Clueless NYT reporter manages to get stranded in Model S

Stonington and Groton are in my neighborhood and agreed that if the charge is going to "take time", many folks will choose "other" in a world of immediate gratification from 21st century life.

It is 20 minutes from my job in RI (outside Stonington) to my nail technician in Groton... Since the salesman could not answer my PiP questions (and I bought a liftback that I love) and I have yet to see a charging station in the places I frequent (maybe I am not looking in the "right" places but to an EV owner/driver I would think knowing where your stations are is like knowing where the restrooms are if you have issues of that sort - at least at this stage in time).... maybe the world has to evolve a wee bit further with the EV idea... not just with those that "see" the future and the good possibilities (and I am wishing for that). At this juncture, electricity has to come from "somewhere"... it is not "free" - even if it comes from solar or wind, someone has to be installing the infrastructure to grab the solar rays or the wind and convert it to energy we can use... my oldest is an electrician with an interest in wind energy and he shook his head when asked about how it is "developing."

This is just my humble opinion and some may know better than me. I said when my liftback is ready to be retired I would happily look at a PiP again - hopefully life catches up with those that wish to be environmentally friendly outside of CA....

 

For the first part, yes, these are initial adopter cars. People are slow to change, even if its a major improvement. The majority will need to see a happy neighbor with a plug-in.... But there are those adopters, that get to do the cool things first, but often have to pay more and wait for some bugs to be worked out.

In the case of wind, Last year the country installed the most wind ever. This brought the total to 4.4% of the power used in the first 9 months of 2012. 2013 I expect will be up another 0.5%. It does not go in evenly, and the east coast is not building nearly as much as Texas or the Midwest and Mountain states. It takes time to transform the grid. I expect that in 10 years wind will be virtually free at night to charge cars in Texas. I would not expect that to happen in road island and Connecticut, but I would expect people there to pay a great deal more for gas than electricity.

With a short range PHEV like the prius phv, I would not expect you to need to find or be concerned about places to plug into the grid. You just would charge at home and where it is convenient, using gas when your battery ran low.

I expect a much improved one in 2015

 

Well said in my world. But in my travels I needed to know there were plug in options beyond home, hence my personal choice.

But, electricity is expensive here - I have a house that heats on electric power and coworkers in the same boat. Folks are looking to solar and wind when it is viable...and affordable. I opt for an additional layer and enough heat to keep pipes from freezing. I run my Prius on minimal heat to save MPGs... for what it is worth.

My son was installing anemometers in college to search out sites for installing wind turbines in upstate NY... knowing what we have windwise offshore had me psyched but there are some that do not want to see turbines "polluting" the landscape - it was a hard fight in the area I lived in between those for and those against... but turbines there are generating wind power now and I find them attractive.

 

In my experience an EV is a tough sell against a Prius based on fuel costs. At 17c kWh from PSE&G using Tesla's numbers the Model S was on slightly cheaper. I'm not interested in running them again with the EPA numbers but wouldn't be surprised if it is break even or slightly more expensive.

 

The sign of a Leader Is to not roll over and play dead, but to defend your passion. That is what I see from Elon.

 

I just pulled up Connecticut's electricity profile, and really I don't get why prices are so high. I do see a lot of oil generation in 2000, but that seems to mainly replaced by natural gas now. I still don't understand why east coast government doesn't get natural gas run to homes, it is so much more efficient to burn the gas to heat the home, instead of burning it in the power plant, losing it in lines, then recreating the heat.

Offshore is much more expensive than onshore, and makes it hard to compete with natural gas unless its subsidiesed or customers can choose to pay more for it. Here we have people that like having turbines and a wind friendly state government, along with choice.

Here's the wind map
NREL: Dynamic Maps, GIS Data, and Analysis Tools - Wind Maps
There is some good wind on long island and more of western NY.

 

I just read that Mr Musk is about to throw the hurt locker on the whole "test" ... I read that supposedly telemetry records show this hack driver deliberately faked the test by making a detour, speeding, and not fully charging - that NY Times had been notified, but that they're going to stand by the report (I guess) until after the reveal (if any). If true, they didn't learn very well from the other hack that tried this. Jeremy Clarkson, I recall, did this, and claimed it was all done just to prove how screwed you be if you ran out of fuel ... you know ... like ICE vehicles end up doing each & every day- getting stranded by the dozens. .Funny, when THAT's the case ... it's just business as usual.

