My Granddaughter Bought a Tesla

[Cow Poke]

I had ridden in one in Seattle when my wife and I Ubered from the Airport.
It was very spacious in the back seat, and the view through the skylight was impressive.
I was also quite impressed with the large display where our Uber driver was keeping an eye on routing.

She (my granddaughter) lives 80 miles from us, and was pretty concerned about the round trip, and asked if I, by chance, had 240 volts in my garage.

Hers is a self-driving Tesla (are they all?), though, from what I understand, that's a prescription service that costs about $100/month, free for the first couple of months.

She doesn't plan on renewing the self-driving function, partly because - in her words - it goes the speed limit and everybody is passing her or trying to get around her when in self-driving mode.

Still processing this.

[Mountain Man]

I think electric vehicles are probably fine for errands around town -- basically, any short round trip that lets you start and end at home where you can leave it plugged in for a few hours to recharge -- but I would never want to take one on a trip that exceeds 100 miles.

Of course the increased strain on our inadequate power grid as more people start plugging in their electric cars is its own problem.

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

I had ridden in one in Seattle when my wife and I Ubered from the Airport.
It was very spacious in the back seat, and the view through the skylight was impressive.
I was also quite impressed with the large display where our Uber driver was keeping an eye on routing.

She (my granddaughter) lives 80 miles from us, and was pretty concerned about the round trip, and asked if I, by chance, had 240 volts in my garage.

Hers is a self-driving Tesla (are they all?), though, from what I understand, that's a prescription service that costs about $100/month, free for the first couple of months.

She doesn't plan on renewing the self-driving function, partly because - in her words - it goes the speed limit and everybody is passing her or trying to get around her when in self-driving mode.

Still processing this.

For a brief moment I thought that your grand-daughter referred to your avatar!

[Cow Poke]

For a brief moment I thought that your grand-daughter referred to your avatar!

Laughing -- now THAT would be news! The avatar is (currently) my youngest granddaughter who has a brother just 37 minutes older than herself.

[Cow Poke]

I think electric vehicles are probably fine for errands around town -- basically, any short round trip that lets you start and end at home where you can leave it plugged in for a few hours to recharge -- but I would never want to take one on a trip that exceeds 100 miles.

Yeah, she lives about 12 miles from where she works, so it's fine for that.

Of course the increased strain on our inadequate power grid as more people start plugging in their electric cars is its own problem.

That's a major factor, IMOHBAO.

[rogue06]

I think electric vehicles are probably fine for errands around town -- basically, any short round trip that lets you start and end at home where you can leave it plugged in for a few hours to recharge -- but I would never want to take one on a trip that exceeds 100 miles.

Of course the increased strain on our inadequate power grid as more people start plugging in their electric cars is its own problem.

Short trips, urban environment, are what EVs do well. For those who do a lot of driving and in more spacious environments, not so much.

[Cow Poke]

Short trips, urban environment, are what EVs do well. For those who do a lot of driving and in more spacious environments, not so much.

Yup - which is why it surprised me that she bought a Tesla IN TEXAS!

[Mountain Man]

Yup - which is why it surprised me that she bought a Tesla IN TEXAS!

She'll just need to plan any long distance trips carefully to make sure she has access to charging stations along the way, and plan for the extra time it will take to top up her Tesla -- with additional wait time factored in just in case someone is already using the charger when she arrives. Conventional wisdom says to expect a trip in an electric vehicle to take roughly twice as long to cover the same distance as a gas vehicle.

[rogue06]

She'll just need to plan any long distance trips carefully to make sure she has access to charging stations along the way, and plan for the extra time it will take to top up her Tesla -- with additional wait time factored in just in case someone is already using the charger when she arrives. Conventional wisdom says to expect a trip in an electric vehicle to take roughly twice as long to cover the same distance as a gas vehicle.

And the left wants to mandate electric tractor trailers. I've seen estimates that a three day trip for one today will take five days and likely more as there will long waits at recharging stations.

[Juvenal]

I'm with Sparko on this one. Not Tesla, because they're overpriced, and not yet, because they're still in the early adopter phase.

That said, for the time being, I'm seeing stories saying used EVs are holding their value, and with the price drops at Tesla, I'm giving this a hesitant nod, but only because "granddaughters" aren't looking for cars to hold onto for a decade like us old fogies.

