Why Tesla drivers are superior

RandallFlagg

"That person's better than me, I bet they listen to audio books" 

rawk100

RandallFlagg said:

"That person's better than me, I bet they listen to audio books" 

I never knew Dave Mustaine had a Tesla, must have bought it with all the cash he got from flogging his guitars to that bloke in Essex 

RandallFlagg

I have no idea who Dave Mustaine is and can't be arsed to look it up. Probably plays music I would hate.

EricTheWeary

RandallFlagg said:

I have no idea who Dave Mustaine is and can't be arsed to look it up. Probably plays music I would hate.

He was on BBC4 at about 7:15pm this evening from TOTP 1990 if that helps. 

Although it was a spectacularly terrible record so you may have a point. 

m_c

I love a bit JP.
He's not afraid to say what lots of people think.

Funkfingers

My car has EXACTLY the carbon footprint of a Sasquatch. It is a Škoda Yeti.

exocet

As with many things in recent times, The Simpsons predicted it years ago.

richardhomer

I know someone who’s just gone down the EV route. It’s a company car - so reduces the corporation tax liability - and as it has zero emissions there is no benefit in kind. It’s very fuel - er, sorry - I mean tax efficient.....

Rocker

The zero emissions argument is only slightly true, if at all.  The car itself may produce no emissions but where is the electricity to charge it produced?  A power station belching out thick smoke?  A wind farm, which produces no emissions when actually working but the manufacturing and installation of the turbine results in more emissions than a lifetimes use of the turbine 'saves'.

The concept is good, the reality is questionable at best.

Danny1969

A huge amount of electric these days is created these from solar and it's increasing constantly. Wind turbine design has now improved to the point a single turbine can create 9.5MW, and the largest wind farm in the US pumps out 1500 MW . These figures are staggering. 
Lithium and colbalt aren't really rare and both can be used again and again .. unlike oil and coal. Unfortunately the largest deposits known are in area's where human rights and child labour are issues that need addressing. 

Electric cars aren't perfect BUT they are a step in the right direction. The only alternative is to keep using ICE cars until the oil runs out and then what ? 

As a cyclist I would rather be behind a Tesla than a normal car. It's strange ... you're not allowed to blow cigarette smoke in my face in a public place  but you are allowed to belch carbon dioxide into my face from your car while I queue in traffic on my bike. 

Great video though, he's a funny guy and a lot of that is so true. 

grungebob

Rocker said:

The zero emissions argument is only slightly true, if at all.  The car itself may produce no emissions but where is the electricity to charge it produced?  A power station belching out thick smoke?  A wind farm, which produces no emissions when actually working but the manufacturing and installation of the turbine results in more emissions than a lifetimes use of the turbine 'saves'.

The concept is good, the reality is questionable at best.

The power stations belching out thick smoke is for most modern stations condensing water. 

LooseMoose

Danny1969 said:

As a cyclist I would rather be behind a Tesla than a normal car. It's strange ... you're not allowed to blow cigarette smoke in my face in a public place  but you are allowed to belch carbon dioxide into my face from your car while I queue in traffic on my bike. 

This reminds me. In our town there is a guy with a recumbent bicycle. Now, far be it from me to profile (oh, go on then) but he’s a arse. Shouts at the traffic and waves his arms when cars inevitably get frustrated with him taking up half the road and wobbling around dangerously in front of him.

So, whenever I pass him, I do make sure to kick the car down, releasing what can only be described as a diesel fart in his general direction - a ‘dirty protest’ if you will.

Immature? Yep? Irresponsible, provably. Does it bring a small glimmer of joy into my otherwise worthless existence. 100%.

Danny1969

LooseMoose said:

Danny1969 said:

As a cyclist I would rather be behind a Tesla than a normal car. It's strange ... you're not allowed to blow cigarette smoke in my face in a public place  but you are allowed to belch carbon dioxide into my face from your car while I queue in traffic on my bike. 

This reminds me. In our town there is a guy with a recumbent bicycle. Now, far be it from me to profile (oh, go on then) but he’s a arse. Shouts at the traffic and waves his arms when cars inevitably get frustrated with him taking up half the road and wobbling around dangerously in front of him.

So, whenever I pass him, I do make sure to kick the car down, releasing what can only be described as a diesel fart in his general direction - a ‘dirty protest’ if you will.

Immature? Yep? Irresponsible, provably. Does it bring a small glimmer of joy into my otherwise worthless existence. 100%.

I think it's fair to say that some cyclist's think they own the road and it's acceptable to keep a whole stream of traffic at 15mph because they are entitled to ride a metre out from the curb. It's not surprising to me that these people get hit by cars. 

I generally ride tight to the curb or will use cycle lanes or the pavement rather than the road. I enjoy cycling but I'm more cycling in jeans chugging a beer than lycra clad arse in the air type rider. 

strtdv

When we're cycling in a small group we try to keep it so that we're in pairs with enough space between pairs for a car to overtake us in a couple of "hops" rather than having to overtake a long line of us at once.
Generally if you show consideration for other road users they will show consideration for you.

The other side of that is that during rush hour in a city 15mph is substantially faster than the average speed most cars are moving at, and despite the impression that cyclists are "holding up" traffic, they're probably getting to their destination quicker than the rest of the traffic.

I saw an interesting story on a Tesla model S that has done 750,000 miles, which sounds impressive, but it's needed 3 new motors and 4 new battery packs, which works out at around 150,000 miles per battery pack

fields5069

So this J P is a sort of wannabe Clarkson? It's all very 90s.

m_c

Danny1969 said:

I think it's fair to say that some cyclist's think they own the road and it's acceptable to keep a whole stream of traffic at 15mph because they are entitled to ride a metre out from the curb. It's not surprising to me that these people get hit by cars. 

