The future of motoring?

Far more pure electric Teslas here than plug-in hybrids. A few Chevy Volts. Can't say I've seen an Outlander but I also might not notice it if I did. A couple of Leafs. But Teslas are commonplace.

The gas stations around here carry 4 different types of fuel, and need separate tanks and delivery trucks for all of them. I don't see that catering to multiple battery standard configurations (within reason) is impractical. There are also dozens of gas stations with a short distance of each other, all of which offer multiple fuel types. The current system is hardly efficient from a standardisation perspective.

Battery cars are not very green nor practical nor the future.

More efficient internal combustion engines powering electric motors with energy recovery systems are the next practical step.

How are electric cars not practical? For the vast majority of city and suburban driving they are extremely practical. The only areas in which they do less well is initial cost and range (applicable only for longer trips). This is changing rapidly.

Agreed that it will take a while to transition, likely involving a lot of hybrids of various flavours, but my money is on the eventual dominance of rechargeable electric vehicles. Literally. We own shares in Tesla. They're doing very nicely, thankyou.

Electric cars are also "green". 

http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/electric-cars-green

Interesting reading. The use of "green" is so diluted these days it's lost most value to me. Same with "carbon footprint" and "eco"-this or "eco"-that. They're mostly commercial selling terms, and words that buyers use to rationalize or feel good about their choices. In my mind, lifestyle choices are much more important. Reducing unnecessary trips, driving the same car for twenty years, or riding a bike go farther than buying a new technology car. In reality though, it's not possible to quantify the long-term effects of those choices.

No probs Winky.

"my money is on the eventual dominance of rechargeable electric vehicles. Literally. We own shares in Tesla. They're doing very nicely, thankyou."

And a good part of that is also courtesy of the US taxpayer - another gripe I have with Tesla.  Were his company not subsidized by my taxes supporting the purchase of his products, Elon Musk would be out of business already.  Tesla reports non-GAAP numbers for its accounting.  Tesla's reported "profit" of $104 million is actually a non-GAAP number. On a GAAP basis, Tesla lost $74 million last year.

Fudging the tax-credit numbers by reporting them as sales allowed gross margins to hit 22% last year. Analysts and media outlets loved that number. After all, even mighty BMW's margins were only 20%.

The public believed Tesla could earn fatter margins selling 22,500 cars than BMW could selling nearly 2 million cars. Amazing! Too good to be true.

Since the end of 2010, Tesla has increased its debt by 736%. At the end of March of this year, its total debt is more than $3.5 billion, or 78% of its assets. It has increased the number of shares outstanding by 31%, or 10% each year on average. And that's not counting the nearly 23 million shares of unexercised stock options that dilute existing shareholders by another 18%.

 Think of it this way: if you had $25 billion, would you rather buy 100% of Tesla or 32% of BMW? I know I'd choose BMW... especially given BMW's new electric i3 and i8 models generating considerable interest. Increased competition from BMW and others will continue to put pressure on Tesla's revenues and margins. It's going to be hard to charge $100,000 for a car when you're no longer the only game in town.

BMW has 41 times the revenue of Tesla and 68 times the net income, but its market cap is only 3.2 times that of Tesla's.

Enjoy the ride on your Tesla shares, but I hope you know what a trailing stop is...

There're about 1.3 billions cars on globe. Think what if we should clear out and make again batteries for all. The quantity of energy i mean. Looks like we'll have to forget cars and get the bus. Or buy one of these:

Oh Sh1t ! sorry - methane !!

Looks like Europe has a future after all...............

Yep. They could pave it all.

Fair call. Not the most rational investment we've ever made.  The analysts are clever enough to understand the accounting treatment and effect of the tax credits. But yes, the numbers are indeed very hard to choke down. But it's a very small position, more for giggles, than anything else.

It's early days in the world of electric vehicles. The OP's question was about the future.

Indeed. I couldn't agree more. The number one most effective personal lifestyle choice is the choice to not reproduce.

I agree. And you will find that myself and the OP have been saying something similar for years.

However, as with many other initiatives, one or two people making that personal lifestyle choice makes sod all difference. It needs the collective effort of the global population. And that in turn needs incentivisation to make it work.

However, the global population doesn't seem to be following Britain's lead on reducing global warming and I didn't detect  any enthusiastic following of China's one family - one child policy.while it lasted.

So its pie-in-the-sky dreaming, as usual !

It is hard not to admire an entrepreneur as brilliant and adventurous as Elon Musk.

In the long term, I think Tesla will do fine in the luxury car market, selling its own vehicles in company-owned showrooms and online. I think they also have a much larger opportunity in selling electric powertrain components to other automakers. I think Tesla is only supplying Toyota and Daimler today, but am expecting that to expand.

I would not put my own money in Tesla -- 100x future earnings is too risky for me -- but this is definitely a company that I will root for, and in about 5 years time, I would love to own one of their entry-level models.

Hook

This is one thing I actually really admire. The breathtaking arrogance of the US dealer networks lobbying (sometimes successfully!) to protect their customer-damaging entrenched positions is something to behold.

Battery cars have very limited range and hours of re-charge time. The battery pack will need replacing every 5 years if you are lucky and batteries are very dirty to manufacture.

