How am I going to charge my electric car?

[Standby]

5 hours ago, Majestik Møøse said:

Dude, I think you have scales on your eyes. Not everything is political or about wokeness. How much do you expect a performance car to cost? Dodge gets people to pay $100k for a Challenger. Double that for a 911 Turbo. The Plaid+ has 1100 horsepower and is the quickest production car ever made. Estimated to be an 8 second car that you can put 200k miles on. For 10% of the cost of hypercars - that are slower and require $50k of mx every 10k miles. I don’t know if there’s a cost/horsepower equation, but no gasoline production car will ever catch up. They’re antiques. Which is fine, I like old things also.

If you only want the world’s second fastest car just get the regular Plaid and save $35k.

Some people DGAF about 0-60 or 1/4 mile. A Tesla on anything other than the drag strip is boring. No rumble. No shifting. Nothing...it’s a really fast vibrator with tires. It doesn’t excel in the corners either. I would rather buy two C8’s than a single Tesla. One for the track and one as a DD.

But thank God this is America and you can spend your money on whatever you want...even if it is the wrong way. 🍺

[Swamp Yankee]

On 2/17/2021 at 1:18 AM, HuggyU2 said:

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-02-06/wind-turbine-blades

Technological advancement solves many problems:

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/ge-announces-first-us-wind-turbine-blade-recycling-program-with-veolia/591869/
 

 

[Lawman]

Technological advancement solves many problems:
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/ge-announces-first-us-wind-turbine-blade-recycling-program-with-veolia/591869/
 
 

“Greener Cement....”

See the funny part here is Cement/concrete production is one of the most intensive single carbon related issues on our impact on the eco system so really it has almost no way to go but up.

While this is better than “just bury the damn things” between all its other issues I would hardly call this the single fix to make wind power THE way forward some think it is.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Swamp Yankee]

1 hour ago, Lawman said:

“Greener Cement....”

See the funny part here is Cement/concrete production is one of the most intensive single carbon related issues on our impact on the eco system so really it has almost no way to go but up.

While this is better than “just bury the damn things” between all its other issues I would hardly call this the single fix to make wind power THE way forward some think it is.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No one in their right mind sees any single energy source (oil, wind, coal, solar, nuclear, etc) as THE sole way forward.  All need investment and implementation for the US to have actual energy independence.

In this specific case, concrete is a valuable building material that will continued to be manufactured. Thus, why not defray the impact?  

Edited February 19, 2021 by Swamp Yankee

[Majestik Møøse]

Yeah, Ferrari used to say, “But Ferraris aren’t about the numbers, it’s about the passion!” when Lamborghini or even Corvette would make a car faster than them. Then, of course, when Ferrari had an objectively faster car they’d sure let everyone know.

Now, to be clear, I’m a car guy. Have been my whole life, I guess. With some racing here and there. I’m half-assed in the market for a 1960s Alfa if I run across a good one (especially the big 2.0s, lol). If I had Cleared Hot-level money, it’d be an old Ferrari instead.

Today’s cars aren’t like the old ones. Due to customer demand, everyone makes smooth, fast, roomy, efficient, automatic-everythings with enough electronic wizardry to keep everything firmly on the rails. For lack of a better word, they’re all super-tight luxury rides. And heavy as hell. Even the Ferraris - shifting and drifting in a red barchetta has turned into pulling g’s in a laser guided spaceship. And that’s totally cool, I love speed and g’s.

While every manufacturer has been electronically tightening up their mechanical watches, the full digital Teslas come out and out-do the entire industry. Every year they improved and now there’s an 1100hp model that can outdrag a $3m hypercar. They’re beating everyone else at their own game and making the newest reciprocating engine cars look totally pointless.

[Swamp Yankee]

2 hours ago, Majestik Møøse said:

Yeah, Ferrari used to say, “But Ferraris aren’t about the numbers, it’s about the passion!” when Lamborghini or even Corvette would make a car faster than them. Then, of course, when Ferrari had an objectively faster car they’d sure let everyone know.

Now, to be clear, I’m a car guy. Have been my whole life, I guess. With some racing here and there. I’m half-assed in the market for a 1960s Alfa if I run across a good one (especially the big 2.0s, lol). If I had Cleared Hot-level money, it’d be an old Ferrari instead.

