How does this differ from carrying 200gals of volatile fuel? I'd rather be in a plane with Li-Ion batteries getting shot at than in an Avgas-carrying spam can.

But ultimately, this doesn't matter. Convenience trumps all. I'm in the film industry. Analog film can to this day resolve more than digital, it can do it with much more latitude and "bits" and overall better quality (exposure latitude). All that doesn't matter - when digital cameras came along they swept the user market almost immediately even though they looked %#$@ and could barely produce a 2MP image. Because it was convenient. Exactly the same thing is going to happen with electrical cars - it's much easier to charge your car at night when you're sleeping, waking up with a full tank everyday, for less cost, than stopping at some godforsaken gas station, getting smelly fuel all over you, when you've left it to the last minute.

Just watch. There will be no pure gas cars sold new in 20 years time. We can bitch and moan about it, but that's how it's going to be. Might as well embrace it and be ahead of the curve. Airplanes are next. I'm personally all for it. Can't wait to see the back of the piston engine and big oil. Good riddance to those two suckers.

Didn't you just buy a turboprop? You know those use dino juice, right?

Sorry for the thread drift, but you're loving that thing, aren't you? Climbs like a bat out of hell, doesn't it? Tell us what you think!

Good, then it leaves more cheap fuel for the rest of us to feed our dinosaur planes.




How does this differ from carrying 200gals of volatile fuel? I'd rather be in a plane with Li-Ion batteries getting shot at than in an Avgas-carrying spam can.

But ultimately, this doesn't matter. Convenience trumps all. I'm in the film industry. Analog film can to this day resolve more than digital, it can do it with much more latitude and "bits" and overall better quality (exposure latitude). All that doesn't matter - when digital cameras came along they swept the user market almost immediately even though they looked %#$@ and could barely produce a 2MP image. Because it was convenient. Exactly the same thing is going to happen with electrical cars - it's much easier to charge your car at night when you're sleeping, waking up with a full tank everyday, for less cost, than stopping at some godforsaken gas station, getting smelly fuel all over you, when you've left it to the last minute.

Just watch. There will be no pure gas cars sold new in 20 years time. We can bitch and moan about it, but that's how it's going to be. Might as well embrace it and be ahead of the curve. Airplanes are next. I'm personally all for it. Can't wait to see the back of the piston engine and big oil. Good riddance to those two suckers.

Agreed on that. The P85D is also an amazing machine.

What I find great, even given the limited capacity of the battery storage at current, is that Tesla has built over 144 of them allowing us to charge at no cost!!!

http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger

Simply a game changer. Folks who don't drive electric, simply don't realize that you never head to a gas station!

I drove the P85D at the unveiling up in Hawthorne (TFR prohibited flying it which was horrible), and I just couldn't talk myself into trading in my P85 for it.... yet. Maybe if I lived in a state where you get sales tax credit for a trade-in.

I have no idea what gas costs. I may fill up my wife's car once every few months, but that is it. I can quote you Jet-A prices however :-)

From what I have seen so far a "battery swap" is probably going to be price from $60-$80. That is about 3x the cost of running a gasoline car of the same size and quality. The supercharger stations are nice, but only deliver 80% charge in the time allotted. Still just a toy, but maybe could be something in 5-10 years if the car was 1/2 the cost and the battery swap was less than gasoline.

My sons, who both invest in Tesla stock and follow the company closely (they are 17 and 19) keep trying to talk my wife into getting one of their cars. I'm with you at this point in that I don't think they are entirely practical. Yet. But I believe they will be some day. People like Elon Musk are why America continues to be a great country. People who see things others don't and take the risk to make them reality are the ones who create new industries, new possibilities and new wealth that drive our country forward. I am looking forward to buying a completely practical Tesla car!

I did! I wish there were electric ones, but alas, this will have to do until that day arrives!

Haven't really started flying it yet. It's up for its phase inspection and some pressure leak fixes, so prob won't see it until the new year. I also need to sell my plane before I can fully pay for this one, which is not a quick thing in this market. But I did go fly it before it got dropped off at the mechanic and I can tell you it was a hoot. Love that thing! I'll post some pics in the original thread soon.

That's awesome man. Good for you. You only live once that I'm aware of, and you're older than you ever were- and now you're even older. Enjoy it!

We couldn't have walked into a better time for buying jet fuel.

I know, right? And what's even greater is that it seems to be a lot more variation on the Jet A1 side than on Avgas. Better deals to be had. You can easily get $1-3 discrepancies if you shop around. Seen as low as $3.50 in some places in the midwest.

But as a died-in-the-wool cynic I know it won't last, so hopefully I'll get to enjoy some of it before the prices bump up again!

100LL is $3.95 here....Yippee

You can definitely cut some deals. In particular, I always bargain for hangar/ramp space; often they start at 100$, I never pay more than $30 on the ramp, $50 in the hangar. So far, anyplace I go, there's only "turbine tax" if I let it happen. Also, get a CAA card. It's free for the first six months, $600/year after that, and no joke, you'll save more than that in two fill ups.

Sorry about the thread drift, hijack over!

Merry Christmas!

I'm pretty sure I've learned more stuff on BT than anywhere else in my life. If there was only a way to categorize all these threads of information. You really wouldn't need anything else. So many smart people here who love talking about "smart stuff". I love it.

Well said, sir! Well said, indeed! Me too. A big thanks to the Jeffs for providing it!

[quote="Marc Bourdon"]Good, then it leaves more cheap fuel for the rest of us to feed our dinosaur planes.


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