Actually, go take a look at the new Chevy Impala, it is quite nice.
As for resale value, yes, it is possible the Tesla S will hold more value in terms of percentage, but in terms of dollars? Maybe, maybe not. All it takes is the new ones in 3 years to get a price drop due to the gigabattery factory coming online to tank values of the older models.
As for being an ideal commuter car, maybe, if money is no object... If you want Luxury, the CTS is just as nice for a ton less money, if you can go a notch lower, the above Impala isn't a bad choice either.
Not a GM fan? A loaded Toyota Camry is very nice these days, or maybe a Ford Fusion (some great lease deals on those right now)
There are some fair points in there, about how it is easier to make a large power plant clean than millions of small ones in cars clean.
As for SUVs, you should come to Texas, you might be shocked driving around how many pickups and SUVs you'll find in parking lots here.
Look at the number of minivans sold and how many companies make them, then look at the number of SUVs sold and how many companies make them.
The market has spoken, customers prefer the SUV over the minivan.
You can debate replacing Chevy Sparks and VW Jetta TDIs with Chevy Volts and Nissan Leafs all you want... I suspect it would actually help more to get my 12 mpg truck off gas than to replace a 32 mpg car with electric.
That, and the truth is... the real cost is in running fiber to every home, setting up a monthly billing system, and convincing people to call and sign up...
Additional data once all of the above is in place isn't really that expensive...
Right, but the problem is, I don't really have any other choices...
Where I live, I have Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T.
That really isn't a choice, where one of those goes, the others will follow.
AT&T doesn't offer anything faster than ADSL at 6 down 1.5 up, which isn't even really a choice.
Comcast offers 50 down, 20 up, for the same price Verizon is selling me 150 down, 65 up ($100 a month).
Beyond that? Nothing, those are my choices.
So really what we have is a duopoly and it should be regulated as such. Or the service provider should be split from the company that put lines in the ground.
That happened in Texas with power, the company that builds and mantains the power lines is OnCore Electric Delivery, you can buy the actual electrons from hundreds of different companies who all pay a line charge to deliver them to you.
As for Internet, if the GB and TB were charged according to their cost, I actually wouldn't mind. The first MB delivered would probably be $25 a month, but after a TB of data, each additional TB of data should be a few dollars a month at most.
The idea that 50GB of data should cost $10 per month extra to deliver is absurd, that's the problem.
I agree that we aren't there yet for it to make financial sense for the majority, but right now it can make financial sense for a small percentage of people.
I would agree with that... You can almost always find an edge case somewhere that is the exception that proves the rule...
When there is an EV with 300 mile range $25K then it will become the people's car.
Yes, to a point... the recharge time and range anxiety will continue to be an issue, even if they probably shouldn't be logically (we are not always logical creatures)
That is why the Volt technology is so attractive, it gives some of the benefits of both worlds, but also has some of the drawbacks, as you noted.
It is also too expensive. The Nissan Leaf makes more sense for people wanting an EV than the Volt does, other than being very ugly in my opinion.:)
What I have a problem with is paying "punishment" overage charges.
It does not cost Comcast $10 to deliver another 50GB of data after the first 300GB has been delivered.
The real cost is in running the line to the house and setting up service in the first place. Beyond that there is a forever lower cost per bit.
If it were $10 per month per TB of data, I'd have no problem with that. $10 per month for 50GB is just absurd, Call of Duty Ghosts on the PS4 is almost that large.
As it stands, I pay $100 a month to Verizon to provide me with 150/65 service, if I'm really such a burden to them, they could charge me $10 more a month per TB and I could be ok with that, it is a reasonable charge for data.
At $10 per 50GB, they might as well just cancel my service and say "we're not interested", since that is what would happen.
You are trying to make the Volt make sense to justify your purchase. Your numbers have holes that you could drive a Civic through.
First, 20K miles is way beyond the average number of miles, but fair enough, if that is your use case, we'll take that.
Second, you can't compare the Volt to the "average US fuel economy" since the Volt is a compact 4 person car. You have to compare it to a similar sized car, which is more like 32 MPG.
Third, you didn't include the purchase price or expected trade value of your vehicle in a few years.
Finally, you make a big deal about oil changes, tune ups, bets, etc... That is a bunch of blah about nothing. Modern cars need nothing but oil changes twice a year for the first 5 years, after that, the costs are minor. Tune ups? Those went the way of the dodo bird, modern cars are auto tuning, you don't "tune them up", they self tune.
Lets be more honest about this...
A Chevy Spark fully loaded sells for $17,200 sticker.
A Chevy Volt fully loaded sells for $40,000 full loaded.
Even taking off the $7,500 tax credit, the Volt is more than $15,000 more expensive.
That buys enough gas at the 32 MPG rating of the Spark to drive for 150K+ miles.
It needs $60 worth of oil changes a year, big deal. It has no range issues, costs a whole lot less to buy, and doesn't have any of the value risk of the Volt.
The Volt has already had a $5K price drop, it likely will get another in a year or two, pushing down prices of used Volts even further.
In no world does the Volt make any economic sense, you could have paid far less to commute driving a gas car than you paid overall for the Volt, the math doesn't lie.
---------
If you doubt this, look at the sales numbers of the Volt vs. the sales numbers of any other well known small car. It is a rounding error, it is a halo product, just meant to look nice, not meant to sell in volume.
If it were really such a great deal, it would be selling. It isn't. The math sucks on it.
You're right, so long as you don't actually use your connection, caps aren't a problem.
Of course, if you don't do any of that, then a basic ADSL connection would be just fine and 10 years ago is calling.
-------------
We cut DirecTV off 4 months ago, we are a 100% streaming home now.
We have 5, the kids often watch something on the iPad, mom and dad are on the TV, etc. between Netflix, Amazon Prime videos, Vudu, we use a lot of bandwidth, and that will only go up once 4k streaming comes out.
Then the PS3 is downloading patches and updates in the background, as is the multiple Windows computers, and every month or so the iPads update as well.
Heck, our new Sony 3D TV has had three software updates itself in 6 months.
Then there is backups, I use two backup programs, Crashplan and Backblaze, to backup our family videos, pictures, and documents, it is about 6TB worth of data (2x of course)
Then there is steam, I have many, many games on Steam, and they have lots and lots of patches that auto update.
Then there is online play, SWTOR probably doesn't use tons and tons of bandwidth, but running for a few hours probably uses a decent amount, and they have patches to download every two weeks or so.
We easily use multiple terabytes of data in a month, and not a single byte of it is pirated. We are also not that unusual, many families are cutting the cord, our friends have dropped cable or sat TV and went to all streaming. They have XBoxes and PS3s, and computers that update, etc...
300gb is either a lot, or not nearly enough, depending on your situation.
Yea, that is nice, but you have a few problems with your example.
First, by the time this cap is in place, we will be at 4k streaming.
Second, many homes have more than one person. We have 5, the kids often watch something on the iPad, mom and dad are on the TV, etc.
Then the PS3 is downloading patches and updates in the background, as is the multiple Windows computers, and every month or so the iPads update as well.
Heck, our new Sony 3D TV has had three software updates itself in 6 months.
Then there is backups, I use two backup programs, Crashplan and Backblaze, to backup our family videos, pictures, and documents, it is about 6TB worth of data (2x of course)
Then there is steam, I have many, many games on Steam, and they have lots and lots of patches that auto update.
Then there is online play, SWTOR probably doesn't use tons and tons of bandwidth, but running for a few hours probably uses a decent amount, and they have patches to download every two weeks or so.
We easily use multiple terabytes of data in a month, and not a single byte of it is pirated.
I'm curious as to why you think so. Honestly, cause it makes no sense to me.
In every way that I can imagine, the CTS is every bit as nice a car as the Tesla S is. If you don't think so, fair enough, your opinion is not more or less "right" than mine, so please share your view.
What is a shame is that Congress doesn't make decisions based on what is in the best interest of the general public.
