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See the Tesla S at the Detroit International Auto Show (Video)
The weather in Detroit was frightful and Slashdot editor Timothy Lord was nine hours away. No problem! He loaded his camcorder and a bunch of other stuff in his car and drove to Detroit for the 2012 International Auto Show. In today's video he looks at the Tesla Model S. Next week we'll have more video highlights of the auto show for you, so stay tuned...
this company survives the bad weather.
And take down that car maker !!
don't use that again, thanks in advance
Slashdot has reporters who do on-site video pieces now?
Insert quip about how they can do that but can't hire editors to make sure the summary blurb is accurate. ;-)
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
I'll wait til Jeremy drives one on Top Gear.
I thought it was going to be some large spectacular Telsa coil. That would be far more interesting than some electric car I can't afford.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
Every day I drive pass my local Tesla dealership and see all those rows of beautiful cars and think of just stopping in and buying one right on the spot. And then I remember that Tesla cars aren't actually real, there are no Tesla dealerships, and the company stays pretty much on the verge of bankruptcy, with models that always seem to be on backorder or are "coming out sometime next year...we hope." Then I notice that Natalie Portman is my girlfriend sitting in the seat next to me, and realize that I'm dreaming.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Other than the hot chick in the boot, that was a worthless video.
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
I saw it there, and it's one of the few cars on the floor that shows you all of the mechanicals (Ford did it with their trucks, which was also really cool). The mechanics of this car are incredibly simple. This should significantly reduce ongoing maintenance costs and make car ownership easier for the majority of people.
Easy Online Role Playing Campaign Management
I know I'm dying to see a government funded vehicle that only the wealthiest 10% of Americans can afford!
Yes, I know that the government gave out $25 billion in loans under that program and Tesla got just $465 million, but still. I can't imagine a dumber way of promoting green transportation for the masses than building a $60,000 sedan.
So ten thousand or so greenwashing celebrities, financiers, and Ivy League professors will buy one and then...what? They claim they'll make a cheap model when they work out the kinks and get enough funding from selling the rich-people version, and I know trickle-down economics sorta works in cutting-edge technology, but Nissan already has an electric sedan for $20,000 less.
I just don't see why Tesla deserves our adulation.
Not interested in any family cars....more than 2 seats.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Timed to calm the equity markets jittery over the news of two key Model S engineers leaving
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
It's the Tesla "Model S", not "Tesla S".
Humbly yours,
A Tesla employee
Often times the first generations of new technology are so extremely expensive, that only the rich can afford them. Then slowly, with iterations and perfections, the prices come down to normal consumer prices. Almost every breakthrough technology has been that way, car's, computers, tv's, home entertainment. The thing is, unless there's the initial generation of very expensive technology, there's usually no starting point for engineers to slowly develop improved and cheaper ways to build. It's rare a technology goes from non-existent to every consumer can afford it. Also keep in mind Tesla isn't trying to compete with Toyota sedans, it's trying to compete with high-end BMW, Audi, Infiniti sedans. As in other automobile technologies, the cheaper sedans benefit from all the R&D that goes into the more expensive sedans, as their features slowly trickle into the cheaper sedans.
Electric vehicles are just toys for idiots and public figures who want to show the world how 'green' they are.
If it's not powered by an ICE, it's not a real car.
Optional rear facing mini-seats? This isn't a family car, this is just a roadster that can transport a family in a pinch.
I read the internet for the articles.
I kinda like these video features, but *wow* is that 1960s era robotic voice obnoxious. It's incredibly grating to listen to.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
It's a pity, this is a great example and great use of technology but deep down, it's just not able to deliver any real benefits over any other sedan.
The energy costs of the car in an entire lifespan are probably equal or worse than petrol. This technology requires more energy to make and involves expensive mid-term disposable battery packs. Energy used for it has probably had 50% of it's already non-optimal conversion efficiency wasted in down-the-wire transmission.
When that's taken into account, what's the point really? Lets just get over to being a renewable power produced hydrogen economy already. There are no other options that really help.
I still want one though. Shove an apple logo on it and it'd sell by the shipload.
You can get there in a Prius with a plug-in recharge retrofit. Why would you want to drive there in your Prius? To smirk at the chumps paying $80k for this shit or course. Because you're a Prius driver, so not only is your car one of the most efficient on the road, you're also an asshole about it.
The first 1/3 of the video is this dude with whack glasses complaining about the drive to D-town. Counting the lame intro/outro, a full 1/2 of this video is complete fluff. Thanks for wasting my time /.
You can hate on "government motors" all ya want - They did a great job on this one, and unlike the haters, I'm getting that bailout money back in the form of something pretty darn cool. Could it just be sour grapes? Or is it all astroturfing by people with errrm, illiquid investments in the oil patch who are desperate?
More here: http://www.coultersmithing.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=48
Don't get me wrong - I admire Elon and his projects quite a bit. They're just behind. A big company might take longer to get the word, but once they get in motion, look out - I couldn't get a Tesla, or afford one, but this is in my driveway now. And I promise to exit the car within the three weeks it takes to catch on fire after being total lossed sideways into a pole. I'd rather not starve to death before burning.
Why guess when you can know? Measure!
So doing a quick search, I can pay $120,000 for a new convertible that saves ~$50 a month on gas (I have a very short commute) and costs an unknown amount of additional electricity over whatever charge duration.
Ignoring the power costs, and assuming my Sebring requires less than $20,000 maintenance during the following math: A car named after an absolute pioneer in the field of electromagnetics will pay for itself in ... .... a little under 200 years. Ok, in that time scale I'm sure my Sebring will take more than $20,000 in maintenance costs, and I'll probably either be dead, or otherwise lose interest in having a convertible long before that time. If I was prepping to spend around $120,000 for a car, I'd probably buy something else and bank the difference to cover some of the fuel.
Love the idea of video features, however this is all I took away from that piece:
* the trunk has rear-facing child seats
* the battery has 4 bolts for quick exchange
* someone with functioning ears could help improve the "robot seizure" intro and outro clips
Is this where International Auto makers come and show Detroit how to make a proper automobile? I can't believe anyone would come from overseas looking for something to buy. How does an auto industry the size and strength of the US can fail so miserably with the quality of their products?
http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=61
And in Finland. Eat it you lemmings.
I'd give any practical electric car 150 km range with careful driving, and far less under spirited driving.
Once you run out of juice you're SOL for 3-4 hours while your green ride recharges.
If the thought of spending $60k for a neighborhood grocery getter appeals to your sense of responsibility, then Tesla might actually have a chance of turning a profit.
Who Killed the Electric Car?
`echo $[0x853204FA81]|tr 0-9 ionbsdeaml`@gmail.com
You're thinking of the Fisker Karma, dumb-ass, which is being built in Finland. The mass market car Fisker is developing - the target of the vast majority of the Federal investment - will be built in the US.
You probably think Newt is a respected philosopher, too.
Luke, help me take this mask off
I wish my name was Tim Lord
I clicked the disable all adds button. How come I can still see this thread?
Really?
Just some examples I can think of 4 seater sports cars - which few people will argue are not sports cars:
Porsche 911 (all models except for the GT3 which has no back seats)
BMW M3 and M5
Nissan GT-R
Aston Martin Rapide and DB9
Yes there are more, but you get the point. Some will argue that a true sports car must be a 2 seater, and be a convertable, but.... so what.
..........FULL STOP.