I was curious of your thoughts. What would you prefer to drive today based on what you can afford and the quality of the make. I love my Prius but I've recently test drove a tesla and I have to say it was a completely different world as far as the way it's built. I'm interested in hearing your thoughts and reasoning either way. Thanks!
I can't currently afford a Tesla with the amount of range I would want. For a full electric vehicle, I want a whole days worth of driving from a single charge. The charging station network is not robust enough in my area for anything less.
i could afford a tesla and like them to a degree, but i'm happy with my current prius, and don't feel the price difference equals the benefit difference. and then there's still the same old range problem, repair problem and etc.
I think you'll get as many opinions here as there are people. Everyone's needs/preferences mix is different. My next new car will probably be a Tesla M3 unless something more affordable and equally efficient comes along that offers similar safety features. I'm not about to trade my present Prius Prime's 5 m/kWh for something that only gets about 3.
I just saw the Consumer Reports buying guide issue last night, and of all the MPGe ratings in its entire automotive section, unless I overlooked something, the highest was ... 133 for Prius Prime. In the full electric categories, M3 was the only thing that even came near that number. Sure, I get that it's apples and oranges, with the Prime only able to do that for a modest distance and then be back to 50 MPG. But I guess it surprised me because I was expecting better from the electrics.
I have mixed emotions about the Tesla and don't think they'd be nearly as popular without the Federal EV subsidiary. But I doubt I'd ever purchase one, they are over-priced and replacement battery prices compared to a Prius is laughable. (Not to mention the crazy fires when they do explode!) I'm a DIY guy and Tesla isn't sharing repair information which forces the owners to pay whatever their Tesla maintenance folks want to charge or just risk messing things up by doing it themselves. (Which is scary since you're dealing with a LOT of amps!) I saw the Chinese have some small EVs for less than $6,000 so if they ever sell them in North America Tesla might be in trouble!
To me it seems like the makers are seriously pandering to the SUV/CUV crowd and really don't give a rip about efficiency. Good engineers always strive for maximum efficiency.
Tesla hasn’t had the federal EV subsidy for a couple of years. Tesla doesn’t seem to be in trouble in China, where the small EVs are being sold now. Americans seem to love their large cars/SUVs. I doubt a tiny sub $6000 Chinese EV is going to threaten any of the manufacturers of larger vehicles.
The 2021 Model 3 SR+ is rated 142mpge. The long range AWD one is 134, and the Ioniq Electric is 133. Then with high MPG ratings, the difference between ratings have to be much greater to save more energy. Unfortunately, those are what are selling. Between higher profits, and limited part supplies, a SUV is what most car companies are going to put out as their first EV. They also don't have the investment yet of Tesla into efficient components. Those are NEVs; neighborhood electric vehicles. Their top speed might be 35mph. Once shipped to the US, their price goes up. The Kandi K27 is $15,500. https://www.kandiamerica.com/NEV-K27/ The cheapest highway BEV in China is around $10k there. Which is what I've seen Chevy Sparks listed for. The Chinese EV might be smaller, and doesn't meet US safety standards.
Maybe not now, when gasoline is around $3.50 but some economists are warning we could get up closer to $5.00 a gallon, especially if this administration does close the pipeline in Michigan....just crazy. (I think any debate about the Democrats being, "For the working man" is long dead...extremists environmentalists / Marxists are who they are bowing down to.)
So following that logic, you expect demand for Tesla vehicles to go up even more when the Federal EV rebates kick in?
