The same as a minivan doesn't work when it has run out of petrol or if it needs to get into a narrow parking space or alleyway. You see? You can play this game all day long.
What if you find yourself trapped at a small town without a petrol station? You will still be able to find a shop with an electrical outlet.
What if you drive out into the desert until you are out of fuel/charge? If you pack a solar panel in your EV, you'll make your way back to civilisation eventually. It might be at 10km/day, but you *will* make it.
Yes, some of these are contrived examples. But so is driving an EV until you run out of charge. People just don't do that on purpose, unless they are a media representative trying to make a point.
> If I wound up in a family situation where we became a two car family, absolutely, an electric vehicle would make sense for one of them
This is spot on. We've replaced one of our cars with a second hand Leaf and despite a worst-case range of about 70km, it is handling 90% of our usage. We only fill up the other car with petrol once every 8 weeks.
A Mini doesn't suit 99% of peoples needs ALL of the time. Neither does a minivan. But that doesn't mean the are useless vehicles.
Even a short range EV such as the Nissan Leaf will suit 90% of people, 90% of the time without question. If you're a two car household. as many families are, it's a perfectly functional option.
Just 30 minutes ago, Elon was speaking at the opening party and said that long term there would be a gigafactory of this scale on every continent, mentioning Europe and Asia (specifically China) by name as the planned locations for the next factories.
The electric charging stations need to be a lot more ubiquitous for the situations to be similar.
Well, not really. Assume equal numbers of electric and petrol/diesel vehicles, you are only going to need 1/20th as many EV charging locations. The distribution will differ - you will need more on long distance routes (highways) and fewer in the suburbs.
Not to mention EV charging facility are not dedicated buildings themselves - they are simply additional facilities in a car park, so you don't need to build new dedicated stations.
And I could completely fill my old car's gas tank in five minutes as well. The fast-charging stations are exceedingly rare, even in California.
Last time I did a highway stop on a road trip, I was stopped for 40 minutes. Ten to queue up at the station, refuel, go in and pay. Then move the car to a general car park, get coffee, food, take the kids to the toilet, let the kids have a quick run in the playground. Had I been driving a Tesla and used a supercharger the car would have been charging for the entire time. I would have been no worse off. It's an example I love to use, of course not all stops are like this, but I bet this sounds familiar to many parents. Certainly more familiar that those people who claim they drive for five hours, stop for five minutes and then drive for another five hours.
You are going to stop more often to recharge than refuel.
You very rarely "stop to recharge" in an EV. You just charge at the same time as you are doing other things, such as sleeping or shopping.
You will stop longer.
The same applies. You are stopped there *anyway* so you aren't stopping longer.
Yes, if you try to drive 1000 km in a Leaf, it's not going to be fun. But that aren't designed for that. If you do it in a Tesla, their range and charging speed are well aligned to the typical human comfort requirements (drive 2.5 hrs -> stop 20 mins -> drive 2.5 hrs -> stop 60 minutes -> drive 2.5 hrs -> stop 20 minutes -> drive 2.5 hours). Sure, there are a minority of people who are like this but most people aren't.
using a Supercharger will suck on peak days, e.g. the day before Thanksgiving, because there will be 5 cars in front of you, all of whom just need a 30 minute charge.
This is why I'm happy with them making it a fixed cost to enable, like the Model S 60 was, but not too keen on pay per use. Many people will only want to use them a few times a year, and that will be times such as you described - peak travelling periods. If they are paying per use then they are contributing less than $100/year to the construction of new supercharger stations. If it is a fixed higher upfront charge, then that provides Tesla will an influx of capital to build out the network of charging locations - either more stalls at existing locations, additional stops on existing routes, or building out new routes.
Face it, the charging stations where build only to answer the basic objection to how far can you go on a charge in that neat electric car of yours.
Well.. yes? Same as a petrol station? You sound like it is controversial or a bad thing, for some reason?
The difference is that an electric car can also refuel (overnight) anywhere there is a power outlet, such as your own house. The "public refuelling stations" only need to cater for the 5% of refuelling that happens on long distance road trips.
Yep. It's hard to take someone seriously when they are the executive technical adviser of a company that is pushing hydrogen cars over battery electric.
The Powerpack (100kWh) retails for US$25,000? Unless this is a mistake, this makes Powerpacks a very good deal, considering the 7kWh Powerwall retails for US$3,500 and the Powerpack is more or less 15 Powerwalls in a single enclosure.
Because the hybrid solution isn't the best - it's no better than a slightly more fuel-efficient car.
Add to that the fact that hybrids have both electric and petrol engines - so there is more maintenance and more things that could go wrong. Compare to a pure EV which has no need for spark plugs, exhaust, transmission, catalytic converters, etc....
Who cares how many electric charging stations there are when an EV driver wakes up every day with full range? Unlike petrol and hydrogen, where no filling stations results in your vehicle becoming a very heavy paperweight, EVs can take advantage of existing electricity networks and outlets. Fast charging stations are a bonus, not a necessity.
Why would someone contribute to copyrighted Google Maps for free, and let a company claim copyright over all of their contributions, and make money on it - as opposed to the open licensed OpenStreetMap, which anyone can use freely?
Slashdot Mirror
they should've sent a poet!
The same as a minivan doesn't work when it has run out of petrol or if it needs to get into a narrow parking space or alleyway. You see? You can play this game all day long.
What if you find yourself trapped at a small town without a petrol station? You will still be able to find a shop with an electrical outlet.
What if you drive out into the desert until you are out of fuel/charge? If you pack a solar panel in your EV, you'll make your way back to civilisation eventually. It might be at 10km/day, but you *will* make it.
