Clueless NYT reporter manages to get stranded in Model S

Wrong again.
The only reason we have two cars is because sometimes we both need to travel to different places. As soon as our current lease is up on our PHEV we plan to buy a second EV.
But does having a second car make the first one 'not mainstream'?

Say someone has a Prius and a F-350 for heavy hauling twice a year. Is the Prius relegated to secondary status, and 'not mainstream' because the owner has another vehicle to take care of jobs the Prius can't do?

 

I was being facetious with my comment. But oh my gosh, how the heck did hydrogen get such a safe image? You actually think none of the hydrogen burned. The most flammable gas in the universe did not ignite next to a flame source?

 

I would bet even Musk also has a conventional car... how many folks have their one and only car in the US as an EV? I would bet very few because of the limitations I outlined.

 

range problems for EV cars... documented in the Leaf and as this article shows its starting to show up in the Tesla

Recent Trend Sees LEAF Owners in Harsh Climates Selling Their Cars | PluginCars.com

EV is not ready for prime time... and there are sure to be more battery issues from Tesla.

 

The Tesla would be a Good car for me. My daily commute is less than 35 miles and a long distance car trip is rare. I believe wireless car charging similar to getting a cell signal is in our near future.

 

Large Drop in Charge When Parked in the Cold

sure seems like you have to plug your Tesla in every chance you get... lots of battery issues with the EV.

 

For me I'm in Southern California so it does not get very cold thus no cold weather battery issues. I can plug in at night and my daily driving is so low the EV range at worst is adequate. Hoverer the Volt with the EV-40 40 mile range is good since if the battery loses juice you have the ICE . That is why the plug in cars will do good until EV is improved for the most fickle consumers. It's a shame the NY Times want to kill it when the EV evolution is just an infant. Deep down the electric generated at the power pant is cleaner than the fossil fuel out of the tailpipe.

 

Regarding the second car topic, I never suggested one car households would have their needs met by an EV, I said MY needs would be met. There are a whole lot of two car households though whose needs would be met by an EV and hybrid/PHEV.

As for you comment about battery issues, got anything to back that up? Or is that simply ill will?
Tesla battery packs have been in use for over four years with stellar results. True, something could always change in the future, but you seem awfully certain.

 

This was a known issue and one I don't consider a detriment any more than I consider 'having' to put gasoline in my PHEV.

 

I have to admit a little joy that Tesla has a tracking and engineering application in the car they loan to reporters. Although we don't have any kids of driving age, I do have an elderly wife and an interest in Prius metrics. You know, "ET phone home" the data.

Bob Wilson

 

The two vehicle household :

Tesla Model S 85kWh (www.teslamotors.com/models) 0-300 miles, 0-5 hours.
Epic LT (epicaircraft.com/aircraft/epic-lt) 300 - 1800 miles, 1-5 hours, ~ 40mpg/person@300mph

 

An 85 kwh Ev with liquid conditioned battery is an entirely different animal. Certainly the Tesla S is prime time from the reviews. Last year a NYT reporter got over 300 miles in a tesla. What you can't do is take a road trip and forget to fill it all the way up, then fail to stop to top off the battery.

I think this is bad PR for Tesla. If you go off into the middle of nowhere west texas and don't fill your gas tank you may end up needing a tow also. Musk needs a PR person to respond to these, things not himself.

 

but you could probably stop at any wind turbine and get a full charge.

used to be common to get free diesel at most well heads.

 

Don't Texas tow trucks carry a few gallons of gas for clueless motorists? Maybe they could also start carrying cans of electrons for clueless EV owners.

 

Yes, they do, but in the middle of nowhere it takes a long time for a tow to get there. A tesla stranded in west texas would have an easier time. Someone would let the driver use a dryer outlet I was mearly pointing out that gas cars have had the same problems as this tesla when going into lands with few stations and bad preparation. Broder didn't fill up his battery and didn't do anything to conserve power or fill up at the available places.

It is bad PR for tesla as they want to make it seem its as easy to take on a moderate road trip as a gas car, but quick chargers are far between. I don't think the accusation that Broder did it on purpose helped either, although I think its likely to be true that he simply ignored the warning signs and didn't call to ask if he could fill early. A good reporter wants to see what happens if you push it, and then he got a better story.

 

Right and wrong.

Electricity is everywhere. Charging stations, aka 110V outlets, are also everywhere you find electricity.

The hokey NY Times reporter's story falls apart in that he stayed overnight and did not charge the car at easily available outlets. Had he done so the story would have been how easy it was drive a Tesla over 500 miles in the NE corridor.

 

The EV and EREV designers should probably add a J1772 -> J1772 jumper into the standard so that EV drivers can assist each other when needed.

I would be more than happy to respond to an EV like a Leaf, iMiev, or Tesla that needed an emergency charge.

 

If the guy test drove a Lamborghini and runs out of gas. We'd call him a moron. Test drive a Tesla and run out of battery? Obviously, there's something wrong with the car. There should be a fuel indicator that tells people when they're out of electricity. Duh, how else would the reporter know he's running out of juice. Poor guy drove out in the middle of winter thinking he would make it all the way home not knowing anything.

 

You can't blame Tesla for this one, this guy just made all the mistakes, and it is obvious he did it with intent in my opinion.

Just a FYI, if you read the article he had all kinds of in car analytics and warnings but the reporter ignored them. Than he veered off the path and took a side trip through Manhattan, drove the car way above the speed limit and failed to charge the car to capacity, and failed to charge it on a overnight stay although many stations existed. Tesla will publish the Car LOG. This is USER ERROR and nothing to do with the car, it's capability, and it's performance in cold weather. The car heats the batteries and can electronicaly close the grill up to warm the car in extremelyt cold weather. They have cars in Norway performing to specs.

Tesla to Publish Car Logs From NYT Test Drive: CEO: Video - Bloomberg