Today’s cars aren’t like the old ones. Due to customer demand, everyone makes smooth, fast, roomy, efficient, automatic-everythings with enough electronic wizardry to keep everything firmly on the rails. For lack of a better word, they’re all super-tight luxury rides. And heavy as hell. Even the Ferraris - shifting and drifting in a red barchetta has turned into pulling g’s in a laser guided spaceship. And that’s totally cool, I love speed and g’s.

While every manufacturer has been electronically tightening up their mechanical watches, the full digital Teslas come out and out-do the entire industry. Every year they improved and now there’s an 1100hp model that can outdrag a $3m hypercar. They’re beating everyone else at their own game and making the newest reciprocating engine cars look totally pointless.

Despite the lack of pedigree, Tesla just does it better.  I've been a Porsche guy for quite some time, with a 918 as an unrealistic aspirational add to the collection. In comparison the S Plaid+ is a steal at ~$150k.   Based on my experience with a friend's Model 3 Performance, the "infinite" torque vectoring capability should also make it shine on the track. 

[Prozac]

On 2/19/2021 at 8:56 AM, Swamp Yankee said:

Despite the lack of pedigree, Tesla just does it better.  I've been a Porsche guy for quite some time, with a 918 as an unrealistic aspirational add to the collection. In comparison the S Plaid+ is a steal at ~$150k.   Based on my experience with a friend's Model 3 Performance, the "infinite" torque vectoring capability should also make it shine on the track. 

Better? Maybe. But it it more fun? If you’ve never been to the website “Bring a Trailer” go take a look. Sure there’s plenty of high horsepower stuff on there but there’s also a plethora of BMW E30 M3s and 2002s, Alfa GTVs, old Porsche Boxters, Miatas, Datsun 510s, etc. Point being: a lot of people are realizing you don’t need a ton of horsepower to have fun. In fact, modern high horsepower cars can sometimes be far less fun than an older, less powerful sporting machine. Example: Dodge Hellcat. While I have to give it to Dodge for actually building such a beast, you are in license revocation territory in about 3 seconds and at the top of second gear. You just can’t use the car’s performance on the street. I’ve got a turbo NB Miata that’s been built as fast road/occasional track car. Go ahead and judge all you want about about how it’s a pussy car. I’ll see you at the autocross. 😎 It’s plenty fast enough to have fun on the street & my running costs are a fraction of what they would be in a modern 911 or M3. Tires are cheap, brakes are cheap, suspension is cheap, and if I bin it at the corkscrew at Laguna Seca, I’m out a tenth of the cost of a used GT3. 

$100K 5000lb Tesla as a performance/track car? No thanks. $30K Bolt as a daily driver alongside a weekend toy? Yeah, I could probably be down with that. 

[VMFA187]

15 minutes ago, Prozac said:

Better? Maybe. But it it more fun? If you’ve never been to the website “Bring a Trailer” go take a look. Sure there’s plenty of high horsepower stuff on there but there’s also a plethora of BMW E30 M3s and 2002s, Alfa GTVs, old Porsche Boxters, Miatas, Datsun 510s, etc. Point being: a lot of people are realizing you don’t need a ton of horsepower to have fun. In fact, modern high horsepower cars can sometimes be far less fun than an older, less powerful sporting machine. Example: Dodge Hellcat. While I have to give it to Dodge for actually building such a beast, you are in license revocation territory in about 3 seconds and at the top of second gear. You just can’t use the car’s performance on the street. I’ve got a turbo NB Miata that’s been built as fast road/occasional track car. Go ahead and judge all you want about about how it’s a pussy car. I’ll see you at the autocross. 😎 It’s plenty fast enough to have fun on the street & my running costs are a fraction of what they would be in a modern 911 or M3. Tires are cheap, brakes are cheap, suspension is cheap, and if I bin it at the corkscrew at Laguna Seca, I’m out a tenth of the cost of a used GT3. 

$100K 5000lb Tesla as a performance/track car? No thanks. $30K Bolt as a daily driver alongside a weekend toy? Yeah, I could probably be down with that. 

I waste hours a week on BaT. Haven't won yet but I make it a point to track every air cooled 911 that gets posted. My water cooled, 930 trans '72 needs a more comfortable stable mate with the back seats so I can drive my wife and daughter around. 

