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Tesla Reveals Charging Station Sites In 3 US States
locallyunscene writes "Tesla has created the first solar charging stations for its Model S and plans to offer free charging. Is free fuel enough to for the electric car to finally gain traction? 'The technology at the heart of the Supercharger was developed internally and leverages the economies of scale of existing charging technology already used by the Model S, enabling Tesla to create the Supercharger device at minimal cost. The electricity used by the Supercharger comes from a solar carport system provided by SolarCity, which results in almost zero marginal energy cost after installation. Combining these two factors, Tesla is able to provide Model S owners free long distance travel indefinitely." The "free charging" part applies at least to Model S owners, and will be available first from a network of charging stations in California, Arizona, and Nevada, to be expanded nationwide over the next 2 to 4 years; Engadget features a video of the announcement.
Obligatory "People who can afford a Tesla aren't bothered by the price of gas"
But there is no way I've got enough charge to get there.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
3 hours of driving at 60 mph on the highway (which is dangerous IMO) and 30 minute fillup. More likely 70-75 mph, 2 hours of driving + finding a station? and then 30 minutes of fillup. 25% more travel time on a long trip. I don't know who has that kind of time on the road. Timing over lunch a great idea... what about at 3pm, not so convenient then is it. I think they have a lot of work to do
Like local and state sales taxes paying for services, state and federal fuel taxes are not going to be able to pay for roads and the deficit in the same way as we move to more efficient vehicles. Now with electric cars there is no fuel tax. The states have loved to live on these hidden taxes, in clothes, in fuel, on the phone bill, but really we are going to have to start more open taxes and explain what they pay for and how they are applied. If every dollar a middle class American makes is going to be taxed three times, one on payroll, once on income, once when it is spent, that makes less sense than just taxing it to begin with. Of course that will result in the wealthy paying taxes. For instance, most of us pay payroll taxes on everything we make, but someone making 200K does not. Now if you can afford a Tesla, you don't pay for the roads you use.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
No wireless. Lame.
From the SEC filling:
(Who know a thing or two) are abandoning pure electric cars because they can't make the engineering sums add up with present battery technology. They have even produced a hybrid (Yaris hybrid) that undercuts the cheapest electric cars without subsidy. Now that Mercedes is bringing out hybrids and are producing their first fuel-cell cars, meaning we have gasoline, diesel and fuel cell hybrids, it looks like Tesla and the other all-electric experiments are a dead end.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
No mod points, but that was a good one.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
I forgot, almost everyone with a vehicle is in the breeding phase of their life. Back to the drawing board.
He was only 24 hours from Tesla
I was in the new Tesla dealership in the Roosevelt Field Mall in Long Island on Sunday. The Model S is a good sized sedan. I did see 5 grown adults sitting in it. The car itself looks great, like a Bentley, I thought. I learned of the constellation of supercharging stations there, which put in a nail in the coffin of range-anxiety ninnies.
But letting you recharge for free? That's genius. A swift kick in the nuts to both the oil and traditional auto industries. More power to Tesla! God how I'd love to see the fossil fuel people utterly collapse in a year in the face of such disruptive vision.
If not us, who? If not now, when?
By abandon do you mean rolling out an all electric RAV4?
Sure, they're dropping one line of car, their little eQ minicar. But that doesn't mean they are dropping electric all together. They've just realized that the technology isn't there quite there yet. And they are planning on having 21 hybrid versions of their vehicles by 2015.
In other words they moved too fast on the all electric cars for some markets and are backing off for now until the technology catches up with the ideas.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/24/us-toyota-electric-idUSBRE88N0CT20120924
I want all that stuff, and also a pony.
No pony? Your products are crap!
Actually, the Tesla model S seats 5 Adults + 2 children in rear facing seats. When you consider this, the Tesla looks very attractive. You'll be hard pressed to find a 7 seater car that gets respectable gas mileage. Also, 7 seater vehicles are often more expensive meaning that it makes the tesla even more competitive and appealing to certain market segments.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
One thing I don't understand, and perhaps someone on here can enlighten me, is why people always assume you will fill up only when the tank is empty? It seems to me that one of the big advantages of electric is that you don't need a speciallized fueling station. You should be able to fuel up all over the place (although perhaps not quickly) provided there were enough charging stations. For example charging while:
At home.
Parked at work.
Out to dinner.
Overnight at a hotel.
At a movie.
Shopping at a mall.
The tank doesn't have to be empty, and the charging doesn't have to be to fill. But consistantly charging a little bit here and there should be one of the main ways to extend range. I realize that infastructure like charging stations need to be installed and the electrical grid must be able to handle it all. But other than that, what am I missing?
OK, I'm going to buy one of these cars, charge it up for free at the nearest station, drive home, and dump the battery into my house inverter.
I'll get all the electricity for everything I own, for FREE!!!!!! Maybe I'll even dump some back into the grid and make money off whatever Con Ed is calling itself these days.
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw