you engage the feature.   You have to sign off on it before you can access the feature... You cant miss it (the screen is very large, something like a 24" monitor in portrait mode) and it does also define the word "autopilot."   

 

 

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I had an idea , why not build cars like diesel electric locomotives. Have a motor turn an electrical generator at the wheels. if its done right you could run a gas motor sightly above ideal and still have plenty of power to drive with. With the lower RPMs you'll save a good amount of fuel and increase the MPG and range without having to plug up your car.

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5 hours ago, BaconRaygun said:

My stepfather had a Model S P90D for a few years and just upgraded to the Model X.  I have spent time driving both.   I can answer a few questions if needed.  

 

We live in the North East (long island) and my folks do regularly take the Tesla up to VT on ski trips.  They have not experienced any performance issues with the batteries.  There is a dip in range in cold weather, but not too dramatic.  

 

 

@Whiskey  The model 3 currently starts at $42K and that figure is shrinking.   There is a $35K version that is in the pipeline and will allegedly be available once production of the model 3 reaches some set of milestones.  Considering the average American consumer spends $34K on a car, that's right in line with a car for the every-man, especially when you consider the savings on fuel and maintenance.  

 

@Slartybarfast  Chevy Bolt starts at about $36K.  We do have a few small electric runabout type cars available in the states.  Don't recall the makes and models off the top of my head, but, we've had them for quite some time.  One is sort of like a glorified golf cart... not approved for highway use, but you can drive it anywhere else. 

 

Autopilot works well.   It is not antonopilot, it is autopilot.  Just like in an airplane, it is meant to supplement the pilot (or driver) not replace them.   If used as intended, it is perfectly safe.   If you lay back and watch a movie and snooze out... yeh, you may end up under a semi truck.   

 

There is a warning that occupies the entire infotainment screen when you engage the feature.   You have to sign off on it before you can access the feature... You cant miss it (the screen is very large, something like a 24" monitor in portrait mode) and it does also define the word "autopilot."   

 

 

 

 

Was not aware the price is dropping, that's a good start. Thank you for that.

 

The big reason that they aren't being mass produced by larger name manufacturers is of course, the oil industry. Once steps have been taken to curtail the production/consumption of fossil fuels then we can start to see a rise in electric vehicles.

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15 hours ago, Vince Maddux said:

I had an idea , why not build cars like diesel electric locomotives. Have a motor turn an electrical generator at the wheels. if its done right you could run a gas motor sightly above ideal and still have plenty of power to drive with. With the lower RPMs you'll save a good amount of fuel and increase the MPG and range without having to plug up your car.

Hybrid cars like Toyota's Prius and new Corolas, Nissan's Rogue and Volvo's XC60 (among others) do exactly that. But eletric engines are being seen as the future of the car industry, while hybrid cars are mere shortcuts.

 

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13 hours ago, Whiskey said:

 

 

Once steps have been taken to curtail the production/consumption of fossil fuels then we can start to see a rise in electric vehicles.

Or just make better and affordable products and people will flock to them. 

 

 

 

Edited by CorsairMan
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14 minutes ago, CorsairMan said:

Or just make better and affordable products and people will flock to them. 

 

 

 

English is not my first language, so my text may seem confuse and offensive. It's not by purpose, just by incompetence...

I think eletric cars today are better products than ICE cars. Although not a pure eletric, but an hybrid, I bought a Prius one year ago. It's a worderfull marvel of engeenering, but while I recognize Priuses are more complex than fuel based cars and purely eletric cars, it was also a necessary step towards eletric cars. I think that its replacement, 4 or 5 years from now, will be a purely eletric one. I can adequate the hike in eletric consumption by decreasing the expenditure on fossil fuel and producing eletric power from a roof solar panel (btw, my next aquisiton). 

The car industry perfected the "affordable" ICE products through 120 years of evolution, and, in most cases, direct, indirect or disguised subsidies from most goverments through that period. It's only fair to grant a mere share of that subsidies to the eletric car industry

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35k Model 3 is already available for purchase, delivery for the first customers is happening in a few weeks i believe. The standard range plus (at slightly more, 37k) have already been delivered to customers i think.

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On 3/15/2019 at 3:36 PM, BaconRaygun said:

@Slartybarfast  Chevy Bolt starts at about $36K.  We do have a few small electric runabout type cars available in the states.  Don't recall the makes and models off the top of my head, but, we've had them for quite some time.  One is sort of like a glorified golf cart... not approved for highway use, but you can drive it anywhere else. 

Not approved for highway use is a non-starter for most people, including me.  Houston isn't zoned and its metro area spread across 750 square miles.  Gotta have something road-legal to be useful here.

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6 hours ago, caiotfjr said:

 The car industry perfected the "affordable" ICE products through 120 years of evolution, and, in most cases, direct, indirect or disguised subsidies from most goverments through that period. It's only fair to grant a mere share of that subsidies to the eletric car industry

The subsidy just ends up being pocketed by the rich person who lobbied hardest.  Hard to be a taxpayer who funds all these programs 

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I drove a Model3 myself yesterday. It was great. My only concern supercharger network... With V3 supercharger I think it is game over for ICEs once the network is dense enough. It charges the whole batter with 300 miles range under an hour. From 10 to 90% around 35min. You can easily do almost any road trip you want. For daily use they are perfect anyway and they are probably better than regular cars since you actually never have to got to a "gas station" thanks to overnight charging. I am very close to buying one :| D 

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The difference between auto hybrids and diesel electric locomotive it the ICE actually share the drive train with the electric motor via a transmission. A diesel electric locomotive , the diesel powers the generator that put power to the traction motor.  An EMD SD40 has about 3600hp but max rpm is less than 3000rpm , the locomotive weighs in at 300000 lbs and pull much more weight. Locomotives dont have a storage battery. So a guess would be that a car the size of a Corolla would have 50hp the rpm not exceeding 3000rpm to drive just the generator and power the traction motor it would be possible to drive it half way  across the US continent on one tank of gas . The chevy Volt is the closest to this concept.

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Just now, seafuryfb said:

The difference between auto hybrids and diesel electric locomotive it the ICE actually share the drive train with the electric motor via a transmission. A diesel electric locomotive , the diesel powers the generator that put power to the traction motor.  An EMD SD40 has about 3600hp but max rpm is less than 3000rpm , the locomotive weighs in at 300000 lbs and pull much more weight. Locomotives dont have a storage battery. So a guess would be that a car the size of a Corolla would have 50hp the rpm not exceeding 3000rpm to drive just the generator and power the traction motor it would be possible to drive it half way  across the US continent on one tank of gas . The chevy Volt is the closest to this concept.

Hybrid cars like Toyota's Prius and new Corolas, Nissan's Rogue and Volvo's XC60 (among others) do exactly that. But eletric engines are being seen as the future of the car industry, while hybrid cars are mere shortcuts

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On 3/15/2019 at 7:38 AM, echolmberg said:

As a northeastern Wisconsin resident, I do wonder how our sub-zero winters would affect the battery and range of the vehicle.  I love the concept of the electric vehicle but, until technology catches up, they only seem practical under certain conditions and/or geographical regions.

 

Eric

I think the cold weather cuts the range to half roughly.

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7 hours ago, SBARC said:

I was listening to the radio tonight and it seems Toyota is pushing towards the hydrogen fuel cell idea for their electric vehicles.

 

All I could think of when I read "hydrogen fuel cell" was KABOOM! for some reason. 

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