The "self-driving" package still isn't worth it, though, not least because it's just not — "self-driving" that is. I'm thinking it may never be. With Musk's attention split seven ways from Sunday, the established automakers are catching up fast and likely to pass him by soon enough.

That's "soon enough" in "old fogie" years, not "granddaughter" years.

And then there's this*.

I'm seeing "Tesla" and "meme stock" showing up together way too often in the financial pages.
.

In fact, while Musk has frequently over-promised, he over-delivered on those fronts, helping Tesla’s market cap and Musk’s personal wealth soar since the 2010s, DeLong said.

But more recently, he has shifted his focus from EVs, charger networks, and batteries to social media, artificial intelligence, and robotaxis.

Even as Musk vowed last month to accelerate plans to launch a new, lower-cost EV model that Wall Streets views as critical to its future, he also reaffirmed his robotaxi ambitions to develop a fleet of autonomous cars.

Meanwhile, Tesla’s surprise firing of its entire Supercharger team raised worries about the key network as well as the industry’s future. This also comes amid slower EV demand, weaker sales, broader workforce cuts, a steep stock decline, and an exodus of senior leadership.

“Yet while the over-promising has continued, the over-delivering has not,” DeLong wrote. “The fundraiser, cheerleader, and coach for teams developing real technologies has become a meme-stock carnival barker.”

He's beaten the naysayers — and that includes me — often enough to be hesitant in saying he won't do it again, but there's no hiding the fact Tesla's stock price has crumpled. Tesla has a captured board, so there's no real way of knowing if they're on the ropes.


*I'm going to try shifting to internet archive links to paywalled articles in deference to those who can't afford the subscriptions

[Cow Poke]

I'm with Sparko on this one. Not Tesla, because they're overpriced, and not yet, because they're still in the early adopter phase.

That said, for the time being, I'm seeing stories saying used EVs are holding their value, and with the price drops at Tesla, I'm giving this a hesitant nod, but only because "granddaughters" aren't looking for cars to hold onto for a decade like us old fogies.

The "self-driving" package still isn't worth it, though, not least because it's just not — "self-driving" that is. I'm thinking it may never be. With Musk's attention split seven ways from Sunday, the established automakers are catching up fast and likely to pass him by soon enough.

That's "soon enough" in "old fogie" years, not "granddaughter" years.

And then there's this*.

I'm seeing "Tesla" and "meme stock" showing up together way too often in the financial pages.
.

In fact, while Musk has frequently over-promised, he over-delivered on those fronts, helping Tesla’s market cap and Musk’s personal wealth soar since the 2010s, DeLong said.

But more recently, he has shifted his focus from EVs, charger networks, and batteries to social media, artificial intelligence, and robotaxis.

Even as Musk vowed last month to accelerate plans to launch a new, lower-cost EV model that Wall Streets views as critical to its future, he also reaffirmed his robotaxi ambitions to develop a fleet of autonomous cars.

Meanwhile, Tesla’s surprise firing of its entire Supercharger team raised worries about the key network as well as the industry’s future. This also comes amid slower EV demand, weaker sales, broader workforce cuts, a steep stock decline, and an exodus of senior leadership.

“Yet while the over-promising has continued, the over-delivering has not,” DeLong wrote. “The fundraiser, cheerleader, and coach for teams developing real technologies has become a meme-stock carnival barker.”

He's beaten the naysayers — and that includes me — often enough to be hesitant in saying he won't do it again, but there's no hiding the fact Tesla's stock price has crumpled. Tesla has a captured board, so there's no real way of knowing if they're on the ropes.


*I'm going to try shifting to internet archive links to paywalled articles in deference to those who can't afford the subscriptions

Thanks, Jesse - that's interesting stuff.

[Mountain Man]

...because "granddaughters" aren't looking for cars to hold onto for a decade like us old fogies.

A decade at the very least! My Toyota Echo is 24 years old, and I'll keep driving it for as long as my local mechanic can keep sourcing repair parts.

[Cow Poke]

A decade at the very least! My Toyota Echo is 24 years old, and I'll keep driving it for as long as my local mechanic can keep sourcing repair parts.

How many miles?

[Sparko]

Gah! everything is going "subscription"

[Mountain Man]

How many miles?

It's approaching 300,000.