Lambo overdoing it? 50th anniversary

[STRONGBADF1]

What car is this??? I am guessing a McLaren?

Yup, It's the McLaren.

 

[j_garcia]

THE McLaren, yes. The P1.

I've been fortunate enough to see a few MP4-12Cs recently.

This first one was a CHICK

 

[j_garcia]

If you want to talk electric speed...

Wrightspeed X1. They are up the street from my work and this is the only one. The Tesla plant is in the next town

 

[lsiberian]

It's easy to make an electric car that's good and fast, it's hard to make one that's legitimately usable.

That's not really true anymore. The Tesla cars have in the 200 to 300 mile range which is equal to gasoline engines. Recharging times seem to be the big problem on road trips, but they are working on that.

 

[j_garcia]

That's not really true anymore. The Tesla cars have in the 200 to 300 mile range which is equal to gasoline engines. Recharging times seem to be the big problem on road trips, but they are working on that.

100% agree. When the chassis for the roadster is built on a Lotus chassis too, it is not only usable, but also a hell of a performer. With Tesla being here in our area, I see both the Roadsters and Model S on a regular basis. I have to get over to the plant for a tour

 

[Grador]

That's not really true anymore. The Tesla cars have in the 200 to 300 mile range which is equal to gasoline engines. Recharging times seem to be the big problem on road trips, but they are working on that.

I'll give you that, I think a tesla s could work for me [along with being damn cool], and their charging network they're setting up is pretty cool but the only reason that works is because no one uses it. If everyone were to start using it the [very impressive] 45 min charge time becomes somewhat of a hindrance. My biggest problem with electric cars currently though are that they use electricity. Here in the "greater los angeles area" we've been pretty afraid of rolling blackouts for the past several summers without everyone trying to charge their cars. Our current power network is just not capable of handling the demand, and it's pretty inefficient.

 

[Rickster71]

Photovoltaics were touted 60 sixty years ago, just as electric cars are now.
The best modern solar panels are only 17% efficient.(most are not) Combine that with the fact it's not always sunny out, and you understand why they've been mostly sitting on the sidelines.
A Tesla Roadster's 1,000Lb., battery has to recharge for eight hours and costs $10,000 to replace after five years. A five years where the battery won't perform at 100% in it's last year of life.
Since the modern automobile is no longer a significant source of pollution, as it once was.
While it is great to see what battery technology has to offer; I don't think electric car ready for prime time.
Note: Don't be fooled by fast charge times. The slower and cooler the batteries are re-charged the better for battery life.

 

[Grador]

Photovoltaics were touted 60 sixty years ago, just as electric cars are now.
The best modern solar panels are only 17% efficient.(most are not) Combine that with the fact it's not always sunny out, and you understand why they've been mostly sitting on the sidelines.
A Tesla Roadster's 1,000Lb., battery has to recharge for eight hours and costs $10,000 to replace after five years. A five years where the battery won't perform at 100% in it's last year of life.
Since the modern automobile is no longer a significant source of pollution, as it once was.
While it is great to see what battery technology has to offer; I don't think electric car ready for prime time.
Note: Don't be fooled by fast charge times. The slower and cooler the batteries are re-charged the better for battery life.

The tesla S 85kWh version has an 8 year unlimited mile warranty regardless of the charge rate. The quickest charger that tesla supports is 90kW, Charging a lithium at 1C isn't that bad as long as you don't do that past about 85% [which they don't]. That said the replacement is $12k

 

[j_garcia]

Batteries will always be a problem for full electric and even hybrids, but there's a LOT of technology going into batteries. Maybe we won't see the full benefits for a while, but it will happen.

Solar is going to change. Prices are projected to drop considerably for watt/dollar just in the next 5 years and efficiency is actually up quite a bit compared to before and will only get better. The mainstream adoption of solar is inevitable once the watt/dollar drops to the right point and that's the path we're on. My company does solar in addition to LCDs, since the equipment is more or less the same and the processes similar

One interesting push that electric cars provided was exactly what Rickster said - it actually pushed the companies to make gas engines cleaner and more efficient.

 

[Rickster71]

This article is an eye opener:

Electric Cars Are An Extraordinarily Bad Idea - Forbes

 

[lsiberian]

This article is an eye opener:

Electric Cars Are An Extraordinarily Bad Idea - Forbes

I'm sorry, but I don't find the article compelling at all. This guy must have oil company stock. I'd happily drive a Tesla car to work everyday.

Roadtrips are the biggest pain.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

The Ferrari has KERS. That's environmentally responsible enough for me.

 

[darien87]

Hey John,

My company does badges and nameplates for Tesla. Lemme know I could probably get you in. Tesla must have really started cranking out the S's over the last couple of months because I see them all the time now.

