Hi Sal

txcoastal1 · November 2017

Nothing wrong with balance, a little here and a little there

Keep in mind the US has managed to cripple cities and towns ie big steel, coal, manufacturing etc

Made us a weaker economy overall. Take out big oil that leaves the US with only engineering, but manufacturing will still move abroad, along with good paying jobs.

Know your history on why we became a great nation. We lead in both development and manufacturing

You reap what you sow

txcoastal1 · November 2017

And FYI we are no longer the only leaders in development and of course you know we lost the manufacturing years ago

Keep it up....mark my words

ken brydson · November 2017

Viking64 wrote: »

Everybody's avatar should be their most recent driver's license photograph.

Mine is carved in a cave wall..

ADJ · November 2017

ken brydson wrote: »

Viking64 wrote: »

Everybody's avatar should be their most recent driver's license photograph.

Mine is carved in a cave wall..

You had a cave?? Lucky.

ken brydson · November 2017

nbrowser wrote: »

Viking64 wrote: »

Everybody's avatar should be their most recent driver's license photograph.

If I do that...I'll be mistaken for a tree hugging person of Seattle...lol.

If you could only get to Seattle...

daddyjt · November 2017

ADJ wrote: »

Actually, I think that EVs are a viable alternative to gas/diesel vehicles right now in a lot of scenarios. Certainly not all of course, but in my situation I drive maybe 20 miles round trip to my workplace and back and rarely drive around town more than 50 miles in a day. An EV makes great sense for me and probably would for many people. Nonetheless, I drive a gas pickup

That being said, I would never champion unforced funding the dreams of Musk or his ilk . As you said, it will succeed (or fail) on its own merits. Ultimately I think it will succeed in the end but that's just my own opinion.

My bigger issue with the comment that I quoted was that people wouldn't be able to remember to plug in their car to recharge, which to me is idiotic.

In operation they may be viable for some people, but I was speaking more from a production/acquisition standpoint.

Of the vanishingly small percentage of total vehicles sold that are EV, how much smaller would that percentage be if the $10k(ish) subsidy were to be eliminated? Additionally, how much MORE would a Tesla cost if Musk weren't raking in billions from the government (or would Tessa exist at all)?

THAT is what I mean by viable...

Viking64 · November 2017

"Tesla" is an anagram for "E.T. Sal"!!! He's an extra-terrestrial! I knew it!

txcoastal1 · November 2017

mrbigbluelight · November 2017

I do have some reluctance in basing my life choices on a romance novel fashion model (despite the fact that his dad was an engineer).
Despite clear and concise product labeling, Mr. Fabio seems somewhat confused by the distinct differences between margarine and butter.

I prefer the scientific work being conducted by afficionado Mr. Young
(information relayed to me by a certified 'Merican)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=qnYCYDWUCRc

Lincoln Continental. Proof that you can save the earth with style and class.
No sense in saving the earth if you ain't got no style, not to mention class.
......... might want to throw "couth" into the mix while we're at it.

Toolfan66 · November 2017

No one has heard from Rick88 but Sal gets all this attention... SMH...

charley95 · November 2017

ADJ wrote: »

charley95 wrote: »

ADJ wrote: »

tonyb wrote: »

Yeah....ok. Most of us can't remember to plug in our phones, now you want us to plug in our cars too ?

Get up for work, and realize you forgot to plug in the car last night. Then what ? Then you get fired, can't pay the nut on the electric car, and buy a beater gas powered car while you look for a new job.
.

That's just beyond stupid. That's like saying people can't remember to fill their cars up with gas. No, electric cars aren't the answer now but internal combustion engines were a poor replacement for horses too once upon a time. Centralized power production with virtually lossless distribution makes a hell of a lot of sense. The tech isn't there to make it better than fossil fuels right now but that doesn't mean it won't be.

Are you a millennial?

Not sure why a person's age is relevant to their viewpoint but I am probably older than you.

I'm 53 and pretty much view the world just as Walt Kozwalski did in Gran Torino! Just think how great the world would be if we all had a neighbor like him. He would not be a bleeding heart, that I can tell ya!

Jstas · November 2017

If you have to resort to fear mongering about rumors, speculation and vaporware to get people to pay attention to your "message" then your message is not worth passing along.

tonyb · November 2017

ADJ wrote: »

tonyb wrote: »

Yeah....ok. Most of us can't remember to plug in our phones, now you want us to plug in our cars too ?

Get up for work, and realize you forgot to plug in the car last night. Then what ? Then you get fired, can't pay the nut on the electric car, and buy a beater gas powered car while you look for a new job.
.

That's just beyond stupid. That's like saying people can't remember to fill their cars up with gas. No, electric cars aren't the answer now but internal combustion engines were a poor replacement for horses too once upon a time. Centralized power production with virtually lossless distribution makes a hell of a lot of sense. The tech isn't there to make it better than fossil fuels right now but that doesn't mean it won't be.

