How to take a Tesla on a road trip

Discussion in 'The Pub' started by bing!, Jul 13, 2014.

  1. bing!

    bing! Active Member

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  2. CarbonLegs

    CarbonLegs Search for ultimate ride.

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    Is this on the other side of the grape vine ?
     
  3. bing!

    bing! Active Member

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    Yes. That weekend, I saw 3 Teslas on flatbed trailers and 1 going up the grapevine in limp mode, hazard lights on.
     
  4. skyungjae

    skyungjae Member

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    Are there no super charge stations between LA and the Bay Area?
     
  5. F.A.D.

    F.A.D. POWERED BY MUSUBIS

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    yes, there's a charging station located at the "Harris Ranch" parking lot in Coalinga.
     
  6. dstepper

    dstepper (R.I.P.) Over the hill

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    Just because they are on trailers does not mean they are broke down. That truck does not look like something a tow company would send out.
     
  7. bing!

    bing! Active Member

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    You are correct. It did say, Tesla Service on the side. But since I posted this picture, I've been told, Tesla uses them to deliver the vehicles from their Fremont factory besides transporting shorted Teslas, haha :)

    Oh, the post is tongue in cheek.
     
  8. BikeThePlanet

    BikeThePlanet Active Member

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    Elon Musk is awesome. Not enough innovators left. Just penny pinching bottom line bonus chasers. Tesla is the best American car to come out in ages.
     
  9. Revalimage

    Revalimage Active Member

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    YEP!!! A true visionary!

    Wish I could afford the roadster, can't wait for the lower price version.
     
  10. bing!

    bing! Active Member

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    Elon Musk is an excellent entrepreneur, manager, salesman and political lobbyist (Department of Energy - $465 million LOAN). But Tesla innovation? Meh. That like saying the guy that invented the Slap Chop was innovative. There is nothing on the Tesla that can't be done by a decent electrical engineer. He developed an electric platform on which he stuck a few thousand laptop batteries into.

    Give him credit for executing on a business plan, executed it, priced it right (for the high end market, with the help of government loans and buyer subsidies), and actually got a product to the market that became a hit. Technically, there is nothing in that car that you couldnt replicate inside your garage.

    All the big car companies went after more high zoot solutions that didnt, or hasnt worked. This is because they didnt believe that a 4700 pound electric car (Tesla model S) powered by off the shelf batteries was marketable. That's their mistake. The market for electric cars right now doesnt care. All they want is to be green, be exclusive, some zoom zoom and it doesnt have to be practical (work the math on CO2 and financial savings).

    That may soon change. Fuel cells are in the horizon. http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/09/fu...g-to-get-a-big-boost-in-california-next-year/

    The Honda FCX clarity is already in the market.

    Dont get me wrong. Tesla was a surprise even to himself. Space X is amazing. Paypal wouldnt have survived with this man's will. Musk is going to be remembered for a very long time.
     
  11. UR2KLOS

    UR2KLOS Senior Member

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    Really? Is Space X innovative enough for you? Boy, some people are hard to impress.
     
  12. melster

    melster Member

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    bing, have you ever seen that old documentary, Connections? You don't have to invent something that nobody has ever seen before to be "innovative". Most modern technologies you see today are the result of a person, or group of persons that saw the forest for the trees. Take the iPhone. You take away internet access, touch screen technology, and the slick OS, and what do you have? Just another phone. But you put them all together, and you get a device that revolutionized handheld phones, and started the smartphone genre.

    Yeah, your statement that "There is nothing on the Tesla that can't be done by a decent electrical engineer" is technically true, but guess what? No one did.
     
  13. ZJChaser

    ZJChaser New Member

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    If they are headed north then the odds are that they are headed up to Laguna Seca in Monterey. There is a track event there this coming weekend with an electric vehicle only group running. Last year there were quite a few teslas running around the track along with a bunch of weird home brew creations.
     
  14. bing!

    bing! Active Member

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    Which is true. That's not my point. I believe I gave the guy ample credit as a businessman (and believe me, I say that in a complimentary way). I am of the belief that the current Tesla cars would never have gone to market nor survive as a company without the money being poured in manufacturing and to the buyers by government. That is it's secret formula.

