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  1. R

    My road trip experience and why the future of EV's depends on it getting better

    Even if future batteries have the taper, with a big enough battery, you can afford to charge the battery in a way that avoids the taper and still have plenty of range. Let's assume a 500 mile battery where the taper kicks in at 80% SOC like it does today. That means the taper kicks in at 400...
  2. R

    My road trip experience and why the future of EV's depends on it getting better

    What the OP is missing is how batteries will change between now and when EV's are truly mass-market. I got my S in Dec 2012 - I think that qualifies me as a Model S early adopter. I've done day trips without count, a 10-day >1200 mile roadtrip to SoCal and will be doing a 10-day road trip soon...
  3. R

    What Did 2012 MS Buyers Know About SC's and DCQC?

    When I reserved, the SC's were mentioned but still a pretty decent unknown. I did the math though and figured that an S85 would make an awesome Bay Area day-tripping car. The second car was going to be an ICE so going with the S seemed like a reasonable bet.
  4. R

    SuperCharging starts to feel slow

    I've done the SF to LA run and I think Cottonwood nailed it. The chargers along that route (I-5) are spaced about 110 miles apart. Spacing the superchargers 250km apart makes it possible to get from one charger to another without a completely full charge. But if you put another supercharger...
  5. R

    Five days at the airport (vampire loss)

    It should. Earlier S software was always connected and the computers were always on. I lost 10 miles a day leaving the S at the airport. After the "deep sleep" feature was released, that figure dropped to a few miles per day. I don't remember the precise number but it was low enough that I...
  6. R

    Free Speech and Climate Change Skeptics & Deniers

    People also need to think about this from a risk management point of view. On the one side, the science isn't 100% accurate. It probably won't even be 95% accurate for decades if not longer. Climate and weather is complex stuff. But if we screw up our climate, we don't get do-overs and...
  7. R

    Non Cold weather package people in cold climates.. any tricks to prevent wiper ice?

    +1 on alcohol and rubber not getting along well. Find windshield washer fluid concentrate instead. Pour some into the fluid already in your reservoir. That will increase the % of wiper fluid chemicals in the mixture which will make what's in the reservoir more resistant to freezing.
  8. R

    California: Recommended installer - SF Bay Area?

    Ditto San Jose area? I'm in the South Bay and Walnut Creek is a long way to go for a camera install.
  9. R

    Rented 85kw for 3 days during Super Bowl.. Opting NOT to buy

    Sounds to me like the "daily range" on the charge limit slider - which I think is 60-90%, btw. I personally charge to 80% but that's because that gives me 200 miles of range in the morning - equivalent to 1/2 a tank of gas. I never drive more than 1/3 a tank of gas per day unless I road-trip...
  10. R

    Superchargers in Northern California (location speculation)

    And Google also has a boatload of free Chargepoint stations for employee use (only). It might make sense to eventually put an SC in right off 280 and/or 101 between Gilroy and the Petaluma/Vacavile/Napa chargers. And one up in the Oakland/Berkeley area. But I wouldn't worry about putting one...
  11. R

    "Performance" Hybrid to non-P Model S experience

    On the performance front, you really should drive at least an S85. The S85 moves more like a Ferrari. Usable power is much better on the S85 than on my old '03 model BMW 330i (high-end engine, not base model). If you want even more space then the S60/85, you need to wait for the Model X...
  12. R

    Elon Musk tweets software upgrade will increase P85D range

    Anyone who buys the first of anything should expect bugs. Just be glad the bugs are in the software and can be fixed by OTA updates. One big thing about software - you don't know when it'll be done until it's actually done. And most of Tesla's features are either software-based or have a...
  13. R

    A Few Comments on Safety for New Tesla Owners

    +1 to Todd and this thread. I have to second taking some kind of Car Control clinic class if you haven't had one already or spent time on a track. Highly recommend if you're getting a S or P and haven't spent years driving high performance cars because the instant torque of the S is an upgrade...
  14. R

    Space Solar Power -- How Much More Power Can Be Collected?

    The other problem is how are you going to get the power down to earth? What are the efficiency losses? And how hard is it to turn the power transmissions mechanism (and therefore the solar energy collector satellite) into a space-to-ground weapon? I think I prefer my solar panels on the...
  15. R

    Input requested: Bonnie's Top Ten List / EV Urban Legends

    Heard this one today: "Tesla is 30% subsidized."
  16. R

    Why I won't order my Tesla...yet

    There are tradeoffs involved in any car design. Reading your initial post, I'm sure the S isn't for you and I think it makes sense for you to hold off. "I like some level of performance, so long as I can get 0-60mph in less than 7secs, I'm happy." kind of says it all. Leaving aside eco...
  17. R

    Curious - what hardware upgrades have they performed on the Model S thus far?

    I'm pretty sure they did suspension bushings on my car even though they weren't failing. They've done a ton of other TSB's since I have an early VIN car that I personally don't believe would have been TSBs at most other car companies.
  18. R

    S85, P85, or P85D -- How Fast Is Fast Enough?

