So much for a Nissan Leaf!

[SirReal63]

Prius or a 335d, that's is a no brainer. One is getting to eat a whole cake, the other is looking at someone else having a whole cake while you only get to lick the beaters.

 

[Fluid]

My sister bought 2013 Lexus 350 suv. The next day after she bought it I was over and she had to show me her new car, she starts the engine and it sounds like a diesel. I said I didn't know lexus made diesel's. She said the car did not make that noise when she bought it. After I checked the oil, she restarted the engine and we let it run for 10-15 minutes and the engine noise went away. The engine noise happens on cold starts then goes away or is less noisy after some time. The dealer and lexus say that the noise is normal, I say its piston slap and it will only get worse over time. That was over a year now with 10,000+ miles and it has gotten worse and now has a knock that the dealer and lexus say's is OK. In the year that she has owned POS I had to go to jump start her POS 3 time, the dealer 3 or 4 times, two batteries, etc. She will not call me anymore for help so she won't have to listen me talk s--- about her car. She came over the other day and she was not in her lexus, she had a loaner from the dealer. Now the allwheeldrive light and check engine light is on and the dealer has had it for about a week. The loaner's check engine light is on also. I would push an American car/truck then own an import.

 

[Pilot]

'56 Ford, 7 mpg in town, 10 on highway. At 80K the engine died. Traded for '58 Chevy, 16K when I bought it, 14- 16 mpg, 106K when I sold it, just normal maintenance. 66 Chevy Nova, again, 16K when I bought it, normal mtc., at 144K I swapped engines, replaced the clutch. Engine wasn't real bad yet, but found a deal on a low mileage replacement. Sold it right afterward when I got transferred. '72 Saab, great car except after about 80K it started running funny & no one could fix it. Wife drove it, didn't want it conking out on her on a dark & stormy night in Montana, traded for a '74 Dodge Dart, the dullest car I ever owned. Only had it for a year or so, it gave no problems. '70 Rabbit, no problems, had it for several years. '85 Jetta, oil pressure switch gave out, fixed it, ran it for a few more years, no problems. '93 Accord, 33 mpg, no problems except at 100K, wife took it in for a water pump and master cylinder failed as she pulled into the shop's lot. '02 Saab, multiple problems up to $500 but a great car. Replaced with '13 Accord. Main complaint is too many gadgets that require you to take your eyes off the road to use. Also had various pickups, worst was a '97 Ranger, front end rebuilt at 90K, transmission at 100K and cracked cylinders at 112K. Had a total of 5 Fords, 3 were lemons, 2 were OK. All Chevys were good. Now have a 05 Tacoma, 98K one minor problem, outside air temp display, dealer wanted $800, on a forum I found a place to fix it for about $100 with a lifetime warranty. Great little truck. Will only replace it when I have a need for something different.

 

[Redneck in training]

When this happen I will add 10kW capacity to my PV system and buy electric car.
Tesla's Battery Gigafactory May Achieve Nirvana: $100 Per Kilowatt-Hour, Report Says

 

[houstonscott]

When this happen I will add 10kW capacity to my PV system and buy electric car. Tesla's Battery Gigafactory May Achieve Nirvana: $100 Per Kilowatt-Hour, Report Says

it's not just the cost holding them back, idiots will buy tesla's today! It's going to have to have a range pushing 400 miles, recharge in under 5 minutes, weigh of battery less then 120lbs, and be cheaper than a gas or diesel car. Even then a real review of the pollution and heavy metals, and use of rare minerals in the manufacturing may still keep electric cars out forever, you simply don't want to use up those resources and pollute up on something like an electric car. HS

 

[Loren49]

it's not just the cost holding them back, idiots will buy tesla's today! It's going to have to have a range pushing 400 miles, recharge in under 5 minutes, weigh of battery less then 120lbs, and be cheaper than a gas or diesel car. Even then a real review of the pollution and heavy metals, and use of rare minerals in the manufacturing may still keep electric cars out forever, you simply don't want to use up those resources and pollute up on something like an electric car. HS

Your tunnel vision and name calling adds nothing constructive to this thread. This isyour best response to the referenced material????

Tesla's Battery Gigafactory May Achieve Nirvana: $100 Per Kilowatt-Hour, Report Says

Many within the electric car industry believe that $100 per kilowatt-hour will be the tipping point for electric-car batteries.

It is the point at which electric vehicles will be able to compete directly with internal combustion vehicles on price, and therefore a major step in boosting sales.

------
Probably a bit overly optimistic projection but likely a real step forward.

