Quote from: Analixus on November 18, 2012, 07:07:59 AM

The Tesla is pretty bad ass.  I'd get one if they can get to 400miles on a charge before Audi or Lexus do.  Audi might be out after the E-Tron got axed.

They were claiming about 230 miles with their 60kWh battery ($57k - site says $60k), and 300 miles with their 85 kWh battery (site says $70k.) The longest I usually drive is to El Paso from Irvine. I stop in Phoenix which is roughly $300-$400 miles. Their Model-X SUV also looks interesting.

Thanks. I'll keep an eye on them. My wife and I got pretty excited mainly because we thought they were going to be way above $50k only to find out that they are becoming more affordable now.

Yeah I'm digging the Model S, much more than the Fisker, who can't seem to stop their cars from catching on fire. The Fisker is also much heavier, MUCH noisier when the GM Ecotec 4cyl (which was never designed to be used as a generator) is running, slower, and doesn't handle as well. It's also way more expensive. Other than that, it's great.

My concern about the monster screen in the Tesla is I wonder what the boot time is. Nearly all of the controls in the Fisker are similarly operated via touch screen, and supposedly it can take 30 seconds or more to boot and become user operable. That means no climate control. That means if you had the A/C on and the fan up and you get in the next morning and its freezing out, the car will sit there and blow cold air at you for 30 seconds while you wait for the screen to boot, and there's nothing you can do about it. That's not an improvement over dedicated buttons - it's a disaster. ALL of the controls in the Tesla are on that screen, so if they don't have some sort of instant on system, I'm not interested.

50/50 isn't ideal btw, that's a mythology perpetuated.  50/50 is ideal if your car is standing still in a parking lot.  But hey, it's better than 65/35.

My main goal is the Irvine to Las Vegas range of about 300 miles.  Since the published ranges are 'ideal' I imagine a 400 mile range should compensate for AC and some occasional lead footing.

Bear in mind too that the real advantage of electric vehicles is being able to plug into someone else's outlet, not your own.

I'm pretty sure Tesla's Supercharger stations are free to use for owners. The EPA rating for the top battery pack is somewhere around 265 miles if I recall, amazing that it took this long for electric cars to finally beat the ranges of 100 year old rolling phone booths with Edison lead acid batteries.

Those stations are only in a few select locations and only available to the two higher tier models either as standard or upgrade.  Not for the base model.  But yes, that too would be Tesla's outlet as they'd pay for it. Wait, actually, you'd pay them to offer it by buying the car, nvm.  Kind of like corporate taxes on the middle class.     I have seen a few new stations at one bank and Vegas hotels.  Fry's has had them for ages.

Those phone booths didn't safety features, creature comforts or other regulations and performance requirements to worry about.  Top speed one hundred years ago was slower than a horse.  That's helps extend range quite a bit. 

Those phone booths didn't safety features, creature comforts or other regulations and performance requirements to worry about.  Top speed one hundred years ago was slower than a horse.  That's helps extend range quite a bit.

Safety features no, but then they weren't ever really going fast enough to need something like airbags. They did have creature comforts though. Electric cars in those days were made for women about town, and the interiors were designed like a parlour room.

That doesn't have AC does it?

The 2007 Lexus LS460 had everything capable of driving itself.  In fact, Lexus was asked about this fact and if they would seize upon the technology in the car to do so, they replied their legal counsel thought it would be a bad idea to 'implement' it.