Re:John Carmack: I’m going to work on artificial general int...
by Roark66 on Thursday November 14, 2019 @07:02AM
(#21534728)
Actually it was a bunch of Phd students from some Californian Uni that discovered the vw diesel scam. There is a short documentary about them online. Elon has no credit whatsoever in dieselgate.
However, he did make electric cars something an average person would like to have. He also chose to make it work using the same inefficient principle of hauling 2 tons of steel to transport a single person. What he made is an electric luxury car, not a car for the masses that can replace average Joe's car. Is there anything wrong with that? No, there isn't, but let's not pretend a $35k (in US - much more in EU) car that requires hours of charging after driving 250 miles unless you happen to have Tesla's superchargers on your way is a new "volkswagen - a people's car". Also I find it disingenuous to advertise full battery capacity while at the same time recommending people use only 60% of it "for longevity".
Many people don't buy new cars, but choose to buy 5-8 year old cars that are really good value if they were maintained well. It remains to be seen how Teslas behave in that market.
It would be really revolutionary if someone could create and market an electric car that was truly innovative for example: much lighter than current cars while still being safe during collision, use fuel cell technology with fuel such as methanol or similar that can be created in a sustainable way, even using a fuel cell with mined hydrocarbons and electric drive would provide for a huge reduction in emissions due to increase in efficiency.
Do Teslas have a role to play in reducing emissions? Yes, definitely, but let's not present them as a single solution to all individual transport problems.
However, he did make electric cars something an average person would like to have. He also chose to make it work using the same inefficient principle of hauling 2 tons of steel to transport a single person. What he made is an electric luxury car, not a car for the masses that can replace average Joe's car. Is there anything wrong with that? No, there isn't, but let's not pretend a $35k (in US - much more in EU) car that requires hours of charging after driving 250 miles unless you happen to have Tesla's superchargers on your way is a new "volkswagen - a people's car". Also I find it disingenuous to advertise full battery capacity while at the same time recommending people use only 60% of it "for longevity".
Many people don't buy new cars, but choose to buy 5-8 year old cars that are really good value if they were maintained well. It remains to be seen how Teslas behave in that market.
It would be really revolutionary if someone could create and market an electric car that was truly innovative for example: much lighter than current cars while still being safe during collision, use fuel cell technology with fuel such as methanol or similar that can be created in a sustainable way, even using a fuel cell with mined hydrocarbons and electric drive would provide for a huge reduction in emissions due to increase in efficiency.
Do Teslas have a role to play in reducing emissions? Yes, definitely, but let's not present them as a single solution to all individual transport problems.