Loren

 

[bruceha2000]

When this happen I will add 10kW capacity to my PV system and buy electric car.
Tesla's Battery Gigafactory May Achieve Nirvana: $100 Per Kilowatt-Hour, Report Says

And there is a reference to the Tesla Model 3, presumed to be coming 2017! Hadn't heard about that one. Smaller than the S by 20% which is fine by me, I don't need a car the size of an S. Might just be the right time for me. $35K puts it around the same price as a Volt or Leaf. 200 mile range.

it's not just the cost holding them back, idiots will buy tesla's today! It's going to have to have a range pushing 400 miles, recharge in under 5 minutes, weigh of battery less then 120lbs, and be cheaper than a gas or diesel car. Even then a real review of the pollution and heavy metals, and use of rare minerals in the manufacturing may still keep electric cars out forever, you simply don't want to use up those resources and pollute up on something like an electric car. HS

I presume the "rare minerals" you reference are the "rare earth metals" which contrary to their name are not rare "in the wild" at all. And I don't think you'll win any argument that says producing an EV does more "environmental damage" than producing ICE based vehicles.

I think you need to expand your vision of the car buying public. True, if all the things you mentioned (*) were to happen, a lot more people would jump right in.
But if you think people buying a Tesla today are idiots, then you better lump in everyone else who pays $80K+ for a car, ANY car. None are a financially logical decision. Actually, you would be hard pressed to come up with a logical reason to buy any "luxury" car other than "got plenty of excess money, want to spend it on a car". The people buying Model Ss know the range of the car and it WORKS FOR THEM.

(*) except having to be cheaper than an ICE based car. Maintenance on an EV is much less than an ICE based car and the fuel cost per mile is lower. Thus they don't have to be cheaper, not even the same cost, to sell when you consider the entire cost to buy, use and maintain.

 

[bruceha2000]

Prius or a 335d, that's is a no brainer. One is getting to eat a whole cake, the other is looking at someone else having a whole cake while you only get to lick the beaters.

To each his own. A car that does 0-60 in < 6 seconds is of zero practical value to people not driving on a race track. 0-35 in < 10 seconds is rare in the "daily driving" world. Yeah, yeah, I know "fun to drive". Except most of us drive on roads with speed limits and other vehicles. Fast acceleration and cornering might be a rush to some, but you don't get where you are going any faster than the "boring to drive" car. You just use more fuel and wear your brakes faster. Find a go-cart track if you want "fun" driving.

I would consider your cake to be a "fruit cake". Some people like them, I do not I am a practical person, I would NEVER buy a car that did not have folding rear seats. Can you put a bicycle (both tires on) in a 335D, trunk lid closed? Can you carry 8' long dimensional lumber IN the car, trunk lid closed? Heck, how many of you with trucks can carry 8' dimensional lumber INSIDE, even with a cap? Lots of < 8' beds out there. How about 10' dimensional?? True, I can't carry many since they have to sit up on the passenger side dash, but they are INSIDE, out of the elements. How many of you put "fun to drive" at the top of the requirement list for a new tractor? To me, the "cake" is the practicality, the "beaters" are the "fun to drive". Find me a "fun to drive" car that has the practicality and MPG of a Prius, as well as similar purchase price, and we can talk.

Besides the purchase price of a 335D (which BTW BMW is not selling any more), diesel fuel here is 40+ cents a gallon more than regular gas. Thus a 33 MPG 335D costs 12.1 cents/mile in fuel ($4/gal) a 33MPG gas car costs 10.9 cents/mile ($3.60/gal). The cost to drive the 335D a mile is much higher, especially so when you consider the much lower MPG compared to the Prius - 6.5/mile, with summer 55 MPG average. Each person has their priorities.

 

[DarkBlack]

To each his own. A car that does 0-60 in < 6 seconds is of zero practical value to people not driving on a race track.

You're describing a batter car, the Tesla....

 

[DarkBlack]

From Ford:
Rare Earth Elements



“Rare earth elements” are a set of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table. Though many of these elements are not actually rare, their geochemical properties make it difficult to find them in concentrated forms that can be extracted for use easily or economically. Rare earth elements have been used in conventional internal combustion vehicles for many years in small quantities. However, electrified vehicles – including hybrids, plug-in hybrids and full electric vehicles – use larger quantities of rare earth elements in magnets in their electric motors and in their more complicated battery systems. As electrified vehicle production increases, the importance of the supply and production of certain rare earth metals is growing in importance to automotive companies. These elements are also used extensively in nonautomotive applications, such as electronic touch screens and mobile phones.

Rare earth elements pose both economic and sustainability challenges. The growing demand for rare earths has called into question future supply and material costs. They are also a concern due to the geographic concentration of supply and environmentally unsustainable mining practices."
Rare Earth Elements - Sustainability 2012/13 - Ford Motor Company