LOL, well, people do forget to put gas in their cars. Gas engines as a poor replacement for horses ? That's there is funny, you do stand-up on Tuesdays and Thursdays ?

Our electric technology is so great on the distribution side, that we have brown outs as is today. Everyone turning on their AC at the same time stresses the grid. Lets add 220-440v access to that grid by the millions and see what happens.

Like I said, the amount of money needed to give x amount of people access to x amount of juice simply isn't workable today. Not just because we lack a direct need for it, but we also lack the funds to build such an infrastructure today. Maybe everyone forgot, but our credit card has 20 trillion on it and growing with unfunded liabilities close to if not in excess of 100 trillion. Keyword there is "unfunded", stuff we have yet to pay for.

We can't even take care of infrastructure needs for cars in general. Roads/bridges ? Nobody is arguing that EV's can benefit a certain percentage of the population, just as solar and wind power can, but none of those choices are a replacement for fossil fuels on the scale we need them to be. That my friend isn't stupidity, it's called common sense, something missing in todays society.

nooshinjohn · November 2017

Not an EVhole? Perhaps but another kind of hole most assuredly.

tonyb · November 2017

Sal, at least your being honest. If someone like you who is heavily vested in the EV mania, can forget to plug the darn thing in so can those not so much in tune with the requirements. It's not stupid as another member suggests, it's just human nature.

Point is, with gas....you fuel up once and your good for at least 4 days maybe a week depending on how much you drive. EV's need daily attention and awareness, one more thing to add to the list of things to remember. That's all I'm sayin'...like a high maintenance girlfriend, and we all know how long we keep those.

mhardy6647 · November 2017

The "forgetting to plug in" thing is only an issue, from my perspective, because the consequence of forgetting is so much more time consuming for a recharge relative to a refill. I have a coupla 2-1/2 gallon gas cans in my shed. I don't know of a handy way to store a bunch of charge in my shed -- or, more to the point, even if I had a jug of charge, pouring it into my EV would take more than a half minute or so.

That remains, I think, one of the more significant bugbears of EVs in the present. I expect it to stay thus in the future, too. I am deeply skeptical of "the laws of physics" enabling a safe, practical and cost effective way to recharge batteries quickly -- i.e., at the levels of energy required for a "fill up" akin to an I/C auto's fuel tank.

Superconductors, e.g., will never be practical nor cost effective for an automobile. Any conductors with finite resistance will generate substantial heat conducting such huge amounts of charge in short times.

EDITORIAL: I do think Mr. Musk is something of a charlatan. Not a pure-play charlatan, but one who is adept at setting unrealistic expectations (a la Nikola Tesla, of another time). Tesla was only sparingly successful at funding his shenanigans; Musk, so far, is much more so.

mrbigbluelight · November 2017

IMO, one should only guardedly use the words "Tesla" and "Elon Musk" in the same sentence/paragraph and then only in a "Compare/Contrast" situation.

There's a reason why Elon Musk named his company "Tesla Motors" when perhaps "P.T. Barnum Motors" might be more fitting.
And while Elon Musk has the backing and assistance of our Powers-That-Be (In-Q-Tel, DARPA, etc), Tesla had to fight against the Powers-That-Be of his time (Edison, JP Morgan, Carnegie, etc).
It should be acknowledged that Tesla did have the backing of Westinghouse.

Tesla was kind of a cross between Einstein and a honey badger.
Profit driven innovation ? Honey badger don;'t give a .... uhm ..... care.

Here's a little primer (and there WILL be a test later):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=128&v=pkYUF64v2iU

Yep, honey badger don't give a ...... hoot.

maximillian · November 2017

tonyb wrote: »

Sal, at least your being honest. If someone like you who is heavily vested in the EV mania, can forget to plug the darn thing in so can those not so much in tune with the requirements. It's not stupid as another member suggests, it's just human nature.

Your original comment implied a habit of forgetting. If your job depended on your phone or your car and you habitually forgot to charge it, then I would fire you. I have no issues with people being occasionally late. There's a myriad of reasons why this happens. Some of it is directly our own human fault. Even gas autos break down. Sal reported he was late on average about once every other year due to forgetting. That is not habitual, and should be excused by a reasonable manager.

I grant you the Nissan Leaf's range is listed at 107mi which I think is pretty bad.
This does require a bit more trip planning on a day-to-day tasks. Although I could get to work almost twice before charging, and again, my work has free charging spots. The Tesla 3's range is more inline with gas powered cars. Big reason I would not own an EV other than a Tesla right now. I am hopeful for the future.

tonyb · November 2017

We have something in common then, hope for the future. My hope is we stop wasting money on niche markets and put the bigger bucks where it will help more people in need instead of a handful of elitists.