In fairness, some financial analysts recently reported estimates that even with the gigafactory, the Tesla III will likely cost around $45,000, not $30,000.
So, the Tesla would have a flat, robotic voice and speak with the following catchphrases then?
Get-the-humanoid-get-the-intruder
The-humanoid-must-not-escape
Coin-detected-in-pocket
And when the passengers and driver get out…
CHICKEN–FIGHT-LIKE-A-ROBOT!
Personally, if I had one, I’d put it in InsaneMode and leave it there
Maybe, though I doubt that analysts have any special insight here. I certainly wouldn’t bet on the exact numbers, high-ball or low-ball. It also depends on demand. Tesla cancelled their 40 kWh model due to approximately zero demand. The same could be true for a $30k model if people decide that spending more on increased range is worth it.
The same analysts expect lesser demand than what Elon has projected.
At the lower end, consumers have some options, including the Nissan Leaf or the Chevy Bolt. But the Model S is about the only pure electric luxury sedan out there. And actually, the price of about $90-100,000 is in line with other luxury sedans such as those from Lexus and less than a Mercedes S-class.
Tesla Driver: MY BRAINS ARE GOING INTO MY FEET!
Mawg in Winnebago they just passed: What the hell was that?
You gotta be shit’in me jz78817.
Exactly. A real “insane mode” button should rapidly accelerate the car to 60mph in reverse, while spraying tomato ketchup on to the passengers.
“Well, what did you expect to happen when you put the car into insane mode?”
“…I don’t know. I probably should have asked what it does first”
I like confusing the passengers in my car. When I got my last car, it had voice control for a lot of the features. So, my sister was taking it for a test drive and I was showing her the voice control. I hit the button and said ‘Temperature 60 degrees’ and the car responded (vocally) and changed the AC to 60. Then I hit the button and said “Radio 96.5” and it responded and changed the radio. Then, when she was going about 30, I hit the button and said ‘put the car in Park’ and my sister quickly braced herself like she was about to go through the windshield. I thought it was funny.
Just the other day I convinced my 9 year old that this strange button (the climate control button to recirculate the air) made the car flip over. “Look, it’s got a arrow flipping over on a picture of a car, that must be what it does, right?” She really didn’t want me to push it to see if that’s actually what it did.
I don’t know about the ketchup dispenser, but in principle the Model S can accelerate just as quickly in reverse as forward. It has a single-speed direct-drive gearbox and the motor just turns in whatever direction the windings are energized in.
In fact, any three phase motor can be reversed by simply swapping any two of the phases. It would not surprise me if one day someone “hacks” their car to accomplish this.
So what you’re saying is that it doesn’t really have a transmission. Going 0-60 in 3 seconds, in reverse sounds like a terrible idea. On the one hand, people will hack anything, OTOH, I’d think even the hackers would know that’s a bad idea and the people who can afford a car that expensive will hopefully know that as well. Even if you know nothing’s behind you, the slightest turn of the wheel will make you spin out and possible flip.
Correct. Reverse already works by energizing the windings in reverse, but there is an artificial cap on speed (and possibly acceleration).
And yes, travelling 60 MPH in reverse is highly inadvisable :). However, it could be a fun experiment in a place like the Bonneville Salt Flats, with miles and miles of flat surface in every direction and not too much grip. The Tesla won’t flip in any case; it has an insanely low center of gravity due to the floorpan-mounted battery pack.
You say that now, but go 60 in reverse, nudge the wheel a bit and let the grip of the asphalt slam it the rest of the way to the left/right…then see if you’ll flip. I mean, I’m not going to try it in my 90,000 dollar car, but you go right ahead.
That’s strange. My computer has a button that says it does that, but I don’t think it actually d
That’s about what the Nissan Leaf costs.
Musk was a newcomer to the auto industry, and it’s taking his company a long time to overcome various engineering hurdles as well as to build infrastructure.
The Leaf is a huge project for Nissan. Musk wasn’t able to compete with that, he just didn’t have the production capacity.
The heads of development at GM & Nissan seem to agree with Musk that electric cars are the big wave of the near future, and in the foreseeable future, most of the cars on the road will probably be electric; some will probably have fuel-burning backups, like the Volt.
I loved that game, back in the early 1980s. 
Every car I own has an “Insane Mode” button. It’s located on the floor under the gas pedal. 
Not in the desert. Its in the dry, rocky hills (mountains, to many) east of Reno. And I won’t believe it till I see trucks rolling out filled with batteries.
Also known as “high desert.” Reno itself is considered to be high desert.
Panasonic is also in on the deal, so I see very little reason for skepticism. That said, it’s still going to be a few years before they’re ready for production.
Yeah. Plenty of time for the deal to go to shit.
No. electric induction motors (generally speaking) produce the peak torque they’re capable of at stall (0 rpm) because that is where the slip is maximum. This does not mean they produce infinite torque at stall. They’re not some magic thing. Besides, when it comes to accelerating the vehicle, what matters is torque at the drive wheels. See, the underdrive gear ratios of the transmission behind a conventional gas or diesel engine multiply its torque as delivered to the wheels. The final drive (axle) gear further multiplies torque. so consider a car with a gas engine which can deliver 400 lb-ft of peak torque. it’s not going to make that torque at low engine speeds, but at typical launch RPMs it’s going to put out around 200 lb-ft. So if the transmission has- say- a 3.5:1 first gear ratio, the torque at the output shaft of the transmission is going to be 200 x 3.5 = 700 lb-ft. Then that torque is delivered to the rear axle which has a 3.55:1 gear ratio, the torque delivered to the axle shafts is 700 x 3.55 = 2485 lb-ft.
Electric vehicles “feel” faster because of the motor’s relatively linear torque fall-off after stall, and the fact that there are no power interruptions from gear changes.
the only way it’s “dangerous” is if you give it to some dimp who’s never driven a high powered car before, and they stomp on the accelerator when the car isn’t pointed straight. with enough power/torque, even traction control might not be able to save them. I’ve had the ass end of my Mustang dancing around at wide-open-throttle while having the car pointed straight ahead.
I know St. Elon was talking this up like crazy, but so what? The Model S is not a high COG SUV. the likelihood of it rolling over is not that great. that the pillars are stronger than NHTSA regulations require (need to endure 2.5x the car’s curb weight without buckling more than a defined amount) but it’s not the Second Coming.
shittin’ you how? The Challenger and Charger Hellcats have 707 horsepower.