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Man do I love Hackernews. Everyone is pro-innovation, pro-future, pro-forward thinking until literally anything new happens, in which case everyone shows up wi

by leesec 6y ago

Man do I love Hackernews. Everyone is pro-innovation, pro-future, pro-forward thinking until literally anything new happens, in which case everyone shows up with a "well, ackshually", to tell you why the new idea is dumb. It's amazing to me that Tesla continues to increase State Of The Art range and EV efficiency, at scale, for cars that already smoke the competition. I hope their fervor to improve the technology never stops, and I'm glad they're dragging the industry, kicking and screaming, into the future.

xeromal 6y ago
Definitely agree with you there. It's definitely a moving goalposts argument. It used to be the claim that there were no EV chargers so the point was dead. Now there are superchargers across the states. To me, 250 miles of REAL range is enough for most people. I've driven 1000 miles with no real issue. Running out of battery, every few hours, almost coincides with having to take a leak and buy a drink. My car is good to go after I finish all those things.
10-1-100 6y ago
Second this - always surprised by the skepticism towards Tesla. As you say, they are continuing to push the limits of range and performance despite no other EVs having caught up. As far as I'm concerned, Tesla wouldn't be selling hundreds of thousands of cars if real people weren't able to meet their real range needs with them. Plus, it only takes driving one to understand the appeal :)
meroes 6y ago
People on HN are no different than others. It's easy to be a naysayer and point out flaws, and it's an annoying trend that bogs down or even derails the conversation. And now I have to brace for the "well actually's" to point out I am doing exactly what I complained about. A continual regression of well actually's
refurb 6y ago
Can you really blame people for skepticism? How many articles get posted each day about some incredible new breakthrough? Then "poof" you never hear about it again. And the article said the new product would hit the market next year.
rossjudson 6y ago
"Nobody is going to buy this thing. I commute 250 miles each way to my job, in my pickup truck. Call me back when Tesla makes a real car with real range. Anybody who buys these now is a sucker." Because people keep saying shit like that. Tesla's range increases are a giant experiment to find out at exactly what point opposition to electric collapses.
- ngngngng 6y ago
  I heard a similar argument when I expressed to in an online community that I was going to pre order a cyber truck. "That thing can only two 14,000 lbs. No ones going to buy a truck that can only two that much, my F350 can tow 20,000 lbs, that's much more useful."
- octorian 6y ago
  "Nobody is going to buy this thing. I commute 250 miles each way to my job, in my pickup truck, hauling a load of lumber to a cabin 100 miles from civilization. There's no electricity out there. Call me back when Tesla makes a real car with real range. Anybody who buys these now is a sucker." FTFY. There's one of these in EVERY discussion of something Tesla releases :-)
  - arethuza 6y ago
    To make your day I will add a post like that. A typical weekend for me involves driving ~150 miles to leave my car in the cold and wet in the middle of nowhere for 8 to 9 hours while I wander around some mountains. Only 2 superchargers in the country and their not between where I live and where I go. Is this unusual - absolutely (mind you plenty people here do similar things) - but range is an important factor to me. However, the main one is cost - absolutely no way will I spend more than £25K on a car.
    - bkor 6y ago
      > Is this unusual - absolutely Often these claims are made while saying that it's a normal requirement and that everyone has the same requirement, thus nobody will buy it. Cost is an important factor. I think a lot of people already would like to buy one, if they're way cheaper (also way cheaper than £25k). I've seen articles about new battery tech which focusses on cost quite a bit. So hopefully the cost of a new electric car will continue to go down. There's also a "law" somewhere which states that with every significant doubling of industry the cost will go down. It has to do with gaining more experience, not the usual "economies of scale".
Shivetya 6y ago
I am cheering on their ever increasing range for one reason. It will force traditional manufacturers to step up. They all seem too content to deliver products whose range numbers barely make it to the mid two hundred mile range number. This is the same complacency that would have doomed us forever to a world of sub one hundred mile range EVs when Tesla was not a factor. They just don't want to push the numbers because the longer they drag their feet and the slower the number increases the more profit they can wring out of the market.
agumonkey 6y ago
I have to admit, beside the autopilot thing, musk impresses with the breadth of his ventures. From EVs to Batteries (if Battery Day delivers).. they never stop pushing.

