Team-BHP > Electric Cars


Reply
  Search this Thread
122,735 views
Old 21st August 2013, 04:58   #76
BHPian
 
VLOCT's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Las Vegas, USA
Posts: 558
Thanked: 633 Times
Re: Tesla Model S: First Impressions

Quote:
Originally Posted by WindRide View Post
Much sewage has flown down the the Cooum since then, and the Model S may be more reliable, but i have difficulty seeing this as "green"-er than a gasoline car. Remember where the electricity to run this car is coming from...
This logic is very much what the oil lobby loves to repeat but is a total fallacy. Power generation has a much higher process efficicency than internal combustion engines.

Besides, in the US, huge number of coal plants are already being converted to natural gas that has much lower emissions. This is besides the fact that large amount of future power wil be generated by solar and wind farms. In addition, charging stations themselves will ultimately be solar powered and in fact might feed the power grid during low periods of demand.

Everything points to Tesla having kicked the ball out of the park and no one else is even close. All Hail Elon Musk, he's the MAN, alright. The only question is, if he can maintain the momentum by producing a 'peoples car' in a timely manner.
VLOCT is offline   (4) Thanks
Old 21st August 2013, 09:42   #77
Team-BHP Support
 
Rehaan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Bombay
Posts: 24,019
Thanked: 33,985 Times
Re: Tesla Model S: First Impressions

Quote:
Originally Posted by WindRide View Post
... i have difficulty seeing this as "green"-er than a gasoline car. Remember where the electricity to run this car is coming from...
Quote:
Originally Posted by VLOCT View Post
This is besides the fact that large amount of future power wil be generated by solar and wind farms.
Tesla Model S: First Impressions-tes-capture.png

Source : http://www.teslamotors.com/goelectric#electricity

Also you can give this a look : http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2...llute-more-suv

I've not read the whole thing, but the conclusion is:
Quote:
After all of this, the conclusion seemed clear: I drive a kick-ass, high-performance, five-seat all-electric luxury sport sedan that has the same wells-to-wheels carbon emissions as a tiny Scion minicar with two real seats.

Anybody got a problem with that?
Also, there is a youtube video interview with Elon Musk that i saw some time back, i think from 2010 or 2012, where he mentions the best and worst states for efficient power generation.

cya
R
Rehaan is offline   (5) Thanks
Old 28th August 2013, 13:57   #78
BHPian
 
Top-Gear's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 205
Thanked: 114 Times
Re: Tesla Model S: First Impressions

Interesting article for all Tesla fans "A decade later, Tesla now officially a threat to the auto industry" in Gigaom. Full power ahead!

I quote:

Quote:
"While former GM exec Bob Lutz early on admitted that Tesla helped inspire the creation of the Volt, GM’s CEO Dan Akerson just created a small team within GM to study Tesla and its innovations, Bloomberg reported recently. Akerson joined GM during the bankruptcy and bailout period, became its CEO before its IPO in 2010, and is attempting to breathe new ways of thinking and creating innovation into the aged auto firm. Tesla — even at this early stage — is already showing how it can compete with the much larger and older auto companies with sales. As Quartz wrote this weekend, there are ten car companies that Tesla now outsells in California, the state with the most Model S customers. That data came from a recent report from the Polk for the California New Car Dealers Association, which also found that Tesla scored 12 percent of the luxury sports category in California the first half of 2013, beating both the Audi A6 and the Lexus GS. Model S accounted for 50 percent of the electric car registrations in California in the first half of the year.


Forbes notes that, in California, sales of the five luxury cars that compete most directly with Tesla Model S — the Mercedes E-Class, the BMW 5-Series, the Lexus GS, the BMW 7-Series and Porsche Panamera – are all down in the first half of the year. This despite the fact that overall car sales in the U.S. and California are up significantly since 2012. It seems like Tesla is already hurting competitors’ sales. And the Model S is just Tesla’s first more luxury mainstream car — it’s carefully building its third-generation less expensive car, which could be named the Model E and which it wants to sell in even higher volumes."

