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> It's the autobahn. Most people don't drive on the autobahn most of the time. And most of it has speed limits anyway. Even when you are using a part that has

> It's the autobahn. Most people don't drive on the autobahn most of the time. And most of it has speed limits anyway. Even when you are using a part that has none, you may not be able to drive that fast due to traffic. I don't know what kind of idea you have about this, but very few people will drive their vehicle at top speed even if it is possible. First of all, it becomes much more stressful to operate the car for an extended amount of time. Secondly, you can be held liable for accidents while driving at above the suggested speed of 130 km/h even when you are not at fault. There may be a few people who would consider this an argument but most won't consider this kind of thing.

usrusr 10y ago
Maybe i was not clear enough: i wasn't talking about why EV are impossible in Germany (they are not), i was talking about why the specific Tesla strategy of starting with a fast-looking luxury sedan (or a roadster, if you want to nitpick) and slowly working down from that would have been disastrous for german car makers. The main purpose of a luxury sedan is to project status and that just won't work so well if you have to get in line with the weakest of bread-and-butter cars on a cross country drive (which is a major use case in Germany, because there are no distances long enough to really get used to the american pattern of domestic flight + rental car). > very few people will drive their vehicle at top speed even if it is possible It's true, you rarely see a car in the Model S price range anywhere close to their top speed. They are just too fast for that, the lanes are starting to feel so damn narrow when you are approaching 200 km/h. A seasoned "business class" driver would rather put the car on cruise control at 180. But whenever traffic and local limitations are permitting, it is just as rare to see a really expensive car lurk along anywhere close to as slow as those 130. And depending on which part of the country you are driving in, these situations are far from rare.

usrusr 10y ago

Maybe i was not clear enough: i wasn't talking about why EV are impossible in Germany (they are not), i was talking about why the specific Tesla strategy of starting with a fast-looking luxury sedan (or a roadster, if you want to nitpick) and slowly working down from that would have been disastrous for german car makers. The main purpose of a luxury sedan is to project status and that just won't work so well if you have to get in line with the weakest of bread-and-butter cars on a cross country drive (which is a major use case in Germany, because there are no distances long enough to really get used to the american pattern of domestic flight + rental car). > very few people will drive their vehicle at top speed even if it is possible It's true, you rarely see a car in the Model S price range anywhere close to their top speed. They are just too fast for that, the lanes are starting to feel so damn narrow when you are approaching 200 km/h. A seasoned "business class" driver would rather put the car on cruise control at 180. But whenever traffic and local limitations are permitting, it is just as rare to see a really expensive car lurk along anywhere close to as slow as those 130. And depending on which part of the country you are driving in, these situations are far from rare.