I went test driving and in love

[phred333]

if anyone remembers the story of "Blood Diamonds" then you'll be pleased to know that it is repeating itself all over again with mining of metals for batteries.

You have a problem with supporting the West Australian mining industry? Worlds biggest supplier of lithium, and right up there with Nickel and Cobalt. Lots of projects ramping up at the moment including rare earths. Keeping me in money anyway.

 

[Penny S]

Hybrid vehicle are the best option

Has its own pros and cons. But the industry are working on a better version it. Still a huge majority of the automotive industry including the oil industry are against it.

 

[TheJock]

You’ll love it. I’ve had one for a while now.

 

[BecA]

I still prefer the V8 even with the cost of fuel.
Love the rumble and power of my VF GTS Manual 557KW of guts and nuts

The Frenchman

same here Frenchman! Only V8's parked in our garage 'even with the cost of fuel" lol

 

[Farm Boy 2]

EV,s are as far as I can see are a good if not the best solution for urban commuter with there own home with solar panels installed especially if one day you can have charging and discharging to support the grid .

 

[Rochelle]

What is the life span of the battery and the cost of replacing it?
Going electric in the city is a great idea - thinking outback and extensive camping trips - I still prefer a diesel model.

 

[mountainbikingateve]

What is the life span of the battery and the cost of replacing it?
Going electric in the city is a great idea - thinking outback and extensive camping trips - I still prefer a diesel model.

Toyota trailed Prius vehicles in their holding yards many years ago to see what the life span of a lithium based battery will be. Result a lot longer than thought.

Short answer to your question. You would expect 15 years life in a Tesla battery.

Cost to replace - Moore’s Law is at play here. A MW battery built 2 years ago is around 1.3 times more expensive than one built today and this keeps a decreasing. So it’s irrelevant at what it costs to replace today as it’s covered by a long warranty and the price in 7 years (end of warranty) is unknown but will be dramatically cheaper than today.

Agree on standard thermal cars for longer trips, once hybrid diesel with particulate filters and NO catalytic reducers are available - will be a game changer for sparsely populated areas like Australia.

On batteries life span if anyone is interested:
Technically you can work this out by calculating a number for factors:
Capacity of the battery and it’s C rating rating.
Capacity is normally quoted in amp hours. (Ahs) then it’s how quickly or slowly you discharge the battery. This is the C rate measured in Ah.
Battery of X rating at the Cn rate will provide a constant current of X/n amps for n hours before being fully discharged or flat.
From here you select a battery that provides this need Amps over time so that you don’t fully discharge it - using a discharge curve for the applicable C rating (match to system voltage here). Combine this with the depth of discharge life cycle table for the type of battery.
(Note to allow for system degradation over time before calculating total Amps needed.)
Now with all of this, you will find a variety of batteries with different costs will meet your requirements- undertake an economic assessment using a standard capital recovery calculation. Best NPC is your battery choice.

 

[Rochelle]

Thanks for the info - so far I have not really looked into it hence it is interesting.
As to working out of the life span of a battery - mmmmmm........ I think I leave that for one boring afternoon in the not so near future

 

[WildBrumby]

I still prefer the V8 even with the cost of fuel.
Love the rumble and power of my VF GTS Manual 557KW of guts and nuts

The Frenchman

I sold my VF Maloo for a handsome profit. Now from April you will need to pay capital gains tax on any profit from selling a used car that is above market value.

I was pissed that Holden and Ford dumped manufacturing in Australia so cut my HSV loose. Good decision made a killing on the original price I paid.

 

[WildBrumby]

You can still get the v8 noise with a Tesla.. it comes on a cd

I saw a review on how you can change sound settings in the Tesla. The owner changed the indicator “tick” to a farting whoopy cushion.

 

[Deleted member 49173]

You have a problem with supporting the West Australian mining industry? Worlds biggest supplier of lithium, and right up there with Nickel and Cobalt. Lots of projects ramping up at the moment including rare earths. Keeping me in money anyway.

Reacting to issues that have a personal effect is always easier than reacting to issues that will change things for the better ..

 

[HappyPirate]

Well, I have found a new way of transport, "I am think if I have a pole and sail it may improve my speed."

 

[TheJock]

Also Tesla comes with an 8 year warranty on their battery and motor. I can only assume there will be caveats on that eh 500,000s after a couple of years for example.

I’ve had nothing but a great experience so far from their service department (windscreen replacement)

 

[Sexty8]

I just test drove the Tesla and love the car...now just to wait for the order they say by xmas....

I would love to have one.
I think I read that they use 30kw per 100 kilometres travelled so thats $9 in electricity , unless you can solar charge of course. A car would be 8l to 15l of petrol to cover same so at $1.60 a litre thats $12.80 - $24 for same distance. Wish they were more affordable
Oh and @Mrs Langtrees Enjoy your ride ! Hehe only time I can get away with that to Maryanne

 

[Mrs Langtrees]

I heard it costs $4.00 a day to charge them

 

[TheJock]

I heard it costs $4.00 a day to charge them

Free if you have solar

 

[RugbyMermaid]

 

[Mrs Langtrees]

loved it

 

[sdm85]

Have driven one of these 0 to 100 in 4.6 seconds . They are a bit of a rocket that's for sure

Have you seen the Tesla Plaid in the US? 9.34sec 1/4 mile from factory. Crazy that a person with a bit of coin can by a normal daily driven car thats faster than hypercars worth millions of dollars.

I priced one up before they postponed bringing them in, about 200k here. More than i have to spend but plenty of people driving around in cars of that value in perth.

Only beaten by the Rimac Nevera which dipped into the 8's which is stupid really.

Great cars really

 

[Obbie]

Another 10 grand you can put it out to full race spec according to the sales guy here .