71–80 of 104 posts
I just drove by some dude who was running down a pitch-dark freeway with a small child at his side. They were carrying a can of gas to refill at the station a couple miles ahead. Damn gasoline engines - so unreliable! You'd think after 100+ years of development they'd have sorted this stuff out.
Hardly the same thing, unless the guy's gas gauge lied to him.
What's a bit disturbing about this article isn't the laws of physics, but that he was being coached directly from Tesla. If Tesla HQ can't coach a reporter 1:1 out of a devastating result, what hope does the average early adopter have? Either the reporter twisted the facts, or the car has horrible temperature problems, or the Tesla coaches seriously screwed up.
I hope it's not a real issue. A hotel manager might be able to let one Tesla plug in overnight, but there isn't infrastructure to let ten or twenty Tesla owners do the same--yet. However, just as wifi became a competitive advantage to offer at hotels, so will EV charging stations. Perhaps even pay parking lots will begin to offer them.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Gas stations are incredibly common. Public EV charging stations will never be as common unless a different business model is adopted. If EVs become common, people will have home charging stations. Demand for non-at-home charging stations will come from (1) folks who drive a lot and need to charge intraday (and who cannot charge at work) and (2) road trippers. The sum of both of these categories is fairly small and le…
So I run a luxury car rental company and one of the most common questions I get from folks these days (especially those in the tech community) is: "When are you guys getting a Tesla?" This article is _exactly_ why we're not getting one for the fleet anytime soon, and it's basically the answer I've been giving people since the Roadster came out (and the questions started). Tesla is an awesome, awesome company. I'm a f…
The car works great.
The problem is that there are very few places to charge it.
If there were more than two cities in the whole area to charge, he could have stopped sooner at one of those.
As a TSLA shareholder and as a general fan of the company, this is disappointing. TSLA's been doing everything right, which is what has given them so much momentum so early in the game, and if they are going to be the big disruptor that I'm betting on, they cannot afford to lose that momentum. If they start mis-stepping, they won't last long, and this is a misstep that many, many people at TSLA should have seen comin…
Even with batteries going down sooner than you expect, you could always recharge, if there was a charger in the same _city_.
So I run a luxury car rental company and one of the most common questions I get from folks these days (especially those in the tech community) is: "When are you guys getting a Tesla?" This article is _exactly_ why we're not getting one for the fleet anytime soon, and it's basically the answer I've been giving people since the Roadster came out (and the questions started). Tesla is an awesome, awesome company. I'm a f…
I think that people are blaming the wrong thing here. The car works great. The problem is that there are very few places to charge it. If there were more than two cities in the whole area to charge, he could have stopped sooner at one of those.
A relative gauge or percentage would be one thing, but if you tell the driver it's going to get 100 miles, they need to know it can make that to the next charging station.
Here's a hint from the usability department: Underestimate the remaining miles. Even if that makes you look bad up front. Its an eerie form of cognitive dissonance when your reserves are dropping faster than you consumption and the wheels in your mind spin wondering "will I have enough". You never forget this feeling. Even if its just a test drive, you'll associate Tesla cars with that feeling forever after.
I suspect they already do, hence the comment that he'll still have some range even when it says zero.
The problem is what number to display after a full charge. If it doesn't strongly resemble the specification range then people won't be happy.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Gas stations are incredibly common. Public EV charging stations will never be as common unless a different business model is adopted. If EVs become common, people will have home charging stations. Demand for non-at-home charging stations will come from (1) folks who drive a lot and need to charge intraday (and who cannot charge at work) and (2) road trippers. The sum of both of these categories is fairly small and le…
Making people sit and wait for an hour whenever they need to recharge is just plain nuts. It makes the "road tripper" use case untenable. The right way to handle this for road trippers is to swap the battery packs or swap their contents. Don't make the driver wait while his battery is recharged - swap in a full pack and send him on his way. Charge the battery that was left behind slowly and at leisure, then give it t…