andesbill

I drove my Tesla 3 from Naples, FL to Hewlett in Nassau county NY, last weekend. Charging cost was $113.00. The distance is 1308 miles. Average gas prices on the way up were $4.59. Determine your cost based on your gas mileage. We have no problem in heavy traffic with mileage or heat. 70-73 on highways is best for distance.
We stopped to charge at breakfast, lunch, and before entering hotel. We always choose our hotel based on whether it takes dogs, and distance from a charger. Not a problem on I95.
At home we have solar panels from before the Tesla, and so our charging costs are $0.00. All electric for us comes from the panels. We live in FL, so panels are a no brainer- 8-10 years payback.
We also don’t worry about ID theft at gas stations, which happened 3 times to us.
The car is a lot of fun to drive, and charging up with the Tesla charger is an amazing feeling.
We had to go from 2 cars to 1 to afford it, so we share.
Tesla will not change their cables to fit other ev’s, because they won’t work on Teslas. They did say that they’ll make it possible for other ev’s to use it though.
Look up ev charging and you will see that other than Tesla, most of the other chargers aren’t “super”. They seem to be about 16v rather than the 150 or 250v of Tesla superchargers, and take forever to charge up.
One advantage of electric for cars is that utilities can’t raise the price without state approval, at least in NY and FL, so the cost is more stable.
Every driver should try driving one just for the acceleration. I’m not suggesting you buy it, but when I stomp on the pedal for a few seconds I think back to my misspent youth when we were drag racing on the streets. I would have loved to have an ev then. I just imagine opening the frunk to show the other drivers my engine, and blowing their mind.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

I wonder how long it will be before someone is electrocuted while charging their electric car during the rain? Inquiring minds want to know.

docerz

Most commenters on the EV subject do not own EV's and are misinformed. Too expensive for you...don't buy one.If you have range anxiety ...don't buy one. Do some serious research if you are serious.

neillaubenthal

Actually the battery capacity is KW…no time involved. How many KWH it can provide is dependent on the discharge rate and the battery temperature.

Another reply said that battery charging rate is constant…as a long time submarine driver…actually for a constant charging voltage the charging rate decreases over time as the battery voltage increases…that's the way Ohm's Law works.

The big problems with EVs are too few charging stations, too little range for people that travel a lot per day, too slow charging times…not to mention the fact that EV advocates completely ignore the carbon footprint of building the things, making the batteries, disposing the expired batteries, and all of that. While those costs are likely not as high as the other side claims…completely ignoring them is fallacy designed to make them look better than they actually are.

Then there's the argument about being stuck in the snow for 2 days…and neither side is really being honest about the potential problem there. Yes…it could be an issue and things like that happen pretty frequently up north…and there's no way to charge the dead EVS all out on the highway or even get them out of the way…but it isn't as bad as the anti EV folk say or as not a problem as the pro EV folk say.


EVs have their place…for certain drivers and certain usage patterns with certain daily driving mileage. They're not for everybody…and they're really not for big trucks due to the same issues that plague them for replacing all vehicles. Unfortunately…neither side in the debate is willing to agree that the other side has some valid points and come to some sort of intermediate compromise position. Pity...

hankm1 Loc: Mount Prospect IL

Has anyone used one of the public charging stations? Let's say I stop somewhere
for an hour's lunch and I hook up my ElectroCorvair for a charge during lunch. How
much am I paying for the charge? Is it an hourly charge? A flat fee?

alberio Loc: Casa Grande AZ

Credit or debit, PayPal?

andesbill

When you get a Tesla, you give them a credit card number. When you charge up, it automatically recognizes your car and you and immediately starts charging. On the road, it will tell you how long you need to charge before continuing your trip. It will precondition your batteries to charge most efficiently. As you charge, the voltage automatically reduces to prevent damage to the batteries. You see the cost on your screen as you charge.
I’ve charged in the rain both at a supercharger and at my daughter’s home. It’s made to handle that.
I asked a Tesla user in Utah how his car handled the cold and the hills. He said no problem. The car regained a lot going downhill.
My son-in-law has the same model 3 I have. He’s director of stroke at a hospital in NY, and can’t afford car problems no matter the weather. He hasn’t had any, and I get free charging when I visit. Life is good.😁

alberio Loc: Casa Grande AZ

The new Okie Credit Card is an extension cord not a hose.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Garbage disposal of the future: a rocket to the sun.

Disposal of a huge number of batteries will be a challenge. I wonder if they can be recycled somehow. There's no simple solution to providing power. I've been using rechargeable batteries since they became available. I have some of the old type that still take a charge, but eneloops (or the Amazon version) are my current choice.

Schoee Loc: Europe

I am sorry to have to disagree and I respect your posts a lot but battery capacity does have a time element. To quote a website The energy stored in a battery, called the battery capacity, is measured in either watt-hours (Wh), kilowatt-hours (kWh), or ampere-hours (Ahr).
If you think about the KW capacity is how quickly it can supply energy, eg can it drive a kettle to boil water quickly or only light a small lamp? But the battery will run flat unlike the power from the socket in the wall. So to describe the capacity we need to specify a rate ( KW ) and for how long it can do that, ie time. So it is kWhr

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

It takes more energy to produce hydrogen by electrolysis than the energy it produces when you burn it, so a net loss unless you can find a more efficient way to produce it - better to just use the electricity directly.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

At 8.6 cents per mile, that’s just over half the cost of gas for the same trip for my car which gets ~32MPG at 70-75 MPH given the current cost of premium gas. And I agree. I’ve driven a Tesla, and it is QUICK off the line (max torque at stall for electric motors)

Schoee Loc: Europe

I understand your point. But there are losses from storing electricity in the battery and then using it compared to what comes out the socket

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

There are inefficiencies in any energy system at every step, including storing and distributing hydrogen, not to mention building out a delivery system (which already exists for electricity). Hence the reason that all the major automobile manufacturers are moving to electric, not hydrogen, vehicles.

andesbill

Hydrogen will never succeed because it has been shown to explode.
Of course it hasn’t, but the pictures and videos of the Hindenburg cause enough people to believe it so that as a fuel it won’t succeed.
You will rarely lose a bet if you bet on stupid.