Man Buys New Tesla
Apr 5, 2024 10:55:11 #
DirtFarmer wrote:
Never say never
And never say always
And never say always
jerryc41 wrote:
I'll always remember that advice. 
Rab-Eye wrote:
Never forget it, Jerry!
Apr 5, 2024 14:58:35 #
RKastner
Loc: Davenport, FL
For the money that you pay for an EV, they're not a very good investment. If you really want one, that's fine. I have no problem with that...as long as you're accepting the risk.
On top of the fire risk that Jerry mentions, the batteries, from what I have read, are only warrantied for 4-5 years and after that you basically might was well get another EV because the cost to replace the battery is insane. I've had gas powered Toyotas for over 30 years of my life. I've had one Toyota Corolla that we had for 19 years and have another that's 14 years old. The others that we've had (Camrys, Siennas and Highlanders) that we've traded in after 6-8 years. I've only traded in one Highlander after 4 years because the dealer needed used inventory and gave me a great price on the old car.
On top of the fire risk that Jerry mentions, the batteries, from what I have read, are only warrantied for 4-5 years and after that you basically might was well get another EV because the cost to replace the battery is insane. I've had gas powered Toyotas for over 30 years of my life. I've had one Toyota Corolla that we had for 19 years and have another that's 14 years old. The others that we've had (Camrys, Siennas and Highlanders) that we've traded in after 6-8 years. I've only traded in one Highlander after 4 years because the dealer needed used inventory and gave me a great price on the old car.
Apr 5, 2024 16:02:06 #
Apr 5, 2024 16:15:05 #
I love my Tesla Y. I've had it for almost three years and have taken it all over the Western states with no problem finding superchargers (well, there are patches of Nevada that are a bit of a supercharger-desert). Actually, the car's software finds them, not me. All I've done with regard service is rotate the tires a few times. I charge it mostly at home, using the sunshine that comes free here in southern California. Self-driving (under my supervision) is really helpful for us oldies (I am 81) as is the nice big screen with all the information I need. Just parallel parking by itself in city locations is very useful. I rented an ICE vehicle recently. It was like going back into the dark ages. I mean where do I put the key fob? I gave up carrying a purse years ago. Why does it take so long to get up to speed? I have no use for gas stations. When this one wears out, I'll definitely get another. Presuming I live that long :-)
Apr 5, 2024 18:14:47 #
RKastner wrote:
For the money that you pay for an EV, they're not ... (show quote)
The Federal mandate is that EV batteries must be warranted for eight years.
Apr 5, 2024 18:47:36 #
Hi! Yep, Toyotas have one heck of a reputation. You can truly drive them forever and into the ground. If the risk of fire is truly that bad, I'd have heard of at least one around here. You can't go through a major intersection without seeing three or four others. I belong to a local Tesla group and we discuss a lot of the issues that do come up and feed info back to the company.
Australia's Department of Defence researched the same question and found that “there was a 0.0012% chance of a passenger electric vehicle battery catching fire, compared with a 0.1% chance for internal combustion engine cars.” So, as far as I am concerned the possibility of fire is immaterial to the purchase of an EV.
Basically I see Teslas as very nice alternative to ICE vehicles. Someone came along (the dreadful but brilliant Musk) and pushed the envelope of cars out a bit. I've always been a bit of an early adopter of techie stuff and this fit my profile :-) Still, the rest of the car companies are following along, on the slow side right now.
Australia's Department of Defence researched the same question and found that “there was a 0.0012% chance of a passenger electric vehicle battery catching fire, compared with a 0.1% chance for internal combustion engine cars.” So, as far as I am concerned the possibility of fire is immaterial to the purchase of an EV.
Basically I see Teslas as very nice alternative to ICE vehicles. Someone came along (the dreadful but brilliant Musk) and pushed the envelope of cars out a bit. I've always been a bit of an early adopter of techie stuff and this fit my profile :-) Still, the rest of the car companies are following along, on the slow side right now.
