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I would like to know how this guy is going to get stranded less often in a Tesla. At least with a fuel burning car he can call roadside assistance to bring him

by gnu8 8y ago

I would like to know how this guy is going to get stranded less often in a Tesla. At least with a fuel burning car he can call roadside assistance to bring him some gas. When his battery is flat they can’t bring an extension cord though. What a world we live in that someone so careless has so much money to throw at his problem.

gargravarr 8y ago
Well, depends how far outside the box you can think: https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupportmacgyver/comments/9wlmd6/found_on_facebook_does_this_count/ https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupportmacgyver/comments/9wlmd6...
all2 8y ago
I sense a market here: supercharge trucks. A truck with a buttload of diesel, a 1000kW generator, and an assortment of charging hookups.
- Reason077 8y ago
  No need for the generator. Just a big battery onboard and a DC-DC converter.
  - rtkwe 8y ago
    Generator is probably a better option for these though because then they can just get refueled instead of having to wait to get recharged themselves. It'd allow them to service more vehicles while being lighter.
    - Reason077 8y ago
      Remember, you'd only need to charge each vehicle enough so that it can reach the nearest fast charger, so you wouldn't need a huge battery to service multiple vehicles in a day. Besides, how many "out of charge" breakdowns is a single service van likely to encounter in a day? A DC-DC transfer would enable fast charging rates with relatively compact and lightweight equipment. A diesel generator that can output, say, 100kW continuously is pretty big and hefty!
      - rtkwe 8y ago
        Those are still pretty sparse outside of California so the distance could be pretty far. Check out the list for NC there's 13 for the whole state at the moment.
        Reason077 8y ago
        That's true. But by the time EVs make up a significant portion of the vehicle fleet in those areas (enough to justify a rescue van with onboard charging!), chargers will be much more common. Also, by nature, most "ran out of charge" incidents will happen near a charger (or near home, etc) because the driver thought they could make it. It's not likely that someone would drive off into some really remote area with no idea of where they would charge the car.
    - gambler 8y ago
      While it would work, it would be horrible marketing for EVs.
      - sokoloff 8y ago
        Why would someone reasonably care what equipment is onboard the service trucks? I've never inquired as to what's inside the Mercedes Sprinter vans they use for roadside assistance when considering buying a Mercedes.
      - masklinn 8y ago
        It would be great for actual roadside assistance though, fuel is way more energy dense and energy specific than the best batteries, using batteries would mean way less ability to actually assist. An alternative would be an SMR (and possibly a bank of caps) but I don't think any of the currently working or even close to working designs would fit on a regular trailer (the KLT-40S seems to be the lightest working SMR at 80t with water, the rest is 150~1500t).
        Reason077 8y ago
        A battery would work just fine. DC-to-DC transfers are efficient, and fast.
        masklinn 8y ago
        Battery would greatly limit the amount of assistance which can be provided, and greatly increase the trailer's weight.
        Reason077 8y ago
        A diesel generator set that can output 100kW continuously for fast charging starts at around 2000kg / 5000lbs. You can fit a lot of battery capacity for a lot less weight that that!
        8y ago
- shriek 8y ago
  I'm not a mechanical or electrical engineer by any means but how hard would it be to have a swap-able batteries like in the old cellphone days?
  - hi5eyes 8y ago
    sorry I had to https://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/21/the-tesla-battery-swap-is-the-hoax-of-the-year/ https://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/21/the-tesla-battery-swa... look at smartphone and laptop batteries now compared to 10 years ago. battery swapping used to be a thing when companies were cool with right to repair and independent shops fixing products; not so much now. look up louis rossmann and the way apple dealt with him (spoiler sending customs to take everything under the guise of using fakes)
    - all2 8y ago
      If you have a couple of hours, watch some of these: https://www.youtube.com/user/RobertMurraySmith/videos https://www.youtube.com/user/RobertMurraySmith/videos He's developed carbon only batteries/supercaps that beat Lithium ion batteries by something like double the capacity. Some of what he is working on can be overcharged at high voltage and the cell comes to capacity in a very short amount of time.
      - hi5eyes 8y ago
        I think I remember his videos, one went around during the whole graphene craze on reddit
  - rhinoceraptor 8y ago
    I'm not an engineer, but I think it would be infeasible for batteries with current battery tech, and have a good range. The Tesla Model S 100kwh battery is about 1300 lbs, and it's a structural member of the car, so removing it is not a quick operation. That's about 25-30% of the weight of the car, just for the battery. The battery essentially is the floor pan. Even an 100 mile battery would still weigh something like 400lbs (plus the weight of the support brackets/frame), and it's hard to put that somewhere in the car where it can easily be swapped, and also not make the car handle poorly.
rightnow 8y ago
You can tow a tesla and charge the batteries with regen. You can also charge it in a normal socket at any place with electricity. Can you buy gas anywhere?
de_watcher 8y ago
> When his battery is flat they can’t bring an extension cord though. You can push it to recharge though. :D
isalmon 8y ago
Roadside assistance companies including AAA now have options for EVs
masklinn 8y ago
> I would like to know how this guy is going to get stranded less often in a Tesla. Being stranded was a result of the car having a non-working fuel gauge. The $19k fix was buying a Nissan Altima, not the Model 3. I have no idea why TFA opted to open with this, but the quote and the corresponding introductory paragraph really have no relation to Tesla or the model 3 or the rest of the post.

by gnu8 8y ago

gargravarr 8y ago

Well, depends how far outside the box you can think: https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupportmacgyver/comments/9wlmd6/found_on_facebook_does_this_count/ https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupportmacgyver/comments/9wlmd6...

all2 8y ago

I sense a market here: supercharge trucks. A truck with a buttload of diesel, a 1000kW generator, and an assortment of charging hookups.

