@mdensch: There's no parallel with Tucker at all. "Only 51 cars were made before the company folded on March 3, 1949." Tesla's made and sold a thousand Roadsters.
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@Brian: Cogito Ergo ZOOM!: Tesla has developed their own electric motor, electronic power management, and battery management systems. In the roadshow Musk said they have over 100 patents.
@Kuro: Tesla talks about the problems of independent dealers in the roadshow. Dealers siphon off money and financing, they are in financial conflict with the manufacturer over warranty claims, and they will never promote an EV over other models since they make most money in servicing and EVs don't need it. Tesla…
@Prismatist steers with his right foot: In the roadshow Tesla said they are/will be supplying battery packs and chargers to Daimler for the Smart ED and a Mercedes A-Class EV, and battery packs to Freightliner. And they report Akio Toyoda saying Toyota will be a customer, though talk is cheap.
@yah5: Uhh, [lmgtfy.com?q=sunk+costs] ?
@Brandonium: I guess environemental damage from nickel metal hydride is better than emissions from combustion engines?
@Helvetica: As @sofong already pointed out, Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash has the Dentata and a character (spoiler ahead) does indeed forget:
@Zx3 Fanatic: So what? Google "BP oil spill". Do you understand the difference between producing pounds of recyclable material ONCE and refining then burning tons of oil EVERY YEAR YOU DRIVE YOUR CAR? Can you provide any actual scientific research that nickel mining is more damaging than, say, chromium mining, let…
@Master P wonders when he can pre-order an FT-86: The batteries aren't especially bad for the environment, unlike lead ACID batteries in conventional cars. They'll be recycled, and nickel is in the chrome and steel of regular cars. However, adding a hundred pounds of batteries to a car is only worth it when it…
@GurachanFlare: You're half right. The Prius is the only 50 mpg new car you can buy, yet it's a reliable practical mid-size car. Every other new car in the USA gets worse mpg, even if it's smaller! So the Prius is well over 50% of hybrid sales in USA, and NOBODY else in the hybrid segment is selling "a ton of…
@yah5: Please educate yourself on sunk costs and future costs. VW is unlikely to ever recoup the money it blew on Veyron development, but if the price of an individual 2010 Veyron is more than the cost of its parts and assembly and ongoing Bugatti overhead then VW is likely to continue to make them. Even if not, the…
@S-Money: If you're making less than half a dozen at a time in a largely manual process, why wouldn't you tweak the car slightly in EVERY SINGLE BATCH? I bet once Bugatti and Pagani and McLaren SLR made their first special edition, they never returned to building their original regular car. But "the mild revision…
@BrknPheonix: Nissan's director of product planning in February: "Perry says Nissan also will provide roadside assistance and envisions motoring-aid companies such as AAA having fast charge units on their trucks."
@CaffineFreakUs: 8.8 kWh to recharge could be right, the Volt tries not to let its 16 kWh pack discharge below ~25% or recharge fully. I don't know how efficient recharging is, it should around 90%. For what it's worth, my row of 9 BP Solar (yup, those oil-soaked bastards) SX170 panels made 8.1 kWh today. So you…
@kyosen: It takes years for car companies to arrange production capacity for novel parts (Nissan is opening three battery plants just to make 500,000 Leafs worldwide a year), so there's simply no way that everyone can suddenly get an electric car. The projected volumes for the next three years won't make a…
@mastaassmasta: If you have a 240V circuit (for an electric dryer, oven, or water heater), then you're most of the way there for this optional faster way to recharge your Volt. But you're not supposed to use a 240V dryer socket: 1999 National Electrical Code Article 625 - Electric Vehicle Charging System says "All…
@CaffineFreakUs: Then you're paying for two sets of batteries, the one in the car and the ones at home.
@BrknPheonix: Not many, but some people need a juiced-up car at all hours. To the Batmobile, Robin! Also drug dealers and stoners who live 20 miles from their jobs AND the 7-11.
@shakezulla86: Try developing your math skills. The Volt has a 16 kWh battery pack. The recharging efficiency won't be 100%, but Chevy doesn't let the battery discharge all the way to zero, I think they keep it at 30% and recharge to 95%. So if it takes 14 kWh to recharge a depleted battery, then if your…