by leesec 6y ago

xeromal 6y ago

Definitely agree with you there. It's definitely a moving goalposts argument. It used to be the claim that there were no EV chargers so the point was dead. Now there are superchargers across the states. To me, 250 miles of REAL range is enough for most people. I've driven 1000 miles with no real issue. Running out of battery, every few hours, almost coincides with having to take a leak and buy a drink. My car is good to go after I finish all those things.

10-1-100 6y ago

Second this - always surprised by the skepticism towards Tesla. As you say, they are continuing to push the limits of range and performance despite no other EVs having caught up. As far as I'm concerned, Tesla wouldn't be selling hundreds of thousands of cars if real people weren't able to meet their real range needs with them. Plus, it only takes driving one to understand the appeal :)

meroes 6y ago

People on HN are no different than others. It's easy to be a naysayer and point out flaws, and it's an annoying trend that bogs down or even derails the conversation. And now I have to brace for the "well actually's" to point out I am doing exactly what I complained about. A continual regression of well actually's

refurb 6y ago

Can you really blame people for skepticism? How many articles get posted each day about some incredible new breakthrough? Then "poof" you never hear about it again. And the article said the new product would hit the market next year.

rossjudson 6y ago

"Nobody is going to buy this thing. I commute 250 miles each way to my job, in my pickup truck. Call me back when Tesla makes a real car with real range. Anybody who buys these now is a sucker." Because people keep saying shit like that. Tesla's range increases are a giant experiment to find out at exactly what point opposition to electric collapses.

ngngngng 6y ago
I heard a similar argument when I expressed to in an online community that I was going to pre order a cyber truck. "That thing can only two 14,000 lbs. No ones going to buy a truck that can only two that much, my F350 can tow 20,000 lbs, that's much more useful."
octorian 6y ago
"Nobody is going to buy this thing. I commute 250 miles each way to my job, in my pickup truck, hauling a load of lumber to a cabin 100 miles from civilization. There's no electricity out there. Call me back when Tesla makes a real car with real range. Anybody who buys these now is a sucker." FTFY. There's one of these in EVERY discussion of something Tesla releases :-)
- arethuza 6y ago
  To make your day I will add a post like that. A typical weekend for me involves driving ~150 miles to leave my car in the cold and wet in the middle of nowhere for 8 to 9 hours while I wander around some mountains. Only 2 superchargers in the country and their not between where I live and where I go. Is this unusual - absolutely (mind you plenty people here do similar things) - but range is an important factor to me. However, the main one is cost - absolutely no way will I spend more than £25K on a car.
  - bkor 6y ago
    > Is this unusual - absolutely Often these claims are made while saying that it's a normal requirement and that everyone has the same requirement, thus nobody will buy it. Cost is an important factor. I think a lot of people already would like to buy one, if they're way cheaper (also way cheaper than £25k). I've seen articles about new battery tech which focusses on cost quite a bit. So hopefully the cost of a new electric car will continue to go down. There's also a "law" somewhere which states that with every significant doubling of industry the cost will go down. It has to do with gaining more experience, not the usual "economies of scale".

Shivetya 6y ago

I am cheering on their ever increasing range for one reason. It will force traditional manufacturers to step up. They all seem too content to deliver products whose range numbers barely make it to the mid two hundred mile range number. This is the same complacency that would have doomed us forever to a world of sub one hundred mile range EVs when Tesla was not a factor. They just don't want to push the numbers because the longer they drag their feet and the slower the number increases the more profit they can wring out of the market.

agumonkey 6y ago

I have to admit, beside the autopilot thing, musk impresses with the breadth of his ventures. From EVs to Batteries (if Battery Day delivers).. they never stop pushing.