Reason077 8y ago
No need for the generator. Just a big battery onboard and a DC-DC converter.
- rtkwe 8y ago
  Generator is probably a better option for these though because then they can just get refueled instead of having to wait to get recharged themselves. It'd allow them to service more vehicles while being lighter.
  - Reason077 8y ago
    Remember, you'd only need to charge each vehicle enough so that it can reach the nearest fast charger, so you wouldn't need a huge battery to service multiple vehicles in a day. Besides, how many "out of charge" breakdowns is a single service van likely to encounter in a day? A DC-DC transfer would enable fast charging rates with relatively compact and lightweight equipment. A diesel generator that can output, say, 100kW continuously is pretty big and hefty!
    - rtkwe 8y ago
      Those are still pretty sparse outside of California so the distance could be pretty far. Check out the list for NC there's 13 for the whole state at the moment.
      - Reason077 8y ago
        That's true. But by the time EVs make up a significant portion of the vehicle fleet in those areas (enough to justify a rescue van with onboard charging!), chargers will be much more common. Also, by nature, most "ran out of charge" incidents will happen near a charger (or near home, etc) because the driver thought they could make it. It's not likely that someone would drive off into some really remote area with no idea of where they would charge the car.
  - gambler 8y ago
    While it would work, it would be horrible marketing for EVs.
    - sokoloff 8y ago
      Why would someone reasonably care what equipment is onboard the service trucks? I've never inquired as to what's inside the Mercedes Sprinter vans they use for roadside assistance when considering buying a Mercedes.
    - masklinn 8y ago
      It would be great for actual roadside assistance though, fuel is way more energy dense and energy specific than the best batteries, using batteries would mean way less ability to actually assist. An alternative would be an SMR (and possibly a bank of caps) but I don't think any of the currently working or even close to working designs would fit on a regular trailer (the KLT-40S seems to be the lightest working SMR at 80t with water, the rest is 150~1500t).
      - Reason077 8y ago
        A battery would work just fine. DC-to-DC transfers are efficient, and fast.
        masklinn 8y ago
        Battery would greatly limit the amount of assistance which can be provided, and greatly increase the trailer's weight.
        Reason077 8y ago
        A diesel generator set that can output 100kW continuously for fast charging starts at around 2000kg / 5000lbs. You can fit a lot of battery capacity for a lot less weight that that!
        8y ago
shriek 8y ago
I'm not a mechanical or electrical engineer by any means but how hard would it be to have a swap-able batteries like in the old cellphone days?
- hi5eyes 8y ago
  sorry I had to https://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/21/the-tesla-battery-swap-is-the-hoax-of-the-year/ https://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/21/the-tesla-battery-swa... look at smartphone and laptop batteries now compared to 10 years ago. battery swapping used to be a thing when companies were cool with right to repair and independent shops fixing products; not so much now. look up louis rossmann and the way apple dealt with him (spoiler sending customs to take everything under the guise of using fakes)
  - all2 8y ago
    If you have a couple of hours, watch some of these: https://www.youtube.com/user/RobertMurraySmith/videos https://www.youtube.com/user/RobertMurraySmith/videos He's developed carbon only batteries/supercaps that beat Lithium ion batteries by something like double the capacity. Some of what he is working on can be overcharged at high voltage and the cell comes to capacity in a very short amount of time.
    - hi5eyes 8y ago
      I think I remember his videos, one went around during the whole graphene craze on reddit
- rhinoceraptor 8y ago
  I'm not an engineer, but I think it would be infeasible for batteries with current battery tech, and have a good range. The Tesla Model S 100kwh battery is about 1300 lbs, and it's a structural member of the car, so removing it is not a quick operation. That's about 25-30% of the weight of the car, just for the battery. The battery essentially is the floor pan. Even an 100 mile battery would still weigh something like 400lbs (plus the weight of the support brackets/frame), and it's hard to put that somewhere in the car where it can easily be swapped, and also not make the car handle poorly.

rightnow 8y ago

You can tow a tesla and charge the batteries with regen. You can also charge it in a normal socket at any place with electricity. Can you buy gas anywhere?

de_watcher 8y ago

> When his battery is flat they can’t bring an extension cord though. You can push it to recharge though. :D

isalmon 8y ago

Roadside assistance companies including AAA now have options for EVs

masklinn 8y ago

> I would like to know how this guy is going to get stranded less often in a Tesla. Being stranded was a result of the car having a non-working fuel gauge. The $19k fix was buying a Nissan Altima, not the Model 3. I have no idea why TFA opted to open with this, but the quote and the corresponding introductory paragraph really have no relation to Tesla or the model 3 or the rest of the post.