Slashdot Mirror


Tesla Announces Dual Motors, 'Autopilot' For the Model S

SchrodingerZ writes: Nine days after Elon Musk hinted about a new project, Tesla Motors has unveiled the P85D Sedan. This is Tesla's latest car design, capable of feats not yet seen in electric vehicles. The four door luxury car is able to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in a mere 3.2 seconds, an acceleration similar to the McLaren F1 super car. While the exterior remains the same build as the standard Model S, the interior will have a second motor in the front of the car to complement the rear motor. The D models will also have a slightly greater range of 275 miles on a single charge, 10 miles more than the 85 and P85 cars. Safety features have also been enhanced, adding "adaptive cruise control and the ability to read speed limit signs, stop itself if a crash is imminent, stay in its lane, and even park itself in a street spot or in your garage." Musk explains at the inaugural event, "this car is nuts. It's like taking off from a carrier deck. It's just bananas." The "D" version is available for the 60kWh, 80kWh, and P85 cars, and are expected to start shipping in December of this year.

57 of 283 comments (clear)

  1. Autonomy by Thanshin · · Score: 3, Funny

    So, 0 to 60 miles in 3.2 seconds... a range of 275 miles... So, it has less than 15 seconds of autonomy.

    Let's hope it doesn't take much longer than that to recharge.

    1. Re:Autonomy by NoImNotNineVolt · · Score: 4, Informative

      So, 0 to 60 miles in 3.2 seconds... a range of 275 miles... So, it has less than 15 seconds of autonomy.

      No, 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds. Then, cruising at that 60 mile per hour for 4.583 hours (not 15 seconds) will take you 275 miles, at which point the battery dies. Reading fail.

      --
      Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
    2. Re:Autonomy by oodaloop · · Score: 2

      Wow, you're really good at that math stuff.

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    3. Re:Autonomy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      TFS says "60 miles per hour in a mere 3.2 seconds".

      60 miles per hour is referring to a velocity, not a distance.

      If it could really somehow cover 60 miles in 3.2 seconds safely, I wouldn't care that it could only do it for 15 seconds, because i would already be there

    4. Re:Autonomy by NoImNotNineVolt · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I still don't get it. A deliberately stupid misreading of the summary is supposed to be funny because it's stupid?

      --
      Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
    5. Re:Autonomy by alex67500 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      A lot of comedy is just made of silly arguments and situations... I found it funny, but I guess a sense of humour is very much like opinions: most people have one but they're not always compatible.

    6. Re:Autonomy by kmoser · · Score: 2

      It would be hilarious if it went from +5 to +1 in 3.2 seconds.

  2. Read speed limit signs by rossdee · · Score: 5, Funny

    It wasn't my fault officer, the car say the highway sign and thought that I-95 meant 95mph

    1. Re:Read speed limit signs by oodaloop · · Score: 4, Funny

      But at least we're not on Highway 1 anymore. That seemed like FOREVER.

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
  3. Re:Awesome by LWATCDR · · Score: 2

    Only if you are willing to spend more than half your yearly income on a car.
    And 70k is for the short range stripped model. I is is more in the 9k range nicely equipped.

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  4. Re:Awesome by biodata · · Score: 2

    I think that depends what you consider the 100% to be. If it's humanity, then 1% is a significant overestimate of people who can afford this.

    --
    Korma: Good
  5. Re:Awesome by thaylin · · Score: 2

    How you do figure that? 100k is upper middle class, or there about. Most middle classer's cannot afford a car greater than or equal to their income for a year. Even being single and making 80k a year if I bought that thing, assuming I could get that large of financing, it would strain my budget, and that is before taxes and insurance AND living in a low cost of living state.

    --
    When you cant win, ad hominem.
  6. Re:Awesome by LWATCDR · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It is easy to make cool expensive stuff. Now when they get one down to say 50k loaded we can talk.
    Or to steal an old idea from Jack Tramiel. We need electric cars for the masses not the classes.

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  7. Performance by Charliemopps · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is how electric will win. Performance.
    When I was in High-school I raced RC cars for fun, and I remembered by gear head friends giving me crap about working on "Toy cars" until I challenged one of them to a drag race, against his real, full sized muscle car, and won hands down. The torque from an electric motor is just monstrous. So much so, that I suspect if they continue to build electric sports cars, the gforce alone will become a safety issue. My drag car would pull 100amps off the starting line and could melt battery cables, and the thing only weighed 2lbs. It'd be doing the scale equivalent of over 1000mph when I got to the end of the track. Yes, yes, I know at full scale wind resistance is different and such, but still. I had a hunk of carbon fiber doing 100mph in a few feet for Christs sake.

