The underside of a Tesla car

[Sparky84]

I mean, people run out of gas often enough with ICE cars.  Are those ICE cars, out of gas, equally "defective?"  Every vehicle has its' operational limits.

Can you imagine the grid lock when they do run out of spark, I'm assuming there'll be a lot, how many times have you heard, "my phones nearly out of charge".
Can you push an electric car off the road when it runs out of charge? Will they roll without any power to operate things?

[Ted Schefelbein]

My kid has spent a lot of time on You Tube, looking at videos under the search "Dead Tesla". He does it for the laughs, but, people get themselves into serious trouble with what my career Marine Corps NCO father referred to as PPPP-piss poor prior planning.
Of late, the more serious videos, where people are stranded in subzero weather, or in god forsaken places, have been quietly disappearing from You Tube. Hmm. Take it for what it is, I guess.
My employer has delivery vehicles that are electric. Once you are at temps below zero degrees, battery consumption becomes logarithmic, and the gauge is unable to register how quickly you will be out of spark, or accurately tell you just how far you can go. It is ALWAYS not as far as you believe.
There are problems with electric. There will be owners that are willing and able to work around those problems. What concerns me more is being told that is my only option. Hopping into my F150 with 7500 lbs of stuff behind me, and running 7 hours to the northwest corner of the state to fish or hunt is pretty easy with internal combustion.
You want electric, go for it. I'm very content with what I've got.

Ted

[RPM - Robert]

I mean, people run out of gas often enough with ICE cars.  Are those ICE cars, out of gas, equally "defective?"  Every vehicle has its' operational limits.

Can you imagine the grid lock when they do run out of spark, I'm assuming there'll be a lot, how many times have you heard, "my phones nearly out of charge".
Can you push an electric car off the road when it runs out of charge? Will they roll without any power to operate things?

We ran Buttonwillow raceway last year which is directly off the I5 here in California. Anyways, on the way home there must be one charge station for electric cars between Los Angeles and wherever most of these people were heading. There was a 3 mile line of cars on the shoulder of the two lane I5 all waiting to get to the charge station and charge up. We pulled off the same off ramp as it was the only In n out burger on that desolate stretch and it was getting late. At least the electrics were smart enough to make a "3rd" lane out of the shoulder and we whizzed on by to get a burger and some fries.

One day the range will be there but today ain't that day. If I had an EV, I wouldn't  be above hooking that bad boy up to genny to get some ac in the 115* summer heat here in the valley.

[Pat Conlon]

Based on today's technology how much area would we need for PV to power the USA?
PV panels on just 10,000 square miles of the nation's total land area – could supply enough electricity to power the entire United States. With advancements in the PV tech, next year that area will be reduced to 8k sq.miles.

The EV tech we see today is comparable to what I saw in the early '60's with the first transistor radios.
Wait and see.

Say what you want about EV's, go ahead and laugh, make fun....I can say with all certainty that my modest investment in TSLA stock has turned out very nicely for me....Very nicely indeed.  
Watch for the Star Link IPO in 2022

No, I don't own a Tesla..too expensive.
I think a Chevy Bolt for the wife to run around town would be cool.

Dan's point on installing a home PV system is valid. Forget about the environment, do it for economics.
Win win.

[RPM - Robert]

You can get the new Porsche Taycan for less than a Model x.

Side eyes Rick. Tesla did a 1:58.91 around thunderhill east. Almost as fast as we ran in February at a 1:55.9. I think this little electric might be as fast if not faster than the "race Porsche" there were a couple of 911s lapping around 2:04-2:05 last time. Spec Miata was doing 2:04-2:05s as well.

Might be time to trade that Porsche in for an electric Porsche and drop a few seconds off that lap time. Or ditch the Porsche and get a "real race car" for a fraction of the price and knock off even more time.  

[Pat Conlon]

Porsche Taycan: $80k for a 200 mile range? Not for me....

I'll go $35k for a 400 mile range....perhaps next year....

[RPM - Robert]

Just trying to get our resident Porsche man to drink the kool aid.

All in good fun. Burning hydrocarbons and laying rubber is the name of the game. Better than sitting on the couch and being a potato. I think we might even have Zari walking the tight rope of becoming a track head.

[Pat Conlon]

  gotcha....
Rick getting his windshield sucked out by a 4 door Tesla on Hoosiers would not be a pretty sight.

Robert, with the 'Busa engine Roadsters, what's the power to weight ratio? Around 7 to 1?

[Motofun]

https://thechive.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/daily_picdump_3733_640_02wtmk.jpg?attachment_cache_bust=3658005&quality=85&strip=info&w=600

Up scale this concept...........

[Waiex191]

$80k for a 200 mile range? Not for me....

I'll go $35k for a 400 mile range....next year....

The airplane has about $30K into it and will have a ~400 mile range. The 1998 Saturn in the background was bought for $500 and also has a ~400 mile range.


Search for EV pusher trailer.  There is a cool one made out of the very back of a VW bug pushing a Mitsubishi EV.  It can even let the vehicle recharge by riding the regenerative brakes!

[ZOA NOM]

LOL at all you guys. The pathetic whine of an EV on track just can't compete with the wail of a flat 6 at 7500 rpm. Never will.

See link for unrelated content...

https://youtu.be/PMM0hSQwjFE

[red]

Battery tech is the limits on electric vehicles, but that science is not standing still.  Never did like the Lithium-Ion chemistry, personally . . .
Aluminum and oxygen is just one idea now in the works.  So much for range anxiety, folks.       

https://youtu.be/z0RU_ck64Bs?t=293

[ZOA NOM]

A watt is a watt, always was, always will be. You still need a source for the electricity. Wind and solar? Good luck. No nuclear? Forget it. The "thrill" of instant torque isn't all it's cracked up to be.

[Pat Conlon]

Of course wind/solar/nuclear is the best....however, an EV powered with electricity from a natural gas power plant is still cleaner than a ICE.

But Rick already knows this....

[andyoutandabout]

Electric cars for all are decades away. Current grid infrastructure (pun intended) is way off being able to handle charging them up.
Even though I try to do my bit for the Planet, Mother Nature will have to let me slide on the combustion engine part. Bring back two strokes.