If it comes down to it, a single large company making another billion in profit or millions of people getting better and lower cost internet access, I vote for the millions of people.
It seems like a vast majority of people do not understand how much tax money these giant ISP's have gotten for upgrading their networks with little to pretty much nothing to show for it...
Of course they should be outraged, but they aren't, because they are too busy being outraged by silly comments made on a private phone call to his mistress by an 80 year old man who is well past his prime.
The reason we have the current situation is because the average person is more concerned about stupid stuff than real stuff.
You are of course correct, you probably would not cross shop a Yukon with an A6 or a Tesla, we're comparing price points, not abilities.:)
And a Passat TDI is hard to beat if your use case is commuting, amazing fuel economy, reasonable price to buy, and probably great build quality.
---------
The primary problem that EVs have is that I'm the perfect customer, and yet I'm NOT a customer (right now).
1. I can afford it. 2. I own two vehicles. 3. I have a garage to park it in.
So why don't I have one?
It costs too much for what you get, it is a poor value proposition.
Lets pretend I wanted a 4 door car for a minute (which I don't, but lets say I did).
For 1/3 less cost of a Tesla S, I can buy a nicely equipped Cadillac CTS.
Tesla S, nicely equipped, $97,270 Cadillac CTS, nicely equipped, $63,103
Those are both very nice cars, no doubt about it. But for a difference of $34,167, I can buy gas for the next 15 years for that CTS.
Now, it is true that some people can use the $7,500 tax credit to reduce the price difference to $26,667, but not everyone likes being handed back their own money and being told what to spend it on by the government, I know I don't.
If it was a credit at the point of sale, it would be more impressive, but it isn't, you might or might not even need it, etc...
An EV in -40c? Yea, just because you can do something doesn't make it smart.:)
If you read what I wrote, you'll see that I specific referred to apartments. When you rent an apartment, you often don't get your "own" parking space, and you don't have access to any outlets either.
Like I said, it is a point that no one seems to want to talk about. To get quick recharge times, you need a charging station installed in your garage, at the least you need an outlet to plug into. This is a challenge for many people who might otherwise be interested in an EV.
I understand where you're coming from, and yes, most of the time, the power is rather pointless... (but the same can be said for most cars and trucks, which don't use their power very often)
That being said, there are times when it is nice to have in such a large truck (that is over 19ft long).
When merging on the freeway, it is often hard to see behind and to the left very well, visibility is just average due to the size of the truck. One of the worst things you can do is slow down while merging and hesitate trying to get into the flow of traffic.
It doesn't just have power at 0 or at 30, it has power at 60, stomp on the gas at 60 and it still pushes you back in your seat and you can move into that open spot ahead of you with confidence. You can also see that open spot clearly, much more clearly than the open spot slightly behind you.
---------
Going back to your point that such power is not useful most of the time (and you'd be correct), then get the SLT model which costs about $5K less and comes with a 355hp 5.3L V8 instead of the 420hp 6.2L V8 and save a few MPG to boot.
But in fairness, anyone who can afford a $65K truck doesn't really care about 1 or 2 MPG. No, I don't want to waste gas, but I'm not stupid, a 3 ton box on wheels is simply not going to get great MPGs, that is the price to be paid to be able to carry 7 people in comfort, haul their stuff, and tow a trailer (which I do from time to time).
--------------
One final point, that power IS nice in specific situations that involve high altitude and/or towing. This truck will tow 8,000lbs, plus haul your family, plus stuff in the back, and it will do it in Colorado (a mile above sea level), and do it with power to spare.
Yes, that is a specific use case, but it is one example of where that power is not at all wasted. I do wish they offered a nice turbo diesel however.
Electric everything only matters when the electricity doesn't come from coal.
That is another topic, but one that shouldn't be ignored when talking about EVs. Getting our power from coal vs. getting our power from gasoline, isn't an improvement.
The Volt is a small 4 person car that doesn't carry anything...
