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Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers

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Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers

#121

Post by agumonkey »

MartinCron wrote: post #112
agumonkey wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't stand sitting rear-facing without feeling nauseous, I'm surprised it's even a selling point.

When you're a kid, the novelty of sitting rear facing in "the way way back" is enough to stop the nausea, at least for short trips. And if you're not a kid, there's no way in hell you're going to fit in the rear-facing seats, I'm pretty short and I still can't fit back there.

haha I guess you're right, I remember some rides in the trunk long ago and not feeling sick.

Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers

#122

Post by mdturnerphys »

SomeCallMeTim wrote: post #102
mdturnerphys wrote: post #40

Not the most direct route between the two cities [1]. It looks like there are at least two parts of the route that don't follow interstates. The excursion up to South Dakota to go past Mt. Rushmore makes sense, but I can't figure out the jog into New Mexico. Unless someone's really interested in a couple of National Monuments in that corner of NM, it looks like the only reason for that jog is to go to the Four Corner…

If you look north of Flagstaff in Arizona, there aren't many places to stop. They need infrastructure to place one of these stations, and they're promising that each stop will have restaurants (and hotels?) nearby. My first thought was local politics (offers of free land in places trying to attract tourists come to mind), but I'm now leaning toward the fact that they just routed around completely barren areas where t…

Hmm, maybe this explains why they didn't go up I-15 to I-70 in Utah, even though that route gives you access to Zion NP. That first part of I-70 is pretty empty.

Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers

#123

Post by protomyth »

encoderer wrote: post #108
protomyth wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Going 65 on a 75 highway is going to be a problem since your speed difference with most cars is what causes the problems in highway driving. Breaking flow of traffic is not a good idea. I can assure you that doing 65mph on I-90 through South Dakota is a really, really bad idea. Its listed as 75mph and that would be the low-end for what people do. Nevermind the wind that is probably going to kill your range.

Aside from perhaps Montana/etc I've never seen a highway with a single 75MPH speed limit. There is always a lower limit for big trucks, usually 55 or 65mph. You in a Tesla driving 65 in the right lane is not going to affect traffic much. In the wide open spaces, there's enough room it doesn't matter. In cities, there's enough traffic to push realized speeds below posted limits anyway.

"Aside from perhaps Montana/etc I've never seen a highway with a single 75MPH speed limit"

Well, South Dakota I-90 where Tesla put their chargers is a single 75mph on a very busy two lane interstate with a lot of truck traffic.

Minnesota is a single 70mph on I-90. Thinking about it, I haven't seen a split speed limit in the upper plains.

"You in a Tesla driving 65 in the right lane is not going to affect traffic much."

"In the wide open spaces, there's enough room it doesn't matter."

You are going to be a nice blocker in traffic that generally flows along at 75 - 85 mph. It is a very busy truck corridor and you going 65mph is going to be a problem.

Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers

#124

Post by marvin »

aryastark wrote: post #70
dangero wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5V0vL3nnHY Tesla already demoed this.

This is pretty cool. But the problems I see are infrastructural scaling issues. To get a 2min throughput, you'd need at least 15 batteries stored below. That may sound reasonable, but then you realize it's only Tesla. And probably only compatible with one model of Tesla. Not very future-proof. I don't have audio at the moment, so maybe he discussed that. Charger stations seem the better option. But I still think ther…

Tesla have already announced that they will build multiple vehicles with the same battery form-factor as the Model S.

(I mean, you wouldn't even need a press release to know this - it's blatantly obvious that Tesla will do their best to capitalize on the massive investment that the Supercharger network represents).

Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers

#125

Post by andykellr »

mdturnerphys wrote: post #122
SomeCallMeTim wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you look north of Flagstaff in Arizona, there aren't many places to stop. They need infrastructure to place one of these stations, and they're promising that each stop will have restaurants (and hotels?) nearby. My first thought was local politics (offers of free land in places trying to attract tourists come to mind), but I'm now leaning toward the fact that they just routed around completely barren areas where t…

Hmm, maybe this explains why they didn't go up I-15 to I-70 in Utah, even though that route gives you access to Zion NP. That first part of I-70 is pretty empty.

