Electric cars and Tesla (PLEASE leave politics out of this thread!)

[Bhigdog]

54 minutes ago, alsancle said:

Bob, are you trying to say the only viable way to generate enough electricity is nukes?  😀

Living not too far from three mile island during its melt down i,m ambivilant about nukes.

I also remember when nukes were going to be our energy answer. It was considered settled science that electricity would soon be so cheap it would not be worth metering. I can,t remember if that was before or after settled science predicted the coming ice age. Ideas were floated on how to increase polar ice melt because the oceans would be receeding as the water got locked up in polar ice. It was suggested carbon black be spread over the polar ice to increase melt.

Now the sky is falling because of co2 and cow farts.  

I kind of miss the days of all the hand wringing over dooms day comets.......bob

[1912Staver]

Dooms day Comet's !! that really was the olde days. Rouge asteroids are all the rage these days.  But don't worry Musk has a plan for those. SpaceX is more than just a transport contractor, it is potentially the savior of us all. Buy stock soon and often !

 

Greg 

[Frank DuVal]

A guy I work with just bought a Chevrolet Pick Silverado. He says he didn't see the aAssist badging until the got it home. It is a 24 cell Lithium Ion battery mild hybrid with a 5.3 L V-8 drivetrain. Hard to believe he didn't know it was a hybrid, as he traded in a Camaro with an aftermarket supercharger setup he installed......😃

 

Like Prius, hybrids are offered by all most companies in many models, even pick ups. 

 

Also note, the 2017 NEC now says residential garage receptacle circuit must be 20 amp, no more 15 amp residential garage receptacle circuits. AND a receptacle is required in each vehicle bay.

 

To those thinking adding a high current receptacle to charge your electric car is a crazy idea, people are buying those electric tankless whole house water heaters , which require three 40 amp 240 volt circuits!#!!!!!

 

As long as people see a benefit, they will buy a product and pay the installation costs. Those that do not see a benefit will NOT buy it....  OK?

[Grimy]

4 hours ago, Bhigdog said:

I can,t remember if that was before or after settled science predicted the coming ice age. Ideas were floated on how to increase polar ice melt because the oceans would be receeding as the water got locked up in polar ice. It was suggested carbon black be spread over the polar ice to increase melt.

A plethora of articles on "The Coming New Ice Age" appeared ca. 1970--Bob, I remember those too.  Fifty years later (a split second in the ecological scheme), it's reversed.  I'm not a denier, and I certainly want us to minimize our impact on the planet, but there are many, many agendas on both sides.  We need some truth serum!

[mike6024]

46 minutes ago, Grimy said:

A plethora of articles on "The Coming New Ice Age" appeared ca. 1970--Bob, I remember those too. 

 

Here is one of them, noted Stanford climate scientist, had gone on speaking tours about global warming, who in his earlier years predicted cooling, Stephen Schneider.

 

t is projected that man's potential to pollute will increase six- to eightfold in the next 50 years. If this increased rate of injection of particulate matter in the atmosphere should raise the present background opacity by a factor of 4, our calculations suggest a decrease in global temperature by as much as 3.5 °K. Such a large decrease in the average temperature of Earth, sustained over a period of few years, is believed to be sufficient to trigger an ice age. However, by that time, nuclear power may have largely replaced fossil fuels as a means of energy production.^[6]

 

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Schneider}

 

Bill Wattenburg on KGO radio used to make fun of him.

 

 

 

 

[mike6024]

If I were to install solar panels, the most I could do would be to "zero-out" my electricity bill. My last month's electric bill was only $29.

 

My gas bill was $17.00!

 

I would need to use a lot more electricity to justify installing panels. I have a gas wall heater, gas water heater, and gas cook stove. But why switch those to electric? They don't cost me much on my gas bill.

 

If I could generate $200 in a month worth of electricity with solar photo-voltaic panels, I would only get a $29 credit on my bill ( zero it out ).

 

[Locomobile]

Sounds like it's more trouble for Tesla today, investors are getting tired of hearing about autonomous vehicles and robotaxis and want to see some sales numbers instead.

