tesla , the future ?

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in light of myron ebell's recent comments on the level of subsidy afforded elon musk i think it is possible there may be a lot less american tax payer cash heading his way in the near future. as cash flow already appears to be a problem http://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2016/10/31/... could this be the beginning of the end for tesla ?

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i don't think there are lots of people looking for ev's to fail. i think there are a lot of people that think there are huge infrastructure and power supply issues to solve before we make the step to ev's being the vehicle of choice .
they are a great option as a daily commuter for those doing regular journeys to and from a place of work and those that rarely travel far. the way the average virtue signalling city council thinks these days this sector will need to expand rapidly as city bans for ice become the norm. although if the aforementioned council actually did some research they would find the "green" credentials do not stack up in a lot of areas.

once the big boys of the industry stop playing at it tesla may well be toast anyway. how in hells name they can justify the price for what they currently produce i have no idea. yes batteries are expensive, but they are basically an empty fuel tank, that currently are not up to lasting the life of the vehicle. i always thought one of the benefits of an electric car would be a drop in price from a similar spec ice vehicle as there is a huge reduction in moving parts and electronics. yes , i am a bit naive at times.

the main good news story from tesla for me is they are an american company, so at least it is not the uk tax payers buck this time.

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fblm said:

RobDickinson said:

Yep utterly impossible, shame its already been done.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/london-st...

They wont be fast chargers, just low wattage trickle charge meant for overnight topups I guess

Come on. How many of those can you put on one street? Think about it. That's a 4.6kW charger. A street with 10 lamp posts a side would need a 480A circuit! 480A at 240V! Does that mean anything to you? It's a solution that can only provide a tiny handful of locations in any area. It's so obviously not a solution beyond a few first adopters. Honestly, I just don't think you or many people appreciate how much power these cars need and the challenges of providing it to more than a handful of people at a time on circuits not designed for it.

to be fair it would be quite handy up here in scotland during the winter for keeping the roads and paths clear of snow and ice around housing estates. the council would save a fair whack on wages and grit as well

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surely that depends on where you live and your lifestyle. i accept i am far from the norm but i do around 30k miles every year just going recreational fishing. 350 mile round trips where the venue is in the back of beyond are a regular occurrence . i do not see many car sharing options for people like me,and there are plenty of us. climbers, hill walkers,trout/salmon anglers etc.

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Zoon said:

I'm pretty certain my next car will be 100% electric, most of my mileage is a set routine not a long distance.

as most families have more than one car these days i think electric cars probably make sense for more people than i originally thought. without a doubt an electric car would be perfect for my wife , one charge would last a week no problem. the price of them will need to drop a fair bit before it becomes a viable alternative to her current small petrol hatch though.

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El stovey said:

Yup and automated vehicles all communicating with each other and optimising routes and lanes. Traffic will be hugely reduced (assuming they don’t all randomly stop due to glitches or rubbish on the road etc ).

sounds good, lots of empty roads for hooning around on motorcycles

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have we had this yet ? sec investigation not mentioned to shareholders ? https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/m...

did someone mention a recall may be a bigger issue for them than established manufacturers ? https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-29...

it should all be fine though because people working for free will be able to achieve what paid employees can't. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-29...