son's new car

I think these types of vehicles need all the support they can get. Kudos to your son Frank.

I know we all think of our pockets but something you might want to consider is the combustion engine is a heavy user of oxygen and "breaths" one heck of a lot more of it than we do when its running.

Then consider that in 1992 i went to China on honeymoon and there were very few cars and 6 million bicycles in Beijing. Today that trend has completely reversed and there are millions and millions of new cars and more each day. This is not a case of dealing with a existing population of vehicles on the planet that are being turned over as we buy replacements. Its in addition to the population of vehicles that existed. As more and more wealth comes to populations of the size of India and China and they add more and more cars its simple math that on the other end of the scale we taking away the oxygen produces in the trees.


http://wardsauto.com/ar/world_vehicle_population_110815

Check out the spreadsheet there is link to half way down the article. It gives totals and growth rates for each country. China now has 34 million cars on the road.

Just do the math on that engine populations consumption of oxygen per day.


I aint a greeny heck i drive a Hemi V8 5.7l and love it, but i dont see that combustion engines are sustainable regardless of emission standards and fuel prices.

Roll on soylent green. :rofl:
 
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A little update on my son's car. First, he is immensely proud of his Tesla. He believes it is a pioneering move into a carbon free automotive era. But, I am uncertain if this is pioneer anything. They were going to come here to visit for the holidays. But, my 220V outlet does not match the style on the car. And, the 125 miles, one-way, from their house would not get them back home. The roads are not perfect flat or straight. They would have five people in it. And, being winter the (electric) heater would be used. I also discovered that it is not a $70,000.00 car. It is closer to $88,000.00. :eek: But, he got a $7,900.00 credit of some kind bringing the price down to a 'mere' $80,000.00 or so. But, like I say, he is very proud of it and has gotten it hand washed and tipped the washers for doing a good job. He hasn't had an oil change yet. :rofl:
 
...But, my 220V outlet does not match the style on the car...

I think if I had a plug-in car, I'd make myself a variety of 220v pigtail adapters to fit the most common types of outlets. Plus, I'd probably have 100' or more of heavy extension cord with me for times I couldn't park close to the outlet. The plug-in aspect definitely limits the possibilities in the present day, although in the future there will hopefully be more recharging options.

...He hasn't had an oil change yet. :rofl:

That's funny stuff right there. :D I'll bet his catalytic converter lasts a long time, too.

I agree $80K is a lot of dough to spend to be a pioneer, but you should be proud to have a son who has the principles to act on his convictions, and successful enough to have the money to do it. ;) :thumb:
 
I agree $80K is a lot of dough to spend to be a pioneer, but you should be proud to have a son who has the principles to act on his convictions, and successful enough to have the money to do it.

Thanks, Vaughn. Yes, incredibly proud. He did it all himself. But, I still have trouble with the idea of an $88,000.00 car that can hardly make it out of the county.
He won't use any adapters except what the company offers. He might loosen up with time.
 
Thanks, Vaughn. Yes, incredibly proud. He did it all himself. But, I still have trouble with the idea of an $88,000.00 car that can hardly make it out of the county.
He won't use any adapters except what the company offers. He might loosen up with time.

Frank It comes from Tesla .... Only takes 30 hours to fully charge or an hour for 5 miles worth. But hey he can slow charge off any of your outlets with the cord that comes with every car...

http://www.teslamotors.com/roadster/charging/spare-mobile-connector
 
Frank i still think your son has taken a great step forward kudos to him.

In my mind there is more at play here with these cars than meets the eye.

I happen to watch a discovery channel program the other night its part of a series and this episode dealt with the invention of the automobile and the very first creators. Funny enough they had Jay Leno and his collection of xars on the show for good reason. Jay has one of the earliest electic cars and its charging station in his collection and it works perfectly and what freaked me out was Jay said all he had done to the car was charge it and it ran. This car came out of pre Henry ford era. I honestly did not know they even attempted the whole electric car idea back then but it sure is suspicious to me that they had this complete invention back then and it worked so darn well yet somehow never progressed.
Is that not strange ........when u consider the same evolution for something like a cell phone competing with landlines...is that a conspiracy or what?

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He contacted me yesterday. He found some RV adapters that will work from the 220V plugs I have. They will cost about $50.00. He expects he will eventually acquire several styles to get him charged up at (almost) any place he goes. He can charge from 110V at the rate of about 20 driving miles for every hour of charging time.
 
Saw my son's infamous Tesla last week. Have to admit, I am impressed, beautiful car. All the (many) features seem to be well thought out. First sight reminded me of the old TV show 'Knight Rider' with it's smart car. Ride is smooth, almost silent. It is very powerful and fast and son loves to show off the 'fast' part. As great as it is in many ways, I'm still not convinced the limited range and high price are a worthwhile trade off. He loves it believing he owns a part of the future. He has become a bit of a rock star hero in Springfield, MO. Folks stop him and ask for pictures with him and the car. We were in a parking lot and people came up asking what it was. He keeps Tesla literature handy and passes it out. As long as he is happy and can afford it, I'm happy he is happy.
 
Aren't the door handles on that car cool? :thumb: I'm not surprised he's getting the rock star treatment. It is a pretty flashy car, regardless of what's under the hood.
 
Aren't the door handles on that car cool? :thumb: I'm not surprised he's getting the rock star treatment. It is a pretty flashy car, regardless of what's under the hood.

Yes, the door handles are cool. As one approaches the car a button on a key ring can be pushed. This 'tells' the car you are coming. As you get near it senses proximity and the door handles pop out to be used. There is no start button or key needed, just sit down and drive. Eerie the first time. In the front, under the 'hood' is storage space. Nothing to do under there except refill the windshield washer fluid. The front area where a gas engine would be locaed is called a "frunk". I did say "weird" didn't I? ;)
BTW, if you are not the cars owner, when you touch the door handles you will be electrocuted. :eek: Not really, I made that up. :D
 
Design on something like this will be a constant "Works In Progress" for a decade or more. Until a wide variety of drivers use the car under a variety of conditions, all the design bugs won't be discovered and eliminated.

I think it would be fine for city commuting but I doubt it would have practical use here where I live. Just to go "downtown" for lunch or to shop or to the hospitial, it's a 800' drop elevation and evenutally you have to come back up. At least one of the roads coming up is a 11% grade.

It still not for everybody at this point in it's life cycle.
 
...Just to go "downtown" for lunch or to shop or to the hospitial, it's a 800' drop elevation and evenutally you have to come back up. At least one of the roads coming up is a 11% grade.

It still not for everybody at this point in it's life cycle.

I agree it's still not for everyone, but with the amount of horsepower and torque those electric motors have, I suspect that 11% grade would be a piece of cake. (362 to 416 hp, and 325 to 443 lb-ft of torque, depending on the model)
 
I agree it's still not for everyone, but with the amount of horsepower and torque those electric motors have, I suspect that 11% grade would be a piece of cake. (362 to 416 hp, and 325 to 443 lb-ft of torque, depending on the model)

Vaughn.......I have no doubt it has the HP to do the 11% grade...it's just the fact you'd probably drive downtown with a full charge and coast back into the garage and require another charge after climbing that grade. I think in metropolitan areas that are flat it would work fine as a city car........ Out here where we don't have gas stations for over 100 miles and no plug-ins either, it would be a bigger problem.
 
over 100 miles and no plug-ins either, it would be a bigger problem.


Ken

He actually found a plug-in center in Springfield, MO. It is at a city environmental center and was installed for a Chevy Volt. He used it and it worked fine. I don't know if they charged him for it's use. Free would be nice. Albiet unlikely.
 
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