Tesla to Texas: How Do You Like Us Now?

[Strychnine]

My back ground is automotive engineering and I say that you are beyond brain dead if you believe any of the crap that you just posted.

[jw33]

I’m not a fan of government handouts or them picking and choosing winners, but the current auto industry along with many others are subsidized in more than one way or another. We’ve seen the bailout of GM/Chrysler and Cash for Clunkers all paid for with our tax dollars. A large part of the gasoline we use is paid for in part by our military presence in the Middle East with blood and all of the resources involved to maintain that force. Ethanol is also heavily subsidized and the government basically forces us to use it with arguably no benefit. We have the sugar and corn cartels, we subsidize home mortgages, and so on and so on. I’m not saying I agree with all of it, but I don’t think electric vehicles are getting a huge amount more than anyone else.

As for Tesla and other electric vehicles breaking down or being more dangerous to own than conventional cars, let people make their own decision. Toyota recently has cars getting DBW throttles stuck wide open. GM and Ford have both had cars that would catch on fire. Firestone came out with Maypop tires. Dozens of people were killed. All of those companies fixed their problems and life goes on, for most.

If a company like Tesla sells enough products someone is going to figure out a way to make a business servicing those products. And if you think people would never buy a car sight unseen over the internet let Tesla try that and then go out of business. What if Texas decided they were going to outlaw Amazon from selling TV’s online? The ruse would be that you need to go to Best Buy or Fry’s because they can “educate” you and service your expensive purchase. It would prevent people from window shopping at the local store and then buying online to save money. It would save jobs…….

[JC316]

What if Texas decided they were going to outlaw Amazon from selling TV’s online? The ruse would be that you need to go to Best Buy or Fry’s because they can “educate” you and service your expensive purchase. It would prevent people from window shopping at the local store and then buying online to save money. It would save jobs…….

Poor analogy since Amazon doesn't manufacture TV's, they are dealers and they still get their cut, just like fry's would. If you could buy directly from LG or samsung, then it could apply, but you can't.

[Gasser64]

I would love to get my hands on one of these, but thanks to our so called limited government business friendly republicans controlling Austin with an iron fist.... Tesla cannot conduct business in this state because the state wishes to interject itself into private transactions between a business and consumers.

The problem you are seeing is bribery, tho why you cant see your blessed dems do it too is beyond me

[Gasser64]

I am here to tell you that Elon Musk has his shit together. So much so that he has the backing of a lot of influential people. His goal with the new factory is a much cheaper battery and a $35K car that can go 200 miles on a single charge.

And also.

I would like to know, how well he will be able to compete with Nissan, toyota, and ford? You got the nissan leaf, and iirc toyota and ford are releasing full electric cars this year

His competition is mounting, and they have the advantage

[talisman]

I find it funny that so many on here have claimed to be pro small government, and complain about dealerships on top of that, then come out in support of Texas banning auto sales that don't go through a dealer.

lol, no kidding. This thread has me scratching my head a bit. I don't see the point in them having to have dealerships if they've found a different way they want to try it. Capitalism?

[svauto-erotic855]

Please tell us how he is wrong.

If you believe blanket statements like "The Tea Party are all racist" then believing that electric cars can do what the libs believe is just what you believe. This is a religion based in pure fantasy. This sort of shit was my field of research in school and I also personally built an electric car in 1988. The engineering challenges that I faced then are the EXACT same challenges that are being faced today; they are completely insurmountable problems that will never be overcome. The libs energy policies are just political answers to an engineering problem that just "Happens" to give more power to the government.

[racrguy]

If you believe blanket statements like "The Tea Party are all racist" then believing that electric cars can do what the libs believe is just what you believe. This is a religion based in pure fantasy. This sort of shit was my field of research in school and I also personally built an electric car in 1988. The engineering challenges that I faced then are the EXACT same challenges that are being faced today; they are completely insurmountable problems that will never be overcome. The libs energy policies are just political answers to an engineering problem that just "Happens" to give more power to the government.

