ICE mechanics HATE Tesla!

[Krugerrand]

Those who think their livelihood depends on sticking their head in the sand and hoping everyone else will do the same are sorely mistaken.

The truth of the matter is that there's plenty of time for the shift. Several in the industry will simply retire. Those just coming into the industry/having recently entered the industry should already be aware of EV's. If they aren't, they haven't done their homework regarding their career path choice. Regardless, they'll be young enough to change that path.

The people that will be most affected are those that have been in the industry for a significant amount of time, are of an age that doesn't allow them to easily switch fields but also not yet positioned for retirement. Fortunately, ICE's will be around for a very long time and there will need to be people to fix the 'classics'. Swapping out 2B ICEs is going to take time. Anyone 'caught' in the industry without a plan during this transition, ultimately deserves what they get for not keeping up with what's coming down the pipeline in their industry and preparing thusly.

 

[Jeff N]

I used to have the Rav4EV. I think Toyota gave Tesla mounds of information by using a pre-production Model S motor and ironing out all of the battery and driveline issues. They've had about a 40% failure rate on the motors due to gear lube getting all grimy. It let Tesla fine tune as much as possible for the Model S and alleviate a major failure problem which would have been even worse than the existing early Model S had.

The first Model S cars were delivered in June 2012 although relatively few were delivered until about September when volume began picking up quickly. According to Wikipedia, 250 were sold and delivered in the 3rd quarter of 2012 while 2,400 were delivered in the 4th quarter.

The first RAV4 EVs were delivered in late September, 2012.

In other words, the RAV4 EV and Model S were developed and first delivered in significant volume at the same time although the Model S actually came out earlier.