Stalled Out on Tesla’s Electric Highway
nytimes.com
Stalled Out on Tesla’s Electric Highway
1–10 of 104 posts
Re: Stalled Out on Tesla’s Electric Highway
#2Very worth reading if you want to know what it's like to drive a Tesla Model S on an actual road trip. The New York Times reporter John M. Broder finds out that the gauge in the Model S to estimate remaining mileage before the next charge is badly confused by temperatures below the usual temperatures in California.
I remember back when I used to have a travel-intensive job that I was flying into airports all over the United States and getting into unfamiliar models of cars rented on the corporate account. That was sometimes no fun at all. But all of those cars fit everyone's familiar mental model of displaying fuel remaining. The Tesla Model S, by contrast, reports miles still able to drive in a dynamic model that can rapidly get out of touch with reality. And of course it takes a good bit longer to fully recharge a Tesla, even with high-speed recharging, than to pump gasoline into any other kind of car. This will take some major getting used to for most drivers.
Re: Stalled Out on Tesla’s Electric Highway
#3Very worth reading if you want to know what it's like to drive a Tesla Model S on an actual road trip. The New York Times reporter John M. Broder finds out that the gauge in the Model S to estimate remaining mileage before the next charge is badly confused by temperatures below the usual temperatures in California. I remember back when I used to have a travel-intensive job that I was flying into airports all over the…
Of course an EV is going to have trouble in cold weather -- it's just physics. It's just surprising to me that so obvious a situation didn't come up in testing the software. As a resident of Toronto who was interested in the Model S, it's a bit eye-opening.
Re: Stalled Out on Tesla’s Electric Highway
#4My friends think I'm dowdy. Until recent years, I was very conservative about estimates. Every "event" in a trip adds 5 minutes, no matter how "nothing" it seems. I was often too early, but never late.
A Tesla S with the 260 mile battery, I would treat like a car with 130 miles range. Plenty for an around town commuter and errand vehicle. A Leaf, I would treat like a 50 mile range car.
Also, why don't those things come with a propane heater? Electric heat makes no sense.
Re: Stalled Out on Tesla’s Electric Highway
#5Very worth reading if you want to know what it's like to drive a Tesla Model S on an actual road trip. The New York Times reporter John M. Broder finds out that the gauge in the Model S to estimate remaining mileage before the next charge is badly confused by temperatures below the usual temperatures in California. I remember back when I used to have a travel-intensive job that I was flying into airports all over the…
For sure. The lack of charging stations will eventually be solved, but longer charging times and unreliable readings might be with us forever. Hopefully the cost offset for fuel will make it worth it.
Re: Stalled Out on Tesla’s Electric Highway
#6It seems like the charge right before he stalled was the issue. I know he wasn't at a super charging station but he probably should have spent a couple of hours re-charging it instead of an hour.
Cold weather and running something that is power intensive (the heater) will drastically effect your mileage if you are relying on a battery to power your car.
Tesla probably should do a better job of communicating this but it doesn't seem like a flaw with the car.
Re: Stalled Out on Tesla’s Electric Highway
#7This blog post states the obvious: early adopters better know what they're in for and what they're doing. The author isn't an experienced early adopter and doesn't know what they're doing, and rightly concludes that the technology isn't ready for universal mainstream use. Unfortunately, the article entirely fails to address the point and is aimed squarely at an audience that won't get it either. It will be used as ammunition against electric vehicles for months. This subtle, yet thorough, misrepresentation is irresponsible and quite annoying.
Re: Stalled Out on Tesla’s Electric Highway
#8It seems like the charge right before he stalled was the issue. I know he wasn't at a super charging station but he probably should have spent a couple of hours re-charging it instead of an hour. Cold weather and running something that is power intensive (the heater) will drastically effect your mileage if you are relying on a battery to power your car. Tesla probably should do a better job of communicating this but…
Cold weather is going to murder your range. That's not a flaw with the car per se, but it's definitely an issue with EVs.
Re: Stalled Out on Tesla’s Electric Highway
#9It seems like the charge right before he stalled was the issue. I know he wasn't at a super charging station but he probably should have spent a couple of hours re-charging it instead of an hour. Cold weather and running something that is power intensive (the heater) will drastically effect your mileage if you are relying on a battery to power your car. Tesla probably should do a better job of communicating this but…
If the battery meter can't cope with typical American temperature ranges yet it being sold in these areas, yeah, it's a flaw. If it says 100 miles left and after 10 miles now tells you 50, yeah, it's a flaw.
Can the flaw be corrected? Maybe, maybe not. But it's still a flaw.
Re: Stalled Out on Tesla’s Electric Highway
#10This blog post states the obvious: early adopters better know what they're in for and what they're doing. The author isn't an experienced early adopter and doesn't know what they're doing, and rightly concludes that the technology isn't ready for universal mainstream use. Unfortunately, the article entirely fails to address the point and is aimed squarely at an audience that won't get it either. It will be used as am…
Replace him with "an experienced early adopter." How would the article be different?
Would he have been able to get where he wanted to go, or would he have not tried to go as far as the car said he could go?