Other than that, an excellent solution...

I'll now add Lionel's battery manufacture/disposal/recycle issue.

We need to look at the big picture. Not this week's Hot Share price.

Someone somewhere started making and moving them using hemp. But someone somewhere else decided that hemp was evil and that the highway to redemption  had to turn into an infinite pile of a non biodegradable series of seasonal trips. Like a new car. I spent a lovely afternoon with a couple of kind guys from the company that made the solar paneling on my roof. They told me, in cheap words, that my area is daily shaved by extra power enjections. I knew it since i moved in this lovely place about 20 years ago because of blinking bulbs  They know it today. After the bloody mess on my roof. They made me spend the amount of a new car i thought fitted with airbags. So next time i'll get a new car instead. Engine exaust roar will cover voices from my brain telling me they're all trying to fool me.

Amen to that - in addition to NOT having tax money go to his products, I DO think he should be allowed to sell his product unmolested by protectionist legislation as he wishes.

And I think "arrogance" is the perfect word to describe those jerks too - the whole US business model has been a scam for decades.  You know damn well at some level it comes down to "If we pay you enough money will you pass a law that allows us to continue to f**k the consumer like we have been...we love capitalism, as long as there's not really any competition...you know, sort-of capitalism..."

I hope the subsidies get cut, but I certainly hope he wins that battle against the dealership associations.

How is 400km a "very limited range"? A Tesla can recharge 250km of range in 30 minutes at a free supercharging station. If your car is charging overnight (like it will do 98% of the time for most people) why does the recharge time matter? Hell, I can recharge for free at my office while I work (or I could if I had an electric car and drive it to work).

I'll acknowledge that for long trips, the range remains a limitation. In North America, much of the population is within range of free supercharging stations that enable you to drive a Tesla nearly everywhere if you are a little patient to wait for charging. It is expanding and will soon be augmented with battery swap stations that allow you to "refuel" faster than a regular car. OK, not yet, but the future? Yep. I think so.

Teslas come with an unlimited-km 8-year battery warranty.

"For instance, Musk should be carefully watching the new partnership between aluminum giant Alcoa and start-up aluminum-air battery maker Phinergy of Israel.

Alcoa, in most of its history, has been focusing its products on the metallic structural properties of aluminum. The fledgling partnership will focus on the energy carrying capacity of aluminum. Phinergy has already built an aluminum-air powered car and expects all-electric range to be 1000 miles or so. Looking ahead, cars and life cycle costs would be about the same as conventional gas powered cars with aluminum-air batteries installed.

Though aluminum-air batteries would be swapped, with internal parts (the aluminum sacrificial anodes) removed and recycled with normal aluminum recycling, at 1000 miles range, battery swapping would be infrequent.

For his vehicles, Musk has already demonstrated battery swapping. Yet the question will remain whether the new plant will be able switch to this technology, or some other, should a superior battery come along."

All good. 1000 mile electric range. Readily recyclable. Renewable energy sources. Bring it on!

http://www.valuewalk.com/2014/...le-buy-tesla-motors/

Apple and Tesla?

I have always been a petrol head. Loved my big V8s, their deep lung staccato and most recently powerful turbo fours and sixes due to their efficiency and serenity. Last week I had a chance to ride in a Tesla Model S P85. It is one sleek machine! It had a decent ride quality coupled with very good road holding abilities. It corners gamely and its acceleration is in sports car league, seriously. Only downside was a little too much road noise on choppy surfaces. But that’s about it.

My owner friend told me that if it is driven in green fashion its range is around 220 miles in real world terms which is quite handy for urban dwellers. This particular model is selling in droves here in Hong Kong (orders already exceeded the total number of full electric cars on the road)  and I understand why. I cannot wait to test drive the upcoming dual elec motor version. Tesla might as well consider adding a highly strung V12 sound effect blasted in cabin through surround sound system in that version a la BMW

To be frank I almost hated the plug in hybrids that are currently available on the market these days. And I do not belong to a puny minority in this. Their mpg/performance ratio is purpose defeating compared to those of well executed turbo diesels and unfortunately most of them are decaf plebian rides.

But Tesla could change this rather widely held perception against eco cars. It would also change how a full on electric car should be designed in the coming years. I will not be surprised if Audi, BMW and Merc offer full electric versions of their midsize sedans in near future. In time we will probably see good performance, better range, longer battery life and more affordable electric cars from a range of manufacturers.  If Tesla is heralding what future might be holding for electric cars then I am ready to embrace it.

Because I need a minimum of 450 miles to get to a client/meeting/pitch and get home again.  This while running air con/heating, sat nav and lights much of the time. And having the full performance available for high average speeds (where possible) and overtaking at will (when safe). For trundling into town or to nearby cities for shopping, errands and so forth I don't need high performance or more than 100 miles range between charges. But I wouldn't run a Model S if that's all I used it for. I am waiting, in a positive frame of mind for the electric/hybrid solution for my needs at a price which is attractive to me. The Model S can't go onto my list because of its range and time between charges. The charging infrastructure in the UK is not good enough and people appear to be buying EVs faster than the infrastructure is developing. Which if true suggests that we're all charging at home. Which is fine, I just need a 450+ mile range  to make it practical.