Last edited by Technocrat : 30th August 2013 at 02:34. Reason: removed extra formatting
Top-Gear is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 28th August 2013, 21:30   #79
Senior - BHPian
 
amitoj's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Windham, NH USA
Posts: 3,325
Thanked: 3,014 Times
Re: Tesla Model S: First Impressions

All this talk of outselling conventional vehicles sounds good but how is Tesla doing on the supercharging stations front? The biggest drawback in adoption of Tesla with the masses is that you still can't just get into the car and go on a weekend trip without any planning.

Tesla was supposed to have 27 stations by summer of 2013. Now fall is almost here and it is still short of the target by 9.
amitoj is offline   (3) Thanks
Old 29th August 2013, 00:45   #80
Senior - BHPian
 
maddy42's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Coorg
Posts: 2,130
Thanked: 1,326 Times
Re: Tesla Model S: First Impressions

Quote:
Originally Posted by amitoj View Post
All this talk of outselling conventional vehicles sounds good but ...
Tesla was supposed to have 27 stations by summer of 2013. Now fall is almost here and it is still short of the target by 9.
Disclaimer: I like the car, the company and am a fan of Elon...but...

1) Every bit of news of this company this year is just like a big ego boost and sometimes i feel it should be taken with a pinch of salt. The reason i am saying is the market is getting way ahead of itself preaching its the best company in the world while valuations are kind of crazy. Just saying as the current numbers for sales could be the Early adopters of a very niche model and we would need to take a guess 3-5 and 8 yrs down the line on how the company performs.

2) Tesla has to get the infrastructure in place to get more numbers going. Thats going to bump his sales way higher. But currently i feel they have way too much stuff on their plate! Entering new markets, fighting the govt and dealership in each states. Best of luck with that as its a massive legal bill out there.

3) They should majorly go for licensing their battery pack and tech to other companies. It would be awesome if they come up with some minor upgrades on the model s! That would be a solid statement.

I follow this company on a daily basis and just dont want greed from the stock market to kind of kill it. If one guy could stand up against the giants its our Iron Man musk
maddy42 is offline   (3) Thanks
Old 29th August 2013, 01:21   #81
BHPian
 
Sudan_NFS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: chennai
Posts: 759
Thanked: 16 Times
Re: Tesla Model S: First Impressions

Telsa had sold more than 4000 cars last month in US which is more than other Luxury cars like porsche,Volvo and it's gaining momentem. This is seriously a good car and I hope they will produce a cheaper version in $30 k - $40K for other people. It has been awarded 5 star rating in all the segements of the crash test. The NHA said that it's giving this car more than 5 star rating, which cool.
Sudan_NFS is offline  
Old 12th September 2013, 12:46   #82
BHPian
 
Top-Gear's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 205
Thanked: 114 Times
Re: Tesla Model S: First Impressions

For all the Model S fans out there: http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/05/elo...ry-tesla-trip/

I am a little late in posting this, but better late than never!

Quote:
Elon Musk To Traverse The U.S. Using A Model S And Tesla Superchargers In 6 Day Trip, With Only 9 Hours Spent Charging

The Tesla Model S is doing remarkably well, despite the challenges it still faces in terms of convincing average consumers that it can meet their everyday needs. One of the big remaining question marks around the Tesla S was how it would manage a cross-country roadtrip – that quintessential, if perhaps mostly fictional bastion of the American experience.

The Great Road Trip harkens back to an era of family RV excursions and camp outs, to a hippie youth spent thumbing rides from the highway shoulder, and to road trip movies in which the journey symbolizes the leaving behind of childish things. For Musk and for Tesla, it would mark a symbolic victory, one more blow against the naysayers who maintain that EV travel is inconvenient, impractical and even potentially impossible in some circumstances.

