Texases,no one said Mr Musk was anybodies friend(those type of people can be out there,many geniuses are,but Big Oil has had 140 years to start being a little more consumer oriented(I think it started with anti trust laws-Didnt hurt Mr R,He owned all the little splinter oil companies(Rockefeller wins!). One reason big oil supported solar energy during the Nukes heyday was that at the time,Solar wasnt very suited for winter heating at the time(guess what was"drum roll" Ladies and Gentlemen"I give you kerosene and heating oil!"
If I didnt need it,I would probaly never buy anymore petroleum products(now if we could just get away from that cheap not very durable plastic,that seems to be affecting everyones health.,{Wa,Wa! I want a metal grill and chrome trim!)
The charging stations will be standardized on Tesla’s design if they get enough of them on the street. Yet another way Musk will cash in.
Big Oil has had 140 years to start being a little more consumer oriented
I can fill up my car in the middle of the night on a Sunday, how much more consumer oriented can you get?
@jtsanders is right about the charging stations. The one that grabs the market often (but not always, remember Betamax) gets to define it. Tesla can force their charging protocol on every other EV maker simply by building the infrastructure.
Tesla can force their charging protocol on every other EV maker simply by building the infrastructure.
It’s not so much forcing their charging protocol on other EV makers so much as it is other EV makers choosing not to “reinvent the wheel”.
There is an industry standard for chargers, but not for Tesla. THAT’s the problem. Tesla is only 20% of the plug in market, it should not be excluding 80% of the market from its tax-subsidized locations.
And VW/BMW are declaring ‘charger war’ with Tesla. What a WASTE!
http://www.forbes.com/sites/aarontilley/2015/01/22/bmw-volkswagen-100-fast-charging-stations/
Simple solution - not one $ of tax benefits or credits for any company whose chargers are not compatible with the industry standard. If Tesla wants to set up a free charger network for its millionaire owners, fine, just no tax benefits.
No, it took only about 15 years, not 50.
No…the first modern gas car was built in 1886. It took to the mid 30’s until cars became the more dominant form of transportation. Many people still couldn’t afford cars til after WWI. My dad never owned a car until the great depression. He had a decent job and bought a car from someone who desperately needed the money. Cars were being mass produced by 1914…but not everyone could afford them…not even close. Especial in rural areas.
And lest not forget Steam cars. They date back even further.
If Tesla wants to set up a free charger network for its millionaire owners, fine, just no tax benefits.
MILLIONAIRES?? Really?
I know at least one guy who owns a Tesla-S…He makes very good money…but not even close to being a millionaire. I agree not a lot of people can afford a $71,000 vehicle. But you don’t have to be a millionaire to own one.
I suppose a mere multi-thousandaire could own a car like a Tesla, given that’s all he owns.
I would expect most people in the market for a Tesla prob have a net worth (inclusive of real estate) > $1.0X10^6. It’s not really THAT big of a number…being a millionaire ain’t what it used to be!
(Alternatively, they might just be a “high earner/big spender” with a fat paycheck, and a low-to-negative net worth…)
BLE,my lights still work in the middle of the night too,so I guess that makes all the for profit groups consumer oriented"(you ought to check the history of monopolies and utilities)when the Gulf oil spill happened ,it makes you wonder where all this is going.
BLE,my lights still work in the middle of the night too,so I guess that makes all the for profit groups consumer oriented"(you ought to check the history of monopolies and utilities)when the Gulf oil spill happened ,it makes you wonder where all this is going.
The Gulf of Mexico is doing just fine today, it’s hard to tell that the spill even happened. How is Three Mile Island coming along?
I would expect most people in the market for a Tesla prob have a net worth (inclusive of real estate) > $1.0X10^6. It's not really THAT big of a number...being a millionaire ain't what it used to be!
Possibly…But I’d say that most people who own comparably priced BMW’s or Mercedes are NOT millionaires. The high-end Suburban costs that much.
I suppose a mere multi-thousandaire could own a car like a Tesla, given that's all he owns.
The CEO of online retailer Zappos - lives in a trailer. His net worth is about $800 million.
The Gulf of Mexico is doing just fine today, it's hard to tell that the spill even happened
REALLY??? It may LOOK fine…but it’s not even close to being fine.
I know working folk driving luxury SUVs, luxury cars, and 4X4 crew-cab pickups that cost more than a Tesla. I think they’re crazy (unless they really need the vehicle), but they’re everywhere.
Anybody that is scared of nuclear power should actually do a little research(its not the bogeyman Big oil makes it to be) even at Chernobyl,people have moved back for over a decade and are still fine,there are places that people vacation at,that have a much higher background radiation level,then much of Chernobyl.
If you worry about radiation then you shouldnt fly on a jet airliner,eat bananas or even have granite countertops,Nuclear power has its place and many of the supposed problems can be easily addressed,ask the US Navy,their opinion of nuclear power,maybe thats a bad one because the most troublesome and hazardous reactors for commercial use are of the “Light Water” design that Admiral Rickover selected for the Navy(80% of Frances electricity is generated by Nuclear and they have little problem storing the small amounts of Hazardous waste,their reactors produce.
Honestly I dont know what the US will do with the multi million ton piles of coal ash(which are pretty hazardous in their own right) not to mention the enormous amounts of CO2 generated when Barrels of oil and boxcar loads of coal are evaporated back into the atmosphere I 'llhave to check on Three Mile Island and see how they are doing remember there are reactor designs that are completely safe and generate very few long lived Radinucleides.Hope my next car is electric and powered by the electricity generated by a Nuclear plant.
When you have the honest subjective facts,the Nuclear Bogeyman isnt that fearsome.The Gulf will probaly never be the same in our lifetime.
Kevin, I’ve done a great deal of research on the subject and have drawn entirely different conclusions.
However, the discussion here on the car forum is electric cars and oil prices, and I still think that the technology hurdles that Tesla has conquered have left EVs entirely feasible, and I believe they’ll become the standard in the future… perhaps the not-too-distant future. There are IMHO better ways to generate electricity than nuclear power, and there’ll be excess power available once they’re exploited.
Beyond that, there would IMHO be far more power liberated if southern states would emphasize, support, and promote properly insulating southern houses. Since they don’t have the same heating needs we do up here in NH, southern homes have historically been poorly insulated if at all. Energy was cheap, and they simply ran the air conditioners full blast. Even most northern homes were not well insulated as recently as 70 years ago, but insulation (including double pane windows etc.) has been heavily promoted in the snow belt for decades now. Not so in the south. The entire energy infrastructure needs to be looked at, and conservation addressed (beyond just restrictive mandates).
I’ve been watching Tesla for years now, and have become more enthusiastic as they solve more of the problems. Twenty years ago I would have thought that an EV with a 200++ mile range that can ride a family of four in real comfort was a “pipe dream”. And for below $100,000? I would have simply said “never happen”. Twenty years ago I thought lithium-ion was not at all up to the task of operating a car. Fortunately, there are men like Elon Musk that are far smarter and have far more open minds than I.