Towing with Tesla Model X

[BlkGS]

Until this comment I was completely and totally confused on WTF you were saying. I had in my head that you wanted the manufacturers to control the price down, and of course that doesn't work even a little bit in a capitalistic economy. I followed that train into a "what do you think the incentives are doing" by theorizing that a $42.5k EV became a $35k EV. I had the wrong definition of "it" from the statement below.



This clears my misconception up a bit, and I think it's an interesting idea. To make sure I have it straight. You're saying let the tax credit be determined NOT by the recipients income, but rather by the MSRP of the car being purchased, right?

Gut reaction is it's biased to benefit the wealthy, but I'm not 100% certain. Gonna have to think on it a bit. Also have some thoughts on purposeful demand creation based on the lower MSRP of the qualified cars, and leading to economies of scale in that arena faster.

The idea is this, I'm not "rich", but we'll enough off that I could afford to buy an EV at full price. There's a price range we are shopping that is higher than average. We aren't gonna go out and buy an Altima or Corolla, but really, those are the kinds of cars you want to convert to EV, modest cars for regular folks..

If you cut the credit off at say, 35k msrp (note, number pulled right out of my ass with little thought) that mean you electric commuter cars will be covered, electric Altima, corolla, maybe eve a few electric small crossovers. Maybe even a base model of an electric van. What it won't subsidize is electric super trucks and super sedans, bought by people who don't need it anyways. If you're a rich person willing to slum it in an entry level car, we'll you can have the credit, but they won't do it (in general) because they also want people to know they're wealthy and/or are just used to a higher level of luxury.

If the goal is to improve their accessibility and scale, incentivizing modest cars will do way more good than handing out money for people buying 1000hp super trucks.

 

[Peelz]

Well after the original excitement i'm kinda meh about this Chevy now lol Kudos to them though. Love the looks but... :shouldershrug:

We're looking within the year for the next vehicle since well have driver #4 in the house. Wife and I both priced out the F150 this morning-even less enthused about it.

I do think theyre good, but Just cant get excited for these trucks.... May get another tesla Y or 3 to bridge the gap...keep with current plan of the Pathfinder to tow the boat. The kid can drive it to school/soccer. Maybe Ill just get a new motorcycle LOL!

I think it MIGHT be because I'm jaded by the tesla, if i'm being honest. These trucks seem too much like old hat maybe? Chevy a bit better here and LOVE the interior. Ford more of the new tech on old platform feel. Suppose they Don't represent enough of a departure from norms. I know I didn't feel that way to begin with. I'm still rooting for the American big boys.

Not sure what it is. And it might change if I get to see one in person..

I'm still in on the two newbies(for now).

Cybertruck- want the most, proven platform crazy departure from norms that intrigues me... but build date, exact specs, pricing in limbo. expect $70 plus if not 80.

Rivian- 2nd choice, but build date...and charging network questions. Still on the test drive list-just waiting for one that works. Iv'e just priced it out at $71k.

None I can really buy without seeing/feeling them though.

I guess we'll see. for now I'm enjoying the EV rabbitholes.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

I believe that Florida boating is some of the best in the country. That said, my wife and I have no desire to live in Florida. Not a knock against those who chose to do so, as my folks moved 25 years ago to Florida and loved it. Regarding Delaware, the weather is not 'worse', but it is different. Some folks love and some folks hate it, but that is a matter of personal preference. We actually love it. Southern Delaware is rural, has four seasons, and we will be 10 minutes from the bay and 25 minutes from the beach.

I think we will see a lot of "modest" MSRP EV's in the near future. The EV's getting a lot of buzz are the $75-100K+ EV's. However, it will be the more modestly priced EV's, $40-50K vehicles that make EV's mainstream. I see a whole lot of interesting, lower priced EV's slated for release in 2023/24. Tax credit on these is what will drive the success of the auto marketplace. This in turn will lead to a much higher demand for charge stations, which would benefit all EV users.

Jim

 

[adrianp89]

That said, my wife and I have no desire to live in Florida.

I wish this opinion spread like COVID. Too many people moving here.

 

[Peelz]

I wish this opinion spread like COVID. Too many people moving here.

Our retirement plan includes the ozarks. I'm getting that feeling from there too.

Love it but....damn. lol

 

[Peelz]

I believe that Florida boating is some of the best in the country. That said, my wife and I have no desire to live in Florida. Not a knock against those who chose to do so, as my folks moved 25 years ago to Florida and loved it. Regarding Delaware, the weather is not 'worse', but it is different. Some folks love and some folks hate it, but that is a matter of personal preference. We actually love it. Southern Delaware is rural, has four seasons, and we will be 10 minutes from the bay and 25 minutes from the beach.

