[Rap]

Thank god for Harry Reid

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Ab54666]

We've got one at work, we are also sponsoring a team for Formula E http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/teams/amlin-aguri.aspx

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[type968]

A few years back I did some research on Tesla, as I was debating on buying a few grand of stock as I really wanted the car but... rather would put some cash in the company. I read up on Elon, how he was pouring 100s of millions of his OWN money into the company. I figure he was a smart guy, made some money before, he must have some clue and faith if he was spending his hard earned cash. He said his goal was to get all the tech right and awesome. Start of with something niche (The Roadster 110+k? ) take what they learned, get more efficient and lower price with a common platform (The Model S 50-70k with rebates) Then an SUV (Model X at 50k price point on the SAME platform) then a consumer car in the 40k range. He said his goal was to have a widget factory, make the base and build the body on it for Trucks, Vans, Cars, etc. Then lease the tech to anyone with a huge patent portfolio and get out of the car building business. He sold me on this. In the future I think they want to be a supplier and a research factory that owns all the patents and tech for a viable electric car platform.



The infrastructure exists for electricy, it is here and needs minimal modification to support cars, the sources can come from all over the country. Any other tech needs HUGE infrastructure and financial investment for distribution. While things like hydrogen sound cool, the require so much energy to make the stuff, and they still use a lot of mechanical bits to run the car (Which I assume the whole auto industry wants to survive). So little advancement in tech has happend in the last 20 years or more with cars, only slight changes to keep the industry profitable, and push from the governments. This guy Musk set out to change the industry and the world, and I believe make it a better place.



I bought that stock at $27 <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.png" class="smilie" alt="" /> Wish I bought a lot more as I still have to work <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.png" class="smilie" alt="" />



I have test driven one, love the car, pulls as hard as Cayenne Turbo S (550hp and torque to boot)

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[flash]

re: harry reid - he's not perfect, but at least he is one by one pulling his head out of his butt on his out of touch with reality 50s conservative views. lol - he may make a good democrat yet.



re: tesla - wish they made a 2 door convertible version.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[ds968]

    [quote name='flash' timestamp='1409962999' post='161912']

re: tesla - wish they made a 2 door convertible version.

[/quote]



They do : the Roadster ( easily confused with a Lotus )

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Chris Vais]

I see more and more of the Type S sedans everyday. It is a nice looking car. I believe that electric cars are still problematic as we burn fossil fuel to generate the power required to recharge the batteries. Disposal of the batteries is another issue in that they presently are not recyclable. That said these are technical issues that can be resolved given sufficient time and money.



Even with the rapid charge stations an hour wait to recharge the battery for a 300 mile run doesn't do it for me. It would add several additional hours to my trips to Montana for fishing. I want to replace my current Audi A6 Avant with a turbo diesel powered one, but we'll not see them in this country. Now that would be just the ticket for the Montana run.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[ds968]

can't swing a dead cat without hitting a S sedan around here, but i rarely see a roadster anymore..

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Cloud9...68]

Tesla and the electric/hybrid car market is interesting. While I don't have any sales figures on the Tesla, and I maybe see one once a month, tops, in relatively affluent Austin, anecdotally I believe they're doing well. Not so with hybrid and electric car sales in general - their sales are down, as is their already barely-measurable market share. They have a long way to go before they're generally accepted, and with fuel economy of conventional engines improving rapidly, it's going to be a tough road.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[ds968]

[quote name='Cloud9...68' timestamp='1409967179' post='161918'] I maybe see one once a month, tops, in relatively affluent Austin, anecdotally I believe they're doing well. .[/quote]



That's probably because Texas IS one of the three states banning Tesla's direct sales M.O. Arizona and New Jersey were the other two states but there is legislation pending in both of those states with all indications pointing to a lift on that ban very soon. No word where Texas is on that . I think Tesla is challenging the ban in courts there.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Cloud9...68]

You're probably right. I just find it very unusual, though certainly not unprecedented, to see a product at the very top of the price scale doing so much better than those priced more for mass consumption.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[ds968]

Well, maybe the reason we don't see as many of the 2 seater convertibles is because they're not a particularly attractive car. IMHO :-). Heck, if this brilliant blue can't even make this car look good, nothing will, lol. Not to mention that it also seems unless you're a 4'9" , 85 lbs gymnast chances are you're not going to fit very comfortably in it.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[flash]

they cancelled the 2 seater 2 years ago

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Cloud9...68]

It was built on a slightly stretched Lotus Elise chassis, so it was a very bare-bones car. Incredible acceleration, though.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Rap]

DS do you have a lot of dead cats to swing around? Sounds like Tom Sawyer! I wanna got me a couple! Lol

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[flash]

actually, i think it was based on the evora

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Cloud9...68]

Hmmm... I'll have to check, but I'm pretty sure it was the Elise. I believe the Evora came later, and it's a much bigger car. Even with all the batteries, I'm pretty sure the Tesla weighs less than the Evora. I remember the road tests of the Tesla Roadster in which the testers were making very Elise-like complaints about the bare-bones nature of the car. The Evora was a much more luxurious car.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[ds968]

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1409975191' post='161922']they cancelled the 2 seater 2 years ago[/quote]



So what, you can buy one that's just a few years old ( that is of course, if it had the features you'd want but it's bare bones and no space to put much of anything in it ) - far from anything you would even marginally consider... for about ten seconds, lol, ... IMO.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[ds968]

I think the sedan weighs about 4,700 lbs ( oof ! ) , so it needs every bit of that 435 hp and 450 ft/lbs of torque to get it moving as fast as it does. It's incredible off the line..

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[williamoss]

All of these cars bring a new meaning to "lets invite so & so over for the weekend" but we have to tell them to leave the Tesla at home. Can you imaging the electric cost of having one or two guest show up in Tesla's and they both need to change up their cars while staying for the weekend. And what happens when you go to a B&B for the weekend and find an extra $75 charge on the bill, under car charge. makes for an expensive weekend.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[flash]

lol - it doesn't cost nearly that much to charge it up. here in california, a full charge is about $10

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.