The Tesla S beat high end german luxury

[G51989]

http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/13/autos/tesla-sales-bmw-mercedes-audi/index.html

I came across this the other day, and was honestly surprised that Tesla has managed to hang on and has already started to put the hurt on other smiler or higher priced models. Looks like German engineering in the house can't match American Electric Innovation.

The more research I do, the more it looks like the Demand for the Tesla S is so high, they can't keep up with demand.

I recently tested out a top of the line 85kw Tesla S. And it WILL BE my next daily driver in the next couple years. Its the best electric Car I've ever driven. And its the first electric car that's worth the money one would pay for it.

There are quick charge points in NYC, and the town I live in will be installed two of them pretty soon. And they're starting to pop up all over the place in the Northeast.

I can't wait to put my order in. And this is comming from a gearhead who has several muscle cars from the 60s and a 2012 Corvette, as well as a large truck.

And I love the Tesla S, can't wait to get mine. I'm sold on it.

Questions.

Would you buy an Tesla S or other worthy electric car?

Do you think in 15 years we'll all be driving Teslas?

Why have I dismissed almost every other Electric car until this one? Well probably because they cant do this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpivacjZu3c

This is the first car company to bring a truly usable all electric car since the baker electric in the 1900s for a not totally insane price. Its high, but not exotic high. And within 10 years, cars like this may be affordable for everyone. The Leaf is junk, its no Tesla. And I love how Tesla is just a little startup with no real support from the automotive industry, and they've made waves with no help.

I think we are seeing four things.

1: The real revenge of the electric car.
2: A nuclear revival.
3: Green energy, Hydro, Solar, and geo thermal, all of which could be gotten done quicker without the lobbyists.
4: The oil companies won't be happy about electric cars, if they ever really catch on, their sales will plummet.

 

[Squilly]

There's a Tesla store at the mall near me. It's a great looking car at a relatively competitive price. I'd love to get one when I get the chance. Do I believe it'll remain the only one? No, I expect more will come available from other manufacturers that meet Tesla's standards (or even exceed). Still, kudos on creating a sexy, fast, and efficient sports car.

 

[sviato]

I did some research about Tesla recently too and definitely want this car!!

 

[Born Again]

I did some research about Tesla recently too and definitely want this car!!

I've been working in palo alto and they're everywhere

Want one

 

[DavidG328]

If I were in the market for a car in that price range, I would hands down choose the Model S. Especially after the recent safety reports.

 

[wordoflife]

I kind of don't like the interior of the Tesla all that much. Its so minimalistic I think it is kind of annoying.

 

[GermanyChris]

Novelty nothing more really. Whomever buys it will have the only one on the block. Now maybe German cars can go back to being for people that like German cars not key fob's

 

[heehee]

Tesla is the new Apple, from stock price to the minimalistic look. I would love to get one in 3-4 years where they said they would come out with a $30-40k version.

 

[960design]

Would you buy an Tesla S or other worthy electric car?

Heck yes! I seriously considered purchasing one before my current car. Unfortunately I wasn't savy enough to 'get on the list' and the model I wanted sold out almost immediately. I purchased another decent mpg car ( 34 mpg ) about three years ago, hoping it would be my last gas car purchase ever. I've got about 2 more years on this one before I'll trade it in on a Tesla Model S - P85. Anyone that has ever driven one of these WILL buy it. They are that addictive. And think, no more oil changes, radiators to fill, ect. Just windshield wiper fluid and you are good to go.

Do you think in 15 years we'll all be driving Teslas?

That would be amazing, but will not happen. Oil companies have too much money to let us off the pump. Our government (US) bases too many taxes on a gallon of gas. Maybe we can transition to all electric in the next 15 years, but I'm betting on wealthy companies putting up too many road blocks for anything like happening for the next 100 years. There's a lot of updates needed to the electric grid to allow 300 million electric cars to charge overnight. There's a lot of innovation to highways that could allow electric cars to charge while driving that is needed.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Our government (US) bases too many taxes on a gallon of gas.

We are already seeing how the government is trying to change that. While I don't have a problem with taxes per mile if the gas tax is eliminated. But I doubt that will happen.

Two years from now, thousands of Oregon drivers could get a taste of what the future may hold for the rest of us: They will pay taxes not on the amount of gasoline their cars burn, but on the number of miles they drive.

