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Elon Musk: Tesla network to triple by July, cross country travel by year’s end

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Re: Elon Musk: Tesla network to triple by July, cross country travel by year’s end

#21

Post by nknighthb »

1123581321 wrote: post #19
kiba wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're going to complain about taking a 30 minutes break after a 2 hours drive? Also, if you charge your car every night, you should have enough range to drive to work.

A typical person in the US used to driving distances would have no trouble driving eight hours in a row stopping only for 1-2 gas breaks and one bathroom/food break. Edit: and two such people in a car could easily drive 12-24 hours alternating. For example, my friends drive between Texas and Illinois and expect to complete the trip in under 24 hours. It's okay that the Tesla isn't going after that market yet, but get…

> my friends drive between Texas and Illinois

That could be anywhere from ~430 miles, in which case you can probably get there by starting with a full battery and making a single charge stop, to more than 1400 miles.

Please be more specific as to the origin and destination.

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla network to triple by July, cross country travel by year’s end

#22

Post by dredmorbius »

sliverstorm wrote: post #13
pixie_ wrote: post #2

Waiting 30 minutes is still a dealbreaker for a lot of people. How about switching out those batteries like propane tanks. I'll let someone else figure out the technical details of that.

How about switching out those batteries Batteries in most electric cars are squeezed in every possible location. It's not just a cube you can slide out the side of the car. If it was a cube, you'd either have to make the car really big or cut the range in half. Maybe they've found some way around it with the Tesla, but it isn't usually just that they don't like the idea of battery-swap stations.

In the case of the Tesla, it actually is a cube, or at least a flat rectangular solid. They're not crammed in odd places. But the battery enclosure itself is integral to the frame, and the rest of the car is literally built around it.

It's possible to remove the battery, but not trivial.

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla network to triple by July, cross country travel by year’s end

#23

Post by 1123581321 »

nknighthb wrote: post #21
1123581321 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A typical person in the US used to driving distances would have no trouble driving eight hours in a row stopping only for 1-2 gas breaks and one bathroom/food break. Edit: and two such people in a car could easily drive 12-24 hours alternating. For example, my friends drive between Texas and Illinois and expect to complete the trip in under 24 hours. It's okay that the Tesla isn't going after that market yet, but get…

> my friends drive between Texas and Illinois That could be anywhere from ~430 miles, in which case you can probably get there by starting with a full battery and making a single charge stop, to more than 1400 miles. Please be more specific as to the origin and destination.

I was thinking of a distance for which arriving in under 24 hours would be doable but not without frequent stops.

To use a specific example, these people drive from Chicago to Kerrville which is about 19 hours according to Google Maps. Arriving in 24 hours would probably not be possible even if no time was wasted getting into and out of charging stations.

Edit reply: it's a few refills but each is quick and lasts longer than a battery charge. Would estimate 5 minutes for human needs every 3-6 hours is reasonable. I don't believe this is unusual long-distance driving behavior. And again, I don't think Tesla should be judged right now on their ability to cater to that market; we should be looking at how well Tesla serves those driving a couple hundred miles or several hundred miles in a more leisurely fashion.

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla network to triple by July, cross country travel by year’s end

#24

Post by stcredzero »

rurounijones wrote: post #5
timdorr wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elon has been hinting at faster-than-gas recharging rates for the past few weeks on Twitter. The Supercharger network upgrades are part 4 of a 5 part trilogy they've been running since April. It's widely rumored that part 5 will be battery swapping or something similar to enable ultra fast charging. My guess: Superchargers will remain free as promised and the battery swapping will offer faster charging, but at a cost…

5 part trilogy? He been reading Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy?

Or watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla network to triple by July, cross country travel by year’s end

#25

Post by rdl »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #20
jlgreco wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've driven straight across the country (2700 miles per trip) several times in the past 5 years, and stopping 30 minutes every few hours is not a big deal. Unless you are into amphetamines or falling asleep at the wheel, it is the only way to do it for any extended amount of time.

"Unless you are into amphetamines or falling asleep at the wheel, it is the only way to do it for any extended amount of time." This is simply not a true statement. It may be your personal preference, but it is not at all universal.

I can do SF to Vegas without stopping (except for fuel, and in a diesel truck with extra tanks, without stopping). My preference is generally top stop and have a meal at Harris Ranch, too (which, conveniently, is where the supercharger is), or at In-N-Out in Bakersfield, but that's about it.