 

-Ron

[charlier]

It appears that Tesla's cash on hand has finally gotten to the point where Musk has been forced to sell more Tesla Stock and Bonds to raise capital.

Have to wonder what buyers of these new issues expect from Tesla going forward from a financial point of view? Especially when one reads about Tesla's sales of pollution credits.

 

Tesla Scrambles to Raise Funds with Bond and Stock Sale

 

Interesting to note the RECORD  increase in 1st Quarter Pollution Credit sales reported in Tesla's SEC 10-Q filing. Seems the 702 million dollar loss reported by Tesla would have been MUCH larger without these credits. FYI, Tesla always reports these credits in their SEC 10-Q so there is nothing new about this. Still interesting that these credits have such a HUGE impact on their financial numbers for the quarter. 

 

Tesla Discloses Record Pollution Credits for Q1: Without Them, it Would Have Lost $918 Million and Bled $1.14 Billion in Cash

 

 

[mercer09]

stock dropped below 200 yesterday.............................

 

from 350 a yr ago.

[1935Packard]

Here's an interesting recent Motor Trend article, TESLA MODEL 3 VS. BMW 330I VS. GENESIS G70 COMPARISON: WHO BUILDS THE BEST COMPACT LUXURY SEDAN?" 

Motor Trend concluded that the best of the three was the Tesla.  From the story:

 

But it was the revolutionary driving experience that pushed it over the top. . . . . [T]he Model 3's real strength is its drivetrain. To no one's surprise, the Model 3 absolutely crushed it in straight-line acceleration: 0-60 whooshed by in only 4.0 seconds, and the quarter mile fell in 12.5 seconds at a speed of 113.1 mph. Proving it wasn't a one-trick electric pony, the Model 3 also bested the BMW on our figure-eight loop, despite wearing all-season tires.

 

That electric drivetrain also provides the framework for the rest of this paradigm shift. The near-silent, rocket-like acceleration is only the first step. On our test runs out in the real world, one-pedal driving quickly became a matter of course. Lift off the accelerator, and regen instantly begins to slow the car. Time it right, and you can navigate through even heavy traffic with only an occasional feathering of the brake pedal. Walton was smitten. "Driving feels new and novel again. The way it re-introduces driving enthusiasm to a driving enthusiast is remarkable."

 

The Tesla Model 3 wins this competition because it has thoroughly rewritten the rules of what a compact sport sedan can be. 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2019 by 1935Packard (see edit history)

[edinmass]

I have been watching the Tesla saga slowly unfold. I think they make a great product. I think they were five to ten years too early, and forced themselves upon the market. I expect them to go bankrupt in the next 18-24 months. They will emerge, and then, IF all the debt goes away, they will thrive and outperform the other car companies. If they come out of the bankruptcy still buried with debt, they will linger for a few years and go the way of the Dodo. You simply CAN NOT service that amount of debt and keep digging a hole like they are doing. Two more major companies that will probably no make it, and may or may not survive? Uber and Lyft, and I use them both. Their debt is out of control, and their business model is NOT sustainable. Long before the three companies tank, the big boys will have bailed out........and any  institutional  investments with overpaid administrative managers will also swallow the bait and take a huge hit. Too many people have way too much unrealistic expectations on return on investment today...........as one man from the government regulation department once told me, “Pigs eat, and hogs get slaughtered.”

 

[Restorer32]

On ‎5‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 8:15 PM, Bhigdog said:

Living not too far from three mile island during its melt down i,m ambivilant about nukes.

I also remember when nukes were going to be our energy answer. It was considered settled science that electricity would soon be so cheap it would not be worth metering. I can,t remember if that was before or after settled science predicted the coming ice age. Ideas were floated on how to increase polar ice melt because the oceans would be receeding as the water got locked up in polar ice. It was suggested carbon black be spread over the polar ice to increase melt.

Now the sky is falling because of co2 and cow farts.  

I kind of miss the days of all the hand wringing over dooms day comets.......bob

 

I was in college in the late '60's in South Central PA and well remember the coming ice age.  I also remember the controversy over whether the cooling towers of 3 mile Island would generate so much "fog" that Harrisburg International Airport would only be able to operate a few days a week.