They're going that way. Check out the 2014 map. Bryce might be tricky, but Zion should be easily reachable.

Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers

#126

Post by pedalpete »

baddox wrote: post #118

Does anyone have any idea what the current bandwidth of the LA-NY route is? In other words, given how many chargers exist along the route, how many Tesla cars can make the trip per unit time? Obviously, if you assume the optimal arrangement—each car being separated from the next by exactly 30 minutes—each charge plug can support 48 cars per day. That's also assuming that the chargers are arranged such that each leg b…

I think you also need to take into account how many Model S cars are making a cross-country journey at one time. I'd suspect it is less than 10 (how many people drive from LA-NYC or vice-versa?).

Strangely, this is a great example of not over-engineering and pre-selling the capabilities of your product. Tesla knows that the number of people who will make this cross-country journey is small. They are fairly certain that the stations can therefore handle the load. They are proving it is possible, and likely don't have to worry about people actually doing it.

Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers

#127

Post by Retric »

abalone wrote: post #100
atourgates wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just doing some quick numbers (not related to current specific locations of quick chargers and gas stations), stopping 30 minutes every 170 miles would add a bit over 6 and a half hours of stopping to a LY->NYC trip. LA -> NYC is about 2,800 miles. If you had to stop for 30 minutes every 170 miles, that'd be 16.5 stops, for a total of about 8.25 hours of charging stops. If you assume 25mpg in a car with a 12 gallon t…

There's one more factor: driving speed. To get more energy efficiency on long trips, it often makes sense to drive the model s around 50-55mph rather than 65+. So if you average 10mph slower over 2800 miles, that's an additional 8 hours of driving time on top of the charging time. See comments here for a recent cross-country trip. Where the driver notes his average speed it's around 50-55mph. http://www.teslamotors.c…

I don't think that's accurate when your using supercharging stations. Electricity costs far less than gas so if your adding more time than you save by refueling less it's basically pointless unless your could get to a much further charging station. However, there way to far apart for that to be practical so your stopping in the same locations if your doing 55 or 75.

Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers

#128

Post by toomuchtodo »

GarrettBeck wrote: post #116
toomuchtodo wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just drove from Chicago to Tampa, stayed for two weeks in FL, and then drove back over the last two weeks. I did both sprints straight through in a 2008 Infiniti G37, which has a six-speed auto, V6 engine, and 20 gallon tank. At an average speed of 85 mph, the car averaged about 24mpg, giving me a range of around 420 miles per gallon (with ~60 mile reserve). This is an edge case of course. I'm 31, and drove the ent…

That's 1.44 metric tons of CO2 emission. A Tesla may not be as practical, but it extends the longevity of our planet for damn sure. [EDIT] I used this website to calculate http://calculator.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx?tab=4

I offset the carbon emissions through Terrapass (http://www.terrapass.com/). It's not perfect, I know, but I can't afford a Tesla at the moment without liquidating my TSLA stock.

Total cost to offset ~2 metric tons of CO2: ~$20 (http://www.terrapass.com/shop/)

Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers

#129

Post by toomuchtodo »

r00fus wrote: post #95
grecy wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The side of history that can't afford a Tesla S Yet. There were millions that couldn't afford an automobile when they came out too you know..... Give it time, stop thinking a new product has to be everything to everyone so early on.

Range is a significant factor of the Tesla's cost, and it'd require a order of magnitude of efficiency increase to both support a cheaper model while also keeping the same charging range and keeping Tesla's profit margins in place.

The more you make of something, the cheaper it gets to make each one. The price will come down.

Re: Tesla Completes L.A.-to-New York Electric Model S Drive Chargers

#130

Post by veemjeem »

offmango wrote: post #64

I find it fascinating how Tesla is approaching this from both ends, supplying both the vehicles and the power. If the electric vehicle trend goes their way, they'll have an enormous advantage in the market. But if Tesla goes belly-up for whatever reason and the charging stations had to close, Tesla owners could lose their primary fuel source.

There are many other companies besides tesla who offer public charging, like Blink & Chargepoint. Tesla owners can still recharge their vehicles at these stations even though the charge rate is probably slower.
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