Just finalized the LA to NY family road trip route in Model S. 6 day, 3200 mile journey with only 9 hrs spent charging.—
Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 05, 2013


In the tweet above, you can see Musk proclaiming that he and his family will be the ones to secure this particular victory, with a six-day journey spanning 3,200 miles between Los Angeles and New York. During that time, the Musk clan will stop to “fuel” up exclusively at Tesla Supercharger stations (even though that’s not a required constraint) for only 9 hours in total, with 1.5 hours scheduled per day of travel. That’s reasonable enough that it’s covered by stops they’d already be making to ogle tourist attractions and nourish themselves, Musk maintains.

Last edited by Rehaan : 12th September 2013 at 13:53. Reason: Removing font tag / putting in a quote box. Thanks.
Top-Gear is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 12th September 2013, 14:03   #83
Team-BHP Support
 
Rehaan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Bombay
Posts: 24,019
Thanked: 33,985 Times
Re: Tesla Model S: First Impressions

6 days for a CA > NY trip!! That does not sound like family fun.

I did CA > NY in a relatively relaxed 11 days, and that felt kinda rushed!

Nonetheless, glad to see the cross-country supercharger system is close to being up and running.

cya
R
Rehaan is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 12th September 2013, 21:18   #84
Senior - BHPian
 
puchoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Delhi / Shimla
Posts: 1,451
Thanked: 773 Times
Re: Tesla Model S: First Impressions

A trend which i have read is causing their own set of problems for the general public especially in the rural areas.

But a great review and loved going through it , what a looker , who would think this is an electric and the technology is amazing. An absolutely fantastic job!

Quote:
Originally Posted by VLOCT View Post

Besides, in the US, huge number of coal plants are already being converted to natural gas that has much lower emissions.
puchoo is offline  
Old 13th September 2013, 16:28   #85
BHPian
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 71
Thanked: 46 Times

Brilliant review, theragingbull
I kept drooling all through the thread watching this beauty. I was going through the mahindra Reva E20 EV review and now when I read this, I am flabbergasted. This is how an electric vehicle should be. It's perfect in every sense. 370 km range and free fuel (free charge), what else can one ask from any vehicle. Elon Musk has revolutionized every industry that he had touched, first was banking with PayPal, then space travel with SpaceX and then automobile industry with top of line Electric Vehicle that could compete with the best in form of Tesla Motors. I truly feel that if Electric Vehicles are the future then Tesla would be the one to build that future.
Coming to the sub $30k model, if they actually build all those supercharger stations that they have committed it, it would sell as much as any oil burning machine does.
appu.bhandari is offline  
Old 18th September 2013, 13:00   #86
BHPian
 
Top-Gear's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 205
Thanked: 114 Times
Re: Tesla Model S: First Impressions

How I wish Tesla would partner with Google in the quest to build a self-driving car! Would be so much more cost and resource efficient, instead of re-inventing the wheel (pun intended!)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...98H01720130918
" (Reuters) - Electric car company Tesla Motors is working to produce a car capable of running on "auto-pilot" within the next three years, CEO Elon Musk said, joining tech giant Google and rival carmakers in the race to roll a driverless car into the market.

The California-based company's autonomous car would allow the driver to hand 90 percent of the control of the car over to the vehicle's computer system, Musk said in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper. Fully autonomous cars would take longer to develop, he said.

The self-driving car would be developed in-house using Tesla's own technology, not that of another company, Musk said in comments confirmed by a Tesla spokesperson.

Tesla's online job board currently has a post for an Advanced Driver Assistance Systems Controls Engineer, who will be responsible for helping "Tesla's effort to pioneer fully automated driving."

On top of the technical obstacles, legal and safety issues must be overcome before driverless cars are allowed on the road.
European Union laws currently call for drivers to control their cars at all times.

And it is unclear whether the multi-billion dollar car insurance industry has any appetite to back the cars until the technology is proven, although driverless cars would be free from human error and programmed to obey traffic laws, features that could appeal to insurers.

Buyers may also be skittish about purchasing a car that drives itself until its safety has been proved through real world experience.

