wwaswas – Member
It’s a shame they couldn’t design something where the driver could see a cyclist beside the cab… it’s got less visibility to the sides and down than a standard hgv.

Well, I’ve sat in a Nissan Qashqai and watched on a screen on the dash as a bloke walked all around the car giving it a quick checkover, without moving my head. It involved the use of these neat little electronic devices, called cameras; you may have heard of them?

Oh that would be why fighter jet designers are falling over themselves to improve situational awareness by replacing bubble canopies with shitty little low definition cameras whos screens you have to physically look down at and block a lot of your peripheral vision…

I can pop round if you like..

Sure. You can tell him to his face that he’s a “self important twonk” who cares less about saving anything than looking good in an expensive car.

Crikey, there’s some chips on shoulders here!
Bikebuoy, you may want to actually look in to what musk has achieved so far, because they are all about the infrastructure, as well as the vehicles.
See also the massive energy storage system they’re installing in Australia.
Btw I don’t think prerequisite means what you think it does, and what’s a ‘modem operandi’ – some kind of instruction for a router?
🙂

I’m fine thanks, just pointing out the obvious.. but read what I posted…

No chips, large fish though.

Somebody I know has just been killed by a guy in a Tesla. I’m sure his family will be delighted to hear a faster one is on its way

Meanwhile quite a few people have been killed or seriously injured by people driving a whole bunch of cars that aren’t Teslas…
How many Teslas have been sold in the UK?

Tom_W1987 – Member
Oh that would be why fighter jet designers are falling over themselves to improve situational awareness by replacing bubble canopies with shitty little low definition cameras whos screens you have to physically look down at and block a lot of your peripheral vision…

I don’t know how much attention you’ve been paying to fighter design over the years, but pilots have large helmets with visors and oxygen masks that cut down on a lot of peripheral vision these days, and have high-backed ejection seats blocking rearward view.
And how many accidents occur every year because artic drivers cannot see around the sides of the tractor unit?

but read what I posted…

Do we have to? 🙂

Nope, I don’t read anyone else’s ..

Ohh… no I do akchewally… they spout the same crap as I do.

HTHs.

😉

I did read it, some most of it didn’t make a lot of sense, which is why I posted….

shitty little low definition cameras whos screens you have to physically look down at and block a lot of your peripheral vision

Indeed, if only Tesla had put the screens in easy to see places, the idiots!

Oh wait

Don’t you hate it when the PR dept of your multi billion $ company use random images to show your point, but end up making you look slightly daft?

That link to the Canadian site is very interesting.

Using some very straight forward maths and physics, they question a lot of the realities around that truck.

Whilst I don’t know if the tesla numbers are right, that site spouts some bs. Modern artics in the UK average around 7mpg (fleet average for tesco iirc). A 7 series (model s competitor around 30mpg – so 4 and a bit times more fuel per mile, not the amount they were stating. Additionally the model s is going to have its efficiency hampered by the weight of the battery, but on a lorry that impact is reduced as the overall moving weight is far higher..

A 7 series (model s competitor around 30mpg

A 7 series does better than 30mpg. Probably closer to 40 mpg. It can also acheive a lot better than that at a steady 55mph. Getting towards 50mpg.

Until then…IMO…, it’s just a vanity project to lure the wealthy into the Brand, a Brand based on Speed and Thrills from an electric powered car.

Or if you stop being anti-tesla for a minute and think about it…

Electric car technology is currently new and still very much in it’s development stage so if expensive.

You also don’t want to produce 100,000’s of a products that are still the early model (model S), you save that for the later ones (model 3)

So, the best way to get money to develop it is to tap into a high value, low volume market

By pushing the upper limits of what the technology can do you are making significant strides in the technology that can be used long term to develop more efficient, longer range, more robust electric cars for the masses.

Add to this that by pushing the upper limits of performance you are creating brand and technology awareness AND making it attractive to people with money. How many people who can afford a £100k car go out and decide to buy a crippled range and carrying capacity Leaf instead?

