Teslas

[Mito Man]

I guess I should have titled the thread "all electric cars that don't have a real engine as well".

But you haven’t driven the supercar that oozes sexual dominance and prowess that is the BMW i3.

[JLv3.0]

I haven't driven any of them. I've used hoovers and electric drills in the past though, if that counts. Equally as interesting to me. In fact - electric drills are more interesting.

[duncs500]

You can get some pretty sweet electric drills.

[Mito Man]

My impact driver which I use instead of a drill has double the torque output of the Mito at 180Nm

[Richard]

What happened with the idea of charging stations where they just dropped the battery out of the car and put a new one in?

IIRC it was said to be quicker than brimming a similar sized petrol car

[Rich B]

What happened with the idea of charging stations where they just dropped the battery out of the car and put a new one in?

IIRC it was said to be quicker than brimming a similar sized petrol car

who standardises the battery design though? Would BMW be happy letting Mercedes do it and then have a Mercedes battery powering their car? Or would Ford be cool with Renault designing it to fit their existing chassis, but not Fords...etc...etc...

It’s not like F1 when you’ve got one overriding board to decide the parameters for everyone.

[Richard]

I meant Tesla. I thought Tesla were doing that for Model S

[Simon]

It was a tech preview. It still is AFAIK.

The point is though, even if you contain it to one manufacturer, would you want your brand new Tesla having it's battery swapped for a possible years old one without the full capacity?

[duncs500]

I thought the idea was that you rented the battery anyway?

[Mito Man]

I think they’ve given up on it since we’re mere years away from having batteries that recharge in minutes.

[Richard]

It was a tech preview. It still is AFAIK.

The point is though, even if you contain it to one manufacturer, would you want your brand new Tesla having it's battery swapped for a possible years old one without the full capacity?

I’d guess the swapped battery would have your original warranty? Also, you’d presumably be swapping batteries fairly regularly?

[Simon]

Dunc, yes. But I don't see it happening. Too much capital investment req'd vs normal supercharger stations (the swapped batteries also have to be stored and recharged too don't forget.

Mito. Flow batteries, yes, but I've yet to accept they're so close to mainstream.

Richard, Probably.

[simon_g]

What happened with the idea of charging stations where they just dropped the battery out of the car and put a new one in?

IIRC it was said to be quicker than brimming a similar sized petrol car

Tesla showed it off as a tech concept, seemingly as a "faster to refuel than a petrol car" stunt. It's never had a hope in hell of being a viable way of refuelling an electric car.

I go back and forth on Tesla - Elon Musk can be a cock, and I can see a future where they remain a very niche player for cars but melt into the background as a massive battery/tech supplier. That said, it feels like most of the other car manufacturers have been caught out by the market shift - lots of talk about plans for future models (all 2 or 3 years away), very few getting good EVs out in any quantity. Meanwhile Tesla are churning them out right now, they have an enormous factory making their own batteries and built a proper viable charging network (still over twice as fast as any others in the UK). They have a huge advantage while everyone else is dragging their feet.

[simon_g]

who standardises the battery design though? Would BMW be happy letting Mercedes do it and then have a Mercedes battery powering their car? Or would Ford be cool with Renault designing it to fit their existing chassis, but not Fords...etc...etc...

The German car makers can't even make their own batteries - a planned joint effort started by Daimler to manufacture in Germany (going in together to improve efficiency, reduce cost) wound down shortly before the diesel emissions scandal stuff came to light. Now they have to buy everything in piecemeal from overseas - enough to get Merkel very concerned and it's at least part of why you can't buy a VW GTE any more. Can't imagine them ever agreeing to a common battery design and packaging.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/15/1768 ... tery-cells

There's some interesting economics going on - battery supply is going to be a huge issue for many car manufacturers as they all scramble to secure enough for their plans.

[V8Granite]

Tiff Needell drives a Tesla Race Car.

It is as dull as they get, it’s the best example I’ve seen about how dull they make very impressive acceleration

Dave!

[JLv3.0]

Ever been driven in one? In fact - who on here has?

The way it whirs away from a standstill is momentarily impressive (of course it was being driven normally; I know they're capable of crazy acceleration) but as soon as you get going it becomes either very dull or actually rather unsettling that it's not making anything more than a whirring noise.

Incredibly one-dimensional and dull, and stupid and gay.

[Richard]

What happened with the idea of charging stations where they just dropped the battery out of the car and put a new one in?

IIRC it was said to be quicker than brimming a similar sized petrol car

Tesla showed it off as a tech concept, seemingly as a "faster to refuel than a petrol car" stunt. It's never had a hope in hell of being a viable way of refuelling an electric car.

I go back and forth on Tesla - Elon Musk can be a cock, and I can see a future where they remain a very niche player for cars but melt into the background as a massive battery/tech supplier. That said, it feels like most of the other car manufacturers have been caught out by the market shift - lots of talk about plans for future models (all 2 or 3 years away), very few getting good EVs out in any quantity. Meanwhile Tesla are churning them out right now, they have an enormous factory making their own batteries and built a proper viable charging network (still over twice as fast as any others in the UK). They have a huge advantage while everyone else is dragging their feet.

That Tesla charging network is where a lot of the value comes from

[Richard]

Ever been driven in one? In fact - who on here has?

The way it whirs away from a standstill is momentarily impressive (of course it was being driven normally; I know they're capable of crazy acceleration) but as soon as you get going it becomes either very dull or actually rather unsettling that it's not making anything more than a whirring noise.

Incredibly one-dimensional and dull, and stupid and gay.

Most people don’t care about more than that though

- Fast away from the lights
- Calm and quiet
- Green credentials
- Looks nice

For a lot of people (maybe most) that’s what they want from a car

[JLv3.0]

Depressing, isn't it. Like all the fun has been sucked out of the process and no-one gives a shit.

[Richard]

I’m not sure people have ever really cared, especially less so now since you don’t really get “bad” cars anymore

If people cared, you wouldn’t see so many Renault Kapturs on the road...