On 2/19/2021 at 6:11 AM, Majestik Møøse said:

Yeah, Ferrari used to say, “But Ferraris aren’t about the numbers, it’s about the passion!” when Lamborghini or even Corvette would make a car faster than them. Then, of course, when Ferrari had an objectively faster car they’d sure let everyone know.

Now, to be clear, I’m a car guy. Have been my whole life, I guess. With some racing here and there. I’m half-assed in the market for a 1960s Alfa if I run across a good one (especially the big 2.0s, lol). If I had Cleared Hot-level money, it’d be an old Ferrari instead.

Today’s cars aren’t like the old ones. Due to customer demand, everyone makes smooth, fast, roomy, efficient, automatic-everythings with enough electronic wizardry to keep everything firmly on the rails. For lack of a better word, they’re all super-tight luxury rides. And heavy as hell. Even the Ferraris - shifting and drifting in a red barchetta has turned into pulling g’s in a laser guided spaceship. And that’s totally cool, I love speed and g’s.

While every manufacturer has been electronically tightening up their mechanical watches, the full digital Teslas come out and out-do the entire industry. Every year they improved and now there’s an 1100hp model that can outdrag a $3m hypercar. They’re beating everyone else at their own game and making the newest reciprocating engine cars look totally pointless.

Driving an older vehicle is just more involved. It's difficult to explain but I'd put it something to the extent of "It's more rewarding to drive something that is more difficult to make perform well even if you're overall not as quick as the dude who has infinite oversight through driver aids."

[Prozac]

23 minutes ago, VMFA187 said:

I waste hours a week on BaT. Haven't won yet but I make it a point to track every air cooled 911 that gets posted. My water cooled, 930 trans '72 needs a more comfortable stable mate with the back seats so I can drive my wife and daughter around. 

Driving an older vehicle is just more involved. It's difficult to explain but I'd put it something to the extent of "It's more rewarding to drive something that is more difficult to make perform well even if you're overall not as quick as the dude who has infinite oversight through driver aids."

Air cooled 911s are such a perfect example of accessible performance and really interesting on-limit handling characteristics. I would love to have one, but the prices have absolutely gone through the stratosphere & I can’t justify owning one & beating the shit out of it. Should I ever win the powerball, a Singer 911 would be one of my first buys. 

[VMFA187]

9 minutes ago, Prozac said:

Air cooled 911s are such a perfect example of accessible performance and really interesting on-limit handling characteristics. I would love to have one, but the prices have absolutely gone through the stratosphere & I can’t justify owning one & beating the shit out of it. Should I ever win the powerball, a Singer 911 would be one of my first buys. 

I hear you. I picked up a really rough, but mechanically sorted '72 on eBay for about $32k. I've spent the past two years repairing the interior, making gauges work, and bonding the RSR panels to the body as well as paint so now it is presentable. 

Now that I live in southern California its my primary transportation even with a 12 point cage and fixed buckets. Makes it easier adding the miles knowing that a new SBC with 400hp is only a few grand...

[Prozac]

That looks good. The Porsche purists will be all over you for that, but fuckem. The great thing about the car hobby is that there’s room for all tastes. I’ve never been a muscle car guy or understood lowrider culture, but I have a ton of respect for the hard work and creativity that goes into any good car build. If I was still in SoCal, I’d say let’s meet up at a cars and coffee somewhere. 

[VMFA187]

28 minutes ago, Prozac said:

That looks good. The Porsche purists will be all over you for that, but fuckem. The great thing about the car hobby is that there’s room for all tastes. I’ve never been a muscle car guy or understood lowrider culture, but I have a ton of respect for the hard work and creativity that goes into any good car build. If I was still in SoCal, I’d say let’s meet up at a cars and coffee somewhere. 

Yeah, I'm not a PCA member. I'm scared to think how much it'd cost to get into a 400hp old 911 with a true flat 6...

