Bob's Bytes #335
I wasn't sure I should give this, but the membership ok'ed it. I did my best to stay away from the politics.
I stick with my opinion that Tesla's aren't cars for seniors - because the typical senior doesn't like change. The experience of buying, driving, and supporting it is very different than the traditional gas engine car. There is lots more 'do it yourself' tasks required, including no printed manual and few direct instructions.
As I write this Tesla, at $800B, is currently the 11th biggest company in the world by Market Capitalization (The number of shares times stock share price.) Those numbers change not only daily, but by the minute! I recommend checking out the linked site below for updated numbers and comparing all major companies, not just the few listed on slide 11.
Discussion topics of the day:
- Current Market Cap numbers: https://companiesmarketcap.com/
- Kelly Blue Book listing of Tesla Models: https://www.kbb.com/tesla/
- You can buy a Tesla here: https://www.tesla.com/ - or at least walk through the process to find out the costs. They have new, demo, and used models available.
- Note: Some listings automatically include Federal and State rebates and your 'projected savings' over not needing to buy gas.
- Car and Driver liked the Model 3, <link>; they hated my loved Prius Prime. <link>
- Slide 25 includes my current DelMarVa electric rates which jumped up to 18.7 cents per kWh this month - an increase of 42% (!!!) since 2021 and a full 2 cents more than last year. Supercharging can be up to 50 cents per kWh.
- I added a new slide on charging details as it can get complicated and there conflicting advice from different sources.
- I didn't know that at the time that 'One Pedal Driving" that we spent time discussing can be turned off.
- I'm still learning new things about it after just 2 weeks, there are lots and lots of YouTube videos available, both from Tesla <link> and many others <link>. More Do It Yourself.
- One more point about the included Dashcam video: as that *&%$# driver passed me on the right, the car threw a stone from the shoulder that hit our windshield with a very loud crack. We were worried about damage, but thankfully, it caused only a very small scratch on hood and windshield, barely detectable with the naked eye.
