Why Tesla’s Model 3 Could Be the New Model T

[EspressoBuzz]

Rattler, Time is a fire in which we all burn. We can burn brilliantly with a beautiful light or we can smolder and smoke and choke those around us.

 

I'm sure you are right, I personally know of people who grew up in the 50's who wish they could have stopped love canal before it was polluted and caused birth defects, or DDT before it took it's toll on avian wildlife or even stopped Nixon from opening the door to China so all our jobs wouldn't go there (Yes, a republican did that). But hey I get what you're saying the 50's were great Rock and Roll was new and everyone knew their place, the football team could beat the crap out of that effeminate kid and not get in trouble. Good times for (almost) all!

 

[Rattler]

No, you do not get what I'm saying.

 

[EspressoBuzz]

then tell me what you mean.

[Rattler]

See my other post about the Welfare State for a partial understanding.

 

[EspressoBuzz]

Tesla Knows When a Crash Is Your Fault, and Other Carmakers Soon Will, Too

 

Everyone makes mistakes, and many people try to cover them up. But if you try to hide an error made behind the wheel of a car made by Tesla Motors, you are liable to be caught out. In fact, trying to hide what really happened in any kind of car accident could soon become just about impossible.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601657/tesla-knows-when-a-crash-is-your-fault-and-other-carmakers-soon-will-too/

[EspressoBuzz]

Automakers Don't Care That People Don't Trust Self-Driving Cars

We need to be honest with ourselves: the era of autonomous vehicles will soon begin. In fact, it already has. Automakers and major technology companies such as Googleand Apple are all heavily investing in the technology, and there’s not going to be any slowdown. According to a new IHS Automotive study, sales of self-driving vehicles are now expected to reach nearly 21 million by 2035, an even higher number than previously predicted.

 

http://www.carbuzz.com/news/2016/6/11/Automakers-Don-t-Care-That-People-Don-t-Trust-Self-Driving-Cars-7733949/

[Rattler]

Sounds like a lot of Big Government Nanny State Control, forced on the auto makers by legal coercion and fear of government sanctioned and subsidized lawsuits.  I'll bet the NHTSA people are very involved in all of this.  When your government wants total control of everything, there's more than one way to skin a cat.

 

The best part is, we all get to cough up the money to pay for it.  That's going to be a huge amount that will probably remove the ability to have a vehicle from the lower class in America, negating anything Henry Ford was able to accomplish with the Model T.

 

Also, I can only imagine how safe and reliable these cars will be when a 2nd owner, in the lower middle class, buys one that's 10 years old with 200,000 miles on it.  Cars today that are 10 years old don't even have power windows that work properly.

 

You see a bright future with these vehicles.  I don't look through those same rose colored glasses.

 

[EspressoBuzz]

Cough up the dough, sort of like the iPhone?

 

I don't see it all rosy but I do see a place in the urban landscape for quiet electric vehicles that can help you navigate the crowded and busy environment. While you see it as the nanny state I see it as a means to free people from mundane tasks or aiding the handicapped.Only time will tell if a self driving car is more or less dangerous than your 80 year old neighbor who really shouldn't be driving. Where you see a vast gov't driven conspiracy to control Americans through technology I see people with vision driven to realize that vision in an all American way. Nothing ever invented was perfect or for that matter inexpensive with the first model issued, but does that mean we shouldn't try? As the easily checked facts I have posted below indicate your idea of what "lower class" American earned is incorrect. While what Ford did with mass production was revolutionary what he did by providing a good job at a good wage was even more important as he created his own customers and the largest middle class in American history.

 

My KIA is 10 years old the electric windows work just fine.

 

"We can roughly estimate the value of a Model T today by adjusting for inflation. At an average growth rate of 3.21% per year, over 103 years, we can calculate a present value of $850 as:
$850 x (1.0321)¹⁰³
=$850 x 25.90
= $22,017

 

"The average wage in 1908 was 22 cents per hour. The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year . A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year."

Edited June 12, 2016 by EspressoBuzz

[Rattler]

Do you expect a self driving electric car to sell for $22,000?

 

How many Americans can expect to be employed making self driving electric cars?

 

Nothing wrong with new inventions being tried, as long as they are allowed to be judged by a free market.  The government should not be propping up failures because they meet an agenda.

 

 

Edited June 12, 2016 by Rattler

[EspressoBuzz]

"We can roughly estimate the value of a Model T today by adjusting for inflation. At an average growth rate of 3.21% per year, over 103 years, we can calculate a present value of $850 as:
$850 x (1.0321)¹⁰³
=$850 x 25.90
= $22,017

 

"The average wage in 1908 was 22 cents per hour. The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year . A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year."