You didn't answer why he was wrong, you answered why you wanted him to be wrong. You may be an automotive engineer who faced seemingly insurmountable engineering issues in the 80's, but don't you think technology has progressed in the last 26 years? Also, just because you're unable to figure something out doesn't mean someone else can't.

It seems to me that you're simply being pessimistic because you don't like electric cars. Which is fine, you don't have to like them. The fact of the matter is, electric cars are here to stay for the foreseeable future.

[CJ]

It seems like every time there is some new battery or technology breakthrough it's one step forward, and two steps back. NiCad to Lithium, then to Lithium Ion, oh and if you get into a fender bender it will burn your house down. It also makes the cars ridiculously heavy. With over 100 years of electric cars, you would think we would have come through with a solution, it seems like it's a wall. Is electricity truly the answer, and if it is, are batteries the solution?

It makes you wonder if some day a Tesla will be in an auto museum and people will smirk and laugh much like we do at steam powered cars.

[Forever_frost]

You always paint pretty pictures.

Problem is, I'm usually right. Sometimes insanity can let you see things a little more clearly.

[Forever_frost]

It seems like every time there is some new battery or technology breakthrough it's one step forward, and two steps back. NiCad to Lithium, then to Lithium Ion, oh and if you get into a fender bender it will burn your house down. It also makes the cars ridiculously heavy. With over 100 years of electric cars, you would think we would have come through with a solution, it seems like it's a wall. Is electricity truly the answer, and if it is, are batteries the solution?

It makes you wonder if some day a Tesla will be in an auto museum and people will smirk and laugh much like we do at steam powered cars.

And you have the massive amount of resources required to mine the lithium and get it into a battery and ship it from China as well as the toxic waste that is left over after every one of those batteries die in a few years.

[Gasser64]

If you believe blanket statements like "The Tea Party are all racist" then believing that electric cars can do what the libs believe is just what you believe. This is a religion based in pure fantasy. This sort of shit was my field of research in school and I also personally built an electric car in 1988. The engineering challenges that I faced then are the EXACT same challenges that are being faced today; they are completely insurmountable problems that will never be overcome. The libs energy policies are just political answers to an engineering problem that just "Happens" to give more power to the government.

Then i would like to ask. How do you account for the greater efficiency of the electric motor? It seems the least efficient electric motor is still more efficient than the most efficient internal combustion. 40% vs 95%. copy paste:

Electric motors convert from 50 to 95% of their input energy to output power, generating mechanical rotation much more efficiently than gasoline engines.

Overall efficiency, of course, varies among electric motors, depending on the size and special characteristics of each motor. Motors under one horsepower typically fall within a 50 to 75% efficiency range, whereas larger gasoline engines normally convert only about 25% of the chemical energy they consume into useful mechanical work. Diesel engines, on the average, are around 40% efficient, while most natural gas engines approximate 37% efficiency.

It seems like every time there is some new battery or technology breakthrough it's one step forward, and two steps back. NiCad to Lithium, then to Lithium Ion, oh and if you get into a fender bender it will burn your house down. It also makes the cars ridiculously heavy. With over 100 years of electric cars, you would think we would have come through with a solution, it seems like it's a wall. Is electricity truly the answer, and if it is, are batteries the solution?

The next gen of batteries is called Lithium air batteries and they have potential to hold 15x more electricity than a li-ion of comparable size. So youd be able to go thousands of miles on a charge instead of hundreds. In this way they would far outdo gasoline. But I do not know when we will begin to see lithium air batteries

[The King]

If you believe blanket statements like "The Tea Party are all racist" then believing that electric cars can do what the libs believe is just what you believe. This is a religion based in pure fantasy. This sort of shit was my field of research in school and I also personally built an electric car in 1988. The engineering challenges that I faced then are the EXACT same challenges that are being faced today; they are completely insurmountable problems that will never be overcome. The libs energy policies are just political answers to an engineering problem that just "Happens" to give more power to the government.

Dated pics of said electric car, and specifications?

Did you also build a robot?

[Broncojohnny]

Dated pics of said electric car, and specifications?

Did you also build a robot?

And if so, was it a pleasure model?

[The King]

And if so, was it a pleasure model?

Now that there's funny no matter who you are