Dogs Rule said:
superchunk said:
Tesla Motors is a ground up company. It is building its capital for mass production quatities and prices. In the next 2 years they will have a mass produced sports car similar to the one they already produce and a $40k-ish family sedan.
The point is GM and other companies had already started to mass produce electric vehicles that with the combined newer batteries and appropiate mass production the costs would dramatically come down over a few years. Thus, putting quality electric cars in the hands of the mass market in the 20k price range for a new vehicle.
I know I would spend up to $10k more for an purely electric version of a car, easy. When factor in the massive reduction in cost for fuel, even at prices from a few years ago, and the reduction in all the maintenance costs for various items that internal cumbustion engines require like belts, seals, oil, filters, etc, you could easily save $10k over a 5 year period.
Not to mention they are quicker, more durable, quieter, and obviously a zero emission vehicle is a good thing.
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For sure the purely economical saving would compensate the initial investment. The main thing you need to change on an electric motor is the brushes.
Even if you factor in that you might need to rent a gas-powered vehicle a few days over the lifetime of your car, such as when towing a boat or recreational vehicles (jet skis, 4 wheelers, snowmobiles), I think you'd still come out on top.
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Why would you need a gas powered vehicle to tow stuff? Electric vehicles have a much stronger motor, so they couold tow more and if the info is right on this new battery type, even the reduced range would probably not need a substantial time requirement.
The only vehicles that I could see that would need to stay internal combustion for the time being are semis and other shipping types of trucks.
