^^^ durrr, did you miss my post about exactly that halfway up the page?

Quote :

"I've actually thought about doing a small production run of hardware touch controls for the Tesla Model S, similar to the fling joystick for the iPad http://tenonedesign.com/fling.php It would be pretty cheap to make a set and have "real hardware" knobs, switches and such that just suction cup to the touch panel screen."

7/9/2013 2:50:45 AM

TWW predictions keep coming true. You guys should be on Wall Street making money with this kind of foresight.

Quote :

"It's vapor ware. They have a one-off, non-functioning prototype. Unlike the current Tesla, which is just a tweaked Lotus chassis, the Model S is their own platform.... that doesn't exist. Tesla needs several hundred million dollars of investment (which they are seeking from bailout money) to even have a chance at developing this. In 30 months. From scratch. With no prior experience. It took GM 7 years to get the Volt platform to a point of a functioning prototype. Just a point of comparison."

Quote :

"If Tesla survives and is able to pay back their loans I will eat a lithium battery."

Quote :

"I maintain that pure electrics are absolutely stupid, save a very small market for very inexpensive electric city cars."

Quote :

"Automotive electric motors are sub par right now because no one has really tried to develop light 100hp motors. Batteries... The same."

Quote :

"also, Teslas are lame. I guess I'm glad someone is trying, and it's a step in the right direction, but I respect it really only as a test mule or prototype, and can't imagine why in the hell anyone would buy one."

Quote :

"Anyway, they'll be out of business in a couple years and none of these cars will be drivable by 2020."

7/9/2013 9:06:27 AM

Quote :

"none of these cars will be drivable by 2020"

I'll double down on that one. Maybe a few still running in the hands of collectors or museums.

7/9/2013 10:37:23 AM

I'm still waiting for the video of Smc eating a lithium battery

7/9/2013 11:59:39 AM

To be honest now that they offer the battery replacement stations I'm convinced they will last longer than expected.

7/9/2013 12:44:19 PM

they have plans to install them? I thought that was just a tech demonstration.

7/9/2013 12:50:55 PM

^yeah they do. $60 to swap out an empty battery for a fully charged battery.

7/9/2013 1:40:35 PM

Plus the calculated cost difference between batteries based on their age (unless you swap your battery back in later)

7/9/2013 6:53:55 PM

that's pricey

worth it though i guess if you can afford a tesla

7/9/2013 8:28:30 PM

The goal was for it to be comparable to a tank of gas. Ideally it wouldn't be used that often anyway (definitely not weekly or so like with a gas powered car).

7/9/2013 9:21:01 PM

"fill up" price is comparable to a tank, but price/mile is not

7/10/2013 9:01:23 AM

you can have it slow and free or fast and expensive. It would be nice to have fast and free, but with internal combustion engine you don't even get an option

7/10/2013 10:05:42 AM

I'm tempted to have a 'smc credibility thread' and have one post:

not credible [/thread]

I am so close to just banning him as a user as all he does is still the pot and troll. Tired of it, really.

7/17/2013 3:00:01 PM

Awww, I like you too.

Only Tesla could design a door handle this bad. Takes longer to open the door, gets hot in the sunshine, breaks easily and locks you out, crushes your fingers when it retracts. If you're going to automate the handle, just use a keyless solenoid like the ricers do, eliminate the handle entirely, and actually get some aerodynamic benefit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ji92dFHLhA

Even the Volt didn't screw up the door handles. They used those nice big spatula handles for the all the old folks with arthritis/fat hands that buy GM's, drag coefficient be damned.

[Edited on July 24, 2013 at 1:04 PM. Reason : ]

7/24/2013 12:52:36 PM

why don't they just use a standard door handle and have a motorized cover over the cavity to eliminate drag?

[Edited on July 24, 2013 at 2:36 PM. Reason : punk shoe ay shun]

7/24/2013 2:35:59 PM

^^ why dont you post some reports of those things happening, instead of just bitching about it?

7/24/2013 2:41:59 PM

Quote :

"Only Tesla could design a door handle this bad. Takes longer to open the door, gets hot in the sunshine, breaks easily and locks you out, crushes your fingers when it retracts. If you're going to automate the handle, just use a keyless solenoid like the ricers do, eliminate the handle entirely, and actually get some aerodynamic benefit."

As you approach the car with a keyfob, handles come out automatically, so it does not take any longer to open the door than it would be with a regular car. The handles retract back in if left unattended while parked or when the car is put in motion.

