They don't want an aftermarket for the cars because the batteries will wear out, essentially cannot be replaced, and you'll see lots of Teslas in the side of the road.
I still don't understand why these cars exist. You pay a premium that vastly exceeds the fuel savings vs a comperable gasoline vehicle. The warm fuzzy feeling associated with saving the earth is low value to me.
They also aren't magical machines that don't break. A guy on my campus bought one about 18 mos one and it's been towed (presumably to NJ or Boston) 2-3 times. There goes the warm fuzzy feeling about saving the earth!
Why do you say the batteries cannot be replaced? Swapping a battery literally takes five minutes. The cost of a new one is high, but will likely come down.
As for why these cars exist, it's simple: they're awesome cars. They're powerful and quiet and have advanced technology. Never mind environmental concerns, not having to visit the gas station is just very convenient.
Not emitting (local) pollution is a nice bonus, but it's pretty far down the list.
Not only can they be replaced, as Tesla already has a station in the SF to LA route where a machine replaces the whole battery in 90 seconds. It it expensive to keep the new one, though.
It's all about ROI. You can make a case for almost any conventional repair, save a transmission or engine overhaul.
When a battery replacement exceeds the value of the vehicle, and the one source of mechanics is incentivized to sell a new car, the economics will never make sense.
Much will depend on exactly what batteries cost in 10-15 years, or whenever the current batteries start to fail.
If they still cost $25,000, then yeah, that's probably going to be a poor value proposition.
If they cost, say, $5,000, then no problem!
If Tesla and others start selling ~$35,000 cars with 200+ mile ranges in the next couple of years, then I think it's going to be closer to the latter scenario. But it's hard to know for sure.
They don't want an aftermarket for the cars because the batteries will wear out, essentially cannot be replaced, and you'll see lots of Teslas in the side of the road.
I still don't understand why these cars exist. You pay a premium that vastly exceeds the fuel savings vs a comperable gasoline vehicle. The warm fuzzy feeling associated with saving the earth is low value to me.
They also aren't magical machines that don't break. A guy on my campus bought one about 18 mos one and it's been towed (presumably to NJ or Boston) 2-3 times. There goes the warm fuzzy feeling about saving the earth!