SF to Seattle is the really hard one. SF to Portland is something I can do (without starting absurdly early, or maybe even after a full day of doing other stuff), but going all the way to Seattle is hard, and stopping in Portland seems silly (since it's only 3h more to Seattle). Unfortunately, everything between Redding/Weed and Portland seems to be Methland.

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla network to triple by July, cross country travel by year’s end

#26

Post by skriticos2 »

"Musk then spoke about how we might be able to terraform Mars by using greenhouse gasses to warm it up. ”Mars is a fixer-upper of a planet, but we could make it work.” he added."

I thought that would be difficult because the Mars has a very week protective magnetosphere and any kind of atmosphere is blown away by the solar winds. Am I missing something?

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla network to triple by July, cross country travel by year’s end

#27

Post by nknighthb »

1123581321 wrote: post #23
nknighthb wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> my friends drive between Texas and Illinois That could be anywhere from ~430 miles, in which case you can probably get there by starting with a full battery and making a single charge stop, to more than 1400 miles. Please be more specific as to the origin and destination.

I was thinking of a distance for which arriving in under 24 hours would be doable but not without frequent stops. To use a specific example, these people drive from Chicago to Kerrville which is about 19 hours according to Google Maps. Arriving in 24 hours would probably not be possible even if no time was wasted getting into and out of charging stations. Edit reply: it's a few refills but each is quick and lasts lon…

First, the only likely way to make that trip with only one stop for gas is to do it in a car getting better than 40mpg, so unless they're in a good hybrid and haven't loaded it down too much, I'm pretty sure they're going to get gas twice.

Second, I don't know about you, but unless I'm dehydrated, I pee rather more often than once every six hours, and I definitely stop more often than that on the occasional ~800 mile road trip I take.

Assuming this game of telephone hasn't gone too badly awry, your friends are extreme outliers, not "a typical person in the US used to driving distances".

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla network to triple by July, cross country travel by year’s end

#28

Post by DavidSJ »

nknighthb wrote: post #21
1123581321 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A typical person in the US used to driving distances would have no trouble driving eight hours in a row stopping only for 1-2 gas breaks and one bathroom/food break. Edit: and two such people in a car could easily drive 12-24 hours alternating. For example, my friends drive between Texas and Illinois and expect to complete the trip in under 24 hours. It's okay that the Tesla isn't going after that market yet, but get…

> my friends drive between Texas and Illinois That could be anywhere from ~430 miles, in which case you can probably get there by starting with a full battery and making a single charge stop, to more than 1400 miles. Please be more specific as to the origin and destination.

I found a 411 mile route: http://goo.gl/maps/fPG9w

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla network to triple by July, cross country travel by year’s end

#29

Post by mansigandhi »

chaz wrote: post #15
pixie_ wrote: post #2

Waiting 30 minutes is still a dealbreaker for a lot of people. How about switching out those batteries like propane tanks. I'll let someone else figure out the technical details of that.

There was an interesting article in the WSJ that talks about "contingency anxiety," and explains why car manufacturers like Land Rover add ridiculous capabilities, like fording waters 35.4" inches deep, in their Range Rover. Car makers call it "contingency anxiety," the urge to buy a mechanically overqualified vehicle because maybe, once in a blue moon—or a hurricane on a high tide—the car buyer might need the extra…

Very interesting. thanks!

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla network to triple by July, cross country travel by year’s end

#30

Post by glurgh »

skriticos2 wrote: post #26

"Musk then spoke about how we might be able to terraform Mars by using greenhouse gasses to warm it up. ”Mars is a fixer-upper of a planet, but we could make it work.” he added." I thought that would be difficult because the Mars has a very week protective magnetosphere and any kind of atmosphere is blown away by the solar winds. Am I missing something?

The idea is that the (entirely hypothetical) terraforming technology would accomplish this in something like centuries or tens of centuries while the processes that led to the loss of the atmosphere took millions or tens of millions of years - similar to how the Earth's atmosphere doesn't just whoosh away during geomagnetic reversal.

Another thing to keep in mind is that what atmosphere Mars had, when, how it lost it is something actively studied so understanding of it might still change. There's a probe (Maven) launching late this year that's going to measure the rate of loss due to solar wind, among other things - it will have an elliptical orbit taking several 'low' (150km or so) passes over Mars.

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