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Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage

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Re: Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage

#131

Post by ryandrake »

partiallypro wrote: post #117
whatever_dude wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm confused by the assertion. Do you mean that a lot of people that reserved are not serious? They had to pay $1,000 for the reservation, so that looks unlikely to me. Or do you mean the company has inflated the number of actual reservations?

The $1000 is 100% refundable. A person that can afford a Tesla can afford to put down $1000 with no risk. Heck, even a normal middle class person could probably foot $1000 at no risk. Reservations are not sales. They are just something to tout to shareholders. If they wanted real numbers they'd make it non-refundable and up the down payment. The stock trades at an absolutely insane valuation (it's actually valued not…

> Heck, even a normal middle class person could probably foot $1000 at no risk.

Huh? What "middle class" are you talking about? In the USA, 2 in 3 people can't afford a $500 car repair or $1000 emergency room visit [1]. My guess is that people putting $1000 down on a car are either pretty rich or pretty serious about buying it.

1: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/63-of-americans-cant...

Re: Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage

#133

Post by vvanders »

jacquesm wrote: post #42
vvanders wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having the ability to tap into faster acceleration doesn't hurt range, in fact with dual motors it you can actually have a faster car that is more efficient. One of the motors is turned off when not needed so you can run essentially half-power and yet still have the second one available in a split second.

Fast acceleration (not the ability, but the actual acceleration) does use more power, it's just not as bad a difference as it would be with an ICE.

There's actually a subtle difference, with an ICE you pay for the larger displacement with more fuel usage at idle and inefficient RPM ranges(things like VVT help mitigate it but physics is physics).

For EVs you're largely just fighting against Ohm's law(constant voltage requires that you draw more amps which means resistance generates heat, etc) and to a lesser degree weight. Which has much less impact like you note.

My basic understanding of ICEs is that they are most efficient when you can run them at a specific RPM(and tune for that RPM) which is why you see Diesel-Electric Locomotives where the ICE largely acts as a generator.

Re: Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage

#135

Post by marssaxman »

anexprogrammer wrote: post #32
jacquesm wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is also absolutely irrelevant for normal driving. 0 to 100 km / h in 10 seconds or even more is perfectly acceptable, and lower accelerations are actually better for the range.

Well it's handy for keeping pace with middle weight bikes when they're trying to show off I guess :)

I pulled onto I-5 behind a Model S once while riding my 750cc Honda and was really impressed by the fact that I simply could not keep pace - it pulled smoothly ahead like it wasn't even trying. I have never seen any other car do that; it's part of the fun of riding, since cars on the freeway typically feel like they're all half asleep.

Re: Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage

#136

Post by omegant »

grecy wrote: post #3

Unveil part 2 is "super next-level". And the "steering controls and system feels like a spaceship" And Musk tweeted a little while ago about getting a special team of Software Engineers reporting directly to him for self-driving that was "top priority" within the company. And there are no gauges directly in front of the driver at all, which has been confirmed to be like that for production. At this point, can it be a…

When I saw no gauges the first thing that I thought was they are going to install a HUD (Head up display a la fighter jet).

Re: Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage

#138

Post by Shank »

exhilaration wrote: post #77
friendzis wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A thing to note on looks: there will be a number plate to complete the looks. And remember there are at least US and European versions of that to consider in the design. This is entirely subject to personal taste, but Alfa Romeos' (e.g. 147) fronts look nice in PR, but look hideous with a number plate attached literally "wherever there is some space for it". New Audis suffer from similar problem: even though the numb…

A lot of American states don't require front license plates and their motor vehicle agencies will only provide you with a single rear plate.

Less than half (19 states) only require the back license plate.

https://www.cars.com/articles/2013/10/how-many-states-requir...

Re: Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage

#139

Post by jacquesm »

vvanders wrote: post #133
jacquesm wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fast acceleration (not the ability, but the actual acceleration) does use more power, it's just not as bad a difference as it would be with an ICE.

There's actually a subtle difference, with an ICE you pay for the larger displacement with more fuel usage at idle and inefficient RPM ranges(things like VVT help mitigate it but physics is physics). For EVs you're largely just fighting against Ohm's law(constant voltage requires that you draw more amps which means resistance generates heat, etc) and to a lesser degree weight. Which has much less impact like you note…

> My basic understanding of ICEs is that they are most efficient when you can run them at a specific RPM(and tune for that RPM) which is why you see Diesel-Electric Locomotives where the ICE largely acts as a generator.

That's spot on. This is why you can't use the cam from a generator on a car and vice versa (even if it is otherwise the exact same engine, such as with the Willy's engine). The cam on a generator will be very pointy to open and close the valves across a very sharply defined moment in the engine cycle, whereas on the car version the cam is much more smooth giving a wider operating range (but at lower efficiency).

The reason why Diesel Electric locomotives use the electric motor to drive the wheels rather than using the diesel directly is twofold, one the efficiency that you already noted, the second reason is that the electric motor does not need a clutch and has a torque curve much better suited to getting a large weight accelerated (much like steam power is better than ICE's at this, it's the exact same reason).

Re: Tesla Intrigue Deepens with Musk's Twitter Barrage

#140

Post by Laaw »

VLM wrote: post #41
Laaw wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? What specifically is hard about narrow streets? That actually sounds like the kind of thing a self driving car could excel at. The bigger problem, is imagine, would be weather. I dunno how completely they've solved that problem yet.

When a human messes up its a cheap accident, just bad human judgment call number one billion. When a self driving car messes up it'll be a very expensive lawsuit for pain and suffering and psychological trauma of not being in control while the accident unfolds and surely its all the mfgrs fault for having a software bug. Its not so much the physical characteristics of being narrow as being a location where many accid…

I doubt that'll be anything like what the outcome of an accident involving a self driving car will be like.
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