    The sorts of people that hate electric because it's a "hippie thing" will embrace it because the fact of the matter is that, in the end, it just performs better. Can't have hippies beating your Cudda with a Prius.

    Random video I found on youtube as a demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
     

    1. Re:Performance by kilfarsnar · · Score: 2

      There is an electric race car that puts out something like 830 HP and 2950 ft. lbs. of torque. I can't even imagine what that kind of power feels like behind the wheel. Electric cars are exciting to gearheads like me who enjoy performance driving. I can't wait until they become more affordable.

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    2. Re:Performance by mnooning · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Let me add to your reasoning. This is the same argument as for the television in the late 1940s, or the VCR in my own lifetime.

      I remember many years ago walking out of a specialty store that sold VCR equipment. The prices were way high, and before I left I commented to the sales person that VCRs were a rich man's game. At that point, it was a true statement.

      The 5% who can afford these electric cars will fund the initial manufacturing. Infrastructure will grow. Costs will come down. Given the power electricity has, and the relative safety of supplying outlets and other infrastructure, even more people will see the advantages, be able to afford it and buy it, and so on, increasingly, until it is being massed produced at ordinary consumer prices. The US, for one, is slowly but surely going to change in the transportation area.

      Note: U.S. sales by luxury brands should easily top 1.8 million this year Source

    3. Re:Performance by beelsebob · · Score: 4, Informative

      To be fair, F1 cars accelerate at 3g, brake at 5g and corner at 6g. The g-forces are enough that the drivers can't breath for half the lap. They're getting really close to the point where g forces are a problem.

    4. Re:Performance by Motard · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually, they hit this point in 1997 in IndyCars (CART). The Firestone Firehawk 600 at Texas Motor Speedway had to be called off because of G forces.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F...

    5. Re:Performance by mlts · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The ironic thing is that even in rural Texas [1], even the coal rollers think that Teslas are extremely useful and hope that eventually the company would make a one ton pickup truck. It would make life nice for a number of reasons:

      1: A lot of ranch vehicles tend to go a long distance, but get parked near the same spot at night, so an electric charger is useful.

      2: Trucks need torque at 0RPM. Electric motors deliver here in spades.

      3: Welders and other tools are needed. Having a heavy duty inverter and the ability to use the battery bank for powering an air compressor would come quite handy.

      4: Electric motors need a lot less upkeep than a diesel engine. No pee cans, no DPFs, no EGR valves, air filters, oil filters, just very minimal maintenance required.

      5: They use no fuel when stopped/idling, other than to keep the vehicle electronics going and the climate control system.

      6: They are quiet.

      7: An electric motor can sit indefinitely without worry about fuel turning to sludge (in the case of gasoline) or getting algae in it (like diesel.)

      8: No exhaust.

      Electric cars are like solar. Both sides, be it the hippies or the banjo country types understand how useful the technology is or can be.

    6. Re:Performance by Charliemopps · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You don't understand. I wasn't hitting 60 in 2 to 3 seconds. I was hitting 60 (Scale 600mph) in tenths of a second and I was 16!. Tesla is getting this speed without even trying. Get a real race enthusiast to start messing with these? Forget F1, it'll be like being behind a rocket engine. I've seen RC drag races that resulted in the motor ripping the tires off the rims, and they were glued on. 2 to 3 seconds will be laughable when the real drag race guys get hold of this stuff.

    7. Re:Performance by Charliemopps · · Score: 2

      If your other race car is a 64 mustang or a corvette, range wasn't a concern in the first place.

    8. Re:Performance by Charliemopps · · Score: 2

      When I did the endurance stuff, I replaced my differential with a one-way diff. That way I could coast. It really depended on the track, but I had so much damned torqe I'd basically power out of the turn and then coast into the next. If it was a very long oval, this was less useful... but the idea was fresh when I tried it and people couldn't believe how few battery changes I'd have to make.

      This, of course meant I couldn't break (and for those of you not into the sport, we had no reverse at all) so a steering mistake on my part would be a very bad thing indeed.

