Posted on 07/31/2017 7:41:10 PM PDT by artichokegrower
The Tesla Model 3 has arrived with a whoosh, leaving some tech and automotive writers breathless and blushing.
Wired gasps its “much more than an electric car.” Mashable swoons the Model 3 is “pretty damn awesome.” Business Insider has a topper, saying “the entire world will want this car.” Others getting a few minutes behind the wheel — Tesla limited exposure — found it quite fetching. The first 30 cars were handed over to early supporters and employees Friday.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
I haven’t really kept up with sports cars for nearly 50 years but got a free subscription to Car & Driver and also Road & Track. I was absolutely amazed how fast many cars are now.
Tesla is one of the fastest to 60. That is a big thing to many drivers.
Is there a betting pool on how long before the first one catches fire?
If so, I’m putting down 20 on 7 days, seven hours and seven minutes.
I think Tesla charging stations are kind of proprietary because they charge faster than other EV’s. While I hear they’ll technically work on other cars at lower rates, they don’t want to clog up their stations with slow charging cars, which is kind of understandable. It’d piss me off if every time I try to gas up I’m waiting behind some schlub trying to fill up through some straw-sized fuel nozzle.
Unfortunately, I can see this EV market playing out like Apple vs Android with Apple/Tesla trying to crowd out the competition with proprietary standards.
I never thought they’d get as far with the technology in my lifetime as they’ve gotten. I suppose when they can do a nine-second quarter mile and 0-60 in two seconds, I’ll be ready to buy one. BUT, I’ll have to attach a playing card to the spokes with a clothes pin because that whiny electric motor sound is just... no.
My co-worker gave me a Samsung Note 4 battery to hold today. It was not flat, it was expanding. It was not charging anymore. It is a small battery compared to a car like the Tesla. Imagine the results of a battery failure. You can find battery fires on youtube to see how big even small battery fires are.
There’s no sticker shock. Been clear from the introduction that early prices would be $40-50k for anything better than the bare base stock model, which few would want when looking at what a little upgrade would do. Nobody is surprised.
Great defense against the inevitable EMP attack.
$26k gas gets you about 200,000 miles, so the T3 about breaks even with the Camry. Having driven both a Camry and a Leaf, I’ll take the T3.
Battery costs less than parts+labor on comparable life of a gas powered car.
That sounds like just about the same amount of time it takes solar panels to pay for themselves.
It’s not a solution to everyone. Your needs may vary.
For someone wanting a nice commuter car with a ~100 mile daily round trip, and with easy access to a gasoline car for occasional longer trips (say, an SUV), it’s nice to have such a nice option that’s “topped off” every morning for darn near free. Great acceleration, responsive, clean, roomy, etc.
The Chevy Volt makes no sense at all to me. I can sneeze and do 48 miles, not much mileage at all to justify an electric. A true hybrid is a much better alternative. My daughter drives an Altima Hybrid which gets 700 miles to the tank, and has quick all-around acceleration that is surprising, unlike the Prius which is slower. (The Altima uses Prius hybrid technology but with a Nissan powerplant.) Electric cars are still not ready for prime time, too many negative issues to deal with. Regular hybrids are the way to go.
I advised my Daughter and Son-in-Law to buy a Toyota Corolla as their first car. They did so and it lasted them almost 8 trouble free miles.
By that time they could afford a top of the line Dodge Diesel one ton pickup and a Chrysler SUV of some type. My Daughter drives the SUV with the kids but the pickup will also hold them all.
This is the first few off the line, built with desirable upgrades like 50% bigger battery, upgraded interior, etc. Easy to bump the price by $15k via optional extras.
Don’t worry, it’s been repaid - either directly with interest, or indirectly by related taxes.
I had a Leaf (plus SUV) for two years. Worked out very nicely.
What??? You don’t need some more panache, some more “cool” factor? Everybody needs that and it is priceless.
Same in Denmark...subsidies disappeared and so did Tesla sales.
Brown is proposing to slam the poor and middle class with $3 BILLION of taxes so the rich can have their sexy play toys.
Rush Limbaugh/Shanklin parody of Elvis—”In the Ghetto” fits in this topic.
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