So, you drive an Evora...a lot, which is not the best touring car, as it has a sports car ride, 2cuft of cargo space and poor MPG (compared to other cars). Maybe you got a good deal on it? But that choice seems odd, do you regret it over whatever your 2nd choice was? Do you ever need to transport more cargo than you can take? Or wish that the ride wasn't so harsh/loud?
Actually the Evora is a very comfortable car. The ride is excellent, cargo space is enough, MPG is fine. In fact, the Evora is one of the most efficient sports cars you can buy, despite having a rather ordinary Toyota engine. The engineering in this car is truly sublime. I love it.
I see that most poeple don't get my point.
Normal cruising speeds of 160-200 kph are common in Germany.
If you go on the Autobahn in a car with 180 kph topspeed you will be overtaken frequently by faster cars. That is reality here.
If you try to maintain speeds above 160 kph in a Tesla the range will suffer dramatically. You have a 85 kwh battery weighting 500kg in this car. That is equal to only about 10l fuel (unleaded gas 95). Energy consumption increases much more when picking up speed in an electric than in a gasoline car since the electric drive is more efficient of course.
When I was testing the Roadster my range was at about 120 km, in the Model S it should be app. 150-200 km when driven hard. Even 160 kph cruising speed will be enough to see range coming down into the region of 200-250km.
So the question is, who pays 125.000 Euros for a car with such a pathetic high speed performance? More than 70% of all BMW M5s are sold with the optional speed package. That is removing the limiter at 250kph up to 305. Remember this guys don’t care about saving fuel, they want speed and they get it.
It’s a different story when you pay 35.000 euros for an electric city car like the BMW i3.
Now regarding Nigel’s question. What is the alternative to a Model S?
I believe first and foremost a car has to offer unlimited individual mobility. You get in and you can drive wherever you want. You cannot do that in a purely electric car. But in an urban environment this concept can make sense.
A large battery increases the energy consumption during the production process and it raises question on the durability of the battery pack. If you need 500kgs to store that tiny amount of energy it’s not the right way to go.
So the logical alternative is a hybrid. And if you use Natural Gas (CNG) or other renewables your CO2 footprint will be lower than in an electric car. There are many alternatives.
To me this is a viable path to go. I don’t want to live in a society where we still have to add nuclear power plants to the grid.
