Keith Tanner said:The $35k Tesla is here. Especially if you take inflation into account.
I know this is getting off topic, but if you can "take inflation into account" for the time between a product announcement and the time it becomes available, that might not be a good thing. Especially for a supposedly "fast moving", "market disrupting", tech company that loves to make big splashy promises.
We'll have to agree to disagree on that one. Inflation and changes in purchasing power is a real thing.
Whether you like their PR style or not, Tesla has accomplished some pretty spectacular things. Without them, I doubt we'd be discussing EV trucks at all.
xflowgolf said:alfadriver said:One more post- you guys are hung up on Rivian's pick up. That's not the point of the investment. The "rollerskate" was. At least the news I'm reading- nothing is really mentioned about their pick up.
Exactly. Rivian has nothing to do with the F-150 EV which is already in development, and they've stated as such.
Often the cheapest way for a company to do R&D is to buy another firm that's already done the homework.
If Rivian has the tech, and clearly they've teased enough of the goods that Ford (and GM for that matter) was willing to jump in with them, then it can make a lot of sense to buy that capability. The "skateboard" developed can underpin the CUV onslaught that is underway, and this may be a more cost effective way to do it, plus the technology leg up trickles to other divisions and development as well.
Here's the thing- the "skateboard" is hardly new or even high tech. Once GM showed the really good idea to the public, everyone SHOULD have been working on their own. Looking it up, the concept was shown way back in 2002- which is 20 years ago, relative to when something NOW would actually make it into production. Everyone should have a solid 17 years of research and even probably some serious development along side the recent research.
So when one really digs into the "why" questions of this investment- the answers that I keep coming up with are really bad ones.
Keith Tanner said:We'll have to agree to disagree on that one. Inflation and changes in purchasing power is a real thing.
Whether you like their PR style or not, Tesla has accomplished some pretty spectacular things. Without them, I doubt we'd be discussing EV trucks at all.
Before giving Tesla so much credit, well.... Their first quarter earnings report wasn't all that stellar, especially when you see sales were down.
They may appear to have changed the conversation, but it's not as if all the OEM's have been ignoring EV- which is what most seem to give credit to Tesla of doing.
I'm the last guy that would buy an electric vehicle, but I've gotta say, an electric truck makes a lot more sense than an electric car in at least one way--nobody expects a truck to be nimble.
As a longtime Ford shareholder, I only hope they get their money's worth. The stock has been a dog for decades.
Keith Tanner said:We'll have to agree to disagree on that one. Inflation and changes in purchasing power is a real thing.
Whether you like their PR style or not, Tesla has accomplished some pretty spectacular things. Without them, I doubt we'd be discussing EV trucks at all.
Yeah, my point was that inflation doesn't need to be accounted for unless the time between the initial announcement/pep rally/fundraiser and when they're actually in customers hands is measured in years. They began taking reservations for the $35k Model 3 March 31, 2016, and the $35k version wasn't for sale until Feb 28, 2019. During that time, the $7500 tax credit was cut in half essentially making the car $3250 more expensive. And then It was essentially cancelled shortly after by being made special order only, and requiring the expensive autopilot option.
They definitely get credit for showing that it's possible to make EVs trendy and desirable though.
In reply to alfadriver :
When looking at corporate history in any industry one always wonders why someone who *should* have come up with something and succeeded did not do so. Easy to say, hard to do.
alfadriver said:Keith Tanner said:We'll have to agree to disagree on that one. Inflation and changes in purchasing power is a real thing.
Whether you like their PR style or not, Tesla has accomplished some pretty spectacular things. Without them, I doubt we'd be discussing EV trucks at all.
Before giving Tesla so much credit, well.... Their first quarter earnings report wasn't all that stellar, especially when you see sales were down.
They may appear to have changed the conversation, but it's not as if all the OEM's have been ignoring EV- which is what most seem to give credit to Tesla of doing.
I'm looking at the public's perception. The first-gen Leaf, for example, wasn't going to change anyone's perception of EVs. The limited availability of the electric Golfs and Fiat 500s didn't do anything for the public at large. The Tesla Model S did. Thanks to the long range, the fact that it was quite good at being a real car without a lot of compromises and partially due to the killer performance, EVs are now viewed as legitimate vehicles instead of weird little goofy hippie cars or California-only models offered at a loss because that's what the law required.
I don't care if their Q1 earnings were low after several profitable quarters. They've changed the conversation about EVs. That's what matters more in the long term.
I am aware of the history of the $35k Tesla including what's happened over the past couple of months. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I'm seriously considering one myself. And I can order one right now via Tesla.com that will cost me under $31k with tax breaks.
Color me very interested in these trucks. If they live up to the 400 mile range that would be AMAZING. 90% of my driving is in the city, but need a truck beacuse contractor. The weekend trips I could probalby work around 400 mile range.....
Who's going to be doing the actual manufacturing of the skateboards?
I'd imagine that has a lot to do with it as well.
Also, pickup truck that does 0-60 in 3 some odd seconds.
Keith Tanner said:In between the “trucks have to drive 600 miles every day with a full load” and “trucks are only being used as big cars” stereotypes lives the actual truth.
I work with someone who cross-shopped a new CTS-V and a new Silverado Brodozer. Both listed in the 6 figures. He had the brodozer because he is leasing, and the lease is cheaper on the pickup because it retains more value. This was fairly recent, since I did his 5k service.
I found this to be a rather interesting bit of unintended consequence. When Joe Average wants to lease instead of buy, and pickups retain their value seemingly in perpetuity because contractors use them up and spit them out, it makes sense for Joe Average to lease a truck instead of a car.
(He claimed the monthlies on a CTS-V lease would have been $1200/month. Worth it IMO, but I'm not exactly Joe Average)
mtn said:carguy123 said:Yeah, I can just see me working out in a field and my electric truck goes dead. A gas can is a heck of a lot easier to find and use than a mile or 2 long extension cord.
“Yeah, I can just see me working out in a field when the fuel injector in my truck goes dead. A carburetor is a lot easier to repair with a pocket knife than it is to find the nearest parts store”
I see you read Speedtalk as well.
Because fuel injection is unreliable. Auto parts stores stay in business because they have to sell all those sensors that fail.
1988RedT2 said:I'm the last guy that would buy an electric vehicle, but I've gotta say, an electric truck makes a lot more sense than an electric car in at least one way--nobody expects a truck to be nimble.
Trucks also have a lot of wasted space. A LOT of wasted space. There's a ton of under-bed space that could be taken up by battery pack, even if you kept a fuel tank of moderate size.
Let's say you went the Volt way and had a 2.5l-ish gas engine to serve as a generator, with electric motors front and rear. You could fit a HEE-YUUGE battery pack where the now-unnecessary transmission, transfer case, and front driveshaft would have needed to be. And the exhaust would be a lot smaller, and you would not need to have all that leeway necessary for a 10' long driveshaft, and you wouldn't really need a 26 gallon fuel tank...
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