Tesla Model X...better have a tall garage.

[Astro]

Originally Posted by brucey

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If we put as much support, financial backing, and long term mindset changes into public transportation, it clearly would do all those things and more, at a lower cost and environmental impact. For the record I love cars. But the idea from the previous post was simply backing the statement "Because its' Cool" is enough reason to do something.

Public transport fails because it is "Public" transport.
It only takes one piece of excrement floating in a pool to make swimming unpopular, the same applies to "Public" transport. Getting stabbed for your shoes does not seem like a fun way way to start your work day.

Public transport used to work, yes. Back when a train had individual cabins with doors you could lock. When there were several conductors and security staff on every train. Yes it worked back then because people could have as much or as little contact with the other travellers as they pleased.

Now imagine the government/corporations took all that support and financial backing and put it into adding charge as you drive to all the major roads and powered it 100% from renewable, environmentally friendly power.

Electric cars would then be able to travel without ever having to stop. No more range anxiety. Also with modern cars starting to have auto braking allowing them to follow closely and safely the car in front, where is the difference between 50 cars travelling together as a single unit and a train? The cars become the train.

Except it is a train where you can exit it any time you choose. Where you travel in a comfortable seat, listening to the music you enjoy. Where you travel with the people you wish to travel with. Where the "Train" drops you right at your front door. Not a deserted railway station. Where you don't spend 20 minutes held up at a train station platform because a group of people think it's "Cool" to hold all the doors on the train open and see how long they can delay the train.

Give me the car train any day.

[Teri_TX]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Tesla has to enter the market that exists, and they have to succeed - before they can change it.

Tesla buyers "get" $7500 of tax credit, not $25K.

How much is oil subsidized by? I daresay most of our military budget is an oil subsidy, and the big oil companies have been earning the largest profits *ever* while paying tiny taxes. They get sweetheart deals on drilling leases, and they barely pay anywhere near the cost of the most rudimentary cleanups of the disasters they spew. Would you rather live next to a refinery or a wind farm? Or even live next to a gas station vs a Supercharger station?

Most people that complain about subsidies are completely ignorant of the subsidies given industries by the "evil" government. I and everyone on this forum would still be sending snail mail if it were not for the government (military) deciding a fault tolerant communication network was needed in case of a nuclear war (an unfortunate technological development). Airplanes were subsidized first by the US mail and military purchases. We wouldn't have integrated circuits (at least several decades sooner) and personal computers without NASA and the military having a need and the money to subsidize the industry. The list goes on and on ...

If your power comes from a nuclear, it's subsidized. Who really pays for the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system? The airlines don't even come close to paying for it. Who paid for the Interstate highway system?

Now, "Wingers" complain about solar subsidies but are silent about those to the oil industry. The government is trying to "kick start" the solar industry and it appears it's relatively successfully. Yes, some fail but few of you on this forum know how many mainframe computer companies there once were. All were trying to get the government to buy theirs. NASA bought quite a few, even bought one from General Mills!!!! Yes! The makers of cereal and other manufactured "food stuff".

Don't try to tell me the government hasn't ALWAYS subsidized industries. Private industry is so "conservative" that "if Grandpappy did it that way, then that's good enough". Well, maybe grandpappy's only tool was a hammer and everything looked like a nail. Private industry? Ha! Most "private industry" operates on private profits and socialized risk.

Neil is right. However, have you personally heard the noise made by wind turbines? Rather startling how much noise they make. Given the choice of living next to a wind turbine farm or a refinery, I'd take the wind turbines and their noise (not that refineries are quite).

[Astro]

Originally Posted by Teri_TX

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Neil is right. However, have you personally heard the noise made by wind turbines? Rather startling how much noise they make. Given the choice of living next to a wind turbine farm or a refinery, I'd take the wind turbines and their noise (not that refineries are quite).

I too would rather live next door to a wind turbine than a refinery.
I lived with a refinery in the same suburb where i grew up. It was not fun when the evacuate alarms went off. The evacuate alarms almost always happened in the middle of the night. My dad would bundle us into the car and we would rush along with everyone else to the relative safety of a nearby hill. Most of the suburb ended up on the same hill.
My mum worked night shift at the refinery.
So there we would stand, with what seemed like thousands of other people, quietly watching and waiting to see if tonight was the night my mum didn't come home.
So yeah, wind turbines seem pretty tame by comparison.

[RedDevil]

A large part of the Rotterdam harbour area is buzzing with petrochemical activities; storage, refineries and all kinds of related processing.
I drive right through the area once a month or so. There is always something smelly in the air; most of the time some gaslike odour.
I watch the economy readout and hope I can get a few extra MPG's out of it

Of course if I would drive a Tesla model X all the smell would be wasted on it. OTOH it might reduce the production of that smell ever so slightly by not needing the produce.