The Leaf has come at the EV issue from the other direction, only it wasnt cheap which is what hurt sales. It was also described as one of the fastest depreciating cars and has been terrible for the finance companies. When it first came out the battery was horrendously expensive, that is now much better hence why Leaf 2 has a much bigger battery for a similar price but in terms of product life I suspect a Leaf is much worse than a Tesla as I suspect a lot more will end up in end of life centres long before Teslas of the same age. The value of a used Leaf is such that a failing battery makes it worthless as the range is now very low and the replacement costs too high.

Tesla have lots of money coming in from investment to fund their overpriced premium product. Nissan have lots of money from other car sales to fund their overprices bargain basement product. Neither were going to be solutions to our transport product but rather the first significant stepping stones and bringing awareness that it is possible but there is no denying the Tesla has been way more impressive and actually brought huge advances in self driving.

It is also worth noting that the Tesla has been outselling pretty much every other car in it’s size and price bracket – eg Mercedes S class, Audi A7, BMW 7 series. It’s just they are going to struggle with the volumes needed for the model 3 which has about 500k reservations already. For comparison BMW produce about 400k 3 series per year, that is as close to an automotive high end white good as you can get as they are everywhere thanks to cheap lease deals and bmw are well used to making a car like that.

I’m not “anti-Tesla” and I fully understand that this is very early technology.

I’m glad that some early adopters are willing to spend so much money on a “luxury” car that isn’t very “luxurious”. I have been Tesla taxis many times and compared to a 7 Series or S Class, it feels cheap and plastic.

If I was in the position of spending £100k on a car it wouldn’t be a Tesla.

However, an electric car may be my next vehicle, I have just a 12kw Solar PV system in and like the idea of using a car as a battery. The longest journey it would be used for is about a 30 mile round trip.

I have been Tesla taxis many times and compared to a 7 Series or S Class, it feels cheap and plastic.

What’s your living room like?

Mine has simple but comfortable furnishings, a couple of big screens, some nice sound stuff, triple-glazed plastic windows… . More functional Zoé than the car-trying-to-be-a-gentleman’s-club crass of big Mercs. I detest the interiors of big BMWs and Mercs. As for Jags and Rangerovers – tasteless bling. I think the Tesla has an interior that appeals to the kind of people who will be buying it. Each to his own eh!

I like the look of the roadster, hopefully they can make it handle well. Wonder if they are using another Lotus chassis maybe one from the Evora?

What’s your living room like?

What? My house is 180 years old and stone built, so doesn’t really lend itself to functional.

More functional Zoé

🙄 FFS. Each to his own eh!

They don’t look very different to me.

I think the Tesla has an interior that appeals to the kind of people who will be buying it. Each to his own eh!

I wasn’t talking about the “look”.

The Tesla lacks rear headroom, my head hits the rear pillar and I’m not particularly tall. From conversations with the taxi drivers, a lot of them complain about the seats being uncomfortable over time. The ones who have gone back to Mercedes, say that it is far more comfortable.

What “kind of people” are buying the Tesla’s? I think the main thing is that they are “rich”.

The average Tesla owner makes $271,000 (down from $290,000 in 2013) and is between the ages of 35-50. 88% of owners are male (smaller sample size). For 91% of owners, this is the most expensive car they have ever purchased. That metric is up from 65% in 2013**. After purchasing their Tesla, only 24% of owners would consider purchasing a gas powered car again. 92% of owners would purchase another Tesla in the future.

https://cleantechnica.com/2016/04/20/results-tesla-owner-survey/

1m74 and 67kg. Basic Renault seats suit me fine, it feels like the car fits like a pair of confortable trainers. Merc ones feel like size 47, I assume they are designed for fat taxi drivers and fat rich people. Just as I suppose Tesla seats are designed for fat Americans.

In the Zoé it’s clear they’ve been working hard on saving weight. Seems like a good idea to me.

Leaf is much worse than a Tesla as I suspect a lot more will end up in end of life centres long before Teslas of the same age.

I bet they don’t. There are a lot of people who would pick one up cheap as a runaround. Who cares if t only does 30 miles if you are just running about town. I’d have one for a grand.

I think that in the UK most Teslas on the road are company cars because the low BIK makes them comparable to other normal cars.