OT: Saw a Tesla Roadster
04-24-2009, 03:24 AM
#16
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
The practice of copying other companies designs and ideas STINKS and I'd NEVER help companies like these out and they deserve negative or no publicity like the zero heritage that follows them
I wonder if you'll be able to buy these at 40-50% of list when they're a couple of years old. Then they begin to make some sense.
04-24-2009, 03:46 AM
#17
Tesla = repackaged Lotus Elise design for silly money yet still doesn't handle anywhere near the same - Who gives a s4it for a battery powered vehicle ... Is this green?!? Ask yourself where electricity comes from 
Why don't they employ a proper design team and then there ridicules asking price might look attractive?!?
It reminds me of the resent copy of the Rolls-Royce Phantom (made in China - where else):
The practice of copying other companies designs and ideas STINKS and I'd NEVER help companies like these out and they deserve negative or no publicity like the zero heritage that follows them
What a sack of S41T!
In the UK and Europe the Chrysler 300C is simply looked upon as the poor mans Bentley which is exactly what it is (no handling capabilities & no taste) - I know we are in hard times but would you buy a cardboard house styled upon the White House to live in - I hope the logical answer is no
This resembles exactly what Tesla are doing and I bet they get a load of government funding for the project which tax payers are paying for A fake with fake promise.
Tesla shipped 2 cars to the UK for testing and both broke down on the same day at a launched price of £80K the same money as a well specified 997.
Further to the point it is estimated that the batteries will only last for 2 years - how much will it cost to dispose of them and what's the cost of new ones?
Why don't they employ a proper design team and then there ridicules asking price might look attractive?!?
It reminds me of the resent copy of the Rolls-Royce Phantom (made in China - where else):
The practice of copying other companies designs and ideas STINKS and I'd NEVER help companies like these out and they deserve negative or no publicity like the zero heritage that follows them
What a sack of S41T!In the UK and Europe the Chrysler 300C is simply looked upon as the poor mans Bentley which is exactly what it is (no handling capabilities & no taste) - I know we are in hard times but would you buy a cardboard house styled upon the White House to live in - I hope the logical answer is no
This resembles exactly what Tesla are doing and I bet they get a load of government funding for the project which tax payers are paying for A fake with fake promise.Tesla shipped 2 cars to the UK for testing and both broke down on the same day at a launched price of £80K the same money as a well specified 997.
Further to the point it is estimated that the batteries will only last for 2 years - how much will it cost to dispose of them and what's the cost of new ones?
First, Tesla is not delivering a "green" solution, they're showcasing a niche technology that can be sold for a fortune to struggling auto industry dinosaurs and funded by ignorant government backers.
Second, the "oh so USA!" Tesla didn't pause to choose a US partner for their car, they went off shore and didn't look back. Too much of what Tesla does relies upon offshore interests (from chassis to batteries and everything in-between.) If Tesla ever succeeds, it will play out overseas and US carmakers will be "customers" paying up profits instead of being domestic makers growing business here in the US and employing US workers. This simple and inescapable reality seems to be too easily swept under the carpet. I asked these questions of Tesla circa 2006 and they couldn't explain how their business could play out using US vendors as partners or suppliers. The winners in their success ranged from Canada to China or whatever European suppliers.
As is often noted, an electric car is, in the US, really a "coal" car for the next ten years. It displaces the urban pollution for suburban pollution. At best. And there's no proposed solution for the inherent pollution (manufacture of the car) or the legacy pollution (waste and recycling) let alone the active pollution (energy production by burning coal.) Ironically, you could drive a halfway clean four cylinder gas engine car from the 70's and the net pollution legacy would be a tiny fraction of a Prius or a Tesla.
If you buy a Tesla, you're funding Tesla with no balance of payments -- really you should buy Tesla equity with a contract for a rate of return on investment and the car itself would be a perk.
In short, go buy a new Ford F250, run it on B100 biodiesel and deal with the maintenance issues. You'll be employing staff in a viable business (unlike GM or Chrysler) and you'll have a 20+ mpg vehicle that's emitting fewer green house pollutants and it's already been built and warehoused in such excessive numbers that you're not contributing to any vendor supply/demand production planning.)
I'm not kidding.
"Buy a new Prius/Tesla/Insight" = "Go fuuck the planet, let the grandchildren figure it out."
04-24-2009, 11:43 AM
#19
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As is often noted, an electric car is, in the US, really a "coal" car for the next ten years. It displaces the urban pollution for suburban pollution.
This is worth a read on the new "Nanoball" battery technology: http://www.newscientist.com/article/...n-minutes.html
Either which way I'd still take a Lotus Elise or Europa over a Tesla and would not have to be asked twice.
TopGear review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG3bMKR5eXk
04-24-2009, 01:46 PM
#20
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
Great TopGear review. Tesla matched the lap time of the GT3, amazing.
Those who think this is an "environmental" car are kidding themselves. No car built for speed is going to be economical or pro-environment. That's akin to the "clean" coal arguement, just silly on the face of it. The Tesla is a novelty item and IMHO a fun one at that. I'd happily take one over the Toyota engined Elise, although not at the list price.
Those who think this is an "environmental" car are kidding themselves. No car built for speed is going to be economical or pro-environment. That's akin to the "clean" coal arguement, just silly on the face of it. The Tesla is a novelty item and IMHO a fun one at that. I'd happily take one over the Toyota engined Elise, although not at the list price.
04-24-2009, 02:51 PM
#21
Three Wheelin'
How's this for irony - a Tesla thread on Rennlist and then I drive up to my house last night and find this parked across the street:
(apologies for the crappy iPhone pic)
(apologies for the crappy iPhone pic)
