Tesla?

How many of you would consider buying a Tesla?

With everything involved in the diagnostic world and traditional vehicles that all goes out the window with a Tesla. There is really no aftermarket world for them and people that typically maintain their own vehicles are flying blind. I recently got to play with a model s for a week and it was an awesome car. It got me thinking, how many of us "like minded" people that work on and diagnose vehicles would consider owning one?

They are very rare here in the UK Renault & Nissan are the pure electrics in use in sizeable numbers in the UK but of course is changing. The problem with discussing electric cars is modern electric car and its' battery are still emerging technology.
My neighbour has owned or currently has 3 electric Renaults -- (Nissan Leaf technology ) the latest one has more than twice the range of the previous two which with newish battery and careful driving could just manage a round trip of 80 miles. For local running around they work fine but on longer journeys they have encountered recharging issues after topping up from a rapid charge point. They have also had other electronic and battery issues rendering the vehicles off road for up to 10 days. It will be no surprise to all of us on the forum it is evident the the local dealership is on a steep learning curve with electric cars not helped by the ever evolving technolgy.

Here is the thing although electric vehicles are simple to drive and appeal to anyone who wants to save the planet and or save £££/$$$ but the owner has to be aware of managing and maintaining the charge battery.

Unlike a vehicle running fossil fuel although rapid charge points are increasingly available it isn't a simple matter of running until the fuel light comes on and grabbing 10 gallons. In a way it is a step back in time the owner has to remember to look after the battery reconnect to the charger over night. Unlike the drivers of the 1920's and 1930's where driver need some knowledge to start and operate a vehicle the current generation of drivers are used to the vehicle managing itself.

Using rapid charger stations to extend the range on longer journeys brings problems on the Nissan/Renault system using a rapid charge station to boost the charge buts a lock on any charger to the car for 24hrs to allow the battery to cool.

They are very rare here in the UK Renault & Nissan are the pure electrics in use in sizeable numbers in the UK but of course is changing. The problem with discussing electric cars is modern electric car and its' battery are still emerging technology.
My neighbour has owned or currently has 3 electric Renaults -- (Nissan Leaf technology ) the latest one has more than twice the range of the previous two which with newish battery and careful driving could just manage a round trip of 80 miles. For local running around they work fine but on longer journeys they have encountered recharging issues after topping up from a rapid charge point. They have also had other electronic and battery issues rendering the vehicles off road for up to 10 days. It will be no surprise to all of us on the forum it is evident the the local dealership is on a steep learning curve with electric cars not helped by the ever evolving technolgy.

Here is the thing although electric vehicles are simple to drive and appeal to anyone who wants to save the planet and or save £££/$$$ but the owner has to be aware of managing and maintaining the charge battery.

Unlike a vehicle running fossil fuel although rapid charge points are increasingly available it isn't a simple matter of running until the fuel light comes on and grabbing 10 gallons. In a way it is a step back in time the owner has to remember to look after the battery reconnect to the charger over night. Unlike the drivers of the 1920's and 1930's where driver need some knowledge to start and operate a vehicle the current generation of drivers are used to the vehicle managing itself.

Using rapid charger stations to extend the range on longer journeys brings problems on the Nissan/Renault system using a rapid charge station to boost the charge puts a lock on connecting any charger to the car for 24hrs to allow the battery to cool.

I didn't realize how different the EV world was across the pond. In the US a Tesla can get you up to about 330 miles per charge which puts you fairly well on par with the range of a traditional combustion engine. It is true it isn't as convenient on long trips but the Tesla network maps out charging stations along your route as well. They also run cooling systems for the battery packs circulating with coolant pumps to help bring down temperatures. You can also set limits to what the max charge capacity is to help increase the life of the batteries.

I have a friend that took a roughly 1600 mile trip in his Tesla and other than having only a handful of routes to pick to make sure he hit charging points it was otherwise disruptive. Now for someone who primarily commutes locally and charges at home, range is not nearly as much of an issue. Tesla's also do come with 110v and 220v adapters so in a pinch you can charge virtually anywhere with electricity.

I don't have much experience with any platform EV but probably know the most about Tesla. I generally have little reservation jumping into something unknown and trying to figure it out but with a Tesla you have far more computer controlled circuits and a varying mix of AC and DC controls that definately makes you think twice and sticking a test light just about anywhere.

Tesla's are generally thought here as vehicles you want to own inside a warranty or have enough disposable income to pay for repair. Even if I could afford to send it off to let the manufacturer fix any issues I'd have a hard time not wanting to fix it myself. That's a fairly dangerous game potentially as you can't just run to the parts store and get parts or find much of any repair guides for a Tesla compared to other EV brands. To an average consumer that expects to pay for repair no matter what they drive it might not be such a crucial aspect of ownership. For the rest of of that want to understand and maintain our own vehicles it definately ads more consideration.

All manufacturers really only car about sales to the first owner and the trade-in value when the first owner chops it in.
In Europe EV sales are rising due to inner city pollution zones, Plug-in hybrids were being encouraged by tax exemptions for company cars but at least in the UK they are now being taxed because it has been discovered the major of drivers of company owned plug-in hybrids never plugged into a charge point.

For the last 10 years in the UK and most of Europe the diesel dominated sales in the over 1.8 litre market but DPF regeneration issues and the VAG pollution gate have raise the running costs and more and more cities are introducing inner city bans. Diesels fitted with DPF below 1.6 litre really didn't work because used for short journeys they never reached regeneration temperature and in any event the MPG advantage over a 1.4 gasloline is minimal

I ran an aftermarket LPG conversion for a few years but in the UK LPG never really took off, I liked LPG it was much cleaner .than gasoline, the engine oil never got carboned up, but there was extra maintenance costs.

Currently my daily driver is an older 2 litre turbo common rail diesel --- which I like but do feel guilty about although I never drive it in the city but the fuel economy (50% better than the same car with a 1.8 gasoline engine) and performance (slighty better than the 1.8 na gasoline engine) is a major win,

I've ordered the not so expensive model 3, waiting here in Australia