BBC: Top Gear admits Tesla didn't run out of juice

Hi Even,

These tow-trucks usually have these very large battery jumping generators. These may even have 110 V AC output. Or could be retrofited thusly. So, AAA calls the tow-truck operator, who comes out and charges up the car enough to make it to an outlet. Simple...

 

i think it much ado about nothing.

Evan, your wife is a doctor, obviously very intelligent. plugging in daily i believe would be something she could manage quite well. now being on a Doctor's schedule which may or not mean unexpected runs to the hospital, etc.

that would be a tough thing to manage, especially in cases when (having very close acquaintances in the medical field) they maybe going home and nearly there and called in to return immediately. if scheduling your "expected" needs with your "expected" range, this can be simply an unavailable option.

but then again, Evan, so it might not work for you... most people simply dont lead lives (here picks up my rant after interuption) where their time is that critical so it will work for a lot of people. and granted, the more rural areas maybe be using other options for years to come, plug-ins, etc...

**edit**
didnt mean to post that...my son just dove off rim of bathtub and scared himself (he is very very much a daredevil!!) now he does this all the time, but most of the time there is someone in tub with him to catch him. he did not hurt himself, so all is well

 

I don't think the toxicity of exhaust will change anybody's minds. Sixty years ago everybody in L.A. knew the whole city was toxic, due to the automobile exhaust.

But when they have to wait in line for 24 hours to buy gas, then they'll start buying EVs. And once enough people have EVs, coin-operated chargers, perhaps built into parking meters, will start to become common.

 

that is what they said about cigarette smoke. and "yesterday" it was determined that smokers would need to congregate in special areas to partake in habit...

"today" it is simply not allowed. Jan 1, my work goes completely smoke free. that means no smoking while at work. no smoking in your personal vehicle if the vehicle is parked on company property, etc... iow,

no smoking, PERIOD.

 

It's good to see the BBC (usually respected for honesty) is taking some heat over Clarkson's dishonesty.

 

That's great. Now, considering that Mark Twain, writing 150 years ago, wrote that he knew smoking would probably kill him, we may have to wait another 50 years before the mainstream decides to respond to gasoline's toxicity.

But I'm very happy that your workplace has gone smoke-free.

 

I did not see any post denying the electric vehicles will get lots of press (initially) for problems that are novel.

I know of two people who destroyed their engines by ignoring that pesky oil light. Quite a few people have been stuck in the driveway with a dead battery (me included), so that is not that new. Then there are all kinds of problems getting cars running in very cold weather.

What I don't have is a way of solving my being stranded at the house (or anywhere else) by plugging in the EV for about the same amount of time that it takes a tow truck to come and fix the problems or take the ICE car away.

I'm pretty sure that the press of all the problems avoided and solved by electric vehicles will get a lot less media coverage. (e.g. The tow truck driver going out of business would get more economic coverage than the lack of EV breakdowns.)

 

Evan I think people get your point.
There will be those who will not want an electric car because they don't want to run out of juice due to some distraction at charging time. My biggest issue is I need at least 100km range, I live on a hill meaning I need lots of power at the end of my daily commute and I'm a klutz, I forget stuff like plugging in over night. I'm also concerned about the ridicule from my work mates when I ring in to say I can't make it to work today because we had a black-out last night.

None of this means I don't want an EV, I do.

 

What is the price installed in Adelaide?
Where does the spare wheel go?

 

Last time I used my spare wheel was in the centre of Australia about 100km from Ti Tree and 300km from Alice Springs which was the nearest reasonable size town with a tyre repair business in it.

By patsparks, shot with FE270,X815,C510 at 2008-04-27

 

Ah. It is so rare that I hear this... FWIW, I think that you're right too!

 

I've had this question in the back of my mind several times, and haven't asked it yet.
What happens if you are sick? What happens if your gas car breaks down? What happens if you get hit by a bus? What happens if you lose your glasses? What happens if one of your own kids needs you home? Basically - what happens if you just can't do your job one day? Has that never happened before? (This has very little to do with the topic beyond pointing out that S happens, and sometimes your car doesn't work. And somehow... we deal with it.)

I think everybody agrees that it is and will be a perceived hurdle. I just keep seeing the line getting crossed from the perception to the reality. THAT is the only place where people (me!) on this thread aren't "getting it."

Everybody is acknowledging the point that the unfounded *perception* is a hurdle. What I and others won't acknowledge is that there is no *real* hurdle here beyond the perception. The two keep getting mixed up. And it seems THAT point isn't getting across. Are we narrowing down on it now?

