PS – You are now officially wrong about the Model S. Tesla got their money from the feds and will be selling the Model S to the public by 2012 for about 60 grand, which is about the same as what you would pay for a similar luxury performance sedan based on a gasoline or deisel powertrain. BMW should be starting to get nervous about the future of its 500 series right about now. Same goes for Lexus concerning their IS and GS series.

They should feel ashamed of propogating the lie that its green and they are saving the world by buying it.

I’m not really impressed by Tesla at all considering people here have achieved better cost/range EV. Yeah its a sports car but if you went out and bought huge electric motors its got and dropped them in your metro it would do 0-60 in less than 5.5.

It looks like the sarcasm of picking GM as a model of reliability didn’t come through (I didn’t word it very well). I drive a Nissan for a reason.

To be fair, Japan has followed this principle of urban planning and their cities are much safer than anywhere else I’ve ever been.

Rich -

While I do agree with much of what you say in principle, it comes down to this: a handful of electric cars are not going to change the world. The EV1 showed that back in the day. However, Tesla has in effect priced itself out of the hands of most owners, meaning that it will never have a larger share than a handful. The i MiEV, on the other hand, is something I look forward to.

You have faith in GM? Wow, just wow.

I have little reliability data on Tesla (except for a few transmission shenanigans). I have boatloads of negative reliability data on GM.

Sorry, pal, not gonna happen. I live in the country and I refuse to live in your crappy urban environment full of Starbucks and crime. Where I live, there were 3 violent crimes committed last year and all three of them happened in the town bar and involved only fisticuffs. How much crime did you experience in your city? How many muggings take place on the subway, at the bus stop, or on the rails?

Urban planning my foot. Keep your ghetto, I’m staying here where I can be free.

Also, it doesn’t hurt that Tesla is challenging the stereotype that electric cars are underpowered. This is a good thing for the EV industry in general. This is a strategic move that’s working according to the press that I’ve seen.

In terms of “Tesla’s Rocky Track Record” – it’s normal to have to go through design challenges during the development of a new product (yes, a high performance EV sports car is a new product). Tesla is certainly not the first (or last) company to experience design challenges. The major car manufacturers have been refining the same designs for a hundred years, but they still have recalls.

In terms of the cost of the batteries, Tesla’s roadmap goes from:
- A few expensive, sporty cars
- More less expensive, more consumer friendly cars
- Commidity cars – the segment it seems that you want. This is also the segment that I want, and this is the segment that will drive down the costs of batteries.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the EV industry won’t be either. It takes time. So yes, it is going to be a while before the price of battery technology takes a dive. The ends don’t always justify the means in terms of achieving a goal, but in this case I think they do.

Oh – and what car companies do you trust? Tesla is still a startup. It’s going to take us a all a long time to have as much faith in them as we do in GM. Oh wait – GM probably isn’t a good example. Did consumers trust Ford day one? Did companies like Kia have issues with quality / reliability out of the gates? Of course.

Advertising… Really? Tesla is just playing the same game that the rest of the auto industry plays. For how many years have the EPA MPG ratings been completely misleading consumers? So is your problem with Tesla or automotive advertising in general?

Tesla is taking a different route than you would have. That’s fine. What path are you taking? That’s not a sarcastic question – if there’s a more practical, achievable way (and better urban planning is a great idea, but reinventing where and how people live is going to take longer than making batteries cheap) to reduce our nation’s dependence on fossil fuels, I’m all ears. Oh – and it has to be more than an idea / roadmap. Tesla is actually making it happen.

I think a factory-built electro-metro would be a better deal, per dollar. Even so, I still lust for a Tesla.

Even if some of the points are a little off-base as was seen in the rebuttals, I think it still has accomplished its purpose.

Well, I’m one of those “throw out income taxes altogether” freaks, which would, of course, make this part of the discussion pointless.

Forgive my anti-government behavior, I live in Wyoming, where people are still free.

Thanks for the comment.

1.) I largely agree with you here. But the first home computers were not unnecessarily fast or powerful. Cost is kept down in order to facilitate purchase. Sure, a 200+ mile EV is expensive, but if it did 0-60 in 10 seconds and not 3.9, it would be a lot more affordable.
2.) This is a good point, and something that I overlooked. Thanks for reminding me.
3.) The intent of the rebate is to help the environment, just as the write offs for large trucks are to help small business owners. Neither were intended for purchasing luxury vehicles. Sure it’s legal. It’s a loophole. But it’s sad.

2) Tesla makes batteries for more than their own cars. They’re currently contracted with Daimler and Zapp as well.

3) “Fleecing the Federal government” implies two things: WE actually OWE them something and THEY are actually ENTITLED to something of ours. Neither is true. Tax writeoffs are not TAKING from the federal government, they are reducing what you PAY them. If it’s so wrong to write off things on your taxes, then why is the writer blamed rather than the government who allows the writeoffs?

I’m no huge Tesla fan either, but they have their place in the market and are doing better than many other companies with highway-ready vehicles. At least they aren’t riding their whole future on promises based on vaporware pipe dreams like some other American car companies have been…

Actually, electric cars are more energy efficient. Not only that, but the pollution from the grid is almost always less than that of individual cars creating the same amount of energy. So no, they’re not a hoax. But yes, the source of energy is still incredibly important.