    Having owned a 1986 Ford Mustang GT and after that BMW 3-series cars (with the 3 liter, inline 6 engines), I have to point out that your analysis understates the power of the Model S. In traffic, the instant torque of the S means that the S is moving when the Mustang driver is downshifting and...
  19. R

    Superchargers in Northern California (location speculation)

    +1. Now if we could only get a Supercharger near Napa. Vallejo, maybe?? Elon needs to do a Napa Valley drive-around wine-tasting day trip sometime. Then he'd understand :-).
  20. R

    Evolution of the Tesla Trade In (or Sanity Check Please)

    Yes, you missed that I misread or didn't read your original post carefully enough and have been too busy to read the entire thread. And you missed my complete bamboozlement because business ethics aside, this move just seems so STUPID on Tesla's part that I'm having a hard time believing there...
  21. R

    Evolution of the Tesla Trade In (or Sanity Check Please)

    I'm sure you've done your research but I have to ask. I'm guessing that what Tesla could do, if their ICE trade-in partner(s) agree to it, is have their ICE partner(s) take Model S trade-ins until Tesla is ready to go with its CPO deal at which point the flow of Model S tradeins would go to...
  22. R

    Evolution of the Tesla Trade In (or Sanity Check Please)

    Ok, I understand the sales tax credit issue now. I didn't think of that because we don't get that credit in California. We get hosed for the full tax on a new car regardless of any trade-in value. But still - Tesla's not set up to sell used cars efficiently or effectively right now. That's...
  23. R

    Evolution of the Tesla Trade In (or Sanity Check Please)

    Frankly, I don't see what the fuss is all about. To me, it's clear. Tesla right now doesn't want to and probably isn't set up to handle a true "used car" sales model. Their inventory sales model is totally different. That's selling low mileage demo cars, not cars that have been in someone...
  24. R

    Are you with Musk or Hawking on AI

    Hope is not a strategy. The price of a mistake could be terribly high. Which is why Elon is bringing this up.
  25. R

    Will CHAdeMO chargers catch on in the US?

    Yep - buying a Chademo adapter makes sense if you have a specific need and Chademo will work for you. I wouldn't buy it otherwise except in Japan where Nissan has tried hard to blanket the country. Sheer numbers of chargers installed don't tell the story. The problem with Chademo is given...
  26. R

    Will CHAdeMO chargers catch on in the US?

    Yep. Personally, (also living in CA), given the long range of the S and Supercharging and L2 availability, I'd buy Chademo only if I was going to do some travelling in places where L2 was hard to find, SC was far away and I could confirm Chademo was available and usable. Vacationing on the...
  27. R

    Will CHAdeMO chargers catch on in the US?

    In the US, not a chance. The problem with Chademo in the US is that it doesn't charge fast enough for a long-range EV. And for a short-range EVs like the Leaf, you can't put enough chargers in to make the cars viable for long-distance travel and they'd be too painful to use that way even if...
  28. R

    Service profit argument EV vs ICE

    +1 to ChadS's post above. Most EVs today are lower cost cars so they're less profit margin. They're low volume. They're a new and different product. Basically, they're very different and therefore a total pain for sales and service alike. And because they're not $80-100K cars, there isn't...
  29. R

    Are you with Musk or Hawking on AI

    For science-fiction reading, Two Faces of Tomorrow by James P. Hogan is pretty good. Also, The Terminal Experiment by Robert J. Sawyer. CPU power and memory densities continue to grow at a rapid pace (Moore's law). Your high-end smartphone (or for that matter, the Tesla Model S) has as much...
  30. R

    Are you with Musk or Hawking on AI

    Forget about superior - we can't even explain how our own brains work. So until proven otherwise, there's ample reason to believe that if we manage to create an intelligence that is at least equal to our own, we will be no better and probably worse at predicting its behavior, thinking...
  31. R

    Trip to Carmel

    I want to reiterate. Daytime trips to Carmel shouldn't be a problem. Day trips when you come back at night and it's not during the winter - not a problem. Potential problem - from experience - day trips in the winter to Carmel and especially a few miles more into Carmel Valley where the...
  32. R

    CHAdeMO adapter wait frustration

    Oh for heaven's sake. Tesla is not Ferrari or Rolls Royce or Bentley. They're selling a $80-120K cars, not $200K cars. They already have 3-5x the sales volume of high end companies and are growing rapidly. And they want to move into the $35-$50K market whereas the high-end companies don't...
  33. R

    Fisker Karma

    I don't know. Personally I think the Fisker looks nice from the side and rear (if you want the low-slung long sports car look) but I find the front to be just hideous.
  34. R

    How much would people pay for range?

