Battery based vehicles of today and tomorrow pt 2

[WinterDeere]

The 4680 is not a "battery" but a cell. It takes 2 or more cells to make a battery. Battery means "an array of".

Good post, and I believe you're right on the 4680 number. But to be totally pedantic, a battery can technically contain just one cell:

bat·ter·y
[ˈbadərē]

NOUN

1. a container consisting of one or more cells, in which chemical energy is converted into electricity and used as a source of power:
   "battery power"

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Have you tried the autosteer yet? There are nights that it has done a Great job on 2 lane. It sees the lines better than most humans.


Interesting comment section..


Brandon P
19 hours ago

This article appears to be dreadfully misleading. The NHTSA’s data shows that Tesla vehicles have among the very lowest accident rates - for accidents of the severity they track, at least.

The source data you’re using doesn’t seem to be about accidents has in these makes of vehicle.


Gary Seven
14 hours ago

Basically someone with a new Tesla with a door ding is more likely to submit an insurance claim than someone with an old beater.

So agreed, this is Tesla bashing.
Billy
21 hours ago

As a tesla owner, this is not surprising.
Any autopilot issue is easily corrected by a competent driver using it as intended.

Alex K
20 hours ago

Some Bull going on here:

Teslas on non-highways with Full Self Driving (FSD) engaged had just
0.31 accidents per million miles representing an 80% reduction in accidents compared with the average vehicle.Apr 27, 2023

Yeah, the data isn’t about accidents had in Tesla vehicles.
It’s about the accident histories reported by people requesting Tesla insurance quotes through Lending Tree’s website.

@sd455dan as I posted earlier this morning I ran 3 updates and coming home after dark tonight FSD was spot on for the first time in the 10 months I have been using FSD daily on small rural striped state roads.

These 90 degree left hand turns had been a nightmare for FSD.to manage consistently. I had griped them at least a few hundred times. The results tonight brought a tear to my eye so the hard work and comments seems to have paid off well.

I am the only Tesla that I have seen in these intersections over the last 50 years.

Now major roads and interstates FSD has been pretty much flawless since getting the car and adding FSD in February this year. This is full self-driving beta software version 11.4.9. I am looking forward to version 12 sometime next year that is based on AI instead of the 300,000 lines of C+ coding.

 

[5030]

... as if anyone needed insurance data to predict an Audi and two BMW's would top the list of "rudest drivers".

The Kia is a surprise. I don't know any Kia models, they're the white background noise of autos to me. But I assume this is some cheap sporty model chosen by young but poor aggressive males who'd be buying Beemers and Audi's, if they had the bankroll for it?

Surprised my Ford Focus RS Turbo isn't listed. It's a friggin rocket ship, paint sucking off rocket. I can waste a 5.0 mustang with it and not even try hard. 130 on a typical on ramp anytime, just not on my time because you put your foot in it, you can watch the fuel gage go down as the turbo spools up...lol 330 ponies in a roller skate.

Me, I'm a hyper mileage person so I can average 40 with it but I have to drive very conservatively.

 

[WinterDeere]

Surprised my Ford Focus RS Turbo isn't listed. It's a friggin rocket ship, paint sucking off rocket. I can waste a 5.0 mustang with it and not even try hard. 130 on a typical on ramp anytime, just not on my time because you put your foot in it, you can watch the fuel gage go down as the turbo spools up...lol 330 ponies in a roller skate.

Me, I'm a hyper mileage person so I can average 40 with it but I have to drive very conservatively.

Yeah, I've had some fast cars that I was surprised weren't on the list, but it all comes down to the personality type and maturity of the respective customer base, I guess.

What's sad is I've owned and truly love Audi's, but don't like being associated with so many of the a--holes who drive them, these days. Great cars, if you could just wash the yuppie stink off 'em.

 

[5030]

@sd455dan as I posted earlier this morning I ran 3 updates and coming home after dark tonight FSD was spot on for the first time in the 10 months I have been using FSD daily on small rural striped state roads.

These 90 lef

I drove my cousin's Tesla a couple times with no hands on the wheel. He bought one of the first ones with the gull wing doors and the wrap over the top roof and he gets free juice at any Supercharger for life I believe, Anyway it goes like a scalded ape and drives itself and I tested it on our country 2 lane paved roads. It stayed centered inside the lane I was in, went around curves just fine too.

First time I drove it, we got to the pavement and he told me to floor it and I did. Amazing pickup, held me back in the seat, tight. I don't care for the interior or the center screen or the funky steering wheel but it goes and I still would never own a toaster car.

