Electric Car question....

[Blansky]

Not interested in debating the coming of electrics but I live in an area where every other car is a Range Rover or a Tesla.

My question is, I saw a Tesla yesterday with a New Jersey license plate and I guess it could have been shipped here to California but was wondering what/how the logistics are these days of driving one across country?

Are there ways to plan the trip much like in the old days on Route 66 where you plotted your course and decided which motels to stay at on which nights etc as you made your way across country.

Do you need to plan where and how to hit charging stations and are there computer apps that can do that for you and how long does it take to charge at each location?

Are there specific routes you'd take to not hit too much backcountry as you navigate it. It's a vast country with mile after mile of wide open areas.

[AzPaul]

Seems as though Google would be your friend on the details with this.

[sgarrity]

The car helps you plan. And here is the Tesla network….

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by sgarrity

The car helps you plan. And here is the Tesla network….

Thanks but pardon my ignorance but are the Tesla locations 24 hour charging stations, are there waiting lines, are they free, and how long does a full charge take?

I'm guessing everyone knows the panic in a gas powered car of being out in the middle of nowhere and the gas light comes on and you swear at yourself for not stopping 50 miles back but it wasn't your brand of gas......and damn....damn.....damn, why didn't I stop there....etc etc

I can't imagine how that would feel with an electric with it's specific needs of "refilling".

[sgarrity]

Originally Posted by Blansky

Thanks but pardon my ignorance but are the Tesla locations 24 hour charging stations, are there waiting lines, are they free, and how long does a full charge take?

Yes they’re 24 hours
The car tells you how many charging stalls are being used and are open at each supercharger.
Theoretically you could have to wait. I’ve never had to wait more than a few minutes. If Tesla opens up their chargers to other EVs as has recently been discussed, I would expect some wait time in the future.

Charging times vary depending on your trip. 15-20 mins normally gets you what you need.
Tesla was doing free charging for awhile. They offered a year if you referred someone. The Model S might still get something free with a new one. But you generally have to pay. It’s all in an app and you don’t have to do anything but plug in the car and go. Super easy and no hassle.

[Tools]

It is more likely that the Tesla owner has simply registered his vehicle in another state/residence.

[Tools]

Sometimes you have to wait for a while

2020.2.12-Flooded-bays-2-C.jpg

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by sgarrity

Yes they’re 24 hours
The car tells you how many charging stalls are being used and are open at each supercharger.
Theoretically you could have to wait. I’ve never had to wait more than a few minutes. If Tesla opens up their chargers to other EVs as has recently been discussed, I would expect some wait time in the future.

Charging times vary depending on your trip. 15-20 mins normally gets you what you need.
Tesla was doing free charging for awhile. They offered a year if you referred someone. The Model S might still get something free with a new one. But you generally have to pay. It’s all in an app and you don’t have to do anything but plug in the car and go. Super easy and no hassle.

So do you think a person in an Tesla or an electric could easily travel across country with little different than someone in a gas car, or are we not there yet.

Sorry....brought to mind...are we there yet? Are we there yet? SHUT UP!!!!

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by Tools

It is more likely that the Tesla owner has simply registered his vehicle in another state/residence.

Perhaps. It's just when we saw the plate we wondered how easy it would be to make that trip.

I'm guessing that most people still use electrics as more soccer mom and commuter cars and are not really thinking about trips. Yet, anyways.

[erhein]

I am absolutely certain that electric cars are the future of personal transportation in this country. And always will be.

[CalSRQ1]

So we just did a trip within Florida…here’s the reality of the superchargers: it cost us about $25 for 200/225 miles of charge. It’s really hot outside, and with the AC running and heat we didn’t get the full use of the projected miles. So in reality if you’re not charging at home, your getting/paying about a 40mpg ICE.

I love our Tesla- and it’s fantastic for local around town…and maybe an occasional long trip; just don’t think you’re saving anything over ICE if your using superchargers. However my road trip experience is they are convenient and no wait (so far) and took about an hour to get me from 10% charge to 90%

[Chewbacca]

Tesla’s come with onboard route charge and distance guidance based on charging and destination. The most popular interstates and freeways and toll routes are factored. Or, Google.

(But do do your research if you’re about to drink the rare earths 9yr old kids mining water shed contaminating tax rebate scamming supply chain disaster kool aide which is todays EVs business model.