    At this point, it is questionable if it can even be a viable business on it's own even with it's present momentum.

    I am looking at this from an investment stand point as well. The companies international expansion is heavily reliant on foreign government subsidy for buyers. Tesla does not play on a level field, to it's benefit. Being highly dependent on government subsidies and loans, the winds of fortune can change on the drop of a ballot. That is too much risk for me.
     
  15. bing!

    bing! Active Member

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    If you bothered to read the post above yours, Space X is mentioned with the adjective "amazing". After reading the Paypal story, I did mention Musk's iron clad will. So I'm not impressed with Tesla, don't be mad bro.

    I've seen a few wild investment stories and am always a skeptic. Tesla reminds me of Countrywide Financial financially and Krispy Kreme culturally.
     
  16. MnMDan

    MnMDan Member

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    There's a charging station next to the Starbucks on the north side of the Grapevine and at Harris Ranch. Have run into a few who say except when it snows on the Grapevine (super cold or super-slow traffic), they can get out of LA, do a 10-15 minute charge while they get their morning Sbucks to top it off, then they're good all the way to the Bay Area. Otherwise, they just keep it hooked up for the full 30 minutes. Either way, they say its eerie how quiet 80 can be.

    And for some Tesla worship, see the Oatmeal. Not just the Car, but the man http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla (I built a Tesla coil as a kid, have some science background, so I respect him more than the people who got credit for most of the electrical innovations that were actually his.)
     
  17. destroyer

    destroyer I build jumps

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    Tesla was always a topic that came up in my econ/business classes in college. We would always debate about government regulations and subsidies, and the effect on Tesla. Low interest government loans, selling carbon tax credits, and reducing the overall out of pocket costs with federal/state tax credits makes it very possible Tesla wouldn't exist without assistance.
     
  18. socal_eric

    socal_eric New Member

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    From a manufacturing, design and engineering standpoint I think the new BMW i3 taken as a complete vehicle is quite a bit more technologically advanced and it also offers a fairly efficient range extender. Down side is that it's somewhat polarizing but it does have the BMW badge. Telsa has taken advantage of government programs but any smart business would do the same. They've also produced a good looking car with competitive performance, great service/ownership, and managed to build excitement among the well-to-do who can afford the car.

    When you look at what goes into producing the battery packs and those environmental impacts I'm not completely sold about electrics cars being so the environmentally friendly solution and that's not even discussing pollution from where the power comes from for a great part of the country, but I might consider one their cars if it works out for my bottom line. If I had solar panels or lived in an area with cheap electricity and could get the price close to an equivalent gasoline powered model I might be interested.

    For it to be a Tesla though, they've come a long way but there's still quite a few teething issues. People getting powertrain modules replaced multiple times may not be normal but it seems common enough that with no extended powertrain warranty over the basic bumper-to-bumper warranty it would definitely be a car I'd only want to lease and I never like leasing. I don't mind being an early adapter for some stuff but big ticket items like a luxury car isn't one of them.
     
  19. Revalimage

    Revalimage Active Member

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    My parents live just below San Jose, my brother just bought the Tesla S and I have several friends that drive them as well - unfortunately I will have to wait the cheap version in 2016. The grapevine charging station was part of that decision.

    I LOVE your reference to Nikola - I have been a HUGE FAN for many years, even made my kid do reports on him through the years in school - I wanted him to understand the history when his science projects came around. Such a sad story, so gifted, so tormented... When people ask those random questions like, 'if there is just one person you could talk with, dead or alive, who would it be?' They almost ALWAYS ask 'who' when I say Tesla...

    I've wanted a roadster even before Elon was involved, in fact I thought it was kind of crappy the way they ousted Eberhard, but it was a necessary move and I'm VERY impressed with Musk's business practices. History will define him.
     
  20. jcampbell

    jcampbell going Gods speed since 75

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    Level playing field? Does this include the union labor demands and dealer network?
     

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