QOTW: Are you tempted by the Tesla Model 3?

[Peter Parker]

Yes, but :

* Even if I put a deposit down now it won't arrive for 2 years
* I haven't seen it confirmed that it'll get the same 8-year/infinite mile warranty on drive train and battery that the more expensive S gets
* I live in central London and have no logical need for a car!

But I still want it!

[Audiothor]

I can't believe how many people are saying it's too expensive... If you want to dip your toe into the water of electric motoring then there are cheaper options

http://offers.renault.co.uk/cars/zoe/renaultselectionszeaccess?offer=103

My Son has just bought one as the insurance is so low. I think they're ideal as a second car in the family and we got a charger fitted to our house as well - at least if you try one for a couple of years you can see if you like driving an electric car before the Tesla arrives.

[[DW]Cougho]

It's not suitable for my usage - I may get a call and need to drive 500 miles to a customers site at the drop of a hat, explaining why their call centre will need to be down for another 2 hours while I stop and charge my car would not go down well. It's also too small for me - a Model S estate is more the type of size I go for.

And my other car is an Integra Type R, so a nope there also.

I can't wait until I can replace my day-to-day car with an EV though, so I support Tesla pushing the technology.

[Saracen]

No, not tempted. Range between charges is insufficient, and for my tastes, too expensive. Also, I'm not tempted by a (probable) £35k pricetag to be an early adopter of a technology that looks to me to still be well short of maturity.

Besides, I like an exhaust growl.

[Potbellieddwarf]

I like the idea but I need a 7 seater

[Phage]

Nope - Waiting for Hydrogen.
http://www.seymourpowell.com/casestudy/env-motocycle

[flearider]

yes but in a yr or so when these hit main stream https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/04/08/this-new-battery-is-a-game-changer/

cost of the car will drop ..
but you have to think if everyone got an eletric car we atm would have brown out's in every city ..

[gagaga]

Nope - Waiting for Hydrogen.
http://www.seymourpowell.com/casestudy/env-motocycle

Hydrogen is horrendously inefficient for energy storage and transmission. Most comes from oil - efficiency from production to use is less than 20%.

Tesla is a diversion as well. We have to generate the electricity somehow, and there is not capacity in UK renewables to *consistently* provide the power needed when it is needed, at least for a generation. That means Tesla is coal powered - far, far worse than petrol for pollution and efficiency.

The only realistic long term solution is GM bacteria to produce synthetic liquid fuels. That's likely also at least half a generation away.

We're stuck with oil until 2030, at least.

[quantasm]

yes but in a yr or so when these hit main stream https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/04/08/this-new-battery-is-a-game-changer/

cost of the car will drop ..
but you have to think if everyone got an eletric car we atm would have brown out's in every city ..

There seems to be lots of new battery technology in the news but not much making it to a final product. Here is another that was in the news recently http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/new-design-points-a-path-to-the-ultimate-battery

I'm still waiting to see that Sandia cooler that was talked about a few years ago.

[HW90]

yes but in a yr or so when these hit main stream https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/04/08/this-new-battery-is-a-game-changer/

cost of the car will drop ..
but you have to think if everyone got an eletric car we atm would have brown out's in every city ..

Yeah that technology is never going to hit the mainstream, there are 100s of claims like that each year and none come into fruition so we're going to be stuck on the same lithium technology for a while. That's not to say we can't make progress though, Tesla's done quite well with improving existing battery technology.

I would guess that in the future O&G companies will make deals with petrol stations to power their charging stations via generators, in which case brown outs would be less of an issue.

[The Hand]

How long do the batteries last then? I consider a car as something that should last at least 10 years without too much grief.

Finding the glass roof a challenge. It starts off nice, like a Brera, but it doesn't seem to know when to stop

I meant to say if you could upgrade the 215-mile battery with say a 400 mile battery in future, that would be a great selling point for me at least.

[Ogami]

Been following Tesla since the Roadster and this made it that much closer for me in buying one! I think it's a great change from combustion engines, however I am also concerned about the longevity of the battery and disposable of said batteries.

[cflymo]

I was hoping that fusion technology would superseed electric motors before it had a chance to get going, but alas it looks like this isn't going to happen any time soon.

I'm not sure you have a clue what you're talking about. Fusion to replace electric motors? How exactly? Fusion itself hasn't been mastered yet and won't be for decades so how you ever had any hope at all of it doing anything in your lifetime I don't know.

...but as soon as they crack fission nuclear reactors we will be laughing!

You mean the reactors we've been using since the 1950s? The ones with massive piles of toxic waste lurking around them?

However, on the subject of the car itself, yes, I'd be tempted. The reason I would not buy one now is that I do not have a drive or garage for overnight charging and the network on chargers in the South West is pretty poor. However that will only improve so next time I'm changing my car (about 2 1/2 years) I'd consider it given it's cheaper than my Beemer, faster and I like shiny things. Size may be an issue but until you see these things in the metal and sit in them it's hard to tell. Biggest problem is likely to be the question of whether or not Tesla can produce them fast enough and to a high enough quality and that goes for the batteries too since their pre-orders alone would require the entire world's current Lithium battery making capacity. We'll see what the 'gigafactory' can do.

[Gerrard]

Yeah that technology is never going to hit the mainstream, there are 100s of claims like that each year and none come into fruition so we're going to be stuck on the same lithium technology for a while. That's not to say we can't make progress though, Tesla's done quite well with improving existing battery technology.

The only new battery technology I have experience with in the last year was http://www.faradion.co.uk/technology...on-technology/; a sodium based battery. It was about 10 years behind Lithium in performance, although I have heard they have made a few iterations since that project (we made a powered bicycle). It won't necessarily beat lithium on performance, but did have advantages on cost and safety.

I meant to say if you could upgrade the 215-mile battery with say a 400 mile battery in future, that would be a great selling point for me at least.

That should be possible as the battery is usually quite modular. As long as they kept the voltage similar and it could provide the same current, then a higher density battery replacement isn't infeasible. Of course, they probably wouldn't do that when they can sell you a new car instead...

[yeeeeman]

Yeah, I would like to swap my tdi to a pure electric car. The cost is the only barrier, but still, they are making good progress. I truly hope that in half a decade's time, cars like the model 3 will be 15-20K $ and have a range of 250-300mi. Then, the electric transition will take place at a large scale - imagine hundreds of millions of cars swapped to electric. But still, there is progress and the future seems electric.

[The Hand]

That should be possible as the battery is usually quite modular. As long as they kept the voltage similar and it could provide the same current, then a higher density battery replacement isn't infeasible. Of course, they probably wouldn't do that when they can sell you a new car instead...

I get the sense the last sentence is sadly the most likely outcome! There maybe pressure in future to reduce the "throw away car" culture though.. upgrade-able batteries being a one possibility I imagine.