Who’s going to Tesla after their current TDI?

[turbobrick240]

I hear some of these Hertz rentals will be available in November. Much sooner than I originally expected. I have a feeling I'll be placing an order in the near future.

 

[vikingrob]

Saw this too, and found myself thinking about how payment for supercharging would be handled. I could be wrong, but I'm led to think it will be handled in a manner similar to all-electronic toll roads.

 

[TurboABA]

VW CEO warns workers that Tesla's German factory will make cars more quickly and could threaten jobs

 

[turbobrick240]

That article mistakenly said Tesla takes triple the hours to build an EV vs. VW. They meant one third- 10 hours for Tesla vs. 30 for VW. Many at VW would rather stick their heads in the sand than listen to what Diess is saying. To the point where his job is actually in jeopardy. If they can Diess, the future for VW looks bleak.

 

[BamaB4S]

Keeping twi cars and all the energy and waste of them to have a local and a road tripper is likely 2x WORSE than one or the other...
Recently you could say just rent a car for the 15% of trips, but seriously, with rentals rare and $$$ for the foreseeable future...I travel for a living, and are seeing$189$ a day for compact rentals, $400-600 a week if you can get one with a corporate discount and a recent budget rental showed $9999.99 per month as the default rate if you kept it past the agreement.....
Maybe some people never drive past 200 miles or have extreme weather northern USA/Canada, or live in areas where electric power might not be reliable like California, or live in hurricane prone areas that might need to evacuate....
Also it can take a MONTH OR EVEN TWO to get Minor repairs or bodywork on a Tesla.... seriously..buddy in Vegas had his wife get sideswiped...took two and a half MONTHS to get it back.... waiting for parts. Most cars would have been about a week ..
So unless you are a 2+ car family...have a place to plug in...and are ok with lifestyle changes, they aren't ideal...
But if you are trying to make a statement or just enjoy the TQ of pure electric, have fun.

It seems the unfortunate reality is that many environmentally motivated people are more interested in appearing virtuous, or bragging about their new Prius or Tesla than in doing their homework.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

That article mistakenly said Tesla takes triple the hours to build an EV vs. VW. They meant one third- 10 hours for Tesla vs. 30 for VW. Many at VW would rather stick their heads in the sand than listen to what Diess is saying. To the point where his job is actually in jeopardy. If they can Diess, the future for VW looks bleak.

Doubtless VW needs to improve productivity, but at least they're building vehicles to actual automotive quality standards, unlike Tesla.

 

[turbobrick240]

Doubtless VW needs to improve productivity, but at least they're building vehicles to actual automotive quality standards, unlike Tesla.

Well, Tesla is about to open the Berlin factory any day now. We'll see how the Europeans feel about Tesla's quality standards in 2022. I wish VW well, but have a feeling next year could be a bloodbath. Continually chiseling away at Diess's authority isn't going to help.

 

[nwdiver]

It seems the unfortunate reality is that many environmentally motivated people are more interested in appearing virtuous, or bragging about their new Prius or Tesla than in doing their homework.

I just want to use the extra energy my roof produces to fuel a vehicle. What would you recommend?

 

[quartersaw]

It seems the unfortunate reality is that many environmentally motivated people are more interested in appearing virtuous, or bragging about their new Prius or Tesla than in doing their homework.

It is still immature technology. If the Lithium/Oxygen battery could leap off of the drawing board, and into a vehicle, I might be a player.
(Not @ $50k, though)

 

[turbobrick240]

EVs may not be as mature a technology as ICEVs, but they are already twice as efficient. There's something very satisfying about the potential to be energy independent utilizing free and abundant sunlight.

 

[taleAwaggin]

Way less people are using EV's than probably should be. To the vast majority of drivers (non enthusiast drivers) cars are just commuting appliances any way. If you commute a long enough distance regularly, it should be an easy win for the EV. On the flip side, if you don't do enough miles, its probably not worth the extra purchase costs and resource costs over a non EV. Like the grocery shopping on Sunday retiree type of use. Back when the glut of Fiats came off lease I was trying to talk a few friends who commute far into the cheap used ones. Didn't work even though it made a lot of financial sense. I guess Prius and other hybrids are are a more proven "safer" choice for a buyer who is not sure about charging and battery longevity.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

I think way less people are using EV's than probably should be. To the vast majority of drivers (non enthusiast drivers) cars are just commuting appliances any way. If you commute a long enough distance regularly, it should be an easy win for the EV. On the flip side, if you don't do enough miles, its probably not worth the extra purchase costs and resource costs over a non EV. Like the grocery shopping on Sunday retiree type of use.

Although those are exactly the people who should be driving EVs. They perform really well in those kinds of driving conditions. Also, the option to pre-condition the car's interior would be a big plus for short trips. And short trip drivers may never have to find or wait at a charging station outside of their homes.

 

[taleAwaggin]

I know people such as the retiree example who paid way more for an EV vs a gasser. And it just sits there and doesn't get used hardly at all. All the while inching towards an experation date. If you want to call that an ideal scenario for a $15,000 battery I guess we will agree to disagree.

Commuting 30 to 50 miles each way isn't going to leave anybody needing to use a charging station. That is a long commute relative to somebody driving 5 or 10 miles to work. Or compared to the retiree example.. 40 miles each way to work is like 20,000 miles per year without non-work trips. IMO that is putting good use on a battery which costs a lot of resources to build.

 

[turbobrick240]

I haven't checked lately, but second hand LEAFs were quite affordable a year ago. That seems like a good, cheap option for a retiree who puts on very few miles yearly.

