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Tesla model S eliminates range anxiety

motortrend.com

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Re: Tesla model S eliminates range anxiety

#51

Post by clarky07 »

maxerickson wrote: post #47
clarky07 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That might work. If I have to wait 30 minutes to charge (and not even a full charge) it has to have a longer initial range than gas. There is also the problem I mentioned above that the place you are going has to actually have a charging station as well, otherwise your range is cut in half. Can't got 250 miles if there isn't a charge there. Then you only get 125. Finally, not sure how this works, but it seems that "r…

It's slow: http://www.teslamotors.com/roadster/charging/spare-mobile-co... (They also have higher power options)

well, at least it exists. When going to family for the weekend, I could at least have it charged by time we go home. That being said, they'd have to let me have the garage, and we couldn't really use my car while there. Still a hassle, but it could be worse I guess.

Re: Tesla model S eliminates range anxiety

#52

Post by mcot2 »

clarky07 wrote: post #22

While this is impressive, it still doesn't come anywhere close to solving the problem. It can only be used for commuting and local trips. I regularly travel 450+ miles to visit family. Cannot use this. If you can improve the infrastructure with the charging stations it helps, but still doesn't work. I might be willing to stop for 30 minutes once, but not twice. I can eat a meal while it charges the first time, but as…

+1 for this. The cars which combine electric and gas make a lot more sense until we get to at least 5k range with electric. I'm not joking about that either... I routinely go over 5k miles on trips where plugging in for 5 hours would be problematic.

Re: Tesla model S eliminates range anxiety

#53

Post by dclusin »

clarky07 wrote: post #35
underwater wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You say "still doesn't come anywhere close to solving the problem". But in really it just doesn't solve your specific problem. Tesla have chosen to tackle for the common case; if they tried to be everything to everyone they'd never have reached production. Don't forget that the Model S costs around $50,000. Most buyers can afford maintain a second car for the kinds of trips you're talking about.

I'm just suggesting that the general population doesn't have 50k to spend on something that only provides one very specific utility. As Musk just pointed out the other day, they are in a do or die 6 month period right now, and might not survive. The other electric car options have mostly been failures. Clearly I'm not the only person who would like to have a bit more utility for my 50k. Keep in mind that you don't ge…

Another problem here as well is the case of poor people. They don't have a lot of money and often times have to travel great distances just to get to work. I know of people who work for Stanford and aren't highly paid professors/doctors/lawyers/etc and routinely commute 60-100 miles each way.

Re: Tesla model S eliminates range anxiety

#54

Post by enraged_camel »

clarky07 wrote: post #35
underwater wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You say "still doesn't come anywhere close to solving the problem". But in really it just doesn't solve your specific problem. Tesla have chosen to tackle for the common case; if they tried to be everything to everyone they'd never have reached production. Don't forget that the Model S costs around $50,000. Most buyers can afford maintain a second car for the kinds of trips you're talking about.

I'm just suggesting that the general population doesn't have 50k to spend on something that only provides one very specific utility. As Musk just pointed out the other day, they are in a do or die 6 month period right now, and might not survive. The other electric car options have mostly been failures. Clearly I'm not the only person who would like to have a bit more utility for my 50k. Keep in mind that you don't ge…

>>I'm just suggesting that the general population doesn't have 50k to spend on something that only provides one very specific utility.

I doubt that. Take a look at this:

http://www.autospies.com/news/Study-Finds-Americans-Own-2-28...

The average American household owns 2.28 vehicles. The percentage of households that own three or more vehicles is a whopping 35 percent.

Furthermore, the most common pairing of vehicles in American households with two to four cars is a full-sized pickup truck and a standard, mid-range vehicle. The latter can basically be a Tesla.

Re: Tesla model S eliminates range anxiety

#55

Post by lttlrck »

snowwrestler wrote: post #14

That article seemed filled with anxiety to me. I don't think anything will eliminate range anxiety other than time. As more people get electric cars and start to build their lives around them, their acquaintances will start to see it as more normal. It's almost like the very early days of the automobile, when each driver had to carry a ton of extra gas, since fill stations were few and far between. Like any bootstrap…

Quite, it's was filled to the brim with anxiety.

