#2 & #3: diesels? These parts sound unfamiliar or mebbe ac partsQuote:
Originally Posted by MrPrena
Printable View
#2 & #3: diesels? These parts sound unfamiliar or mebbe ac partsQuote:
Originally Posted by MrPrena
All 3 are ICE.Quote:
Originally Posted by wyome
2 uses odd names. Centrifuge was a first for me on vehicle parts.
I've even seen them go so far as to coat the inside of the stainless with aluminum. Exhaust rot really seems to be a problem of the past.Quote:
Originally Posted by ray1970
Speaking of things from the past - I was looking at some old highway pictures and it occurred to me that the old "oil stain in the middle of the highway" is pretty much a thing of the past. Back in the 60's and 70's it was just taken as a "given" that all cars would drip a little oil and so the middle of the lane in the freeway always had a nice black, oily stain. The older the highway, the worse the stain.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gman
Here's an example of what I mean:
Attachment 77078
Now that cars have pretty much stopped leaking you don't see that anymore.
I actually thought of that yesterday when I pulled into a 7-Eleven to get an energy drink (since I don't "need" to go to gas stations anymore ;-) and in the parking spots were massive oil slicks and even degraded concrete as a result of the gross puddles people's cars leave. Granted the new cars are much better but another bonus to driving an EV is not worrying about leaks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Martinjmpr
Decent idea, but seems too expensive. I feel like you could just do this it a couple of regular ratchet straps using the rachet for the grip.
https://secretplane.net/products/ant...3221274290518_
Good point. I remember being able to tell where the bumps in the road were because it would cause any weeping oil to break loose and make a bigger stain.Quote:
Originally Posted by Martinjmpr
I like this product idea. I also didn't know the required specs for the door latch, but it makes sense.
https://thestepbuddy.com/products/th...22254830911552
I thought I read somewhere about Tesla (and perhaps other/all EVs) having a different sort of "leak" called Phantom Drain or Phantom Leaking. It was a reference to battery drain when the car wasn't in use. Some people apparently had a real problem with it. I also thought they had a coolant system.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jer
**Not dumping on Tesla or EVs in general as, obviously, they won't leak like a "normal" car. Just curious.
Those hot-rod drivers ain't seeing nothing but pretty taillights. Well...and the water on the road. LMAO
I watched another video where they race an 1/8th mile on a 1/4 mile track, but from back to front (to better simulate street racing). He is basically an 1/8th mile car because those nitrous racecars real him right in once they hook up.
Phantom drain is something that just about any rechargeable battery device will experience. In this case, my guess is that you're referring to an issues some were having early on where this was exaggerated and causing some issues for people leaving their car at airports for prolonged periods for instance. This has been fixed via software updates for quite a while though and doesn't really represent a significant issue other than a slow and predictable drain if you leave it sit for long periods w/o being plugged in. This is the case for ICE vehicles too though so not really anything unique to EVs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bailey Guns
There are also battery technologies in development that will also help in this area among many other more dramatic upgrades in current charging technologies.
As to the liquids statement; the only liquid in Tesla vehicles is the windshield washer fluid, brake fluid and the coolant mixture that circulates to keep the batteries warm for optimal charging & discharging. Sure these could leak but it would be very unlikely and (other than the brake fluid) is water soluble so it would dilute in a rain storm or with a garden hose and be safe for the environment and not leave the cruddy oil slicks you see in parking spots and that I used to dread whenever riding motorcycles. For someone like me who likes to keep their driveway and garage floors spotless this is a great thing to not have to worry about a drip during an oil change or from a leak. Whenever I pull up to a convenience store for an energy drink or pulling up to a stop like on a busy road I'm constantly reminded of one of the negatives of ICE cars that will eventually be a distant memory.
I've also seen a LOT of videos of full 1/4 mile races being won by a 4-door electric sedan on all season tires that weighs over 5,000lbs and makes no noise or pollution against high hp track-only vehicles. It's all situational and of course there are examples of either side winning either situation but the bottom line is that these Tesla cars are fast by any measurement. Considering where EVs were less than 10 years ago I'd say this is an overall win for the EV industry when it comes to showing they can be considered in the same breath as ICE cars.Quote:
Originally Posted by Irving
In other news, Amazon invested $700 million in Rivian.
