Posted on 10/27/2009 6:26:23 AM PDT by dangus
I'm not in the position for making any huge investments, and this might be in the category of just plain ignorant, but I figure this proposal might at least prompt some interesting discussion, and if its plausible, someone should do it:
The Tesla gets about 220 miles per charge. Great... if you're going somewhere less than four hours away. But if the S-class (a $50,000 "family car") is going to be someone's main car, they're certainly going to want to take longer trips with it. The problem is the car takes 8 hours to charge with 110 volts. By doubling the voltage (220 volts), it can be charged in 4 hours. But that still means it's useless for driving the kids to see Gramma.
Question: Could an 880-volt super-charger be built that could charge the Tesla in an hour... roughly the time it takes to get a good highway meal. A network of electric-vehicle charging stations at interstate rest stations would be exactly what it would take to make Tesla competitive... and such a network could probably put a profitable surcharge on the electricity delivered.
Ouch.
/s
Ave 60 MPH for 4 hours on a battery that will go 220 miles?
Maybe 3 hours, leaving a little reserve before charging.
No thanks, We blast along for 350+ miles at a time then gas up in minutes and then usually dine while covering more miles.
>> Maybe 3 hours, leaving a little reserve before chargin <<
Your math is pretty crappy. 3 hours at 60 MPH is 180 miles. The Tesla gets 220-250 Miles per tank. I cited the low end, that’s even 3:40. But there’s also a planned long-range battery that can get you 350 miles at a time. It would take a full hour to charge. If you’re going to drive 700 miles in a day, I recommend having a full meal when you take a break, not eating while you drive. In any event, I think the family that takes a total of an hour of breaks (or more) in the middle of 700 mile journey is far more typical than yours.
Don’t give me some crappy math garbage buddy! At 220 miles, as YOU quoted in the first post I see about 3 hours of driving time before sitting idle for whatever time it takes some plug to charge the thing. Assuming a conservative 10-15% reserve, as I implied in my quote “leaving a little reserve before charging.” (unless you want to get caught dead in traffic with AC/radio/wipers consuming the last electrons) you get 187 to 198 miles. That math expert is just 3.1 to 3.3 hours of windshield time at 60 mph.
And when you have several hundred trips of 1,000+ miles behind you, you can tell me how to take breaks on long trips.
you makes yur vanity posts.. you takes yur chances...
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