 

1. Tesla better get some in-house experience driving outside of sunny, temperate California. I'll bet the reporter was using 400 - 450 wh/mile while the heater was on.

2. Casual reading suggests that the car's range meter needs more work.

3. What is the kW rating for the fast charger ? How much is it affected by the cold ? Does the car actually know how much energy was stuffed into the battery, or is it using assumptions affected by the cold ?

 

"Have you ever been on those roads in North Dakota where you pass a sign that says “No gas for next 80 miles"?

Or perhaps you’ve traveled through the frozen wastelands of Northern Canada or Alaska and learned that the gas station you just passed was the last one for more than 100 miles. You’d be certifiably crazy to not stop and fill up ... right?" Exclusive: Hey Top Gear, You Have To Fill Up Electric Cars Too, Duh!

 

That is just business as usual, it's easy to rapidly add enough fuel to an ICE vehicle to drive it to a gas station. Not so with an EV, in the real world recovering an out of juice EV usually involves a tow. A big bleeping difference.

Maybe the reporter hyped the story, but he illustrated a point. EVs aren't ready for Joe Consumer to drive on long trips no matter what the fan boys claim. The more Musk throws a tizzy fit about it the bigger the story and the more people will become aware of EV limitations still present in the best EV available.

Don't get me wrong, the Model S is a great accomplishment, but the only people that should be buying it are people willing and able to adapt to it's real world range limitations.

 

Their Q.C.'s can "stuff" their batteries at a rate in excess of 42kW's ... so if you just needed to "top off" ... pick up an extra 40 miles .... even if you drive like this turd in the Times article, you'll still be back on the road in 5 minutes ... hardly enough time to rest your weary bones.

I suppose there are some who really really really need to jump back in their Model S - quicker than an indy pit stop. Too bad we have so little time. There are some auto club trucks now that carry a power source to get you in quick to the Tesla Q.C. - created for those who (just like the ICE driver) are too busy to check their fuel gauge but always have time to wait for the auto club ... and apparently would just rather run out of fuel.

 

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Musk should put that in his sales literature.

 

I grew up in NY and the culture is tough as nails. They are unforgiving and brutal. They will chew you up and spit you out before breakfast. I lived in California over 2 decades. California culture is relaxed. Californians will never be honest and up front because they don't want to hurt you. They Make promises they ever keep.

When you read the article you see where people are coming from. The times reporter feels he is doing Telsa a favor being brutally honest and Elon feels it is disrespectful and untruthful.

 

Elon is from South Africa, they make New Yorkers look like pussy cats.

 

I thought Bloomberg just released a article that Southwest Conn had the highest per capita income in the Nation 195,000 so what were you saying about high energy prices. Than again I'm sure not everyone Is a hedge fund manager. I digress

 

Well yeah, he took on the Times in the media. Brass balls for sure. But I can guarantee NYers are no push overs. I know the culture. I have Manhattan relatives that will argue with you forever and think it is just a normal conversation. They can have 10 million in the bank but will walk 10 blocks to save a nickel on a coffee and Danish. Amazing but true. I have uncles in there 80's that go to work every day because if they don't they feel they wasted the day but don't need the $.

 

The Poster I was responding to said she had an electric heater and the rates were high. I didn't say no homes had natural gas, only that too many don't have natural gas, so they use electric or much worse home heating oil. It is very wasteful, but individuals can't solve it, it is bad government that has caused the situation. Looking at the figures for connetecut on electric generation, in 2000 they still used a great deal of oil power plants, at least now they have fixed that and the oil is mainly for stand by, replaced by natural gas. With half nuclear, and 35% natural gas rates should be low in connetecut, but they are high. That means some other than the power mix is going on. The power has lower ghg than most of the US.

The capital costs for the nuclear plants should have been paid long ago. Fuel costs should be lower than most of the country. Which means capital and fuel should be in line with the country. Someone is getting ripped off. CONNECTICUT’S HIGH ELECTRIC RATES
AND THE LEGISLATIVE RESPONSE