Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tesla is planning a “super long range” Model Y

thedriven.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 67 posts

Re: Tesla is planning a “super long range” Model Y

#41

Post by wjp3 »

mdasen wrote: post #31

Maybe I'm weird, but I feel like range anxiety is overblown. Most people don't go that far in a day and while recharging isn't instant, it's getting quite fast. Back in the day, it was easy to be bored. That was so little to distract you while waiting. Now, I have a smartphone with me all the time. Even when I'm home, half the time I'm on my smartphone by choice. Ok, that's an exaggeration, but it's so much easier to…

I bought a Model Y last year, in spite of my range anxiety. My first road trip alleviated that concern for me. Range anxiety is real, though. While I think the need for a "super long range" model isn't necessarily needed, it can go a long way to solving the short-term dilemma in consumer mindsets.

Re: Tesla is planning a “super long range” Model Y

#42

Post by mc32 »

mdasen wrote: post #31

Maybe I'm weird, but I feel like range anxiety is overblown. Most people don't go that far in a day and while recharging isn't instant, it's getting quite fast. Back in the day, it was easy to be bored. That was so little to distract you while waiting. Now, I have a smartphone with me all the time. Even when I'm home, half the time I'm on my smartphone by choice. Ok, that's an exaggeration, but it's so much easier to…

The problem isn’t interurban driving. It’s driving to the countryside. Drive to Grass Valley for a weekend and then to the countryside from there or drive to lake Sebago and drive to the countryside from there. That’s what people in metro areas do for their weekend jaunts. Go to a nice place far from the urban area then want to explore the countryside surrounds there.

There may be areas where that works but I think the anxiety for that is reasonable.

Re: Tesla is planning a “super long range” Model Y

#43

Post by yuppie_scum »

itsoktocry wrote: post #18
andrewmunsell wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is with EVs, you don't need a range the same as ICE. I'm not sure if you've ever owned an EV, but the vast majority of trips are done relatively locally and with a home charger, you're pretty much always "full" after you plug in overnight. The nicest thing is that I never have to worry about going to a gas station. For longer trips the range sort-of matters, but at least with Tesla, the Supercharger density…

> I happen to enjoy the regular 15-20 minute stops It's alright when you can guarentee your stop is 15-20 minutes. But it will probably look a lot different when there are 2x, 3x, 10x more EVs on the road. Imagine being in line when everyone has to charge for 15 minutes? https://thedriven.io/2021/06/30/tesla-owners-line-up-at-supe... It will be interesting if charging stations can keep pace with EV adoption.

I believe that the electric companies and charging networks won’t let a good market go unaddressed.

Re: Tesla is planning a “super long range” Model Y

#44

Post by cogman10 »

mdasen wrote: post #31

Maybe I'm weird, but I feel like range anxiety is overblown. Most people don't go that far in a day and while recharging isn't instant, it's getting quite fast. Back in the day, it was easy to be bored. That was so little to distract you while waiting. Now, I have a smartphone with me all the time. Even when I'm home, half the time I'm on my smartphone by choice. Ok, that's an exaggeration, but it's so much easier to…

I agree with you, but I'll throw in a few things on why I still want longer range cars (I currently own a 2018 long range model 3).

The first big thing is shorter stops. A 500 mile range battery can charge at a higher rate for longer than a lower range battery. Where you might need to go up to 90% to get to the next charger, a bigger battery means that you actually only need to hit 60 or 70% in order to get to that next stop. That means a longer time charging at 250kW which ultimately gets you further for the same time spent.

Now, for total trip time, maybe this matters less. However, for a charging infrastructure it means that you are cycling through cars more frequently. That means during holidays you have less cars that need to charge and when they do charge they need to charge for a shorter period of time, relieving congestion.

The other thing, and this may just be my neck of the woods, is tesla really needs to do a better job at charger placement. In the west, a lot of the chargers are in bad spots. They are often in hotel parking lots or general mall spots. This means that while at a gas station you might walk out, use the restroom or grab a snack, at a lot of these charge locations you are stuck in the car. You need to make a seperate stop to do all that.

We need more gas stations installing chargers. But if they do that, they'll probably want to do CCS and not Tesla... which means tesla needs to come out with a CCS1 adapter for the US.

None of this has made road trips in the Tesla terrible. I've done a 2000 mile trip and it really wasn't all that bad. That said, I'll certainly opt in for a larger battery pack when they are available.

Re: Tesla is planning a “super long range” Model Y

#45

Post by ekanes »

twobitshifter wrote: post #27

I’m surprised by the number of model Ys I see. I think it’s Tesla’s least flattering vehicle and the price when optioned is comparable to the model S. Maybe, it’s the fact that it’s a crossover, but the model X in comparison is a ghost. Any ideas on why people seem to love the Y more than the other Tesla models?

Completely personal opinion, but the Y seems to satisfy a larger family/roominess requirement, and the X does much the same thing while adding HELLO EVERYONE LOOK AT MEEEEEE whenever you open the gull wing doors. :P

Re: Tesla is planning a “super long range” Model Y

#46

Post by matthewdgreen »

twobitshifter wrote: post #27

I’m surprised by the number of model Ys I see. I think it’s Tesla’s least flattering vehicle and the price when optioned is comparable to the model S. Maybe, it’s the fact that it’s a crossover, but the model X in comparison is a ghost. Any ideas on why people seem to love the Y more than the other Tesla models?