States are looking for an alternative to the gas tax, because the per-gallon taxes often do not keep up with inflation, and they are bringing in less money as cars become more fuel-efficient.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/01/oregon-gas-mileage-tax/2608067/

 

[Apple fanboy]

There's a lot of updates needed to the electric grid to allow 300 million electric cars to charge overnight. There's a lot of innovation to highways that could allow electric cars to charge while driving that is needed.

Charging whilst driving? You mean like a Bumper car?



Not sure that's going to work.

Also apart from the electric grid problem, what is the resale value going to be? You know a petrol engine is good for 150k miles easy these days. What's going to happen to the batteries on these things in a few years?

I'm all for an alternative but think hydrogen or hybrid are the way to go.

 

[Pompiliu]

I wouldn't trade any of my AMG Mercs for that toy, lol. It even look childish (especially the interior).

 

[G51989]

Charging whilst driving? You mean like a Bumper car?

[url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/BumperCar.jpg]Image[/URL]

Not sure that's going to work.

Also apart from the electric grid problem, what is the resale value going to be? You know a petrol engine is good for 150k miles easy these days. What's going to happen to the batteries on these things in a few years?

I'm all for an alternative but think hydrogen or hybrid are the way to go.

What if all cars were just bumper cars? Add some booze in and DUI's can be fun!

But really.

http://www.plugincars.com/tesla-roa...udy-85-percent-after-100000-miles-127733.html

Retaining 80-85 percent charge after 100,000 miles is pretty impressive, the battery in the Tesla S is supposed to last even longer, and the 85KW version has an 8 year unlimited mile warranty.

 

[quagmire]

That would be amazing, but will not happen. Oil companies have too much money to let us off the pump. Our government (US) bases too many taxes on a gallon of gas.

You do realize the gas tax is supposed to pay for maintaining our road system( or is supposed to at least. who knows where it actually goes considering our infrastructure is crap).

And states are already implementing annual charges on electric cars to make up for the lost revenue....

 

[G51989]

Heck yes! I seriously considered purchasing one before my current car. Unfortunately I wasn't savy enough to 'get on the list' and the model I wanted sold out almost immediately. I purchased another decent mpg car ( 34 mpg ) about three years ago, hoping it would be my last gas car purchase ever. I've got about 2 more years on this one before I'll trade it in on a Tesla Model S - P85. Anyone that has ever driven one of these WILL buy it. They are that addictive. And think, no more oil changes, radiators to fill, ect. Just windshield wiper fluid and you are good to go.

I wasn't even interested in it or any electric car for that matter until saw the real world success of the thing, then drove one. I can't wait to get mine.

That would be amazing, but will not happen. Oil companies have too much money to let us off the pump. Our government (US) bases too many taxes on a gallon of gas. Maybe we can transition to all electric in the next 15 years, but I'm betting on wealthy companies putting up too many road blocks for anything like happening for the next 100 years. There's a lot of updates needed to the electric grid to allow 300 million electric cars to charge overnight. There's a lot of innovation to highways that could allow electric cars to charge while driving that is needed.

This is true, maybe in the next 50 years?

 

[GermanyChris]

I wouldn't trade any of my AMG Mercs for that toy, lol. It even look childish (especially the interior).

People who'd be in to Tesla's aren't really going to be all that interested in another AMG. AMG has been attached to everything and really holds no cache anymore.

 

[heehee]

Also apart from the electric grid problem, what is the resale value going to be? You know a petrol engine is good for 150k miles easy these days. What's going to happen to the batteries on these things in a few years?

I'm all for an alternative but think hydrogen or hybrid are the way to go.

Elon Musk will personally guarantee the Tesla Model S to be the highest of any premium sedan on the market even if Tesla goes under.

 

[Apple fanboy]

What if all cars were just bumper cars? Add some booze in and DUI's can be fun!

But really.

http://www.plugincars.com/tesla-roa...udy-85-percent-after-100000-miles-127733.html

Retaining 80-85 percent charge after 100,000 miles is pretty impressive, the battery in the Tesla S is supposed to last even longer, and the 85KW version has an 8 year unlimited mile warranty.

