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2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test
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2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test
The HOV-lane access stickers arrived for our 2013 Tesla Model S.
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In this case its the government pushing in a powerful but indirect manner for people usually higher income people to get electric vehicles. So we the poor and middle class people get watch the rich and famous blow past us because they could afford a "Clean air car" and not worry about all the downsides that still haunt the electric cars.
There are very few traditional "downsides" to owning an EV in CA. Given that our energy overwhelmingly comes from renewable sources there isn't the carbon footprint that many Eastern states have to deal with. Likewise, the Model S in b
I agree with the others that say HOV lanes should be off limits to anyone driving solo. People driving cars with alternative fuels or powertrains should still be encouraged to carpool. First reason is congestion. Driving solo is the problem, whatever vehicle you're driving. The second reason is the gain in efficiency is a false one. If I have a Camry and a Camry hybrid in my driveway, the difference in fuel efficiency is relatively small, yet one gets me in the HoV lane. If I have a Suburban and a Civic in my driveway, the difference in fuel efficiency is huge, yet neither gets me in the HOV lane.
A fully loaded Toyota Sienna minivan is $43,100. The 60kWh Tesla Model S is $71,070 and in California you get $7500 back from the Fed and $2500 back from the state so your cost is $61,070.
So for a $17,970 difference you can either be a completely innocuous Soccer Mom in a non-descript minivan or a Limousine Liberal yelling at everybody to get outta your way in his rich-man long wheelbase screw-the-whole-world power-trip machine.
Those darn rich people. They want everything for nothing and don't care who they step on to get it.
There are alternative methods for government to drive habits. One is fuel costs. Why does everyone in Europe drive small and fuel efficient vehicles? Because fuel is typically double the price as compared to the US. In London, you have to pay a congestion tax to drive into central London. In Singapore, they 'encourage' people to use public transportation by taxing cars so much, the price is triple what a car costs here in the US. Yeah, I had a friend who bought a VW Golf with the 1.4L twin-charged engine for $90k. A Honda Civic goes for around $80k or so. In Hong Kong, if my memory serves me correctly, they control congestion by only allowing cars with even number plates to drive certain days and cars with odd numbered plates to drive the other days. In Japan (not sure if currently, but at least 10 years ago or so), you had to prove you had a place to park a car before you could buy one. How do you guys like those examples of laws to drive public behavior?
Glad I can still ruffle feathers with my common sense.