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To me, the most surprising part is: Holy fuck, Audi's have huge petrol tanks! I usually fill up my reasonably priced car in like a minute or so and it gets a range of some 700 kilometers on a ~40 liter gas tank. 5 minutes for a petrol stop? That's insane.
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Likewise, I get 700 miles (~1100km) from a 10 imperial gallon (45l) tank. With that said, it's not sensible to compare a modern european small car with the average US car. Particularly the class of car that the Model S is competing with (which are typically expensive, have a high capacity and relatively inefficient engine, and luxury interior).
If filling up your tank takes 2 minutes (1 minute filling + 1 minute overhead), you can tank 350 miles per minute. The Tesla S gets 265 miles in 1.5 minutes, which is 175 miles per minute. So your car can be refilled twice as fast as the Tesla S when measured in miles. Furthermore, you need to recharge the Tesla more often. At least, Elon is honest about it and says "this is about convincing the people that are skept…
An Audi A6, in the US at least, gets 33 highway MPG and has a 19.8 gallon fuel tank.
And yes, of course you charge the Tesla more often. You charge it every night when you come home, and it's ready with a full charge the next morning. That's just a totally different usage pattern from only filling up when it gets low like you do with a gasoline powered car.
I'd bet that most Tesla drivers will never have to stop to recharge, mostly because they will use their Tesla around town, and will take long trips in another car or fly, because Tesla owners are wealthy.
EDIT: converted imperial gallons to US
To me, the most surprising part is: Holy fuck, Audi's have huge petrol tanks! I usually fill up my reasonably priced car in like a minute or so and it gets a range of some 700 kilometers on a ~40 liter gas tank. 5 minutes for a petrol stop? That's insane.
US Cellular has a program where you can bring your phone to any retail store and swap out your battery for a charged one. No need to return to pick up your original. Granted, that's for a $10 battery, but why wouldn't this work for Tesla? Charging an extra fee is fine too - it's the price for convenience, vs waiting for a full charge of your own battery pack.
I saw it and wondered "what about dirt"? Dust, gravel, spilled oil, the stray coke can. Rain (yes it does sometimes rain in California). This is a fine stage demo, but really? We're talking enormous sealed electric bombs, swapped out by automated wrench and jack platforms, then a subterranean battery-storage-and-recharge system. The bigger technology than 'doing it at all' is 'keeping it working under environmental c…
These things are in the floor of a car. I would imagine cars deal with much worse environmental conditions than a dedicated battery swapping station.
Instead of the requirement for the owners to return & pick up their battery, why not charge $750 yearly for the privilege of swap and forget? If you swap, it's the luck of the draw whether you get a brand-new battery or a used one. But Tesla could use that money to cycle in new batteries to the pool, so your chances of getting a brand-new battery remain decent.
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I only brought that up since here where I'm at in NorCal, there were tons of bugs when I filed my tank recently. Also if you have kids in the car, it's convenient, it's like asking why are there drive thru's at restaurants, car washes, and atm machines. Not sure that #1 applies to everyone...I remember on a road trip, in Oregon it's against the law for me to fill my OWN tank. EDIT: Added wife's 2 cents
I actively avoid running low on fuel in New Jersey (compulsory full-service stations). I don't mind getting out of my car to get gas; the station attendant is doing nothing of value for me. I'm neither done faster not is the fuel in some way better than if I filled the car myself. In contrast, I do see the value in having a battery exchange (it's something they can do better for me than I could do myself). In that ca…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If filling up your tank takes 2 minutes (1 minute filling + 1 minute overhead), you can tank 350 miles per minute. The Tesla S gets 265 miles in 1.5 minutes, which is 175 miles per minute. So your car can be refilled twice as fast as the Tesla S when measured in miles. Furthermore, you need to recharge the Tesla more often. At least, Elon is honest about it and says "this is about convincing the people that are skept…
Most US drivers are not getting 700 miles from a 12 US gallon tank (58 US MPG). The average fuel economy of US cars is 24.6 MPG. An Audi A6, in the US at least, gets 33 highway MPG and has a 19.8 gallon fuel tank. And yes, of course you charge the Tesla more often. You charge it every night when you come home, and it's ready with a full charge the next morning. That's just a totally different usage pattern from only…