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What happens when a $35,000 Tesla arrives?
CNET ^ | July 20, 2014 2:30 PM PDT | Brooke Crothers

Posted on 07/21/2014 7:37:53 AM PDT by BenLurkin

Tesla said this week that its $35,000 entry, due in 2017 (or thereabouts), will be called the Model 3. One of the keys to making a cheaper Tesla is battery technology, as CEO Elon Musk pointed out to Auto Express earlier in the week.

I chatted with John Voelcker, senior editor for High Gear Media, which publishes Green Car Reports, in the wake of the news. He offered insight into what impact a lower-priced Tesla might have.

Q: Tesla has sold very pricey cars to date. How might a $35,000 Model 3 shake things up?

John Voelcker: A list price of $35,000 is a very nice place to be as compared to the current Model S, which is selling well for its category, but this is a category that starts at $70,000 and goes up to six figures. So, if Tesla can in fact introduce the Model 3, as it's now called, at a base price of $35,000 with a 200-mile electric range, that will take them into a whole new order of magnitude of volume.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnet.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: battery; efv; energy
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To: MrsEmmaPeel

98%+ of daily driving is less than 50 miles. The people who use the 300 miles as an example of “why” you should never by an electric car are creating a red herring.


81 posted on 07/21/2014 10:58:48 AM PDT by Wyatt's Torch
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To: Wyatt's Torch

Eggsackley. I have a 2008 Hyundai Entourage I bought new and it has only 23,760 miles on it and it is the only vehicle I drive. At less than 4000 miles per year I probably could use an electric, but I would still have to have something to make trips in when I make the rare one.


82 posted on 07/21/2014 11:04:08 AM PDT by MHGinTN
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To: MHGinTN

No doubt. We do take family trips in my wife’s SUV. We never take my Infiniti sedan. We’d all kill each other :-)


83 posted on 07/21/2014 11:08:44 AM PDT by Wyatt's Torch
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To: CodeToad

You hate to break that to me? Why did you think I identified as the core market such a limited market as purchasers of police cruisers and taxis? Try getting fares riding around in a scooter. Or (CHiPS notwithstanding) bringing someone down to the station. If you use $6,000 a year in gas, you’re not using a scooter; why do you premise your arguments that a scooter always suffices as an alternative to a luxury car? Any vehicle that consumes $6,000 a year in gas (and is not used for freight) can save a lot of money by switching to 110 MPGe.

You seem to suffer from the notion that the alternative to being a Kool-Aid-drinking barking moonbat for one opinion is to be a Kool-Aid-drinking barking moonbat for the opposite position, that no position can ever be qualified.

(Tip: if something “causes” a site to be eligible for becoming a superfund site, it would never be legal in the first place.)


84 posted on 07/21/2014 11:19:17 AM PDT by dangus
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To: Wyatt's Torch

I really should look into the law regarding those little four-wheeler hunting, etc. vehicles. Might be road worthy for my use around my area.


85 posted on 07/21/2014 11:45:54 AM PDT by MHGinTN
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To: Wyatt's Torch
When I look at Tesla, I see an amazing design, wrapped in a beautiful shell. I always thought electric cars would not truly improve until the battery technology improves. It feels that day has finally arrived.

The pro/con of gas vs electric, I leave to the individual - but what I do applaud -- very, sincerely applaud- is the fact that this technology is made in USA. American plants, with American workers, solving a technological problem and taking that solution to the market place.

It's American ingenuity at its very, very best.

86 posted on 07/21/2014 11:51:54 AM PDT by MrsEmmaPeel (a government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take everything you have)
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To: MrsEmmaPeel

Absolutely! Great post. That’s what just kills me about the Tesla responses on FR. I would have expected better but this place has changed over the years.


87 posted on 07/21/2014 11:56:30 AM PDT by Wyatt's Torch
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To: Wyatt's Torch
I see the Tesla vs gas argument, similar to Windows vs Mac. Part of me, just wants to scream and say: "Who gives a flip? Americans are being employed in American companies.

I get the fact that so many people have an in built bias toward gas cars, and would never, ever (like eating green eggs and ham) think of owning an electric car. But I'm one of those who are interested in new technologies and the problems that Tesla had to solve. So far, as a company, they look pretty impressive to me.

