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Will Green Cars Be Exciting To Drive And Enjoyable To Own?

1161 messages,  Last post on May 14, 2013 at 1:36 PM

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Messages Page 117 of 117

#1152 of 1161 Re: Tesla's Soaring Stock [hpmctorque] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

May 14, 2013 (6:31 am)

Replying to: hpmctorque (May 14, 2013 6:14 am)
TESLA is successful because they make a good CAR, not a good electric car.
 
As for California, no automaker's CEO is so ignorant that he doesn't know that California has the 8th largest economy in the world.
 
One isn't marketing to a state, one is marketing to a country, so to speak.

#1153 of 1161 Re: Tesla's Soaring Stock [Mr_Shiftright] by hpmctorque

May 14, 2013 (7:40 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (May 14, 2013 6:31 am)
The fact that Tesla is a domestic company that makes good cars in our country will appeal to some people.
 
Will Teslas be competitive without government assistance and tax subsidies?

#1154 of 1161 Re: Tesla's Soaring Stock [hpmctorque] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

May 14, 2013 (9:19 am)

Replying to: hpmctorque (May 14, 2013 7:40 am)
Excellent question. I have no idea what their actual margins are per car.
 
But subsidy in the market place is not a new idea....I mean directly or indirectly gasoline and mortgage payments are "subsidized", through tax breaks for instance.
 
There are still too many "What Ifs" to judge the future of pure electric cars like the TESLA.
 
What if gasoline goes to $10 a gallon
 
What if there is a huge breakthrough in battery technology, driving efficiency up and cost down
 
blah, blah
 
Some folks compare Tesla to say Tucker but I don't think that's fair, because the Tucker was not a well-sorted product, but I have to say the Tesla seems every bit as good a car as a BMW or Audi or Lexus.
 
As for California "pushing pollution to other states"----well, that is true of anyone using an electric car anywhere in the USA.
 
In Texas, for instance, your electric car would actually be powered by natural gas, being burned....somewhere....

#1155 of 1161 Re: Tesla's Soaring Stock [Mr_Shiftright] by hpmctorque

May 14, 2013 (9:59 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (May 14, 2013 9:19 am)
I believe a big breakthrough in battery technology will be required for electric cars to go mainstream, without special subsidies. It may happen, and probably will, but there doesn't seem to be anything beyond lithium ion batteries currently. In the meantime, ICEs and transmissions continue to become increasingly efficient.

#1156 of 1161 Re: Tesla's Soaring Stock [hpmctorque] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

May 14, 2013 (10:21 am)

Replying to: hpmctorque (May 14, 2013 9:59 am)
there's a piece of the USA market for every type of vehicle and we'll be seeing an increasing "salad" of gas, diesel, hybrid gas, hybrid diesel, hybrid electric, pure electric and of course the occasional gyro-gearloose pedal cars, sail cars, perpetual motion machines, spring cars, flywheel cars, solar cars, etc.
 
Actually flywheel technology isn't out of the question as part of hybrid tech.

#1157 of 1161 Re: Tesla's Soaring Stock [Mr_Shiftright] by texases

May 14, 2013 (10:31 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (May 14, 2013 9:19 am)
How 'green' is an EV when wind power is part of the equation?
Wind farms get pass on eagle deaths

#1158 of 1161 Re: Tesla's Soaring Stock [hpmctorque] by ateixeira

May 14, 2013 (10:54 am)

Replying to: hpmctorque (May 14, 2013 7:40 am)
Will Teslas be competitive without government assistance and tax subsidies?
 
I think so...this is a $90k car once you equip it, $7500 makes little/no difference at that price.
 
Also, it's price competitive with flagships from BMW & Mercedes.
 
A Volt costs $40k, while the Cruze costs half as much. Volt is even based on the Cruze, only smaller, 4 instead of 5 seats.
 
So in that segment the EV costs 100% more to make.
 
Tesla costs the same as other flagships, not any more.
 
Here's the CR review. 99 pts makes it the best scoring vehicle ever:
 
http://youtu.be/458TLFRkAlk
 
Here's a sit down with the senior editors, they list some of the reasons they like it. Like shifty said, it's a good car, period. Not just a good EV.
 
http://youtu.be/EXP4Do1xPGk

#1159 of 1161 Re: Tesla's Soaring Stock [texases] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

May 14, 2013 (11:29 am)

Replying to: texases (May 14, 2013 10:31 am)
It's an interesting question. I'm a firm believer in assessing energy companies for all environmental damage.
 
The oil spill fines are a different matter--that was just carelessness. But electrocution of eagles or vega-matic-ing them is another type of consideration.
 
Having a fondness for owls, I know that a pair of mating owls can easily gobble up over 600 rodents while hatching their young, so wiping out all the eagles in the world might not be a great trade-off for energy independence. It's really a subject beyond my knowledge.
 
Interesting to think about though. Not something we see in the electric car ads, now is it?

#1160 of 1161 Re: Tesla's Soaring Stock [Mr_Shiftright] by ateixeira

May 14, 2013 (11:53 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (May 14, 2013 11:29 am)
Dodge should bring back the Hemi dude with the mullet, have them drinking beers on the hood of a Challenger. Then they see a (fake) Eagle get electrocuted on a power line, and call the po-po using the UConnect interface.
 
I should be in marketing.

#1161 of 1161 Re: Tesla's Soaring Stock [texases] by ateixeira

May 14, 2013 (1:36 pm)

Replying to: texases (May 14, 2013 10:31 am)
I think this guy owns a wind farm, the eagles were getting back at him!
 
http://youtu.be/MoqOYACbFjI

Messages Page 117 of 117

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