    9. Re:Performance by tlhIngan · · Score: 3, Informative

      There is an electric race car that puts out something like 830 HP and 2950 ft. lbs. of torque. I can't even imagine what that kind of power feels like behind the wheel. Electric cars are exciting to gearheads like me who enjoy performance driving. I can't wait until they become more affordable.

      The well-known electric racing circuit is the Formula E which uses pure electric race cars. Now, they only last about 10 minutes before drivers have to pit and switch cars, but that just adds a bit more excitement to the mix (how fast you can egress and get in now becomes important, just like how long you spend at pit spots in regular auto racing).

      Though, the other thing is just how quiet it is - yeah, I know modern race cars are actually getting a lot quieter to improve mileage (sound energy is wasted energy) and lengthen times between pit stops for refuelling.

      Heck, a lot are starting to experiment with hybrid technology for the same reason - pit stops cost time, and if you can go just as fast but use less fuel, then you have a big advantage by skipping a 30-second pit stop (plus having to actually drive through pit row - there's a 60mph speed limit that's strictly enforced. There's a special button on the wheel for this where it limits the max speed to that).

      Heck, Formula E has people driving in interesting ways - is it better to be slower and prolong your battery, or go quick and get a sufficient lead for the swap?

      And given the low end torque, skill becomes important because wheels that' slip, while impressive, are wasted energy that could be better spent moving.

    10. Re:Performance by skaralic · · Score: 3, Interesting

      This is how electric will win. Performance. When I was in High-school I raced RC cars for fun, and I remembered by gear head friends giving me crap about working on "Toy cars" until I challenged one of them to a drag race, against his real, full sized muscle car, and won hands down. The torque from an electric motor is just monstrous. So much so, that I suspect if they continue to build electric sports cars, the gforce alone will become a safety issue. My drag car would pull 100amps off the starting line and could melt battery cables, and the thing only weighed 2lbs. It'd be doing the scale equivalent of over 1000mph when I got to the end of the track. Yes, yes, I know at full scale wind resistance is different and such, but still. I had a hunk of carbon fiber doing 100mph in a few feet for Christs sake.

      The sorts of people that hate electric because it's a "hippie thing" will embrace it because the fact of the matter is that, in the end, it just performs better. Can't have hippies beating your Cudda with a Prius.

      Random video I found on youtube as a demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      Yeah, but does it have... soul. :D

      Seriously, I like the mechanical sound of a nice inline 6 or a V8 under the hood. I love the control of a manual transmission and clutch and how it engages the driver and makes him/her an essential part of the vehicle. Yes, dual-clutch autos are faster and electric cars are even faster but something is lost in the process and it's a shame. But, most people don't care about such things so electrics will be perfect for the masses just not for us "enthusiasts". Now get off my lawn!

    11. Re:Performance by bmajik · · Score: 2

      Bingo.

      I would modify your statement a bit though - because different people want different things out of cars. I know Prius and Leaf owners that are already sold on electric vehicles. Those vehicles are insufferable yawn-inducers, so I'll never be interested... but plenty of people already are.

      However, the Teslas (so far) are clearly drivers cars made for discerning buyers by real enthusiasts. I've taken a model S on a test drive and it was really magnificent.

      Here is a selection of my current crop of cars:
      Audi A4 Quattro, 6MT
      88 BMW M5, 5MT
      87 BMW 325is, 5MT, gutted race car

      I've been a driving instructor with the BMW Car Club of America. I've done countless track days on multiple race tracks. I love fast cars and I love pushing them hard.

      The Tesla model S is awesome. I took it for a nice test drive. It is easy to drive around town, and it accelerates, turns, and stops very well. It is comfortable and quiet. The acceleration is instant. It will make you smile every time you hit the throttle. The regenerative harvesting is great; you rarely have to use the brakes, but if you want to, the brake pedal has a good feel and the car stops in a hurry.

      At less than autobahn speeds, it is as fast as an M5. It handles very well for a large sedan. It is quieter than a Mercedes. With the Model D's, it will also have AWD, like the best Audis.

      After a short drive, I would say that the car is clearly head and shoulders above the other luxury sedans it competes against.

      The model S has two downsides: range and price. It's a great car for 350 days out of the year. The other 15 days, you may want to take medium to long road trips. Then you'll have some difficulties - for now.