I have 3 kids, we often are bringing other people's kids with us. I drive a big full size SUV for just this reason, I can load it up with me, my wife, my 3 kids, 2 of their friends, AND all of their stuff, and it isn't an issue...
The Volt is not a practical road trip car for families... It is a very expensive little compact hatchback that is nice for a commute, but it really has nothing to do with my needs.
:) I can't figure out for the life of my why so many people want to live in NYC, that place is crazy.
But more power to them, if they want to, who am I to argue?
Here in Texas? There is no mass transit (worth talking about anyway), no buses, no trains, nothing. Where I live, you walk or you drive.
That is why if you lose your drivers licence (DUI or other issues), you often can get a pass from the judge to drive to and from work/school, since there is no other way to get anywhere and people are going to drive anyway.
The funny thing about all this? 95% of the time, I need maybe 10 to 30 miles a day in total range, an EV totally works for that. I also own two trucks, so clearly one of them could be an EV with the other being gas.
Except, they don't make an EV truck and if they did, the price would be crazy high. Fix the price, offer an EV SUV worth owning, and I'm a customer.
There is support, but right now it is tepid support, I believe price is what is holding it back, with fears of range being a close second.
Another issue not often talked about is that plug in EVs really require a garage. People who live in Apartments might be perfect for them, but without a dedicated place to park and plug in, they can't use one.
An EV today is nice for someone for a second car, but then it is still expensive, a gas vehicle costing less overall and simply not having any issues of range.
Since we get the majority of our power from coal, oil, and natural gas, none of this really matters until we address that.
Slashdot Mirror
You deserve a mod point....
Actually, go take a look at the new Chevy Impala, it is quite nice.
As for resale value, yes, it is possible the Tesla S will hold more value in terms of percentage, but in terms of dollars? Maybe, maybe not. All it takes is the new ones in 3 years to get a price drop due to the gigabattery factory coming online to tank values of the older models.
As for being an ideal commuter car, maybe, if money is no object... If you want Luxury, the CTS is just as nice for a ton less money, if you can go a notch lower, the above Impala isn't a bad choice either.
Not a GM fan? A loaded Toyota Camry is very nice these days, or maybe a Ford Fusion (some great lease deals on those right now)
There are some fair points in there, about how it is easier to make a large power plant clean than millions of small ones in cars clean.
As for SUVs, you should come to Texas, you might be shocked driving around how many pickups and SUVs you'll find in parking lots here.
Look at the number of minivans sold and how many companies make them, then look at the number of SUVs sold and how many companies make them.
The market has spoken, customers prefer the SUV over the minivan.
You can debate replacing Chevy Sparks and VW Jetta TDIs with Chevy Volts and Nissan Leafs all you want... I suspect it would actually help more to get my 12 mpg truck off gas than to replace a 32 mpg car with electric.
That, and the truth is... the real cost is in running fiber to every home, setting up a monthly billing system, and convincing people to call and sign up...
Additional data once all of the above is in place isn't really that expensive...
Right, but the problem is, I don't really have any other choices...
Where I live, I have Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T.
That really isn't a choice, where one of those goes, the others will follow.
AT&T doesn't offer anything faster than ADSL at 6 down 1.5 up, which isn't even really a choice.
Comcast offers 50 down, 20 up, for the same price Verizon is selling me 150 down, 65 up ($100 a month).
Beyond that? Nothing, those are my choices.
So really what we have is a duopoly and it should be regulated as such. Or the service provider should be split from the company that put lines in the ground.
That happened in Texas with power, the company that builds and mantains the power lines is OnCore Electric Delivery, you can buy the actual electrons from hundreds of different companies who all pay a line charge to deliver them to you.
As for Internet, if the GB and TB were charged according to their cost, I actually wouldn't mind. The first MB delivered would probably be $25 a month, but after a TB of data, each additional TB of data should be a few dollars a month at most.
The idea that 50GB of data should cost $10 per month extra to deliver is absurd, that's the problem.
I agree that we aren't there yet for it to make financial sense for the majority, but right now it can make financial sense for a small percentage of people.