Musk's three-year timeline is more ambitious than timelines set out by other carmakers, as well as analysts that say it will take 10 to 15 years before self-driving cars become a reality.

Germany's Daimler AG and Japan's Nissan have both said they hope to begin selling self-driving cars by the end of the decade.

Daimler already offers technology that allows for partly automated driving such as traffic jam assistance in its top-line S-Class Mercedes, which can maintain distance to other cars in stop-and-go situations.

Google has fitted out several cars with radar-like equipment that lets them navigate roads in California and Nevada. Google did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the status of its driverless car program.
California Governor Jerry Brown signed a law last year allowing the Mountain View-based internet giant to test its self-driving cars on the road.

"
Top-Gear is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 10th February 2014, 22:47   #87
Distinguished - BHPian
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Delhi
Posts: 8,035
Thanked: 49,748 Times
Re: Tesla Model S: First Impressions

Last week I happen to be visiting Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

I hadn't been to Amsterdam for many years. We left the Netherlands more then five years ago, and even when we lived in the Netherlands we did not visit Amsterdam that often.

I came across a Tesla showroom. Right smack in the middle of Amsterdam. It is actually on the corner of the Hobbemastraat and the PC Hooftstraat. About 300 meters from the famous Rijksmuseum.

The PC Hooftstraat is, arguably, the most expensive and exclusive shopping street of Amsterdam. All the big fashion brands have stores here. In all honesty, I try to avoid the PC Hooftstraat at all cost. Very few shops have anything on display or for sale that even remotely holds my interest. Except there are a few outstanding jewelers, selling some very special watches.

You want to see celebrities in Amsterdam? Plant yourself in one of the cafes or little terrasjes (terraces), order some coffee and have your phone stand by to take some snapshots. The number of Range Rovers outnumbers any other car by a good margin. Hence, in the Netherlands a Range Rover is known as a PC Hooft-tractor!

The Dutch don't really like rich gits, but hey we're traders, so we'll take your money regardless whether you have good taste or not.

But back to the Tesla. A few years ago I was in Boulder, Colorado, USA and there as well the Tesla showroom was righ smack in the city centre.

It is interesting how they position themselves, more as fashion accessory then as a car perse. At least, that is my thinking. The nearest Jaguar, RR, BMW, Audi or Mercedes dealer are all at least 15 kilometers away from the city centre.
Attached Thumbnails
Tesla Model S: First Impressions-img_0503a.jpg  

Jeroen is online now   (2) Thanks
Old 10th February 2014, 23:56   #88
Senior - BHPian
 
14000rpm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 2,334
Thanked: 5,519 Times
Re: Tesla Model S: First Impressions

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeroen View Post

It is interesting how they position themselves, more as fashion accessory then as a car perse.
Interestingly Tesla Model S is used as a Taxi in many parts of Norway.
14000rpm is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 11th February 2014, 00:01   #89
Distinguished - BHPian
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Delhi
Posts: 8,035
Thanked: 49,748 Times
Re: Tesla Model S: First Impressions

Quote:
Originally Posted by 14000rpm View Post
Interestingly Tesla Model S is used as a Taxi in many parts of Norway.
I didn't know that, remarkable. I have seen Prius being used as taxi's in several countries around the world, but not Tesla's. Not sure what that does to their brand awareness?

In the Netherlands for decades taxi's were always Mercedes. So if you bought yourself a Mercedes you would have to suffer endlessly on any party you went to. Everybody checking with you if you could take them home! Very funny, that is, if you don't own a Mercedes.

Jeroen
Jeroen is online now  
Old 24th February 2014, 05:58   #90
BANNED
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: BLR MCT
Posts: 962
Thanked: 900 Times
Re: Tesla Model S: First Impressions

Hi,
Thank you for the nice review.
I have seen a brief review of the car on one of the science channels as the ideas that will be the future.

Thoroughly impressed.

Cheers
Mafia is offline  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks