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Somewhat relevant question: how do you handle a Tesla if you run it out of charge? Eg, in comparison to a gas burner which can be be partly refilled with a jerr

by kardos 9y ago

Somewhat relevant question: how do you handle a Tesla if you run it out of charge? Eg, in comparison to a gas burner which can be be partly refilled with a jerry can. Are there portable battery packs with enough capacity to partly recharge the car? Or do you just have to get it towed?

drzaiusapelord 9y ago
The cars get towed. I'm a little surprised you can't partly charge a Tesla with another Tesla with a specialized cable. That would seem to help in a lot of situations to "top off" enough to get to a charging station. I guess the hardware to do this would be cost ineffective considering how rare this would be. If it raised the cost by a few few hundred per car then its probably not worth it.
atonse 9y ago
I believe you get it towed. There are random blog posts online of owners where they needed a tow because the car was a complete brick. I doubt this has changed.
ams6110 9y ago
Presumably, tow trucks will eventually be equipped with generators or battery packs/supercapacitors that can dump 50 miles or so of charge into a stranded EV. But it will be a while. For now, you need to call for a tow. Maybe the tow truck can just pull you along for a while until the regenerative system gets some juice back in the batteries? But I thought I read that EVs had to be towed on a flatbed not on their wheels.
tlb 9y ago
It hasn't happened to me in 4 years of owning one, because it knows how much range is left and how far to the nearest charger, so you have to willfully ignore its warnings in order to run out. A couple times after a long trip I chose to turn off the air conditioner and drive a little slower to make it home instead of stopping. (My personality is such that when I owned a gasoline car I ended up doing the jerry can walk-of-shame every year or so.) If you do run out, getting it towed to the nearest charge station is the cleanest solution.
robterrell 9y ago
You call AAA like always: http://newsroom.aaa.com/2011/07/ev-charging-statio/ http://newsroom.aaa.com/2011/07/ev-charging-statio/ https://electrek.co/2016/09/06/aaa-ev-emergency-charging-truck/ https://electrek.co/2016/09/06/aaa-ev-emergency-charging-tru... (Never used it, not a member anymore, but I do remember reading about it.)

by kardos 9y ago

drzaiusapelord 9y ago

The cars get towed. I'm a little surprised you can't partly charge a Tesla with another Tesla with a specialized cable. That would seem to help in a lot of situations to "top off" enough to get to a charging station. I guess the hardware to do this would be cost ineffective considering how rare this would be. If it raised the cost by a few few hundred per car then its probably not worth it.

atonse 9y ago

I believe you get it towed. There are random blog posts online of owners where they needed a tow because the car was a complete brick. I doubt this has changed.

ams6110 9y ago

Presumably, tow trucks will eventually be equipped with generators or battery packs/supercapacitors that can dump 50 miles or so of charge into a stranded EV. But it will be a while. For now, you need to call for a tow. Maybe the tow truck can just pull you along for a while until the regenerative system gets some juice back in the batteries? But I thought I read that EVs had to be towed on a flatbed not on their wheels.

tlb 9y ago

It hasn't happened to me in 4 years of owning one, because it knows how much range is left and how far to the nearest charger, so you have to willfully ignore its warnings in order to run out. A couple times after a long trip I chose to turn off the air conditioner and drive a little slower to make it home instead of stopping. (My personality is such that when I owned a gasoline car I ended up doing the jerry can walk-of-shame every year or so.) If you do run out, getting it towed to the nearest charge station is the cleanest solution.

robterrell 9y ago

You call AAA like always: http://newsroom.aaa.com/2011/07/ev-charging-statio/ http://newsroom.aaa.com/2011/07/ev-charging-statio/ https://electrek.co/2016/09/06/aaa-ev-emergency-charging-truck/ https://electrek.co/2016/09/06/aaa-ev-emergency-charging-tru... (Never used it, not a member anymore, but I do remember reading about it.)