      However, even there, the difference between its luxury sedan competitors isn't night and day. All of those cars I mentioned require premium fuel, and that can be very hard to find when on longer trips, especially in the mid west. So in fact you need to plan your trips anyhow to make sure that compatible fuel will be available along your route.

      --
      My opinions are my own, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.
    12. Re:Performance by Tough+Love · · Score: 3, Funny

      1: A lot of ranch vehicles tend to go a long distance, but get parked near the same spot at night, so an electric charger is useful.

      2: Trucks need torque at 0RPM. Electric motors deliver here in spades.

      3: Welders and other tools are needed. Having a heavy duty inverter and the ability to use the battery bank for powering an air compressor would come quite handy.

      4: Electric motors need a lot less upkeep than a diesel engine. No pee cans, no DPFs, no EGR valves, air filters, oil filters, just very minimal maintenance required.

      5: They use no fuel when stopped/idling, other than to keep the vehicle electronics going and the climate control system.

      6: They are quiet.

      7: An electric motor can sit indefinitely without worry about fuel turning to sludge (in the case of gasoline) or getting algae in it (like diesel.)

      8: No exhaust.

      9: Wet dreams about the size of spotlight you can put on it

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  8. Re:Awesome by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe it includes the top 1% of the financially irresponsible demographic.

  9. Re:Awesome by RingDev · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I would argue that a middle classer who bought a car that costs more than a year's salary has piss poor money management.

    -Rick

    --
    "Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
  10. Re:Awesome by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It is easy to make cool expensive stuff. Now when they get one down to say 50k loaded we can talk. Or to steal an old idea from Jack Tramiel. We need electric cars for the masses not the classes.

    It's a supercar. It does have the unique position among the supercars that there are very few people arguing that McLaren needs to make a F1 for the masses

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  11. Prices by damn_registrars · · Score: 4, Informative
    This really should have been included in the summary:

    Each of the three versions of the Model S will come as a D model. The price of the 60kWh battery model will go from $71,070 to $75,070 for the dual motor system. The 85 kWh car goes from $81,070 to $85,070, and the P85 jumps from $105,570 to $120,170.

    No indication in this article if you can get the adaptive cruise control and other fun high-tech add-ons that come with the "D" (dual motor) version without paying for the D upgrade.

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
    1. Re:Prices by timeOday · · Score: 5, Informative
      The answer is yes:

      Tesla's electric Model S has proven a very technically advanced car, except in regards to driver assistance systems. All that changes now, as Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk announced at an event in Los Angeles that every car manufactured over the last two weeks comes with new sensor hardware to enable what he calls Autopilot capabilities.

      The event on Thursday night also included an announcement about the D option, an all-wheel-drive Model S with motors at the front and rear wheels.

      The Autopilot hardware includes forward-looking radar and camera, combined with all-around long-range ultrasonic sensors. A software update being sent out to cars as an over-the-air update will enable driver assistance features such as adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist and automated parking.

  12. 73% tax return by hooiberg · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And because it is an electric car, we get 73% of the purchase price back here (Netherlands), because of tax related stuff. So this car effectively costs a quarter of the listed price. Not bad.

  13. Re:Awesome by xelah · · Score: 2

    So, your living costs are something very approximating twice what the monthly car cost would be, and I presume you'd be paying it for something like 5 years. That gives you a choice between 1: accelerating very fast for a few tens of seconds per day, instead of rather slower and 2: having two and a half years off work (or retiring earlier) and doing something important to you instead.

    There's nothing actually illogical about preferring the first. But I think it's reasonable to call it an extreme preference.

  14. Re:Meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    If there is a charging station, you drive for about 4-5 hours, pull in for a 30 minute lunch and let the car charge, drive another couple hours, have supper and charge, drive some more to your final destination and charge over night so you are ready to repeat the next day. 275+200+200 = 675 miles if you have a reasonable number of charging stations along your route.

  15. Re:Awesome by MMC+Monster · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I would complain about Tesla's marketing to people who can't afford their cars, but ... I can't recall any marketing done by them other than their blog and videos on YouTube.

    --
    Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
  16. Re:Awesome by tsqr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You don't need to make 100k/year to afford a Tesla. The stock P85 is around ~1300/month which is only about 1/3rd of what is the median income in the US.

    Most middle classer's cannot afford a car greater than or equal to their income for a year.

    Then they have pretty piss poor money management if true.

