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Tesla To Build a Rapid-Charging Station Between LA and SF
thecarchik writes "Earlier this year at the official launch of the 2012 Model S Sedan, Musk said that Tesla was planning on installing ultra-rapid charging stations along major arterial freeways such as the I-5 between Canada and Mexico, but declined to give specifics. But in an official Tesla earnings call last week, Musk let slip where the first of these ultra-rapid charging stations would be: somewhere between San Francisco and Los Angeles. However, even by the shortest route, the distance between the two cities is nearly 400 miles, meaning that an equidistant SuperCharger would be no use to owners of Model S sedans with smaller 160 or 230-mile battery packs."
This is a pretty important quote from TFA missing from the summary:
And while most of Teslaâ(TM)s current orders are for Model S Sedans complete with 300-mile battery pack option, expect Tesla to install multiple SuperChargers along the I-5 route to cater for drivers of lower-range Model S sedans.
So while an charging station placed exactly half-way between LA and San Francisco would be of limited utility to some Tesla owners, it would serve most buyers of the Model S sedan...
How would an equidistant supercharger (thus, one that is 200 miles from each of two points, themselves 400 miles apart) fail to help drivers with cars that have a 230 mile range?
Good for you. A Civic is nothing like a model S. One day the electric car that fits your needs will exist, this is a stepping stone to that day. Only the cheapest Model S would need 3 charges to cover that distance, most orders are for a model that only need 1 recharge.
You almost sound like an old GM commercial. When the others were bragging about their fuel economy GM was bragging on how far you can go on a tank of gas AKA bad fuel economy but much bigger tanks.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Simple. Pull a trailer stuffed full of marine batteries.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Yes, and more importantly, the main story is that they are planning on building them all along I-5, this is just the first one. So people with other Teslas models will have to wait a few more months before they can get from SF to LA. OMG electric cars are a failure !!1!1!
Every post that slashdot has accepted from thecarchick driving traffic to thegreencarreport has been full of misinformation and FUD. You would think that slashdot might get tired of being played for fools but apparently not.
I've about had it with this site. I swear that this is the only reason I have had to visit slashdot the last several years. I should just admit that it is a harmful habit and leave.
it's so strange to have access to some basic maths, to have done vehicle simulations and also have an environmentally-friendly hat on, it catches me unawares when i see things like this. i have to double-take for a second, because it's so incredibly strange for EVs to have on-board either high-explosive materials (lithium) or highly toxic metals (nickel) in such huge quantities, i really can't understand why people don't understand that batteries are a storage mechanism not a power source, and don't design vehicles accordingly.
Huh?
Is the Lithium in LiIon batteries as explosive as other common fuels used in cars? (i.e. gasoline, natural gas)
I wasn't aware that Nickel metal was considered highly toxic since it's widely used to make coins and jewelry (and yes, some people are sensitive to Nickel, but it's still in wide use)
In the context of a car, how is a battery not a power source? Likewise, how is my gas tank not an energy storage mechanism? My car needs some source of stored energy to run - the battery and/or gas tank provide a source for that energy.
How would you design a car to accommodate a power source as opposed to a storage mechanism?
there's quite a lot involved, so please forgive me dear slashdot reader for not cut/pasting it all here - here's a link http://lkcl.net/ev to relevant articles and so on. some insights are also on http://hybridcar.com/
How about giving us a hint about what your point is? The http://hybridcar.com/ link is down.
The ultimate addition would be partially subsidized charging lanes along major interstate highways. The major issue right now with pure-electric vehicles is their poor range; if the highways were powered, this would be a greatly reduced problem. I foresee solar-powered induction chargers, even if they are pay per use. I could imagine driving through the midwest between say LA and Dallas, or San Francisco and Vegas, on a pure-electric vehicle without concern for losing power in the middle of the desert. Simply exit onto the lane, your EZ-pass will automatically pay a nominal fee, and set the cruise control.
Bonus points for single lane highways with markers for automatic driving, no passing, just specify your exit on the nav system... That's a bit off in the future, but might as well plan for it now! :)
Yes it does. Terrible weather. Earthquakes and wildfires all the time. Ugly women. Stay away. Move away. Take someone with you.
I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
It would be, except that the battery packs are 750lb and quite large. An access port to get at them would have to be fairly big (a quarter panel popping up perhaps), and there would have to be machinery to move the batteries, because a person could not do it themselves. Plus, the battery is considered part of the car for warranty purposes so that would be a problem with this swap scheme. The batteries are also wear items that degrade over time, so making the a commodity like this means someone has to pay for the depreciation (apparently the charging station owners who buy the excess battery packs to have them ready for you?). You would also need to standardize all car manufacturers on one form factor for the battery packs, which would be tough since they're all building different vehicles (the pack for a pickup truck hauling gravel would be the same as the one for the tiny 2 seat commuter car?)
None of the kinks are impossible to work out. You could have a system that has a number of smaller individually manageable (30-40lb?) batteries for each car so people could swap their packs by hand without major equipment (but you'll still break out in a good sweat lugging 20 of those batteries out of your car!) and set up some sort of profitable setup with the charging station owners. The logistics are still quite messy though, and I wouldn't expect to see this anytime soon (or ever really, it's probably too late).
I read the internet for the articles.
Of course, back when I was frequently making this drive, it was uphill *both* ways ;)
Assuming, of course, you are taking along small children, the elderly or pregnant women. :-)
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
"Say what" was exactly my reaction.
Small bladder syndrome I suspect.
A hundred miles is an hour an half if you follow the speed limits. We typically stop somewhere for lunch on long trips and swap drivers. Any other stop is just to see the sights, not to fill the gas tank, and certainly not to stand around for 30 minutes while the batteries recharge.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Hah, I recently drove the South Carolina to Wisconsin (about 20 hours) with both a two year old AND a pregnant woman. We stopped no more than every 3 hours on average. Thank God it wasn't during the third trimester...
Carnival bumper cars just point a paddle at the ceiling.
BART, and many other electric trains, just stick out a paddle and get their electricity from alongside the track.
So why are we not doing something similar for cars? Install something under the road, or along the side, to charge the car as you drive?
I know I'm offering the simplified consumer point of view here on "we have x technology, why can't we just do y?"... I don't know electricity... But I do know I'm tired of trying to find a station for gas, and sure as hell don't want to be caught somewhere in between electric stations with a 6000 pound car I can't physically push to the side.
This is the model that Better Place Motors is taking. Their cars have swappable battery packs. Yes, the batteries weigh a few hundred pounds, but they get swapped out by robot at the "gas station." The discharged battery stays behind and gets charged up for the next guy.
You purchase the car; the battery is paid for by usage. Swapping batteries is a flat fee, plus an incremental fee per kWhr of energy you net. The approach they take is similar to cell phones: you own the phone and purchase minutes. You can also charge the car at home, like a typical EV, though I suspect there is still a "lease" fee in those cases.
They have demonstration-scale setups in a few places worldwide. Israel and Denmark are big backers. I would think it a perfect solution for Hawaii. Like so many alternatives to the present automobile infrastructure, it'll take a while, and huge amounts of capital, to reach a critical mass in any market.