Stalled Out on Tesla’s Electric Highway (Great Article)

New York Times ^ | Feb 10, 2013 | John Broder

[BobL]

Washington — Having established a fast-charging foothold in California for its electric cars, Tesla Motors has brought its formula east, opening two ultrafast charging stations in December that would, in theory, allow a speedy electric-car road trip between here and Boston.

But as I discovered on a recent test drive of the company’s high-performance Model S sedan, theory can be trumped by reality, especially when Northeast temperatures plunge

[BobL]

GREAT ARTICLE

[Tea Party Terrorist]

Shocked the fascist NYT allowed this to be printed.

Not shocked that our fascist Government gave this comppany hundreds of millions of dollars.

[BobL]

For reference, the article states that vehicle has 1000 lbs. of batteries. Yes, it’s high performance, but even a high performance car will typically cover 200 miles on 10 gallons of gas, if driven at the ideal speed for economy (as this person had to do) - maybe 100 lbs, with some extra and the gas tank weight included. Also, you can ALWAYS run the heater in a gasoline car, without penalty. Also, you can fill up in 5 minutes, not 60 minutes.

[Jeff Chandler]

Just use a bunch of these.

[BobL]

Do the math...it would still take 10 hours to charge, even through that cord (at 240 Volts).

Their fast-charge system is in another dimension and I wouldn’t recommend getting anywhere near the vehicle while it’s having that much power applied to it.

[lacrew]

Seems this guy just got mugged by reality. Anyone who has ever owned anything battery powered should understand the affect of cold weather....and be able to successfully predict range failure. The fact that this guy didn’t just means he was on hopium....and the first 24 withdrawal is the worst.

[BobL]

“Seems this guy just got mugged by reality...”

Hard to tell. It may be that he was acting dumb for effect...as most people are, like you say, dumb in these areas. He may be quite smart, but wanted to make a spectacle out of Tesla, which he certainly did, in any case - especially the part about the car locking up when its battery dies - that’s one ‘feature’ that they really, really, try to hide from people.

[palmer]

The Volt gets (ideally) 1 mile of range per 10 pounds of battery. This Tesla, even with better engineering, is probably looking at 100 or so miles of practical range, not 300 or 200.

[Vince Ferrer]

Fernwood 2 night Electric Car

[Mad Dawgg]

I always love it when some product claims x number of units are the standard and guaranteed and then you read the fine print.

For instance standard battery mileage on a Tesla is 242 miles, IF you are going downhill all the way and you have a 60 mile an hour tail wind and you don't run your heater, radio, lights, windshield wipers, AC, or fans AND the outside temperature stays between 73 - 62 degrees Fahrenheit.

[Bob]

He didn’t make a spectacle out of the Tesla. The Tesla was quite capable of doing that itself.

[RobbyS]

Battery technology is still 10 years away from what they need right now. Obama seems to think that the the electric car is like the space program. But the basic science for space travel was available in 1920. So it boiled down to an engineering problem. Not so the electric car, which is why real advancement died on it about 1920.

[pabianice]

Good thing he didn’t do the drive during the northeast’s recent -20 F degree stretch. They wouldn’t have found his body until May.

[RobbyS]

It is still a rich man’s toy, like a caddy was 100 years ago.

[The Great RJ]

Cold weather is the nemesis of any electric vehicle. Even my wife's gas-electric hybrid Ford Escape has a significant drop in mileage when the temperature drops. During a recent cold snap where temperatures were in the teens and single digits her mileage went from the usual 34 mpg to an abysmal 20 mpg. At least with a gas-electric hybrid she didn't have to forgo using the heater. I would think these pure electric vehicles would be a major safety hazard if during adverse weather you not only had to shut off the heater but the defroster, wipers and headlights to have any hope of getting to your destination. Imagine a fill up at your local gas station taking a good hour even if the cost of the recharge is “free” courtesy of the US taxpayers. These rechargeable electric cars are a total joke and unless there is some miracle breakthrough in battery technology that allows for a 500 mile range, a 5-10 minute recharge and improved performance in cold weather the public would have to be forced to buy them by government fiat.

[Gaffer]

Yes. A great article about the overstated claims by the manufacturer and the government on expected performance and the petulant requirements of a battery system exposed to the natural environment.

[centurion316]

This is the sort of thing that happens when you allow lunatics to run the country and give them a completely blank check with which to indulge their fantasies.

[soycd]

A complete fuster cluck. For what was spent on towing, service calls and other nonsense you could have driven cross country and back in a Chevy sedan.

Imagine just a few thousand of these Edsels clamoring for charging and other needs between NYC and parts north.

[Gaffer]

It does not bode well for the electric, nor the electri-gas hybrid vehicles when Mr. Prius, Totoya’s major impetus behind that best seller recently said the technology is not viable; that it will never compete with the capabilities of a gas-powered vehicle, and that some other technology like fuel cell powered or hyrdogen powered (hydrogen stored in metal hydride pellets).

[TalBlack]

“a spacious and ultrahip cabin, “

Good. If for some reason you forget that you are hip you have only to look around you to be reassured.