Tesla cuts prices again

Nicklaus said he didn’t need to play senior golf (money) and felt sorry for other pros who did.

Montana accounts for less than 1% of the US population.

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I remember that. Musk is an insensitive jerk. He’s being sued (and will probably lose) for the way he fired many at Twitter, and at Tesla. He may be a tech visionary…but he’s not a leader.

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On the topic of expensive EVs, yesterday I got to see a Rivian pickup truck–up close–for the first time. Overall, very impressive… except for the headlights.

CR really liked the Rivian pickup, but they faulted it for the way that its Regenerative Braking system was implemented. Every other EV and hybrid allows you to take your foot off the power pedal and coast when wanted, which serves to recharge the batteries. Instead, taking one’s foot off the power pedal in a Rivian causes it to slow down drastically. Rivian is the only EV that doesn’t allow the driver to coast.

I don’t like him either, but for a different reason. He moved my beloved Washington Senators to Minneapolis. Worse, it was just when they were starting to get good. Harmon Killerbrew was a regular fixture on the field the last year. He didn’t play enough games to have his rookie year in DC though. I was 9 years old when they relocated, and as you can imagine the pain was deep. I was just a little boy, after all.

I think toward the end Harmon was paid a whopping $60,000 a year. Had quite a problem making ends meet. Of course I think back then it would cost $1.75 for a bleacher seat. About 1966. Still not a lot of money for a hero.

No sports stars made a lot of money until Reggie Jackson got his big deal with the Yankees. I don’t know if it happened at other stadiums, but when Jackson came back to Baltimore to play, he was showered with coins from the stands above right field. He picked every coin up and donated them to charity. While an Oriole fan, I have always appreciated his generosity in taking the time to pick the coins up and also his humility for picking pennies off the ground for a good cause.

Off topic but when we were in Boston last summer, we managed to take in a game it Fenway. History. It was on the bucket list of several of our group. Good hot dogs but colder than heck in the high 50s. One summer we took a baseball trip hitting as many stadiums as we could heading East and ending at the hall of fame. The different cultures of the fans was interesting, especially Toronto.

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Getting back to the original thread topic of Tesla, I wonder if Mr. Musk’s really big legal problems will have any impact on the pricing of his vehicles.

So only a 1 pedal driving setup? I like that about my Bolt, I can select the L instead of D on my gear selection and control the car with just the accelerator.

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If you are coasting, you are not recharging the battery. Of course, you are not discharging the battery either. You probably can coast by giving it just enough throttle to switch off the regen braking but not enough to deliver power to the wheels.

I disagree. The graphic that is displayed on the instrument panel of my Lexus plug-in hybrid shows recharging of the batteries when I am coasting, as well as when I am braking. I am pretty sure that this is true with EVs, as well as hybrids.

Regenerative braking turns kinetic energy into electricity by reversing the process that drives the car forward. In electric cars, the drivetrain is powered by a battery pack that powers a motor (or motors), creating torque–rotational force–on the wheels. In other words, electrical energy from the battery becomes mechanical energy that spins the wheels.

With regenerative braking, the energy from your spinning wheels is used to reverse the direction of electricity - from the electric motor(s) to the battery. All you have to do is remove your foot from the accelerator or, in some cases, press the brake pedal to activate regenerative braking. The electric motor not only acts as an electric generator, but it also helps slow your car down because energy is consumed by the wheels as they rotate the shaft in the electric motor.

:+1:

OK, you’re coasting, but you’re not freewheeling. An electric motor can’t recharge your battery without also acting as a brake. I test rode a Zero Electric Motorcycle back in October at a motorcycle rally held in Luckenbach Texas. When you closed the throttle, the regenerative braking was similar to engine braking on an ICE motorcycle with the throttle closed. The acceleration was amazing, similar to what the Kawasaki ZRX 1200R I used to ride could do. I really liked the bike; I just didn’t like it $25,000 bad.

I never stated that I was “freewheeling”. I specifically referred to “coasting”.

That is true, and just as an IC-powered car uses engine compression to slow a car down when you remove your foot from the gas pedal, an EV/hybrid/plug-in hybrid will normally slow a vehicle slightly when you remove your foot from the power pedal. The overall effect is one of coasting, but–of course–the action of the electric motor will slow the vehicle slightly as you “coast”.

CR’s criticism of the Rivian pickup is that removing your foot from the power pedal slows the vehicle drastically–unlike every other EV/hybrid/plug-in hybrid.

I can certainly see how that could be annoying. Maybe it’s OK once you get used to it. That Zero E-motorcycle I test rode had several modes, one which was no regenerative braking. I tested it in “canyon mode” Full power always available and moderate regenerative braking while coasting. I never did get used to not having to pull in a clutch with my left hand at stops. I kept reaching for that phantom clutch lever.

I think it’s pretty obvious that Rivian is trying to extend their battery range as much as possible by using that extreme form of regenerative braking. I much prefer the way that Toyota, Lexus, and all of the other mfrs do it.

I can coast and mildly recharge the battery in the process, even though heavy regen braking would recharge it even more. It’s really interesting to see that my projected battery range increases by 1 mile during and after a long “coast”.
I would find it very annoying if I couldn’t coast when it was appropriate.

What I also find interesting is that–just as folks in the 450h+ groups stated–my battery range has steadily increased over the 2+ months that I’ve owned this vehicle. The mfr claims a battery range of 37 miles, and that is exactly what I got initially. As of today, I am now up to a 47 mile battery range, and some of the other owners claim that they are now up to 50 miles.