Yes but at the bottom of the article.
It's not all good. German owner Hansjörg von Gemmingen reported in 2012 that he had achieved a record 240,000 kilometers (149,000 miles) on his Roadster. He was a poster boy for effortless long-distance travel in a Tesla. But Die Welt said that, unfortunately, his car "is almost exclusively in the garage" because he now gets only 100 kilometers (62 miles) on a charge. "That annoys me," von Gemmingen said.

As somebody who buys his cars second hand, a 62 mile range does not sound good enough for me. Especially as charging points are a lot harder to come buy than petrol stations.

 

[GoCubsGo]

I quite like it and I'm a truck girl for sure. I think the interior is quite nice as well. Lots of buttons
It's nice to see that it didn't take long for people to realize that electric cars didn't need to look ridiculous (i.e: Prius).

 

[heehee]

Yes but at the bottom of the article.
It's not all good. German owner Hansjörg von Gemmingen reported in 2012 that he had achieved a record 240,000 kilometers (149,000 miles) on his Roadster. He was a poster boy for effortless long-distance travel in a Tesla. But Die Welt said that, unfortunately, his car "is almost exclusively in the garage" because he now gets only 100 kilometers (62 miles) on a charge. "That annoys me," von Gemmingen said.

As somebody who buys his cars second hand, a 62 mile range does not sound good enough for me. Especially as charging points are a lot harder to come buy than petrol stations.

And you missed the title of the paragraph. Just like anything, there is always going to be one bad apple, especially when buying used.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I quite like it and I'm a truck girl for sure. I think the interior is quite nice as well. Lots of buttons
It's nice to see that it didn't take long for people to realize that electric cars didn't need to look ridiculous (i.e: Prius).

Totally agree. Please do't take my earlier posts for being against the Tesla. I think it has great potential. I just wouldn't feel happy about buying a second hand one due to the battery issues. It's the same as buying an older iPhone or Macbook. People do it because they know they can always get the battery replaced for a small price. This is not the case with a Tesla.

Still I would rather walk than drive a Prius!

 

[GoCubsGo]

Totally agree. Please do't take my earlier posts for being against the Tesla. I think it has great potential. I just wouldn't feel happy about buying a second hand one due to the battery issues. It's the same as buying an older iPhone or Macbook. People do it because they know they can always get the battery replaced for a small price. This is not the case with a Tesla.

Still I would rather walk than drive a Prius!

I admit to not having done any research on this but is there a price on the Tesla battery replacement? I assume (maybe wrongly) that there is the aux and main battery like on a Prius. One is < $100 and the other is crazy expensive.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I admit to not having done any research on this but is there a price on the Tesla battery replacement? I assume (maybe wrongly) that there is the aux and main battery like on a Prius. One is < $100 and the other is crazy expensive.

To quote article above

Tesla offers an eight-year, 125,000-mile warranty on the Model S 60 kilowatt-hour battery, and the same eight years but unlimited mileage on the 85-kilowatt-hour model. The company recently said it would replace Model S 85-kilowatt-hour packs for $12,000, but only after eight years of ownership if they sign up upon purchase. The company is betting that battery costs will have come down considerably by then. Right now, such a battery pack is probably a $34,000 item.

 

[G51989]

Totally agree. Please do't take my earlier posts for being against the Tesla. I think it has great potential. I just wouldn't feel happy about buying a second hand one due to the battery issues. It's the same as buying an older iPhone or Macbook. People do it because they know they can always get the battery replaced for a small price. This is not the case with a Tesla.

Still I would rather walk than drive a Prius!

I doubt we'll see that battery costing 34,000 in a couple of years. Eventually I think we'll see them get to sub 5000 dollar prices as electric cars. Maybe not for a Tesla, but for a cheaper car.

I think what we are starting to see is the same thing we saw back in the early 1900s. People seem to think of the Model T as the first kinda workable car. It wasn't at all, gasoline cars really didn't become cheap enough or reliable or workable until about 1912-1915.

Up until then, if you could afford a car at all. You had a steam car, tough, reliable, and you could fuel it with pretty much anything. everyone had a steam car until gasoline cars had all their bugs and drawbacks worked out. I think as the electric car matures and its drawbacks start to go away, we'll see more and more people buying them.

 

[sjinsjca]

I'd buy one if I could drive from LA to SF in one.

Can't. At least, not conveniently.

So, I'll stick with a Prius... a car so common that folks have forgotten how driveable, reliable, durable and convenient they are. And heck, I can buy three or four new Prii for the price of a Model S.