Tesla is very obviously chasing the BMW market with the Model 3 and Model Y, which represent the 3-series sedans and X3 respectively. You can see this when you compare prices and specifications (cabin size, curb height, HP) of similarly-outfitted vehicles. The next level up in BMW’s SUV lineup is the X5, which begins at about $60K and goes up to about $82K fully loaded. Whereas the Tesla Model X begins at $80K and can go $91K or even $100K if you get the options (I’m not even talking about “Plaid”, which is $120K.) So TL;DR the Y is more popular than the X because it’s a much cheaper car (when equivalently optioned), and the X is competing with a much more expensive category of luxury SUVs.

Re: Tesla is planning a “super long range” Model Y

#47

Post by nicoburns »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #17
nicoburns wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>the vast majority of trips are done relatively locally and with a home charger Surely this depends on your use case. This is likely true if you use your car to commute, or you live in a rural area so you need to use a car to go shopping. But not everybody uses a car for those things, and you've just listed a bunch of use-cases where the range would be useful. This an option that those who do need it can opt into, wh…

If current EVs don’t support your use case, your use case is in the minority. Average daily round trip commute in the US is ~32 miles. You’re never further than 100 miles between Superchargers in almost the entire country, and that will only improve as governments support rapid charging station deployments. If you’re hauling horse trailers or routinely commuting 150+ miles in a day, sure, EVs don’t meet your needs ye…

Sure, but don't you think that EVs ought to support minority use cases? After all, they are aiming to replace ICEs wholesale. I don't think most people need longer range to adopt EVs, but I do think that manufacturers should still be looking to build cars with longer range.

Re: Tesla is planning a “super long range” Model Y

#48

Post by cogman10 »

mc32 wrote: post #42
mdasen wrote: post #31

Maybe I'm weird, but I feel like range anxiety is overblown. Most people don't go that far in a day and while recharging isn't instant, it's getting quite fast. Back in the day, it was easy to be bored. That was so little to distract you while waiting. Now, I have a smartphone with me all the time. Even when I'm home, half the time I'm on my smartphone by choice. Ok, that's an exaggeration, but it's so much easier to…

The problem isn’t interurban driving. It’s driving to the countryside. Drive to Grass Valley for a weekend and then to the countryside from there or drive to lake Sebago and drive to the countryside from there. That’s what people in metro areas do for their weekend jaunts. Go to a nice place far from the urban area then want to explore the countryside surrounds there. There may be areas where that works but I think t…

It may surprise you to learn this, but there's a fast charger in Grass Valley. [1]

It's really pretty stunning how many fast chargers are popping up in rural locations.

They are usually 50kW chargers, but still, that will get you to where you need to go in an hour or 2 (if you need to).

On the other hand, if you are spending a weekend there, you can often slow charge at wherever you are staying. A weekend is more than enough time to get a full battery, even at 120V.

[1] https://www.plugshare.com/directory/us/california/grass-vall...

Re: Tesla is planning a “super long range” Model Y

#49

Post by eric_h »

itsoktocry wrote: post #18
andrewmunsell wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is with EVs, you don't need a range the same as ICE. I'm not sure if you've ever owned an EV, but the vast majority of trips are done relatively locally and with a home charger, you're pretty much always "full" after you plug in overnight. The nicest thing is that I never have to worry about going to a gas station. For longer trips the range sort-of matters, but at least with Tesla, the Supercharger density…

> I happen to enjoy the regular 15-20 minute stops It's alright when you can guarentee your stop is 15-20 minutes. But it will probably look a lot different when there are 2x, 3x, 10x more EVs on the road. Imagine being in line when everyone has to charge for 15 minutes? https://thedriven.io/2021/06/30/tesla-owners-line-up-at-supe... It will be interesting if charging stations can keep pace with EV adoption.

I had a similar thought when I stopped for gas at a rest stop a few months back and saw every Tesla super charger there in use

Re: Tesla is planning a “super long range” Model Y

#50

Post by toomuchtodo »

nicoburns wrote: post #47
toomuchtodo wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If current EVs don’t support your use case, your use case is in the minority. Average daily round trip commute in the US is ~32 miles. You’re never further than 100 miles between Superchargers in almost the entire country, and that will only improve as governments support rapid charging station deployments. If you’re hauling horse trailers or routinely commuting 150+ miles in a day, sure, EVs don’t meet your needs ye…

Sure, but don't you think that EVs ought to support minority use cases? After all, they are aiming to replace ICEs wholesale. I don't think most people need longer range to adopt EVs, but I do think that manufacturers should still be looking to build cars with longer range.

I think compromises will need to be made, and those who can’t use an EV should pay for their combustion emissions if EVs don’t meet their needs. EVs should, in my opinion, meet most use cases eventually (and meet the majority today) except for edges where energy density or charging speed for EVs falls short.
Post reply on HN