I would agree with that... You can almost always find an edge case somewhere that is the exception that proves the rule...
When there is an EV with 300 mile range $25K then it will become the people's car.
Yes, to a point... the recharge time and range anxiety will continue to be an issue, even if they probably shouldn't be logically (we are not always logical creatures)
That is why the Volt technology is so attractive, it gives some of the benefits of both worlds, but also has some of the drawbacks, as you noted.
It is also too expensive. The Nissan Leaf makes more sense for people wanting an EV than the Volt does, other than being very ugly in my opinion. :)
I don't have a problem paying more.
What I have a problem with is paying "punishment" overage charges.
It does not cost Comcast $10 to deliver another 50GB of data after the first 300GB has been delivered.
The real cost is in running the line to the house and setting up service in the first place. Beyond that there is a forever lower cost per bit.
If it were $10 per month per TB of data, I'd have no problem with that. $10 per month for 50GB is just absurd, Call of Duty Ghosts on the PS4 is almost that large.
As it stands, I pay $100 a month to Verizon to provide me with 150/65 service, if I'm really such a burden to them, they could charge me $10 more a month per TB and I could be ok with that, it is a reasonable charge for data.
At $10 per 50GB, they might as well just cancel my service and say "we're not interested", since that is what would happen.
You are trying to make the Volt make sense to justify your purchase. Your numbers have holes that you could drive a Civic through.
First, 20K miles is way beyond the average number of miles, but fair enough, if that is your use case, we'll take that.
Second, you can't compare the Volt to the "average US fuel economy" since the Volt is a compact 4 person car. You have to compare it to a similar sized car, which is more like 32 MPG.
Third, you didn't include the purchase price or expected trade value of your vehicle in a few years.
Finally, you make a big deal about oil changes, tune ups, bets, etc... That is a bunch of blah about nothing. Modern cars need nothing but oil changes twice a year for the first 5 years, after that, the costs are minor. Tune ups? Those went the way of the dodo bird, modern cars are auto tuning, you don't "tune them up", they self tune.
Lets be more honest about this...
A Chevy Spark fully loaded sells for $17,200 sticker.
A Chevy Volt fully loaded sells for $40,000 full loaded.
Even taking off the $7,500 tax credit, the Volt is more than $15,000 more expensive.
That buys enough gas at the 32 MPG rating of the Spark to drive for 150K+ miles.
It needs $60 worth of oil changes a year, big deal. It has no range issues, costs a whole lot less to buy, and doesn't have any of the value risk of the Volt.
The Volt has already had a $5K price drop, it likely will get another in a year or two, pushing down prices of used Volts even further.
In no world does the Volt make any economic sense, you could have paid far less to commute driving a gas car than you paid overall for the Volt, the math doesn't lie.
---------
If you doubt this, look at the sales numbers of the Volt vs. the sales numbers of any other well known small car. It is a rounding error, it is a halo product, just meant to look nice, not meant to sell in volume.
If it were really such a great deal, it would be selling. It isn't. The math sucks on it.
This... Make the lines to the house a public utility and allow Comcast and anyone else to sell content on those lines.
Want TV? Netflix, Comcast, ATT, Dish Network, HBO, can all offer services over the internet, which is provided to your home by a regulated utility.
You're right, so long as you don't actually use your connection, caps aren't a problem.
Of course, if you don't do any of that, then a basic ADSL connection would be just fine and 10 years ago is calling.
-------------
We cut DirecTV off 4 months ago, we are a 100% streaming home now.
We have 5, the kids often watch something on the iPad, mom and dad are on the TV, etc. between Netflix, Amazon Prime videos, Vudu, we use a lot of bandwidth, and that will only go up once 4k streaming comes out.
Then the PS3 is downloading patches and updates in the background, as is the multiple Windows computers, and every month or so the iPads update as well.
Heck, our new Sony 3D TV has had three software updates itself in 6 months.
