Not Just BMW Drivers

after spending all that money to build plants in the US? doubt it...
They do have the export license, which they wouldn't have organised if they didn't intend to use it for something, I wouldn't be surprised if they export body shells from China for assembly in the US plants.

Typically for Chinese exports that would mean the USA factory would fit the engine and suspension, the rest would already be complete including paint and interior. Then it is sold as a USA built car.
 
They do have the export license, which they wouldn't have organised if they didn't intend to use it for something, I wouldn't be surprised if they export body shells from China for assembly in the US plants.

Typically for Chinese exports that would mean the USA factory would fit the engine and suspension, the rest would already be complete including paint and interior. Then it is sold as a USA built car.
ok, true, i was thinking of shipping complete vehicles, not components. i ought to know that too - toyota builds truck engines and transmissions in alabama, then ships them to indiana and texas to be installed in the vehicles. makes no sense to me to have the production split up like that, but i'm sure the gub'mint and their porky hands had a lot to do with it. hooray for Tesla for (mostly) bucking that trend!
 
hooray for Tesla for (mostly) bucking that trend!
Yes, currently Tesla do it the other way around, except there is no engine to fit!

"A 62,000 sq ft (5,800 m2) European service center operates in Tilburg, Netherlands along with a 77,650 m2 (835,800 sq ft) assembly facility that adds drivetrain, battery and software to the (imported) car body to reduce EU import tax"

However, don't forget that Tesla is part Chinese owned and are setting up a manufacturing facility in China. One that I think due to its location will have no export taxes for sending bodies to USA/Europe so is presumably for exporting bodies!
 
Well I can tell you that German engineering isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Well, the German engineering in the 20 y.o Opel I drive has never let me down. :p;)
 
Yes, currently Tesla do it the other way around, except there is no engine to fit!

So if there's no motor, how does the car move? Fairy dust? :D

A little birdy told me that some Teslas have not one but TWO motors! That's crazy talk though. ;)

Edit: a church friend let me drive his new P85 model S... Maybe the P stands for Pixie 85... And the P85D means Pixie 85 Dust. Either way that car had some serious get up and go, even without ludicrous mode!
 
Last edited:
So if there's no motor, how does the car move? Fairy dust? :D

A little birdy told me that some Teslas have not one but TWO motors! That's crazy talk though. ;)

Edit: a church friend let me drive his new P85 model S... Maybe the P stands for Pixie 85... And the P85D means Pixie 85 Dust. Either way that car had some serious get up and go, even without ludicrous mode!
I was using UK English! We use "motor" for devices that turn electricity into motion, we use "engine" for devices that use combustion to produce motion.

What I don't understand is why Teslas don't all have 4 motors?
With only 2 motors you need differentials and cant easily distribute power and regenerative braking for stability control.
 
Last edited:
How old is your BMW? :)
 
How old is your BMW? :)

The one I have now is 10 years old and so far has been trouble free. The one I had before it, a V8 645 model, was also 10 years old when I bought it. I spent over £1,000 in the first 6 months having oil leaks repaired. It also had many problems with the electronics which caused me to get rid of it. But before that I had a new Audi A4 with which I made monthly trips to the local Audi dealers for repairs and recalls. I'm also on my second Chrysler Voyager (mini van) both of which have proven very reliable.
 
The one I have now is 10 years old and so far has been trouble free. The one I had before it, a V8 645 model, was also 10 years old when I bought it. I spent over £1,000 in the first 6 months having oil leaks repaired. It also had many problems with the electronics which caused me to get rid of it.
Then it's more of a problem with the type of engine than an overall brand problem. :)
 
What I don't understand is why Teslas don't all have 4 motors?
With only 2 motors you need differentials and cant easily distribute power and regenerative braking for stability control.
Cost. Same reason internal combustion vehicles aren't all AWD. Most Teslas only have one motor to make them RWD.
 
Cost. Same reason internal combustion vehicles aren't all AWD. Most Teslas only have one motor to make them RWD.
You may be right, but I suspect 4 1/4 sized motors don't cost much different to 1 big motor and they are probably easier to fit, also I don't think of Teslas as cheap cars!

Maybe it is a reliability issue, only one thing to go wrong instead of 4 chances of a fault.
 
You may be right, but I suspect 4 1/4 sized motors don't cost much different to 1 big motor and they are probably easier to fit, also I don't think of Teslas as cheap cars!

Maybe it is a reliability issue, only one thing to go wrong instead of 4 chances of a fault.

i don't think of teslas as cheap either, though the new model 3 is starting a trend towards being affordable for the masses. too bad the interior is ugly as sin...

Having a motor in each wheel really limits the size of each motor, thus limiting the amount of torque it can produce. Also, the larger each hub motor is, the more unsprung mass you have, and the worse the acceleration, braking, handling and ride becomes. if you've ever driven a car that had been fitted with those huge 20+" chrome rims, you'd know exactly what i mean. and in lower powered cars (like my miata) it was amazing the difference a different set of wheels made - i switched from 14x6" rims that weighed about 10 lbs each to a set of 15x7 rims that weighed something like 16lbs each, and had near-identical tires on them. acceleration and braking were both negatively affected because of the weight difference. the ride was also much more harsh on the highway because the suspension had to deal with a lot more rotating inertia.

Even if you had each wheel's motor mounted to the frame and connected to the hub via CV-axles, i still don't see enough benefit over a single motor with a differential. You don't really lose THAT much power (either putting it down or recovering via regen braking) through a differential as long as both wheels have traction. And with modern traction control systems, it's really a non-issue now. Granted, my wife's 2008 highlander hybrid has AWD, but i've deliberately tried to upset the vehicle on snow and ice (with just all-season M+S tires) and the traction control wouldn't let me do anything crazy, including hard braking in a turn on ice at 40 mph. if traction control was that good 10 years ago, i can only imagine it's even better now.

Besides - the differential often serves a dual purpose as a reduction gear so you can get loads more torque from your power source, whether that's electric or ICE. so that's another form of efficiency by having a single motor - fewer parts, less weight, less things to go wrong.
 
Back
Top