Technology

Not a Tesla apologist, but this article kind of contradicts itself.

They argue that Tesla is lying about vehicle range, but then saying that Tesla is guilty of normalizing building vehicles with oversized batteries which customers don't need (because they only drive 40 miles a day) which is putting a strain on the battery supply chain.

Wouldn't Tesla lying about range be them minimizing their impact on the battery supply chain?

And the rest of the article goes on to complain about the battery arms race which I agree with (anybody who can charge at home doesn't need more than 100 mile range for their second vehicle), but that's hardly Tesla's fault. On every thread discussing EVs for the past 10 years, there's always some petrolhead complaining that EVs aren't able to easily complete the 15 hour, 900 mile, road trip they apparently drive every week. The market wanted a replacement for gas cars, Tesla did what they could to meet that demand.

Also, the articles linked about Tesla lying about range mostly discuss how all EVs fall short of EPA range when tested by Car and Driver. That suggests the blame lies with EPA testing, and Car and Driver even has a suggestions on what to change about the EPA's methodology.

, and supply chains aren’t scaling anywhere near fast enough to put a 300-mile range EV in every driveway in time to slow climate change.

And if they were scaling we would just accelerate climate change even more. New cars don't slow climate change. Repair your old one, or take the bus, or use a bike.

@stopthatgirl7 Perhaps it’s time that people accepted that Toyota was right: We want a diversity of electrified vehicles. Hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell cars all have their role to play right now. It should not be a monoculture of BEVs.

Slate froze the screen because I use an ad blocker. Oh well. Buh bye slate.

I’m definitely no battery engineer, so correct me if I’m wrong, but… wouldn’t a 100-mile-range battery pack have a shorter life span than a 200-mile pack under the same usage since its charge/discharge cycles would be deeper in terms of %, and possibly more frequent because of the reduced range?