    1/3 of your income for the monthly payment on a depreciating asset? That's just crazy. The payments on my family's TWO cars comes to less than 10% of my gross income, and I think that's too high.

    Good money management does not mean figuring out a way squeak by while squandering your family income on something you don't actually need.

  17. the event by fredan · · Score: 2

    where can I watch the hole event and not just some clips?

    1. Re:the event by Motard · · Score: 4, Funny

      where can I watch the hole event and not just some clips?

      I dunno, try searching for 'courtney love' on Youtube.

    2. Re:the event by taiwanjohn · · Score: 3, Informative

      Found this video on YouTube...

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve your problem, you're not using enough of it. --AC
  18. Re:Awesome by RingDev · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A $70k car, with a 5 year note at 5.5% interest is a monthly payment of $1337.

    A head house hold primary earner of family of 4 with a $100k annual salary is probably looking at ~80k after taxes.

    A $250k mortgage, +PMI, +Homeowners insurance, +Property Tax is going to be ~1500 a month: 62k.

    Health insurance, assuming they have a job with benefits is probably $600 a month (give or take depending on amorting the deductible over the year and out of pocket expenses), 55k.

    Groceries are ~250 a week, 42k.

    Electric/Gas/Water/Sewage/Home maintenance is another $500 a month, 36k.

    Depending on your driving history/age/location, insurance is going to be between 1500 and 5000 a year, 34k.

    Cable/Phone/Internet, pick your poison, you're likely out ~120 a month, 32k.

    Add on that $1337/month car payment and you're down to $16k.

    Note that at this point, you still need to buy clothes (especially for 2 growing kids) likely have a 2nd car, with insurance, a fuel bill, and maintenance (possibly even another loan), maybe student loans, heaven forbid either of your kids need braces, or your water heater dies.

    So yes, an upper-middle income individual /could/ in theory do it. But it would mean living extremely modestly and surviving basically paycheck to paycheck. Any significant disruption would lead to immediate financial stability concerns.

    That individual would be dramatically better off putting that 16k a year into a 401k and IRA or college funds for the kids. Buying a 70k car isn't an investment, even if it retains its value better than other vehicles, you're still losing out big time between depreciation and interest payments.

    -Rick

    --
    "Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
  19. Re:Awesome by SunTzuWarmaster · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't understand why people want to buy things they can't afford.

    I don't think that you understand: the car goes really fast and looks really cool , and I want one.

    Note that this is different than:

    I don't understand why people do buy things they can't afford.

  20. Come on, Elon, quit fooling around. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Give us model E, the 40 K sedan. The rich people have paid enough money and you have built the credibility. Continuing to make play things too expensive for the masses is not how you are going to have long term impact or create disruptive technologies.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:Come on, Elon, quit fooling around. by Jeremi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Give us model E, the 40 K sedan. The rich people have paid enough money and you have built the credibility. Continuing to make play things too expensive for the masses is not how you are going to have long term impact or create disruptive technologies.

      The Model 3 (nee model E) will only only be cheap if Tesla can get cheap batteries to power it. Tesla's plan for getting cheap batteries is to produce them at huge scale in their GigaFactory (tm). Therefore, don't hold your breath for cheap Teslas until after the GigaFactory (tm) is complete and functioning.

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
    2. Re:Come on, Elon, quit fooling around. by randallman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      How do you think the model 3 development is funded? This IS the business model. Make expensive cars to raise money for the development of (lower margin) affordable cars. Also, this doesn't inhibit the model 3's development. It's not like they have to do one thing at a time.

    3. Re:Come on, Elon, quit fooling around. by LessThanObvious · · Score: 2

      I found some info on it. BU-1205: Availability of Lithium http://batteryuniversity.com/l...

  21. Re:Awesome by NatasRevol · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't think you know what inflation does...

    --
    There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
  22. Re:Meh by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

    Okay, let's say you drive it hard so range is reduced to 200 miles. To cover your 400 mile trip you would need to charge once, possibly twice. At a Supercharger it takes 50 minutes, although they are boosting them up to 150kW so it will come down to 40 minutes in the next year.

    You are making a day of it, so are you really saying you drive 400 miles without any kind of break? Many ICE cars can't drive that far on a single tank, especially if you drive them hard, so presumably you at least stop to fill up once or twice. I'm really struggling to see how supercharging isn't a solution.