I think we will see a lot of "modest" MSRP EV's in the near future. The EV's getting a lot of buzz are the $75-100K+ EV's. However, it will be the more modestly priced EV's, $40-50K vehicles that make EV's mainstream. I see a whole lot of interesting, lower priced EV's slated for release in 2023/24. Tax credit on these is what will drive the success of the auto marketplace. This in turn will lead to a much higher demand for charge stations, which would benefit all EV users.

Jim

agree with your post, nothing to add, but every time I see your screen name, i cant help but read it this way. sorry not sorry

 

[thefortunes]

...We're looking within the year for the next vehicle since well have driver #4 in the house. Wife and I both priced out the F150 this morning-even less enthused about it....

We ran into this (new 4th driver this year) and picked up an inexpensive (cheap) Nissan Leaf for him.

Only has 75-100 miles of range (depending on speed, conditions, etc...) but works for 100% of his driving so far.

If he actually needs to drive further than that, then one of us (who am I kidding, it will be my wife) will trade cars for the day.

Still no gas in this house - Tesla Roadster, Model S, Model 3 and the Leaf. Oh, and all lawn/garden is electric too.

 

[Peelz]

We ran into this (new 4th driver this year) and picked up an inexpensive (cheap) Nissan Leaf for him.

Only has 75-100 miles of range (depending on speed, conditions, etc...) but works for 100% of his driving so far.

If he actually needs to drive further than that, then one of us (who am I kidding, it will be my wife) will trade cars for the day.

Still no gas in this house - Tesla Roadster, Model S, Model 3 and the Leaf. Oh, and all lawn/garden is electric too.

yeah I'm not getting him a car. I love my son but. he gets the hand me down. daddy gets the new ride lol

We only live 6 blocks from school. but he'd use to drive ALL over for soccer.

my only hold out is my 2 stroke leaf blower. its a stalwart and never lets me down. When it dies-ill switch. I love my Kobalt 80v lawnmower.

 

[thefortunes]

yeah I'm not getting him a car. I love my son but. he gets the hand me down. daddy gets the new ride lol

We only live 6 blocks from school. but he'd use to drive ALL over for soccer.

my only hold out is my 2 stroke leaf blower. its a stalwart and never lets me down. When it dies-ill switch. I love my Kobalt 80v lawnmower.

Sorry, I wasn't clear.

We got a 2015 Leaf (for ~$7k) that he drives. Not his car. Due to the value we don't even have collision/comp on it (saves quite a bit on the cost for insuring a 17yo male).

And WAYYYY down the food chain of our cars.

I have the same lawnmower. The Kobalt leafblower is adequate also.

 

[2kwik4u]

I don't have an electric lawn stuff yet. have a Craftsman push mower that just WILL NOT die. I seriously mistreat it on purpose to try and kill it. I bought it for $50 from a buddy when he moved to CA and the movers wouldn't pack it. Was 15yrs old when I got it, and I'll be starting season #8 with it this spring. I'll go electric when it's time, but good grief this thing will not die.

Guy at the office has a Leaf as his commuter car. Drives 23mi to work, plugs it into a 110V in the back of the building during the day so he can make the 23mi drive home in the afternoon. Likes it because it was cheap and does just enough for him.

 

[thefortunes]

I don't have an electric lawn stuff yet. have a Craftsman push mower that just WILL NOT die. I seriously mistreat it on purpose to try and kill it. I bought it for $50 from a buddy when he moved to CA and the movers wouldn't pack it. Was 15yrs old when I got it, and I'll be starting season #8 with it this spring. I'll go electric when it's time, but good grief this thing will not die.

Guy at the office has a Leaf as his commuter car. Drives 23mi to work, plugs it into a 110V in the back of the building during the day so he can make the 23mi drive home in the afternoon. Likes it because it was cheap and does just enough for him.

Yeah, I had 2 gas lawnmowers (including a nice, but 20 year old Toro SuperRecycler) that moved to various relatives when we got the Kobalt.

Re: the guy at the office and his Leaf... I just drove 55 (about 50 of them interstate between 72-77mph) miles last night in subzero weather without charging. He doesn't need to charge to make it home - he's doing it because he can.

 

[BlkGS]

I tried an electricc mower when I moved to this house, figured our small flat yard would be fine. It would have taken 4 charges of 80A batteries to do my lawn. I guess I could have spent another 100 bucks and had 2 batteries on board and only had to charge once, but it just wasn't worth it. I ended up bringing my gas mower down on the 2nd trip, it goes through like, 2 gallons in a year and never has any issues. Honda engines man.

