Car Dark

[heironymouspasparagus]

Tesla reports that out of the 2,200 roadsters sold, so far 5 have already suffered bricked batteries and the owners have been hit with the cost.  $40,000 to change the batteries.

That's just about the same as running a gas engine without oil for a couple weeks.  You think ANY manufacturer is gonna warranty that??  Toyota and Honda did so much to raise the bar as far as user expectations, that now many if not most people have no concept of routine maintenance.  This is one of those things that must be paid attention to.  If you buy one of those without considering that, well, you deserve to be 'bricked'.  Like so many who buy a diesel and don't make themselves aware of the slightly different routine needed for that engine.

Read the manual!!  Perform routine, required maintenance!

[DolfanBob]

I contacted my tint guy. And since he was the one that did the job on my sons car he is going to remove the dark 5% off of the four windows and tint with the law abiding 25% for 70 dollars. I think that is a great deal. He knows how to keep his customers. We are going to leave the back window dark. Let em try and check it with their new toy.

[Red Arrow]

That's just about the same as running a gas engine without oil for a couple weeks.  You think ANY manufacturer is gonna warranty that??  Toyota and Honda did so much to raise the bar as far as user expectations, that now many if not most people have no concept of routine maintenance.  This is one of those things that must be paid attention to.  If you buy one of those without considering that, well, you deserve to be 'bricked'.  Like so many who buy a diesel and don't make themselves aware of the slightly different routine needed for that engine.
Read the manual!!  Perform routine, required maintenance!

I have a $200 RC electric helicopter with Li-ion batteries that shuts itself off to protect the batteries.  Should I expect less from a $100,000 automobile?

[Red Arrow]

Does a Panamera get 20mpg?

Not if you keep your foot in it.  Otherwise:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/2011_Porsche_Panamera.shtml

Besides, the point isn't that it saves the environment,

Maybe not for you but that's the push elsewhere, along with using less oil.  Using less oil is also part of the environment issue.  Something about IC engine exhaust emissions just seem to turn off the environmental crowd.

it's that electric cars are better in every way but quick refueling. When battery technology finally catches up, they'll be just plain better.

One way to develop that technology is to build cars that appeal to the 1%ers that can afford toys with limited range and maybe a $40,000 bill for not following directions.

Telling that Gaspar would use something that has happened to 0.2% of owners of a different model car to try and spread FUD about a car none of us are actually going to buy because none of us can afford a GT supercar whether it runs on gas or batteries.

So you would rather hide a potential problem in the superior car of the future rather than bring it out to the public to force the developers and manufacturers to fix it before you and I buy one?

[Red Arrow]

That's just about the same as running a gas engine without oil for a couple weeks. 

No, that would be like not oiling the bearings in the electric motor.

Letting the battery become a brick when it is not nearly constantly on charge is more like allowing the gas tank to have the entire bottom fall off the first time you run out of gas all the while that there was a hole in the bottom allowing gas to leak out even while parked.  (Neglecting for the present the explosion hazard.)  Then lock up the brakes so the vehicle cannot be moved on its own wheels/tires.   Not acceptable.

[nathanm]

One way to develop that technology is to build cars that appeal to the 1%ers that can afford toys with limited range and maybe a $40,000 bill for not following directions.

That's what the guy with the money decided. Other car companies are doing different things. That's the wonder of the free market system..many different competitors can all work to build the version of a product that they think will sell the best.

So you would rather hide a potential problem in the superior car of the future rather than bring it out to the public to force the developers and manufacturers to fix it before you and I buy one?

Who said anything about hiding anything? I sure didn't.

[Red Arrow]

Who said anything about hiding anything? I sure didn't.

Then there is no reason to condemn someone for pointing out a serious flaw, even if that flaw is presently a small percentage. 

[nathanm]

Then there is no reason to condemn someone for pointing out a serious flaw, even if that flaw is presently a small percentage. 

He's got a history on the topic, as I recall. Perhaps I misremember.

[Red Arrow]

He's got a history on the topic, as I recall. Perhaps I misremember.

If you choose to ignore the subject of a particular post and reply instead to the poster's history, that is your choice.  It's not a good choice in my opinion.

[nathanm]

If you choose to ignore the subject of a particular post and reply instead to the poster's history, that is your choice.  It's not a good choice in my opinion.

I didn't ignore the subject at all. I responded to it with some extra commentary.

[Red Arrow]

I didn't ignore the subject at all. I responded to it with some extra commentary.

The only thing I got out of

Telling that Gaspar would use something that has happened to 0.2% of owners of a different model car to try and spread FUD about a car none of us are actually going to buy because none of us can afford a GT supercar whether it runs on gas or batteries.

was the condemnation of Gaspar.  The rest of your statement was like the follow-on paragraphs in a newspaper article, fluff.

[shadows]

Remember in the past when PSO purchased the electric cars?  A short time later the yellow roadsters appeared in the junk yards priced at $500 dollars.
Then there was the fellow that applied for a patent on the electric car with a windmill on top to charge the batteries.  If the batteries ran down he only had to find a windy spot for a recharge.
Then there were two fellows that produced a three wheel roadster, incorporating a small gas generator that was very slick but they took it Washington and met with some Senators.  Gasoline was 79.9 cents a gallon and the Senators seemed to be in the petroleum business.   Last seen their model was hanging from the ceiling in a building.

Under the spreading tree
The village smithy stood,
When men were considered free.
And wagons were made of wood.
But now the modern modes,
The tractor pulls the plow
The truck totes the lustily loads
Who need a horse shoe now?
                               

[nathanm]

The only thing I got out of was the condemnation of Gaspar.  The rest of your statement was like the follow-on paragraphs in a newspaper article, fluff.

The 0.2% was the context missing in Gaspar's post.

[heironymouspasparagus]

I contacted my tint guy. And since he was the one that did the job on my sons car he is going to remove the dark 5% off of the four windows and tint with the law abiding 25% for 70 dollars. I think that is a great deal. He knows how to keep his customers. We are going to leave the back window dark. Let em try and check it with their new toy.

Sounds pretty good.  I had to take some tint off a car I recently got.  What a pain!  Madico film REALLY sucks!!  After a very few years, it bubbles and gets very hard to remove.  The two layers delaminate and the regular hair dryer on the outside method just doesn't quite make it.  At all.

[Red Arrow]

The 0.2% was the context missing in Gaspar's post.

I find even 0.2% to be unacceptable for that kind of failure to be glossed over.  It certainly is not enough to condemn the entire technology but it needs to be corrected.  How would you react to a 0.2% failure of safety items like brakes or steering?  Failure of a heated mirror to melt snow or ice would not be a big deal.

How do you think Toyota would fare if 617 of of the 308,510 Camrys they sold in the US in 2011 suddenly developed gaping holes in the gas tank?  Not too well I believe.  I expect it would make the TV Networks' evening news.

You also mentioned that a different model was mentioned, apparently in an attempt to negate the value of the battery complaint.  I believe all the Tesla models are using the same technology battery from looking at the Tesla web site.

Edit:
I forgot to mention Ford Pinto gas tanks in the safety comment.