[Swamp Yankee]

2 hours ago, Prozac said:

Better? Maybe. But it it more fun? If you’ve never been to the website “Bring a Trailer” go take a look. Sure there’s plenty of high horsepower stuff on there but there’s also a plethora of BMW E30 M3s and 2002s, Alfa GTVs, old Porsche Boxters, Miatas, Datsun 510s, etc. Point being: a lot of people are realizing you don’t need a ton of horsepower to have fun. In fact, modern high horsepower cars can sometimes be far less fun than an older, less powerful sporting machine. Example: Dodge Hellcat. While I have to give it to Dodge for actually building such a beast, you are in license revocation territory in about 3 seconds and at the top of second gear. You just can’t use the car’s performance on the street. I’ve got a turbo NB Miata that’s been built as fast road/occasional track car. Go ahead and judge all you want about about how it’s a car. I’ll see you at the autocross. 😎 It’s plenty fast enough to have fun on the street & my running costs are a fraction of what they would be in a modern 911 or M3. Tires are cheap, brakes are cheap, suspension is cheap, and if I bin it at the corkscrew at Laguna Seca, I’m out a tenth of the cost of a used GT3. 

$100K 5000lb Tesla as a performance/track car? No thanks. $30K Bolt as a daily driver alongside a weekend toy? Yeah, I could probably be down with that. 

I get it.  There are separate equations for technical performance and driving pleasure that share constants but can diverge.  I have an "old" 1996 911 (993 variant - last air cooled engine with manual transmission).   It's slow by today's standards (6.0sec  0-60) but between shifting and that distinctive flat six noise the fun meter gets pegged. On a related note I'm actually in the market for a 1967 911S. Only 160hp but considered one of the iconic models.  Miata's a great car.  Very popular up here for weekend autocross.   I bought a used one (original NA with pop-ups) when I graduated many decades ago and drove it from New England to Del Rio.  Should have kept it.  Hellcat and Demon are ridiculous - horsepower, RWD, and racing slicks don't make a supercar.  Sorry to the fanboys. 

All that said, Tesla has redefined the car and the trajectory of the industry.  Brings hypercar performance if not to the masses, then to folks without Fortune 500 CEO net worth. 

 

[Swamp Yankee]

2 hours ago, Prozac said:

Air cooled 911s are such a perfect example of accessible performance and really interesting on-limit handling characteristics. I would love to have one, but the prices have absolutely gone through the stratosphere & I can’t justify owning one & beating the shit out of it. Should I ever win the powerball, a Singer 911 would be one of my first buys. 

A accessible 911 (though not aircooled) is the 996 variant (1996-2006).  Because of the headlights it's not considered "iconic" but it retains the 911 handling.  You can still get one at a reasonable price although some folks have figured it out and values will start going up.  

[Kiloalpha]

43 minutes ago, Swamp Yankee said:

A accessible 911 (though not aircooled) is the 996 variant (1996-2006).  Because of the headlights it's not considered "iconic" but it retains the 911 handling.  You can still get one at a reasonable price although some folks have figured it out and values will start going up.  

It’s bound to happen. When the market runs out of what it really wants, it’ll go for the next closest thing. Not to mention the “runny egg” headlights will be retro at some point. Which makes me feel old.

As for the Tesla’s... I’d highly suggest checking out Rich Rebuilds on YouTube. The guy rebuilt a Model S, and the absolute bullshit Tesla put him through along the way is insane.

Long story short, they have zero interest in user serviceability. Their customer service sucks, and you never truly own the software inside the car. Case and point, Tesla decided to disable Supercharging on all Rebuilt title cars... even after some customers spent thousands of dollars for Tesla to “certify” that it can be used.

They’re also removing software upgrades you paid for (performance pack, etc) from your own car... if you sell it. Their logic being... well the new customer didn’t pay for it. You did. So much for retaining some resale value on those.

After watching that series, and as a guy who loves working on his car when it needs it... ain’t no way in hell I’m getting a Tesla. They sure are cool though.

[ClearedHot]

Never got into the Porsche thing, I guess my crank is too big.

Always been a fan of American Muscle, they won't turn for shit but look great going in a straight line. 

Here is my baby -

Just finished rebuilding the motor (327 HP), now turning 450HP on the dyno...that's a lot for a light fiberglass car.

 

 

[kaputt]

1 hour ago, Swamp Yankee said:

A accessible 911 (though not aircooled) is the 996 variant (1996-2006).  Because of the headlights it's not considered "iconic" but it retains the 911 handling.  You can still get one at a reasonable price although some folks have figured it out and values will start going up.  

