Can confirm. Mine does 0-60 in 3.2 seconds and torque is immediate. Plenty of models are 0-60 in less than 5 seconds. Completely changes how you drive.
If everyone plugged their car into a fast charger at 7pm on a hot summer day, there could be a problem… but most electric vehicle charging is done at off-peak hours (incentivized by time-of-use electricity metering) when there is otherwise unused capacity in the system.
Our electrical grid is already taxed to the max where we have rotating block outages during the summer.
And I already see a lot of Teslas lined up charging during the day in parking lots around here in the SF Bay Area.
Then add millions more electric vehicles and more electrified public transportation. What we need is more advanced battery technology.
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Here in the northeast, electricity is expensive. I wonder what the cost is to be charging one’s car every day from home. Also, how does the electricity get generated----burning fossil fuels (we don’t have hydro or much nuclear in the NE). Besides the inconvenience, I would have to be convinced that an all-electric car is also financially doable, and that it does help with emissions, given that power plants spew greenhouse gases as cars do.
Massachusetts electricity generation is about two thirds natural gas, one fourth renewables (largest share of which is rooftop solar), and a small amount of nuclear, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis .
Other states can be looked up at that site as well.
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They are working on advanced battery technology. The environmental benefits of getting away from fossil fuel is huge. Plus, I LOVE my tesla. Its so fun to drive. And next week they are coming to rotate my tires… in my garage 
And no oil change to deal with, and with the regenerative brakes, it’s doubtful I’ll need new brake pads anytime soon (hopefully!)
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That was a really interesting site - thanks for posting it! I looked up NY and PA… and learned PA exports more electricity than any other state, plus, most of it now comes from natural gas whereas in 2010 a good bit came from coal. Way to go! Hopefully solar and/or wind will be adding more in the next decade.
Wind is a poor way to generate electricity. The turbine blades need to be replaced regularly, and they are not easily recyclable because they are made of fiberglass which is a PITA to deal with. When you factor this into the equation, wind becomes a less desirable source of electricity.
The utilities in windy places (e.g. IA, KS, TX) apparently don’t see it that way. Occasional replacement of turbine blades presumably costs less to them than burning the coal or natural gas that the wind turbines replaced (or were built instead of) as an electricity generation source. The main issue with wind (and solar) is that it is not controllable in response to minute-by-minute electricity demand.
What you don’t see is the piles of spent turbine blades in landfills or just sitting there… although there is growing cottage industry that is looking into fiberglass recycling.
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Isn’t that the problem with a number of components of non-fossil fuel generating sources? Sourcing materials for batteries, for example, is extremely destructive to the sites where they’re mined.
It’s not like there are perfect solutions. Right now greenhouse gases that warm the planet are enemy #1. If that means we have to solve the additional problem of disposing of fiberglass blades, so be it.
Electric cars need no service other than to change tires, saving a lot of money
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A lot of other materials are easily recyclable. Fiberglass - not so much.
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Suppose a 1.5MW wind turbine generates that much power 40% of the time. Suppose its blades get replaced in 10 years (apparently 20 years is a common rated lifetime, but some are replaced earlier for more efficient ones). Over the 10 years, it generates over 52GWh of electricity. Since a ton of coal can be used to generate about 2460kWh, that means that 52GWh would need over 21,000 tons of coal to generate. If the wind turbine lasts 20 years, then its output would be equivalent to that produced by burning over 42,000 tons of coal.
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The biggest problem with wind turbines is that they are unreliable. Imagine a hot hazy summer day, energy consumption is at its absolute peak. The wind is negligible. So not making energy when you need it most. You can’t generate energy at will with wind. Big drawback.
We will see how they expect to generate power in the future. Coal is being shut down, too much pollution. No one wants nuclear in the US even though ecologically is the best option. But it has to be countered with the downsides. Idk how gas turbines are going to work on a large scale and they still pollute CO2. I can’t even with wind. Hydroelectric has its drawbacks and I don’t think there are many being built in the US right now. And many of the generating plants there are over 100 years old and generate a small amount of megawatts.
Anyways, it will be interesting how this works out in the future.
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More like, cheap natural gas from fracking is much less hassle (pollution is one hassle, but not the only one) from a utility’s point of view than coal is.
People are afraid of radiation from nuclear power plants, but do not seem to mind radiation from coal power plants.
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I wish I could shout that from the rooftops!
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Be careful not to fall off or damage the roof or solar panels that may be on the roof.
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My DH just bought his fantasy vehicle, a Toyota 4Runner Off Road. It has terrible gas mileage and it’s not a unibody construction. He wanted “a truck” build. I have a nice fuel-efficient Honda Accord Touring with a V-6 engine which I love (they are not making these anymore). DH paid 47K for his vehicle (which, to be fair, we will use for camping and towing). We buy new cars outright, which is probably stupid from a financial standpoint. However, we keep our vehicles for 10+ years. It is very nice to not have a car payment.
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I buy my cars outright too and also keep them for 10+ years. Not stupid from a financial POV in my opinion. The early miles in a car’s life are the most trouble free mile the car will ever have. That’s what you’re buying when you buy new - as well as the assurance that there are no hidden problems which caused the car to be turned over in the first place. Just my 2 cents.
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