 

[nwdiver]

I haven't checked lately, but second hand LEAFs were quite affordable a year ago. That seems like a good, cheap option for a retiree who puts on very few miles yearly.

Just saw one advertised in Seattle for $6k. Another great option would be a used Bolt.... just have to park it outside and away from anything that can burn until you get a new battery. But... you'd basically get a new EV at a used price.

 

[taleAwaggin]

Is that Bolt scare even a real worry though. What was it like 0.005 percent of them caught fire..

 

[quartersaw]

EVs may not be as mature a technology as ICEVs, but they are already twice as efficient. There's something very satisfying about the potential to be energy independent utilizing free and abundant sunlight.

I'd be happy to be aboard, if the sticker shock wasn't punching a hole, into my retirement income.

 

[nwdiver]

Is that Bolt scare even a real worry though. What was it like 0.005 percent of them caught fire..

GM and LG appear to think so. Every 2017-2022 Bolt is getting a new battery at a cost of >$1B. AND GM has suspended production since all the batteries they can make are going to replace the batteries in existing Bolts. Great deal for owners. If you have a car with 50k miles you're gonna get a brand new battery that has even longer range than the original.

 

[oilhammer]

Customer who has elected to part ways with his pristine TT before its engine grenades just got a new Polestar 2... and I was shocked when he said it was under $50k. I would have never though a Volvo-spawned EV would be that cheap. Actually I didn't even think you could get a Volvo in this country for that, it turns out the S60 starts at $40k... but still, the PS2 is supposed to start around $45k.

It wasn't an entirely offensive looking vehicle, either, and its interior was more or less out of the box Volvo. So, strange (ish) in an IKEA sort of way, but not crappy ill-fitted plastic. That giant screen stuck in the middle of the dash is a turn-off, though. That is something they should have left from Volvo, as their center screen actually looks like it was designed alongside the entire dashboard, not just some afterthought screwed to it.

Still not my cup of tea, but was pleasantly surprised at its price point.

 

[TurboABA]

I used to know a stripper called that.....

 

[taleAwaggin]

I would daily a Bolt with the old battery if I could get a sweet deal on one. I'll take my 0.005% chances fix or not. Like nwdriver said, just charge it outside and take a few precautions. Never charge above 70%.. never go below 30%. If the deal is sweet enough it would be worth it. You've got better odds of getting killed by a meteor.

 

[Selle]

The problem with the Polestar is the equipment packs. You can’t add equipment individually, it doesn’t come with active cruise control, if you want it (and you do) you have to add the Pilot pack for 3200 USD. If you want the heat pump you have to add the Plus pack, 4000 USD. This is the reason why I stopped considering it

 

[oilhammer]

Norway probably has things differently than we do.

I don't want it at all, to be honest. I just was surprised by its price. If I had that much money to spend, I'd probably have another Sprinter (diesel) in my driveway.

 

[Selle]

I checked the US website before posting, the equipment stuff is exactly the same. The price I used was from the US website, not converted Norwegian prices

 

[oilhammer]

Ah, OK. I didn't look that closely. None of that gingerbread stuff would interest me anyway (even if I was purchasing one). If a car has air conditioning and a radio, that's enough for me. The only nod to frivolity I like is I do like sunroofs, and do use them on my cars so equipped. But if it was something that got packaged with some other nonsense like a heated steering wheel or ventilated floormats, forget it.

 

[El Dobro]

I would daily a Bolt with the old battery if I could get a sweet deal on one. I'll take my 0.005% chances fix or not. Like nwdriver said, just charge it outside and take a few precautions. Never charge above 70%.. never go below 30%. If the deal is sweet enough it would be worth it. You've got better odds of getting killed by a meteor.

I bought my Bolt for $18,000 and my Spark EV for $10,000. The Bolt should be getting the new battery in a couple of weeks and the battery warranty starts all over.

 

[nwdiver]

I bought my Bolt for $18,000 and my Spark EV for $10,000. The Bolt should be getting the new battery in a couple of weeks and the battery warranty starts all over.

I heard that the new battery is supposed to have a larger capacity than the original. Please update the thread after the swap and let us know if your range increased.

 

[gulfcoastguy]

Customer who has elected to part ways with his pristine TT before its engine grenades just got a new Polestar 2... and I was shocked when he said it was under $50k. I would have never though a Volvo-spawned EV would be that cheap. Actually I didn't even think you could get a Volvo in this country for that, it turns out the S60 starts at $40k... but still, the PS2 is supposed to start around $45k.

It wasn't an entirely offensive looking vehicle, either, and its interior was more or less out of the box Volvo. So, strange (ish) in an IKEA sort of way, but not crappy ill-fitted plastic. That giant screen stuck in the middle of the dash is a turn-off, though. That is something they should have left from Volvo, as their center screen actually looks like it was designed alongside the entire dashboard, not just some afterthought screwed to it.

Still not my cup of tea, but was pleasantly surprised at its price point.

I ran into a guy driving one on the company publicity tour at the charger in Colorado(pueblo?). Anyhow he had a heck of a time getting the charger to start. I didn't really car for the car myself but to each his own.

 

[tikal]

A more inexpensive EV (used Kia Soul EV, Nisan Leaf, eGolf, Fiat 500, etc.) might be also a good fit for other people that use a car exlusively in the city for work, shopping, school, etc., not only for retired people.

 

[oilhammer]

Yeah, except that would be impossible with a unibody like a Sprinter. There is no "chassis" separate from the "box".

Mine came all assembled from Argentina.