    Also, I hope I never meet you on the road. After 400 miles with no stopping your ability is going to be compromised.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  23. Re:Awesome by swb · · Score: 2

    This must be the kind of thinking that generates votes for Republican tax cuts for the rich.

    The top 20% of HOUSEHOLD income starts at $101k. A five year loan for a Tesla with $10k down results in a monthly payment of $2,055 @ 4.59%.

    There's no way a household with $101k income could afford to make house payments and drive a Tesla at $2k a month. That's 25% of their income for a highly depreciable asset.

    Depending on their life choices (live in small, shitty efficiency, no kids, no vacations, buy everything used or Wal-Mart) they might be able to do it but realistically it's just nuts to assume a $100k household income can manage a $2k car payment.

  24. Re:Meh by NatasRevol · · Score: 2

    Supercharger gives you 170 miles in 30 min.

    --
    There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
  25. Re:Awesome by GTRacer · · Score: 2

    Mind the fjords!

    --
    Defending IP by destroying access to it? That makes sense, RIAA/MPAA. Go to the corner until you can play nice!
  26. 0.85G Average Acceleration by randallman · · Score: 3, Informative

    60 mph is 26.8224 meters per second. At 3.2 seconds, that's 8.382 mps2 / gravity (9.8 mps2) = 0.85G. I'll bet it's even higher off the line.

  27. Used Model S by j2.718ff · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When Tesla recently announced their certified used program, people were asking, "What would someone trading in a Model S buy? Another Model S?" Now we have an answer to that question.

  28. Re:Awesome by schlachter · · Score: 2

    You have no fucking clue huh? And you're obviously young and single with no experience managing your finances.

    The average American salary is around $40K/yr.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P...

    That's more like $2,500/month after taxes, health insurance, etc...if you're lucky enough to take home 75% of your income. I take home about 60%.

    The Tesla will cost you $1,300 month + $200 month for insurance + $100 month for power = $1,600

    About 65% of your monthly spending. Good luck living in your car with the remaining $900 month.

    Oh, and if you don't want to be a complete ass hat, you should be saving at least $500 of that $900 each month for unexpected expenses.

    So you've got $400 a month. Hope you have a way to cook ramen in that Tesla home of yours.

    And don't get a bad tooth ache. That will cost you $2,000 to fix. Don't have to go to the ER. That will cost you at least $2,000.

    --
    My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
  29. Re:Awesome by gmhowell · · Score: 2

    $10,000 isn't close to enough to be saving for later life. You only (typically) get about 35 years of working life, and most of us will get around 30-35 years as a pensioner. That means that you're currently setting yourself up to be living on $10,000 a year (assuming investment keeps up with inflation).

    You must be European. Retirement age in the US ~67, no way 'most of us' are making it to late 90's.

    --
    Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
  30. Re:Awesome by McGruber · · Score: 2

    I save more than $10k a year even with those payments. How would that make me financially irresponsible?

    If you are a US worker making $80k, you can put $17,500 a year into your 401K and another $5,500 into a Roth IRA..... so your saving $10k/year is less than 1/2 the money you could be putting into your retirement accounts for the year.

    If you are over age 50, you could be putting in $23,500 (401K) and $6,500 (Roth IRA)..... so your saving $10k/year would be only a third of what you could be saving, in your retirement account alone.

  31. Re: Awesome by O('_')O_Bush · · Score: 2

    I don't know if I would say "in good shape" when the future dollar worth will be 1/2-1/4 after 35 yes with a 2-4% inflation rate.

    Worst case inflation, 18.5k/year(present dollars) is about minimum wage, and maintaining lifestyle will eat up the 500-900k present dollar savings for many retirees in <10 years. I hope they don't intend to live past 75 (average life expectancy is already at least that).

    --
    while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
  32. Re:Meh by _UnderTow_ · · Score: 2

    My BMW 330xi can get 475-500 highway miles out of tank when driven conservatively. By 'conservatively' I mean that I try to keep my speed as even as possible, minimal burst acceleration, coasting down hills, etc. I can get that 475+ mile range while maintaining 80mph. I drive from Seattle to San Francisco once or twice per year to visit family. I try to arrange things so I don't have to fuel up in Oregon (I'd rather pump the gas myself), and generally can make the entire 840 mile trip with one stop in under 12 hours.

    With that said, I would trade my car for a Tesla with no hesitation. I would be willing to deal with the charging stations on long trips, or even just not visit my family. They are in-laws after all.