I know GM wants a piece of that action too but they've got a cash problem.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gman
GM has a quality and competition problem.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jer
I won't argue the competition angle, but Consumer Reports doesn't seem to think they have a quality problem judging by their list of the best American-branded cars, trucks and SUVs from 01/02/2019.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gman
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars...s-suvs-trucks/
These are the top-rated cars from their class. You may not agree but they do have a pretty extensive testing regimen:
Subcompact = Chevy Sonic
Compact = Chevy Cruze
Compact Electric = Chevy Bolt
Large Sedan = Chevy Impala
Luxury Midsized Sedan = Cadillac XTS
Sports = Chevy Corvette
Large SUV = Chevy Suburban
Luxury SUV = Buick Envision
That's a pretty impressive lineup, especially from Chevrolet. And I'll admit I'm a Chevy fan...we currently own 3. They have been the most trouble free cars we've ever owned.
Speaking of GM, mary barra has to go. $22mil/yr salary ,and can't even predict the auto market less than half of time.
Cruze, Impala, and XTS from that list have been cancelled. Buick Envision is made in China. The Sonic is on thin ice for cancellation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bailey Guns
I've been a Chevy guy my whole life. Waited for the 2019 GM trucks to come out before making a purchasing decision...and wow. What a fail fest. The bean counters must be doing their design. Chevy is still advertising on their past achievements.
Many car makers are stopping sedan production this year...not just Chevy. Ford's doing the same thing. There's more money in trucks and SUVs. That's a consumer decision...not a fault of the automakers. Also doesn't change the fact they were top-rated cars by a leading testing facility.
I'm set with a truck so I haven't looked at the new Chevy pickups yet. I will as soon as I head in for the next service.
That's kind of a bummer to be getting rid of cars. I have a hard time believing that enough of them aren't being to completely stop making them.
Well the "market" seems to value chevy trucks rather highly. [Dunno]
Check out later model (2 -3 model years old) used trucks and you'll see the asking price on full sized GM trucks is notably higher than either Dodge (Ram), Ford, or Nissan for the same age, miles and equipment. I think the only ones that hold their value more are Toyotas.
They also shit-canned the Volt which (according to the previously cited Consumer Reports) is/was the most reliable car that GM produced. It makes no sense at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gman
Also from a long-time GM fella that was brought up generationally on GM in the farmlands of yore.
It's also the segment where a spunky young upstart is kicking serious ass and taking names currently as the big three phase out sedans. They can't seem to innovate to compete so they're just going to shudder up and hope they can keep making profit on the larger trucks and SUVs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Irving
Saw an interesting show on Amazon Prime last night. All the old car commercials from the 50s and 60s.
https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Car-C...ref=pd_ys_iyr1
Some very cool blast from the past type things. Back when the car manufacturers could actually do fun interesting designs instead of every car looking almost exactly the same.
I can tell you from firsthand experience that's true. I only owned my Colorado Duramax for a year and sold it for almost a grand more than I paid for it. I got into a position where i needed a big truck for towing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Martinjmpr
While I think it's disappointing seeing most cars go away it makes for some great deals. We had 2 Cruze diesels but I traded one on the Colorado. With them going away there are some unbelievable deals on the leftover 2018 models. Just bought a new 2018 Cruze TD Last weekend. Sticker was $27k give or take. Clearance price after rebates, incentives and discounts was $16761. We almost bought the other one they had and traded my wife's 2014 on it. Would've but she was set on leather seats and this one was cloth. Only downside was I had to drive to Seattle to get it.
Vehicles go out of production for lots of reasons but most often it has to do with the bottom dollar for the manufacturers.
Chevy Caprice was stupid popular with law enforcement agencies. Seems most preferred them to the Ford Crown Victoria. The Caprice was discontinued for one simple reason- there was more profit in SUVs and they converted the plant that made the Caprice to start making more Tahoes and Suburbans.
