Teslas and other electric vehicles

[Phredd3]

Michelin manufacturing and Benore trucking are going to be testing an electric truck to make last mile deliveries for about 1 month. It’s going to be one made by Nikola however, not Tesla..

Is a corporate merger in the works?

[burnspbesq]

But do they yet actually sell a vehicle one can plug into these charging stations? Seems a bit like vaporware at this point.

There are some out there. I haven’t seen one anywhere other than Out of Spec videos yet. I did see an e-Tron GT and a Polestar 2 at an EA station in Houston last week.

https://insideevs.com/news/578177/ri...elivered-1227/

[budwom]

I’m all in on the concept but for now the options are too limited, the prices too high and the range insufficient. All that should change in the relatively near future

[jimsumner]

I’m all in on the concept but for now the options are too limited, the prices too high and the range insufficient. All that should change in the relatively near future

How much "relatively near future" do we have?

Asking for a friend.

[budwom]

How much "relatively near future" do we have?

Asking for a friend.

Not near enough for my next car to be electric...but once the "bigs" get fully inolved (GM, Toyota, VW et al) I expect it'll get very interesting. Keep in mind some manufacturers say (is this true?) that they won't make gas consuming cars after 2030 or so. We'll see.

[jimsumner]

Not near enough for my next car to be electric...but once the "bigs" get fully inolved (GM, Toyota, VW et al) I expect it'll get very interesting. Keep in mind some manufacturers say (is this true?) that they won't make gas consuming cars after 2030 or so. We'll see.

Given how influential the Prius was in the first stage of hybrids, I'm very surprised that Toyota seems so reluctant to enter the full-electric-sedan market. We've been buying Toyotas since the early 1970s. I'm not absolutely opposed to leaving the Toyota universe for something more hospitable. But it's not just that we've been fortunate in our choice of vehicles it's also that we've come to trust our local Toyota dealer when it comes to service, just general competence and general honesty and I'm not all that keen to start over with a new bunch.

[TheDevilMadeMeDoIt]

Given how influential the Prius was in the first stage of hybrids, I'm very surprised that Toyota seems so reluctant to enter the full-electric-sedan market. We've been buying Toyotas since the early 1970s. I'm not absolutely opposed to leaving the Toyota universe for something more hospitable. But it's not just that we've been fortunate in our choice of vehicles it's also that we've come to trust our local Toyota dealer when it comes to service, just general competence and general honesty and I'm not all that keen to start over with a new bunch.

From what I read, Toyota misread the market, thinking hybrids would be around for many more years. So at this point they will require a few years to catch up. This could cause real harm to Toyota’s continued sales leadership in the world. With battery range improving all the time why would I the consumer want to pay for for two engines in a car, an internal combustion and an electric engine. On top of that, with a hybrid you still have to buy gas, get the oil changed, the transmission flushed, etc. Many think the hybrid car will go the way of the Stanley Steamer.

[jimsumner]

Many think the hybrid car will go the way of the Stanley Steamer.

Maybe. But until and unless batteries improve and the charging-on-a-road-trip infrastructure improves a lot people like my wife and me are going to want to hedge our bets with at least one gas-electric hybrid in the garage.

[CameronBlue]

Maybe. But until and unless batteries improve and the charging-on-a-road-trip infrastructure improves a lot people like my wife and me are going to want to hedge our bets with at least one gas-electric hybrid in the garage.

I was pondering the cliche "free your inner Luddite" as I read your post and literally blew scotch out over my computer screen. Just one gas-electric hybrid? One? Really?

[OldPhiKap]

Maybe. But until and unless batteries improve and the charging-on-a-road-trip infrastructure improves a lot people like my wife and me are going to want to hedge our bets with at least one gas-electric hybrid in the garage.

This. Both MrsPk’s car and mine are hybrids. Love them both.

Not opposed to all electric, but waiting for some uniformity in chargers and more consistent infrastructure. Quicker charging would be a benefit too. These things will come, but not wanting to struggle through until it is here.

[camion]

Not near enough for my next car to be electric...but once the "bigs" get fully inolved (GM, Toyota, VW et al) I expect it'll get very interesting. Keep in mind some manufacturers say (is this true?) that they won't make gas consuming cars after 2030 or so. We'll see.

To paraphrase Mr. McGuire’s tip to Benjamin Braddock.

One word… HYDROGEN!

[budwom]

From what I read, Toyota misread the market, thinking hybrids would be around for many more years. So at this point they will require a few years to catch up. This could cause real harm to Toyota’s continued sales leadership in the world. With battery range improving all the time why would I the consumer want to pay for for two engines in a car, an internal combustion and an electric engine. On top of that, with a hybrid you still have to buy gas, get the oil changed, the transmission flushed, etc. Many think the hybrid car will go the way of the Stanley Steamer.

