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How am I going to charge my electric car?


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19 hours ago, MooseDriver1 said:

If I happen to feel like driving cross-country, wife has Lexus SUV.

Or you can just plan a route that takes you past supercharger stations right? Will definitely add time to the trip, but its an option. 

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Just now, MooseDriver1 said:

To add to this discussion, have had a Model Y Long Range for a month now. Most fun vehicle I've ever owned. I typically drive 20 miles to AF base or airport parking lot and back. 300 mile range more than sufficiently covers that!

Blow the doors off most vehicles and never slows down to switch gears.

If I happen to feel like driving cross-country, wife has Lexus SUV.

Tesla is awesome, especially at the 52K price point 

+1 on the Model Y, had ours about a month as well. So far its an awesome vehicle. And to @ryleypav's point, for road trips the car will automatically route you to superchargers on your route and plan your stops. For a 14 hour trip (driving time), it was estimating an extra 2-2.5 hrs for charging stops.

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That just highlights that the tech isn’t ready for prime time.

Nothing a couple hundred billion of forcibly directed infrastructure spending wouldn’t solve!


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Nothing a couple hundred billion of forcibly directed infrastructure spending wouldn’t solve!


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Charging stations the grid can’t support don’t fix the 96 minutes it takes to charge the vehicle.

Also the more I read about this “infrastructure” bill, the more it sounds like New Green Deal...
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Charging stations the grid can’t support don’t fix the 96 minutes it takes to charge the vehicle.

Also the more I read about this “infrastructure” bill, the more it sounds like New Green Deal...

That’s the other 300 billion....

See you gotta spend money to make a privately owned company that aligns with ideological interests viable to the general public.

You can’t just assume that technology can fund its own development.

*sarcasm*


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10 hours ago, SurelySerious said:


That just highlights that the tech isn’t ready for prime time.

The tech isn't ready or the people aren't ready? I dont necessarily want to add 2.5 hrs to an already 14 hr drive either, but it's a known factor when getting into electric cars. If 90% of your driving is less than 40 miles a day, you dont have this issue hardly ever, and can charge overnight at home. I think the real issue is expectations vs reality. Most people realize that the energy density of gasoline in higher, and it's nearly impossible to recharge an EV at the same speeds it takes to refill a gas tank in a normal car. As it stands, EVs are not perfect XC vehicles. Short trips are where they excel. It's like buying a 172 and expecting it to fly across the country without stopping like a jet. 

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The tech isn't ready or the people aren't ready? I dont necessarily want to add 2.5 hrs to an already 14 hr drive either, but it's a known factor when getting into electric cars. If 90% of your driving is less than 40 miles a day, you dont have this issue hardly ever, and can charge overnight at home. I think the real issue is expectations vs reality. Most people realize that the energy density of gasoline in higher, and it's nearly impossible to recharge an EV at the same speeds it takes to refill a gas tank in a normal car. As it stands, EVs are not perfect XC vehicles. Short trips are where they excel. It's like buying a 172 and expecting it to fly across the country without stopping like a jet. 

The tech isn’t ready. I’m not spending 96 minutes at a time on a road trip charging a car. Get back to me whet it’s 5 minutes.
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12 hours ago, Lawman said:


That’s the other 300 billion....

See you gotta spend money to make a privately owned company that aligns with ideological interests viable to the general public.

You can’t just assume that technology can fund its own development.

*sarcasm*


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To be fair, the oil industry in this country was (and still is) helped by big subsidies and favorable government policies. It’s the reason public transportation in this country is garbage. I like my ICE vehicles. I just did a road trip with the family that would’ve been difficult or impossible in an electric vehicle. I believe there will continue to be a market for internal combustion for a long time to come. However, I’m not necessarily against leveling the playing field. Perhaps the better way is to remove infrastructure and other subsidies from both types. I think that’s unlikely to happen though. Too many lobbyists and too much money already circulating in government. Next best option is to subsidize and support electric infrastructure & bring it up to the level of gasoline. What I do not support are sweeping decrees like California stating it will ban all new ICE vehicle sales at some arbitrary date. Like I said, I think there are viable and reasonable ICE applications for a LONG time to come. 

