I've actually seen several of these. I work at a software company, and the geeks there were quick to embrace Tesla, the latest thing. These peoples' cars were crapping out regularly, and the gas-powered "support vans" were in our parking lots with astonishing regularity.
...For the record, my observation is that Teslas are pretty crappy cars. I actually saw one at the side of the road after having the lower ball joint separate, jamming the right front wheel up into the wheel well. The sticker price was still in the window, and it still had its temporary paper license plates. ...That has yet to happen on my 25 year old Jeep Wrangler...
Pete: I began to run into new cars back around 2000 vintage that broke balljoints on the freeways. I suspect that as the makers got comfortable with designing vehicles with CAD and finite element engineering, they took away the overbuilt fudge factor that important parts used to have. Prior to that point, I had never seen a broken ball joint shaft on a car.
Aluminum wheels were another item that traditionally were WAY overbuilt. Not anymore. In the early 00's I saw a sports car that blew a corner on an onramp, and broke all 4 wheels when he slid into and over the curb. The spokes failed, and the hubs were the only thing still on the axles.
One picture is worth a thousand words.
ReplyDeleteHaha. Perfect.
ReplyDeleteSadly Ford won't use that line and picture in a commercial.
ReplyDeleteCNBC a couple of months back highlighted Ford as "tackling the nation-wide EV charging shortage." Whatever spins the boat.
ReplyDeleteI think EVs are silly outside of narrow use cases, but to be fair, Tesla doesn't offer a cargo van or similar work vehicle.
ReplyDeleteI've actually seen several of these. I work at a software company, and the geeks there were quick to embrace Tesla, the latest thing. These peoples' cars were crapping out regularly, and the gas-powered "support vans" were in our parking lots with astonishing regularity.
ReplyDelete...For the record, my observation is that Teslas are pretty crappy cars. I actually saw one at the side of the road after having the lower ball joint separate, jamming the right front wheel up into the wheel well. The sticker price was still in the window, and it still had its temporary paper license plates. ...That has yet to happen on my 25 year old Jeep Wrangler...
Yep, on the money! Even better when they are pulling a diesel generator to charge the dead Teslas on the side of the road!
ReplyDeletePete:
ReplyDeleteI began to run into new cars back around 2000 vintage that broke balljoints on the freeways. I suspect that as the makers got comfortable with designing vehicles with CAD and finite element engineering, they took away the overbuilt fudge factor that important parts used to have. Prior to that point, I had never seen a broken ball joint shaft on a car.
Aluminum wheels were another item that traditionally were WAY overbuilt. Not anymore. In the early 00's I saw a sports car that blew a corner on an onramp, and broke all 4 wheels when he slid into and over the curb. The spokes failed, and the hubs were the only thing still on the axles.