Tesla Model S waffling - Page 8

*clyde* · 04-04-2013, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob

Getting stranded without a battery . . . that will make for interesting stories.

"So, there I was, stranded with what I thought was a dead battery half a mile from home. I called Tesla's world famous roadside assistance customer support line to send me a flatbed and you know what they told me? They told me that my battery was holding a charge that would take me another 50 miles, but if I wanted to use it, I had to give them a credit card number so they could place an eleven thousand dollar charge."

Yeah...can you imagine the stories?

We're not going to agree and we're not going to change each minds. I'm okay with you being wrong on this, just as I'm sure that you can be okay with me being wrong on it, too (if I were, which I'm not because you're wrong, not me).

*clyde* · 04-05-2013, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jalopnik feed

Employees at Google may have just pulled off a prank that is simultaneously brilliant and visually horrifying after they apparently transformed their boss Sergey Brin's Tesla Model S into this pink eyelash-sporting Batmobile monstrosity you see here.

Read more...

Jeff_DML · 04-05-2013, 01:59 PM

Quote:

The Engadget Interview: Tesla's Elon Musk promises more Superchargers, better service, cheaper EVs that don't suck

http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/05/elon-musk-interview/

Rob · 04-05-2013, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clyde

We're not going to agree and we're not going to change each minds. I'm okay with you being wrong on this, just as I'm sure that you can be okay with me being wrong on it, too (if I were, which I'm not because you're wrong, not me).

I wasn't trying to change your mind. I was just curious about why you felt that way and explained why I saw it differently.

I do think Tesla is going to have an issue when they have stranded cars with charge available. I suppose their saving grace in that situation will be that they can't enable the car to use the remaining charge remotely.

*clyde* · 04-05-2013, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob

I wasn't trying to change your mind. I was just curious about why you felt that way and explained why I saw it differently.

Okay. I'd imagine that your view is probably more prevalent than mine.

Quote:

I do think Tesla is going to have an issue when they have stranded cars with charge available. I suppose their saving grace in that situation will be that they can't enable the car to use the remaining charge remotely.

I don't think that saving grace will get them very far when they get sued after someone dies as a result. I have no idea how it will happen, yet I am sure it will.

ZBB · 04-05-2013, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob

I wasn't trying to change your mind. I was just curious about why you felt that way and explained why I saw it differently.

I do think Tesla is going to have an issue when they have stranded cars with charge available. I suppose their saving grace in that situation will be that they can't enable the car to use the remaining charge remotely.

I don't think they'll have that situation... The Tesla forum thread on this seems to think that what they will do is just cap the charge at ~66%. So instead of being able to charge up to 60kWh, they would just stop charging at 40kWh. So once the battery drains to 0, there isn't any magical extra juice left.

But this will only be a small number of cars -- perhaps 400-600 cars will have this artificial software cap (assuming 4% of ~10-15k orders before they cut off ordering capability on Apr 1). And a portion of them will either upgrade before delivery (for $10k) or after delivery (for $11k) to the full capacity.

I'll comment more on what I think of this later. Overall, I think they handled it well. The downside is that the lowest priced Model S is now $62k, vs $52k before (after Federal rebate...).

The optional supercharger access being a software restriction doesn't bother me too much. I think I'm going to order it anyway, but I could see some people holding off until the superchargers are more widely avail...

ZBB · 04-05-2013, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clyde

I don't think that saving grace will get them very far when they get sued after someone dies as a result. I have no idea how it will happen, yet I am sure it will.

Why is this different for an electric car? ICE cars can easily run out of gas, and I can't remember any news articles about someone's death just because they ran out of gas

As for the cap at 40kWh -- remember that car will still have a range of ~150 miles. That's basically double what a Nissan Leaf or Focus Electric have. But Leaf and Focus buyers don't have a future option to switch on ~50% additional range.

bren · 04-05-2013, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clyde

Okay. I'd imagine that your view is probably more prevalent than mine.

Not here. Sounds pretty crazy to me that all of the parts are already included with the car and it's literally just flipping a check box that costs thousands of dollars. Really dumb.

TD · 04-05-2013, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bren

Not here. Sounds pretty crazy to me that all of the parts are already included with the car and it's literally just flipping a check box that costs thousands of dollars. Really dumb.

Did it bother you when the E90 325i and 330i were out, both with 3.0L NA engines with the only difference being the engine programming capping the power on the 325i? Then the 328i that came later that was also an NA 3.0L with a third programmed level of output?

*clyde* · 04-05-2013, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZBB

Why is this different for an electric car? ICE cars can easily run out of gas, and I can't remember any news articles about someone's death just because they ran out of gas

As for the cap at 40kWh -- remember that car will still have a range of ~150 miles. That's basically double what a Nissan Leaf or Focus Electric have. But Leaf and Focus buyers don't have a future option to switch on ~50% additional range.

I can think of more than a few news stories of people that get stranded in their cars and freeze to death after running out of gas shortly before being found. Good thing the range of electric cars increases so much in deathly cold weather. Oh, whoops.

I put 10 gallons of gas in a 10 gallon tank, use 10 gallons and run out, fuck me.

I put 10 gallons of gas in a 10 gallon tank, use 7 gallons and run out because the gas tank manufacturer wants to charge me more to access the last 3 gallons, fuck you.

From what you said in response to Rob, it sounds like Tesla will figuratively put a 3 gallon airbag in the tank so it can only be filled to 7 gallons so it's not quite same as my scenario, but hopefully my point is still clear.

The other cars you mention have a hard limit and are not comparable to the S or Tesla's business practices. If Ford and Nissan were doing the same thing, selling a car with an artificially reduced range accessible only for an obscene amount of money for nothing more a few button presses or keystrokes, I'd be just as turned off and disinclined to give them any of my money.

Also, as you say, it's probably just a few hundred cars, so why doesn't Tesla give the, complimentary upgrades? If they did, we're not having this conversation. It's not like it would cost them anything. It's the same part. The knob is just turned this way or that that.