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Elon Musk To Traverse The U.S. Using A Model S In 6 Day Trip

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Re: Elon Musk To Traverse The U.S. Using A Model S In 6 Day Trip

#41

Post by brown9-2 »

melvinmt wrote: post #37
avar wrote: post #7

> At 1.5 hrs/day, we will only ever need to > charge when stopping anyway to eat or sightsee, > never just for charging itself. I'm all for the development of electric cars but downplaying having to stop at what's effectively a gas station in the middle of nowhere for 1.5 hours per day is pretty disingenuous. You wouldn't get a lot of people buying a normal gasoline powered car if it took 1.5 hrs to fill it up each t…

Obligatory Louis CK link: http://touch.dailymotion.com/video/x8m5d0_everything-is-amaz... Elon Musk is on the cutting edge of changing our society and tries to make the best of the hiccups along the way and you're complaining about the slightly degraded experience of charging your car with... renewable energy?? Give Elon some slack, I'm sure he'll find a way for you to reduce the charging time to an acceptable time i…

This is disingenuous. The critique is not so much over the inconvenience of having to recharge, but how his statement glosses over that inconvenience.

Re: Elon Musk To Traverse The U.S. Using A Model S In 6 Day Trip

#42

Post by bhauer »

vph wrote: post #20
flexie wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's free. If you could get gasoline for 200 miles for free, would you mind waiting for 30 minutes? I guess it's $25-30 worth of gasoline, corresponding to $50-60 per hour of waiting. I could wait. With the battery swap that Tesla is now introducing, you could also chose to swap the battery in a couple of minutes.

charging electric cars ain't free.

So it's built into the price of the Model S and TANSTAAFL and all that. The point being that you don't do a transaction at the supercharger station in the same way you do at a gas station. Theoretically, you could use a supercharger station multiple times a day and pay nothing additional.

It's like the "free maintenance" on BMWs. Or "free loaner cars" when your car is in for service.

Seems pretty nitpicky to point out that it's not in fact free. Whatever it is, it's quite a bit different than chucking some dollars at Chevron or whomever.

Re: Elon Musk To Traverse The U.S. Using A Model S In 6 Day Trip

#43

Post by derekp7 »

Is there plans on making the supercharge stations available for other manufacturer's electric cars (although not for free)? The thing that could really make this take off is if they can standardize this technology. After all, I don't think gas cars would be as convenient if you had to fill up only at a Ford gas station, or a Honda station, etc.

Even if there are multiple charging standards, just have several charging cables at each "pump".

Re: Elon Musk To Traverse The U.S. Using A Model S In 6 Day Trip

#44

Post by alanctgardner2 »

brianbreslin wrote: post #38

Anyone know if he is only charging at tesla stations? What's the route he is planning on taking? Is the idea to get food at each stop? Lastly, doesn't he have like 5 kids, how will they all fit in the tesla??? Edit: He does have 5 kids. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk#Family

One of the design goals with the Model S was to fit Elon's whole family: there are rear-facing seats in the back that fit an extra two people.

Re: Elon Musk To Traverse The U.S. Using A Model S In 6 Day Trip

#45

Post by stephenhuey »

cobrausn wrote: post #39
matznerd wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's obnoxious to use gasoline...it's just the norm so it doesn't seem so.

No, it's not. Every 300 or so miles you stop and pump gas for a few minutes at any number of available locations, and then you move on. You don't have to plan your trip around gas station locations. If charge stations become ubiquitous so that isn't a requirement then this is ameliorated somewhat. I've always had this silly idea for an electric car company that sells cars but 'loans' out the batteries. When you want…

Once upon a time, I'm sure you couldn't get very far in a gasoline-powered car because there weren't many gas stations. Also, Elon is already trying the battery swap idea:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/22/tesla-motor...

Re: Elon Musk To Traverse The U.S. Using A Model S In 6 Day Trip

#46

Post by bluedino »

avar wrote: post #7

> At 1.5 hrs/day, we will only ever need to > charge when stopping anyway to eat or sightsee, > never just for charging itself. I'm all for the development of electric cars but downplaying having to stop at what's effectively a gas station in the middle of nowhere for 1.5 hours per day is pretty disingenuous. You wouldn't get a lot of people buying a normal gasoline powered car if it took 1.5 hrs to fill it up each t…

Imagine how long of a wait you'll have if there's a line.

If you're the only electric car in town it's not a big deal, but if you have to wait for 3 other cars to fill up...

Re: Elon Musk To Traverse The U.S. Using A Model S In 6 Day Trip

#47

Post by stephenhuey »

vph wrote: post #20
flexie wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's free. If you could get gasoline for 200 miles for free, would you mind waiting for 30 minutes? I guess it's $25-30 worth of gasoline, corresponding to $50-60 per hour of waiting. I could wait. With the battery swap that Tesla is now introducing, you could also chose to swap the battery in a couple of minutes.

charging electric cars ain't free.

Charging electric cars is free at the stations where Elon Musk is using solar canopies:

http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger

Re: Elon Musk To Traverse The U.S. Using A Model S In 6 Day Trip

#48

Post by R_Edward »

avar wrote: post #16
timroman wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True if you're only interested in getting there as fast as possible. For most people who choose to drive from coast to coast, stopping often to see random things is part of the fun and reason they chose to drive in the first place.

Indeed, I love stopping at random places when I'm on the road. Having to spend 1.5hr per day at a gas station is not a random stop however, and having to spend 1.5hr per day at one in lieu of stopping somewhere more interesting takes some of the fun out of driving and stopping at interesting places on the road.

That's the thing, isn't it? I've just charged up my battery, so I know I have 200 miles in my "tank." And it's 170 miles to the next Supercharger. So when we spot a billboard in the distance advertising some awesome spectacle and the kids say, "Can we go there, Dad?" I have to determine whether it's more than 15 miles off course. 'Cause if it is, then no, we can't go there. Unless someone wants to push the car.

To be fair, it probably took a while before gas stations sprouted up like mushrooms all over the vast, heaving bosom of America too, and I do wish nothing but success for Musk and Tesla. Want to see that infrastructure get built quickly, because in the next 5 years or so, I'm going to be in the market for a new car, and I'd love for it to be one of those affordable electrics with a 200+ mile range.

Re: Elon Musk To Traverse The U.S. Using A Model S In 6 Day Trip

#49

Post by kaonashi »

vph wrote: post #20
flexie wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's free. If you could get gasoline for 200 miles for free, would you mind waiting for 30 minutes? I guess it's $25-30 worth of gasoline, corresponding to $50-60 per hour of waiting. I could wait. With the battery swap that Tesla is now introducing, you could also chose to swap the battery in a couple of minutes.

charging electric cars ain't free.

Charging comes at no additional cost.

Re: Elon Musk To Traverse The U.S. Using A Model S In 6 Day Trip

#50

Post by robomartin »

I'm surprised they don't develop a really cool looking mini trailer battery pack to double (or more) your range. It could have some extra room for storage. It'd be great for longer distance camping trips and such outings. The other option would be a clean fuel cell technology (hydrogen?).
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