88 posted on 07/21/2014 12:06:22 PM PDT by MrsEmmaPeel (a government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take everything you have)
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To: Victor

What, you don’t like the sound of a Prius, MmmmmmmmGay!.
Courtesy of Peanut( Jeff Dunham)


89 posted on 07/21/2014 12:07:03 PM PDT by GOYAKLA (Waiting for the Golden Screw to be removed from Obama's navel and his a$$ falls off!)
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To: familyop
Not if they're charged on the central or northern Rockies at around -30, F

I believe one of the things that Tesla had to solve was keeping the batteries at a constant temperature. Saw many videos from Tesla fans who live in cold areas like MN or WI and gave the car glowing reviews in their area.

90 posted on 07/21/2014 12:09:26 PM PDT by MrsEmmaPeel (a government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take everything you have)
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To: MrsEmmaPeel

Tesla, and Musk, is a truly disruptive company/technology. Have you seen the video of their production facility in California? Incredible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_lfxPI5ObM

And I;m the same way. If you want a gas car, fine. Good for you. We have two. But it’s no skin off anyone’s back if you are interested in an electric car. the Tesla is the only one I’m interested in (specs and look). I would never get a Nissan Leaf (fugly) but know several people who have them. People berating Tesla as the equivalent of a Prius (and Prius drivers) are just ignorant.


91 posted on 07/21/2014 12:33:16 PM PDT by Wyatt's Torch
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To: MrsEmmaPeel

Here’s part 2 of that video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEReFPI4jSc


92 posted on 07/21/2014 12:36:39 PM PDT by Wyatt's Torch
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To: MrsEmmaPeel
"I believe one of the things that Tesla had to solve was keeping the batteries at a constant temperature. Saw many videos from Tesla fans who live in cold areas like MN or WI and gave the car glowing reviews in their area."

Keeping them at a high enough temperature while charging during, say, windy mornings in the minus-30s, would require thermal energy (examples: heated garage, other heating for battery while charging). One becomes more aware of weather challenges and power systems when miles from the nearest powerlines. And because of the deal between the federal government and natural gas investors to shut down coal plants to run them as gas-fired power plants, electric bills will soon go much higher.


93 posted on 07/21/2014 1:01:33 PM PDT by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of corruption smelled around the planet.)
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To: MrsEmmaPeel

For readers who don’t know, cold batteries have less charging capacity. Very cold batteries have much less charging capacity.


94 posted on 07/21/2014 1:03:21 PM PDT by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of corruption smelled around the planet.)
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To: familyop
electric bills will soon go much higher.

That's a bad deal. Expensive gasoline at least gets poor people off the streets and improves congestion so there's some tangible benefit. Expensive electricity hurts everything.

95 posted on 07/21/2014 1:04:16 PM PDT by nascarnation (Toxic Baraq Syndrome: hopefully infecting a Dem candidate near you)
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To: dangus

I have a 2010 F150 FX4 crew cab pickup (bought in May of 2010). That’s gives me just over 4 years of ownership.

In 241 fill-ups since owning it, I have spent $17,342.00. I have averaged $3.19 per gallon, and $72.76 per fill-up. I have 82,011 miles on the truck (at last fill-up).

Figure that’s $346.84 per month on gas, roughly, or $4162.08 per year.


96 posted on 07/21/2014 1:29:39 PM PDT by ro_dreaming (Chesterton, 'Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. ItÂ’s been found hard and not tried')
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To: nascarnation
On the expenses ahead for power plants, those will go much higher (see "NRG...retrofit," subsidy). Extracting natural gas and oil will continue to get more complicated and expensive in time for the purpose of saving sensitive folks from that awful coal burning.

The Stunning Key That Could Unlock 160 Billion Barrels of Oil Trapped Underneath America
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3182807/posts


97 posted on 07/21/2014 1:42:14 PM PDT by familyop ("Dry land is not just our destination, it is our destiny!" --"Deacon," "Waterworld")
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To: Wyatt's Torch

how about a corvette z06, viper, Mustang cobra jet???

keep laughing..


98 posted on 07/21/2014 3:27:36 PM PDT by cableguymn (It's time for a second political party.)
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To: Mike Darancette

“35K is still a “luxury” car”

Guaranteed if RATS are still in charge in DC come 2017, taxpayers will be footing a $5000 plus GuvMint Rebate to get people into the 3 model. Probably add another 2 or 3 grand in Kalifornia.


99 posted on 07/21/2014 3:40:46 PM PDT by DAC21
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To: dangus

“(Tip: if something “causes” a site to be eligible for becoming a superfund site, it would never be legal in the first place.)”

Your ignorance is exceeded only by your gullibility.


100 posted on 07/21/2014 4:53:28 PM PDT by CodeToad (Arm Up! They Are!)
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