Last Friday night I was paired with a Tesla dialed 11.82 in my 12.38 dialed Caddy CTS-V. Before I hit the 60' mark he was ahead of me by over one car length but never got any further ahead. I won anyway.

Pretty typical of EV's. Similar to diesels, make lots of torque initially then somewhat peter out. They impress you with initial acceleration for sure.

I have noticed on new route to and from job site that there are quite a few Tesla cars running around. Not sure why more on that route its only about 10 to 15 miles from my everyday area of town.

I know nothing of Tesla

How is the quality, compared to gas burners? Warranty claims high or? Fortunately I don't know anyone who owns one.

While not a pessimist, I am ofter told I am a realist. While I do see protecting the world for our children who will inherit this earth. Electric cars have often made me wonder that if you wanted to "control" a segment of society and cripple an economy, just shut down the power supply. We recently saw that with the pipeline. Accessing sabatoging the power grid would then be a way to "stop" the source to charge the vehicles, thus loss of transportation for many. Not to say a tremendous amount of entertainment. (Perhaps then those always on phones and computers may awake from their "UTOPIA". We can achieve some form of conservatism and reach our goals, but we have to do this as a world, not just a country. Just my 2 cents, that now has risen to 3.5 cents with inflation we are seeing.

quote:

Originally posted by M802138:
I know nothing of Tesla

How is the quality, compared to gas burners? Warranty claims high or? Fortunately I don't know anyone who owns one.

My neighbor just bought a Polestar from the dealership I work at (a new all electric startup made by Volvo). He did a lot of research and from what he told me, Tesla's fit & finish was supposed to be lacking a bit and they are known for dumb nuisance problems (broken handles and things) but the drivetrains are overall pretty solid.

The fast ones are really quick. Down into the 9's 1/4 mile. I've driven one. It's not just a burst of acceleration, this thing keeps on going. I've also driven a few hellcats, including a Redeye. Hellcats are burn out machines but one of the fast Tesla's would outrun a hellcat at any speed.

I'm not a fan of electric cars though. They only way their economical is with subsidies, and/or if someone else if paying for the electricity to recharge them.

The original idea behind plug in hybrids, and electric cars was to reduce snog in big congested cities. The pollution from manufacturing and charging is emitted away from big cities with smog problems. The weren't (and aren't) designed to save money, or reduce the overall global "carbon footprint".

So how are these electric cars legal in NHRA with traction control?

quote:

Originally posted by J Olejniczak:
So how are these electric cars legal in NHRA with traction control?

Well, how does the NHRA address traction control on other factory stock vehicles? Many new cars have traction control and have had it for many years now. I don't think those other car's traction controls can hold a candle to a Tesla's though. Take care. Tom Worthington

They hold no appeal for me, both in the price point, and in the practicality (in terms of road trips). The engineering is neat, but I like being able to pull into a gas stop, fill up, and get right back on the road if I'm on a long trip. First test and tune at Keystone this season, I watched one go 10.68 at 122, that was cool.

I read somewhere that our power grid would not support widespread use of electric cars. They estimated that it would have to double in capacity to support it.

Electric cars are sold on the premise they are more environmentally friendly. But the majority of power generation in this country is fossil fuels. In my opinion, the only technology that would be viable to replace it I nuclear and everyone is scared of it.

How long do you think it will take before people figure out how to "program" those car to run a et. Wouldn't be that hard with a computer control electric motor.

The other thing i think about is if it weren't for all the climate stuff, would they really be the next evolution of transportation.

quote:

Originally posted by banjo:
I read somewhere that our power grid would not support widespread use of electric cars .

I would like to read that. Most will charge during the night when power demand is at the lowest. Tons of generation capacity at that time of day

I saw that Jay Leno tested one of the fast ones at Famoso Bakersfield and went low 9's at 160 something. The car sells for 130K.

I can't find the exact article that said double.

The problem I think with be the push to greener technologies which will reduce potential power generation. Look at California, and all the roving blackouts. Texas got a taste of that this year. If you have a grid that has alot of solar, you lose that power generation at night. If the wind isn't blowing, you will lose that power generation.

I am not sure, be hopefully people smarter than me are looking at this stuff. Unfortunately most of the time, things are upgraded after it's broke.

The actual problem is, many say that they are a problem and not a solution or the future. Exactly the argument when cars displaced horses.

I believe it is a huge mistake to compare EVs to the replacement of animals with automobiles. Apples and Oranges on that one.

The EV will grow in popularity until such time as people become tired of the novelty of it, the ridiculous sense of an idea that you are "protecting or changing the planet" - you can't and never will - and the coming problems with disposal, which at this time are little known about due to the small percentage of these cars on the road. Add in the fact that "government" will eventually stop paying $15k per car for you to purchase one and suddenly the cars will not be seen as the great bargain that they are now. Oh and let me add in here that when the ponzi scam that Musk is running right now comes to light, it's going to make Madoff look like a rookie.

All it will take is for the media to get hold of the story - just once, in fact I am not sure what is holding them back right now - there are so many angles on this story that there has to be a lot of "reporters" just flipping out to be the first one with it. Then lets go and mention how EVs are being priced out of the reach of specific groups of our economic culture and that it is being done purposely. That part of the story is going to go over big.

You may not of noticed that both GM and Ford are all in on EV. How can you dismiss that. No don’t bother, it’s already clear change is not an option to most commenting. I’m thinking that the largest car manufacturers in the world, doesn’t make huge strategy changes like EV without data supporting it.

They have come a long way. Seems inappropriate to me to bracket race them with IC cars. The electric jr dragsters are quite consistent, and virtually take the consistency portion of bracket racing out of the picture. To me, that completely different technology belongs in its own class. Other jr families agree it seems, since the few tracks that have mixed them have seen their car counts plumit in places. One of those tracks I guess the jr program is sponsored by the family that races the electric jr. There's a pickle. LOL.

I hadn’t a clue EV Junior Dragsters exist. Interesting. I thought that class had very specific rules for power.