Re: Tesla model S eliminates range anxiety

#56

Post by waterlesscloud »

jarito wrote: post #28
cstejerean wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would expect the number of people that routinely drive 450 mile trips to be greatly outnumbered by those that don't. There is also the option of renting a car for the weekend for those few occasions when you want to take a roadtrip.

Good luck with that. Renting a car for a weekend drive is crazy expensive and varies widely depending on location, time of year, etc. Asking people to pay an unpredictable several hundred dollars for the rental, then pay for gas, several times a year, is not going to work. I'd focus on 2+ car households. I would love to have an electric that doesn't suck and another car for the wife, traveling, hauling kids, etc. The…

You're really overstating the situation.

There are any number of two car households where one car is unsuitable for long family trips. Somehow they exist just fine.

Re: Tesla model S eliminates range anxiety

#57

Post by michaelt »

clarky07 wrote: post #35
underwater wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You say "still doesn't come anywhere close to solving the problem". But in really it just doesn't solve your specific problem. Tesla have chosen to tackle for the common case; if they tried to be everything to everyone they'd never have reached production. Don't forget that the Model S costs around $50,000. Most buyers can afford maintain a second car for the kinds of trips you're talking about.

I'm just suggesting that the general population doesn't have 50k to spend on something that only provides one very specific utility. As Musk just pointed out the other day, they are in a do or die 6 month period right now, and might not survive. The other electric car options have mostly been failures. Clearly I'm not the only person who would like to have a bit more utility for my 50k. Keep in mind that you don't ge…

The article says:

  We drove from Fontana on the eastern edge of the L.A. 
  basin to San Diego and all the way back to L.A.'s Pacific 
  edge on one charge. Five hours of continuous driving.
The 233 mile, 5 hour trip was done on a single charge.

To me that's pretty far - I could tolerate a 1 hour break every 5 hours.

Re: Tesla model S eliminates range anxiety

#58

Post by jfb »

michaelt wrote: post #57
clarky07 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm just suggesting that the general population doesn't have 50k to spend on something that only provides one very specific utility. As Musk just pointed out the other day, they are in a do or die 6 month period right now, and might not survive. The other electric car options have mostly been failures. Clearly I'm not the only person who would like to have a bit more utility for my 50k. Keep in mind that you don't ge…

The article says: We drove from Fontana on the eastern edge of the L.A. basin to San Diego and all the way back to L.A.'s Pacific edge on one charge. Five hours of continuous driving. The 233 mile, 5 hour trip was done on a single charge. To me that's pretty far - I could tolerate a 1 hour break every 5 hours.

But that's not yet in the cards. Realistically, you need to be talking about 2.5 hours as the effective range, as almost nowhere will have the full speed charging setup.

Re: Tesla model S eliminates range anxiety

#59

Post by waterlesscloud »

clarky07 wrote: post #42
acgourley wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You say, "the problem" when you should say "my problem." Personally I just drive around the SF bay area. Maybe 120 miles on my longest driving day. For the one-two times a year I go farther, I suppose I need to rent a car, take transit. or have someone else drive. That seems like a reasonable price to pay to have the coolest car on the planet for a few years.

If you have a spare 100k "to be cool" then go for it. If I had that much money to throw around I'd get one as well. It's an awesome car. That doesn't however just make it "my problem." There aren't very many people buying any of these cars, so I assume it's a problem for more than just me. The point I'm trying to make, is that if I'm spending 50-100k on a car, I want it to solve "the driving problem." i.e. if I need…

I suspect more $100k cars don't get used on the 450 mile journeys. They're certainly far more common in the city than on the highway between cities. A $100k car is a very different market than a $50k car.

What is interesting, though, is that at least in Los Angeles pretty much every other car in the $100k range is a lot more common than the Roadster. I think I've seen one once. Even considerably pricier cars are more common than that.

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