Tesla Model 3

[blangtang]

ha so funny...

Louis Anslow ‏@omosanzalette

2008: “No one will buy a Tesla!”
2013: “Teslas are only for rich people!”
2016: “How is Tesla going to make all those Teslas!?”

[Jersey Boss]

2013: “Teslas are only for rich people!”

While the term "rich" is relative I would say that currently these cars (model 3) are for the well to do. The median household income in the USA in 2014 (latest available numbers) was 53,657 and for Oklahoma it was 47,529. I would hazard a guess that for the majority of folks in this country with a house payment, 2 kids, etc. tying up a thousand dollars for an unknown length of time is not realistic. Of course the S model is for the upper crust.

[ethansisson]

That's just absurd.

It's not. It's certainly plausible. I don't think "visual distance" is terribly important though. Anywhere in the center of the dash is going to be close enough to see. What matters more is whether it is comfortable and natural to look at it.

For what it's worth, in my experience having a speedometer in the center of the dashboard I prefer it. Years ago I had a Saturn Ion with the instrument panel in the center and it felt just right. I would imagine some people*with the same car hate that and many people don't even notice that it's different (you'd be surprised how oblivious to their environment most people are).

[mkjeeves]

[Teo9969]

That seems to be a worst case scenario for oil. There could be myriad factors that come up that cause issues on the electric side and new markets that could open for oil. I think we can all see that oil is not going to reign supreme for probably even the duration of this century, but it will certainly not completely drop off the map.

[jerrywall]

I think it's more likely that if oil supplies started outstripping demand (in regards to cars) unless we get significantly more efficient at producing electricity, consumption would just shift to the generation of electricity, rather than the combustion engine. IIRC, the last number I saw listed Petroleum as a single digit source of electricity, so there's definitely room to grow.

[mkjeeves]

Well to wheel efficiency of electric cars is about half that of ICE cars. So that same gallon of oil it takes to run an ICE car would could run two electrics just as far if you put the same oil in a gen plant. (more or less.)

Natural gas and coal are the primary two sources for generation now with a mix of everything else, depending on which part of the country. While gen plants could be built or converted to burn oil or oil byproducts, that seems really unlikely. More likely an overall increase would be met with sources we use now. Part of the point of the video though, is when/if it happens, it could happen really quickly, and in the next decade. Oil values could fall, while natural gas, coal, renewables values would go up.

Or not.

The whole Peak Oil End of the World as We Know it...isn't anytime soon.