Anyone own a Tesla (or other electric vehicle)?

[65fastback2plus2]

Add grain of salt: saw a meme the other day that stated a recent study determined that electric cars are actually more damaging to the environment..

You how it goes with memes, sometimes you just gotta dig deeper...

Theres been several of these studies over the years and they're entirely true.

Add in the fact that most power grids arent setup to handle an influx of electric car charging, and it just isnt feasible.

Plus, I can wrench on any engine powered vehicle with ease....self-repairing a electric vehicle isnt going to be as easy and going to be expensive.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

Theres been several of these studies over the years and they're entirely true.

Add in the fact that most power grids arent setup to handle an influx of electric car charging, and it just isnt feasible.

Plus, I can wrench on any engine powered vehicle with ease....self-repairing a electric vehicle isnt going to be as easy and going to be expensive.

Very interesting.

I never really thought of all the ramifications of EVs.

This is a honest take from Politico which is a left-leaning rag and even they aren’t sold on the true benefits of EVs.

https://www.___GET_REAL_URL___/s/ww...lectric-cars-worse-for-the-environment-000660

 

[65fastback2plus2]

Very interesting.

I never really thought of all the ramifications of EVs.

This is a honest take from Politico which is a left-leaning rag and even they aren’t sold on the true benefits of EVs.

https://www.___GET_REAL_URL___/s/ww...lectric-cars-worse-for-the-environment-000660

Id love to own a tesla if i could afford it, but not because of any environmental impact or anything...but because of auto pilot. Stress free traffic driving FTW

 

[ksadler1]

Id love to own a tesla if i could afford it, but not because of any environmental impact or anything...but because of auto pilot. Stress free traffic driving FTW

Tell that to the guy who got beheaded when his EV went under a semi while on auto pilot...

 

[65fastback2plus2]

Tell that to the guy who got beheaded when his EV went under a semi while on auto pilot...

"The driver manually hit the brakes a fraction of a second before impact."

I have way more common sense than to wait until a fraction of a second to take over and hit the brakes.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

Tell that to the guy who got beheaded when his EV went under a semi while on auto pilot...

That’s an old wives tale.

EVs weren’t around when Sam Kinison was alive.

 

[ksadler1]

"The driver manually hit the brakes a fraction of a second before impact."

I have way more common sense than to wait until a fraction of a second to take over and hit the brakes.

You probably know more about it than I do, but didn't they say the sunlight reflecting off the side of the semi made the system malfunction? Just curious, but these vehicles won't break on their own in an emergency situation?

 

[morasp]

We just got solar panels so the electric car seemed like the logical next step. As far as I can tell the batteries are the biggest issue. I think Tesla uses Lithium Ion batteries which have serious thermal runaway issues (Hoverboard) and require elaborate cooling systems. The Enphase battery for our solar panels is Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo 4) which doesn't have the same problems but is a newer battery chemistry and more expensive. Battery technology is in it's infancy and I expect them to get quite a bit better in the future as companies compete and put money into R&D. I recently watched a TED talk that detailed a salt water battery which has zero impact to nature that we very interesting. I also remember reading an article that said the Bill Gates foundation was funding battery technology research.

 

[CyberB0b]

I don't really care about the environmental impact, I just think Tesla is a million miles ahead of other manufacturers as far as features and tech goes. That, and Ludicrous mode.

 

[Denim Chicken]

You probably know more about it than I do, but didn't they say the sunlight reflecting off the side of the semi made the system malfunction? Just curious, but these vehicles won't break on their own in an emergency situation?

Even if true and some crashes were the direct result of auto pilot error, the amount of crashes they would prevent would dramatically outweigh the amount they caused.

 

[Denim Chicken]

 

[Denim Chicken]

Theres been several of these studies over the years and they're entirely true.

It depends on how you look at it.

If you drive one in California, for example, the Co2 footprint is likley way lower than a combustion engine due to the fact that the energy produced in California comes from a lot of renewable sources. However, if you charging in a state who's energy is from coal-fire plants, the C02 footprint becomes a lot closer between the two.

Alos, if you look at the resources and carbon footprint of producing the actual vehicle, I've seen studies that show EVs have a higher footprint due to the battery and precious metals required.

