Posted on 11/18/2013 8:44:30 AM PST by jazusamo
Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, seems to have reached cult status with green ideologues, as well as with many in the media. Musk's name often goes hand in hand with descriptive monikers like "visionary" and "genius." Of course, what Musk is really a genius at is getting politicians to fund his private businesses ventures with taxpayer money so they don't have to make a profit.
It might also be time to step back and ponder the genius of Musk's latest idea. It is for Tesla to compete with Ford's best selling F-series trucks by offering up an electric pickup truck.
According to Businessinsider.com, Musk claims that Tesla may have an electric pickup truck to compete with Ford's F150 in five years. Musk's bold dream comes to light at just around the same time as his even bolder dream of developing an electric, supersonic jet. Neither of Musk's two latest visions seems to be based on logic.
Pickup truck consumers tend to be a bit more conservative than average car buyers, as recently proven by a survey reported on here at NLPC . The idea of impressing their neighbors by showing off how environmentally conscientious they are because they bought a brand new Tesla pickup truck for tens of thousands of dollars more than they could have spent for a Ford probably will not have great appeal to them.
I actually do believe that many pickup truck owners are concerned with conservation. They are just a little smarter about it than the greenies who think that buying a heavily subsidized Tesla or Chevy Volt at the expense of taxpayers is the way to go. Much of the fees from hunting and fishing licenses (which I'm assuming are purchased more often by pickup truck owners than Tesla owners) go towards conservation efforts. While those buying such licenses that help support conservation pay to help the environment, electric vehicle (EV) buyers get paid with taxpayers' money in the form of the $7,500 federal tax credit that is offered on each vehicle. Worse yet, it is debatable that cars like Tesla and the Volt are doing anything to help the environment or meaningfully lessen America's foreign oil dependence.
Perhaps Elon Musk is on to something and those Ford F150 owners have just been chomping on their bits eagerly awaiting the arrival of an expensive, plug-in, electric pickup truck to replace their current models. I doubt it, though. I also do not think that an electric, supersonic jet is feasible. Even those experts in the field have been skeptical on the prospects for electric-powered cars , much less airplanes. Reports have shown that energy delivered by lithium-ion batteries is much less efficient than gasoline powered sources. Consider that it takes all night to charge the 450 pound battery in the Chevy Volt. You can then travel around 35 to 40 miles on the charge, the equivalent of how far a gallon of good old gasoline can get you.
It is not surprising that the same crowd that bought in to the initial lofty (but false) proclamations that the Chevy Volt would be the game-changer for General Motors now believe that plug-in Tesla pickup trucks are going to be a huge hit. Also, based on the continued trumpeting of EV hype by advocates for subsidizing cars like Teslas and Volts, it is not hard to understand the excitement generated by a green cult hero sharing a pipe dream of supersonic, electric jets. Maybe the green dream can include taxpayers paying for floating charging stations where Muskplanes can recharge on the fly. I guess they are going to need some really long extension cords.
Mark Modica is an NLPC Associate Fellow.
My first diesel (a small 4 door sedan) had 425 ft lbs @1700 rpm...my current diesel (a mid sized sedan) has 400 ft lbs @ 1700 rpm.
Its not JUST politicians...
Musk is an expert at getting green liberals, (who don't understand or believe in free markets), to support what are in essence stock based pyramid schemes.
Musk starts a real company with a real product (probably with a government loan). But the company does not generate a profit. Musk will CLAIM the enterprise makes a profit with some sort of non-GAAP accounting. Musk will claim the company is slated for supernatural growth, and his worshippers will buy, buy buy, the stock regardless of fundamentals.
IF you are the first one in, you can ride the stock up and make a profit from other deluded investors who buy in after you. Musk can dilute the stock with additional offerings to raise even more money (how he paid off his stimulus $500,000,000 loan).
But the VALUE is taken from the investor - not created in the factory. So a snazzy, shiney pyramid scheme.
The ford F-150 with the ecoboost is the snizzle! Great truck!
I haven’t paid attention to Musk until the Tesla all-electric started selling but your post seems to fit that perfectly. I don’t see how he can keep finding enough buyers for a car in that price range to keep investors interested.
How are these expected to fare in high water?
The Volt and the Prius are actually very different. The Prius is a gasoline powered car, that scavenges wasted energy, and converts it to electricity for use. So Prius concept = Gas Car with electric assist. Its a 134 hp car, weighing 3,300 lb...fully capably of performing like a normal car while running on gasoline.
The Volt is the opposite. It is an electric car, with gas assist. And the gas assist is somewhat lacking...84 hp for a 3,800 lb vehicle. Ignoring the losses involved in converting this power to electricity to run motors, the power to weight ratio is 1 hp per 45 lb. What car compares to this? I have a hard time finding one. The Prius is 1 hp per 25 lb, or almost 50% better. Remember the Geo Storm inline three cylinder car? It got 95 hp, but weighed a thousand lbs less. How about the Yugo...it only got 65 hp, but weighed 2,000 lbs less...or a 1 hp per 30 lb ratio....still 33% better than the Volt. It really is hard to find a car with poorer specs.
So what does this mean? Well, lets just say the Volt won’t win any drag races in gasoline mode...and remember, after the first 40 miles (equivalent to approx. one gallon of gas), you’re in full time gas mode. The online Volt manual has ‘mountain mode’. What is this? Essentially, the gas engine can’t get you up a sustained incline, maintaining highways speeds. So, if you know a hill is coming up, you pre-emptively drive in degraded mode while in the flatlands...switching to gas only mode, to conserve electrical power...so the electrical power can be used to get up the hill.
So should a Volt owner have range anxiety? I’d say that a Volt owner could not drive in the same manner as an ordinary driver, in some situations. And, frankly, if there’s a mountain between you and home...you may not get over it, without doing some charging, depending on whether or not you’ve planned ahead with mountain mode. Bottom line, its not just like driving any other car. Range is probably unlimited (although I’d love to see a Volt go through the rockies to prove the concept)....but you may be in the emergency lane doing 35 mph.
LOL! I don’t know but it may just light up your life.
And this is a gasoline.
I was planning to make my next truck a diesel for the towing capacity, but this Ford combination is making me reconsider.
A family we ride with is using one to pull a gooseneck four horse trailer with living quarters. A big thing but I don’t know length and weight.
He has nothing but good to say about that truck.
She gets “free” juice at her “environmentally conscious” employer downtown LOL.
She’s got a long commute and claims she’s gonna come out ahead. Only when we find out the resale value can we make the final calculation. Of course gas has gone from $4/gal to $3/gal.
Or what happens to them (or the vehicles) when they go muddin’.
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