“The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car” • Hacker News Board

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#281

Post by ygra » Fri, May 10, 2013, 3:23 PM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #275

ygra wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's rather inefficient moving two tons of stuff for (often enough) 80 kg of payload. I'd rather take well-functioning public transport than force everyone to own a car just to be able to go grocery shopping. It's wasteful, not only regarding the resources involved, but also for your own bank account. (Also everything the parent of that comment said. Plenty of places are horrible to use without a car even whe…

Nobody is forcing anybody to own a car. And stop worrying about the decisions other people make about how to spend their money.

The externalities (noise, pollution, horrendous city planning, ...) are carried by everyone, though. And while people may not be forced, there are certainly places where living without a car ranges from inconvenient over hard to impossible.

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#282

Post by minikites » Fri, May 10, 2013, 4:16 PM UTC

fein wrote: post #30

technoslut wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After test driving a Tesla, I agree with much of what you said and one is the engine noise. I prefer sports cars and especially the sound of a V8/12. To me it's better than listening to music. I do understand that those purchasing a luxury vehicle have different expectations. Those in sedans appreciate cabin silence more than others.

I personally believe that the importance lies in awareness more than anything else. I generally don't run the radio in my car (even though its a piddly 1.8t GTI) because listening to the engine is important. There are all sorts of audible clues to the state of your car that get completely drowned out with the radio blaring. I have a feeling that this is part of the source of some of the ridiculous "I've been driving…

I think that's pretty unfair. You shouldn't have to care passionately for every object you use on a daily basis.

How often have you checked the quality of your drinking water? By your standard, you have no clue what the hell is going on with a substance you use on a daily basis and put into your body.

How much do you know about the supply chain of the food you eat? Do you ever use commercial rail or air travel?

Globalized civilization makes life too complex for anyone to know what the hell is going on with each thing they use on a daily basis.

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#283

Post by fein » Fri, May 10, 2013, 5:29 PM UTC

minikites wrote: post #282

fein wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally believe that the importance lies in awareness more than anything else. I generally don't run the radio in my car (even though its a piddly 1.8t GTI) because listening to the engine is important. There are all sorts of audible clues to the state of your car that get completely drowned out with the radio blaring. I have a feeling that this is part of the source of some of the ridiculous "I've been driving…

I think that's pretty unfair. You shouldn't have to care passionately for every object you use on a daily basis. How often have you checked the quality of your drinking water? By your standard, you have no clue what the hell is going on with a substance you use on a daily basis and put into your body. How much do you know about the supply chain of the food you eat? Do you ever use commercial rail or air travel? Globa…

The difference here is that all of your examples do not leave me directly responsible for other peoples lives.

I'm talking about awareness of an object with which you can end someones life with a mistake/ poor upkeep, and be 100% directly responsible. It is, at this point, ones duty to do everything rational to prevent that possibility.

Just like your travel example: The pilot should (and does hopefully) know exactly what the state of the plane is. There is a reason that pre-flight checklist exists.

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#284

Post by greedo » Fri, May 10, 2013, 5:42 PM UTC

alexqgb wrote: post #193

joezydeco wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't sweat it. It actually has less to do about NC's citizens and a lot more to do with how the auto industry has dug it's claws into the legislatures of every state in the union. Your state isn't the only one in this situation. FYI this is a good podcast explaining how we got to this point: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/02/12/171814201/episode-...

The exact same fight is being waged in Texas by the established dealers there. Here's a little known but closely related fact about Congress: its membership has long contained a disproportionate number of car dealers, which leads to "wins" for America like this: "Last summer...Congress approved a financial reform bill that specifically exempted auto dealers’ financing from regulation." http://www.publicintegrity.org/…

The article you linked mentioned that six Representatives either owned or had owned a car dealership. I don't think this qualifies as disproportionate by any stretch. With 435 Representatives, that's about 1.4%. Compare that with Reps (and Senators) who were lawyers.

I personally would rather have a Congressman who had some familiarity with business rather than being gentry for life in Congress.

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#285

Post by speleding » Fri, May 10, 2013, 5:43 PM UTC

newbie12 wrote: post #47

maratd wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why all the mediocre product that's the tail end of pumping billions of dollars into R&D staffed by largely the same folks Tesla has been hiring? In an established firm, existing product lines pay the bills. No company is an island onto itself. Companies have partners, large clients, relationships, etc. Bottom line? To keep existing product lines healthy, you must pay respect to your loyalties. You start seeing the…

Plus no autoworkers' union, and no inefficient dealer network.

