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Comment Re:In Germany, I will not buy an electrical car (Score 1) 247

Just centralizing pollution, horrid efficiency (fossil base to movement) and further stress on power grid. An electrical car is tolerable as soon as it's operated FULLY on renewable sources, e.g. the sun AND has an acceptable range (600km at 140km/h == 86 m/h).

Has been debunked already. Even when operated on 100% coal power, the Model S produces 1/2 the pollution of a small economy gasoline car.

Comment Re:Tesla's Ugly Duckling (Score 1) 247

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?

Comment Re:Smaller? (Score 1) 247

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.

Comment Re:No voice control? (Score 2) 88

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.

Comment Re:This just illustrates (Score 3, Interesting) 365

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.

Comment Re:I can't buy one (Score 1) 377

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.

Comment Re:Automatic software updates (Score 1) 136

The Tesla SW update works like this:

The updates are batched by Tesla so not all cars are updated at once. In case there's a problem with the new SW, that limits the number of affected vehicles.

Once the VIN has been tagged for update, the car downloads the new SW (over 3G or WIFI if available) and stores it locally. A prompt is shown on the main screen that new SW is available. Options are "install now" or "schedule install" (midnight is pre-selected), or "do not install now".

Comment Ebay overloaded (Score 1) 193

Tried to change my ebay password and got this:

Page not available
Ebay is asking its users to reset their passwords due to the unauthorized access to our corporate information network. This may result in a delay of service due to the high traffic volume. We ask for your patience and that you return to eBay soon. In the meantime, please be assured that no activity can occur on your account until your password is reset.

Comment Re:Camera gun (Score 1) 765

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.

Comment Re:real reason why.... (Score 4, Insightful) 193

"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.

Comment Re:Questions: (Score 3, Informative) 93

* 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.

Comment Re:I had issue with this day one when we took deli (Score 4, Informative) 93

The article is a bit misleading. The Tesla account requires a MINIMUM of 6 characters for the password. You can use a much longer one. The password also allows special character. You're not brute-forcing mine this side of the end of the universe. It's a generated password, very long and all kinds of special characters.

Comment Re:Option? (Score 2) 93

Yes. The remote access to the car has to be turned on by the owner. When the car is delivered it is turned off. Tesla still has remote access even if the user-level access is off, but that would prevent access via the REST API and mobile app.

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