The moment when electric cars became truly legit? (Tesla wins a drag race against a Hellcat)

In reply to Chris_V:

Your Volt didn't come with a gas tank? Because if it did, that's not an electric car, it's a plug in hybrid. Which is a great idea, because you get the benefit of an electric car without the biggest drawback. You have a tank of good ol' gasoline to save your ass if you miscalculated and ended up too far from home. I conceed, it is possible to get a payoff from an electric car- if you drive in the Goldilocks zone of just far enough, but not too far. And you can if you can charge at work. And if gas prices are high enough.(Not now. Recheck your figures with today's gas prices.) And if your car was partly paid for with subsidies. Lots of ands and ifs need to be addressed before they make sense for most of drivers out there. If it works for you, great. It wouldn't work for me. In my opinion, they are turning the wrong kinds of cars into hybrids. They are mostly small cars- replacing other small cars, that are already economical commuters. They should be doing Minivans (lots of stop and go, short trips) and pickups.

I was paying $300 a month for my gas powered car. And $200 a month for gas. I traded in on the Volt and was paying a touch over $300 a month, but only $10 a month in electricity. A $200 a month savings to go with a newer, electric car.

I'm sorry, but this is a horrible example. Talk about apples and oranges. You bought a car for $300 a month, and TRADED IT IN on your Volt, which you are also paying $300 a month? That's not the same thing at all. You paid for part of your Volt with your other car, which you had been paying on for who knows how long, because you didn't say? How much were the full purchase prices? How many $300 payments did you need to make for each car? Was either a lease? How much you pay a month is meaningless on it's own, and proves nothing.

Monthly car budget dropped by $200 a month. That's the bottom line. As I said, a friend is paying for his Leaf with the savings in gas from not driving his E39. You can save money commuting in an EV vs even a paid off car you already have, and that's been shown time and time again.

In reply to Chris_V:

No, that is not the bottom line. That is one of the lines in the middle, useless without the lines that come before or after it. Show me all of the numbers, not the monthly payment. I could lower my monthly costs with a 84 month loan, that doesn't mean I'm saving money.

Math. I really don't think you know what you're talking about vs those of us that have actually done it.

yes and no Boost. While maybe he took a loss on the 1st car.. he obviously traded it in before it was worthless.. so depending on how much he got on the trade, he still might be coming out ahead.

id still rather have the hellcat and I don't even like mopars. with my daily round trip being 5 miles I don't really care about fuel cost. I spend 25 bucks a month at current prices in my s10 and its only averaging 24mpg.

In reply to mad_machine:

yes and no Boost. While maybe he took a loss on the 1st car.. he obviously traded it in before it was worthless.. so depending on how much he got on the trade, he still might be coming out ahead.

He didn't claim to come out a little ahead. He had equity in that car, applied toward the Volt, which claimed against the previous car. And who knows what $300 a month meant- 48 months for the trade in, 72 for the Volt? We don't know. He claimed to come out way ahead, up to the point of the cars being "free", or paid for by gas savings. Of course, he gave no data to back that up. The math shows otherwise...

New Chevy Volt. $32646 Edmunds TMV.

New Chevy Cruze. $16385 Edmunds TMV.

From his post, I estimate that he drives about 15,000mi a year. I'll give him infinite miles per gallon in the Volt Vs. a conservative 30mpg in the Cruze. At current gas prices, figure $1100 per year in gas for the Cruze. Almost 15 years of driving before he his break even on the true cost of the car. Of course, there are tax credits for the Volt. This isn't free money, but let's pretend it is and he kept all of it, say 7500. He'd still be 7 years from break even. That is with all of the numbers slanted in his favor (except for the gas prices, I admit that's a lucky break- for all but EV drivers.) If anyone has better numbers, feel free to plug them in.

And I'd also rather have the Hellcat.

Are they?

Gah, this thread didnt get any better!

YES they are WAY faster. The Hellcats trap ~124-126 mph, and if you put them on slicks (which is semi-equivalent to the Tesla being AWD) they are into the 10s bone stock.

Even if the cars ET'd the same, the big trap speed difference means that at the end of the quarter the Hellcat is RUNNING away from the Tesla, and based on the performance of previous 85kwh Teslas (the D doesnt have bigger batteries..) the Tesla's performance drops off worse and worse the higher the speed. Not only is the Hellcat blowing past the P85D at the end of a 1/4 mile, it's acceleration advantage gets bigger and bigger on its way to a ~50 mph higher top speed.

No two ways about it. The Hellcats are WAY faster than the Model S p85d.

SVreX wrote:

Chris_V wrote: Most people don't do cross country trips on a regular basis, and definitely not in gas guzzling musclecars.

I've driven across the country 12 or 14 times. Every time was in a V-8. Last time was in a 1960 El Camino.

Same here, except not always in a V8. Hell, wife's family is spread coast to coast and airfare is just ridiculous anymore. Besides, the seats in the truck are like sofa's anyway, so it's like watching TV where the scene is ever changing.

I drive about 39,000 miles per year. If I cut out buying the quantity of gas I buy now it would nearly make a car payment. I have a 100 mile commute 5-6days a week and often work out of other locations. At my shop I can charge so to and from work would be almost all electric except 6-15 miles each way.

If I'm buying a new car (for commuting) anyway why wouldn't I buy the most efficient one I can?

My question is could I save enough in day to day transportation costs to enable more fun with another car...

Probably not, but I'd rather rationalize than be rational. :)

When I did the math, my Leaf lease payments and electricity were less expensive than continuing to drive my Mazda5. That's including depreciation, estimated maintenance, and fuel, at what was then $3.50 a gallon.

I doubt you could save enough to justify a fun car. I used the "what if there is a blackout?" To justify a fun gas car.

And yes the Hellcat is awesome, in a totally different way than the Tesla.