Guilty. Man, when you see photo evidence it's a grim reminder. Hit 65 and that was a reality slap. All the Medicare mailers, signing up for SS. Not taking the benefits yet, but just the process lets you know you are on the down hill slide. Get offered senior discounts without being asked how old I am. My wife is younger and she isn't understanding my quasi panic about feeling I have maybe 5 good activity years left. I've been on a bit of a "buy youth" spending spree. The Tesla truck could be considered a factor. Wore the sweater to a neighborhood party and the response was surprise. I don't think a single person thought I was serious. Got a few WTF looks. Honestly, I'm kind of excited to get one. It has the range to get to lake, charge there and I'm set.
Hey man, I hear ya'. That "getting older" thing definitely ain't for wimps. I'm right there with you, albeit just a few years younger. If that Tesla works for you, I say, "Go for it!" Like my Dad used to say, "Might as well enjoy it now...you can't take it with you."
I read that Tesla's Trans-Canada Supercharger route went live today. Article said that the V3 chargers can add 100 miles in 7 minutes. I was passed by a Tesla with California tags in Kansas. I've seen a Tesla charging station in Goodland, KS.
I am wondering where and when Electric Jesus will build this new truck. The new semi is supposed to be on the road around now (he won't answer questions about that) and also his new roadster is supposed to be available in 2020. Elon is big on talk..... and short on walk....and then there's this when it comes to long term ownership. I don't think the world really wants electric cars. What they want are Teslas. See where it goes......
Great video. So Tesla won't disclose repair histories and won't sell parts, and there are no 3rd party parts sources. And the parts Tesla is willing to sell for Tesla dealer performed repairs are terribly expensive. Yikes.
Tesla has successes, but it's important to remember they're basically a still a boutique manufacturer*. You can get away with that kind of stuff when you're that small and your customers this loyal. But it's another thing they have to get straightened out before they're a real player. *For the inevitable backlash, I'll preemptively defend my calling them boutique. Ford sold 5 times as many f-150's than tesla did all of it's cars in 2018. Nissan sold 6 times as many cars in america alone than Tesla wordlwide. Tesla, founded in 2003, has never had a profitable year. Boutique.
I agree with you 100%.. but never had the balls to write that as I usually get flamed. Tesla are a cash incinerating bullshit machine. (Not my worlds mind you, those of AutoExpert)
In many ways I agree, but it does seem to disregard an important function that Tesla, regardless as to how one thinks of their methods, has provided: a catalyst for innovation and change. I'm in the tiny town of Ogallala, Nebraska, in the middle of the prairie. 4,500 people in the town and a total of about 12,000 in the surrounding 40 mile radius. We have three locations with electric vehicle charging stations and of the dozen or so individual "pumps", four of them are Tesla branded. The infrastructure is definitely coming at a pretty fair pace.
Bull. 8,000 Ferrari’s is boutique, 6,000Lamborghinis is boutique. 350,000 Tesla’s in a year is carmaker.
2018 tesla sold 244,920. For the first 3 quarters of 2019 it has been 255,200. So they might hit 350k this year. The out of warranty parts prices sure are at boutique level. $900 for a halfshaft? Most cars a halfshaft is under $200 at the local parts house. So long term unless prices drop on parts and repairs you'll see more and more being sold right before or right after the warranty ends. It's like the boutique bikes with high priced maintenance, they may be low miles and a decent price but it needs a $2k service before long. A quick google search shows a whole lot of people on the 2nd or 3rd drive unit before 100k miles, and even more talking about trading it in before the warranty is expired. So lets see how well they compare maintenance wise to modern cars once they are out of warranty and 10-15yrs old.
All expensive cars have expensive parts. A headlight for an Escalade is $ 1,600. A tail light is $ 800
But an escalade has generic chevy drivetrain parts. So again I can go to autozone, oreilley, napa, etc. and get mechanical parts for normal prices. So maintenance is the same cost as a chevy or gmc. That $100k caddy uses the same brakes, axles, transmission, engine as the chevy it is based on. So wear parts aren't overly expensive. Headlights and taillights normally just need a bulb, the housings don't regularly fail. I know with the new LED headlights it would be a full housing replacement as there is no seperate bulb.
They’re boutique. I think it will take more than a single year over 350k built to break that mentality. Next year they have GF3 and the expansion at Fremont. GF1 expansion should start for CT and semi production. I doubt we see anything out of GF4 until 2023, at the earliest. If the CT is the breakthrough in manufacturing that Tesla says it is, I wonder if they expand out the Cyber lineup to other vehicle classes, especially a small, urban sub-compact. I can see 3mm stainless being very popular in urban settings, as long as it is about 3 feet shorter than the Model 3.
The semi.... Electric Jesus will not disclose the payload and payload is what makes semis profitable. This guy is down here in Oz.. but he is an engineer and has some relevant fact based comments o the Tesla Semi.
It will take time and experience before I would buy a pure electric from ANY manufacturer. Here’s why: I live in a cold climate and do lots of highway miles on an old highway that traverses difficult terrain. Accidents and weather cause closures on a regular basis. With the very real potential of sitting on the highway in cold weather for several hours I want to know I’ll be able to keep heat going as long as I need it. I also want to know how cold weather will affect range. Not 0C but -20C and colder. I think it will be a few years before a pure electric makes sense up here but I look forward to it happening. Range anxiety? I’ve got it.