    I'm going to grossly oversimplify but in my opinion, there are basically three kinds of EV buyers. Those that believe you can make do with ~100 miles of range, those that believe you need more than 200 and a supercharging network and those that think you need 500 or more and a supercharging...
  35. R

    There's no replacement for displacement...oh, really

    Yep. What I think is funny is that the P85D is a 4-door family sedan. It's an awesome family car that can seat 5 adults and haul as much stuff as an SUV. The fact that you can even mention it in the same breath as a McLaren or top-of-the-line Porsche and Ferrari without hysterical laughter is...
  36. R

    Audi, Porsche and Mercedes preparing a rival for Tesla

    Your point about the impact of the large battery on vehicle design is a really good one. But I think the US companies are going to have a problem too. You need the chassis, body, powertrain folks to all work together to put together something totally new in a new way. Unless they stand up...
  37. R

    Guy Who Killed Fisker Offers Advice To Elon

    I think it's going to be very difficult for a big auto company to develop a compelling EV until: 1) battery tech gets good enough and cheap enough that you can use current big-auto methodologies instead of Tesla methodologies and wind up with a good car. My guess is that's 3-5 years after...
  38. R

    Guy Who Killed Fisker Offers Advice To Elon

    I don't believe Tesla will lose its advantages. Every other big auto company has gone to outsourced parts as much as possible. It would take years to undo that. Every other big auto company would like to go to a skateboard + body approach like Tesla has. A world platform that you can slap...
  39. R

    Guy Who Killed Fisker Offers Advice To Elon

    True on Ferrari. But Tesla is already pushing ~3x the volumes of Ferrari + Maserati and that multiplier will continue to grow. Tesla has a different business model than your typical car company and is plowing everything into growth like a startup. Because of that, it's difficult to tell what...
  40. R

    Trip to Carmel

    My advice: be prepared to charge at Gilroy on the way back if you're doing a day trip further than Monterey in the winter. I live near the intersection of 85 and 17. My house to Monterey (Aquarium) and back is no problem with the S85. What can be a challenge is deeper into Carmel Valley (go...
  41. R

    Guy Who Killed Fisker Offers Advice To Elon

    That's true. But the battery tech isn't there to support a viable $20K car that can be sold at a profit. Tesla has the time to grow and scale as the battery tech improves. It's a long process. Trying to get there overnight is a sure-fire recipe for bankruptcy. Also, as long as they can...
  42. R

    Guy Who Killed Fisker Offers Advice To Elon

    Gee, if GM had concentrated on making cars that people liked and could sell at a profit instead of low cost cars that can be made in high volume, maybe it wouldn't have needed a bailout? Tesla doesn't need to bring down costs in an unnatural way. Time will bring battery costs down. Tesla just...
  43. R

    Leather options - Environmental / Ethical

    Yes. Wouldn't be horrible if we one day discovered that plants were conscious and aware in some way? I don't know that this will happen but we've certainly discovered stranger things so it wouldn't surprise me. Waxing philosophical for a moment, life isn't possible without death. We kill...
  44. R

    Leather options - Environmental / Ethical

    There's more to ecological impact than greenhouse gases. Say what you want about beef and leather but when I order prime rib, I'm quite confident that I'm not putting the cow population at risk and that cows can be raised in a sustainable fashion. The same sadly cannot be said about seafood...
  45. R

    Battery pack refreshes and future cars - prediction

    My predictions, fwiw. I think there are two timeframes where it would make sense for Tesla to update the current Model S battery packs: when introducing the Model X and when introducing the Model 3. The Model 3 is a slam dunk for a refresh driver. By then, battery tech will have improved...
  46. R

    Getting the 60D versus the 85D

    Enough times to be glad I bought the 85. The 85 is enough for my daily driving needs but it's the longer day trips - >1 hour there, >1 hour back where that extra range comes in handy. When I went up to Napa Valley, I started with a range charge, got some charge at a tasting room and didn't...
  47. R

    If you do not mind, Please post your trade in offer from Tesla so we can compare note

    The problem is that it all depends on whether the IRS's interpretation of the language is the same as yours. I would agree with you but I've heard of enough cases where the IRS interpreted ambiguous language in interesting ways that I'd want to check with a tax person to be sure. FWIW, I...
  48. R

    If you do not mind, Please post your trade in offer from Tesla so we can compare note

    If it were me, I'd make a quick call to a good tax person to see how the IRS was interpreting that language because there's a chance you may lose the credit on the first car. The IRS language on the electric vehicle credit says, "The vehicles must be acquired for use or lease and not for...
  49. R

    Getting the 60D versus the 85D

    The other difference between the 85 and 60s is the power. While the 60D will accelerate faster than a 60, the 85 will accelerate faster than the 60D. If you don't care about that and you don't care about the range, then by all means, you should go for the 60D.
  50. R

    If you do not mind, Please post your trade in offer from Tesla so we can compare note

    My guess is that Tesla will make *lower* than normal offers for trade-ins until they are ready to roll out their CPO program. Reason being that until they have the CPO program, dealing with used inventory is a hassle. Their systems and procedures aren't set up for that. They're set up to sell...