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Re: Tesla Model X Posted by Snowmobile [Email]  (#686)  [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Snowmobile) on Sat, 25 Jun 2016 03:51:17
In Reply to: Re: Tesla Model X, Craig, Fri, 24 Jun 2016 08:17:44 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
The thing with these discussions about Musk and electric cars (and NEVS) that is interesting is that it is not usually *just* about the politics that bothers people... obviously other car companies like GM (ignoring the Volt itself) do the same sort of thing (sure there may be subtle or not so subtle differences)... many businesses in many industries get handouts regardless of our opinions of that.
The fact is, there is a serious faction of people who just really like driving vehicles that run on petroleum - it's part of a culture, nostalgia, hobby, whatever... the smells, the sounds, the harnessing of explosive power... maybe there is a fear that it may be banned or become prohibitively expensive someday (dominant EV proliferation would affect ICE infrastructure)... heck, there is nothing better than blasting down some windy country road in my (red) c900 blaring "Red Barchetta", so I get it...
At the same time, I think there is room for progress. I can see how people can rail against the ugly, boring, and anemic prius, especially when intentionally driven super slowly in the left lane of the freeway (plastered in nauseating bumper stickers)! But I actually think what Tesla has done with the Model S is super cool: fast fun performance *hatchback*, that looks pretty cool, seems to have decent safety performance... to me, this is along the lines of something SAAB might have done if they were still alive. I actually think the folks at NEVS *want* to do the same thing. The difference being that they do not appear to have the same entrepreneurial drive behind them as Tesla (or as much of a head start... though SAAB was experimenting with EV tech well over a decade ago).
The fact is, there are pros and cons to EV and ICE, but lots of capability and potential for reliability is there with EV. EVs can be a much simpler system mechanically (no exhaust, oil pump, fuel tank/pump/lines, tranny, heck some designs can even eliminate hydraulic braking systems!)... simpler = fewer things to break... massive low end torque is possible...
It's more a question of: do we care about performance (eg low end torque), or what produces it (eg motor vs turbo)? For some, the what produces it is important... for others, maybe not... I mean, we dropped carburetors, but some still think that is wrong...
Not trying to say how JerseySaab thinks (he's mentioned he likes some aspects of the EVs)... but the dislike of EVs by some can be a clouded by many completely non-political aspects also, and arguably quite legitimately so...
Anyway, I welcome a world where we can have driving enthusiasm, much like it always has been, but based on electric drive systems, at least as an available choice. I don't think this will happen overnight. They will improve incrementally with technological advances, picking up more and more adopters along the way... and hopefully that will eventually produce some nice used car options for us automotive bottom feeders :-P
, Thu, 4 Aug 2016 14:26:57
, Fri, 15 Jul 2016 12:39:01, Thu, 23 Jun 2016 18:20:42, Mon, 11 Jul 2016 10:57:29
, Wed, 22 Jun 2016 17:19:16, Sat, 25 Jun 2016 03:58:32, Thu, 23 Jun 2016 11:43:54, Thu, 23 Jun 2016 16:23:54, Sat, 25 Jun 2016 03:51:17 <-- Viewing This Message, Sat, 25 Jun 2016 06:14:44, Sat, 2 Jul 2016 08:57:45, Fri, 24 Jun 2016 09:22:01
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