Tesla Sand Bagging the Model 3 Again?

Not if there's no charger where you stop. 90% of the time we stop at highway rest areas and I have yet to see a charger at one of those. In fact, there's only been a charger at one location we've ever stopped - the Applebees in Hays, KS.

 

Tesla locates their Superchargers within walking distance of restaurants, restrooms, and often shopping areas. You need to get out more.

 

Even if that were true, which it isn't, that doesn't mean I want to stop at those locations.

Not true: Las Vegas, NM Supercharger is at a hotel at the edge of town, 2 miles from "restaurant row" (I stayed at that hotel and ate in that town). Would you put up with a 40 minute walk each way to your car when you stop for lunch? I wouldn't.

Don't want to stop at those locations: The Trinidad, CO Supercharger is next to a Wendy's. They sell virtually nothing there that my wife can eat due to special dietary needs. Again, "restaurant row" is 2.5 miles away.

 

Wait, you're contradicting yourself! You said your gas stops were 15 minutes in another post!

You will need to stop for around 30 minutes to get 600 miles in a model 3. You will need to stop for at least that long once, maybe twice, to eat in that 600 miles anyway.

So what? So your 600 mile argument is bogus! If you need to go 600 miles infrequently, just fly, take the train, or rent a car. Much cheaper than buying a second car to go 600 miles in 8 hours at your breakneck itinerary!

You won't need a second car. You are suffering a classic case of range anxiety which is unfounded.

You are correct and if you were fair and balanced you would have added:

The guy was a realtor. He drove his Tesla in excess of 200 miles a day. He did not follow Tesla's charging protocol. He was charging his Tesla twice a day to 100% every time at Superchargers which Tesla warns will harm the batteries if done on a regular basis. His batteries would have been replaced at no cost by Tesla if he had not violated his warranty.

But you knew that didn't you.

 

Was that this one:

Or this one:

I just took a trip where we hit 12 destinations in 18 days. Do you really think flying is a good idea for that? Many of the destinations were in towns that didn't have an airport.

Renting a car for a trip is a gigantic hassle. It's expensive, inconvenient, and you never get a car you actually like.

Or I could just own a first car that does it all, which I do.

It's not range anxiety, it's lack of range. It's real, and it's provable and proven.

None of that seems to be true, since it was replaced under warranty.

 

Buying a Prius was a big step for me in the environmentally friendly direction, and was met with derision by many of my car enthusiast friends, and now is being met with derision here by you. You could look at my Prius ownership and participation here as a stepping stone to full EV ownership when I'm in the market for a new car a number of years from now, but instead you choose to tell me that my purchase decision 4 years ago was not good enough. And now I don't know what I'm talking about because I say that sounds a bit religious to me? Guess I should have bought a traditional ICE car instead and not joined PC because I'd be getting less grief from you, my friends, and my wife.

 

Places I've been in my Prime since I got it (April '17) where there was no Supercharger or destination charger available:

• Artesia, NM
• Whites City, NM
  
• Glenrock, WY
• Cortez, CO
• Montrose, CO (one planned)
• Somewhere between Page, AZ and Cortez, CO (one planned in Kayenta)
  
• Hutchinson, KS
• Overland Park, KS (one planned)

Getting there, but still a good ways to go.

 

reminds me of a movie, "If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium!" an amorous English tour guide who takes groups of Americans on whirlwind 18-day sightseeing tours of Europe

I bet everyone returned home rested and relaxed! "Hey kids, you got 3 minutes to eat a hamburger and use the john! Anyone not in the car in 3 minutes has to find their own way home! now you got just 2 minutes!" Lee, you're just a barrel of fun.

 

I bought a PIP about 5 years ago and with new technology available today, it is no longer "good enough." There is now something better for the environment, performance, and technology. Derision is a two way street. I have said upfront and honestly that I am a Tesla convert and enthusiast until something better comes along. Contradicting some of the misinformation on this forum should not be derided as religious fervor. You have no idea what you are talking about when you accuse me of what my religious fervor is. Purchase an ICE car if you must, but don't blame your decision on me, your friends, or your wife. Be personally responsible for your own decisions

I have no doubt that you will own a BEV one day. The sooner you do, the better for you, your friends, your family, me, and the environment.

 

They don't have one in Sleepy Hallow either. With 334 miles of range, you don't need a Supercharger in every town you visit. And there is also PlugShare Network plus other similar charging opportunities.

 

There were no practically available chargers within range and along my route in any of those places, unless you count running an extension cord from someone's house and waiting days for a charge. I use ChargePoint and PlugShare.

 

Had a great time. The kids loved the trip. Saw landscape Arch in Arches National Park, several points in Bryce Canyon, drove through Zion, stayed for three days in Las Vegas and went to a whole bunch of places, went to Disney for two days and spent a day on Catalina Island, went to the Zoo Safari park in Escondido, visited Balboa Park and Sea World in San Diego, saw the Grand Canyon, went on the Glen Canyon dam tour at Lake Powell, visited Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde national park and went to my niece's first birthday party in Dillon. Great trip.