 

[ksadler1]

Even if true and some crashes were the direct result of auto pilot error, the amount of crashes they would prevent would dramatically outweigh the amount they caused.

I think the issue is that some people think they can just put their vehicle on auto pilot and not have to pay attention, like being on a train. The problem is, anything human made and designed is destined to fail once in a while...

 

[Nightman]

I think it is great that all technologies are evolving

Just let them play out without govt intervention.... dictating winners and losers through subsides and regulations

Let the best man win......ICE vs EV ..... but either way neither is going away any time soon

There is too much oil under American control to give up on drilling... the World will lag behind for decades and keep depending on fossil fuels

 

[John813]

Id love to own a tesla if i could afford it, but not because of any environmental impact or anything...but because of auto pilot. Stress free traffic driving FTW

**** I just want one cause of the instant torque from the P85/100 models.

Would put just about anything I've owned to shame from low speeds.(Lightning/Gt500/SRT stuff etc).

I think it is great that all technologies are evolving

Just let them play out without govt intervention.... dictating winners and losers through subsides and regulations

Let the best man win......ICE vs EV ..... but either way neither is going away any time soon

There is too much oil under American control to give up on drilling... the World will lag behind for decades and keep depending on fossil fuels

A lot of renewable/"clean energy" are around purely cause of subsidies imo.

Like Solar power, which allowed home owners to actually afford the system and have a realistic break even point years down the road.
Florida Power and Light has taken advantage of those for years and now will have a decent amount of homes powered by Solar here in S. florida.

I don't see oil going away anytime soon, even with the "promises" from more left leaning politicians about being oil free in 2030 or whatever date.

For me, I don't mind the govt. intervention in allowing companies be willing to invest in these cleaner energies.

The big car manufactures are slowly getting more into electric vehicles(like Ford getting into it, investing in Rivian) and making cars/trucks people actually would want to drive and can actually afford, with tax credits or not.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

**** I just want one cause of the instant torque from the P85/100 models.

Would put just about anything I've owned to shame from low speeds.(Lightning/Gt500/SRT stuff etc).

I think a lot of it depends on how the torque comes on. That, and awd. AWD and a smooth transition of torque keeps the car settled.

My lightning, terminators, my gt500...all of them are RWD and hit the torque HARD, which unsettles the car and harms traction.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

You probably know more about it than I do, but didn't they say the sunlight reflecting off the side of the semi made the system malfunction? Just curious, but these vehicles won't break on their own in an emergency situation?

Sure, but planes fly themselves now and still have pilots. The driver is supposed to catch and correct for the mistakes. Nature of anything mechanical.

 

[ksadler1]

Sure, but planes fly themselves now and still have pilots. The driver is supposed to catch and correct for the mistakes. Nature of anything mechanical.

Planes also have ATC's watching over them and telling them when there's a dangerous situation approaching. But you're right, the driver is supposed to catch and correct mistakes. In the real world that does not happen, otherwise there would be very few accidents...

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

Planes also have ATC's watching over them and telling them when there's a dangerous situation approaching. But you're right, the driver is supposed to catch and correct mistakes. In the real world that does not happen, otherwise there would be very few accidents...

It may not seem obvious but the margin of error at cruising altitude is much greater than what it is driving on the freeway.

 

[joseephuss]

This is still the early footsteps of the electric vehicle era. This is even more true of the autonomous vehicle era. It is too early to come to any final conclusions for or against these vehicles. There are environmental concerns right now, but is possible as technology improves and evolves that these concerns will be lessened over time. The same with safety issues. The current set of cars out there are not the final product. The safety features and measures are going to continue to improve. Every wreck today will lead to solutions for tomorrow, hopefully.

The percentages of EV vehicles in use in the US is pretty low. It is even lower for autonomous cars. The full impact(good and bad) of these cars hasn't really hit yet.

I imagine that in the future that cars will communicate with each other to some degree. Perhaps some sort of transponder on each vehicle can send signals to other cars. For example, I could see the potential benefit of a car at the front of the lane informing cars behind it that it is on a pre-determined route that will have it turning right in 2 blocks or something similar.