A perfect solution would be to switch your empty battery with a full one and just go. Let the charging station fill it up.
Are there any drawbacks to this?
Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers
21–30 of 196 posts
Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers
#22>> provide 170 miles of range in a 30-minute charge That would have still sounded impractical to me when I was still able to just drive through the night to get where I needed to be. Now that I travel with a young baby and a dog, that's about how often and for how long I have to stop for breaks anyway. This is impressive progress anyway, but I'm especially impressed now that it really wouldn't alter my own schedule m…
If that fits your pace, that's great, but that would have driven me nuts last time I was driving cross-country.
Same, but it's only going to get better from here. Plus, if I owned a Tesla I don't think I'd be making that sort of cross-country trip again, at least not in that way.
Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers
#23>> provide 170 miles of range in a 30-minute charge That would have still sounded impractical to me when I was still able to just drive through the night to get where I needed to be. Now that I travel with a young baby and a dog, that's about how often and for how long I have to stop for breaks anyway. This is impressive progress anyway, but I'm especially impressed now that it really wouldn't alter my own schedule m…
Keep in mind, that's not the only size jump you can do. You'd probably start with a full charge, and so could drive a solid 3.5 hours before your first break. You're only limited to 170 miles if you stay just 30 minutes. Personally after 3.5 hours on the road I', looking for a food and bathroom break, which may take 45+ minutes, giving you a longer range for the next jump as well. Of course, you're more limited by wh…
Problem is that some of the Tesla chargers in the Netherlands have a maximum parking time of 30 minutes max (Picture source: http://baminfratechniek.nl/sites/default/files/domain-116/st... ). As the maximum charging time is 20 minutes, it was sufficient [claimed by the journalist]). Ofcourse I don't know if you can just move your car or reconnect to the supercharger. But 'officially' it's not allowed to charge more than 20 minutes.
Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers
#24A perfect solution would be to switch your empty battery with a full one and just go. Let the charging station fill it up. Are there any drawbacks to this?
I thought of the same idea. May be removing/replacing a whole set of battery is not that simple.
Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers
#25I'm curious if I'd want a Model S (top model) or a BMW 535d or other mid-luxury diesel sedan in Germany in a couple years. Around the city, sure, big advantage to the Tesla. For Autobahn trips at 150-250 km/h, stopping every 1-2h would get old fast, even if every service stop had a supercharger.
If you're going that fast, you'll have to stop every 1-2h to refuel in just about any car, ICE or EV. On the one hand, yeah you might have to stop for a little longer in a Tesla, but on the other hand you're going to save shitloads of money: driving that fast is massively inefficient, so you're going to spend a lot of cash on fuel in an ICE, whereas the superchargers are free.
Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
Many stretches of the federal roads in Germany merely have an 'Advisory limit' with no legal maximum in good weather. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn
If this sounds crazy, keep in mind that getting a drivers license in Germany isn't a one-day affair with minimal testing standards like it is in the US. Getting a German driving license is somewhat laborious but the upside is that German drivers are pretty darn safe and have amazing discipline on the road. http://www.amcham.de/services/drivers-license/us-citizens-in...
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Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
If that fits your pace, that's great, but that would have driven me nuts last time I was driving cross-country.
A 30-minute break every 3 hours seems just a little bit high - if 30 minutes got you closer to the full charge, it would be fine for road trips. 4 or 5 hours seems the upper limit for reasonable "driving without a half-hour break" and taking only 1/10th of your time instead of 1/7th recharging would be more palatable. But either way, driving screws up our concepts of convenience and efficiency. Drivers aren't rationa…
Drivers aren't rational actors
That's at the heart of most of these discussions. So many of the decisions people make about driving aren't rational decisions, they're rationalized decisions.
Just to be clear, I'm guilty of this as well. I bought a large luxury station wagon (mostly) because it had rear-facing rumbleseats that I've used exactly once.
Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers
#28A perfect solution would be to switch your empty battery with a full one and just go. Let the charging station fill it up. Are there any drawbacks to this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5V0vL3nnHY
Tesla already demoed this.
Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers
#29I hope actually that Americans learn to drive less , not more, as a result of these sorts of changes in the market. It always amuses me that a majority of American life is lived on the road. For all the pleasures of the free and the brave, they love their little cages..
Why would electric cars change that?
Density is how you remove reliance on the car.
Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
If this sounds crazy, keep in mind that getting a drivers license in Germany isn't a one-day affair with minimal testing standards like it is in the US. Getting a German driving license is somewhat laborious but the upside is that German drivers are pretty darn safe and have amazing discipline on the road. http://www.amcham.de/services/drivers-license/us-citizens-in...
The nice thing is most US states have reciprocity with Germany, so you don't actually have to take the tests. I noticed a fair number of "bad" (by German standards) drivers on the southern Autobahnen over the past few weeks, but they were mainly non-Germans; I'm 99% sure the drunk guys in the 15 year old Honda were US military, and by the plates, most of the other bad drivers were also not German. So it's not foolpro…
It's also because people in Germany have manners. In California, or the rest of US, people just throw garbage on the side of the road. It's so infuriating! I once saw a guy throw a cigaret pack on the ground literally, and I kid you not, literally 3 feet away from a garbage can. I had to "kindly" insist that he picks it up and disposes of it properly. It's like some people here were raised by fucking wolves or something. I see people throw fast food bags, half way full drink cups, and plastic bags out of their cars on the freeway all the time.