 

You remind me of someone:

The ignorance is making "Perfect be the Enemy of Good Enough." Making false claims is exactly the type of pro-petro head behavior we've come to expect. For example, claiming there is no problem with EV range. Yet Manchester TN has a totally broken, an Electrify America charging station:

I know because I've been there twice and the second time, it was useless. It would be a deliberate lie to claim every EV charger is working. Worse, it is complete foolishness to claim L2 chargers universally can sustain practical cross country travel given Blink reports theirs are 24-30A limited (I asked and have their e-mail reply.)

I am beginning to wonder if you really have an EV or any understanding of the relationship between amps, the two voltages, and charging rate. Another viable hypothesis is a volunteer or paid poster trying to poison Prius people against EVs.

We've seen this over and over again when some OCD posting stranger wanders in trying to get us to switch to their Hyundai/Kia, TDI diesel, or gasser ride. This pattern has been seen before.

No, I don't think you really want us to switch to your ride because of the inflated claims counter to anyone else's real world experience. Like that poor, ignorant woman in the top YouTube, such rants become counter productive. Another intolerant, stiff necked, jerk who came here to pester us and 'hang the witch':


Bob Wilson

 

I just stopped by Costco for gas since the last time I filled up was 300 miles from here on June 9th and we're going out of town at some point this weekend. I decided to time myself. From the time I drove into the driveway to the time I drove out of the exit was 2 minutes and 21 seconds, for 6.6 gallons of gas (approximately 370 miles of range).

Another reason It takes so long (6-10 minutes) on a trip besides having a family of four (including two girls) going to the bathroom is the 5 minutes or so I spend scraping the accumulated bugs off the windshield and head lights. Do they provide squeegees, cleaning solution and paper towels at Supercharger stations? The pump always finishes before I finish with the cleaning.

 

Costco does not supply any cleaning supplies. Some Supercharger locations provide cleaning supplies, some don't. It doesn't matter to me since I take my own cleaning supplies with me. You carry them in the frunk, you know, the place where the ICE goes in those other cars.

 

Electrify America are not Supercharger stations as you seem to imply. Electrify America program is going to suffer some growing pains for sure and so may not be as dependable as the Supercharger system. Tesla does have an onboard notification system on the U.I. that if indicates if an individual Supercharger is out of service and the number of chargers currently available for charging. Until something better comes along, a Supercharger is the current 'state of the art'. So, yes, independent chargers are not as dependable as a Supercharger, it would be a lie to say anything different.

Regarding an L2 charger, they are nothing more than a stopgap measure, a bandaid so to speak, sort of like the 3 cyl, ICE in an i3 REx that will propel the car at a reported 40mph with 2.3 gallon of gas on board. If you suffer from "range anxiety" in a BEV, then an L2 charger can provide some minimal comfort if the driver fails to plan ahead, just like planning for a gasoline stop.

Regardless, charging infrastructure is expanding rapidly across the US and in Europe for those people who occasionally make cross country trips. As has been stated above, most daily trips are under 30 miles and even home charging overnight on 110 will accommodate that.

 

We're on the same page about the SuperCharger quality vs other fast DC chargers (i.e., CCS.) Huntsville has a single, 40kW, Nissan station that has ~80% uptime. Per PlugShare, the next closest CCS chargers are:

• Manchester TN - still broke
• Fort Payne AL - a 25kW at a Chevy dealer, business hours only

BTW, my 2014 BMW i3-REx, 0.647 L, holds 75% SOC at 70 mph with a fuel efficiency of 39-40 MPG. That is how we drove to Oklahoma last year passing through Fort Smith AR.

Bob Wilson

 

Aw common, who ever plans for a gasoline fillup? As one who has driven cars built in 10 decades and who has been driving for 55 years, I can't remember ever planning a gas fillup. And I think I've driven in at least 40 of the states and a dozen foreign countries. Gas is available at darn near every interstate exit and every two blocks even in my small town and even after a tornado came through. My town has 2 dealer usable only when we are open chargers and I think 2 public 24 hour chargers.

The difference between an EV and gas is you have to plan around an EV's needs and can be stymied by events like others already using them, non-EVs blocking them or out of order. My driving is not distracted by noticing I need more fuel in the next 50 miles because I know it will be there, it is just finding the right price and I can do that at a glance looking through my windshield. No looking via an app with multiple distracting finger presses.

And I say this as someone who may put down a deposit this week. Depends if she is comfortable.

 

Nor are the usually Costco's out on the open highway. I usually stop at a Conoco or Phillips 66 and they all have cleaning supplies.

Squeegee, cleaning fluid, bucket, paper towels and a trash can? Ick.