4 ms·

This is my thought: this car has no history, period. I'm unclear as to how Consumer Reports can reliably put out a report on a vehicle that's so new to market

by crikli 13y ago

This is my thought: this car has no history, period. I'm unclear as to how Consumer Reports can reliably put out a report on a vehicle that's so new to market with such (relatively) few examples on the road. I think people really really really want the Tesla to be for real. And I hope it is. But that judgement can't be made until a few years down the road.

revelation 13y ago
They have built ten thousand of them, what are you talking about?
- crikli 13y ago
  Ten thousand vehicles is a very small run. It's a lot for a small company but _relative_ (that being the keyword) to most production runs it's tiny. It's very similar to what Toyota did with the Prius in the US, but minus the three years of overseas sales where they had the opportunity to work out the kinks of the first generation Prius. The other thing is that the Model S isn't going to get miled up like a normal car: it doesn't have the range. So a guy like me who never ever buys new cars looks at the S a bit askance: it's cool as hell, I want one, but I'm not going to touch one with a 10 foot pole on the used market for a few years. FWIW I've been buying options on Tesla, I really want them to succeed and think that they will. I'm betting on it. :)
  - revelation 13y ago
    It's more than any other electric vehicle and they are actually leading sales in their segment of cars. The market for a 70k+ vehicle might not be as big as you think. The miles a car racks up is most certainly not a function of its range, but of the people driving it. Research suggests that if you have a more efficient car (higher MPG), you will drive more.
    - slantyyz 13y ago
      >> It's more than any other electric vehicle and they are actually leading sales in their segment of cars. More than the Nissan Leaf? A quick search of the Nissan Leaf's sales resulted in 9,819 in 2012. For this year, YTD in April was 5,550. This is US sales only. --edit-- Worldwide sales of Nissan Leaf hit 50K in February 2013. Granted the Tesla is in a different stratosphere as it relates to price, and in that market it's really doing well, considering the market that can afford a $90K car is much smaller. Sources: http://insideevs.com/will-leaf-sales-hit-1-of-nissans-total-us-sales-in-2013/ http://insideevs.com/will-leaf-sales-hit-1-of-nissans-total-... http://www.hybridcars.com/nissan-april-leaf-sales-second-best-volt-trailing-behind http://www.hybridcars.com/nissan-april-leaf-sales-second-bes... http://green.autoblog.com/2013/02/16/nissan-leaf-tops-50-000-sales-worldwide/ http://green.autoblog.com/2013/02/16/nissan-leaf-tops-50-000...

by crikli 13y ago

revelation 13y ago

They have built ten thousand of them, what are you talking about?

crikli 13y ago
Ten thousand vehicles is a very small run. It's a lot for a small company but _relative_ (that being the keyword) to most production runs it's tiny. It's very similar to what Toyota did with the Prius in the US, but minus the three years of overseas sales where they had the opportunity to work out the kinks of the first generation Prius. The other thing is that the Model S isn't going to get miled up like a normal car: it doesn't have the range. So a guy like me who never ever buys new cars looks at the S a bit askance: it's cool as hell, I want one, but I'm not going to touch one with a 10 foot pole on the used market for a few years. FWIW I've been buying options on Tesla, I really want them to succeed and think that they will. I'm betting on it. :)
- revelation 13y ago
  It's more than any other electric vehicle and they are actually leading sales in their segment of cars. The market for a 70k+ vehicle might not be as big as you think. The miles a car racks up is most certainly not a function of its range, but of the people driving it. Research suggests that if you have a more efficient car (higher MPG), you will drive more.
  - slantyyz 13y ago
    >> It's more than any other electric vehicle and they are actually leading sales in their segment of cars. More than the Nissan Leaf? A quick search of the Nissan Leaf's sales resulted in 9,819 in 2012. For this year, YTD in April was 5,550. This is US sales only. --edit-- Worldwide sales of Nissan Leaf hit 50K in February 2013. Granted the Tesla is in a different stratosphere as it relates to price, and in that market it's really doing well, considering the market that can afford a $90K car is much smaller. Sources: http://insideevs.com/will-leaf-sales-hit-1-of-nissans-total-us-sales-in-2013/ http://insideevs.com/will-leaf-sales-hit-1-of-nissans-total-... http://www.hybridcars.com/nissan-april-leaf-sales-second-best-volt-trailing-behind http://www.hybridcars.com/nissan-april-leaf-sales-second-bes... http://green.autoblog.com/2013/02/16/nissan-leaf-tops-50-000-sales-worldwide/ http://green.autoblog.com/2013/02/16/nissan-leaf-tops-50-000...