Add to that the ability to set up shop wherever is most convenient: http://elonmusktesla.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/tesla-motors-t...

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#286

Post by alexqgb » Fri, May 10, 2013, 7:11 PM UTC

greedo wrote: post #284

alexqgb wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The exact same fight is being waged in Texas by the established dealers there. Here's a little known but closely related fact about Congress: its membership has long contained a disproportionate number of car dealers, which leads to "wins" for America like this: "Last summer...Congress approved a financial reform bill that specifically exempted auto dealers’ financing from regulation." http://www.publicintegrity.org/…

The article you linked mentioned that six Representatives either owned or had owned a car dealership. I don't think this qualifies as disproportionate by any stretch. With 435 Representatives, that's about 1.4%. Compare that with Reps (and Senators) who were lawyers. I personally would rather have a Congressman who had some familiarity with business rather than being gentry for life in Congress.

"I don't think this qualifies as disproportionate by any stretch."

Here are the actual facts:

A) US Population per the 2010 Census (i.e. the survey that determines levels of representation) ~ 308,400,000. B) 1.4% of this population = 4,317,600 (i.e. the number of car dealers that would need to exist for their current level of representation to be proportionate). C) Actual number of car dealers in America In other words, their level of representation is not only disproportionate, but wildly so. Like, by a factor of 215.

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#287

Post by pbreit » Fri, May 10, 2013, 7:57 PM UTC

khuey wrote: post #233

pbreit wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's but one data point, albeit, a big one: Airline Quality Rating, the premier statistical study of major airline performance in the United States, ranked it #1 in 2012.

And yet Virgin America still can't turn a profit. Southwest was incredibly successful and disruptive to the airline industry (to the point where today's legacy carriers look much more like Southwest than like the flagship carriers of the 70s and 80s). Virgin America has yet to do anything that significant, and there's a good chance it never will.

Well, it turned a profit it's most recently reported quarter and has indicated expectations for a profitable 2013. It arguably is defining the customer experience for low/mid-cost airline travel.

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#288

Post by dopamean » Sat, May 11, 2013, 4:11 PM UTC

CyberDroiD wrote: post #104

I always thought cars close to or over 100K were considered Exotics, but then I recalled that most big SUVs are around that price point.

Most big SUVs are not around that price point. 100k is the price point for high end luxury cars. BMW 7, Mercedes S, Porsche 911, Jaguar XJ are all around that price.

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#289

Post by kunai » Sat, May 11, 2013, 10:09 PM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #273

kunai wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why can't the existing industry do this They are, but at a snail's pace. The Mercedes SLS Electric Drive came out a few months ago, I believe, and it's a work of engineering and art. But Ford isn't Mercedes, and they can't afford to switch up their assembly processes because then it would drive up the prices of the cars they sell, which defeats the point of Ford -- affordable, reliable transportation. Remove the af…

They are stable. They are just not practical.

In the post above:

> Imagine them as Debian testing installs that are very stable

Re: “The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car”

#290

Post by deelowe » Mon, May 13, 2013, 1:55 PM UTC

codeulike wrote: post #262

deelowe wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Investors don't work that way. They only care about making money(I know I don't care if tesla succeeds or not, but I'm certainly bearish on it). People are shorting it because it's an impractical car from an ROI perspective. Albeit a very sexy and cool one. Like others have said, you can get a BMW with more features and all the gas you want for less than a tesla(minus the wizbang PC interface) It's yet to be seen if…

Right, so investors have perfect judgement based on rational economic evaulations and if anything funny happens its because of fads and the public being irrational cough cough 2008 CDOs cough

In all cases? no. I thought we were talking about Tesla's and EVs here. The business case doesn't make sense for these when you consider the numbers. It's more expensive and it's less convenient. Tesla is succeeding right now, because a few early adopters who can afford to plop down 60k on a car simply due to it's wizbang features want it to do well. The concern is what will happen when Tesla trys to market this anywhere outside the valley and new york. I'm bearish on this working in places like OK, GA, or TX. Most of us drive a lot more than our counterparts in CA.

That said, I hear Tesla is planning a truck geared towards contract work. Now, that could be a game changer.