In your first two posts on this thread, you brought up the scary, bad things that will happen to people who drive EVs. Running out of juice in the middle of nowhere, etc. Maybe you meant to point out your concern about the *perception* of how scary or likely this scenario is, but it came across as sounding like it was something valid to worry about. And the more that stuff is brought up, the more people think that it is a real concern. In other words, we are taking the perception and making it a reality in peoples' minds.

It sounds like you are sometimes arguing that it is a REAL concern, and other times that it is only a perception. That right there is my confusion.

 

You never said they were fears of yours - correct. I inferred it from the comments that I did read very carefully. As I said before, the way that I read the comments, about half of them sound like you're concerned with perception, and the other half sound like you are concerned with the reality. I'm trying to figure out what's what - and I see that the line is getting blurry with the "perception is reality" party. Eeek! I do understand your point (though I'm not sure you believe me). We seem to only disagree on how to deal with these perceptions. Just for the sake of discussion, I'll go through a couple of posts and at least point out how I read them.

This implies that if you are in the middle of nowhere, that gas will be easy to find and that electricity will not. Or more accurately, you say that if you run out of gas, it will be in some place that has gas on every corner. But if you run out of electricity, you may find yourself in the middle of nowhere. (I've been in the middle of nowhere, and there's a lot more electricity there than gas!)

From that post, I don't hear, "this is what the uninformed will be worried about." I hear, "this is a valid concern." I'm fully aware that I can be reading this totally wrong.

Yet nobody (at least not me!) is denying the potential for an annoying issue. Just like I don't deny that my gas car could stop running for literally hundreds of reasons at any moment. I think I've shown myself to be pretty realistic. I KNOW the limits of EVs. I know what needs to be improved. I've been on the bleeding edge with these things and know the soft underbelly. But just like the silly segment on Top Gear - why do we need to keep feeding into the public's fears? The public needa to be shown what would happen if a car ran out of "juice?" Have they not seen a gas car pushed when it ran out of gas? What benefit does this serve? So again, I don't hear in your post, "we shouldn't deny that people will be worried about this". I hear, "This is likely to happen." Much like in Top Gear. Please note that Top Gear has also said, "Hey, we never said this happened, we just wanted to show what it would be like." Man, they SURE implied it happened, eh?

Then it is even more important for those of us who know better to make the line very clear between reality and perception. If we discuss these perceptions as if they ARE something to fear, then you're right - they become reality. I want to avoid that. I deal with the reality of EVs every day. EVs are not some abstract concept for my family. We have depended on an EV every day for nine years - for our livlihood. We aren't doctors, but at least we're important in our own minds. And I hear people's perceptions of EVs every day. I don't deny their perceptions - I demonstrate the reality. One of the most common questions is, "What do you do when you run out of juice?" And behind the question is the fear that it will happen somewhat regularly because the battery status on the cell phone is as bad as the Prius gas gauge; because our flashlights don't even HAVE gauges, and the gauges on golf carts tell us nothing. So the perception is that battery capacity is just a crap shoot, and that running out of juice will sneak up on us when we least suspect it. This running out of juice is a concern along the same lines as "will I be able to go up hills? Merge onto the freeway? Drive more than 20 miles before I come to a grinding halt (like the Tesla on the Track!)?" How do we get people over the fear of not being able to drive fast enough to safely be on the freeway? Of having to replace the battery pack every two years? Of electrocution in a car wash? Of cutting their range in half by turning the headlights on? These are all perceptions that people have, and they're all nothing more than fear of the unknown. Do we hold their hands and tell them that yes, these things might happen, but we have solutions for them so that when the terrible things DO happen, that we can save them? Or do we tell them how unlikely they are - like how we manage to avoid certain death in our gasoline cars every day!? Shit happens! (and hey - I never did hear what happens in your household when the big S happens there!)

Yes! The FEAR is the real hurdle. I totally agree. We don't change that fear by following everybody around in big trucks with automatic battery chargers and spare battery packs. We change that fear by demonstrating that it isn't any more scary to drive an EV than it is to drive a gas car. And I guess this is the only place where we differ. I *know* the fear is out there. I know what the perceptions are. I know what scares people about EVs. I just don't agree that propagating those fears is the right way to clear the hurdle.

Oh... I'm rambling, and really need to get to bed.

I'm not trying to be argumentative (really!). Just enjoying the discussion.