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How to efficiently drive cross country

Discussion in 'Tesla' started by bwilson4web, Jun 29, 2019.

  1. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    What?
    You might try talking . . . <grins>

    Better still, put a bag of candy treats under your seat and offer her some at the chargers. It works with my wife's dogs. Actually they like 'walkies' on a leash . . . the question is who is leashed.

    Bob Wilson
     
    #21 bwilson4web, Jun 30, 2019
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2019
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  2. frodoz737

    frodoz737 Top Wrench

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    I can't wait to retire.
     
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  3. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    Slippery slope that ultimately leads to one should stay home.

    BEV proponents also like to say flying has even longer delays which in many cases can be very true especially when there isn't a direct flight between points. Charger locations, especially fast ones, are the same way.

    PHEV's are the best solution for most use cases for the next (IMO) 10-15 years till a massive increase in fast charger locations are added to the infrastructure profitably. When we see massive fast charger locations like this along our interstates, you'll know we've arrived.

    IMG_9732.JPG
     
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  4. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Yes, but for the specific case of @bisco, they are already stopping at a hotel for the trip in question.

    While needed, PHEVs are a one car solution with compromises. The majority of households that can currently support home charging are multi car ones. Public chargers will come in time, but we need to better educate the public that a BEV as one of the household's cars works now.
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    flying will be soon enough, if self driving cars don't arrive by then.

    but it presents its own set of problems for a 2-3 month vacation. and cost wise, driving is cheaper and much more convenient.
    best to be said for flying is 4 less travel days
     
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  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    what logic? i said i'm married :cool:
     
  7. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    I'm glad I didn't wait.
    Much of my road trip traveling is though places where a BEV still can pick only one. They will eventually get upgraded to pick-two, but not yet.
     
    #27 fuzzy1, Jun 30, 2019
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2019
  8. litesong

    litesong Active Member

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    I saved $20x5 on a tent, $20x10 on camp supplies, $20x15 from Congress, $20x20 over that a way, $20x25 under my foot, $20x30 on tires.....in 1974 my 9200 mile, $10,000 vacation cost $800. At that time, I didn't have a wife to be dis-interested in one of my best times ever.
     
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  9. litesong

    litesong Active Member

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    I did already. Don't wait. My small retirement was enough for my wife to retire & make money doing her lifetime dream..... & she is.
     
  10. frodoz737

    frodoz737 Top Wrench

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    65 is the goal. ;) Not doing Cobra.
     
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  11. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    so then ....

    [​IMG]

    i guess that means we HAVE arrived ...

    Yea - there already are some massive supercharger stations around the world - as big as, and even bigger than some truck stops & there are more on the way.
    .
     
    #31 hill, Jul 1, 2019
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2019
  12. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    [​IMG]

    EVs will have "arrived" when they stop building these.....

    This week, I'll be making preparations for my quarterly sojourn to the home sod which the lady in the iPhone says is a 9 hour trip (670 miles.)
    My CFO will probably accompany me on this trip, so I will probably bust that estimate.

    When I make the trip solo, I solidly BEAT the iPhone lady's guestimate.
    I only stop for biologics and only need to get one bag of gas.....and I usually load up Walmart gift card so that fuel costs are minimized, since Sam's clubs are almost always located near an interstate exit.
    A massive interstate traffic snarl (not unheard of during the summer months) means that the only thing that i have to REALLY be concerned with if I'm gridlocked for an hour or two is whether or not I have an empty gator aide bottle with me at the time.

    Someday the EV infrastructure WILL mature, and depreciation will do what depreciation does and I'll be able to onboard.
    It wasn't that many years ago that Pips were selling for $40k+ back in the days when their early adopters were pining for hybrids to 'arrive.' They arrived when people stopped marveling at the fact that you can drive a hybrid just like you drive any other car.

    EVs will too....some day.
    It's just that you didn't have to build out a nationwide infrastructure to accommodate hybrids or PHEVs.
     
    #32 ETC(SS), Jul 1, 2019
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2019
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  13. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    .... the development of the ICE based transportation infrastructure took nearly a ½ century to fill the needs of majority users. (Prior to .... long haul goods & peeps mostly went by choo choo.)
    So yes ... folks had to wait for HEV's & PHEV's to have infrastructure too - they simply rode in on the backs of ICE'ers. The infrastructure they use, & the time it took to build it? It's doubtful the completion of EV infrastructure will even take ¼ as long as dino-juice took - & that includes the ½ dozen yrs they've already been working on it. Just sayin' - that 'Some-day' is way, way closer than most imagine, based on how quick it's already filling in.
    .
     
  14. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    Nice!!!! but an exception doesn't prove a rule.

    Not to belabor my point but the closest supercharger to that location of that Houston 96 pump station along I-H10 that I posted above is at a Holiday Inn, in the back lot, and has 8. It's the Channelview supercharger location situated between a mobile home sales lot and an empty field; probably best to remain in the car. We've still got a ways to go.
     
  15. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    true - there is still a lot of chicken and egg scenario to deal with. As more people get into EV's, there's more need for stations.
    .
     
  16. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    That's a good way to look at the current situation.

    In the early days, we didn't need many high speed (good) roads or numerous filling stations because most folks couldn't afford a car of any type. It took Henry Ford's Model T and purpose built factory to crack the code and break the dam. That car was also tough enough to handle the crap roads of the time too so it wasn't really held back by the current infrastructure (just strap on some extra gas cans and spare tires).

    Some say the Model 3 is the EV Model T and will do the same thing. Is it? I think it was close but not quite. Still priced too high and, ultimately, a sedan. It would have had a better chance starting as a CUV/liftback, nicely appointed, 300 mile (fast 20-80% highway charges) @ $35,000 but hindsight is 20/20.
     
  17. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    More cross country in a car fun facts;
    The 1st ICE vehicle to cross U.S. content? It took 63 days.
    Model 3? 50hrs
    Cost for the gas on that 1st contenental trip, in modern-day dollars? Over $3,000
    Cost for Model 3 electrons ?
    ~$100
    It's not all that bad - even now, before it gets even better.
     
  18. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    nothing bad, just not right for everyone, including you ;)
     
  19. Dxta

    Dxta Senior Member

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    :D
     
  20. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    When I drive cross country, I want to stop and visit a dozen or two interesting sites and sights and sidetrips along the way, well off the Interstate Highway system. I posted this last year:

    "I'd rather give you a beautiful scenic route, similar to what we did three years ago: cross-continent on Washington State's SR20, then US2 in the other states. According to Tesla's Supercharger Map, that is over 1700 miles between the supercharger near Burlington WA to the next one in Duluth MN. And that doesn't include any side trips, such as to the Teddy Roosevelt National Park North Unit, or through Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument.

    Though to be a bit more fair, the supercharger at Baxter / Brainerd MN is very close to the Paul Bunyan Trail where we spent a full bicycling day. That shortens the gap by about 25 miles :)

    Though this is an extreme case, it is still representative of my household's domestic travel style. And many of those 'planned stations' were already showing up as 'planned' back then too, but just are not filling in as quickly as suggested. And there are plenty more similar examples."

    For those who wish to treat fly-over country as also being just drive-straight-though country, the Supercharger network along many Interstate routes is already workable. But for those who wish to actually visit it and take a hike among the rose bushes, the network is still inadequate.
     
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