Buy a hybrid instead. Best balance if you’re feeling guilty, or a fuel efficient ice car or best, a hydrogen Toyota Mirai (real future).

100% EVs as cars and trucks are not sustainable and cause 70% more pollution from cradle to grave than a comparison ice car while killing electrical grids and raising electricity prices making heating and cooking more expensive.


)

[Tools]

Originally Posted by erhein

I am absolutely certain that electric cars are the future of personal transportation in this country. And always will be.

I thought that flying cars were the future?

With an electric, and the a/c on in Arizona, you can't get to Vegas or Los Angeles without a couple of recharging stops.

A morning drive becomes an all day drive.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Blansky

So do you think a person in an Tesla or an electric could easily travel across country with little different than someone in a gas car, or are we not there yet.

Sorry....brought to mind...are we there yet? Are we there yet? SHUT UP!!!!

I can only give you an anecdotal story, but a colleague of my wife owns a Tesla and they drove from Toronto area to Florida recently with no issue. As above the car let’s you know where charging stations are along your route and you can in effect plan your trip and the car takes care of the rest.

We are thinking of adding an all electric vehicle in the next few years, but we’d like to see what some of the other manufacturers come out with

[erhein]

Originally Posted by Tools

I thought that flying cars were the future? :agree

Didn't we all, Larry.

[sgarrity]

Originally Posted by brandrea

I can only give you an anecdotal story, but a colleague of my wife owns a Tesla and they drove from Toronto area to Florida recently with no issue. As above the car let’s you know where charging stations are along your route and you can in effect plan your trip and the car takes care of the rest.

We are thinking of adding an all electric vehicle in the next few years, but we’d like to see what some of the other manufacturers come out with

Exactly!! Traveling with a Tesla is the easiest of the electric cars due to their massive network of charging stations. Electrify America is currently expanding but really needs to get their stuff together.

Depending on the study you look at somewhere around 95% of a person's driving is composed of trips that are 30 miles or less. Perfect for an EV.

[binArt]

Originally Posted by Chewbacca

Tesla’s come with onboard route charge and distance guidance based on charging and destination. The most popular interstates and freeways and toll routes are factored. Or, Google.

(But do do your research if you’re about to drink the rare earths 9yr old kids mining water shed contaminating tax rebate scamming supply chain disaster kool aide which is todays EVs business model.

Buy a hybrid instead. Best balance if you’re feeling guilty, or a fuel efficient ice car or best, a hydrogen Toyota Mirai (real future).

100% EVs as cars and trucks are not sustainable and cause 70% more pollution from cradle to grave than a comparison ice car while killing electrical grids and raising electricity prices making heating and cooking more expensive.


)

Most hydrogen currently comes from fossil fuels and they aren't building new power plants these days. Proper hybrids (not Cayenne Turbo S e-hybrids) are the best current solution.

[TheVTCGuy]

Originally Posted by erhein

I am absolutely certain that electric cars are the future of personal transportation in this country. And always will be.

Oh… I see what you did.

In 2021, California, the most populous state in the Union, the TOP TWO selling vehicles were EVs, Tesla Model 3 and Y. If I remember correctly, one or two of the other top 10 were also EVs (but could be wrong).

EVs were only (something like) 6% of total new vehicle sales in the US last year; not very much. EXCEPT, that number was DOUBLE from the previous year.

Some day, 10 years? 15? 20? 30? 50? I have no idea, but someday (I predict within my lifetime) EVs will outnumber ICE vehicles on the road. Eventually, ICE vehicles will be a novelty. There are incredible challenges that need to be overcome, charging stations, range anxiety, battery health etc. They will be. There were extreme challenges when automobiles were introduced. I picture two guys standing around making fun of a horseless carriage, saying it will never work. How will they ever have enough gas stations? What if they run out of gas? What if the engine breaks down? Etc.

Seems like we did a pretty good job of solving those issues, the EVs will as well… someday.

People can argue, bury their head in the sand, deny the inevitable all they want, but EVs (or fuel cell or ?) WILL be the standard power source for vehicles. ICE will be novelties and collectors items. So even if you are a hard core Piston head, you will be able to buy a gas vehicle for quite a while longer, but, inevitably, they will almost disappear.

Oh, and BTW, I own a Corvette.

[binArt]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

Oh… I see what you did.

