11 ms·

Being stuck in traffic barely drains the battery. It's range anxiety, not time anxiety.

by gfodor 11y ago

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
beambot 11y ago
What about running the heater to stay alive and defrosted?
- recursive 11y ago
  10 horsepower is more than 7 kilowatts of output. I think a typical car heater uses much less than this. Perhaps someone knows more precise figures.
  - vonmoltke 11y ago
    A typical car heater is "free" in the sense that the heat is generated using the engine coolant. An ICE-powered car as a small heat exchanger called the heater box in the passenger cabin. When the heater is on, a door opens and directs air through the heater box before being blown back into the cabin. As long as the car is running and the engine is hot, you get heat.
  - dangrossman 11y ago
    An EV essentially runs electric space heaters, since there's no engine block to steal waste heat from. It doesn't take a lot to heat a small enclosed space like a car interior. My Leaf uses anywhere from 1000 to 3000 watts to run heat, mostly towards the low end after it's warmed up. http://imgur.com/smzvL8C http://imgur.com/smzvL8C For reference, the battery pack is 24kWh, so it could theoretically run the heater while stuck on a road for 24 hours straight. A Model S with a 85kWh battery pack could keep the heat on for over 3 days.
    - falcolas 11y ago
      A fully charged Model S, operating at peak capacity. When it has to heat the battery pack, the interior, and has already been driven for upwards of 100 miles (plus heating), those numbers will significantly smaller. Worse would be the anxiety of retaining enough charge to get the car the remaining miles to your destination once un-stuck.
      - dangrossman 11y ago
        After 100 miles plus heating, it's got 50 kWh left in the battery. That'll get you another 147 miles driving with the heat on. Sitting in traffic, for hours upon hours, is really not a problem for an EV. The interior and battery pack heaters only use 1.5 kilowatts per hour or so. If you drive 100 miles with the heat on, get stuck in the snow for an epic rescue time of 8 hours, your range is only decreased by 35 miles to 112. Having 112 miles left in your tank is not an anxiety-inducing situation.
        falcolas 11y ago
        It is, if you still have 80 miles to go in weather which got you stuck in the first place. I live in Montana, so such trips are common, not exceptional. Having a pass close in front of you (or while you're on it) is not terribly exceptional either.
        dangrossman 11y ago
        Is it? Then you definitely wouldn't want to make this trip in a traditional gasoline car. Two drivers leave on this trip you described with the same fuel in the tank (250 miles worth), one in a Tesla and one in a Toyota. Both travel 100 miles before getting stuck. Both have to wait 8 hours in the cold on a closed road. Both have 80 miles to go. The difference is, the Tesla has 112 miles of range left at that point, and the Toyota only has 86. It consumed 2.56 gallons of gas idling to run the heat, a much larger percentage of its overall fuel than the Tesla. Assuming neither driver planned to run out of fuel on this trip (since 360 miles is beyond the range of either vehicle), both are within range of either a gas station or a charging station. They're all along the length of I90 and I15 in Montana. The Tesla has a larger margin of error for detours and closed roads on the way.
dangrossman 11y ago
I don't know why this keeps getting downvoted. It's absolutely true. An EV uses 20+ kilowatts to move at highway speeds. It uses 1 kilowatt to run climate control. Sitting in traffic for an hour is equivalent to driving for 3 minutes, in terms of how much battery you use.

Being stuck in traffic barely drains the battery. It's range anxiety, not time anxiety.

by gfodor 11y ago

Being stuck in traffic barely drains the battery. It's range anxiety, not time anxiety.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

beambot 11y ago

What about running the heater to stay alive and defrosted?

recursive 11y ago
10 horsepower is more than 7 kilowatts of output. I think a typical car heater uses much less than this. Perhaps someone knows more precise figures.
- vonmoltke 11y ago
  A typical car heater is "free" in the sense that the heat is generated using the engine coolant. An ICE-powered car as a small heat exchanger called the heater box in the passenger cabin. When the heater is on, a door opens and directs air through the heater box before being blown back into the cabin. As long as the car is running and the engine is hot, you get heat.
- dangrossman 11y ago
  An EV essentially runs electric space heaters, since there's no engine block to steal waste heat from. It doesn't take a lot to heat a small enclosed space like a car interior. My Leaf uses anywhere from 1000 to 3000 watts to run heat, mostly towards the low end after it's warmed up. http://imgur.com/smzvL8C http://imgur.com/smzvL8C For reference, the battery pack is 24kWh, so it could theoretically run the heater while stuck on a road for 24 hours straight. A Model S with a 85kWh battery pack could keep the heat on for over 3 days.
  - falcolas 11y ago
    A fully charged Model S, operating at peak capacity. When it has to heat the battery pack, the interior, and has already been driven for upwards of 100 miles (plus heating), those numbers will significantly smaller. Worse would be the anxiety of retaining enough charge to get the car the remaining miles to your destination once un-stuck.
    - dangrossman 11y ago
      After 100 miles plus heating, it's got 50 kWh left in the battery. That'll get you another 147 miles driving with the heat on. Sitting in traffic, for hours upon hours, is really not a problem for an EV. The interior and battery pack heaters only use 1.5 kilowatts per hour or so. If you drive 100 miles with the heat on, get stuck in the snow for an epic rescue time of 8 hours, your range is only decreased by 35 miles to 112. Having 112 miles left in your tank is not an anxiety-inducing situation.
      - falcolas 11y ago
        It is, if you still have 80 miles to go in weather which got you stuck in the first place. I live in Montana, so such trips are common, not exceptional. Having a pass close in front of you (or while you're on it) is not terribly exceptional either.
        dangrossman 11y ago
        Is it? Then you definitely wouldn't want to make this trip in a traditional gasoline car. Two drivers leave on this trip you described with the same fuel in the tank (250 miles worth), one in a Tesla and one in a Toyota. Both travel 100 miles before getting stuck. Both have to wait 8 hours in the cold on a closed road. Both have 80 miles to go. The difference is, the Tesla has 112 miles of range left at that point, and the Toyota only has 86. It consumed 2.56 gallons of gas idling to run the heat, a much larger percentage of its overall fuel than the Tesla. Assuming neither driver planned to run out of fuel on this trip (since 360 miles is beyond the range of either vehicle), both are within range of either a gas station or a charging station. They're all along the length of I90 and I15 in Montana. The Tesla has a larger margin of error for detours and closed roads on the way.

dangrossman 11y ago

I don't know why this keeps getting downvoted. It's absolutely true. An EV uses 20+ kilowatts to move at highway speeds. It uses 1 kilowatt to run climate control. Sitting in traffic for an hour is equivalent to driving for 3 minutes, in terms of how much battery you use.