Yes, some of these are contrived examples. But so is driving an EV until you run out of charge. People just don't do that on purpose, unless they are a media representative trying to make a point.
> If I wound up in a family situation where we became a two car family, absolutely, an electric vehicle would make sense for one of them
This is spot on. We've replaced one of our cars with a second hand Leaf and despite a worst-case range of about 70km, it is handling 90% of our usage. We only fill up the other car with petrol once every 8 weeks.
A Mini doesn't suit 99% of peoples needs ALL of the time. Neither does a minivan. But that doesn't mean the are useless vehicles.
Even a short range EV such as the Nissan Leaf will suit 90% of people, 90% of the time without question. If you're a two car household. as many families are, it's a perfectly functional option.
Cheaper cooling requirements.
Just 30 minutes ago, Elon was speaking at the opening party and said that long term there would be a gigafactory of this scale on every continent, mentioning Europe and Asia (specifically China) by name as the planned locations for the next factories.
Well, they are the only thing here anymore, so that's kinda by default.
The electric charging stations need to be a lot more ubiquitous for the situations to be similar.
Well, not really. Assume equal numbers of electric and petrol/diesel vehicles, you are only going to need 1/20th as many EV charging locations. The distribution will differ - you will need more on long distance routes (highways) and fewer in the suburbs.
Not to mention EV charging facility are not dedicated buildings themselves - they are simply additional facilities in a car park, so you don't need to build new dedicated stations.
And I could completely fill my old car's gas tank in five minutes as well. The fast-charging stations are exceedingly rare, even in California.
Last time I did a highway stop on a road trip, I was stopped for 40 minutes. Ten to queue up at the station, refuel, go in and pay. Then move the car to a general car park, get coffee, food, take the kids to the toilet, let the kids have a quick run in the playground. Had I been driving a Tesla and used a supercharger the car would have been charging for the entire time. I would have been no worse off. It's an example I love to use, of course not all stops are like this, but I bet this sounds familiar to many parents. Certainly more familiar that those people who claim they drive for five hours, stop for five minutes and then drive for another five hours.
automotive arts
I'm picturing a hillbilly sipping a latte.
You are going to stop more often to recharge than refuel.
You very rarely "stop to recharge" in an EV. You just charge at the same time as you are doing other things, such as sleeping or shopping.
You will stop longer.
The same applies. You are stopped there *anyway* so you aren't stopping longer.
Yes, if you try to drive 1000 km in a Leaf, it's not going to be fun. But that aren't designed for that. If you do it in a Tesla, their range and charging speed are well aligned to the typical human comfort requirements (drive 2.5 hrs -> stop 20 mins -> drive 2.5 hrs -> stop 60 minutes -> drive 2.5 hrs -> stop 20 minutes -> drive 2.5 hours). Sure, there are a minority of people who are like this but most people aren't.
They did:
https://www.teslamotors.com/en...
http://www.roadandtrack.com/ne...
using a Supercharger will suck on peak days, e.g. the day before Thanksgiving, because there will be 5 cars in front of you, all of whom just need a 30 minute charge.
This is why I'm happy with them making it a fixed cost to enable, like the Model S 60 was, but not too keen on pay per use. Many people will only want to use them a few times a year, and that will be times such as you described - peak travelling periods. If they are paying per use then they are contributing less than $100/year to the construction of new supercharger stations. If it is a fixed higher upfront charge, then that provides Tesla will an influx of capital to build out the network of charging locations - either more stalls at existing locations, additional stops on existing routes, or building out new routes.
Face it, the charging stations where build only to answer the basic objection to how far can you go on a charge in that neat electric car of yours.
Well.. yes? Same as a petrol station? You sound like it is controversial or a bad thing, for some reason?
The difference is that an electric car can also refuel (overnight) anywhere there is a power outlet, such as your own house. The "public refuelling stations" only need to cater for the 5% of refuelling that happens on long distance road trips.
Sadly not :(
http://reneweconomy.com.au/201...
Tesla sells internationally - notably Canada, China and across Europe, but as of Model 3 also Mexico, India and Brazil.
Yeah, they are a fad, like mobile phones, flatscreen TVs, solar panels and the internet.
I'm just glad a petrol powered car has never caught fire before.
Yep. It's hard to take someone seriously when they are the executive technical adviser of a company that is pushing hydrogen cars over battery electric.
The Powerpack (100kWh) retails for US$25,000? Unless this is a mistake, this makes Powerpacks a very good deal, considering the 7kWh Powerwall retails for US$3,500 and the Powerpack is more or less 15 Powerwalls in a single enclosure.
Because the hybrid solution isn't the best - it's no better than a slightly more fuel-efficient car.
Add to that the fact that hybrids have both electric and petrol engines - so there is more maintenance and more things that could go wrong. Compare to a pure EV which has no need for spark plugs, exhaust, transmission, catalytic converters, etc....
Who cares how many electric charging stations there are when an EV driver wakes up every day with full range? Unlike petrol and hydrogen, where no filling stations results in your vehicle becoming a very heavy paperweight, EVs can take advantage of existing electricity networks and outlets. Fast charging stations are a bonus, not a necessity.
Why would someone contribute to copyrighted Google Maps for free, and let a company claim copyright over all of their contributions, and make money on it - as opposed to the open licensed OpenStreetMap, which anyone can use freely?
Who said Mars One was useless! http://www.mars-one.com/techno...
That's what I was thinking ... even if all modules eventually get replaced, Ship of Theseus style. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
> Ireland
There's an Irish Channel Tunnel as well?
South-east Australia already has a similar barrier. We call it "New Zealand".