I've considers getting a Milwaukee blower to replace the ryobib2 stroke that needs a carb cleaning... But they just feel overpriced.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

agree with your post, nothing to add, but every time I see your screen name, i cant help but read it this way. sorry not sorry

LOL, I had to find a clip to put it in perspective.

Background looks like the Charles Cullen Bridge over the Indian River Inlet between the Indian River Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

We do have lots of shoreline (some drive on for surf fishing), not to many people (especially in the southern part of state), no state sales tax that even carries over into boat purchases!

Jim

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

Used battery operated lawn-mower and trimmer for the yard of our rental townhome (corner lot) worked great in that situation.

Looked into a small electric ride-on mower for the new house (7/8 acre lot), but battery life seem to be 3 - 4 years and about $800 a pop.

Jim

 

[Peelz]

Our 80 v kobalt came because of a rusty deck. Honda engine well outlived the old mower. The electric does our yard without about 10 minutes to spare.. BUT, There are 2-3 weeks in the spring it does not, and requires a second charge due to heavy wet growth. But, my kids mow for me now. Which is a SOLID upgrade.

using it 2 seasons now.

When the leafblower goes Id like to get the same 80v kobalt then have multiple swappable batteries.

Sorry, I wasn't clear.

We got a 2015 Leaf (for ~$7k) that he drives. Not his car. Due to the value we don't even have collision/comp on it (saves quite a bit on the cost for insuring a 17yo male).

And WAYYYY down the food chain of our cars.

I have the same lawnmower. The Kobalt leafblower is adequate also.

I figured! just being snarky. My wife mentioned getting her an X and letting my 19 yr old drive the Y. IM like uhhh NOOO

LOL she was kidding.

LOL, I had to find a clip to put it in perspective.

Background looks like the Charles Cullen Bridge over the Indian River Inlet between the Indian River Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

We do have lots of shoreline (some drive on for surf fishing), not to many people (especially in the southern part of state), no state sales tax that even carries over into boat purchases!

Jim

you've seen the movie right? Or did I fully swing and miss with the reference?

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

you've seen the movie right? Or did I fully swing and miss with the reference?

I just figure the more people don't know about the state, the more for us to enjoy! ?

 

[adrianp89]

Electric mowers are not there yet. All other electric lawn equipment is glorious. I run 40v Kobalt. To be fair the gas mower struggled when going 10 days without cutting in summer.

 

[2kwik4u]

Yeah, I had 2 gas lawnmowers (including a nice, but 20 year old Toro SuperRecycler) that moved to various relatives when we got the Kobalt.

Re: the guy at the office and his Leaf... I just drove 55 (about 50 of them interstate between 72-77mph) miles last night in subzero weather without charging. He doesn't need to charge to make it home - he's doing it because he can.

Said he has about a 40mi range because of battery degradation. Enough to make it in, but not quite enough to make it home. No idea what kind of miles he's picking up while in the office. Can't be more than 10 or so off a 110V plug. Maybe just enough to make the difference?

*edit*
I fully believe the Honda engine on this Craftsman mower is going to be used by the cockroaches after the apocalypses. I'm not sure if it even has oil in it. Never checked or changed since I've had it. I don't do crap to keep that engine running. Like a good Chevy truck, the frame and chassis is going to rot around the engine

 

[Tyguy]

We switched over our yard care equipment to battery electric Ryobi about 8 years ago and we're still on the original batteries. They've worked well for our yard with smaller grass coverage but wouldn't be appropriate for a large yard The newer sets have sure improved since we bought ours and we'll probably upgrade when our yard grows next year.

The one piece of equipment we haven't switched over from ICE is our snow blower. We use less than a gallon of gas a year in it, usually less than half a gallon, so it just hasn't been worth it.

Battery degradation is one thing that concerns me about switching from Tesla to another manufacturer. Tesla and Panasonic have had time to work through several generations of batteries together and learned how to maximize lifespan. I feel like the other brands are pretty new to this application and have things to figure out still. I could be wrong. It weighs on me, though. There aren't a lot of miles on competitor systems yet.

 

[BlkGS]

I feel like batteries are commodotized. There may be some expertise on charging, discharging, and cooling, but there's enough tech out there using batteries that I think most of that knowledge is out there and the battery companies that suppl the automakers will put that in.

The question is more along "will they do it, or skip it to hit a price point". Battery degradation is already a concept people are aware of and is a big roadblock to adoption of it in a purchase that costs what a house did 20 years ago. I suspect the automakers know that any large scale issues with it will torpedo the public perception of the batteries and thus the billions they've invested in this effort.