I believe that Gen has the dreaded IMS bearing issues. That will help keep prices depressed as well. 
 

FWIW, I personally think horsepower is overrated. Give me a well balanced car with enough power to work the chassis and I’ll be happy. Slow car fast is always the best mantra. The next Gen Subaru BRZ/Toyota 86 is probably going to end up in my garage. P car money, even used, is still too much for me and Subaru/Toyota appear to have fixed the one problem with the original: the torque hole right in the middle of the power band. New version has a naturally aspirated 2.4L with 228hp and torque is up to like 184lb ft right in the middle of the power band. That’s similar numbers to my BMW 128i I used to have and the BRZ/86 will weigh 300lbs less.

Edited February 22, 2021 by kaputt

[Prozac]

6 minutes ago, ClearedHot said:

Never got into the Porsche thing, I guess my crank is too big.

Always been a fan of American Muscle, they won't turn for shit but look great going in a straight line. 

Here is my baby -

Just finished rebuilding the motor (327 HP), now turning 450HP on the dyno...that's a lot for a light fiberglass car.

 

 

Ha! Love it. Like I said, room for all tastes & preferences in the car hobby. That’s a great looking vette. Did you get that when you applied to the original Mercury program? 🤣 I keed, I keed. Seriously that’s a cherry ride. 

[jazzdude]

As for the Tesla’s... I’d highly suggest checking out Rich Rebuilds on YouTube. The guy rebuilt a Model S, and the absolute bullshit Tesla put him through along the way is insane.
Long story short, they have zero interest in user serviceability. Their customer service sucks, and you never truly own the software inside the car. Case and point, Tesla decided to disable Supercharging on all Rebuilt title cars... even after some customers spent thousands of dollars for Tesla to “certify” that it can be used.
They’re also removing software upgrades you paid for (performance pack, etc) from your own car... if you sell it. Their logic being... well the new customer didn’t pay for it. You did. So much for retaining some resale value on those.
After watching that series, and as a guy who loves working on his car when it needs it... ain’t no way in hell I’m getting a Tesla. They sure are cool though.

Licensing versus owning software required for hardware you purchased... Right to repair raises it's highly head again.

Any bets that Tesla eventually moves to a subscription model for advanced features in it's cars?

[ClearedHot]

5 minutes ago, kaputt said:

 That’s similar numbers to my BMW 128i I used to have and the BRZ/86 will weigh 300lbs less.

I just bought the X6M for my wife.  523 HP, 0-60 in 4.1 Sec.  I hate to admit it but the thing is a rocket ship.

 

[Prozac]

7 minutes ago, kaputt said:

I believe that Gen has the dreaded IMS bearing issues. That will help keep prices depressed as well. 
 

FWIW, I personally think horsepower is overrated. Give me a well balanced car with enough power to work the chassis and I’ll be happy. Slow car fast is always the best mantra. The next Gen Subaru BRZ/Toyota 86 is probably going to end up in my garage. P car money, even used, is still too much for me and Subaru/Toyota appear to have fixed the one problem with the original: the torque hole right in the middle of the power band. New version has a naturally aspirated 2.4L with 228hp and torque is up to like 184lb ft right in the middle of the power band. That’s similar numbers to my BMW 128i I used to have and the BRZ/86 will weigh 300lbs less.

Really looking forward to driving the new BRZ. Don’t even have any interest in a future turbo. That car has the potential to be a great do it all daily/autocross/hpde car. Even in winter, with the lsd and a good set of snows it should still make a great daily. 

[Prozac]

 

For the electric guys, there are a few companies doing some interesting things  this is the Ace from an upstart manufacturer called Alpha. It’s supposed to resemble some of the lightweight sports coups from the 60s. There are also several options to resto-mod old cars to electric propulsion. There’s some really cool VW conversions out there. 

[SocialD]

40 minutes ago, jazzdude said:

Any bets that Tesla eventually moves to a subscription model for advanced features in it's cars?

 

It's just a matter of time.  

[busdriver]

Fuck me, that Alpha Ace is beautiful.  Also, complete vaporware.

[Prozac]

55 minutes ago, busdriver said:

Fuck me, that Alpha Ace is beautiful.  Also, complete vaporware.

Unfortunately, I think chances are good that you’re right.