Yes, that plus Toyota (whose cars I enjoy because they tend not to break) erred as a lot of technology companies do...they were big leaders in the hybrid market which was very successful for them, so they didn't want to transition away from them too quickly...looking to buy another Lexus next year if they can get any cars on the lot...could take longer than that.

[moonpie23]

Not near enough for my next car to be electric...but once the "bigs" get fully inolved (GM, Toyota, VW et al) I expect it'll get very interesting. Keep in mind some manufacturers say (is this true?) that they won't make gas consuming cars after 2030 or so. We'll see.

Telsa is kinda "big" in the wallet...

[Phredd3]

For those of you swearing by hybrids, remember that the original Prius is really just a very efficient gas car. The Prius Prime or Chevy Volt, on the other hand, are parallel hybrids which can use either electricity (for relatively short distances), or can be powered by gas on longer trips. There's a huge difference between those in terms of climate impact.

I've owned both a regular Prius and a Prime, and I used to fill up the regular Prius with gas about once every 2 weeks on a driving schedule similar to what I have now. With the Prime, we've been filling the car at the pump roughly quarterly (plus twice more for overnight trips), but have been able to fill at the wall nightly. From Durham, we can make it to Raleigh on a single charge, but can't make it back without gas (we don't spend a lot of time in Raleigh, so we can't recharge there on the trips we take). So it's those trips (which we do 1-2 times per week) that primarily necessitates the quarterly trip to the pump. Almost all of our day-to-day local driving is entirely gas-free. I recommend the parallel hybrid approach for those folks still skeptical of longer range trips with a full EV.

Personally, I'll probably switch to full electric once the Prime moves on to greener pastures, but meanwhile, I'm quite happy with what I've got.

[wavedukefan70s]

Yes, that plus Toyota (whose cars I enjoy because they tend not to break) erred as a lot of technology companies do...they were big leaders in the hybrid market which was very successful for them, so they didn't want to transition away from them too quickly...looking to buy another Lexus next year if they can get any cars on the lot...could take longer than that.

Yes it could .we literally got shipments from last August a few days ago.auto parts.

[budwom]

Yes it could .we literally got shipments from last August a few days ago.auto parts.

Just saw that a new Subaru dealership opened in our area (very popular Vermont cars) and they've advertised their "vast" new can inventory. I got on line, checked it out, they "have" 55 new cars (not that vast) but when I looked at each individual car, the first 20 were said to be "in transit." Looked no further...Dealers telling folks yep, we have cars, just order what you want, and then............wait.

[burnspbesq]

Telsa is kinda "big" in the wallet...

Tesla’s market cap doesn’t correlate well with the health of its business. When it can match these results, let’s talk.

https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/news...ves-forwa.html

[Bluedog]

Tesla’s market cap doesn’t correlate well with the health of its business. When it can match these results, let’s talk.

https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/news...ves-forwa.html

I think a reasonable thing to do to assess how "big" an automaker is is to look at number of vehicles sold.

By that measure, it's Toyota, VW, Hyundai/Kia, GM, Stellantis, Honda, Nissan, Ford.

[tommy]

Hey guys and gals. Looking for advice here. I own a Tesla Model 3, and have for 3-4 years. Absolutely love it - best car I've ever had and it's not close.

My son turned 16. I taught him to drive on the Tesla and he's very comfortable in it and he's a very good driver. We want to get him a car in the Fall. He's 16 -- he doesn't need to be driving a Tesla, but we're thinking some other brand of EV, for among other reasons, the price of gas is ridiculous and it's a whole lot easier and cheaper to just plug in at home where we already have the charging plug. We'd also like to get him something that isn't too boxy or tiny or otherwise an uncool look for a guy in high school with friends and girls etc. We're also mindful of the wait times for a lot of cars these days once they are ordered.

So: ideas? Experiences? Suggestions? New or lightly used? How and where to get? Help! And thanks.

[-jk]

Hey guys and gals. Looking for advice here. I own a Tesla Model 3, and have for 3-4 years. Absolutely love it - best car I've ever had and it's not close.

My son turned 16. I taught him to drive on the Tesla and he's very comfortable in it and he's a very good driver. We want to get him a car in the Fall. He's 16 -- he doesn't need to be driving a Tesla, but we're thinking some other brand of EV, for among other reasons, the price of gas is ridiculous and it's a whole lot easier and cheaper to just plug in at home where we already have the charging plug. We'd also like to get him something that isn't too boxy or tiny or otherwise an uncool look for a guy in high school with friends and girls etc. We're also mindful of the wait times for a lot of cars these days once they are ordered.

So: ideas? Experiences? Suggestions? New or lightly used? How and where to get? Help! And thanks.

The new Subaru would be fun. And I think it still gets the $7500 rebate. (So long as the wheels don't come off.)

-jk