I thought Tesla had turned the corner when it comes to electric car styling. I see that thought was a bit premature.
It seems that when vehicle manufacturers cheapen up a car, the first thing they throw out is looks. I understand why attractive women are expensive, but I don't see why the same rule has to apply to cars.
Interesting comment considering no one has seen the Model E yet. Can I borrow your time machine, please?
Another consideration is the size reduction, 10% smaller is not a good thing for Americans. I weigh about 200lbs and because of the way the steering wheel adjusts in the model S I can't physically fit in the driver's seat. I have actually sat in the car so I think the steering wheel could be designed to tilt instead of just going in and out a few inches. The model S is not a large car to begin with, if you make things smaller still you are greatly limiting your market from the majority of Americans.
Huh? The MS has tilt and telescoping steering wheel. The MS is a big car. It doesn't look it, but the interior and trunk space is of a full-size car.
Or someone pays for a license for speech to text implementations. Just because it's Linux, doesn't mean there can't be commercial software on it, commercial licenses available, etc.
This is what Tesla did. They run Linux (although it's their own, Debian based, flavor) and they licensed voice recognition (Googles, I think). It works really, really well. I have a slight accent and it still gets it right every time.
solar is going to be affordable for me to install on my roof (technically it already is today, but due to HOA rules I can't have them
Have you checked with your HOA recently? TX now has a law that regulates what HOAs can demand as far as roof top solar. An HOA cannot simply say "no solar panels allowed". Instead there are guide lines in the law that the HOA will make you follow, such as the panels must follow the roof angle, no tilt panels that follow the sun, panel frames and mounts that blend into the HOA color scheme (probably they will ask for black). Stuff like that. The law isn't perfect, there are loop holes in case the HOA is run by jerks. But if you're willing to go to arbitration it is very likely you will win. I'm in Dallas and installed 20 solar panels (5kW) earlier this month. My HOA was very supportive and changed some of the rules due to my suggestions in order to make the process easier.
Tesla offers a "we-cover-everything-but-tires" service for $600 annually (including consumables!), and while cheaper than most vehicle services over the same period
I looked at that and thought it was really, really expensive.
I agree. I looked at the Tesla service plan and decided not to do it. Btw, if you pre-pay the service cost is less. $400-something, but still too much, IMO. What they do is rotate the tires, check alignment, replace wiper blades and cabin filter, refill washer fluid. That's about it. Every couple of years I think they also replace the brake fluid. I can do these things myself for much less than $400.
They can put a camera on the gun today. That's what they ought to focus on. Maybe someday we'll have guns smart enough to only take disabling shots, or phasers on stun. But today, we can at least establish where a gun was pointed when it was fired,
It was pointed straight at the bullet hole.
"standard" usage will reach about 2/4 years before the degrade in mileage and performance warrants a replacement.
Not sure where you get your information from, but so far things are looking much better than that. The Tesla Roadster had a slightly older battery technology and they have about 80% of the battery capacity left after 100,000 miles. Still very usable. A couple of Model S have hit 70,000 miles and have ~95% of capacity left, so the Model S battery is better. The 8 year warranty is a fairly safe bet by Tesla.
* Can the owner switch off the remote control/access to their car ?
Yes.
* Can the owner switch off the remote control/access to their car by Tesla as well as the owner ?
No.
* 6 character password. Is that the minimum length or the length it must be (Ie can't set a longer one) ?
Minimum. The password can also contain special character.
* It mentions an iPhone app. What if I don't have (or want) an iPhone ?
There's an official android app. I think there's an unofficial winphone app too. There's an unoffical chrome plugin and stand-alone JAVA app.
* What cars made by companies other than Tesla have similar systems ?
No one has anything as comprehensive. Closest is probably on-star.
A fully loaded Fusion Hybrid Energi Titanium is about $35K.
And from 50 feet away it's nearly indistinguishable from a Tesla.
It also has a gasoline engine that'll get me home when the batteries are depleted.
I've seen 'em, sat in them. I think it'd be a tough sell convincing me it's $55K better.
It's easily $55K better. Sorry.
Renault Alliance was Motor Trend's Car of the Year. My dad bought one and it sucked. I quit listening to anything they had to say after that.
In their defense: What other new cars were there in the early 80's? The Chrysler K-car? Maybe the Renault really was the best (least sucky) at the time.
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