3 ms·

Well, I think 100A at 120V should theoretically be enough - 12kw. The biggest Tesla battery is 100 kwh, so assuming no charging losses (bad assumption, I know),

by ericd 10y ago

Well, I think 100A at 120V should theoretically be enough - 12kw. The biggest Tesla battery is 100 kwh, so assuming no charging losses (bad assumption, I know), you should be full in 8ish hours from empty. In reality, you won't want to use your whole rated electrical capacity on one thing, but on the flip side, you can go higher voltage, or upgrade your breaker, assuming your wiring isn't too marginal. Tesla sells a high voltage high amperage charging station for your garage for not too much. I think most charge on a 240V or greater line. But yeah, charging up mountains at 100 mph will probably give you less than 3 hours :-D Re driving fun, the torque is great, but I think the biggest thing is 0 throttle lag. Less of a problem with a supercharger than my old twin turbo, but still not instant like this. It's worth taking on a test drive, that's what really convinced me that this was the future. That and the 0-60 times of a 7 seater on par with an M5 (at the time), and the relative mechanical simplicity, and the better marginal economics, etc.

graycat 10y ago
You make a point: Of course, my house here in NYS is drawing 240 V from the electric utility. So, IIRC the 100 A of the main breaker is for 100 A at the 240 V, not just the 120 V. So, just have an electrician run a 240 V line from the breaker box to the garage for the car, say, the same way as there is a 240 V line to the kitchen electic stove and the electric clothes dryer. But, the 100 KWh is 123 HP for an hour or 61 HP for 2 hours or 30 HP for 4 hours. That's not a lota juice. Apparently gasoline, burned, releases 33.4 KWH So, the Tesla battery has the energy of burning 3 gallons of gasoline. If a gasoline powered car is 33% efficient, then the 100 KWH of a Tesla is about like a 10 gallon tank of gasoline. Hmm -- my old Chevy S-10 Blazer has a 20 gallon tank for gasoline, and I can fill it in a few minutes. But if only want to zip, the fantastic acceleration, around Manhattan a little during the week and take a 2 hour round trip to the Hamptons on weekends, then it appears that a Tesla will work! IIRC, the time I used my Firebird to blast overnight from my place in Maryland to my fiance in Indiana, the whole trip was about 9 hours. At the speeds I was driving, I might have been using 100 HP. So, the Tesla battery might have lasted a little over an hour. On that trip, even with gasoline, I had to stop a few times. A Tesla would have been a bummer, make me late to get to my fiance, in particular, truncate my manhood -- OUCH! Car was a Firebird 400 4 speed with, sadly, a 3.23 rear axle ratio. The first gear was 2.52, and fourth was 1.0. Bummer. Now, wisely, much wider ratios are common and more gears, e.g., in the Corvette automatic 8 gears. So, can try to compete with a Tesla for standing start acceleration but on a highway in one of the higher gears cruise along at maybe 1200 RPM and get maybe 28 MPG. Gasoline powered cars have been improving, too! It just hit me: Maybe a Tesla is using the electric motors also for braking and, then, also charging the battery! Nice. Trains and big boats commonly have a Diesel engine driving a generator and the generator driving electric motors -- "Look, Ma, no or a perfect transmission!". Could also have a battery in there! Use the battery around town, and charge the battery with the engine.

by ericd 10y ago

graycat 10y ago

You make a point: Of course, my house here in NYS is drawing 240 V from the electric utility. So, IIRC the 100 A of the main breaker is for 100 A at the 240 V, not just the 120 V. So, just have an electrician run a 240 V line from the breaker box to the garage for the car, say, the same way as there is a 240 V line to the kitchen electic stove and the electric clothes dryer. But, the 100 KWh is 123 HP for an hour or 61 HP for 2 hours or 30 HP for 4 hours. That's not a lota juice. Apparently gasoline, burned, releases 33.4 KWH So, the Tesla battery has the energy of burning 3 gallons of gasoline. If a gasoline powered car is 33% efficient, then the 100 KWH of a Tesla is about like a 10 gallon tank of gasoline. Hmm -- my old Chevy S-10 Blazer has a 20 gallon tank for gasoline, and I can fill it in a few minutes. But if only want to zip, the fantastic acceleration, around Manhattan a little during the week and take a 2 hour round trip to the Hamptons on weekends, then it appears that a Tesla will work! IIRC, the time I used my Firebird to blast overnight from my place in Maryland to my fiance in Indiana, the whole trip was about 9 hours. At the speeds I was driving, I might have been using 100 HP. So, the Tesla battery might have lasted a little over an hour. On that trip, even with gasoline, I had to stop a few times. A Tesla would have been a bummer, make me late to get to my fiance, in particular, truncate my manhood -- OUCH! Car was a Firebird 400 4 speed with, sadly, a 3.23 rear axle ratio. The first gear was 2.52, and fourth was 1.0. Bummer. Now, wisely, much wider ratios are common and more gears, e.g., in the Corvette automatic 8 gears. So, can try to compete with a Tesla for standing start acceleration but on a highway in one of the higher gears cruise along at maybe 1200 RPM and get maybe 28 MPG. Gasoline powered cars have been improving, too! It just hit me: Maybe a Tesla is using the electric motors also for braking and, then, also charging the battery! Nice. Trains and big boats commonly have a Diesel engine driving a generator and the generator driving electric motors -- "Look, Ma, no or a perfect transmission!". Could also have a battery in there! Use the battery around town, and charge the battery with the engine.