Then there is backups, I use two backup programs, Crashplan and Backblaze, to backup our family videos, pictures, and documents, it is about 6TB worth of data (2x of course)
Then there is steam, I have many, many games on Steam, and they have lots and lots of patches that auto update.
Then there is online play, SWTOR probably doesn't use tons and tons of bandwidth, but running for a few hours probably uses a decent amount, and they have patches to download every two weeks or so.
We easily use multiple terabytes of data in a month, and not a single byte of it is pirated. We are also not that unusual, many families are cutting the cord, our friends have dropped cable or sat TV and went to all streaming. They have XBoxes and PS3s, and computers that update, etc...
300gb is either a lot, or not nearly enough, depending on your situation.
Yea, that is nice, but you have a few problems with your example.
First, by the time this cap is in place, we will be at 4k streaming.
Second, many homes have more than one person. We have 5, the kids often watch something on the iPad, mom and dad are on the TV, etc.
Then the PS3 is downloading patches and updates in the background, as is the multiple Windows computers, and every month or so the iPads update as well.
Heck, our new Sony 3D TV has had three software updates itself in 6 months.
Then there is backups, I use two backup programs, Crashplan and Backblaze, to backup our family videos, pictures, and documents, it is about 6TB worth of data (2x of course)
Then there is steam, I have many, many games on Steam, and they have lots and lots of patches that auto update.
Then there is online play, SWTOR probably doesn't use tons and tons of bandwidth, but running for a few hours probably uses a decent amount, and they have patches to download every two weeks or so.
We easily use multiple terabytes of data in a month, and not a single byte of it is pirated.
Thanks to Netflix and Amazon Prime Videos, 300GB wouldn't last a week in our house.
We cut the cord with DirecTV 4 months ago and haven't looked back.
Now we stream everything, it uses a lot of bandwidth.
That is because you don't have true unlimited internet, so you don't know what you're missing.
Here I have Verizon FIOS, 150 down, 65 up, true unlimited bandwidth (and I use a ton of it, many terabytes every month).
Once you've had it, metered is just stupid.
I thought about your comment further...
I'm curious as to why you think so. Honestly, cause it makes no sense to me.
In every way that I can imagine, the CTS is every bit as nice a car as the Tesla S is. If you don't think so, fair enough, your opinion is not more or less "right" than mine, so please share your view.
You have rose colored glasses if you believe that is the case.
What is a shame is that Congress doesn't make decisions based on what is in the best interest of the general public.
If it comes down to it, a single large company making another billion in profit or millions of people getting better and lower cost internet access, I vote for the millions of people.
Shame Congress doesn't vote that way.
It seems like a vast majority of people do not understand how much tax money these giant ISP's have gotten for upgrading their networks with little to pretty much nothing to show for it...
Of course they should be outraged, but they aren't, because they are too busy being outraged by silly comments made on a private phone call to his mistress by an 80 year old man who is well past his prime.
The reason we have the current situation is because the average person is more concerned about stupid stuff than real stuff.
You are of course correct, you probably would not cross shop a Yukon with an A6 or a Tesla, we're comparing price points, not abilities. :)
And a Passat TDI is hard to beat if your use case is commuting, amazing fuel economy, reasonable price to buy, and probably great build quality.
---------
The primary problem that EVs have is that I'm the perfect customer, and yet I'm NOT a customer (right now).
1. I can afford it.
2. I own two vehicles.
3. I have a garage to park it in.
So why don't I have one?
It costs too much for what you get, it is a poor value proposition.
Lets pretend I wanted a 4 door car for a minute (which I don't, but lets say I did).
For 1/3 less cost of a Tesla S, I can buy a nicely equipped Cadillac CTS.
Tesla S, nicely equipped, $97,270
Cadillac CTS, nicely equipped, $63,103
Those are both very nice cars, no doubt about it. But for a difference of $34,167, I can buy gas for the next 15 years for that CTS.
Now, it is true that some people can use the $7,500 tax credit to reduce the price difference to $26,667, but not everyone likes being handed back their own money and being told what to spend it on by the government, I know I don't.