In 2021, California, the most populous state in the Union, the TOP TWO selling vehicles were EVs, Tesla Model 3 and Y. If I remember correctly, one or two of the other top 10 were also EVs (but could be wrong).

EVs were only (something like) 6% of total new vehicle sales in the US last year; not very much. EXCEPT, that number was DOUBLE from the previous year.

Some day, 10 years? 15? 20? 30? 50? I have no idea, but someday (I predict within my lifetime) EVs will outnumber ICE vehicles on the road. Eventually, ICE vehicles will be a novelty. There are incredible challenges that need to be overcome, charging stations, range anxiety, battery health etc. They will be. There were extreme challenges when automobiles were introduced. I picture two guys standing around making fun of a horseless carriage, saying it will never work. How will they ever have enough gas stations? What if they run out of gas? What if the engine breaks down? Etc.

Seems like we did a pretty good job of solving those issues, the EVs will as well… someday.

People can argue, bury their head in the sand, deny the inevitable all they want, but EVs (or fuel cell or ?) WILL be the standard power source for vehicles. ICE will be novelties and collectors items. So even if you are a hard core Piston head, you will be able to buy a gas vehicle for quite a while longer, but, inevitably, they will almost disappear.

Oh, and BTW, I own a Corvette.

You skipped a step. Build more power plants and upgrade the grid.

The US consumed over 134 billion gallons of gasoline and over 46 billion gallons of diesel fuel last year. The energy of those fossil fuels must be replaced by electrical power in addition to what is produced today - trillions of kW worth of fossil energy in use today versus billions of kW of electrical generation capacity today.

It takes some time to upgrade the power supply to meet that kind of new demand. I doubt I will see it in my lifetime.

[macrowatch]

Took a shorter roadtrip recently on Telsa.

24 hours generally. Different locatoins have different speeds.

Wait times are longer now than before because of more Teslas on the road.

The dedicated Tesla supercharger network website can help you plan if it's feasible or not for the trip you are planning, i.e. are there sufficient places along the way to charge.

Waiting on the road is usually less than in the city, unless in CA then this is a bit more tricky due to more Teslas.

I actually highly recommend the experience just to see first hand what the state of the technology and infrastructure is.

[austinp]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

Oh… I see what you did.

In 2021, California, the most populous state in the Union, the TOP TWO selling vehicles were EVs, Tesla Model 3 and Y. If I remember correctly, one or two of the other top 10 were also EVs (but could be wrong).

EVs were only (something like) 6% of total new vehicle sales in the US last year; not very much. EXCEPT, that number was DOUBLE from the previous year.

Some day, 10 years? 15? 20? 30? 50? I have no idea, but someday (I predict within my lifetime) EVs will outnumber ICE vehicles on the road. Eventually, ICE vehicles will be a novelty. There are incredible challenges that need to be overcome, charging stations, range anxiety, battery health etc. They will be. There were extreme challenges when automobiles were introduced. I picture two guys standing around making fun of a horseless carriage, saying it will never work. How will they ever have enough gas stations? What if they run out of gas? What if the engine breaks down? Etc.

Seems like we did a pretty good job of solving those issues, the EVs will as well… someday.

People can argue, bury their head in the sand, deny the inevitable all they want, but EVs (or fuel cell or ?) WILL be the standard power source for vehicles. ICE will be novelties and collectors items. So even if you are a hard core Piston head, you will be able to buy a gas vehicle for quite a while longer, but, inevitably, they will almost disappear.

Oh, and BTW, I own a Corvette.

I think the Camry was #1 in California?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TheVTCGuy]

Originally Posted by austinp

I think the Camry was #1 in California?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DOH! You are right, my mistake (wonder where I got #1 ). Anyway, Tesla had two of the top five, still very impressive and indicative of future trends if you ask me.

[TheVTCGuy]

Originally Posted by binArt

You skipped a step. Build more power plants and upgrade the grid.

The US consumed over 134 billion gallons of gasoline and over 46 billion gallons of diesel fuel last year. The energy of those fossil fuels must be replaced by electrical power in addition to what is produced today - trillions of kW worth of fossil energy in use today versus billions of kW of electrical generation capacity today.

It takes some time to upgrade the power supply to meet that kind of new demand. I doubt I will see it in my lifetime.

