Electric Vehicles? Towing? Hauling?

pnichols wrote:

Reisender wrote:

pnichols wrote:

mikim wrote:
We have two Tesla's and love them. Whenever a software update is available, the cars automatically download and install the updates. The Car's are also able to communicate with the "Mothership" to provide Tesla with information about the car and our driving profiles. It would be easy for the car to self report miles driven automatically, and the taxing authority could use this data to collect "road use" taxes.

Additionally, Tesla's cannot be unplugged unless the "FOB" is nearby.

Good grief ... I'd NEVER own a vehicle who's continued good performance depended upon Internet (or satellite) access.

It sounds like Tesla vehicles are assuming ownership in densely populated areas or otherwise in areas that just happen to have good Internet (or satellite?) access. Our vehicles are often in many places "off the grid" with respect to cellular tower or satellite signals.

One of the GREAT features of fossil fuel powered vehicles is their off the grid self-containment -> for hundreds of miles between fuel-ups and thousands of miles between tune-ups.

Nope. Has nothing to do with continued good performance. Software updates provide improvements to varioys functions. Everything from braking to instrumentation, power curves, safety, navigation. Things other vehicles require you to buy a new model year for.

Tesla’s are not dependant on Satelite (not a thing) or internet. But if you are at home connected to your home wifi updates can occur.

Tesla’s or other EV’s don’t need tuneups...ever. There’s nothing to tune up. Tesla’s travel “100’s of miles between fuel ups”. When was the last time you fueled up at home? :)

Hmmm ... "Has nothing to do with continued good performance. Software updates provide improvements to various functions. Everything from braking to instrumentation, power curves, safety, navigation. Things other vehicles require you to buy a new model year for."

How about "software improvements" that better compensate for brake wear, that make more accurage or better compensate for instrumentation aging, that adjusts drive motor torque utilization versus drive motor aging, that tries to maintain vehicle safety as it's tires and tie rod joints age, that keeps accurate it's on-board navigation map database, etc.. I consider tweaking such things as the above as "continued good performance" - and I certainly don't want those things to depend upon reliable Internet, WiFi, or otherwise types of wireless access.

FWIW, I live only 12-15 miles from Silicon Valley (and slightly further from one of the Tesla plants) and our WiFi bandwidth performance is often terrible. I have classical vehicle repair facilities that are closer and more reliable in helping to maintain continued good performance.

As for software in general having control over my personal safety - I'm sure glad I wasn't on one of those two commercial flights recently.

EV owners need to enjoy it while EV use is still on a small scale -> good luck when everyone everywhere is trying to use them.

(By the way and FWIW, is the world's supply of lithium - and the world's political climate to keep it accessible - adequate when "all of us everywhere" have switched to EVs?