I generally ride tight to the curb or will use cycle lanes or the pavement rather than the road. I enjoy cycling but I'm more cycling in jeans chugging a beer than lycra clad arse in the air type rider. 

Riding a metre from the kerb is where you should ride, as it stops cars from trying to squeeze past when they shouldn't, but like most things involving being on roads, you have to apply a bit common sense and be considerate of other road users.
As with all things in life, there are bellends in all walks of life.

I've sat and watched a cyclist who loves to post youtube videos of questionable driving in Edinburgh, and from the few minutes I sat in traffic watching him, he was a confrontational provocative arsehole. Squeezing along side vehicles and making a thing about how they'd left no room for him to filter past, and making a concerted effort to look in every vehicle for a second or so making sure drivers seen he was filming them with a go pro strapped to his helmet.

m_c

fields5069 said:

So this J P is a sort of wannabe Clarkson? It's all very 90s.

Nah, he does quite dry satirical spoofs, generally about your stereotypical middle class 'awoken' types.
I think his username on youtube probably sums him up pretty well https://www.youtube.com/user/AwakenWithJP

Danny1969

strtdv said:

When we're cycling in a small group we try to keep it so that we're in pairs with enough space between pairs for a car to overtake us in a couple of "hops" rather than having to overtake a long line of us at once.
Generally if you show consideration for other road users they will show consideration for you.

The other side of that is that during rush hour in a city 15mph is substantially faster than the average speed most cars are moving at, and despite the impression that cyclists are "holding up" traffic, they're probably getting to their destination quicker than the rest of the traffic.

I saw an interesting story on a Tesla model S that has done 750,000 miles, which sounds impressive, but it's needed 3 new motors and 4 new battery packs, which works out at around 150,000 miles per battery pack

Well to be fair a lot of regular cars are scrapped before they reach 150,000 miles. Not so much modern diesels but how many oil changes, cam belt changes, fuel pumps, injectors, gear box's, cam shafts, water pumps, alternators, starting motors, filters etc would a modern diesel need to get to 750K  .... and none of that is the actual engine which would almost certainly need new rings, conrods, main bearings etc ... to reach 750K

My own diesel Focus has done 150K but I don't think the engine will get to 200 .. it's chuffing a bit already. I did have a transit with 320K on it but that had 2 engines 

strtdv

I agree, although I guess my point is that battery pack and motor replacement are likely to be prohibitively expensive professional jobs, whereas a lot of the engine stuff to keep an ageing petrol or diesel car on the road aren't terribly expensive and could be done by a home mechanic.

I've worked on an old VW Passat that had about 540k miles on it and was on the original engine.
An old diesel W124 series E Class can keep on going for similar without much in the way of major work.
Emissions legislation contributes to shorter engine life unfortunately, as running your engine deliberately hot to burn off hydrocarbons recirculated from the exhaust is bad for the engine, but certainly pre-dpf diesels can go on for ages.

m_c

strtdv said:

I agree, although I guess my point is that battery pack and motor replacement are likely to be prohibitively expensive professional jobs, whereas a lot of the engine stuff to keep an ageing petrol or diesel car on the road aren't terribly expensive and could be done by a home mechanic.

I've worked on an old VW Passat that had about 540k miles on it and was on the original engine.
An old diesel W124 series E Class can keep on going for similar without much in the way of major work.
Emissions legislation contributes to shorter engine life unfortunately, as running your engine deliberately hot to burn off hydrocarbons recirculated from the exhaust is bad for the engine, but certainly pre-dpf diesels can go on for ages.

Emissions legislation has probably increased engine life, as the tolerances have to be much better. The issue is lots of bits are quite expensive to replace should they fail, so they become economically unviable should anything expensive go wrong.
EGR actually makes engines run cooler, as it's sole purpose is to reduce combustion temperatures to reduce NOx production, but modern engines are designed to warm up faster so they meet emission limits quicker.

The issue with engine life is mostly down to how they're driven, and how well they're maintained. I've seen plenty vans on original engines that have covered well over 200k. The record was a sprinter that was still on it's original engine at over 500k, when we lost the maintenance contract for it.

skullfunkerry

m_c said:

Danny1969 said:

I think it's fair to say that some cyclist's think they own the road and it's acceptable to keep a whole stream of traffic at 15mph because they are entitled to ride a metre out from the curb. It's not surprising to me that these people get hit by cars. 

I generally ride tight to the curb or will use cycle lanes or the pavement rather than the road. I enjoy cycling but I'm more cycling in jeans chugging a beer than lycra clad arse in the air type rider. 

Riding a metre from the kerb is where you should ride, as it stops cars from trying to squeeze past when they shouldn't, but like most things involving being on roads, you have to apply a bit common sense and be considerate of other road users.
As with all things in life, there are bellends in all walks of life.

I've sat and watched a cyclist who loves to post youtube videos of questionable driving in Edinburgh, and from the few minutes I sat in traffic watching him, he was a confrontational provocative arsehole. Squeezing along side vehicles and making a thing about how they'd left no room for him to filter past, and making a concerted effort to look in every vehicle for a second or so making sure drivers seen he was filming them with a go pro strapped to his helmet.

Years ago when I worked in London there were a couple of weeks where the letters page in Metro turned into a playground fight between cyclists and car drivers. As a pedestrian I saw bellends on bikes and in cars, but it did seem that most of the self-righteousness was coming from the cyclists. It therefore gave me great pleasure one morning when I saw a pair of cyclists collide: one was cycling across a pedestrian crossing and the other one had gone straight through a red traffic light without looking