Yep, this is one of the many challenges that will have to be overcome. How? I am not smart enough to know. My hope is that this is replaced by more renewables, but again, I’m not smart enough to say this will happen. The only thing I know is they WILL be solved, someday. Right now California says 2035 will be the last year you can purchase a new gas-only powered vehicle, (I think hybrids will still be available). I don’t know how old you are, but I think it will be hapening while you and I are still kicking.

[binArt]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

Yep, this is one of the many challenges that will have to be overcome. How? I am not smart enough to know. My hope is that this is replaced by more renewables, but again, I’m not smart enough to say this will happen. The only thing I know is they WILL be solved, someday. Right now California says 2035 will be the last year you can purchase a new gas-only powered vehicle, (I think hybrids will still be available). I don’t know how old you are, but I think it will be hapening while you and I are still kicking.

We will need about 12 times more electrical capacity than we have now to completely replace fossil fuels in vehicles, including trucks. Renewables are about 20% of the current capacity. Even if we could pay for it, it's not realistic to expect that we could build 12 times more capacity in the next 30 years than we've built in the last 100 years, especially considering it's really hard to permit a fossil fuel or nuclear plant.

Right now, California and Texas can't keep up with the energy demands they have. Imagine what needs to be in place to replace motive fossil fuels. Imagine what 2035 will look like in California without fossil fuels.

Based on the time it takes to fund and build infrastructure to increase capacity, I think it will be at least 50 years before we could expect to roll off of fossil fuels without collapsing the grid on a warm summer day.

In the mean time, I'll be looking for a V-12 to keep up with the guys on the car thread.

[TheVTCGuy]

I can’t argue with anything you said… Primarily because I’m not smart enough… But a couple things. ‘

I never said gasoline cars would vaporize in 2035, you just can’t buy a new one starting then. ICE vehicles will be around a long time EVEN IF the deadline of 2035 is held to (I bet it will be extended to at least 2040). I also think, that hybrids are still allowed after that year, so gasoline engines will be with us for a long while. SOMEDAY though…. Their numbers will be lower then EVs (or fuel cell or… ?).

As to the power required, I can’t argue that either, except that in general we are producing more and more renewable sources every year. I realize it is about as low a percentage as EVs right now, but it too, is growing exponentially. One article brought up an interesting point. Energy is required to produce gasoline. Obviously retrieving crude oil, converting it in to usable gasoline etc. As less gasoline is required, the energy that is used to process it also declines. In addition, gasoline is very inefficient as an energy source to power your typical vehicle. Somewhere between 12 and 30 PERCENT efficient. Even I can understand this, with a 4-stroke engine you are not using energy very efficiently.

(Source: https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/atv.shtml )

So, what does this all mean? I have no idea, except that yes, there are numerous problems to overcome and amount of electricity is but one. However, we are all thinking at current levels, technologies and capabilities; these are changing and advancing every day. IMHO, it will (continue to) snowball. 20 years from now, I honestly believe we will have solved these and EVs will be equal to ICE engine vehicles being bought and sold.

[Chewbacca]

Originally Posted by binArt

Most hydrogen currently comes from fossil fuels and they aren't building new power plants these days. Proper hybrids (not Cayenne Turbo S e-hybrids) are the best current solution.

Blasphemy!!!!!

(You’re right tho haha)

[donas]

I test drove a Tesla (before I lost interest). I asked this same question as we sometimes drive to Chas. SC. which is about a 6 -7 hr drive. The rep put the destination into the GPS and it calculated the route with the necessary charging stops and times at each stop. There really isn't anything for you, the driver, to figure out other than do you have the patience to add hours to your drive. I don't recall the exact amount of time added, but it was an immediate turn off for us. Long road trips are definitely doable, just exponentially longer.

[michaelodonnell123]

My electric utility company PSE&G keeps sending out notices to conserve electricity, yet our government is telling us to use electricity.

[Tricolore66]

I have a good friend who has done it twice, and frankly it sounds like a major shit show to me. Inoperable charging stations or people plugging in and disappearing for hours while others are waiting. I would never want to have to plan my trip around so much that I can’t control.

[binArt]

Originally Posted by michaelodonnell123

My electric utility company PSE&G keeps sending out notices to conserve electricity, yet our government is telling us to use electricity.

We're going to need you to turn off your air conditioning and refrigerator so that we can charge our EV.