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Hydrogen fuel cell is the only way that “clean” burning vehicles will replicate the flexibility and convenience of an internal combustion engine vehicle. Similar fuel up time and similar range. That being said, it is decently more expensive per gallon than gasoline, and likely always will be due to a more complicated production and distribution process. However if you ramped up the economy of scale a bit, prices would certainly come down from where they are now.     
 

The only reason electric has made such early gains is because it’s been easy to pass the infrastructure off to the consumer to charge at home and the primary market has mostly been upper middle class or higher individuals buying it as a second or third commuter car vs their primary transportation. 
 

Electric only will NEVER work as a primary means of transportation for many Americans. The tech to charge a battery to full will likely never equal gas or hydrogen fuel cell fill up time and lots of Americans street park their cars, live in apartments, live in rural areas, or otherwise don’t have a reliable access to charging infrastructure. Not to mention the issues of literally every citizen requiring use of the electric grid for their vehicle. Come to California in the summer and tell me if you’d still like to trust the “fueling” of your primary means of transportation to electricity. 
 

The smart path forward is that efficient ICE vehicles, hydrogen, and electric should all be part of the vehicle options consumers have for the foreseeable future. Each one has its merits that make sense for certain situations. Unfortunately though, our political class long ago stopped pushing for moderate solutions that make sense for the average American and instead tries to shove far reaching regulation down our throats in order to score political points and solidify power. 

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2 hours ago, SurelySerious said:


The tech isn’t ready. I’m not spending 96 minutes at a time on a road trip charging a car. Get back to me whet it’s 5 minutes.

That's what I mean. The problem here is convenience. I'll agree it's not convenient to have to spend time charging on a long road trip, due to current tech. But I wouldn't say the tech isn't ready. Electric will likely never "refill" as fast as gasoline. That's a known factor going into EVs. Don't like it, then dont buy an EV. If you plan for it, or take a non EV on long trips, it's no longer an issue. If you purchase an EV and it's your only vehicle, that's something you need to think about if you plan on driving long distances. 

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That's what I mean. The problem here is convenience. I'll agree it's not convenient to have to spend time charging on a long road trip, due to current tech. But I wouldn't say the tech isn't ready. Electric will likely never "refill" as fast as gasoline. That's a known factor going into EVs. Don't like it, then dont buy an EV. If you plan for it, or take a non EV on long trips, it's no longer an issue. If you purchase an EV and it's your only vehicle, that's something you need to think about if you plan on driving long distances. 

It’s not inevitable that it will never charge as fast as a fill up, they just haven’t figured it out yet. It’s not ready to replace ICE.
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11 hours ago, kaputt said:

Hydrogen fuel cell is the only way that “clean” burning vehicles will replicate the flexibility and convenience of an internal combustion engine vehicle. Similar fuel up time and similar range. That being said, it is decently more expensive per gallon than gasoline, and likely always will be due to a more complicated production and distribution process. However if you ramped up the economy of scale a bit, prices would certainly come down from where they are now.     
 

The only reason electric has made such early gains is because it’s been easy to pass the infrastructure off to the consumer to charge at home and the primary market has mostly been upper middle class or higher individuals buying it as a second or third commuter car vs their primary transportation. 
 

Electric only will NEVER work as a primary means of transportation for many Americans. The tech to charge a battery to full will likely never equal gas or hydrogen fuel cell fill up time and lots of Americans street park their cars, live in apartments, live in rural areas, or otherwise don’t have a reliable access to charging infrastructure. Not to mention the issues of literally every citizen requiring use of the electric grid for their vehicle. Come to California in the summer and tell me if you’d still like to trust the “fueling” of your primary means of transportation to electricity. 
 

The smart path forward is that efficient ICE vehicles, hydrogen, and electric should all be part of the vehicle options consumers have for the foreseeable future. Each one has its merits that make sense for certain situations. Unfortunately though, our political class long ago stopped pushing for moderate solutions that make sense for the average American and instead tries to shove far reaching regulation down our throats in order to score political points and solidify power. 

Living in a rural area is one of the best Tesla use cases. Solar roof, power walls, and a Tesla require no external power to operate and serve as power storage for outages. And you don’t have to drive into town to get gas for the cars and generators.

Living in apartment with limited chargers probably not a great use case.

As for road trips...buy a plane! I see no downsides here.

