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Comment by com2kid | Hacker News Reader

> Not sure why they mention the fuel cost of these cars without citing the electricity cost of the Tesla. It does make the numbers bigger.

The article didn't break the fuel number out for the Tesla, but it does state it is included in the total.

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It says that, but the math doesn't leave any room for fuel.

> During the first 300,000 miles the total combined maintenance and fuel costs of the Tesla Model S were $10,492, with a total of 12 days in the shop. Of these costs, $6,900 was scheduled maintenance and $3500 was headlight damage due to driving through deep water.

I guess maybe they're including fuel costs in "scheduled maintenance"?

My God, those must be some special headlights.

They cost more than any car I've ever owned.

The headlights in my 2003 Acura CL were $1000 apiece in parts alone (in 2006).

Unfortunately, most new luxury-ish cars come with fancy LED headlight units which cost several thousand dollars to replace. It's no longer a bulb replacement, but essentially replacing a computer attached to digitally directed LED arrays with sensors and gyroscopes to assess lighting conditions and leveling.

That sounds.... Really complex. What problem is being solved?

Self-leveling and washing are required by law for lights beyond a certain brightness. Older tech halogen headlights aren't as bright and don't require the fancy actuators and wipers. Brighter lights, of any source, require both.

So the problem being solved is "I'd really like to see oncoming traffic go blind and crash as I pass by"? Use dimmer lights.

Full dynamic LED headlights are actually a pretty cool innovation. They're brighter, they can illuminate corners, and they can avoid blinding opposing traffic by selectively deactivating or dimming parts of the light field. (I don't know if the Model S specifically has that latter feature though, but it's one of the big selling points of the technology.)

Keep in mind that these are high-end luxury cars we're talking about. Folks don't buy a new Mercedes to get halogen headlights. They know it's expensive and are okay with that.

The problem being solved there is being able to see further in the dark.

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