 

Comparing a model T to a modern car is a waste of time, the Model T was four wheels and a motor, today's car is so much safer and reliable that the "T' ever hoped to be. The real fact to take away is percentage of earnings a vehicle purchase represented. Even with 30 years of wages that have not kept pace with inflation a car is in many ways more affordable today to lower class Americans.

 

The Gov't propping innovations and inventions is nothing new and one of the reasons America has been the leader in innovations and inventions, whether you like it or not.

[Rattler]

Sorry to tell you this, but your dream of the future is just that, a dream.  Reality will be far from what you're hoping for.  It would take a book to go into details, and I wouldn't want to destroy your hopes, so I just leave this here and wish you good luck.

 

[EspressoBuzz]

yada yada yada thanks for your input, grievances duly noted, prediction of dystopia duly noted.

 

MEANWHILE....

 

Harley-Davidson Will Sell Electric Motorcycles 'Within Five Years'

 

Iconic American motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson has been touting the “LiveWire” electric bike concept around for years. But only recently has the company committed to a timeline on production of anything like it.

“Harley-Davidson will produce an electric motorcycle for customer within the next five years,” writes Asphalt And Rubber citing Harley Senior Vice President of Global Demand Sean Cummings as quoted in the Milwaukee Business Journal.

More: http://lanesplitter.jalopnik.com/harley-davidson-will-sell-electric-motorcycles-within-f-1781987251

[EspressoBuzz]

Nissan to Bring Ethanol to run Hydrogen-Powered Cars by 2020

 

Nissan Motor Co Ltd (ADR) (OTCMKTS:NSANY) is not tapping in ethanol as a source to run vehicles on hydrogen, said the company on Tuesday. This is the first time any automaker is planning to make hydrogen from ethanol, to power cars. Such a vehicle is said to be hitting roads by the end of this decade.

 

More: http://www.bidnessetc.com/70354-nissan-bring-ethanol-run-hydrogenpowered-cars-2020/

[EspressoBuzz]

Gallery: The promise of the all-electric racing car: An interview with Formula E driver Nicolas Prost

 

Think about car racing and certain images — and sounds — probably come to mind. The high-pitched nasal howl as Formula 1 cars zoom by. The absurdly over-logoed visual extravaganza of NASCAR. Now there’s a brand-new racing series that has, well, none of that. Formula E, the world’s first fully electric racing series, has cars that swish rather than scream. And while sponsor logos certainly feature, in this championship all the drivers drive the same model of car. What?

 

More" http://ideas.ted.com/the-promise-of-the-all-electric-racing-car-an-interview-with-formula-e-driver-nicolas-prost/

[EspressoBuzz]

Rolls-Royce Robot Car Offers Effortless Journey And A Grand Sanctuary And Arrival

 

Billionaires can relax. If you thought the age of the autonomous car meant you would have to buzz around in little anonymous, lookalike pods like the rest of us, Rolls-Royce is coming to your rescue.

 

More: http://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton/2016/06/17/rolls-royce-robot-car-offers-effortless-journey-grand-sanctuary-and-arrival/#2d22b4a7512a

[Rattler]

You really are a salesman's dream Buzz.

[EspressoBuzz]

I did study electrical engineering for 3 years...

[EspressoBuzz]

Should Your Driverless Car Hit a Pedestrian to Save Your Life?

 

People say that one day, perhaps in the not-so-distant future, they’d like to be passengers in self-driving cars that are mindful machines doing their best for the common good. Merge politely. Watch for pedestrians in the crosswalk. Keep a safe space. A new research study, however, indicates that what people really want to ride in is an autonomous vehicle that puts its passengers first. If its machine brain has to choose between slamming into a wall or running someone over, well, sorry, pedestrian.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/24/technology/should-your-driverless-car-hit-a-pedestrian-to-save-your-life.html?_r=0

Edited June 25, 2016 by EspressoBuzz

[EspressoBuzz]

Tesla driver dies in first fatal crash while using autopilot mode

The first known death caused by a self-driving car was disclosed by Tesla Motorson Thursday evening, a development that is sure to cause consumers to second-guess the trust they put in the booming autonomous vehicle industry.

The 7 May accident occurred in Williston, Florida, after the driver, Joshua Brown, 40, of Ohio put his Model S into Tesla’s autopilot mode, which is able to control the car during highway driving.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jun/30/tesla-autopilot-death-self-driving-car-elon-musk