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The focus on road trips and long range completely misses the huge advantage of convenience and fuel cost that a Tesla has over ICE. Electricity is significantly cheaper than gas and you leave home each morning with a full charge. The inconvenience of stopping at a gas station every week or so is gone from everyday life.

I have to charge for 40 minutes to do an 8 hour drive. Superchargers typically have decent food nearby so one is a lunch stop amd the other is a piss break. Fuel cost to drive 500 miles: $14.

If you don’t have a place to charge at home, then an EV probably isn’t for you yet.

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18 hours ago, SurelySerious said:


It’s not inevitable that it will never charge as fast as a fill up, they just haven’t figured it out yet. It’s not ready to replace ICE.

I can agree with that. Which is why I believe it makes a damn good substitute for the time being, and even still a replacement for some people. It just depends on your location, and driving situation. Certainly not a replacement by any means quite yet. 

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Seems to me there’s a lot of Tesla scoffing wrapped up in political identity (electric cars are a liberal plot!) Probably a lot of Tesla fandom is about feel good environmentalism as well.

The political identity of the technology isn’t capable of doing the same thing as what it’s trying to replace yet?

Hopefully Elon’s trying to work towards the weaknesses of what he currently has, but let’s not kid ourselves that he’s just some environmental altruist; his goal is to grab as much market share as possible in a new area before anyone else gets a good foothold.
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6 hours ago, SurelySerious said:


The political identity of the technology isn’t capable of doing the same thing as what it’s trying to replace yet?

Hopefully Elon’s trying to work towards the weaknesses of what he currently has, but let’s not kid ourselves that he’s just some environmental altruist; his goal is to grab as much market share as possible in a new area before anyone else gets a good foothold.

It’s pretty much capable of replacing everything but road trips…

I think Elon just hates dinosaur technology, which a reciprocating engine and transmission with a hundred moving parts is. So are you giving him shit because he’s not an environmental altruist? Why would that matter one way or the other? As pointed out a few pages back he’s already building the cars the legacy manufacturers wish they could make. It’s American fuck you -ism at its best.

Edit: road trips greater than 350 miles, lol. You guys really are reaching.

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It’s pretty much capable of replacing everything but road trips…
I think Elon just hates dinosaur technology, which a reciprocating engine and transmission with a hundred moving parts is. So are you giving him shit because he’s not an environmental altruist? Why would that matter one way or the other? As pointed out a few pages back he’s already building the cars the legacy manufacturers wish they could make. It’s American you -ism at its best.
Edit: road trips greater than 350 miles, lol. You guys really are reaching.

No, I’m saying he’s just an opportunist with a vision and an empty market trying to make a monopoly.

Also, 350 miles doesn’t even get you halfway across Texas, so it’s not like this is some hurculean distance to want to drive without having to sit for 96 minutes waiting for a vehicle to charge.
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It’s pretty much capable of replacing everything but road trips…
I think Elon just hates dinosaur technology, which a reciprocating engine and transmission with a hundred moving parts is. So are you giving him shit because he’s not an environmental altruist? Why would that matter one way or the other? As pointed out a few pages back he’s already building the cars the legacy manufacturers wish they could make. It’s American you -ism at its best.
Edit: road trips greater than 350 miles, lol. You guys really are reaching.

Electric cars predated the common usage of internal combustion engines.

Fact is one technology progressed in development at a far outstripping pace while electric motor generation and batter capacity/storage duration couldn’t ever dream to match it. And even with that, we were still plowing fields across the country and moving stuff by horse well into the mid 20th century. Batteries are literally just catching up, more due to the general tech industry shift from personal use electronics than from Elon moving the needle with electric cars. Some of us remember NiCad batteries and how crap they were. It still can’t deliver across the spectrum of expectations IC engines are expected to perform with economy of scale. You live in a country supplied literally by urning dinosaur bones in the form of diesel vehicles that move your stuff from one location to another.


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4 hours ago, SurelySerious said:


No, I’m saying he’s just an opportunist with a vision and an empty market trying to make a monopoly.

Also, 350 miles doesn’t even get you halfway across Texas, so it’s not like this is some hurculean distance to want to drive without having to sit for 96 minutes waiting for a vehicle to charge.

How much range would make it usable?

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