 

[wawajake]

I'm thinking in the end these people that Musk Motors declined warranty repairs will get refunds or more....can we say class action?

https://www.carscoops.com/2023/12/s...about-flawed-suspension-yet-blamed-customers/

Wow what an interesting article link , at first I thought it was old news , but the very unsafe defect is still happening in 2022 models, and Musk is trying to wiggle out of a expensive physical recall to replace suspension parts that could cost up to $18,000 per recall. Welcome to long term car manufacturering Ego Musk ! Now play by the safety and warranty rules before all confidence is lost.

 

[WM75Guy]

There's something no one seems to want to talk about except as an incentive or bonus:
EV rebates. $7,500 Federal (new), $4,000 (used). In addition state rebates, Virginia for example up to $12,000 federal+state rebates. Also D.O.E. $125 level 2 charger rebate.
The catch is of course rebates apply for taxpayers paying that or more in taxes...UP TO $150,000 AGI single, $300K married.
Think about it: this means less tax revenue collected while the higher income DO NOT qualify for a rebate. Those who pay the most tax get no benefit.
Of course it's not mandatory, but who would not take the rebates?
No matter how you look at it, it's boils down to taxpayers NOT buying an EV are paying for those who are buying one!
That $12,000 (Fed+state) is that much less money in the tax revenue till.
Additionally road fuel has Federal and state taxes in the price, 18.4c to 24.4c/gal Federal and 26.2c to 27c/gal Va. state tax.
There is no free lunch.
With increasing EVs means more rebates paid out and less road fuel tax. That money has to be replenished meaning higher electric bills and taxes for everyone.
Prospective EV buyers are only looking at these perks and no one wants to talk about the repercussions. I see it for what it is, simply another way of getting people into an EV.

Looks like quite a few makes and models are losing rebates on January 1, 2024. That won't help sales. Tesla Model 3 is one of them.

GM, Ford announce several car models will lose electric vehicle tax credit in 2024

 

[sd455dan]

@sd455dan as I posted earlier this morning I ran 3 updates and coming home after dark tonight FSD was spot on for the first time in the 10 months I have been using FSD daily on small rural striped state roads.

These 90 degree left hand turns had been a nightmare for FSD.to manage consistently. I had griped them at least a few hundred times. The results tonight brought a tear to my eye so the hard work and comments seems to have paid off well.

I am the only Tesla that I have seen in these intersections over the last 50 years.

Now major roads and interstates FSD has been pretty much flawless since getting the car and adding FSD in February this year. This is full self-driving beta software version 11.4.9. I am looking forward to version 12 sometime next year that is based on AI instead of the 300,000 lines of C+ coding.

Today after a couple trips was thinking, what a Great car.
The snow tires made it ride better and even the On Center feel of the wheel improved. Driving at night the car has the best headlights of any car I have ever driven. Stock Stereo continues to impress. Being able to think of a song you want to hear and just saying play--- after a single button push is a great feature or saying Navigate to---.

The newest Holiday update with overhead view "actually" works and is a Major Improvement while parking. Signaling and someone is in the blind spot the camera has a red warning along the live image to warn the driver now.
It is great when the car "actually" does improve overnight after installing an update.
The great storage came in handy today.
Picked up a 17" 200lb drill press today and easily fit it in the rear hatch with rear seats folded down.

 

[WinterDeere]

This one's a long play, but John Oliver is almost always worth the time, always hilarious if nothing else. The salient point of this one, WRT full self-driving (FSD) is that Tesla is saving millions by not employing professional drivers to test FSD, and rather pushing beta software out into the public to let them be the beta testers. His problem with this is that while some 50,000 drivers have agreed to become beta testers, the public surrounding them have not agreed to this.

In typical JO fashion, "No one got a push-alert on their phone saying, 'Hey, Tesla here! Please consent to take part in the beta test that is currently hurtling towards you. Do hurry, time is a factor.'"

He goes on to discuss Musk's assertion that pushing back on acceptance of FSD today "would be killing people," and his feelings about Musk's implication that any deaths caused by the software today would be more than offset by lives saved in the future. He argues that while Tesla released press claiming, "incontrovertible data that shows [FSD] is saving lives and preventing injury", they have subsequently dodged every request to actually produce this data, stating only, "more detailed information will be publicly available in the near future."

FSD stuff starts almost exactly at mid-point in video, it's more Paypal, Twitter (X) and SpaceX stuff, prior to that.

 

[5030]

Tesla delivered the first of its futuristic stainless steel-plated

They aren't stainless steel 'plated', you cannot plate stainless in the first place. The bodies are fabricated from stainless sheet. No plating involved, you cannot plate it. I work with stainless steel sheet quite a bit. I plasma cut it on my CNC plasma table and TIG weld the parts into sub assemblies. The stainless sheet I buy has to be domestically produced and there is only one stainless mill left in this country and that is Carpenter Technologies near Philadelphia, Pa. I get mine filmed on the polished side so it don't get scratched in process. It's expensive and has a long lead time as well. My customers dictate where the materials come from.