Electric Truck - Wow!

[Josh Matta]

I love everything on paper but the looks of the damned thing.

Stainsteel is pretty appealing living in vermont.

 

[crgildart]

Where there is electricity there is always a backup the only question is how efficient is it. I have driven in rural BC to places where you’re over an hour from the nearest gas station and left the car plugged in drip charging for 48 hours while we ski because the EV charger where we were staying broke down. That said your point is fair, not having the EV charger was stressful. We figured it out and didn’t have any issues but was not ideal. With the enhanced range of the new Tesla’s I think this is much less of an issue but it will take getting used to

Ya, roadside assistance can pretty much always bring you enough gas to get you 50 miles up the road to a gas station and have you on your way 5 minutes after arriving. EV out of juice is going to be an expensive tow and much longer delay. Bring on those solar powered EV charging roads..

This brings up another switching cost and learning curve. If your Tesla does happen to break down in a remote area.. finding a mechanic who can diagnose it, get parts, and repair it might take a while.

 

[neonorchid]

 

[dovski]

Ya, roadside assistance can pretty much always bring you enough gas to get you 50 miles up the road to a gas station and have you on your way 5 minutes after arriving. EV out of juice is going to be an expensive tow and much longer delay. Bring on those solar powered EV charging roads..

This brings up another switching cost and learning curve. If your Tesla does happen to break down in a remote area.. finding a mechanic who can diagnose it, get parts, and repair it might take a while.

Actually Tesla’s come with roadside assistance so the toe is free. They also change flats with regular tires and take your flat into Tesla for repair. Once had them tow me home and come back and replace my flat overnight because the tow truck that came to assist was out of spare tires. Have even heard of tow trucks delivering loaner cars so they can take your Tesla into the shop. Pretty amazing what they can do with remote diagnostics and assessment. What I really like is that everything is pretty much covered in that regard with your warranty which can be extended to 8 years 100k, that said I would never own any EV or hybrid without a full warranty as the cost of parts is insane and they are all proprietary. Simply put these are not cars you can tinker with or take to anyone but the manufacturer for service and repairs

 

[crgildart]

^^^ How does the cost for all that compare to the cost and maintenance of driving a standard SUV 100K miles?

 

[Andy Mink]

After watching the video I'm pretty sure I'm not ready for this technology. I drive long distances with few stops between where I leave and where I go. Charging 15 minutes to get a mile or two down the road just doesn't sound very feasible. With our diesel Passat I can fuel, use the restroom, and eat in 15 minutes and get 700 miles down the road. Maybe some day.

 

[dovski]

^^^ How does the cost for all that compare to the cost and maintenance of driving a standard SUV 100K miles?

In the last 3 years I have put about 35k on my Tesla. During that time I have had one optional service visit that cost $600 and I just replaced tires for $1200. If you go with the higher performance tires you will have to replace them more often similar to any sports car. With EVs you don’t have all the moving parts or fluids that you have in a regular car so service is minimal. I have had some warranty issues and when I brought the car in Tesla did courtesy inspections and some complimentary service work like changing out the windshield wipers. I get free super charging on trips and free charging at work so really have had minimal operating costs over the last 3 years. My assumption is that you would save a ton as compared to 100k of maintenance on any other vehicle

 

[dovski]

After watching the video I'm pretty sure I'm not ready for this technology. I drive long distances with few stops between where I leave and where I go. Charging 15 minutes to get a mile or two down the road just doesn't sound very feasible. With our diesel Passat I can fuel, use the restroom, and eat in 15 minutes and get 700 miles down the road. Maybe some day.

This video is not of a fast charger or a Tesla Super charger. Tesla Super charger gets about 75-100 miles in range in just 15 minutes depending on how new your car is, older ones like mine are slower. The new ones coming out now actually get over 150 miles of range in 15 minutes. The Tesla super charging network is a huge differentiation and will be hard for any other company to match any time soon. At home I have a fast charger that I never use anymore and it gets me about 60 miles of range per hour. Chademo chargers get about 150 miles of range per hour. You just need to plan your trips so you take breaks or grab lunch at Super Chargers

 

[crgildart]

This video is not of a fast charger or a Tesla Super charger. Tesla Super charger gets about 75-100 miles in range in just 15 minutes depending on how new your car is, older ones like mine are slower. The new ones coming out now actually get over 150 miles of range in 15 minutes. The Tesla super charging network is a huge differentiation and will be hard for any other company to match any time soon. At home I have a fast charger that I never use anymore and it gets me about 60 miles of range per hour. Chademo chargers get about 150 miles of range per hour. You just need to plan your trips so you take breaks or grab lunch at Super Chargers

A typical road trip for me with wife and teen kids is drive 200-300 miles, fill the tank while everyone hits the bathroom, drive through a fast food joint, rinse and repeat. We can get from Durham. NC to my sister's place in Boston in around 11 hours doing that. If we had to stop for 2 hours every 300 miles that would be a two day trip for sure. We did Durham to Orlando in one day with little kids. Even with little kids, stopping for two hours every 400 miles is a trip breaker.

