I actually agree with this here.. Also, it might be because I see so many everyday that it's now just another car to me. The front end is also rather generic now though it still looks awesome at night when you can't see anything but the lights.
I hate the bubble, generic rounded "fast back" of it. The Volt suffers from the same problem. They need to either make it a wagon / hatch or cut it shorter and give me a trunk; both of which would look much better on the Tesla.
No problem. I don't update it that often, but I do post links of interest over in the electric car discussion thread:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2327836
The biggest thing I'm excited about is the AWD option coming within the next year for the Model S. It was originally a feature on the Model X SUV, but they've ported it to the S, which would be awesome for the fun winters we have here in New England
I drive by a Tesla dealer every day and they always have about 8 cars sitting. Need to get myself to stop and test drive one day.
I test drove the Volt and Leaf... Leaf just for comparison sake, since the range makes it unusable for me.If you're calculating payments, perhaps you shouldn't look at a Tesla. How about a Volt?
My old job I had a similar commute, 90 miles a day, and drove my first IS350 into the ground because of it. Sucked to devalue a car so quickly. So I got a new IS350, and a 05' RSX for my "commuter / beater" car... I ended up rarely using the RSX because it was SOOO much less comfortable to be in and less fun to drive; is this me just being a baby, probably.If I were you, I'd buy a second car just for commuting. Something used, still has decent life and good on gas.
Lots of 1st world problems there
Test drive with the wife tonight.... fingers crossed.
Hahha, I'll take whatever I can get.Still talking about the car?
My biggest "love" for the Tesla is the lack of moving parts to break. I'm an engineer, and work years in quality, 9 out of 10 times, if something breaks its because its moving.... the wife keeps suggesting hybrids but they still have all the same moving parts and pieces to go wrong. Its shocking how little to break there is on the "engine" and drive-train of the Tesla. With that said, like you mentioned, if something goes wrong, parts are few and far between and expensive.And on the other hand of #1, mass-produced stuff always seem to fare better than boutique stuff. Buying a $20,000 Honda typically gives you a fairly reliable & bug-free ride since they make a zillion of them & iron out the bugs the crop up
My biggest "love" for the Tesla is the lack of moving parts to break. I'm an engineer, and work years in quality, 9 out of 10 times, if something breaks its because its moving.... the wife keeps suggesting hybrids but they still have all the same moving parts and pieces to go wrong. Its shocking how little to break there is on the "engine" and drive-train of the Tesla. With that said, like you mentioned, if something goes wrong, parts are few and far between and expensive.
t seems like the performance models (tires in particular) and sunroofs (cracking parts) had the most complaints. But in general, the reports were really good. I would only get one if I had a second ICE car as backup.
My biggest "love" for the Tesla is the lack of moving parts to break. I'm an engineer, and work years in quality, 9 out of 10 times, if something breaks its because its moving.... the wife keeps suggesting hybrids but they still have all the same moving parts and pieces to go wrong. Its shocking how little to break there is on the "engine" and drive-train of the Tesla. With that said, like you mentioned, if something goes wrong, parts are few and far between and expensive.
This shocks me, I would think it would be similar since there are still all the same things one must keep up on - fluids, plugs, belts, etc etc etc.I think most of the recent evidence shows that hybrids have lower maintenance costs than traditional ICE only vehicles.
have you priced out tire replacements for that car? It'll be over $1000 and they'll need to be replaced roughly every 10,000 miles.
It's different with a hybrid as the intervals tend to get skewed a bit. Plus just modern engineering in generaly has resulted in far more reliable and less maintenance heavy vehicles.
Some of the newer hybrids will go 2 years or 20,000 miles and the onboard oil sensor will still not go off telling you to change the oil. There are many owners that report after 10,000 miles their oil is still as clear as the day they put it in. With the engine cutoff tech of hybrids the amount of time your motor on is greatly reduced. While I may only have a 5 mile stop & go commute, it's close to 30 minutes long and over 20 of those minutes are sitting at a stop sign. Most of those 20 minutes my engine is off. I'm not putting added wear and tear on it. That means less stress/use on things like plugs, belts, less use of fluids, ect. Sure they still need to be maintained, but it's not the same kind of beating that a full ICE motor would take in the same scenario.
For most vehicles in that kind of stop & go the brakes will be your most common wear item. With the regen function of hybrids you may go 100k+ miles and they'll still be good. Depending on the ICE vehicle equivalent and driving style, that could be an 4 or more services.
Again, many of these are skewed towards urban driving and not long highway commutes.
Things to think about with the Telsa are it's own maintenance costs...have you priced out tire replacements for that car? It'll be over $1000 and they'll need to be replaced roughly every 10,000 miles. Compare that to a little Civic that can get some 50,000 mile skins for around $400. That's a sneaky cost to keep into consideration, especially for your daily milage.
The problem is with an electric motor you get 100% torque instantly... so rather than a slow ramp up in power its BAM!!!! So you're putting more stress on the tires with the "quick" starts that happen more often.I don't see why they would need replaced every 10,000 miles either under normal daily driving conditions.