I'm not sure that these handles get any hotter in the sunshine than regular handles, I would argue that they actually stay cooler because they stay inside the car body and OUT of sunshine while the car is parked.

Where did you got the notion that they break easy, is there a recall or a factory bulletin on this fragile handle issue? Or did you just pull that assumption out of your ass?

If you used keyless solenoid "like ricers to" then either all four doors would crack open at the same time, or if you had a touch-sensitive area to activate solenoid in each individual door, opening the door WOULD take longer because you'd have to press the touch area and then grab the door seam once it cracks open. Having a handle is a way to avoids fingerprints and scratches on the car door itself as compared to grabbing it by the door jam

Once again, SMC proves that he knows nothing about design or ergonomics, and simply is here to troll.

Quote :

"why don't they just use a standard door handle and have a motorized cover over the cavity to eliminate drag?"

What would be an advantage of that compared to the retractable handle?

7/24/2013 5:12:01 PM

They need to put some of these space age sliding doors on the Tesla.



And trigger them to open with brain implants that detect high levels of self-satisfaction.

Or just use those tiny little miata door handles. The best part about those is that fat people can't get into the car so your battery range increases.


********************************************************
Problem: Hot Door Handles

Solution: Use your IPhone app to start the car remotely and allow the air conditioning to leak into the door and slowly cool the exterior door handles. No, seriously.

http://www.teslamotors.com/de_AT/forum/forums/door-handles-0

Quote :

" Brian H | 8. Juni 2013 TM should send a free oven mitt to every owner. With a logo."

[Edited on July 24, 2013 at 5:43 PM. Reason : .]

7/24/2013 5:33:47 PM

So they solved a problem that every other car manufacturer ignored for the last 100 years? I would say that's pretty fucking awesome.

7/24/2013 5:49:15 PM

Every other carmaker just used plastic. Plastic is a material of the future. Metal has no place in a modern car.

7/24/2013 5:52:16 PM

Quote :

"breaks easily and locks you out"

7/24/2013 5:54:23 PM

bricks easily when you go on vacation

7/24/2013 6:01:17 PM

Lets keep in mind that the auto-door handles is an optional add-on (part of the "tech package").

They can't crush your hands, and they work even if the electronics in the system fail.

The sun/heat thing is a definite issue, and is definitely caused by the handles being metal. Something that can be easily fixed by just covering them with a plastic sticker (to have sunlight reflect rather than be absorbed by the handles).

In any case, none of these are major issues and Tesla (unlike every other manufacturer) has open customer forums where they listen and respond to complaints. A number of the software glitches and bugs have already been resolved, and a lot of the issues now are because of advanced features that customer knew would have issues and are acting as willing "beta" users.

7/25/2013 4:52:50 PM

Quote :

"What would be an advantage of that compared to the retractable handle?"

no hot handle
no crushed fingers (if it actually happens)
lower drag

7/25/2013 5:17:22 PM

I can see the handle being less hot. Possibility of crashed fingers and drag wouldn't change in any meaningful way though. It would be a slightly less elegant solution though.

7/25/2013 5:35:06 PM

People that buy these cars can afford to live in comfortable Mediterranean climates.

7/25/2013 5:51:52 PM

8/16/2013 1:56:12 PM

Interesting chart, though they seem to be leaving out a fair amount of information. For instance, the Honda Fit EV is only available in California, in limited supply, and is only available via 2 year lease.

8/16/2013 3:00:52 PM

there's also a fiat 500e electric that, like the fit, is only available in CA.

http://green.autoblog.com/2013/04/13/fiat-500e-$32,500-lease-$199-month/


shame, because I'd sign a lease for one of those immediately if it was available around here.

8/18/2013 1:01:31 AM

^^ you can get it from florida too

[Edited on August 18, 2013 at 1:13 AM. Reason : http://slickdeals.net/f/6072422-Honda-Fit-EV-lease-unlimited-miles-maintenance-included-259-month-ta]

8/18/2013 1:13:00 AM

Does MINI still lease out their electric Cooper?

8/19/2013 8:46:05 AM

Tesla S just broke the safety equipment for testing

5.4 star safety rating

http://news.yahoo.com/why-teslas-model-safest-car-ever-175600704.html

Quote :

"Of all vehicles tested, including every major make and model approved for sale in the United States, the Model S set a new record for the lowest likelihood of injury to occupants"

8/21/2013 11:48:04 AM

Quote :

"Ashlee Vance at Bloomberg Businessweek noted that when the safety regulators tried to test the vehicle's roof strength by crushing it, "the crusher was crushed." The testing machine failed after exerting pressure equal to piling four other Model S's on the vehicle's roof; indeed, the testers still don't know how many cars you could put on top of the Model S before it caves in. "So, Model S owners, you can sleep easy if a Carnado ever rolls through town," Vance said."