I'm having a hard time imagining the volume of cars stopping for gas on a busy interstate holiday weekend lined up at charging stations each needing the plug for an hour or two instead of just a gas pump for 5 minutes. I can't visualize that.. It would be massive multi level parking lots full of charging vehicles at every oasis.

 

[dovski]

A typical road trip for me with wife and teen kids is drive 200-300 miles, fill the tank while everyone hits the bathroom, drive through a fast food joint, rinse and repeat. We can get from Durham. NC to my sister's place in Boston in around 11 hours doing that. If we had to stop for 2 hours every 300 miles that would be a two day trip for sure. We did Durham to Orlando in one day with little kids. Even with little kids, stopping for two hours every 400 miles is a trip breaker.

I'm having a hard time imagining the volume of cars stopping for gas on a busy interstate holiday weekend lined up at charging stations each needing the plug for an hour or two instead of just a gas pump for 5 minutes. I can't visualize that.. It would be massive multi level parking lots full of charging vehicles at every oasis.

The new Tesla Model S has a range of 373 and you can charge to 50% in 15 minutes with a Super charger so you would be more than fine on your road trips.

 

[crgildart]

The new Tesla Model S has a range of 373 and you can charge to 50% in 15 minutes with a Super charger so you would be more than fine on your road trips.

Ya if everyone has that. Does 50% in 15 minutes translate to 100% in 30 minutes, or 100% in 90 minutes?

There will still be the same number of vehicles on the road. With 100% adoption to EVs we will need the same kind of refueling (vehicles per hour) capabilities that gas stations provide gas vehicles. Otherwise it will be massive bottlenecks at rest stops.

I was thinking a standardized universal battery that could be exchanged for charged cells in minutes would be a nice solution.. Drive up to spot, cell drops out, mechanism sends your empty cell to the charging pods and pushes a different charged one up to your vehicle. Think about it. You're no longer buying batteries and instead renting/sharing them. You'd not have to worry about the EOL of your battery basically making your car worthless after 5 years requiring a massive additional investment. The batteries would always be good, you get refueled quickly and easily. Everyone moves along their merry ways possibly even better than the petrol systems of the past..

 

[Erik Timmerman]

Ya if everyone has that. Does 50% in 15 minutes translate to 100% in 30 minutes, or 100% in 90 minutes?

There will still be the same number of vehicles on the road. With 100% adoption to EVs we will need the same kind of refueling (vehicles per hour) capabilities that gas stations provide gas vehicles. Otherwise it will be massive bottlenecks at rest stops.

I was thinking a standardized universal battery that could be exchanged for charged cells in minutes would be a nice solution.. Drive up to spot, cell drops out, mechanism sends your empty cell to the charging pods and pushes a different charged one up to your vehicle. Think about it. You're no longer buying batteries and instead renting/sharing them. You'd not have to worry about the EOL of your battery basically making your car worthless after 5 years requiring a massive additional investment. The batteries would always be good, you get refueled quickly and easily. Everyone moves along their merry ways possibly even better than the petrol systems of the past..

Think about how many batteries there would have to be on hand. When all of the Thanksgiving traffic starts moving you need thousands of charged packs ready at every charging station. And if people move in unexpected patterns you'd probably end up with batteries in the wrong place, like airplanes and crews at the wrong airports when there are delays.

 

[wyowindrunner]

I rode in a E-car last Summer for the first time. It was very quiet and smooth with good acceleration. I look forward to E transportation and self-driving vehicles. Anything that takes the controls away from people.

That is scary in many ways!

 

[cantunamunch]

I was thinking a standardized universal battery that could be exchanged for charged cells in minutes would be a nice solution.. Drive up to spot, cell drops out, mechanism sends your empty cell to the charging pods and pushes a different charged one up to your vehicle. Think about it. You're no longer buying batteries and instead renting/sharing them. You'd not have to worry about the EOL of your battery basically making your car worthless after 5 years requiring a massive additional investment. The batteries would always be good, you get refueled quickly and easily. Everyone moves along their merry ways possibly even better than the petrol systems of the past..

