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I'm still standing on the sidelines over electric cars. I don't think Tesla has proven this to be a mass market product. Yes, its quite attractive to those who

by Aloha 9y ago

I'm still standing on the sidelines over electric cars. I don't think Tesla has proven this to be a mass market product. Yes, its quite attractive to those who live in urban areas, but its not at the level of development (or practicality) to make it attractive to most of the car buying public. I drive a whole lot, and most of the places I want/need to go, charging my car is not yet a practical option, I feel Electric Cars will not be practical for a majority of motorist until you can see s 350-450 mile range on them. So while its good to be an early adopter, often (most often) the late entrant is the one that owns the market, not the first to arrive.

dmode 9y ago
I am curious where do you live and what's your commute were Tesla is not viable. I have a Tesla and have driven 12,000 miles all over California. Never been an issue with charging. The 100D can do over 300 miles on a single charge. So curious about your situation.
- maxerickson 9y ago
  The 100D is pretty clearly not a mass market product. I guess it is close to the average price of new vehicles sales, but I think even $35,000-$40,000 is pushing it, especially when that range is going to be closer to 250 miles than to 400 miles.
- Aloha 9y ago
  I live in the eastern Seattle suburbs currently, but I have lived other places. In a previous life, it was not unusual for me to drive 300+ miles a day. A larger issue (for me, and I suspect others) is; Where would I charge it? my apartment complex doesn't have charging facilities, neither does my work - and the nearest supercharger is 20 miles away from me. In short, the 'fuel' delivery network is missing for me.
  - jhpankow 9y ago
    Yes electric vehicles are a status symbol for home owners.
    - greglindahl 9y ago
      My apartment complex has chargers, and in some places there are chargers along the street. As time goes on both of these are going to become more popular, but you can be sure that people who don't have a charger available will still be coming to HN to post in every electric car thread about how they don't have a charger.
- eip 9y ago
  Ford sells more F150s in a year then Tesla has sold vehicles total since they started. How easy do you think it will be to find charging stations when there are 50x as many electric cars? How many extra 500A 240V circuits will the grid of a city need to support for that many charging stations?
remir 9y ago
Chevy Volt could be a great option. One of my coworker has a first gen model and while the autonomy on battery is not that great, gas consumption is low a 3L/100 km.
dando 9y ago
Another big thing I think that has not been mentioned is that a lot of people live in apartments and don't have garages or anywhere to charge their car. Imagine having to plan a trip to a local charging station every day or two and wait 40 mins to charge your car.
- majewsky 9y ago
  Trigger warning: Anecdotal evidence :) Where people live in apartments (usually in cities), there frequently are too few parking spots anyway, so a lot of people use public transit. Those people at my office who commute in by car do so because they live in villages where public transit connections are too seldom to be reliable. Those who live in the city commute by tram.
- WorldMaker 9y ago
  Street-side and apartment complex chargers are amenities that are already showing up in cities. If the pace of electric car sales increases, I'd expect that to also increase. Work parking lot charging is also an amenity with increasing prevalence and it certainly is possible that a person that owns a car primarily for a work commute will have plenty of opportunities to charge their car in the 40+ hours a week their car is supposed to be sitting in a work parking lot.

by Aloha 9y ago

dmode 9y ago

I am curious where do you live and what's your commute were Tesla is not viable. I have a Tesla and have driven 12,000 miles all over California. Never been an issue with charging. The 100D can do over 300 miles on a single charge. So curious about your situation.

maxerickson 9y ago
The 100D is pretty clearly not a mass market product. I guess it is close to the average price of new vehicles sales, but I think even $35,000-$40,000 is pushing it, especially when that range is going to be closer to 250 miles than to 400 miles.
Aloha 9y ago
I live in the eastern Seattle suburbs currently, but I have lived other places. In a previous life, it was not unusual for me to drive 300+ miles a day. A larger issue (for me, and I suspect others) is; Where would I charge it? my apartment complex doesn't have charging facilities, neither does my work - and the nearest supercharger is 20 miles away from me. In short, the 'fuel' delivery network is missing for me.
- jhpankow 9y ago
  Yes electric vehicles are a status symbol for home owners.
  - greglindahl 9y ago
    My apartment complex has chargers, and in some places there are chargers along the street. As time goes on both of these are going to become more popular, but you can be sure that people who don't have a charger available will still be coming to HN to post in every electric car thread about how they don't have a charger.
eip 9y ago
Ford sells more F150s in a year then Tesla has sold vehicles total since they started. How easy do you think it will be to find charging stations when there are 50x as many electric cars? How many extra 500A 240V circuits will the grid of a city need to support for that many charging stations?

remir 9y ago

Chevy Volt could be a great option. One of my coworker has a first gen model and while the autonomy on battery is not that great, gas consumption is low a 3L/100 km.

dando 9y ago

Another big thing I think that has not been mentioned is that a lot of people live in apartments and don't have garages or anywhere to charge their car. Imagine having to plan a trip to a local charging station every day or two and wait 40 mins to charge your car.

majewsky 9y ago
Trigger warning: Anecdotal evidence :) Where people live in apartments (usually in cities), there frequently are too few parking spots anyway, so a lot of people use public transit. Those people at my office who commute in by car do so because they live in villages where public transit connections are too seldom to be reliable. Those who live in the city commute by tram.
WorldMaker 9y ago
Street-side and apartment complex chargers are amenities that are already showing up in cities. If the pace of electric car sales increases, I'd expect that to also increase. Work parking lot charging is also an amenity with increasing prevalence and it certainly is possible that a person that owns a car primarily for a work commute will have plenty of opportunities to charge their car in the 40+ hours a week their car is supposed to be sitting in a work parking lot.