If it was a credit at the point of sale, it would be more impressive, but it isn't, you might or might not even need it, etc...
An EV in -40c? Yea, just because you can do something doesn't make it smart. :)
If you read what I wrote, you'll see that I specific referred to apartments. When you rent an apartment, you often don't get your "own" parking space, and you don't have access to any outlets either.
Like I said, it is a point that no one seems to want to talk about. To get quick recharge times, you need a charging station installed in your garage, at the least you need an outlet to plug into. This is a challenge for many people who might otherwise be interested in an EV.
I understand where you're coming from, and yes, most of the time, the power is rather pointless... (but the same can be said for most cars and trucks, which don't use their power very often)
That being said, there are times when it is nice to have in such a large truck (that is over 19ft long).
When merging on the freeway, it is often hard to see behind and to the left very well, visibility is just average due to the size of the truck. One of the worst things you can do is slow down while merging and hesitate trying to get into the flow of traffic.
It doesn't just have power at 0 or at 30, it has power at 60, stomp on the gas at 60 and it still pushes you back in your seat and you can move into that open spot ahead of you with confidence. You can also see that open spot clearly, much more clearly than the open spot slightly behind you.
---------
Going back to your point that such power is not useful most of the time (and you'd be correct), then get the SLT model which costs about $5K less and comes with a 355hp 5.3L V8 instead of the 420hp 6.2L V8 and save a few MPG to boot.
But in fairness, anyone who can afford a $65K truck doesn't really care about 1 or 2 MPG. No, I don't want to waste gas, but I'm not stupid, a 3 ton box on wheels is simply not going to get great MPGs, that is the price to be paid to be able to carry 7 people in comfort, haul their stuff, and tow a trailer (which I do from time to time).
--------------
One final point, that power IS nice in specific situations that involve high altitude and/or towing. This truck will tow 8,000lbs, plus haul your family, plus stuff in the back, and it will do it in Colorado (a mile above sea level), and do it with power to spare.
Yes, that is a specific use case, but it is one example of where that power is not at all wasted. I do wish they offered a nice turbo diesel however.
Electric everything only matters when the electricity doesn't come from coal.
That is another topic, but one that shouldn't be ignored when talking about EVs. Getting our power from coal vs. getting our power from gasoline, isn't an improvement.
A 2014 Cadillac CTS Sedan, nicely equipped, is about half the price of the Tesla S, also nicely equipped.
There are many, many such examples, you need only look for them.
The Volt is a small 4 person car that doesn't carry anything...
I have 3 kids, we often are bringing other people's kids with us. I drive a big full size SUV for just this reason, I can load it up with me, my wife, my 3 kids, 2 of their friends, AND all of their stuff, and it isn't an issue...
The Volt is not a practical road trip car for families... It is a very expensive little compact hatchback that is nice for a commute, but it really has nothing to do with my needs.
:) I can't figure out for the life of my why so many people want to live in NYC, that place is crazy.
But more power to them, if they want to, who am I to argue?
Here in Texas? There is no mass transit (worth talking about anyway), no buses, no trains, nothing. Where I live, you walk or you drive.
That is why if you lose your drivers licence (DUI or other issues), you often can get a pass from the judge to drive to and from work/school, since there is no other way to get anywhere and people are going to drive anyway.
The funny thing about all this? 95% of the time, I need maybe 10 to 30 miles a day in total range, an EV totally works for that. I also own two trucks, so clearly one of them could be an EV with the other being gas.
Except, they don't make an EV truck and if they did, the price would be crazy high. Fix the price, offer an EV SUV worth owning, and I'm a customer.
There is support, but right now it is tepid support, I believe price is what is holding it back, with fears of range being a close second.
Another issue not often talked about is that plug in EVs really require a garage. People who live in Apartments might be perfect for them, but without a dedicated place to park and plug in, they can't use one.
An EV today is nice for someone for a second car, but then it is still expensive, a gas vehicle costing less overall and simply not having any issues of range.
Since we get the majority of our power from coal, oil, and natural gas, none of this really matters until we address that.