8/21/2013 11:57:14 AM

I though it explodes violently on impact, and even without warning? Aren't those batteries highly combustible? And I hear that the firefighters will not try to save you because they are scared of getting electrocuted, and they cannot pull on a handle that is hidden in the door. That report there is liburally biased.

8/21/2013 11:57:32 AM

The battery pack was designed to break apart. It's comprised of 1000s of small non lethal batteries.

8/21/2013 2:20:35 PM

^^You're thinking of the Fisker Karma, which has had like 17 recalls for its batteries exploding.

8/21/2013 2:31:22 PM

He forgot the [/sarcasm] tag

8/21/2013 2:58:53 PM

I also believe none of that crash testing was performed above 40 mph. A highway type accident is when I would worry about the integrity of the battery pack.

8/21/2013 3:18:36 PM

well well...

Quote :

" NHTSA rebuffs 'best ever' crash test claim by Tesla In response to Tesla's claim that the Model S is the safest car ever tested, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released a statement clearing up how it rates cars. While not denying that the Model S is a very safe car, the agency said that its rating system is only between one and five stars – nothing higher and nothing lower. This means that, unlike honors classes in college and high school, there is no way to score above the highest rating, and Tesla says that it received a 5.4-star rating (although there is no indication where it got this information). Also, NHTSA made no mention of any broken equipment it suffered while testing the Model S; another claim made by Tesla. Scroll down for the Model S crash video courtesy of ABC News as well as NHTSA's brief statement. "

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/08/22/nhtsa-rebuffs-tesla-model-s-safest-car-claim-video/

8/22/2013 2:58:25 PM

Limiting their crash tests to just five stars is extremely short-sighted. This is yet another attempt by Big Oil to influence government regulators in their favor. The Tesla's crash performance is clearly far superior to any other vehicle on the road today, and would be rated 11.75 stars if those detroit bureaucrats judged crash tests fairly. As further explanation, this metric indicates that in an average four-car pileup, the Tesla model S would eat the first two cars entirely and make a .75/5 star snack out of the occupants of the third car, killing a toy poodle or perhaps maiming a small infant. The occupants of the Tesla would, of course, be entirely unharmed and, in fact, find their lives enriched by the experience and emboldened in future investment opportunities.

8/22/2013 4:42:50 PM

are you autistic?

8/22/2013 4:44:03 PM

Uh oh!

http://broadcast.oreilly.com/2013/08/authentication-flaws-in-the-tesla-model-s-rest-api.html

8/26/2013 2:06:20 AM

http://www.wral.com/tesla-ceo-says-fire-caused-by-impaled-battery/12961293/

10/10/2013 3:06:00 PM

^wonder how many gas tank punctures happen? (Never heard of one)

10/10/2013 3:23:27 PM

^^wasn't this pretty much known the day after the incident? Because that's what I read.

10/10/2013 3:33:58 PM

^^LOL are you serious?

Chrysler
http://autos.aol.com/article/jeep-refuse-recall-chrysler-nhtsa-fire/

GM
http://www.autosafety.org/history-gm-side-saddle-gas-tank-defect

Ford (x2)
http://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsroom/lexis-hub/b/commentary/archive/2010/03/25/ford-is-still-haunted-by-exploding-gas-tanks-as-a-multi-million-dollar-award-of-punitive-damages-is-affirmed.aspx

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1971-1980-ford-pinto12.htm

How many cars come stock with a 1/4 inch metal plate under the entire area of the gas tank?

10/12/2013 1:18:35 PM

http://robertsjones.kinja.com/a-complete-circuit-a-60kwh-tesla-road-trips-the-circu-1446715955/1447094168/@pgeorge

10/17/2013 11:01:44 PM

Coolest story ever.

10/17/2013 11:34:44 PM

Quote :

"^^LOL are you serious? "

why, yes. The only happening I am aware of are the issues with crown vics busting into flames from rear collisions.


I was not suggesting that type of thing did not happen, just that my knowledge of such things was basically zilch.



[Edited on October 18, 2013 at 7:36 AM. Reason : -]

10/18/2013 7:34:13 AM

its more than just the Crown Vic, and fires in combustion engine cars can happen without even having a collision (fuel leak, oil leak, brake fluid, etc...)

10/18/2013 1:35:04 PM