Clueless NYT reporter manages to get stranded in Model S

That was an impressive link with this excellent rule of thumb:

Source: How to plan a road trip - how long will it take?

EVs have a place and around town that is pretty much with an operating radius of ~90 miles, out and back. But it comes down to how much can I afford to have sitting on the driveway because my long trips are well beyond current EV range. For us, the answer at current prices, not much.

Bob Wilson

 

Bob, I apply the 2/3 rule to gasoline vehicles as well.

If I restricted my vehicle ownership to only one vehicle that could cover EVERY trip over the course of multiple years I would have to drive a F350 4.x4 crew cab. Instead I borrow neighbor's vehicles, have a few cars/suvs/tractors in the household, and rent.

If you are going to wait until there is a 1200 mile range BEV (or even 600 miles) then you are not the engineer I thought you were.

 

I'm not "holding my beath" for the current crop of low-temperature, fixed reactant batteries.

A refactory temperature, air-metal battery will meet my long distance requirements. Aluminum, zinc or iron all have various attractive characteristics although I do lean towards aluminum.

Bob Wilson

 

No one cares. That's the point. It was a retort to your comment. If there was no place to charge at the hotel, I'd go elsewhere to charge. To fault an EV because there is no place to charge at the hotel is silly. It's like saying my phone is garbage because when it runs out of battery, I can't find a place to plug it in.

 

9) Would the cord short circuit if exposed to rain or snow?

10) Does the charging cord when plugged-in pose a risk for electrocuting a stranger? Would the hotel want to assume that responsibility?

I think most hotels won't allow you to charge their car on their property.

 

Boeing has batteries that are self heating

 

experience is quite the opposite. If you ask when making a reservation they will often grant permission, and some managers will even go put a cone in the parking space to make sure it is available when you arrive.

an overnight load on a 120V outlet is about 10kWh, or $1-$2. a small expense for a hotel to welcome a guest for the night.

 

GREAT POINTS from these articles:

1. Never drive farther than 2/3 of the range of your electric car. This means 177 miles for the 85 kWh Tesla or 95 miles for the 30kWh Tesla.

2. Charging the Tesla takes 1 HOUR for every 29 miles added to the battery using a regular electrical outlet. Thus if you are on a campground or hotel, count on staying there 6 hours to add 177 miles back to your battery.

3. You need to heavily plan for any long trip.

4. Count on being uncomfortable when you drive. Using the heater in freezing weather or air-conditioner in hot weather simply greatly reduces the driving range.

5. Drive slowly on the right-hand lane. There is a 25-mile range difference between 70 and 65 mph. You lose 20% battery power when you go 70 mph rather than 55 mph. Develop a thick hide so you won't be embarrassed when even 18-wheelers have to pass you by calling you an old fart.

 

This is all old news. Top Gear have already done the staged flat battery in the Nissan Leaf 2 years ago.

I wonder if one looks through the archives whether there are motoring reviews from 1906 where reporters took out a newfangled automobile and laughed when it ran out of petroleum distillate. So much easier with a horse, grass being abundant and freely available.

Let them all laugh when petrol hits $10 a US gallon over here; or worse.

 

This was not a failure of the technology, or of the infrastructure.
It was a failure of human behavior.
Either Tesla's in preparing the driver or in the driver not following said directions or most likely a combination of both.
I could successfully make the same trip today that the reporter failed to do.

 

Way to spin the article. How about following your point 3 so you don't have to be concerned with 4 & 5? I heavily plan for all my trips gasoline or not.

 

Good chance of him just creating FUD, especially with the tow truck photo front and center.

 

The most interesting part of this article is that there's still a place that smoking is allowed in CT.

 

If the trip was successful without any incident, it would not have been published, rather filed in the round file along with the other thousand successful trips. Reporters like this one are just drama queens, imo, but we need them just to remind us of how bad our educational system has gotten.

Maybe someone will offer him a test flight in an electric plane.

 

Maybe a little too harsh!

 

However this Customer Created Commercial tweeted today by Tesla paints a different story.

 

Well all I need:

• 60hp (80kW) - air-<something> battery
  • oxidized reactants overboard (can not gain weight in flight)
• motor RPM to 3,500 rpm
• 120lbs (54.5kg) - motor and battery
  • original VW engine 172.3lbs (78.2kg)

I can find motors that are light enough to fly. Plus there are even acceptable capacity batteries. But the fixed reactant batteries do not have enough amp-hours to make a useful cross-country plane. It is the oxidizer that adds so much mass that makes an electric plane impractical.

But if you can bring in oxygen from the air and then dump the oxidized reactants overboard, it works. This prevents the plane gaining weight during the flight.

Bob Wilson

 

Hmmm this could be interesting

 

I just saw a note from Musk. Tesla now logs trips from reporters. Musk says the reporter did not fully charge the vehicle before the trip, then did things like sped and the detour. It looks like the reporter may have done this on purpose, as the article now is on many sites. I still think this looks bad for tesla as the media is having a field day. I read things like, well if you have an electric car, you can't take a detour? How can you not speed in a tesla? Etc. It will also make the NYT lose credibility.

 

All advertising is good advertising. Some will believe the fud, others will think.