And as far as a previous comment about all cars pretty much looking the same, it?s all about aerodynamics. Ultimately there is only one design that is as aerodynamic as you can make a car so if every manufacturer is striving to make the most aerodynamic vehicle then they are all basically pushing their design towards the same shape. Since there are strict fuel economy and emissions standards to be met the more aerodynamic a vehicle is the better it will do in those departments.
It's one thing to discontinue a specific model of vehicle, but an entire class of vehicle is shocking.
Chevy is currently #3 in trucks...and that's with a new product launch of a fully redesigned truck.
Tesla looks more significant in sedan sales because many manufacturers are getting out of the space. The overall production volume for Tesla is small compared to the majors. Even when they can hit 5k in a month, that's not a big number.
I went to the Home and Garden Show last week.
The Tesla 3 was being displayed.
I asked about delivery time and was told if I ordered today, I would have it by the end of this February.
What?
We talked tax credits, charging stations - they own Solar City and turned me over to a rep of Solar City to tell me about adding solar to my house and include a charging station.
They haven't made a combination offer yet, but they are working on it.
I still don't get how they cleared their backlog so that I can get a Tesla in 2 weeks??
I felt that way when they stopped production on the Edsel.Quote:
Originally Posted by Irving
Sales are down in China with the impact of the tariffs and a number of folks cancelled their deposits when the subsidies were reduced.Quote:
Originally Posted by BladesNBarrels
I think a number of folks were hoping to get a $35K Tesla with a bunch of further discounts.
The lead time on new Teslas has been greatly over-hyped. Last I saw they were producing 7k Model 3's per month alone and are laying off production staff to let the automation process do what it was designed to do. Higher quality, faster production and fewer human hands... it's a win win but if you listen the MSM the sky is falling. GM lays people off to bolster profit margin and the MSM claims it's a good move and the stock goes up. Tesla does it, the MSM claims they're going to fold up shop and go away and the stock goes down. Makes no sense.Quote:
Originally Posted by BladesNBarrels
FWIW, even during the time (November-ish) they were still trying to ramp up production and in "production hell" as the saying goes my wife's boss ordered a Model 3 on a Friday and took delivery of his new car on the following Monday. No exaggeration. Now, if only they could get the title work to buyers and customer service in timely manner they'd be awesome. It's not all roses but they've acknowledged the deficiency and have committed to addressing it. We shall see....
This was the plan all along with the Model 3 and it will still happen this year (most likely... the China factory coming online will go a long way in being able to reduce costs) but those who thought a $35k Model 3 out-of-the-gate would be a thing haven't paid too much attention to the Tesla business model which has been very smart to this point. Rather than follow the previous new car business model deployed by the likes of Honda, Toyota and more recently Kia and Hyundai of "make a cheap turd, bank capital and then work like mad to try to turn your image into something of quality or even luxury" they decided to go with "start at the top of the cost food chain, sell expensive sports/lux cars to maximize profit from the rich early adopters to build cash flow and experience to streamline the process of building more affordable and mass production cars with narrow margins later" and has shown that model to be quite attainable with the right product.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gman
I too had my eye on a $35k car I could get $12,500 tax credits (fed & state) making it a helluva sweet deal on a very nice EV but that didn't happen. The fed credit went down only by $3,750 and Tesla reduced their MSRP across the board $2k to help level out the difference. This pissed a lot of current Model 3 owners off but who cares? They were early adopters and that's the price you pay to be the first on your block to have one. Personally, I didn't value that enough to pay a premium so I was content to sit on the sideline and watch it unfold. We bought a couple of used Model S cars instead and I couldn't be happier with my decision.
How do you handle the charging?Quote:
Originally Posted by Jer
My neighbor was an early buyer and he built his own charging station in the garage.
Later, he added solar to his house with Sun City, but that was before they were bought by Tesla and he did not get a charging station included. His power goes out with no back-up, just like regular grid users.
I was impressed by Solar City's new approach - they were commenting that Mr. Musk's first passion was to convert the world to alternate energy and solar is part of that plan.
