Electric Vehicle Thread!

[Grall]

I'd post the "it's happening!" animated jiff, if I did not know that Certain People hate them so much.

Seriously though, it is happening. Just noticed that a corner locale right smackdab in the centerest center of my city is not yet another uselessly redundant clothes store anymore (previously it was a bank, but since people don't use cash money in Sweden anymore they've all closed up shop and moved online...)

It's going to be a Tesla showroom. Unheard of! All other car dealerships I know of are well outside the city center. Well, except one, but it's located in an old industrial area along the river where there's virtually no people moving about. This is on one of the busiest corners in the entire city. Incredible.

I'm seeing more and more Teslas in my city. Some days I see more than one model S, actually. Yet to see any Model Xes however, I think. It's just a matter of time though, they'll come soon enough. If the "Volkswagen" Tesla ("people's car", for those who don't speak Goosestep) makes it out with the specs it's been said to have, when it's been announced to be released and don't end up delayed again - it could be huge. It stands to be good enough for most people, at a price cheap enough for many.

I used to dream about the 2020s being when electric cars will start to take over, but that's when it will actually happen. For real. Question now is only if it'll happen before 2025 or after.

2035 - fossile fueled cars banned on our streets. Now THAT will be my dream, and who knows, maybe that one will come early as well?

 

[Lightman]

I would love to buy Tesla Model S P90D for my business as I do drive quite a bit, but it's too expensive, even though it would save me £4000-£6000 a year in fuel. Now if prices of good electric cars come down to your average BMW 3 or 5 series prices then I'm buying one straight away as it's pure saving of planet and money in the long run.
One thing I will miss about combustion engine cars will be noise, but that's something that can be fixed with the right 'fake' exhaust pipes and speakers.

 

[Grall]

You know, I personally can't wait until mentally-three-year-old drivers can't oppress everybody around them with their obnoxious engine noise.

Good riddance, along with the exhaust fumes!

 

[Lightman]

You know, I personally can't wait until mentally-three-year-old drivers can't oppress everybody around them with their obnoxious engine noise.

Good riddance, along with the exhaust fumes!

Well, I must be 3 years old coz I love the sound of certain engines. But this is subjective and for instance some cars or bikes make horrid sounds. I'm into racing anything on wheels and engine sound is part of it, but for instance contrary to most F1 fans I prefer quiter more complex sound of new F1 hybrids than old V8.

I wouldn't mind if my electric car made similar noise to starship Enterprise reactor while in warp speed It doesn't have to be Ferrari V8 sound, just something you can associate speed with.

 

[tuna]

It's going to be a Tesla showroom. Unheard of! All other car dealerships I know of are well outside the city center. Well, except one, but it's located in an old industrial area along the river where there's virtually no people moving about. This is on one of the busiest corners in the entire city. Incredible.

Which town are you in? I am in Sweden and have a model 3 booked, but I am not sure if I will buy it or not. The price, service costs and locations of service centers, SC buildout is all a bit unclear.

My next car will definitely be an electric, unsure wheather pure or gas hybrid.

 

[Malo]

The Model 3 should hopefully bring some service centers and superchargers closer. The nearest supercharger to me is 45 minutes, the nearest service center is 2 hours. I'm near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

 

[Karamazov]

the only way to drive an electric car is to wear that suit (and drive that same car)

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

I'm all for banning ALL cars from city centers. Most cities are small enough to get by on foot or bicycle and the ones that aren't usually have good subways. Cars just ruin cities like Kyoto.

I'm against banning combustion engines and I find the whole idea is stupid. Short to mid term I see a lot more future in hybrid cars. Clean when driving in populated areas but no worries about range and no need to spend billions on infrastructure to charge electric cars and the extra road maintenance required because electric cars are much heavier.

 

[Arwin]

I've been driving a Prius since 2008 now and am still very happy with it. It is particularly nice that it can drive completely electric (first of its kind) and always after a trip coming back to the city where I live, that last part is basically always completely in EV mode. That's a big win from just taking lost engine efficiency from unoptimal rev counts to engine and regular breaking, and watching the interaction between the regeneration, battery, electric and combustion engine on the touch display never really gets old. Maastricht lies in a valley and fine dust particle and other air pollution are a thing here so it is nice to (not) contribute.

Many German cities have zones inaccessible to cars that don't meet green criteria, and that seems to work fine, though so far I haven't really needed to get the certificate for that as I usually don't want to park in a city center anyway.

 

[Grall]

I'm against banning combustion engines and I find the whole idea is stupid.

Anthropogenic climate change says otherwise, my friend. Also, they pollute horribly and stress everyone in their vicinity with their loud noise (except three-year-old grown men! ) Our planet simply can't survive our combustion engine use. We're fucking it up, man. Can't you see that?

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Right, so everybody that likes engines is a three year old grown man? If you want to live as some grey mouse inside a rubber tile society with no fun allowed, fine, but don't force that on others.

By the way, my mom visits the Dutch airforce days every other year to see all those horribly loud engines. As do millions of others worldwide. Same goes for motor sports and what kind if kid doesn't smile when he or she sees and hears a Ferrari or Lamborghini?

I said it's a stupid idea because it simply doesn't work. To begin with the whole transport sector (and with that life as we know it) can't exist without burning fossile fuels.

Personal transportation? Maybe, as long as you don't have to drive too far sleep that's not really a solution either and it's too expensive for most people as well. It will be a while before you can buy a perfectly fine used electric car for 5 grand.

That's why I said hybrids are a much better solution in the short to mid term. Weak souls as yourself will be spared the enormous stress related to engines noises, pollution inside cities should stop because most if not all cars would be operating in electric mode but you can still go wherever you need to go because you got your internal combustion engine as backup. It's not a perfect solution but it is a workable solution that is actually achievable in a resonable timeframe without too many downsides.

Yes there will still be pollution but it's not like building battery packs is growing trees either.

 

[London Geezer]

I can't even drive, and I want a Tesla.

 

[Davros]

That's why I said hybrids are a much better solution

I agree especially this one

 

[zed]

and what kind if kid doesn't smile when he or she sees and hears a Ferrari or Lamborghini?

A normal one? So what do I win for answering correctly

 

[Sxotty]

Tesla is not the peoples car at all. It is super expensive and mediocre for reliability. I am glad they exist to show other companies that there is a market, but they are still a drop in the bucket.

 

[London Geezer]

Tesla is not the peoples car at all. It is super expensive and mediocre for reliability. I am glad they exist to show other companies that there is a market, but they are still a drop in the bucket.

Haven't they announced a new model that will cost $30k and might not be on the roads until 2018?

 

[Grall]

Tesla is not the peoples car at all.

Not NOW, no. Their cheapest model S costs like 66k USD. They've said model 3 would sell for 35k however, that's within the means of at least some middle-class people even before government rebates and whatnot.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Still a far cry from a true "volkswagen".

 

[tuna]

Tesla is not the peoples car at all. It is super expensive and mediocre for reliability.

Do you have any source for your claim that Teslas are "mediocre for reliability"?

 

[Malo]

Still a far cry from a true "volkswagen".

It's a big step and should get a lot more charging stations around.