Apr 5, 2024 19:28:01 #
RKastner
Loc: Davenport, FL
Like I said earlier...anyone that want to drive an EV is free to do so. I just don't buy the premise that they're better for the environment, at least not currently. To charge the vehicles when not in use it's almost certain that fossil fuel will need to be used since most electricity (at least in the US) is generated by coal or natural gas. Then there's the whole problem of disposal of the lithium batteries when they become non-functional or the EV gets disposed of. Let's not even start with where the lithium for the batteries comes from or how it is mined.
Though admittedly since my driving patterns have changed....little to no long distance travel and most of my driving being local, I've warmed up to Hybrids. I'm just not comfortable having no alternative driving depending solely on a battery.
Though admittedly since my driving patterns have changed....little to no long distance travel and most of my driving being local, I've warmed up to Hybrids. I'm just not comfortable having no alternative driving depending solely on a battery.
Apr 5, 2024 19:40:45 #
RKastner
Loc: Davenport, FL
TriX wrote:
The Federal mandate is that EV batteries must be warranted for eight years.
The warranties are also limited by miles driven. Depending on driving patterns that may not be 8 years for quite a few drivers. At least not currently. When I was working, I was driving 20.000-25,000 miles per year. I'll give you that the time part of the warranties have improved.
Apr 5, 2024 21:12:36 #
scoundrel
Loc: Wytheville VA
I hadn't run into the acronym ICE before, so I looked it up. ICE --> internal combustion engine, for anyone else that ran into that problem.
Apr 6, 2024 02:11:48 #
f8lee wrote:
The hype cycle for EVs is certainly winding down. Ford just announced it is not going to make EV pickups any longer, and Fiskar is apparently close to bankruptcy (with something like a 50% discount on their hugely expensive SV).
It is good to see the propaganda is getting less effective.
It is good to see the propaganda is getting less effective.
That is NOT what Ford announced. They reduced production of EV pickups but they’re still producing 1600 a week.
Apr 6, 2024 02:17:21 #
jerryc41 wrote:
A Tesla owner said he would never buy another Tesl... (show quote)
The problem with Tesla’s self driving is that Musk is trying to cut costs for FSD and is trying to do it with just cameras. Every other manufacturer working on FSD is using a combination of cameras and either radar or lidar. Tesla even disabled the lidar in their cars that already had it. I don’t think it will ever be safe to use it based on cameras alone.
Apr 6, 2024 02:29:34 #
TriX wrote:
Most of my trips are just a few miles any more, which isn’t great for the car (transmission, starter, battery, exhaust, etc), so an EV or plug in hybrid would work well for me (and I have another ICE car for trips) but after seeing one Lithium fire up close and personal, I’d never charge an EV in my garage.
That’s why I like my plug-in hybrid. I get about 25 miles all electric, which means I often use no gas doing daily driving. Charging in my driveway I put well over 600 miles on it before I ever put gas in it. My brothers says with his Tesla he can get 320 miles, charge it to 85% in 15 minutes and that’ll get him another 320 miles, so he has traveled in it quite a bit. That wouldn’t work for me. I drive to Florida a few times a year with kayaks on my roof and that cuts my mileage almost in half. No way I’m stopping every 180 miles for 15-20 minutes. That’s why I went for the PHEV.
Apr 6, 2024 05:25:24 #
Never had my mule and wagon catch fire a single time. But it is getting hard to find good buggy whips anymore.
Apr 6, 2024 06:34:05 #
Artcameraman
Loc: Springfield NH
Just an addition, saw on TV that the resale price of a 5 year old Tesla is less that 30% of the new price paid? Didn't hear all but they said that software, batteries and hardware replacement price was astronomically high, have you heard this?
Apr 6, 2024 07:01:04 #
TriX wrote:
The Federal mandate is that EV batteries must be warranted for eight years.
I guess that means two things: sell your EV before it's eight years old; don't buy an EV that is seven years old. 😋
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