Geoff Coenen
Well-known member
Westport CT Police Bought a Tesla
https://www.ctpost.com/news/article...a-a-money-saver-16336263.php?src=rdctpdensecp
I honestly don’t believe many of the claims of $ saving in the article. I’ll address them one by one.
1- “Tesla Model 3 purchased by the Westport Police in late 2019”
--- “the town had saved $12,582 in fuel alone after four years of using electricity to power the vehicle”
Late 2019 + 2020 + 7 months into 2021 does not add up to 4 years, but heck I’m not a green fudging the numbers.
So the electricity to run the Tesla – what did it cost? Do they have a separate electric meter at the charging station to see that actual cost? At the gas pump you know exactly the cost.
2 “Tesla was $52,300 — significantly higher than the Ford Explorer, which had purchase price of $37,000.” HOWEVER …
“it costs $38,900 to customize the Ford, compared with $14,300 for the current Tesla and $30,700 for the future model”
Customize I assume means add a Divider Cage, Door Locks, Police Radio’s & Computers, Push Bars, etc. Since this is the first Tesla Police vehicle supposedly on the East Coat – it doesn’t sound like the Police conversion – i.e. “customization” is found anywhere on the East Coast. I know GM, Ford, Chrysler have had police packages for decades. Are these green zealots saying the police radio in a Tesla is cheaper to install than in an explorer? Hogwash. Based upon the evidence this green club presents – I think this is their weakest argument. Do the Light Bars cost more for a Tesla or Ford or more to install? Hogwash.
Don’t those fast electric superchargers cost a few thousand frog skins to buy & install?
3 “The electric cars also don’t have certain maintenance costs associated with them, including oil changes, that gas-powered cars have.”
That is a valid point. I would argue that the Suspension, Lights, AC, Heater, PW, PS, PB – probably have similar maintenance requirements. Many Police cars are used around the clock by Officers during the 3 eight hour shifts. I doubt the Tesla runs 3 shifts – due to charging time. Some municipalities have their own repair & maintenance garages. This with bloated high pay public service union salaries & their hundreds of rules & regulations no doubt add to the higher cost of maintenance on gas models.
There is one missed point. When those Lithium batteries catch fire there is really very little that can be done to put out the fire. I have seen a photo from Europe with a giant tub filled with some liquid, big enough to submerge a car – and the electric car still burned for days. Lithium when exposed to Water releases Hydrogen gas & Lithium Hydroxide. ( 2Li + 1H2O = 2LiOH + 1H2 )
I’m not anti green & admire Elon Musk. His contribution to landing a used rocket on a raft in the ocean is remarkable among other contributions.
I have studied the earth’s history; geology, studied continental drift, evolution, climatology and in Connecticut where I am seated the glacial ice once was over a mile thick. That was then, and there have been several Ice Ages separated by Inter-glacial Ages. We are in between another now. Eventually it will all happen again. I’m not worried about the seas rising, they have risen & fallen repeatedly over hundreds of millions of years.
Personally when you look at the people who have promoted the green band wagon big time you see there are many profiting handsomely. Al Gore, John Kerry. How about those wind towers in Texas during the freeze? The Blackouts in Kalifornia. In Europe there have been results that do not bode well for the future in the US.
If just a half or one quarter of the cars in my neighborhood were tapping the electrical grid recharging we would be in the dark ages from brown outs or worse. So in 10 or 15 years no more gas cars supposedly and in that time there isn’t an electric company in the US with the infrastructure in place or building the grid to charge all those electric Tesla’s, Rivians, Toyotas, Honda, Nissan, GM, Ford, Mustang, Amazon delivery trucks, buses, etc. A perfect storm.
https://www.ctpost.com/news/article...a-a-money-saver-16336263.php?src=rdctpdensecp
I honestly don’t believe many of the claims of $ saving in the article. I’ll address them one by one.
1- “Tesla Model 3 purchased by the Westport Police in late 2019”
--- “the town had saved $12,582 in fuel alone after four years of using electricity to power the vehicle”
Late 2019 + 2020 + 7 months into 2021 does not add up to 4 years, but heck I’m not a green fudging the numbers.
So the electricity to run the Tesla – what did it cost? Do they have a separate electric meter at the charging station to see that actual cost? At the gas pump you know exactly the cost.
2 “Tesla was $52,300 — significantly higher than the Ford Explorer, which had purchase price of $37,000.” HOWEVER …
“it costs $38,900 to customize the Ford, compared with $14,300 for the current Tesla and $30,700 for the future model”
Customize I assume means add a Divider Cage, Door Locks, Police Radio’s & Computers, Push Bars, etc. Since this is the first Tesla Police vehicle supposedly on the East Coat – it doesn’t sound like the Police conversion – i.e. “customization” is found anywhere on the East Coast. I know GM, Ford, Chrysler have had police packages for decades. Are these green zealots saying the police radio in a Tesla is cheaper to install than in an explorer? Hogwash. Based upon the evidence this green club presents – I think this is their weakest argument. Do the Light Bars cost more for a Tesla or Ford or more to install? Hogwash.
Don’t those fast electric superchargers cost a few thousand frog skins to buy & install?
3 “The electric cars also don’t have certain maintenance costs associated with them, including oil changes, that gas-powered cars have.”
That is a valid point. I would argue that the Suspension, Lights, AC, Heater, PW, PS, PB – probably have similar maintenance requirements. Many Police cars are used around the clock by Officers during the 3 eight hour shifts. I doubt the Tesla runs 3 shifts – due to charging time. Some municipalities have their own repair & maintenance garages. This with bloated high pay public service union salaries & their hundreds of rules & regulations no doubt add to the higher cost of maintenance on gas models.
There is one missed point. When those Lithium batteries catch fire there is really very little that can be done to put out the fire. I have seen a photo from Europe with a giant tub filled with some liquid, big enough to submerge a car – and the electric car still burned for days. Lithium when exposed to Water releases Hydrogen gas & Lithium Hydroxide. ( 2Li + 1H2O = 2LiOH + 1H2 )
I’m not anti green & admire Elon Musk. His contribution to landing a used rocket on a raft in the ocean is remarkable among other contributions.
I have studied the earth’s history; geology, studied continental drift, evolution, climatology and in Connecticut where I am seated the glacial ice once was over a mile thick. That was then, and there have been several Ice Ages separated by Inter-glacial Ages. We are in between another now. Eventually it will all happen again. I’m not worried about the seas rising, they have risen & fallen repeatedly over hundreds of millions of years.
Personally when you look at the people who have promoted the green band wagon big time you see there are many profiting handsomely. Al Gore, John Kerry. How about those wind towers in Texas during the freeze? The Blackouts in Kalifornia. In Europe there have been results that do not bode well for the future in the US.
If just a half or one quarter of the cars in my neighborhood were tapping the electrical grid recharging we would be in the dark ages from brown outs or worse. So in 10 or 15 years no more gas cars supposedly and in that time there isn’t an electric company in the US with the infrastructure in place or building the grid to charge all those electric Tesla’s, Rivians, Toyotas, Honda, Nissan, GM, Ford, Mustang, Amazon delivery trucks, buses, etc. A perfect storm.