Now Solar City has storage panels for the solar energy it produces, so that you still have power and it switches faster than your clocks and computers can shut down.
They wouldn't give a cost estimate until you set an appointment to have their technicians come out and evaluate your needs - not even ballpark.
Tesla has had a "Powerwall" for a while. It has only been available in limited markets at introduction. Since Tesla owns Solar City, that's likely the storage you're referring to.
Solar installers are struggling to find Tesla Powerwall battery systems
Quote:
There’s plenty of demand for Tesla Inc.’s Powerwall home battery systems. The trick is finding installers that have them.
Only 12% of U.S. companies that install solar panels and residential batteries carry the Powerwall, a study Tuesday from Boston-based EnergySage and the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners found. Meanwhile, about 55% of customers shopping for home-storage systems want them, according to the 871 installers surveyed in the report.
“Installers have indicated their frustration that the most popular battery is not available,” said Vikram Aggarwal, chief executive of EnergySage, an Energy Department-backed company that collects data on the solar industry and runs a website where customers can solicit quotes from solar installers.
Tesla declined to comment. One reason independent installers who participated in the survey may have a hard time finding Powerwalls is that Tesla shifted its strategy last year to sell most of its systems through its website and stores rather than third-party channels.
Another reason is the company converted some production lines for home- and business-storage systems to produce vehicle batteries instead. “Otherwise we would have done quite a bit more in stationary storage,” Chief Executive Elon Musk said in a call with analysts last month. Tesla plans to double its energy storage installations this year, to more than 2 gigawatt-hours.
“Customers want brands they recognize, from manufacturers who have produced their television, fridge or car,” Hugh Bromley, an analyst at BloombergNEF, said in an interview.
All you really need is to install a NEMA 14-50 which is a very common 240v 50A outlet. I got lucked out and was able to drop one about a foot below our breaker panel in the garage so total cost of materials was like $39. To have an actual electrician install it would have probably been a few hundred bucks or so if you don't know what you're doing. Our average daily use is under 30 miles and this outlet will put that back in in less than an hour. The Tesla cars are VERY friendly in this manner. A simple 14-50 will charge faster than most other EVs charge station which is kind of expensive to have installed.Quote:
Originally Posted by BladesNBarrels
My plan is to add solar panels very soon. The efficiency is finally to a place where a break-even usually occurs in less than 10 years with warranty on these panels being over twice that. I will eventually add a Powerwall but I'm not sure I can justify the cost up front to go with that since our local Muni doesn't have a different rate for electricity on and off peak. Once they update their metering system it will make a lot more sense to add a battery back-up to use battery whenever we're on-peak and then use the cheaper electricity when the rates are lower. It's super cool being able to say that your 4 second 0-60 sedan runs on the sun's rays.
Just know that you really don't need to plan to overhaul your entire life to add one of these EVs if you buy the right one that suits your needs. You can if you want but if you're not ready to take on such a massive undertaking you can really make these suckers fit your existing lifestyle and they'll make it better even if you don't go all-in with solar and back-up solutions. I tell people that even if you don't get into the environment aspect these are just the absolute best cars I've ever driven. No qualifiers. If you end up being able to help the environment by driving a bad ass car that's just and added bonus IMO.
Not sure where you got your info from but they're installing all over the country at a pretty rapid rate these days. I know plenty of folks in Colorado with multiple Powerwalls in their solar setup.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gman
For a fun fact take a look at the project Tesla just finished up in Australia and what the upgrade is doing to their grid.
I worked with a local energy provider in my previous job that also is installing their system and Longmont is up next and they plan to save the residents about a million bucks per month.
What they're able to do with these is pretty damn impressive and is only the first generation of things to come once battery tech improves.
Really a million? Based on cost per i really doubt it, which is sad as i'd like a few.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jer
.
Considering the availability is less than the demand . I don't see all of longmont opening their wallets for a $7K per unit, anytime soon
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...ers/ar-BBTNjR6
Look I know you're all gung ho on EV, tesla specifically. But I miss your taco and crossfit post. Or have you given upon the tacoma for tesla?