Back in 1890, the very first EV was produced.
EV's have been around for a long time; over 100 years.
EV's biggest Achilles Heel has always been the battery - not the electric motor.

So yes, a cult-battery makes a cult-car.

If someone can come up with a mass produced solid state or graphene battery with: higher energy densities, quicker charge, slower self-discharge and slower battery degradation etc etc - then that will be the day....

 

peteharvey, last warning... let it go on the battery discussion in this thread, that's not what t's about.

 

Tesla is delivering around 100,000 new vehicles each quarter now....most of them Model 3s. At that rate, that would be (roughly) around 400,000 a year...which was what the Camry and Accord were doing, years ago, at the peak of their domination of the sedan market. That gives you an idea of the current popularity of Model 3s. Worldwide, though, the Nissan Leaf dominates the BEV market....the Model 3's popularity is greatest in the U.S.


https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/02/tesl...y-numbers.html

https://qz.com/1703260/teslas-model-...e-nissan-leaf/

 

mmarshall, i agree the tesla 3 is really successful right now.

to all: we don't need to digress into tesla's finances, or batteries, or other topics we've repeaded ad nauseum.

whether people here love or hate the tesla 3, it's quite a phenomenon. i can't believe how many i see around my small town. and despite the original tease $35K price, i expect typical selling prices are between $45-55K so those sales volumes are quite impressive.

does that make it a 'cult car'? i don't really care for that term. it seems that term tends to mean more in the rear view mirror... was the pinto a cult car? one would hardly have thought so at the time but they sure did sell a load and it was well known and later infamous.

mmarshall - i'd say the late 1960's mustang was a cult car. not only was it wildly successful but movies like Bullitt showed it in a great light in that memorable car chase.

 

Just in the last couple of months, the number of them in my area has exploded. They are (seemingly) getting almost as popular as Camrys and Accords.


I agree it's maybe not the best term....but there aren't many other terms that really mean the same thing.


I mentioned the 60s Mustang earlier in the thread (so did Hoovey). In 1964, it set a first-year sales-record for a Detroit product....all the more remarkable considering that it was introduced in April 1964, halfway through the traditional sales-year, and that, mechanically, it was nothing out of the ordinary.....basically just a Falcon compact with a sharp-looking body and interior. But its appeal was tremendous......and it was basically Lido's idea. He would more or less repeat the success some 20 years later, of course, wth the 1984 Dodge/Plymouth minivans.

And that's how Lido got back at Henry Ford II for firing him and Hal Sperlich (both of whom went to Chrysler). Lee and Hal, in the late 1970s, wanted to do the minivans at Ford......Henry said no dice. Both Ford and GM got caught flat-footed by the 1984 Chrysler minivans (it took them years to catch up), just like Chevy got caught flat-footed with the original Mustang, though Plymouth had some advance notice that the Mustang was coming (maybe spies?), and got the Valiant-based 1964 Plymouth Barracuda ready just in time.

 

C&D just leased a Model 3 for a 2 year/40k Long Term Test. It will be interesting to read their reports as the test goes on.

 

Sure will, particularly in that cold and snowy Ann Arbor, MI climate....assuming they don't test it somewhere else.

 

The anti-battery cult has a loyal following.

 

It's like a lithium ion battery insulted their mother or something.

 

Moderator already posted a warning, and two members above had to make it personal.

closed; please don’t carry this forward in future threads