 

[j_garcia]

Yeah, I don't think I know anyone there. My buddy was offered a job and said he would bring a few of us in with him, but he ended up taking an offer somewhere else. Have you already been over there?

 

[Adam]

Not a fancy sports car...at least from this century...but I saw this in town and thought it was pretty cool.

 

[Rickster71]

I'm sorry, but I don't find the article compelling at all. This guy must have oil company stock. I'd happily drive a Tesla car to work everyday.

Roadtrips are the biggest pain.

What you're experiencing is known as 'Conformation Bias.' Google will be you friend with info.

The author of that article is a mechanical engineer and his scenario of the winter commute is a fact, as are his recharge times.

This article from Car & Driver: 2011 Nissan Leaf SL Long-Term Road Test – Review – Car and Driver
is from a 4 month review of the car. It's more detailed and concurs with the first story.

 

[BMXTRIX]

The problem with that article is that it is a 'here and now' mentality, instead of a 'what is possible' mentality. With super-capacitors just coming into existence the potential for what this could mean when coupled with all electric vehicles is very exciting. This technology basically didn't exist a couple of years ago. Now, does electric make sense in the short term? Not really for many people, but there are lots out there who it does make sense for. Those who have a full size minivan for the family, but commute just a few miles each day to their office. I have a friend who works at Tesla and he basically has said that Tesla is funded for the next decade. Government investing in a company like Tesla is similar to them investing in airplane manufacturers and other companies. They want what comes out of that technology. The bigger deal is what occurs several years from now - 10... 15... 20. Take a super-capacitor and couple it with a long life batter pack. The capacitor takes less than a minute to hold full charge for a vehicle and the batteries ensure smooth and safe power output... Unless, of course, they figure out how to use the capacitor in place of the battery altogether. Yeah, there is some pretty exciting stuff coming.

 

[adwilk]

Thats enough supercar for me.

 

[Rickster71]

The problem with that article is that it is a 'here and now' mentality, instead of a 'what is possible' mentality. With super-capacitors just coming into existence the potential for what this could mean when coupled with all electric vehicles is very exciting. This technology basically didn't exist a couple of years ago. Now, does electric make sense in the short term? Not really for many people, but there are lots out there who it does make sense for. Those who have a full size minivan for the family, but commute just a few miles each day to their office. I have a friend who works at Tesla and he basically has said that Tesla is funded for the next decade. Government investing in a company like Tesla is similar to them investing in airplane manufacturers and other companies. They want what comes out of that technology. The bigger deal is what occurs several years from now - 10... 15... 20. Take a super-capacitor and couple it with a long life batter pack. The capacitor takes less than a minute to hold full charge for a vehicle and the batteries ensure smooth and safe power output... Unless, of course, they figure out how to use the capacitor in place of the battery altogether. Yeah, there is some pretty exciting stuff coming.

I think all new technology is great, including the electric car and new battery technology.

What I have a problem with is the Corporate Welfare and surcharging other forms of energy to pay for green energy.
If it's such a great technology, let the corporations pay for it themselves.
The government is forcing corporations to build them and forcing taxpayers to fund them.

I don't know of any type review, whether it's written about cars, speakers, or golf clubs, that aren't written about the device in the "here and now."

The writer would need the ability to predict the future.
Besides, when a Nissan Leaf owner plops down between $29,600 to $35,000 in the "here and now" the car should perform....
...you guessed it, in the "here and now"

 

[j_garcia]

I think all new technology is great, including the electric car and new battery technology.

What I have a problem with is the Corporate Welfare and surcharging other forms of energy to pay for green energy.
If it's such a great technology, let the corporations pay for it themselves.
The government is forcing corporations to build them and forcing taxpayers to fund them.

I don't know of any type review, whether it's written about cars, speakers, or golf clubs, that aren't written about the device in the "here and now."

The writer would need the ability to predict the future.
Besides, when a Nissan Leaf owner plops down between $29,600 to $35,000 in the "here and now" the car should perform....
...you guessed it, in the "here and now"

There are two separate things going on in the article there though - 1 presupposition that everyone will be driving BEVs in the future - that won't happen anytime soon AND complaining about the Leaf. The stats on the leaf are certainly true. I am guessing that where it gets really cold, there probably aren't a lot of BEV owners. That's a fact too. It still comes across sounding like he has an agenda though.

He brings up Solyndra - the fact that they scammed the government has NOTHING to do with the solar industry other than the fact that they got the grant for being a green company. I used to work with some of the key people from that company too. The solar market collapsed - had it not, they probably would not have been caught in their illicit siphoning of funds so quickly. I do agree about how this funding comes about too; when the government dangles a carrot like that in front of them, sooner or later someone is going to scam it. Solyndra was likely only the largest one, not the only one.