Now imagine if all you changed was the electrolyte - not the casing and not the electrodes and not the charging terminals. You have just invented - the flow battery!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_battery

Unfortunately, the best flow batteries right now are about the size of gas station fuel tanks.

Ya if everyone has that. Does 50% in 15 minutes translate to 100% in 30 minutes, or 100% in 90 minutes?.

The closer it gets to full, the more it has to equalize batteries, so yes it does slow down.

 

[Andy Mink]

That line across central Nevada into Utah is Highway 50 and needs to get some stations. That's a long way.

 

[wyowindrunner]

This is from the William F. Cody Center's web page talking about the new charging system installed at the museum in Cody WY. "For instance, drivers can expect to add fifty to sixty miles of range per hour on a Tesla with a dual or high amperage onboard charger." I really know nothing about EV's so if this is close to accurate why would anyone want one? Don't see much for charging stations in Wyo, don't recall seeing many past Billings in eastern Montana either. Can you imagine driving in high plains blizzards with the energy demands for heat? How do they work in -20 to -40 temps? Been thru periods in the past when vehicles were not shut off for two or three days at -40 to -50 below. Guess you don't have to worry about getting them started when it is that cold but no thanks, as some else said, I'm good with the dino juice.

 

[crgildart]

Think about how many batteries there would have to be on hand. When all of the Thanksgiving traffic starts moving you need thousands of charged packs ready at every charging station. And if people move in unexpected patterns you'd probably end up with batteries in the wrong place, like airplanes and crews at the wrong airports when there are delays.

Well, if a battery is roughly the same size as a fuel tank the problem is the station would need a little more than what they currently need for gas on hand to fill the same size car tanks. But there would be additional storage and management for the empty cells being recharged.

Right now they need enough gas in the storage tanks to fill the tanks in the cars passing through. Question is, do they charge the empty cells on site or send them the empties out in the same trucks delivering the full ones??

 

[pchewn]

Think about how many batteries there would have to be on hand. When all of the Thanksgiving traffic starts moving you need thousands of charged packs ready at every charging station. And if people move in unexpected patterns you'd probably end up with batteries in the wrong place, like airplanes and crews at the wrong airports when there are delays.

It would take 9648 batteries per car according to this video:

 

[dovski]

This is from the William F. Cody Center's web page talking about the new charging system installed at the museum in Cody WY. "For instance, drivers can expect to add fifty to sixty miles of range per hour on a Tesla with a dual or high amperage onboard charger." I really know nothing about EV's so if this is close to accurate why would anyone want one? Don't see much for charging stations in Wyo, don't recall seeing many past Billings in eastern Montana either. Can you imagine driving in high plains blizzards with the energy demands for heat? How do they work in -20 to -40 temps? Been thru periods in the past when vehicles were not shut off for two or three days at -40 to -50 below. Guess you don't have to worry about getting them started when it is that cold but no thanks, as some else said, I'm good with the dino juice.

This is accurate with a conventional charger, like what I have in my garage or what I get for free at work. You can charge the car overnight or while you work. Tesla calls this destination charging and there are many of these at hotels, restaurants … etc. Tesla also has a super charging network of about 14,000 locations that charge your care to 50% in about 15 minutes and that is what you use when travelling long distances.

 

[dovski]

Well, if a battery is roughly the same size as a fuel tank the problem is the station would need a little more than what they currently need for gas on hand to fill the same size car tanks. But there would be additional storage and management for the empty cells being recharged.

Right now they need enough gas in the storage tanks to fill the tanks in the cars passing through. Question is, do they charge the empty cells on site or send them the empties out in the same trucks delivering the full ones??

The solution is better battery technology and faster charging. They are working on new high voltage super chargers that should be able to fully charger a car in 5 minutes, but those are actually a few years out. Having driven an EV for 3+ years it does take some getting used to. Unlike a gas powered car you do not wait until your tank is empty to full up. Every time you stop if there is a charger you charge … ABC, always be charging. The number of SUper Chargers, Chademos and location chargers has increased exponentially over the last 3 years and will continue to do so. I understand that many of you have range anxiety when it comes to EVs and lots of you are concerned about charging times. When you stop thinking about EVs they way you think about gas powered vehicles and start driving it like an EV, these legacy issues tend to fade away quite quickly.