Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard
The Tesla Model E won't use any gas. You can power it with sunlight or with the wind; and renewable energy doesn't require a military to defend it.
And it won't hardly require any regular maintenance. Compare an EV with a typical car, and you save roughly $17,000 per 100,000 miles driven.
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Whether or not it uses gas is not the point. It's price that appeals to the masses. The Nissan Leaf is the about the closest attempt yet at a mainstream EV. Even with a range of about 100 miles per charge, it would still take the average driver 7 years to save any money compared to the comparable Nissan Versa. That includes maintenance. 7 years is too long for most. And as I mentioned, it's pretty rare for consumers to keep their vehicles that long to actually save any money by buying the EV.
If you want to talk environmentally friendly, that is a different issue. What I am talking about is making EV technology accessible to more people. And as I addressed, that means being cheaper and having more range.
BTW, how much power are the Telsa E's solar panels and wind generator able to supply? While it may sound nice to have your car supplied with renewable energy, I am skeptical of how much range the auxiliary charging methods actually provide in the real world. Certainly solar/wind alone is not enough to actually power the car, unlike the Volt which can drive only on the gas generator.